Shop-floor narratives : how six workers and a researcher describe learning activities

I am a part-time graduate student who works in industry. This study is my narrative about how six workers and I describe shop-floor learning activities, that is learning activities that occur where work is done, outside a classroom. Because this study is narrative inquiry, you wilileam about me, the narrator, more than you would in a more conventional study. This is a common approach in narrative inquiry and it is important because my intentions shape the way that I tell these six workers' stories. I developed a typology of learning activities by synthesizing various theoretical frameworks. This typology categorizes shop-floor learning activities into five types: onthe- job training, participative learning, educational advertising, incidental learning, and self-directed learning. Although learning can occur in each of these activities in isolation, it is often comprised of a mixture of these activities. The literature review contains a number of cases that have been developed from situations described in the literature. These cases are here to make the similarities and differences between the types of learning activities that they represent more understandable to the reader and to ground the typology in practice as well as in theory. The findings are presented as reader's theatre, a dramatic presentation of these workers' narratives. The workers tell us that learning involves "being shown," and if this is not done properly they "learn the hard way." I found that many of their best case lean1ing activities involved on-the-job training, participative learning, incidentalleaming, and self-directed learning. Worst case examples were typically lacking in properly designed and delivered participative learning activities and to a lesser degree lacking carefully planned and delivered on-the-job training activities. Included are two reflective chapters that describe two cases: Learning "Engels" (English), and Learning to Write. In these chapters you will read about how I came to see that my own shop-floor learning-learning to write this thesis-could be enhanced through participative learning activities. I came to see my thesis supervisor as not only my instructor who directed and judged my learning activities, but also as a more experienced researcher who was there to participate in this process with me and to help me begin to enter the research community. Shop-floor learning involves learners and educators participating in multistranded learning activities, which require an organizational factor of careful planning and delivery. As with learning activities, which can be multi-stranded, so too, there can be multiple orientations to learning on the shop floor. In our stories, you will see that these six workers and I didn't exhibit just one orientation to learning in our stories. Our stories demonstrate that we could be behaviorist and cognitivist and humanist and social learners and constructivist in our orientation to learning. Our stories show that learning is complex and involves multiple strands, orientations, and factors. Our stories show that learning narratives capture the essence of learning-the learners, the educators, the learning activities, the organizational factors, and the learning orientations. Learning narratives can help learners and educators make sense of shop-floor learning.

Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting a return of the arms and military stores furnished to the respective states, under the provisions of the law of one thousand eight hundred and twelve.

At head of title: [107].

Persons who served more than six months in the War of 1812 : letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting in compliance with a resolution of the House calling for a statement of the number of officers, non-commissioned officers, privates, &c., who served for a period of six months and upwards in the War of 1812.--

Caption title.

Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting a return of the arms and military stores furnished to the respective states, under the provisions of the law of one thousand eight hundred and twelve

At head of title: [107]. 15th Congress, 1st session, 1817-1818. House. February 20, 1818. Read, and ordered to lie upon the table.

Investigation of the Relationship between Sexual Orientation and Objective Height, along with Predictors of Height Distortion

Studies that have used mostly self-reported height have found that men with a same-sex orientation and women with an other-sex orientation are shorter, on average, than men with an other-sex orientation and women with a same-sex orientation, respectively. This thesis examined whether an objective height difference exists or whether a psychosocial account (e.g., distortion of self-reports) may explain these putative height differences. Also, this thesis examined whether certain individual differences (e.g, gender roles and socially desirable responding) predict height distortion. Eight hundred and thirteen participants, recruited at Brock University, the Niagara Community and through surrounding LGBT events, completed self-reported height, measures of gender roles and socially desirable responding, and had their height measured. Using hierarchical linear regressions, it was found that Same-Sex/Both-Sex Oriented men were shorter, on average, than predominantly Other-Sex Oriented men; however, there was no difference in objective height between Same-Sex/Both-Sex Oriented women and predominantly Other-Sex Oriented women. These findings contribute to existing biological theories of men's sexual orientation development and do not contribute to biological theories of women's sexual orientation development. Height distortion was not related to sexual orientation and only marginally related to sex. Predictors of height distortion were Impression Management, in both men and women, and Unmitigated Agency, in men. These findings highlight the complexity of sexual orientation development in men and women. These findings also highlight the role of certain psychosocial factors in how people perceive their bodies and/or how they want their bodies to be perceived by others.

Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario : a series of one hundred and fifty-three original etchings (1886)

A portfolio of 50 folio and 103 vignette etchings, printed on fine china paper, which has been pressed into a sturdy hand-made paper. The plates were printed by J.H. Daniels of Boston in black, brown, sepia or blue ink. All prints are dated, numbered, and signed or initialed in the plate by Sangster, and the folio prints have pencil signatures. Vol. 1. Vignettes (nos. 1-53) -- vol. 2. Vignettes (nos. 54-103) -- vol. 3. Plates (vol. 1 and 2, nos. 1-50).

Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario : a series of one hundred and fifty-three original etchings (1886) Vol.2

A portfolio of 50 folio and 103 vignette etchings, printed on fine china paper, which has been pressed into a sturdy hand-made paper. The plates were printed by J.H. Daniels of Boston in black, brown, sepia or blue ink. All prints are dated, numbered, and signed or initialed in the plate by Sangster, and the folio prints have pencil signatures. Vol. 1. Vignettes (nos. 1-53) -- vol. 2. Vignettes (nos. 54-103) -- vol. 3. Plates (vol. 1 and 2, nos. 1-50).

Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario : a series of one hundred and fifty-three original etchings (1886) Vol. 3

A portfolio of 50 folio and 103 vignette etchings, printed on fine china paper, which has been pressed into a sturdy hand-made paper. The plates were printed by J.H. Daniels of Boston in black, brown, sepia or blue ink. All prints are dated, numbered, and signed or initialed in the plate by Sangster, and the folio prints have pencil signatures. Vol. 1. Vignettes (nos. 1-53) -- vol. 2. Vignettes (nos. 54-103) -- vol. 3. Plates (vol. 1 and 2, nos. 1-50).

Certificate for One Hundred and Twenty Shares of Preferred Stock in Skyway Limited

Certificate for 120 shares of preferred stock in Skyways Limited to Hamilton K. Woodruff, Sept. 9, 1929.

The nature of bullying among secondary school students /

The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence and effect of bullying in a secondary school. Six hundred and fifty-nine student volunteers completed a survey which included a quantitative component of 40 questions and 3 questions which required a written response. The results suggest that approximately 1 student in 10 was involved in a bullying situation either as a bully or a victim. As age increased, physical bullying decreased whereas psychological remained high in the senior years of high school. Boys were involved more in bullying than girls, especially in the junior years. The effects of bullying could be devastating to the point of school avoidance or early school leaving. The results also indicate that much of the bullying was not being reported. The implication for the education system is that more needs to be done to prevent bullying, to encourage the reporting of bullying, and to deal with the aftermath of a bullying situation.

Bullying as a social process : factors influencing bystander behaviour

Bullying was approached as a social phenomenon in the present study. The central aim of this thesis was to uncover some of the factors that contribute to the attitudes and behavioural choices of bystanders during bullying situations. With this type of information, interventions can be tailored to change the behaviour of bystanders during bullying situations, and thus the ethos of the larger group. Thus, acting to alter the available sources of reinforcement for bullying behaviour and peer intervention attempts. Six hundred and twenty-six students participated. Students were sampled from grades 4 (n=140), 5 (n=l 13), 7 (n=205), and 8 (n=168). Students were measured for their involvement in bullying and victimization, as well as for involvement in the following bystander behaviours: encouraging, onlooking, defending, and seeking adult support. In addition, students were measured for tolerance of deviance, pro-victim attitudes, social anxiety and fear, and self-efficacy for peer intervention. Last, students were asked to complete a series of qualitative measures, including a series of hypothetical vignettes and open-ended questions. Analyses centered on the following areas: 1) rates of bullying, victimization, and bystander behaviour; 2) the influence of age and gender on bystander behaviour; 3) the characteristics associated with students who predominantly report involvement with defending, seeking adult assistance, encouraging, and onlooking behaviour; and 4) the influence of past involvement with bullying and victimization on bystander behaviour. b .--' -i . k Rates of bullying, victimization, and bystander behaviour were comparable to findings in the existing literature, where male students were more likely than female students to report involvement in both bullying and victimization. Boys were more likely than girls to report participation in encouraging and onlooking behaviours, while being less likely to report involvement in defending and seeking adult assistance. Partly consistent with existing findings, older students were more likely to report involvement in bullying, encouraging, and onlooking behaviour than younger students, who were more likely to report victimization, defending, and seeking adult assistance. Self-identified encouragers and onlookers reported a similar array of characteristics, in that they tended express high levels of tolerance of deviance, while expressing low levels of pro-victim attitudes and self-efficacy for peer intervention. Likewise, self-identified defenders and seekers of adult assistance tended to report a similar array of characteristics to each other, in that they tended to report low levels of tolerance of deviance, while expressing high levels of pro-victim attitudes and self efficacy for peer intervention. Additionally, self-identified bullies and self-identified bully-victims tended to report increased involvement in encouraging and onlooking, whereas self-identified victims tended to report increased involvement in defending behaviour and seeking adult assistance. Results are discussed in terms of implications for bullying prevention and intervention. Specifically, evidence from the present study suggests that as bystanders, students predominantly act to either support bullying acts or to support the victims of these acts, or alternatively, to actively remain outside bullying situations. Thus, encouraging students to make small changes in the way they express these sentiments during bullying situations would act to alter the culture of the larger peer group and the sources of reinforcement available for bullying acts as well as peer intervention attempts.

Psychopathy and self-monitoring : additive and interactive effects on self-presentation tactics /

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative contributions of psychopathy and self-monitoring to the prediction of self-presentation tactics (behaviours that individuals use to manipulate their self-image). Psychopathy is composed of two main factors: Factor 1, which includes manipulativeness and shallow affect, and Factor 2, which includes irresponsibility and anti-social behaviours. Self-monitoring is a personality trait that distinguishes between those who adapt their behaviour to fit different social situations (high self-monitors) and those who behave as they feel regardless of social expectations (low selfmonitors). It was hypothesized that self-monitoring would moderate the relationship between psychopathy and self-presentation tactics. One hundred and forty-nine university students completed the Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974), the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale - Version III (Paulhus et aI., in press), the Self-Presentation Tactics scale (Lee, S., et aI., 1999), the HEXACO-PI (a measure ofthe six major factors of personality; Lee, K., & Ashton, 2004), and six scenarios that were created as a supplementary measure of the selfpresentation tactics. Results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that self-monitoring did moderate the relationship between psychopathy and three of the selfpresentation tactics: apologies, disclaimers, and exemplification. Further, significant interactions were observed between Factor 1 and self-monitoring on apologies and the defensive tactics subscale, between Factor 2 and self-monitoring on self-handicapping, and between Factor 1 and Factor 2 on exemplification. Contrary to expectations, the main effect of self-monitoring was significant for the prediction of nine tactics, while psychopathy was significant for the prediction of seven tactics. This indicates that the role of these two personality traits in the explanation of self-presentation tactics tends to be additive in nature rather than interactive. In addition. Factor 2 alone did not account for a significant amount of variance in any of the tactics, while Factor 1 significantly predicted nine tactics. Results are discussed with regard to implications and possible directions for future research.

Predicting performance on fluid intelligence from speed of processing, working memory, and controlled attention

Fluid inteliigence has been defined as an innate ability to reason which is measured commonly by the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM). Individual differences in fluid intelligence are currently explained by the Cascade model (Fry & Hale, 1996) and the Controlled Attention hypothesis (Engle, Kane, & Tuholski, 1999; Kane & Engle, 2002). The first theory is based on a complex relation among age, speed, and working memory which is described as a Cascade. The alternative to this theory, the Controlled Attention hypothesis, is based on the proposition that it is the executive attention component of working memory that explains performance on fluid intelligence tests. The first goal of this study was to examine whether the Cascade model is consistent within the visuo-spatial and verbal-numerical modalities. The second goal was to examine whether the executive attention component ofworking memory accounts for the relation between working memory and fluid intelligence. Two hundred and six undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 28 completed a battery of cognitive tests selected to measure processing speed, working memory, and controlled attention which were selected from two cognitive modalities, verbalnumerical and visuo-spatial. These were used to predict performance on two standard measures of fluid intelligence: the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) and the Shipley Institute of Living Scales (SILS) subtests. Multiple regression and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to test the Cascade model and to determine the independent and joint effects of controlled attention and working memory on general fluid intelligence. Among the processing speed measures only spatial scan was related to the RPM. No other significant relations were observed between processing speed and fluid intelligence. As 1 a construct, working memory was related to the fluid intelligence tests. Consistent with the predictions for the RPM there was support for the Cascade model within the visuo-spatial modality but not within the verbal-numerical modality. There was no support for the Cascade model with respect to the SILS tests. SEM revealed that there was a direct path between controlled attention and RPM and between working memory and RPM. However, a significant path between set switching and RPM explained the relation between controlled attention and RPM. The prediction that controlled attention mediated the relation between working memory and RPM was therefore not supported. The findings support the view that the Cascade model may not adequately explain individual differences in fluid intelligence and this may be due to the differential relations observed between working memory and fluid intelligence across different modalities. The findings also show that working memory is not a domain-general construct and as a result its relation with fluid intelligence may be dependent on the nature of the working memory modality.

Teachers' perceptions of effects of terminal examinations on teaching and learning at the secondary school level in Zimbabwe

This study was particularly aimed at the examinations and the effect they have on schooling at the secondary school level in Zimbabwe. The views and opinions of teachers on the use of terminal examinations for certification and the influence they are seen to have on teachers' approach to the curriculum were examined. The literature has shown that there is widespread criticism of the justice and effects of terminal examinations. It is argued that they lead to an over-emphasis of that which is measured, knowledge and intellectual ability, at the expense of that kind of education progress which is almost impossible to measure in an end-of-the-course assessment. Three hundred and six secondary school teachers responded to a survey which asked for teachers' perceptions of examinations and the curriculum. The findings of this study indicated that teaching is structured towards examinations. Although teachers are trying to teach and develop reasoning skills and other activities, the pressure of examinations and the importance of doing well in them force teachers to restrict themselves to examination requirements.

Letter - American soldier's account of battles at Chippewa, Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie, 1814

Transcript (original grammar and spelling retained): My dear wife I take this time to inform you that I am well hoping that these few lines will Reach you and find you the same I shall in form you of all our Battles that we have had sence I left home we crossed in to Canada the 2 day of July and took fort Erie on the 3 day of July without loss of one man. We then marched down to Chipway eighteen miles below the Fort Erie we got there on the forth day and had our first battle on the 5 day our loss was not jistly known But the inemy loss was double to ours. The 6 day we started with the 2 Brigade to make a bridge a crost the crick two miles a bove the fort in Building the Bridge the inemy Brought up their Canon and playd upon us with their artiliery a bout two hours We drove them from the fort our loss was none the inemy loss was nineteen ciled dead on the ground we then marched to Queenston when we got thare our inemy had fledfrom the fort we then remained thair to Queenston ten days then we marched down to Fort George But that caurdly Chaney did not a rive with the fleet so we had to return back to Queenston thare was a bout six hundred militia formed on the heights of land thay fired up on us from their pickets and retreated to the mane body our flankers ciled and wounded and took about twenty before they got to the Maine body we then marched up the hill they gave us two firs but did not damage and then retreated from the field we stayed there one knight and then marched to Chipway and stayed there one night and the next day just as the sun set the first Brigade marched up in order to give them Battle a bout two miles from the Crick and began the Battle the 2 Brigade has to March up to the Niagara path and ingaged them we charged up on their artlery and took all their Canon Miller commanded the four companys that charged....the battles lasted three hours and forty minutes our loss was about 8 hundred cild and wounded our inemies loss was a bout fourteen hundred cild and wounded the next morning we Marched up in order to give them Battle a gin but thay was afraid to ingage us we then marched to Fort Erie and went to fortiffing and made a strong place the inemy folered us up and Began to cananade and held it fifty three days thay a tacked the fort the fifteenth of august thay atacked a bout one hiour be fore day Light we saw them and Blue up our maggerzean & two hundred of our inemy our loss wasa bout forty cild and wounded and our inemy loss was a bout one thousand on the 7 Day of September we atacked them and took their batteries and Broke all their canon and drove them from the field our loss was a Bout two hundred cild and wounded our inemy loss was a Bout 8 hundred cild and wounded...we crossed in to Canada with five thousand and came out with fifteen hundred we then Marched to Sackett’s harbor....am well and harty for the present....a bout comming home it uncarting for there is not any....given this winter as yet But I shall try to Come home if I Can But if I Cant I want you should take good car of the Phiddness[?] I have not Received any Money as yet But soon as I do receive some I send some home. I want you should write to me as soon as you receive this and and how Much Stock you wintor I Received your Letter with Great pleasure I feel uneasy a bout you I am a frade that you are sick or dead this is from your husband Chase Clough