Sociological Agents for Effective Social Action

This paper is concerned with the problem of how effective social interaction arises from individual social action and mind. The need to study the individual social mind, suggests a move towards the notion of sociological agents who can model their social environment as opposed to acting socially within it. This does not constrain such social behaviour; on the contrary, we argue that it provides the requisite information and understanding for such behaviour to be effective. We argue that effective social agents must be sociological in modelling agents and agent relationships. In this paper, we show how an existing agent framework leads naturally to the enumeration of a map of inter-agent relationships that can be modelled and exploited by sociological agents to enable more effective operation.

New activism and communication in Australian risk society : a case study of the Otway Ranges Environment Network

This paper overviews a case study of environmental grassroots activism in Victoria, Australia, between 1995 and 2003. The Otway Ranges Environment Network (OREN) is significant for its successful communication campaign to change forest practices and policy decision-making in the Otway Ranges, and for its intervention in a long-standing and exclusive relationship between government and the timber industry. This paper describes and analyses pivotal parts of the OREN campaign: firstly, the group's strategy to boycott paper and pulp manufacture Kimberly-Clark Australia; and secondly, its decision to participate in the West Victoria Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) process to negotiate the future of Otway forest. Informed by the empirical research and the works of social theorists Ulrich Beck and Jurgen Habermas, this paper outlines a strategic approach to communication that is effective, fair and sustainable, and that can be applied by other non-profits - especially those that operate in politically volatile environments with a grassroots agenda.

The Pacific OPIC Project (Obesity Prevention In Communities) : action plans and interventions

Background: The Pacific OPIC Project (Obesity Prevention In Communities) includes whole-of-community intervention programs in four countries (Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia) aimed at reducing the prevalence of overweight and  obesity in youth.

Development of Action Plans: At each intervention site, preliminary interviews  were conducted with youth to identify the potential socio-cultural barriers and  facilitators to healthy eating and regular physical activity in order to attain and sustain a healthy body size. This and other information was presented at a 2-day workshop with community stakeholders, including youth. The participants then prioritised the components for a draft action plan which was later consolidated through further community consultation.

Action Plan objectives: Each action plan had two overall aims: to build  community capacity and to promote healthy weight. The first three objectives in each action plan were on capacity building, social marketing messages, and evaluation. Next were a set of four to five behavioural objectives with associated strategies involving programs, events, social marketing and environmental  change. Lastly, each site had one or two innovative or developmental objectives.

Progress: Interventions began in all sites from 2005, with the action plans guiding implementation priorities. The initial behavioural objective for targeting in Fiji was eating regular breakfast and meals throughout the day, for Tonga it was physical activity, and for Australia and New Zealand it was increasing water consumption and decreasing consumption of sweet drinks.

Conclusions: The action plans have provided the basis for community engagement in the project, the guide to the implementation of activities and the template for the evaluation plan.

Practices in social media in the travel education business

Praticas na midia social se refere a vista ou a percepcao de uma marca nao so com base em suas ofertas e servicos, mas tambem sobre seus valores e cultura como percebido principalmente pelos consumidores. As organizacoes podem utilizer a imagem que é interessante e aceitavel para os clients. Nos ultimos anos, uma das formas que as organizacoes de forma consistente comercializar ou publicitar a sua marca envolve midias sociais. O ojetivo deste estudo é explorer quais sao as praticas de midia social no negocio de educacao de viagens. Para obter os dados, a pesquisadora entrevistou pessoas de seis empresas de educacao de viagens e cotejadas informacoes sobre o tema a partir de fonts primarias e secundarias existentes. O pesquisador conduziu a pesquisa para determiner praticas de marketing de midia social em que se aplicam nos sectores do turismo e educacao. Com base nos dados obtidos pelo pesquisador, as praticas de marketing de midia social incluem a utilizacao de plataformas de midia social com um alcance internacional generalizada tipo Facebook, Twitter, Instagram e YouTube. Outra estratégia é para postar constantemente as atualizações que não são apenas interessante, mas também informativo sobre os produtos e serviços oferecidos por uma marca ou organização. As empresas ou organizações devem também interagir com os clientes ou clientes on-line, a fim de manter os interesses deste último em ofertas e serviços da ex. O envolvimento do cliente é uma das razões por que os clientes optam por seguir as empresas on-line através da mídia social. A pesquisa também revela outras vantagens e benefícios da mídia social que constituem as melhores práticas, tais como a conversão de não-clientes para os clientes, o aumento da presença da mídia para aumentar a popularidade, a comunicação eficaz das metas e objetivos organizacionais, bem como a formação de um bom relacionamento com os clientes. As organizações também podem usar turístico criado conteúdo (TCC) e outros tipos de conteúdo para orientar a tomada de decisão no desenvolvimento do produto gerado pelo usuário.

The State, the community and society in social development

President Cardoso delivered this address at the First Regional Conference in Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, held in Sao Paulo from 6 to 9 April 1997. On that occasion President Cardoso reviewed the issues examined at the World Summit, with special emphasis on poverty and the search for an environmentally sound, democratic form of development that will lead to a greater degree of social equity. Within this context, he discussed the relationship between economic and social factors, devoting particular attention to State reform, education, competitiveness and job creation. He also outlined the situation in Brazil with regard to economic development, education and health services, the neeed for agrarian reform based on the principle of equity, and respect for human rights. In concluding his statement, he stressed the need to overcome the traditional division between community and society and between the public and private spheres. To that end, he called for a re-examination of ethical considerations, not as an empty discussion of morality but rather as an effective means of motivating action for change.

Written Communication in a Sixth-Grade Mathematics Classroom

In this action research study of my sixth grade mathematics classroom, I investigated what happened to students’ mathematical achievement when they had increased practice on written explanations to problems. I wanted to see if writing out solutions to problems helped them overall in daily mathematics. By using specific mathematic vocabulary more frequently and deliberately during my instruction, I wanted to investigate whether students would correctly use specific math vocabulary in their written explanations. I also increased my expectations of the students’ written explanations throughout the research project. I wanted to determine whether students would try to meet or even exceed my expectations. I discovered that students used vocabulary more frequently in their written explanations by providing definitions of vocabulary versus using the vocabulary in context. I found little to no evidence suggesting that my students’ mathematical achievement changed through more practice on written communication; however, I did find as my expectations for the quality of students’ written explanations increased, most of my students improved their written explanations of problems and my teaching became more deliberate and specific. As a result of this research, I plan to continue having students communicate their mathematical ideas through written communication while continuing to focus on specific mathematical vocabulary and its purpose in written communication.

Oral and Written Communication in Classroom Mathematics

In this action research study of my classroom of sixth grade mathematics, I investigated the impact of an increase in student oral and written communication on student level of understanding and student self-confidence. I also investigated the changes in my teaching as I increased opportunities for student oral and written communication of mathematics. While I discovered that student level of understanding was not necessarily increased if written communications were increased, I did find that there seemed to be a rise in student level of self-confidence and understanding throughout the course of the research project due to an increase in oral communication. Additionally, my intentions as a teacher were to become less dominating as communication was increased, but the opposite occurred. As a result of this research, I plan to continue to allow oral discourse to take place in my classroom much like it has in the past.

Writing In Math Class? Written Communication in the Mathematics Classroom

In this action research study of my seventh grade mathematics classroom, I investigated what written communication within the mathematics classroom would look like. I increased vocabulary instruction of specific mathematical terms for my students to use in their writing. I also looked at what I would have to do differently in my teaching in order for my students to be successful in their writing. Although my students said that using writing to explain mathematics helped them to better understand the math, my research revealed that student writing did not necessarily translate to improved scores. After direct instruction and practice on math vocabulary, my students did use the vocabulary words more often in their writing; however, my students used the words more like they would in spelling sentences rather than to show what it meant and how it can be applied within their written explanation in math. In my teaching, I discovered I tried many different strategies to help my students be successful. I was very deliberate in my language and usage of vocabulary words and also in my explanations of various math concepts. As a result of this research, I plan to continue having my students use writing to communicate within the mathematics classroom. I will keep using some of the strategies I found successful. I also will be very deliberate in using vocabulary words and stress the use of vocabulary words with my students in the future.

Cognitive and affective processes in social actions and decisions

The question of how we make, and how we should make judgments and decisions has occupied thinkers for many centuries. This thesis has the aim to add new evidences to clarify the brain’s mechanisms for decisions. The cognitive and the emotional processes of social actions and decisions are investigated with the aim to understand which brain areas are mostly involved. Four experimental studies are presented. A specific kind of population is involved in the first study (as well as in study III) concerning patients with lesion of ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). This region is collocated in the ventral surface of frontal lobe, and it seems have an important role in social and moral decision in forecasting the negative emotional consequences of choice. In study I, it is examined whether emotions, specifically social emotions subserved by the vmPFC, affect people’s willingness to trust others. In study II is observed how incidental emotions could encourage trusting behaviour, especially when individuals are not aware of emotive stimulation. Study III has the aim to gather a direct psychophysiological evidence, both in healthy and neurologically impaired individuals, that emotions are crucially involved in shaping moral judgment, by preventing moral violations. Study IV explores how the moral meaning of a decision and its subsequent action can modulate the basic component of action such as sense of agency.

The impact of social presence on team performance in social networking platforms

Next to the extensive use of social networking platforms (SNPs) for communication and relationship building with friends and relatives, SNPs are also increasingly used for enhancing collaboration at work. SNP usage at the workplace is fundamentally different and it is unclear how SNPs can improve collaboration as well as in what way their designs should be modified and adapted to collaboration settings. This research identifies specific SNP functions that enhance social presence as particularly beneficial for collaboration. Consequently, two designs of SNPs, one with high social presence and one with low social presence, are outlined and its impacts on collaboration are discussed. A framework is constructed that illustrates how social presence in SNPs can improve team performance through enhancing transactive memory within teams (intra-group collaboration) and relational capital across teams (inter-group collaboration). In addition, it is outlined how this framework could be evaluated in an experimental setting of teams working on a complex group task.

Technical communication in the global context : a heuristic approach to disciplinary identity and pedagogical practices

There is nothing new or original in stating that the global economy directly impacts the profession of technical communicators. The globalization of the workplace requires that technical communicators be prepared to work in increasingly linguistically and culturally diverse contexts. These new exigencies have natural repercussions on the research and educational practices of the field In this work, I draw on rhetoric, linguistics, and literacy theory to explore the definition, role and meaning of the global context for the disciplinary construction of professional and technical communication. By adopting an interdisciplinary and diachronic perspective, I assert that the global context is a heuristic means for sophisticating the disciplinary identity of the field and for reinforcing its place within the humanities. Consequently, I contend that the globalization of the workplace is a kairotic moment for underscoring the rhetorical dimension of professional and technical communication.

Multimodal viral communication: a social semiotic analysis of the popular Spanish "Ola ke ase" meme

Multimodality – the interdependence of semiotic resources in text – is an existential element of today’s media. The term multimodality attends systematically to the social interpretation of a wide range of communicational forms used in meaning making. A primary focus of social- semiotic multimodal analysis is on mapping how modal resources are used by people in a given social context. In November 2012 the “Ola ke ase” catchphrase, which is a play on “Hola ¿qué hace?”, appeared for the first time in Spain and immediately has been adopted as a Twitter hashtag and an image macro series. Its viral spread on social networks has been tremendous, being a trending topic in various Spanish-speaking countries. The objective of analysis is how language and image work together in the “Ola ke ase” meme. The interplay between text and image in one of the original memes and some of its variations is quantitatively analysed applying a social-semiotic approach. Results demonstrate how the “Ola ke ase” meme functions through its multimodal character and the non-standard orthography. The spread of uncountable variations of the meme shows the social process that goes on in the meaning making of the semiotic elements.