Environmental Education: Enhancing Learning and Awareness Through Assessment

Systemic Practice and Action Research

Volumn 26, Issue 3, 2013, Pages 299-314

  Singh, Penny ^a  

^a DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Action engagement; Action research; Community of practice; Environmental education; Oral assessment; Situated learning

Indexed keywords

EID: 84876089608     PISSN: 1094429X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s11213-012-9252-x     Document Type: Article

References (86)

1. Ackhoff RK (1995) 'Whole-ing' the parts and righting the wrongs. Syst Res Behav Sci 12(1): 43-46.
2. Argyris C, Putnam R, Smith D (1985) Action science. Jossey-Bass Inc., New York.
3. Artail H (2008) A methodology for combining development and research in teaching undergraduate software engineering. Int J Eng Educ 24(3): 567-580.
4. Bell S (2005) Systemic practice: coming of age? Syst Pract Action Res 18(2): 129-132.
5. Boud D (1995) Assessment for learning: contradictory or complimentary? In: Knight P (ed) Assessment for learning in higher education. Kogan Page Ltd, London, pp 35-48.
6. Boud D (2007) Reframing assessment as if learning were important. In: Boud D, Falchikov N (eds) Rethinking assessment in higher education. Learning for the longer term. Routledge, London, pp 14-26.
7. Boud D, Cohen R, Sampson J (1999) Peer learning and assessment. Assess Eval High Educ 24(4): 413-426.
8. Bowden J, Marton F (1998) The university of learning: beyond quality and competence in higher education. Kogan Page, London.
9. Brown JS, Collins A, Duguid S (1989) Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educ Res 18(1): 32-42.
10. Brown G, Bull J, Pendlebury M (1997) Assessing student learning in higher education. Routledge, London.
11. Capra F (1996) The web of life: a new scientific understanding of living systems. Anchor Books, New York.
12. Chang Y-J, Wang T-Y, Chen S-F, Liao R-H (2011) Student engineers as agents of change: combining social inclusion in the professional development of electrical and computer engineering students. Syst Pract Action Res 24(3): 237-246.
13. Cloete EL (2011) Going to the bush: language, power and the conserved environment in southern Africa. Environ Educ Res 17(1): 35-52.
14. Colbeck C (2004) A cybernetic systems model of teaching and research production: impact of disciplinary difference, http://www. solent. ac. uk/ExternalUP/318/carol_colbeck_s_updated_paperdoc. Accessed 8 Oct 2008.
15. Contu A, Wilmott H (2000) Comment on Wenger and Tanow. Knowing practice: a 'delicate flower' in the organizational learning field. Organization 7(2): 269-276.
16. Cox A (2005) What are communities of practice? A critical review of four seminal works, http://www2. warwick. ac. uk/fac/soc/wbs/conf/olkc/archive/oklc5/papers/e-4_cox. pdf. Accessed 1 July 2012.
17. Crisp GT (2012) Integrative assessment: reframing assessment practice for current and future learning. Assess Eval High Educ 37 (1), http://www. tandfonline. com/doi/full/101080/02602938. 2010. 494234. Accessed 1 July 2012.
18. Daily News Reporter (2011) Golden future for green-at-heart girl. Daily News, 26 May.
19. De Schutter O (2011) Tackling food crisis. A silver lining behind Durban's COP17 storm has resulted in the focus shifting towards food security. The Times (South Africa), 9 December.
20. Dochy F, Segers M, Gijbels D, Struyven K (2007) assessment engineering. Breaking down barriers between teaching and learning, and assessment. In: Boud D, Falchikov N (eds) Rethinking assessment in higher education. Learning for the longer term. Routledge, London, pp 87-100.
21. Flood RL (1999) Rethinking the fifth discipline. Learning within the unknowable. Roultledge, London.
22. Flood RL, Jackson M (1991) Creative problem solving: total systems intervention. Wiley, Chichester.
23. Fox S (2000) Communities of practice, Foccault and actor-network theory. J Manage Stud 37(6): 853-867.
24. Friedman VJ (2001) Action science: creating communities of inquiry in communities of practice. In: Reason P, Bradbury H (eds) Handbook of action research. Sage, London.
25. Galbraith PL (1999) Systems thinking: a missing component in higher education planning? High Educ Policy 12: 141-157.
26. Gherardi S, Nicolini D, Odella F (1998) Toward a social understanding of how people learn in organizations. Manage Learn 29(3): 273-297.
27. Handley K, Sturdy A, Fincham R, Clark T (2006) Within and beyond communities of practice: making sense of learning through participation, identity and practice. J Manage Stud 43(3): 641-653.
28. Hansson T (2006) Workplace logics, kinds of knowledge and action research. Syst Pract Action Res 19: 189-200.
29. Hawk DL (1999) Innovation versus environmental protection presumptions. Syst Pract Action Res 12: 355-366.
30. Helmfrid H, Haden A, Ljung M (2008) The role of action research (AR) in environmental research: learning from a local organic food and farming research project. Syst Pract Action Res 21: 105-131.
31. Houston D (2008) Systemic intervention in a university department: reflections on arrested action research 21(2): 133-153.
32. Huysamen GK (1994) Methodology for the social and behavioural sciences. International Thomson Publishing, Johannesburg.
33. Ison R (1999) Applying systems thinking to higher education. Syst Res Behav Sci 16: 107-112.
34. Knight P (2007) Grading, classifying and future learning. In: Boud D, Falchikov N (eds) Rethinking assessment in higher education, Learning for the longer term. Routledge, London, pp 72-86.
35. Krueger RA (2000) Focus groups: a practical guide for applied researchers, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks.
36. Krueger RA, Casey MA (2000) Focus groups: a practical guide for applied researchers, 3rd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks.
37. Kvale S (2007) Contradictions of assessment for learning in institutions of higher learning. In: Boud D, Falchikov N (eds) Rethinking assessment in higher education. Learning for the longer term, Routledge, London, pp 57-71.
38. Lang S (2007) Water, air and soil pollution causes 40 percent of deaths worldwide, Cornell survey finds, http://www. news. cornell. edu/stories/aug07/morediseases. sl. html. Accessed 8 Oct 2008.
39. Larsson NO (2001) A design view on research in social sciences. Syst Pract Action Res 14(4): 383-405.
40. Lave J (1988) Cognition in practice: mind, mathematics and culture in everyday life. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
41. Lave J, Wenger E (1999) Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
42. Lemke J (1994) Semiotics and the deconstruction of conceptual learning. J Accel Learn Teach. http://evans-experientialism. freewebspace. com/lemke. htm. Accessed 2 Mar 2006.
43. Lemke J L (1997) Cognition, context, and learning: a social semiotic perspective. In Kirshner D, Whitson JA (eds) Situated cognition. LEA, Mahwah, pp 37-55.
44. Lesser EL, Storck J (2001) Communities of practice in organizational performance. IBM Syst J 40(4). http://www. research. ibm. com/journal/sj/404/lesser. html. Accessed 8 Oct 2008.
45. Lindkvist L (2005) Knowledge communities and knowledge collectivities: a typology of knowledge work in groups. J Manage Stud 42(6): 1189-1210.
46. Logan P, Hazel E (1999) Language background and assessment in the physical sciences. Assess Eval High Educ 24(1): 53-65.
47. Maclellan E (2001) Assessment for learning: the differing perceptions of tutors and students. Assess Eval High Educ 26(4): 307-318.
48. McDermott R (1999) Learning across teams: how to build communities of practice in team organizations. Knowl Manage Rev 8: 32-36.
49. McMillan JH (1996) Educational research: fundamentals for the consumer, 2nd ed. Harper Collins College Press, New York.
50. Melrose M (2001) Maximising the rigour of action research: why would you want to? How could you? Field Methods 13: 160-180.
51. Midgley G (2007) Systems thinking for evaluation. In: Williams B, Imam I (eds) Systems concepts in evaluation: an expert anthropology. Edge Press/American Evaluation Association, Point Reyes, pp 11-34.
52. Mutch A (2003) Communities of practice and habitus: a critique. Organ Stud 24(3): 383-401.
53. Ngalwa S (2011) Annan sounds climate warning. African agriculture must ride technology wave or perish. The Times, Thursday 8 December.
54. Norton LS, Tilley AJ, Newstead SE, Franklin-Stokes A (2001) The pressures of assessment in undergraduate courses and their effect on student behaviours. Assess Eval High Educ 26(3): 269-284.
55. Olver C (2011a) Blacklist those who 'greenwash'. Companies must walk the talk regarding climate. The Times, Tuesday 29 November.
56. Olver C (2011b) The weather warriors' war. Real change will come when a few good men and women say 'enough is enough'. The Times, Tuesday 6 December.
57. Onwuegbuzie AJ, Dickinson WB, Leech NL, Zoran AG (2009) A qualitative framework for collecting and analyzing data in focus group research. Inter J Qual Methods 8(3): 1-21.
58. Perez AI, Blanco N, Ogalla M, Rossi F (1998) The flexible role of the researcher within the changing context of practice: forms of collaboration. Educ Action Res 6(2): 241-255.
59. Reason P, Bradbury H (2001) Handbook for action research. Sage, London.
60. Roberts J (2006) Limits to communities of practice. J Manage Stud 43(3): 623-639.
61. Rogoff B (1990) Apprenticeship in thinking: cognitive development in social context. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
62. Rolfsen M, Johnsen A, Knutstad G (2007) Action engagement: improving researchers' involvement in action research projects. Syst Pract Action Res 20: 53-63.
63. Roth WM (1994) Experimenting in a constructivist high school physics laboratory. J Res Sci Teach 31(2): 197-223.
64. Sapa (2011) Diseased meat death. The Times, Tuesday 24 May.
65. Scriven M, Paul R (2004) Defining critical thinking, http://www. criticalthinking. org/aboutCT/definingCT. shtml. Accessed 8 Oct 2008.
66. Sekaran U (1992) Research methods for business: a skill-building approach, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York.
67. Sekaran U (2003) Research methods for business: a skill building approach, 4th edn. Wiley, New York.
68. Sigmon RL (1979) Service-learning: three principles. Synergist 8(1): 9-11.
69. Simon S (2006) Systemic educational approaches to environmental issues: the contribution of ecological art. Syst Pract Action Res 19: 143-157.
70. Singh P (2004) Towards improving equity in assessment for tertiary science students in South Africa: incorporating an oral component. Unpublished PhD dissertation, School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
71. Singh P (2006) Using an action research framework to explore assessment: a South African case study. Syst Pract Action Res 19(2): 179-187.
72. Singh P (2008) Reflection-in-and-on-action in participatory action research: toward assessment for learning. Syst Pract Action Res 21: 241-251.
73. Singh P (2010) Encouraging intercultural communication using an action research approach. Syst Pract Action Res 23(4): 341-352.
74. Singh P (2011) Developing a community of thinking: assessment of environmental education. Environ Educ Res 17(1): 113-124.
75. Snowden RV (2009) EPA estimates cancer risk associated with air pollution, http://www. cancer. org/cancer/news/news/epa-estimates-cancer-risk-associated-with-air-pollution. Accessed 10 Nov 2011.
76. Spradley J (1980) Participant observation. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
77. Stringer ET (1993) Socially responsive educational research: linking theory and practice. In: Flinders D, Mills GE (eds) Theory and concepts in qualitative research: perspectives from the field. Teachers College Press, New York, pp 141-162.
78. Taras M (2002) Using assessment for learning and learning from assessment. Assess Eval High Educ 27(6): 501-510.
79. Waldmann JD (2007) Thinking systems need systems thinking. Syst Res Behav Sci 24(3): 271-284.
80. Wellman B (1997) An electronic group is virtually a social network. In: Kicsler S (ed) Culture of the internet. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum, pp 179-205.
81. Wellman B (2002) Little boxes, glocalization and networked individualism. In: Tannabe M, van den Besselaar P, Ishida T (eds) Digital cities 11: computational and sociological approaches. Berlin, Springer, pp 10-25.
82. Weil S (1999) Re-creating universities for 'beyond the stable state': from 'dearingesque' systematic control to post-dearing systemic learning and inquiry. Syst Res Behav Sci 16(2): 171-190.
83. Wenger E (2007) Communities of practice. A brief introduction. http://www. ewenger. com/theory/. Accessed 1 July 2012.
84. Wenger E, McDermott R, Snyder WM (2002) Cultivating communities of practice. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
85. Wichmann J (2006) Probing secondary exposure and health data as a tool to improve public health in South Africa. Unpublished DPhil dissertation, School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
86. Zuber-Skerritt O (1996) New directions in action research. Falmer Press, London.