http://hdl.handle.net/10464/2253 Thu, 23 May 2013 03:16:10 GMT 2013-05-23T03:16:10Z http://hdl.handle.net/10464/2261 Niagara alternative food projects : networks, discourses and nature / This thesis undertakes an exploration of the nature of alternative food projects in Niagara. A review of various theoretical approaches to the study of food and agriculture, suggests that actor-network theory offers the most useful lens through which to understand these projects. In particular, actor-network theory facilitates non-dualistic theorisations of power and scale and a commitment to the inclusion of non-humans in the 'social' sciences. The research is based on 19 in-depth interviews with actors involved in various urban and rural projects including community supported agriculture, community gardens, chefs using local seasonal food, a winery that grows organically, the good food box, a value-added small business, and organic producers. The analysis consists of four themes. The first analytical section pays special attention to the prominence of agri-tourism in Niagara, and examines the ways in which the projects in the sample interact with agri-tourist networks. In the second section the discussion focuses on the discourses and practices of resistance among Niagara alternative food actors. The participants' interviews suggest there are more discourses of resistance toward agri-tourist than toward dominant food networks. The third section questions commodity chain theorisations of alternative food projects. In particular, this section shows how the inclusion of non-human actors in an analysis confounds conceptualisations of 'short' and 'local' chains. The final analytical section assesses relations of power in Niagara alternative food projects. Three important conclusions arise from this research. First, Niagara alternative food projects cannot be conceptualised as operating at the 'local' scale. Broadening the scope of analysis to include non-human actors, it becomes apparent that these projects actually draw on a variety of extra-local actors. They are at once local and global. Second, the projects in this sample are simultaneously part of alternative, dominant and agri-tourist networks. While Niagara alternative food projects do perform many of the roles characteristic of alternative food systems, they are also involved in practices of development, business, and class distinction. Thus, alternative food networks should not be understood as separate from and in direct opposition to dominant food networks. Despite the second conclusion, this research determines that Niagara alternative food projects have made significant strides in the reworking of power. The projects represented in this thesis do engage in resistant practices and are associated with increased levels ofjustice. Wed, 14 Jul 2004 19:40:51 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10464/2261 2004-07-14T19:40:51Z http://hdl.handle.net/10464/2112 The effectiveness of explicit strategy instruction on the top level structure of a text Banks, Jean Marie. Two intermediate geography classes were used to study the effects of explicit strategy instruction on the top level structure of a text. One group of Grade 7 and 8 students participated in the explicit strategy training about the top level structure of a text, while the other group used a more traditional method of questioning and answering when reading and writing. Specifically, comparisons were made between students' reading abilities, writing abilities, metacognitive awareness, standardized reading test scores and in class performance scores to see whether changes occurred as a direct result of explicit strategy training. It was hypothesized that explicit strategy training would improve students' reading and writing abilities. At the end of the program, however, the data did not support this hypothesis. There were some significant main effects for time. The students in both groups showed improvement over time. The te~cher's journal indicated that by the end of the study the students in the experimental condition had not yet mastered the strategy. Concerns about the readiness level of the students also arose from the teacher's journal. Thesis (M.Ed.)-- Brock University, 1995.; Brock University. Faculty of Education. Thesis Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:49:17 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10464/2112 2009-07-09T18:49:17Z http://hdl.handle.net/10464/1931 Is technology a threat to education? : the contribution of George Parkin Grant Windhorst, H. D. The writings of George Parkin Grant (1918-1988), a Canadian political philosopher, were analyzed according to his view of the relationship between technology and education. Grant's life was summarized to provide a context for understanding his ideas. His definition of technology - the co-penetration of knowing and making -- was conceptually analyzed and placed within a reading of his work that ascertained a progressive development of this definition over three distinct phases in his academic career. Grant's implicit vision of education, grounded in Christian and Platonic epistemological assumptions, was explicated and unified around his idea of the interdependence of knowing and loving. From a comparison with John Dewey's concepts of technology and education, Grant and Dewey were found to be in substantial agreement concerning the nature of modern technology, but in profound disagreement over the meaning of an educative experience. Grant's qualified, affirmative response to the question of this thesis -- Is technology a threat to education? -- was found insightful in helping to clarify some foundational issues in educational research. As well, it provided another perspective within which one can begin to assess the general impact of technology on education. Thesis (M.Ed.)-- Brock University, 1995.; Brock University. Faculty of Education. Thesis Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:38:48 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10464/1931 2009-07-09T18:38:48Z http://hdl.handle.net/10464/1910 Improving grade eight students' spelling performance with a triad strategy approach Gallagher, Tiffany L The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of explicitly teaching a triad of spelling strategies in comparison to traditional methods, to 26 Grade 8 students. The three explicitly taught strategies were error correction (with cloze procedure), imagery and analogy. The traditional instruction method included activities modelled after Grade 8 basal spellers. Students were seen in groups of thirteen for five weekly sessions of forty minutes. All students were pretested, posttested weekly, posttested immediately following the training sessions and posttested one mont? following the training. The pretest, weekly posttests and immediate posttest were dictated words spelling tests of both the training and transfer words. The one month delayed posttest was a dictated contextual sentence spelling test. Performance scores on the pretest and posttest measures were compared to determine if any differences existed between the two groups using the Dunnett procedure. Results indicated that no significant differences were found between the strategy instruction and the traditional instruction groups for the training words. However, a significant difference favouring the strategy instruction group existed on transfer words at the immediate posttest. On a secondary analysis of the data this significant difference existed at the delayed posttest. When learning growth was measured from pretest to delayed posttest, the strategy instruction group significantly outperformed the traditional instruction group with respect to correctly spelling transfer items. Thesis (M.Ed.)-- Brock University, 1996.; Brock University. Dept. of Education. Thesis Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:38:35 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10464/1910 2009-07-09T18:38:35Z