Browsing by Subject "Practice"
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Item Managing a writing center within a changing university(2010-05) Bitzel, Alanna Mae; Rhodes, Lodis; Leit, LisaThis report addresses how leaders at the Undergraduate Writing Center (UWC) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) can respond to changes in administration, staff, and funding to promote awareness and recognition of the UWC and increase funding to both preserve and enhance UWC programs and services that will address the needs of UT’s dynamic student population. In doing so, I apply reflective and deliberative practitioner theories to writing center work, analyzing my work at the UWC from the perspective of a reflective practitioner and participatory planner. I first provide an overview of the UWC. I then explore theories related to writing pedagogy and practice and serving as a reflective and deliberative practitioner. Next, I discuss trends in the university climate in general and UT in particular, using them to contextualize the challenges affecting the UWC as an organization working with the university system as it enters into the transition period. Finally, I propose responses to these challenges as well as future directions for UWC leaders.Item Participants and Information Outcomes in Planning Organizations(2012-10-19) Bierling, DavidThis research presents empirical evidence and interpretation about the effects of planning participants and contextual factors on information selection in public organizations. The study addresses important research questions and gaps in the literature about applicability of planning theory to practice, about effects of planning participants and participant diversity on information selection, and about community and organizational factors that influence information selection in the planning process. The research informs emergency planning, practice, and guidance, as well as planning theory and practice in general. The research sample consists of survey data from 183 local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) about their conduct of hazardous materials commodity flow studies (HMCFS), along with data from other secondary sources. HMCFS projects collect information about hazardous materials (HazMat) transport that can be used in a wide range of local emergency planning and community planning applications. This study takes the perspective that socio-cultural frameworks, such as organizational norms and values, influence information behaviors of planning participants. Controlling for organizational and community factors, the participation of community planners in HMCFS projects has a significant positive effect on selection of communicative information sources. Participation of HazMat responders in HMCFS projects does not have a significant negative effect on selection of communicative information sources. The diversity of HMCFS participants has a significant positive effect on information selection diversity. Other organizational and community factors, such as vicarious experience, 'know-how' and direct experience, financial resources, and knowledge/perception of hazards and risks are also important influences on information selection behavior. Results of this study are applicable to planning entities that are likely to use planning information: proactive LEPCs, planning agencies, and planning consortiums. The results are also applicable to community planners in local planning agencies and emergency responders in local emergency response agencies, and public planning organizations in general. In addition to providing evidence about the applicability of communicative rationality in planning practice, this research suggests that institutional/contextual, bounded, instrumental, and political rationalities may also in influence conduct of planning projects. Four corresponding prescriptive recommendations are made for planning theory and practice.Item Planning decision for vacant lots in the context of shrinking cities : a survey and comparison of practices in the United States(2014-08) Hollstein, Leah Marie; Shearer, Allan W.Planning theory and practice in the United States has been dominated by a paradigm of growth; however, since the 1980s, many cities have faced prolonged population decline, prompting questions about how shrinkage is engaged as planners attempt to provide for health, safety, and welfare. This investigation surveys and compares lines of thought being used to make decisions regarding these properties, with particular emphasis on planners located within cities having dissimilar experiences of “shrinking.” Principally, it is focused on vacant and abandoned lots, which are the most immediately visible symptom of population decline and offer the greatest opportunity to reimagine urban form-and-function relationships. The investigation begins with a literature review of the causes and effects of shrinking as well as an investigation into historical research and contemporary thought on vacant land in the United States. Current reasoning supporting decisions about vacant and abandoned lots is identified through a national survey of planning professionals in fifteen cities with either stable-to-growing or shrinking populations. These are augmented by selected follow-up interviews. Both stratified sampling and matching were used to achieve a range of city characteristics and control for them across growth orientation. This approach is new in that while case studies of one or two shrinking cities have been undertaken, there has not been a national survey focused on shrinking cities and vacancy. The goal is to understand regional trends, tools, and obstacles to progress. The results indicate a range in which methods and techniques predicated on the dominant and normative growth paradigm have been both adopted or adapted for use in shrinking cities. Results suggest that concepts regarding quality of life, intentions for the future, and community goals have been reprioritized and redefined in shrinking cities. Finally, results indicate ways in which ideas regarding the built environment and the discontinuities of the urban fabric are being reconceptualized in the face of massive economic and demographic upheaval.Item Sustaining and rapid response engineering in the reservoir sampling and pressure group of the commercial products and support organization at Schlumberger Sugar Land Technology Center(Texas A&M University, 2007-04-25) Kerr, Bradley GrayThis record of study investigates twelve months of engineering industry experience, a required internship of the Doctor of Engineering degree program at Texas A&M University. The internship company was Schlumberger Limited. The record of study begins with a brief introduction to the company. Three projects undertaken by the intern during the internship are discussed. The projects show how a wide variety of knowledge, both technical and practical, is required to solve engineering problems. Issues facing newly graduated engineers in industry are discussed. Issues facing newly graduated engineers exposed to industry for the first time are quite different than a traditional engineering curriculum has prepared them to encounter. Industry today is demanding a well-educated engineer capable of tackling technical problems in several areas as well as engineers with the ability to easily communicate and interact with others and develop leadership potential. Academia, industry, and society all have a highly influential role in developing engineers. The engineer must consider the interaction of technology and society when searching for a solution to optimize the benefit to all. The study further investigates academic challenges as well as the declining number of engineers, international competition, industry responsibility, and observations made during the internship period. Research has shown that in the next few year as the Baby Boomer generation of approximately 77 million people begin to retire, the next generation of approximately 44 million will have difficulty keeping up with technical and scientific demands. Industry demand for science and engineering graduates is beginning to overwhelm academia??????s ability to respond and produce. Few U.S. undergraduates are continuing education in graduate schools. This leaves a large student population base to be filled by international students. U.S. citizens accounted for only 35-percent of the total number of doctoral degree recipients in science and engineering during the 2005 academic year. Observations made during the internship period will be used to make recommendations to both industry and academia to help align industry demands and academic abilities in order to produce engineering graduates that are ready to accept the vastly different challenges encountered in industry.