Not All Who Wander are Lost: An Ethnographic Study of Individual Knowledge Construction within a Community of Practice

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorSiudzinski, Robert Andrewen
dc.contributor.committeecochairHicks, Daviden
dc.contributor.committeecochairDoolittle, Peter E.en
dc.contributor.committeememberUysal, Muzaffer S.en
dc.contributor.committeememberBurton, John K.en
dc.contributor.departmentLearning Sciences and Technologiesen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:12:30Zen
dc.date.adate2007-06-20en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:12:30Zen
dc.date.issued2007-05-08en
dc.date.rdate2010-10-07en
dc.date.sdate2007-05-23en
dc.description.abstractThis focused ethnography of Appalachian Trail (AT) long-distance hikers explored the situated and informal nature of individual knowledge construction as mediated through a community of practice. Unlike place-based or cyber-bound communities, the ever-changing membership and location dynamics of AT hikers offered a unique and researchable community for study. The complex and understudied sensemaking trajectories of individuals moving through this mobile community were investigated over three years through in-depth interviews and participant observations. Inductive analysis of expert and novice stories illuminated experiential patterns and collective traditions that comprise the AT learning culture. In contrast to traditional approaches to knowledge and skill acquisition, this study found socio-reflective exchanges, nested in hiking pods, to be critical sites for cognitive modeling and informal scaffolding between experts and novices. The situated encounters and developmental support of these nomadic pods were found to facilitate individuals' construction of community-based knowledge.en
dc.description.degreePh. D.en
dc.identifier.otheretd-05232007-163221en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05232007-163221/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/27864en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartETD.pdfen
dc.relation.haspartIRB.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectsituated learningen
dc.subjectreflective practicesen
dc.subjectinformal learningen
dc.subjectcommunities of practiceen
dc.subjectknowledge constructionen
dc.subjecthikersen
dc.subjectAppalachian Trailen
dc.titleNot All Who Wander are Lost: An Ethnographic Study of Individual Knowledge Construction within a Community of Practiceen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineLearning Sciences and Technologiesen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.namePh. D.en

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ETD.pdf
Size:
2.1 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Thumbnail Image
Name:
IRB.pdf
Size:
107.84 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Doctoral Dissertations