Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Practices'
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Girot, Etienne. "Practical implementation of SCRUM and associated practices." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för datavetenskap, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-100123.
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Even though Scrum is nowadays widely known in the Software Industry field and its theoretical frame extensively described in the literature, its implementation is far from being straightforward. As a matter of fact, the literature describes a meta-process that new practitioners must adapt to their project specific constraints. However, this practical aspect is crucial and very scarcely tackled. To that extend, this thesis work describes the difficulties we faced while putting Scrum into practice and how, through the study of the project contextual factors, the insight of a Proof Of Concept and the support of a couple of agile practices, we worked it out.
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Borzillo, Stefano. "Communities of practice to actively manage best practices." Wiesbaden : Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8350-9609-7.
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Siedlok, Franciszek. "Inter-community of practice collaborations : interdisciplinary research practices." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 2010. http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=14320.
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Michael, Maureen K. "Precarious practices : artists, work and knowing-in-practice." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/21879.
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This study presents a new perspective on work practice in conceptual art. Using ethnographic evidence from five visual artists, the study used a combined visual arts and practice orientated perspective to explore the materiality of their everyday work and the sociomaterial practices shaping it. Close scrutiny is given to the forms of expertise embedded in this through concepts of knowing-in-practice and epistemic objects. Emerging from the findings is clearer understanding of how an arts-based methodology might enhance knowledge about artists’ knowing-in-practice. Popular representations of contemporary artists often ignore the realities of precarious work. This is reflected in the professional education of artists with its concentration on studio-based activities and emphasis on the production and products of artmaking. This study reconfigures and reconceptualises the work of artists as assemblages of sociomaterial practices that include, but are not limited to artmaking – so providing a different representation of the work of artists as a continuous collaboration of mundane materials. The study identified seven sociomaterial practices, defined as movement-driven; studio-making; looking; pedagogic; self-promotion; peer support; and pause. As these practices are subject to ever-changing materialities, they are constantly reassembled. Analysis revealed hidden interiors of underemployment and income generation to be significant factors embedded in the mundane materialities of everyday work, revealing resilience and adaptability as key forms of expertise necessary for the assembling of practices. Further, the arts-based methodology of ‘integrated imagework’ created ways of visually analysing the materially-mediated, socially situated nature of knowing in practice, and demonstrated how relational concepts relating to knowing-in-practice might be better analysed. Findings indicate how the professional education of artists – particularly the way the workplace of the studio is understood – could be re-envisioned to support the fluidity of contemporary artistic practices. The studio itself is a form of knowledge – ever changing – forming and being formed by the practices of artists. Adopting this view of studio-based education would be a radical departure from current studio-based pedagogies in contemporary art education. Further, resilience – the capacity to sustain practices that are emergent and constantly unfolding – becomes a form of expertise central to the professional education of artists.
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Maletsky, Jade. "Describing marketing practices using the social theory of practice." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/24691.
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The world of Marketing is a multifaceted broad discipline and over recent years it has fundamentally changed. Marketing is consistently evolving and many authors are calling for a new definition. A shift in thinking is necessary in order to identify new opportunities and re-examine the conventional models. The recent Contemporary Marketing Practice series of research has looked at describing Marketing practices within the marketing context. This programme analyses the multiple disciplines within marketing. It does not, however deconstruct or examine marketing practices. It merely examines the multiple marketing activities but does not consider practice theory. The social theory of practice provides an opportunity to examine Marketing using a ‘practice lens’. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to investigate Marketing practices using the theory of social practice. This theory defines practices as understanding, procedures and engagement and these three components have been applied to the marketing context. This research uses case study methodology in a large financial services organisation to explore marketing practices in more detail. This provides a deeper understanding of these components within the marketing department. It was found that the social theory of practice provides a rich exploration into the field of marketing highlighting a new way to describe marketing. The practices etymology and terminology have been explored using the anatomy of practices as defined by the social theory of practice to ensure construct validity and a common platform for academics and practitioners. The report provides a framework that aims at describing and optimising marketing practices and concludes with recommendations and future research. CopyrightDissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
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Önnevall, Elin. "Television Practices : Ethnography, Television and User Practices." Licentiate thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för data- och systemvetenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-100369.
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This thesis explores television practices in a time when new technology has made it possible to interact with and create your own TV content. The work is focused on how user practices need to be understood in a context of chan- ging technology. The practices studied also show the relevance of ethno- graphic methods, and especially the wide spectrum of these different meth- ods within the field of Human-Computer Interaction. We distinguish be- tween sociologically informed ethnography and anthropological ethnogra- phy. Two questions are addressed: how can new forms of television practices be understood by means of different ethnographic methods, and, on a wider level, what method can we use for analysing methods in ethnographic re- search? Because ethnographic methods are qualitative, we have also chosen to use an open and qualitative approach when analysing them. Through comparing our different methods – their data and findings on one specific topic – we have discovered the differences between the methodological ap- proaches.
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Börjesson, Rivera Miriam. "Practice makes perfect? : Sustainable practices with ICT and daily travel." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Miljöstrategisk analys (fms), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-175753.
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The thesis shows how practice theory can be applied in different ways when exploring how daily life can be supported to become more environmentally sustainable. Ultimately the thesis aims to contribute to new knowledge on how to design policies and interventions that aim at facilitating environmentally sustainable practices. This thesis argues that practice theory is useful in the field of sustainability research since it offers as point of departure a perspective on human everyday life which decentres focus from individual behaviour and instead looks at how social practices are constructed by integrating and combining material, bodily and mental elements. The thesis discusses the following questions: i) How can the role of ICT in everyday life be conceptualized from a practice perspective?, ii) How can practice theory be used in order to describe and assess second order environmental effects? and iii) What are the key considerations from a practice perspective when designing social/physical interventions for sustainable mobility? The papers in this thesis all use practice theory as point of departure but with different outcomes. Practice theory is thus used conceptually, methodologically and analytically. The main conclusions of the thesis are: Changes in practices due to ICT usage will inevitably have environmental impacts, both negative and positive, and for policy-makers it is imperative to take this into consideration when planning for the future and actively support and facilitate sustainable social practices. Looking at changes in practices due to new ICT usage can be one way to include second order effects in environmental assessments, in this way contributing to a discussion of potential environmental impacts from implementing a new product, application or service. Interventions, such as a cargo bike pool or restrictive work travel policies, have the potential to change existing practices. However, the potential of these changes, depend on a variety of different factors which are more or less difficult to influence for the individual practitioner such as work location, time schedules, availability of transportation means and modes. Further, it is difficult to foresee exactly how such changes will look and if they sustain in the long run. Finally, it is not necessarily so that an intervention will have the desired outcome that was intended, the outcome might be something else, consequently this means that interventions need to be analysed and assessed from other perspectives, one being a practice perspective.Denna avhandling visar hur praktikteori (practice theory) kan tillämpas på olika sätt när man ska utforska hur det dagliga livet kan bli mer miljömässigt hållbart. Ytterst syftar avhandlingen till att bidra till ny kunskap om hur man kan utforma strategier och åtgärder som syftar till att stödja miljömässigt hållbara praktiker. Denna avhandling hävdar att praktikteori är användbart inom hållbarhetsforskning eftersom den utgår från de vardagliga praktikerna. Detta ger ett perspektiv på människors vardagsliv som lyfter fokus upp från individens beteende och istället undersöker hur praktiker skapas och omskapas genom de element (material, färdigheter och symbolisk innebörd) som utgör en social praktik. Avhandlingen behandlar följande frågor: i) Hur kan IKT: s roll i det dagliga livet begreppsliggöras?, ii) Hur kan praktikteori användas för att beskriva och andra ordningens miljöeffekter i miljöbedömningar? och iii) Vilka är de viktigaste överväganden utifrån ett praktikteoriperspektiv vid utformningen av sociala och/eller fysiska åtgärder för hållbar mobilitet? Artiklarna i denna avhandling utgår från praktikteori, men det teoretiska ramverket används på ett konceptuellt, metodologiskt eller analytiskt vis i de olika artiklarna. De viktigaste slutsatserna i avhandlingen är: Förändringar i till följd av IKT-användning kommer oundvikligen ha miljöpåverkan som kan vara både negativ och positiv. För beslutsfattare är det viktigt att ta hänsyn till detta när man planerar för framtiden och aktivt stödja och underlätta för hållbara sociala praktiker. Miljöbedömningar behöver kunna hantera och inkludera så kallade effekter av andra ordningen för att kunna bedöma potentiell miljöpåverkan som en ny produkt, program eller en tjänst kan ha. Ett sätt att inkludera andra ordningens effekter i miljöbedömningar kan vara att titta på förändringar i vardagliga praktiker som uppstår vid användning av IKT. Interventioner och andra typer av åtgärder har potential att förändra befintliga mobilitetspraktiker. Men dessa potentiella förändringar, beror på en rad olika faktorer som är mer eller mindre svårt att påverka för den enskilde utövaren så som arbetsplatsens lokalisering, scheman, tillgång till transportmedel och transportsätt. Vidare är det svårt att förutse exakt hur sådana förändringar kommer att se ut och om de håller i sig i det långa loppet. Slutligen är det inte nödvändigtvis så att en intervention eller annan åtgärd kommer att ha det önskade resultatet som avsågs, utan resultatet kan snarare vara något annat. Detta innebär att insatser och åtgärder måste analyseras och bedömas ur andra perspektiv, till exempel ett praktikteoretiskt perspektiv.
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Abdo, Ragheb. "Islamist moderation in practice: democratic practices and their shifting meanings." Thesis, McGill University, 2012. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=107854.
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The purpose of this thesis is to examine the causes of Islamist ideological moderation. It focuses on the role of discursive structures and social practices in bringing about this ideational change. Through an in-depth case study of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, a discourse and practice analysis is conducted to provide a theory that traces this group's moderation as a process. The thesis presents the argument that the group's increasing moderation was a result of practicing politics in a structural environment that challenged them strategically and ideologically. Under these environmental conditions, significant contestation arose within the movement. Resolving these debates internally by providing ideological justifications for controversial political practices, and doing so through deliberative democratic processes, provided the legitimacy needed to alter, and moderate, the movement's ideology.L'objectif du présent mémoire est d'examiner les causes qui sous-tendent la modération du discours idéologique des groupes Islamistes. À cet égard, ce mémoire se concentre sur le rôle des structures discursives et des pratiques sociales qui constituent la condition de possibilité de ce changement idéationnel. Grâce à une étude de cas approfondie des Frères Musulmans en Jordanie, ce mémoire mène une analyse du discours et des pratiques sociales pour formuler une théorie qui trace le processus de modération idéologique du dit groupe. Ainsi, ce mémoire présente la thèse que la croissante modération idéologique des Frères Musulmans en Jordanie est le résultat d'une façon de pratiquer la politique dans un environnement structurel qui les défit stratégiquement et idéologiquement. Sous ces conditions structurelles, un important courant de contestation est né au sein du groupe. Le fait de résoudre cette contestation à l'interne en ayant recours à des explications idéologiques pour justifier des pratiques politiques controversées, en plus de le faire en ayant recours à des processus démocratiques délibératifs, a fourni la légitimité nécessaire pour altérer et modérer l'idéologie du groupe.
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Moller, Virginia. "Leading Practices of Steiner School Principals: A Reflective Practice Perspective." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/22139.
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The study is located in a Steiner and broader educational context. There has been a shift towards a principal leadership model in Steiner school settings that have been required to meet the contemporary realities of increased regulatory and compliance-driven demands. This is at odds with non-hierarchical Steiner organisational models, which reflect the educational and social renewal ideals of Steiner’s world view. Steiner school principals are caught in the crossfire of this ideological divide. Through an autoethnographic inquiry using the theory of practice architectures as a framing and an analytic tool, I explored the nature of my leading practices as principal in a volatile Steiner school context where I ‘sat in the fire’ of whole school upheaval over a sustained period. My narrative inquiry has revealed that the practice of shared and collective responsibility within Steiner’s republican/democratic ideal is not impossible where there is a principal role in the school’s leadership arrangements. Capable, praxis-led leading practices are not only possible to overcome persistent doubt and uncertainty in the Steiner context, but also crucial in developing both its educational and social ideals. This involves moving beyond simplistic binaries of hierarchy/non-hierarchy to acknowledge multiple authorities in the school, as well as a deep and shared understanding of the role of decision making, pedagogical leadership, and the power of reflective practice in shaping capable, praxis-led leading practices towards renewal. The research findings are highly significant, as the first in Australia which focuses on lived experience as a basis for bringing to light the nature of such leading practices in a specific context.
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Reeser, Kelly Butler. "Policy, practice and review evidence based practices in autism spectrum disorders /." Connect to Electronic Thesis (CONTENTdm), 2010. http://worldcat.org/oclc/648982148/viewonline.
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Turgay, Ozce. "Hands-on Building Practice In Architectural Education: Metu Summer Construction Practices." Master's thesis, METU, 2005. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/2/12606915/index.pdf.
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This thesis explores the position of hands-on building practices in architectural education by focusing on METU Summer Construction Practices (ARCH190), which has been conducted in the rural sites of Turkey since 1958. It is believed that the summer construction practice is a tool of education to acquire knowledge of architecture by building 1-to-1 scale constructions. METU Summer Construction Practices are examined by asking the questions of what is learned and how is learned in order to understand both the content and objectives and also the pedagogic strategies, learning methods of the summer construction practices. The main purpose of summer construction practices is learning how to build and ways of making architecture. The basic learning methods of METU summer construction practices are determined as learning by doing, learning with collaborative working, task-oriented and student-based active learning, integrating the tasks of designing-building, and learning from working with and for the context.
This study emphasizes that learning by building 1-to-1 scale constructions are complementary of learning in design studios, and it should become an integral part of the whole learning process in the design education. Hands-on building practice is a productive process that supports the design education. Students are expected to derive and produce knowledge by building full-scale constructions in the real site. The thesis argues for the fact that hands-on building practice is to be more than the obtaining of knowledge and skill of making architecture only by instructions. Learning process is to be based on the simultaneous involvement of thinking-doing (taking action)-skill-production of knowledge rather than a linear process of knowledge-skill-taking action.
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Ballance, Trevor. "Putting Japanese youth into practice : Japanese student campus practices and sustainability." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2018. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/21288/.
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Practice theory has been increasingly employed to deepen understanding of how everyday life is conducted, including the question of how our daily activities might evolve in more sustainable directions (Shove and Spurling 2013; Strengers and Maller 2015). This thesis uses practice theory – specifically a modified version of the Three-Element (3E) Model of social practice as developed by Shove, Pantzar and Watson (2012) – to bring a new understanding of student activities on the campus of a Japanese university, and suggest how insights might contribute to the wider debate on sustainability. This is the first piece of research to use the practice theory approach to look at the daily lives of Japanese university students. Longitudinal data were gathered using various qualitative methods including intensive interviews with Japanese students, a field diary at several locations on the campus, and through the shadowing of students around the campus. The data were then analysed from a practice theory perspective using an expanded form of the 3E Model that incorporates consideration of Japanese socialisation processes (Nakane, 1970; Kumagai, 1996; Sugimoto, 2014), and various radical notions of spatiality and temporality (Massey, 2005; Southerton, 2013). This shows how collective social practices on a campus in Japan are produced, and how the establishment of a greater level of sustainability among the cohort of Japanese students might be informed. The thesis finds that practice theory offers an effective route for a greater understanding of the actions of Japanese university students especially if it incorporates expanded concepts of spatiality and collective cultural experiences.
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Finnell, Deborah S., Elizabeth L. Thomas, Wendy M. Nehring, Kris A. McLoughlin, and Carol J. Bickford. "Best Practices for Developing Specialty Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6707.
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Nursing specialization involves focusing on nursing practice in an identified specific area within the entire field of professional nursing. A defined specialty scope of practice statement and standards of professional practice, with accompanying competencies, are unique to each nursing specialty. These documents help assure continued understanding and recognition of nursing’s diverse professional contributions. The purpose of this article is to demystify the process for specialty nurses who are creating or revising their specialty nursing scope and standards of practice. We provide best practices for the developmental process based on our recently published scope and standards of specialty nursing practice. The conclusion provides strategies to disseminate scope and standards documents to appropriate stakeholders.
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Owen, Gwyneth. "Becoming a practice profession : a genealogy of physiotheraphy's moving/touching practices." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2014. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/68522/.
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This research responds to gaps in the literature about the evolution of physiotherapy practice and to uncertainties emerging from within physiotherapy about its professionalism and practice. It aimed to generate a theoretically informed understanding of the tensions present in contemporary physiotherapy practice by producing an embodied account of the process of becoming a practice profession. The research aim was achieved by a genealogical study of existing literature, documentary data from physiotherapy’s qualifying curricula and oral accounts of practice generated by depth interviews with physiotherapists who qualified during the 1940/60s. These data were subject to a Foucauldian discourse analysis and a phenomenological analysis to explore the events, discourses and actions shaping physiotherapy practice over time. Unlike existing historic accounts that trace the evolution of physiotherapy’s professional identity, this research prioritises the bodies doing physiotherapy over time so offers a fresh perspective on physiotherapy as a practice and as a profession. From a ‘doing’ perspective, professionalism ceases to be an acquisition that is externally bestowed and becomes a dynamic process of experiencing/producing autonomous problem-solving in practice. Physiotherapy’s professional practice can be traced back to the 1945 curriculum. It was enacted through the integration of physiotherapy movement/touch and by the discipline of movement, which generated autonomous problem-solving practices that cut across ward/disease boundaries established by medicine from the 1950s onwards. While still subject to medical supervision, physiotherapy’s movement/touch crossed the division of labour to develop capacity to produce diagnosis-inference-treatment once its technical autonomy was recognised in 1977. Once free of medicine, physiotherapy’s professional practices multiplied to provide moving/touching solutions for an increasing variety of movement disorders. My research complements the existing (disembodied) critical histories of physiotherapy as a profession and demonstrates the value of embodiment as a lens for tracing movement in physiotherapy’s professional identities and practices over time. It adds to sociological understanding of the organisation of healthcare occupations and practices by offering an account of a body that is a moving part of a division of labour organised around the dominant profession of medicine.
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Woida, Angela. "Best Management Practices-A Practical Way to Protect the Environment." College of Agriculture, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/295729.
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Begley, Ciaran John. "Experimental Practices." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/17604.
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In my paper I investigate the experimental nature of my multidisciplinary practice through theory and visual stimulus. I look at the image as a basis for aesthetic, emotional, and philosophical investigation; grounding my research in practice, contemporary photographic theory, ancient philosophy and modern physics. I look at developments in my installational practice in terms of Minimalist and Institutional concerns and performance installation in regards to Relational Aesthetics; this analysis of both the medium and context of the work leading to new strategies in exhibition practice. The grounding of theory in practice has over the course of my Masters project led to a new conception of my work as a series of exercises in medium reflexive practice. This paper outlines medium reflexivity and how this concept has shaped the work I have developed for my final examination as an experimental exhibition.
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Olgac, Deniz, and Sara Selberg. "Practical Suggestions for Implementing Open Innovation Practices : Drawing from Open Innovation Practices at Nokia and Procter & Gamble." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för hållbar samhälls- och teknikutveckling, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-6347.
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The purpose of this thesis is to extract and provide practical knowledge and examples from both theory and practice in order to clarify some practices that can be used in the implementation of open innovation. It can be of interest for whomever willing to gain an insight into the practical features of open innovation and for companies considering, or struggling with the implementation of open innovation. The study was approached with a qualitative and interpretive method. Secondary sources were used exclusively to review the practical aspects of open innovation in theory and practice. Open innovation practice at Nokia Corp. and the Procter & Gamble Company were researched and reported using studies of other authors as well as the companies’ own publications. The classification of open innovation practices in contemporary literature is not sufficient to provide an understanding for the various types of open innovation practices that can be applied and used in practice. A classification based on types of activities is presented by the authors, and practical suggestions regarding design and implementation concludes the thesis.
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Sung, Suz-Chieh. "Parenting practices : parenting practices across children's temperament and cultures." Online access for everyone, 2007. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Thesis/Spring2007/s_sung_042607.pdf.
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Maart, Ronel. "Aligning the clinical assessment practices with the assessment practices." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/17888.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Removable Prosthetic Dentistry (PRO400) is a fourth year module of the undergraduate dentistry programme which consists of a large clinical component. After reviewing relevant literature and conducting module evaluations, clinical tests were introduced and implemented in 2008 as an additional clinical assessment method. The intention of introducing the clinical tests was an attempt to ensure that students were assessed fairly, that their theoretical knowledge and the ability to apply it clinically were properly assessed, and to provide feedback on their clinical performance. The purpose of this concurrent mixed methods study was to compare the relationship between the students‟ performance in the clinical tests and daily clinical grades with their theoretical performance in the PRO400 module. The second part of the study explored the academic staff s‟ perceptions of the clinical test as clinical assessment tool in the PRO400 module. The case study design enabled the researcher to explore the question at hand in considerable depth. The mixed methods approach was useful to capture the best of both the qualitative and quantitative approaches. For the quantitative data-collection, record reviews of the results of fourth-year dental students‟ who completed the PRO400 module at the end of 2007 were used, and included 110 students. For the qualitative component three full-time lecturers within the Prosthetic department were interviewed. The clinical test marks and clinical session marks of all the students (n=109) in PRO400 were compared to their theory mark of that year. The tests marks were entered into a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel and the data analysis was done with the assistance of a statistician. The analytical abstraction method was used to assist with the qualitative data analysis; first the basic level of analysis was done in the narrative form, followed by second higher level of data analysis. The basic and higher levels of analysis were discussed under the following themes: clinical tests, student performances, alignment of theory and clinical assessment and personal influence on supervisors‟ assessment practices and attitude. Role-taking and the supervisors‟ perceptions and concerns regarding the students were explored as emergent themes. The quantitative findings were displayed using tables and graphs. Forty five students. clinical marks were 10% higher than their theory mark, while only 8 students. theory marks were 10% higher than their clinical test mark. There appeared to be hardly any relationship between the students. clinical daily grade assessment marks and their theory marks. The average theory mark was 47%, the average clinical test marks were 55% and the average daily clinical grade was 63%. Integration of the data obtained from the different data collection methods was done at the level of data interpretation. The clinical test as an assessment tool is well accepted by the supervisors and they agreed that it is more reliable and accurate than the clinical daily grade assessment method. The quantitative findings relate well to other reported studies that concluded that the daily grade was poorly correlated with the competency exams (a similar phenomenon in the clinical test of the PRO400 module). From the findings of this study it appeared that there is a better correlation of the clinical test mark and the theory mark, than clinical daily mark and the theory mark. This finding related well with the lecturers. views that the clinical tests were more reliable as a clinical assessment tool than the daily clinical mark.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: "Removable Prosthetic Dentistry (PRO400)" is 'n vierdejaar-module in die voorgraadse tandheelkundeprogram wat 'n groot kliniese komponent bevat. Na 'n oorsig gedoen is van die relevante literatuur, en nadat die module-evaluering afgehandel is, is kliniese toetse in 2008 ingevoer en geimplementeer as 'n bykomende metode van kliniese assessering. Die kliniese toetse is ingestel in 'n poging om te verseker dat studente se teoretiese kennis en hul vermoe om dit klinies toe te pas op . regverdige wyse geassesseer word en om terugvoer te kan gee oor die studente se kliniese prestasie. Die doel van hierdie studie, waarin gelyktydige gemengde metodes gebruik is, was om die verband tussen die studente se prestasie in die kliniese toetse, asook hul daaglikse kliniese punte en hul teoretiese prestasie in die PRO400-module vas te stel. Die tweede deel van die studie het ondersoek ingestel na die akademiese personeel se persepsies van die kliniese toets as 'n instrument vir kliniese assessering in die PRO400-module. 'n Dwarssnit-gevallestudie-ontwerp is gebruik en 'n gemengdemetode-benadering was nuttig om sowel kwalitatiewe as kwantitatiewe data in te samel. Vir die kwantitatiewe data-insamelingverslae is die uitslae van 109 vierdejaar-tandeheelkundestudente in die PRO400-module aan die einde van 2007 gebruik. Vir die kwalitatiewe data-insameling is onderhoude gevoer met drie voltydse dosente in die Prostetiese Tandheelkunde-departement. Die kliniese toetspunte en die kliniese sessiepunte van al die studente (n=109) in die PRO400-module is met hul teoriepunte van daardie jaar vergelyk. Die toetspunte is op 'n sigblad in Microsoft Excel ingevoer en die data-analise is met die hulp van 'n statistikus gedoen. Die analitiese abstraksiemetode is vir die analise van die kwalitatiewe data gebruik. Die basiese vlak van data-analise in die narratiewe vorm is eerste gedoen. Dit is gevolg deur 'n tweede, hoervlak-data-analise. Die basiese en hoer vlakke van analise is onder die volgende temas bespreek: kliniese toetse, studenteprestasie, ooreenstemming van teorie en kliniese assessering, en persoonlike invloed op studieleiers se assesseringspraktyke en houding. Rol-aanneming en die studieleiers se persepsies, asook kwessies rakende die studente is as ontluikende temas ondersoek. Die resultate van hierdie studie het aangetoon dat die kliniese punte van 45 studente 10% hoër was as hul teoriepunte, en dat slegs agt studente se teoriepunte 10% hoër as hul kliniese toetspunte was. Dit het geblyk dat daar feitlik geen verband was tussen die studente se kliniese daaglikse assesseringspunte en hul teoriepunte nie. Die gemiddelde teoriepunt was 47%, die gemiddelde kliniese toetspunt was 55% en die gemiddelde daaglikse kliniese punt was 63%. Al die studieleiers het die kliniese toets as assesseringsinstrument goed aanvaar en hulle het saamgestem dat dit meer betroubaar en akkuraat is as die daaglikse kliniese assesseringsmetode. Die kwantitatiewe bevindings hou goed verband met dié van soortgelyke studies waarin daar bevind is dat die daaglikse prestasie swak gekorreleer het met die bevoegdheidseksamen (ʼn soortgelyke beginsel as die kliniese toets van die Pro400). Dit het ook uit die bevindings van hierdie navorsing geblyk dat daar ʼn beter korrelasie is tussen die kliniese toetspunt en die teoriepunt as tussen die daaglikse kliniese punt en die teoriepunt. Hierdie bevinding het ʼn duidelike verband getoon met die dosente se siening dat die kliniese toetse as ʼn kliniese assesseringsinstrument meer betroubaar is as die daaglikse kliniese punt in die PRO400-module in die Tandheelkunde-program.
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Hanks, Judith Ingeborg. "Exploratory practice in English for academic purposes : puzzling over principles and practices." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.595649.
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Exploratory Practice (EP) is a relative newcomer to the field of practitioner research in language education. Distinctive in attempting to integrate research and pedagogy via a process of puzzlement, it advocates the inclusion of learners alongside teachers as researchers into their own classroom practices. A1though EP appears to be thriving in different places around the world (notably Brazil), it is rarely to be found in the context of teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in the UK. Studies which explicitly include learner perspectives are also unusual. This thesis examines the principles underpinning the EP framework as it was implemented on two pre-sessional courses at a university in the north of England. Two case studies investigating the practical challenges and theoretical implications of the innovation are presented. Taking a qualitative approach, participants (both teachers and learners) were interviewed at regular intervals during their courses and artefacts such as student posters and course timetables were collected. Template analysis was used to draw out and correct themes from the data, and the cases were presented as a series of interconnected narratives. Although the open-ended, flexible nature of EP had seemed inimical to the goal-oriented, highly pressured circumstances of EAP, it became clear that EP was enthusiastically adopted by participants. The findings suggest that EP can be successfully incorporated in an EAP context, but that doing so throws belief structures about research and pedagogy into sharp relief. These beliefs are subject to cognitive dissonance, and are often ideologically loaded, consequently attempts to reconcile them require more thought. Issues of relevance, ownership, and puzzling rather than problem-solving suffused the study. Two options are therefore presented: first, a more politic approach is to reframe EP as a form of pedagogy rather than research; second, more radically, the notion of what 'counts' as research needs to be redefined to allow for more innovative, locally relevant, co-constructions of knowledge
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Rigby, Emma Dulcie. "Fashion design and laundry practices : practice-orientated approaches to design for sustainability." Thesis, University of the Arts London, 2016. http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/12014/.
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This doctoral enquiry develops practice-orientated approaches to design for sustainability. It focuses on the relationship between garment design, laundry practices and sustainability, and responds to research that evidences domestic laundering as one of the most environmentally damaging stages in a garment’s lifecycle (Allwood, et al.,2006; Hansen, et al., 2007). A one-year laundry study surveyed the use and laundry of sixteen garments to ascertain the relationship between garment design and laundry behaviour. The research findings revealed that laundry behaviours are complex and unpredictable, and often not directly linked to producing cleaner clothes. Laundry routines are underpinned by factors beyond cleanliness including: garment use, social auditing, garment aesthetics,life stage, cultural norms, and spatial arrangements within the household. Through re-examining laundry as a social practice the research develops a series of design provocations to challenge the organisation of laundry practices, and by extension the frequencies and processes in which laundry is carried out. The findings highlight that understanding laundry as a social practice opens a space to reconceptualise design, laundry behaviour and sustainability. It decentres material products and attends to the embedded social dynamics that are set within a nexus of spaces, materials, thoughts, actions and emotions. This provides an alternative lens from which to view and develop design theories and practice for sustainability in fashion. The central insight from the research shows there are multiple benefits from incorporating social theory into methodologies for design for sustainability.
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Alnajjar, Munther Saleh Numan A. "Combating antibiotic resistance in clinical practice : optimising antibiotic and infection control practices." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2016. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.695214.
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The present research involved the implementation / evaluation of several approaches to optimising antibiotic use and infection control. The first study reported within this thesis aimed at assessing the impact of an antibiotic policy on reducing high-risk antibiotic usage in hospital practice and the associated incidence rates of MRSA and C. difficile infection (CD!). There was a significant decrease in high-risk antibiotic use within the three studied hospitals as a result of the policy. MRSA and CD! incidence rates were monitored in one of the hospitals and both rates decreased significantly. The next study reported in the thesis focused on the influence of antibiotic prescribing in primary care on the incidence rates of ESBL-producing bacteria detected in patients who were hospitalised. It was clearly shown that previous exposure in primary care to fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins (second and third generation) were independently associated with ESBL detection in hospital. Moving to the wound infection area, an interrupted timeseries analysis was performed to examine the impact of infection control practices on rates of post-caesarean surgical site infection (SSI). In this work, there was a significant drop in the incidence rate of SSIs after the introduction of the main intervention in the study (use of ChloraPrep® skin disinfectant). In the final experimental chapter, the aim was to evaluate changes in the incidence of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI when switching from mechanical-valve needleless connector use to the use of split-septum needle less connectors in an intensive care unit. A reduction in the CRBSI incidence rate was identified after this switch took place. Overall, the work presented in this thesis adds evidence which supports guidelines on controlling antibiotic use and healthcare acquired infections. The findings will help inform future new services and practices that will enhance healthcare quality and patient safety.
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Veblen, Nora Bryant. "MUSIC THERAPISTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES REGARDING MUSICAL AUTHENTICITY IN MUSIC THERAPY PRACTICE." UKnowledge, 2018. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/129.
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Music therapists are expected to provide live music for clients with diverse preferences, yet these therapists face many barriers preventing them from recreating client-preferred music in a way that adheres to the expectations of the genre, or with “musical authenticity.” The purpose of this study was to investigate music therapists’ perceptions and practices regarding musical authenticity. Survey responses (n = 904) indicated that music therapists highly value musical authenticity, but a major theme in the qualitative data revealed they often balance its importance with other factors. Descriptive survey data and qualitative themes revealed lack of training in functional musicianship and electronic technology as major barriers to musical authenticity. A major qualitative theme regarding therapists’ practices was the use of collaboration with clients and creative solutions. Most participants indicated use of non-electronic strategies and reported they had not used electronic technology to increase musical authenticity. Descriptive survey data and qualitative themes revealed frequent and effective use of recorded music. Finally, chi-square analyses revealed significant relationships between age and use of technology and iPad and between gender and use of technology. Music therapists would benefit from additional training, more research on authenticity, and music therapy specific guidelines for using music authentically.
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Trivette, Carol M., and Bonnie Keilty. "DEC Family Recommended Practices: Knowing Families, Tailoring Practices, Building Capacity." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. http://pubs.cec.sped.org/s6284/.
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The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practices provide guidance to families and professionals about the most effective ways to improve learning outcomes and promote development of young children, birth through age 5, who have, or are at risk for, developmental delays or disabilities. Family: Knowing Families, Tailoring Practices, Building Capacity is the third edition of the DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series, and it offers professionals and families multiple ways to implement the family practices across the settings in which children grow and learn. The articles in this collection provide guidance by illustrating how to implement the Family Recommended Practices with fidelity and flexibility. The monograph offers a unique contribution to the field by including authentic family voices as primary or equal contribution.
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Hendricks, Kelly Cecile. "Expanding the understanding of positive organisational practices in positively deviant organisations: An online desk research review." University of the Western Cape, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/6941.
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Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS)Positive organisational practices are actions performed by employees within the workplace that enhance worker and organisational wellness. In identifying positively deviant organisations, specific positive practices within the organisation were studied as an online desk research. This study is based on a backdrop of a study by Cameron et al. (2011) where the authors theorise about certain positive practices, but do not stipulate actual practices. In understanding what these positive practices look like, the study used the interpretive paradigm. Through qualitative inquiry, thematic analysis was used to expand the understanding of manifest positive practices in organisations. The researcher used two significant ways of gathering the data, both through the internet; looking up "top" and "happiest" companies to work for as well as looking at the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) Network online resources and Michigan Ross School of Business online page. All of the data gathered (150 pieces) was from secondary internet / online sources. The results generated 13 themes, of which five stood out as most salient: social interactions at work, inclusivity of all differences, mindfulness, transparent/open communication and creativity/innovation. The study concludes by identifying similarities between Cameron et al. (2011) and the study results, and proposes a link between 11 of the themes. Furthermore, the results suggest that seven of the study’s practices coincide with one particular practice from Cameron et al. (2011): ‘inspiring’ others in the workplace. The significance of the study includes the expanded understanding of positive organisational (manifest) practices that take place in positively deviant organisations. By comparing and contrasting these practices with the Cameron et al. (2011) positive practices, similarities were found. Recommendations for future research are offered.
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Drabek, Matthew Louis. "A phenomenological account of practices." Diss., University of Iowa, 2012. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2861.
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Appeals to practices are common the humanities and social sciences. They hold the potential to explain interesting or compelling similarities, insofar as similarities are distributed within a community or group. Why is it that people who fall under the same category, whether men, women, Americans, baseball players, Buddhists, feminists, white people, or others, have interesting similarities, such as similar beliefs, actions, thoughts, foibles, and failings? One attractive answer is that they engage in the same practices. They do the same things, perhaps as a result of doing things at the same site or setting, or perhaps as a result of being raised in a similar way among members of the same group. In the humanities, appeals to practices often serve as a move to point out diversity among different communities or diversity within the same community. Communities are distinct from one another in part because their members do different things or do things in different ways. The distinct and varied ways in which different communities enact social norms or formulate law, state institutions, and public policy might be explicable in part by the different practices their members are socialized into. Appeals to practices hold the promise of explaining these differences in terms of the different background practices of the groups, cultivated through a kind of cultural isolation or sense of collective identity. In the social sciences, appeals to practices have played a central role in fundamental theorizing and theory building. Appeals to practices in the social sciences are often much more systematic and theoretical, forming the core of the systematic theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Anthony Giddens in Anthropology and Sociology. Practice theory has thus become a growth industry in social scientific investigation, offering the promise of a central object of investigation that explains both unity and difference within and across communities and groups. But it is unclear just what practices are and what role, both ontological and explanatory, that practices are supposed to play. The term `practices' is used to pick out a wide range of things, and its relation to other terms, from `tradition' or `paradigm' to `framework' or `presupposition', is unclear. Practices are posited as ubiquitous, yet they are difficult to isolate and pin down. We are all said to participate in them, but they remain hidden. Their role, whether causal, logical, or hermeneutical, remains mysterious. After locating the historical origins of appeals to practices in the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger, my dissertation uses Stephen Turner's broad and systematic critique of appeals to practices to develop a new type of account. My account is a phenomenological account that treats practices as human doings that show up to people in material and social environments and make themselves available for specific responses in those environments. I argue that a phenomenological account is an effective alternative to accounts that treat practices as either shared objects with properties or shared and implicit presuppositions. I use a phenomenological account of practices to treat important debates in feminist philosophy and the philosophy of the social sciences, particularly debates over pornography's subordination of women and the classification of mental disorders in psychiatry.
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Hall, Gerrit. "Startup hiring practices." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/90217.
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Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2014.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
An exploratory qualitative study of hiring practices at technology startups in Silicon Valley and the USA.
by Gerrit Hall.
M.B.A.
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Brunious, Wendell J. "Maturation of Practices." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2014. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1855.
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The disparate concepts of Pop Art and abstract painting heavily influence the scope of my work. Finding a link between these two concepts has been the focal point of my studio practices. The apex of my process is the focus on commercial imagery as abstract form. The merging of these two concepts presents a complex composition of balance, color and information.
This thesis explores the various concepts as well as influences that have propelled the evolution of my work. It chronicles the steps I have taken in my quest to articulate my conceptual ideas. By describing the works and defining their characteristics, this analysis gives further insight to my perception as well as process.
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Broderick, Jane Tingle. "Reggio Inspired Practices." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2012. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4241.
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Axelsson, Anton. "Hittite Mortuary Practices." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-324808.
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The Hittite burial material consists of a very heterogeneous material. The material shows some shared aspects between the different cemeteries and their grave types. However, this material lacks previous extensive comparative studies in central Anatolia. This study aims to problematize this funerary material, by re-evaluating the previous interpretation and by creating links between the different types of material and the cemeteries it was found in. This will be achieved by analyzing four different categories of Hittite graves from the three cemeteries: Osmankayasi, Gordion and Ilica. The total material consists of 268 graves: 91 from Osmankayasi, 46 from Gordion and 131 from Ilica. The material was originally excavated and published during the fifties and sixties by the three archaeologists Kurt Bittel, Machteld Mellink and Winfried Orthmann. The burial material will be analyzed to establish parallels and differences between the three sites, their materials and grave categories. Literary sources and empirical data will be used to supplement previous research but also the new interpretations discussed in this thesis. Keywords: Hittite, cemeteries, mortuary practices, Osmankayasi, Gordion, Ilica, cremations, pithos burials, pit graves, cist-graves, ethnicity, status, equidsDet Hettitiska begravnings materialet består av ett väldigt heterogent material. Materialet visar ändå vissa delade aspekter mellan de olika gravfälten och gravtyperna. Dock saknar detta material tidigare omfattande komparativa studier i centrala Anatolien. Denna studie avser att problematisera detta gravmaterial, genom att skapa kopplingar mellan de olika typerna av materialet och mellan de utvalda platserna som det återfanns i. Detta mål avses att uppnås genom att analysera fyra olika typer av Hettitiska gravar från de tre platserna Osmankayasi, Gordion och Ilica. Det totala grav antalet består av 268 gravar: 91 från Osmankayasi, 46 från Gordion och 131 från Ilica. Materialet var ursprungligen utgrävt och publicerat under femtio och sextio-talet av de tre arkeologerna Kurt Bittel, Machteld Mellink och Winfried Orthmann. Gravmaterialet kommer att analyseras för att etablera paralleller mellan de tre platsernas material och dess gravkategorier. Litterära källor och empiriskdata kommer att användas för att komplettera den tidigare forskningen och de nya tolkningarna i denna studie.
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Dhanani, Alpa V. "Foreign exchange risk management practices : an empirical investigation of corporate practices." Thesis, Cardiff University, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.243469.
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Lee, Gan Kai William. "A decision model for manufacturing best practice adoption : linking practices to competitive strategies." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2007. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/2724.
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This thesis describes research that has developed a decision model for the analytical selection of manufacturing best practices. The competitiveness and growth in the manufacturing sector is critical for Singapore economy. Design and improvement of manufacturing systems is imperative to sustain the competitiveness of manufacturing organisations in the country. It is common for companies to adopt manufacturing best practices in this design process to emulate the success and performance of their counterparts. However, practices should be adapted to the competitive environment and strategy of the company to yield the desired results. Therefore, linkages between best practices and their associated competitive priorities will present useful guidelines for action to help manufacturing organisations achieve superior performance. The research programme has set out to define a decision model for best practice adoption. A broad taxonomy of manufacturing strategies and concepts has been used to identify and cluster a list of popular best practices commonly adopted. The decision framework for best practice adoption process is then formulated and a preliminary decision model constructed. This model is verified through semistructured interviews with industry and academic experts. Validation of model is conducted via case study research on eight manufacturing organisations. Linkages between practices and competitive strategies are then constructed to establish the final decision model. Finally, this decision model is illustrated in the form of a guidebook to help practitioner in the best practice selection process. This research has bridged the fields of manufacturing strategy and best practice research by establishing a comprehensive taxonomy of manufacturing strategies and concepts to classify the popular and commonly adopted best practices. A decision model that links best practices to competitive strategies has been developed to select the most appropriate practices for an environment. Thus, the work presented in this thesis has made a significant and original contribution to knowledge on the provision of analytical decision support for practitioners engaging in the manufacturing best practice adoption process.
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Bilgin, Sezen S. "Code switching in ELT teaching practice in Turkey : teacher practices, beliefs and identity." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2015. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/67873/.
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Code switching involves the interplay of two languages and as well as serving linguistic functions, it has social and psychological implications. In the context of English language teaching, these psychological implications reveal themselves as teachers’ thought processes. While the nature of code switching in language classrooms has been widely studies, as yet little if any attention has been paid to the relationship between such switching and the beliefs of the teachers involved. This study is designed to respond this gap in current research. In the study, I worked with five student teachers undertaking their teaching practicum at a private school in Turkey, aiming to investigate their thinking in relation to code switching in their classrooms by using the analysis of classroom interactions, individual interviews and stimulated recall interviews. The first step of the research involved video recording lessons taught by the five student teachers within the framework of their university Teaching Practice course. This was followed by individual interviews with the student teachers focusing on their views of code switching during their teaching experience and their general views about language teaching. The last stage involved stimulated recall interviews with the student teachers based on selected extracts from their lessons chosen after an analysis of spoken interaction in their classes. The data were then analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that code switching is more than merely a linguistic matter; it is also indicative of a number of other dimensions including how teachers define themselves professionally, teacher beliefs, teacher identity, affective factors influencing teachers, and their relationships with supervisors. This study suggests that code switching could usefully be included as a topic in teacher education programmes and in supervisor/mentor training.
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Haws, Trisha. "Student Teachers' Beliefs and Practices About Developmentally Appropriate Practice for Infants and Toddlers." DigitalCommons@USU, 2008. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/15.
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The purpose of this study was to examine students’ beliefs and practices about developmentally appropriate practice with infants and toddlers. This study examined whether coursework in child development, combined with a lab experience engaging with children of the same age group, was related to developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices of student teachers. In particular, the study examined how coursework and practicum taken concurrently may have differed from taking the coursework alone. The relationships between descriptive data and student teachers’ developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices were also of interest. A total of 390 college students participated in this study. These students were enrolled in an undergraduate Infancy and Early Childhood course and some were also enrolled in an Infant Toddler Lab. The students completed a questionnaire at the beginning of the semester and again at the end, which was designed to measure teachers’ developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices in an early childhood classroom. The results showed that there were no statistically significant relationships between college major, marital status, or number of children and pretest beliefs scores. Individual means on practices scores also showed very little difference. The results demonstrated that beliefs about developmentally appropriate practice increased for all of the participants from the beginning of the semester to the end, with those in the class and lab increasing slightly more. On the practices items some of the developmentally appropriate scores went up and some went down. These findings have implications for infant toddler teacher training. When participants were compared based on group membership, whether they were in the class alone or took the lab concurrently, results showed that while not statistically significant, belief scores were higher for those who were in the class and lab combined. Many specific practices items were statistically significantly different between groups, especially at posttest, where those in the class and lab had higher scores of developmentally appropriate practice. However, some results indicate that idealized postulations of developmentally appropriate practice may not be realistic in actual classrooms. Suggestions of how these findings can be used in the training of early childhood teachers are presented. (103 pages)
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Van, Auken James Anthony. "The Relationship Between Mindfulness and Leadership: How Mindfulness Practices Affect Leadership Practices." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1570457602679392.
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Chumun, Seeookumar. "Classroom assessment in Mauritian primary schools." Thesis, Brunel University, 2002. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/5154.
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This thesis explores teachers' current knowledge and practice about classroom assessment processes in the Mauritian primary schools and reports the results of a case study, the data of which were collected during the three terms of the school year in 1998 from four primary schools that included thirty-five teachers. The interest of the case study is not to appraise the teachers' work or the school in any way; rather it is to accurately describe classroom assessment practices within the context of Mauritian primary schools. The research addresses three main questions: why teachers conduct classroom assessment, how it is conducted and what is assessed. The findings of the study indicate that teachers assess their pupils for three main reasons: providing feedback to the pupils and to themselves, reviewing the teaching methods and for diagnostic purposes. Another minor purpose noted is for communicating information to Parents. Questioning and observation are the two methods most common in the conduct of classroom assessment. Questioning techniques are mostly closed ones, with a view to seeking a specific answer from the pupils. Teachers interpret the information collected with reference to three general standards: criterion -referenced, norm-referenced and self-referenced. In general, the findings indicate that teachers' practices are oriented more towards the traditional pedagogy in terms of emphasis on the lower level objectives, whole class teaching and focusing on the product. No provision is made for the able or the less able. All the pupils are treated the same and are given the same tasks. Almost a decade after the introduction and implementation of the Learning Competencies and the scheme for Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation, it is found that Mauritian primary teachers do not have the relevant training in assessment to fully apply the progressive reforms. Despite the education system being very centralised, it seems that teachers assess their pupils independently and without any support from the government. There is no monitoring, moderating or policing of policies. Assessment practices are derived from their habit and ideology rather than from the official directives.
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Stroud, Michael Alan. "PHYSICAL THERAPISTS' CLINICAL PRACTICES REGARDING INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC FALL RISK FACTORS AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD THE USE OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE." OpenSIUC, 2014. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/853.
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AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF MICHAEL A. STROUD, for Doctor of Philosophy degree in HEALTH EDUCATION, presented on MARCH 20, 2014, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: PHYSICAL THERAPISTS' CLINICAL PRACTICES REAGARDING INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC FALL RISK FACTORS AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD THE USE OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Stephen Brown The phenomenon of falls among community-dwelling adults--coupled with an aging baby boomer generation and an increasing life expectancy--presents a significant concern for an increased number of unintentional deaths and injuries and their associated costs. The risk factors associated with falling are often categorized as intrinsic and extrinsic. Physical therapists have a unique opportunity to positively impact issues involving physical dysfunction and to educate their community-dwelling adult patients about the environmental risk factors and interventions that lessen their risk of falling. Abundant evidence-based research exists regarding interventions for the treatment and prevention of falls; however, this research indicates that physical therapists fail to consistently utilize evidence-based practice (EBP) in their daily clinical practices. The diffusion of innovations theory examines how innovations are adopted (Rogers, 2012). However, the innovation of EBP is not always adopted by physical therapists. Lack of time to conduct literature searches was the most common barrier noted by physical therapists for not adopting EBP (Jette et al., 2003; Fruth et al., 2010; Salbach, Jagial, Korner-Bitensky, Rappolt, & Davis, 2007). This study, which utilized a cross-sectional descriptive research design, provided insight into physical therapists' clinical practices regarding intrinsic and extrinsic fall risks in the treatment of community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older. It examined physical therapists' attitudes and beliefs toward the use of EBP and identified the barriers to their adoption of it. The demographic data provided a descriptive overview of the study respondents. There were 3,523 potential physical therapist respondents, and the study's return rate was 9% (316 respondents. The majority of the respondents held doctoral degrees (49.4%), more than half (55.4%) worked in an outpatient physical therapy clinical setting, and approximately half indicated that they were American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)-certified instructors. The results of the study indicated that physical therapists who had more experience displayed a higher level of attention to clinical practices than those with less experience. The physical therapists who were APTA-certified clinical instructors demonstrated a higher level of attention to the intrinsic and extrinsic risks of falling than those who were not APTA-certified instructors. The physical therapists whose highest level of education was a doctorate placed greater importance on the utilization of EBP than respondents with a baccalaureate or master's degree. Although most physical therapists believe that the utilization of EBP holds significant value, they do not always access or apply it. Insufficient time for using EBP was the major barrier noted by most physical therapists. The results of this study concurred with those of previous studies regarding common barriers to physical therapists' adoption of EBP. Rehabilitation organizations may want to examine methods to promote the use of the most current physical therapy practices based on the evidence revealed in the literature and to explore options for improving staff access to and utilization of EBP research.
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Spaseska, Aleksandra. "Australian investor relations practices." UWA Business School, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0155.
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[Truncated abstract] Investor relations (IR) management encompasses a broad range of activities including voluntary disclosure, attracting analyst coverage, targeting investors, and providing feedback to corporate managers (Byrd, Goulet, Johnson and Johnson 1993; Brennan and Tamarowski 2000; Bushee and Miller 2005). In recent years, a number of high profile corporate collapses and concerns about selective disclosure have contributed to an increased awareness of the importance of effective IR practices in promoting investor confidence. To this end, Australian market regulators and industry bodies have developed a number of best practice guidelines relating to disclosure and corporate governance. The current study undertakes a comprehensive investigation of corporate approaches to IR in the Australian context, and seeks to explain cross-sectional variation in these. The sample utilised in this study comprises 129 All Ordinaries Index (AOI) constituent companies that responded to a mail survey conducted in 2006 regarding their IR practices. The survey of all AOI companies constitutes the first Australian academic survey of IR practices, and the views of the individuals responsible for the function. Self-reported data are combined with data collected from the sample entities' websites to provide a detailed overview of corporate IR programs. The results of the survey suggest that there is widespread recognition, within the sample, of the importance of devoting organisational resources to IR. ... Several proxies for the extent of investment in IR are developed in this study. Two proxies capture organisational arrangements for managing IR, one proxy captures the frequency of one-to-one meetings with analysts and investors, and one proxy captures the quality of IR websites. Multivariate analyses relate cross-sectional variation in these to a number of firm-specific variables. Consistent with findings presented in the empirical voluntary disclosure literature, this study shows that the extent of investment in IR is positively associated with firm size, a finding that is common across all IR proxies. Ownership characteristics play an important role in explaining different types of investment in IR, as captured by the four proxies. Ownership concentration is negatively associated with the likelihood of employing an external IR consultant and positively associated with the frequency with which one-to-one meetings are held with analysts and investors. Firms with a foreign stock exchange listing, a proxy for the importance of foreign investors, achieve higher scores for the quality of their IR websites. Adverse selection models of voluntary disclosure predict that firms with good news are likely to disclose more. In contrast, the results of this study show that less profitable firms and firms with lower price-to-book ratios are more likely to have an IR department/officer, and they achieve higher scores for the quality of their IR websites. Finally, the nature of the investment in IR appears to differ with sector membership. Firms in the Materials and Energy sectors held more one-to-one meetings than firms in other sectors, while firms in the Information Technology sector are more likely to have an IR department or IR officer, and have higher quality IR websites than firms in other sectors.
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Sexton, Corrine M. "Successful special education practices." Access to citation, abstract and download form provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company; downloadable PDF file, 96 p, 2007. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1390300381&sid=4&Fmt=2&clientId=8331&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Ford, P. T. "Late Roman recruiting practices." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.546034.
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Razmjou, Shahrokh. "Ritual Practices at Persepolis." Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.499208.
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Kadir, Mohammad Razali bin Abdul. "Conceptual phase best practices." Thesis, Loughborough University, 1996. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/7241.
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Construction projects comprise holistic and organic processes of the conceptual, detailed engineering, construction and start-up phases. The conceptual phase is the most critical phase in a project's life-cycle where the main strategic decisions are made. The success of other phases depends upon the decisions made during the conceptual phase. Although the conceptual phase presents the greatest opportunity for productivity improvement during the construction phase, it has been given relatively little attention. The main aim of this research was to establish the conceptual phase tasks and associated best practices for major projects that ensure good site productivity through decisions made in the conceptual phase. The aim was realised through the following five objectives: define tasks performed in the conceptual phase; rank the impact of conceptual phase tasks on site productivity; determine the impact of conceptual phase tasks on productivity in terms the main site resources of time, labour, plant, material and finance; establish the sequence with which tasks are performed in the conceptual phase; and establish Best Practices associated with each of the conceptual phase tasks. The research findings were based upon literature, an industry-wide postal questionnaire survey and case studies. The survey comprised a substantial twenty-page questionnaire containing 184 questions. The questionnaire was posted to 144 companies including clients, consultants, contractors and financial institutions throughout the European Union. A return of 37 per cent was achieved. The industry-wide survey was then followed by detailed case studies of six projects: a power plant; a chemical plant; a sewerage treatment plant; an offshore-structure; a motor way; and, a substantial building project. These case studies underpinned the survey and specific differences and similarities were highlighted among the six projects and the processes adopted during the conceptual stages. The industry-wide survey and complementary case studies formed the basis of recommendations for conceptual phase tasks and associated best practices achieving enhanced site productivity. It was concluded that the conceptual phase of construction projects comprised ten tasks: Consents and Permits; Project Definition; Financial Strategy; Project Planning; Contract Strategy; Project Management Organisation; Construction Philosophy; Procurement Strategy; Design of Temporary Works; and, Design of Permanent Structures. Eighty-one best practices relating to the conceptual phase were accepted by the respondents. These best practices, when adopted in the conceptual phase, should held to enhance site productivity.
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Ewert, Courtney Dotson. "Nabataean Subadult Mortuary Practices." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6316.
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This thesis provides the beginnings of further research on the correlation between Nabataean mortuary practices and specific biological age ranges. It seeks to answer the question of whether Nabataean infants were absent from, or under-represented, in Nabataean cemeteries. Several quantitative analyses and descriptive statistics were performed, comparing Nabataean adult and subadult burials from fourteen sites. Nabataean cemetery populations were also compared with Walter Scheidel's model life table. These analyses demonstrate that Nabataean burials typically consisted of either a single adult or multiple individuals of various age ranges. Subadults, individuals under the age of 20 years, were rarely found buried by themselves, and seldom with other subadults. The comparison of Nabataean cemetery populations with Scheidel's model life table reported lower than expected percentages of individuals between the age ranges of zero to 12 years. However, this discrepancy is likely due to decay, the destruction of skeletal remains, and poor excavation techniques.
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Wang, Bryan. "The Relationships among Organizational Characteristics, Lean Practices, HRD Practices, and the Institutionalization of Lean Practices in Small and Medium-sized Manufacturers." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1322060347.
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Checkland, Katherine Harriet. "Understanding general practice : an exploration of bureaucratic initiatives in general practices in the UK." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2005. http://www.manchester.ac.uk/escholar/uk-ac-man-scw:67596.
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It is the argument of this thesis that there has been a move in the UK away from a model of medical practice based upon individual clinical experience towards one based upon the distillation of scientific evidence into bureaucratic guidelines that practitioners are expected to follow (scientific-bureaucratic medicine). National Service Frameworks and the quality framework of the new General Medical Services Contract introduced in general practice in the UK in 2004 are both exemplars of this, and this study set out to investigate the impact of these changes in general practices. The literature relating to the implementation of changes such as these suggests that the success or failure of implementation depends to a large extent upon the context involved, and this study was designed to investigate in detail the context that is UK general practice. A decision was made to take a theoretical view of general practices as small organisations, and the organisational studies literature was used to derive a theoretical framework to underpin the work. This framework uses the work of Weick, Vickers, Katz and Kahn and Checkland to understand the nature of organisations, taking a view that activity within organisations emerges from the (often unconscious) "sensemaking" undertaken by the organisation members. Using this theoretical framework, an iterative programme of qualitative case study research was undertaken, revisiting and elaborating upon the theoretical framework in the light of the results from each case. Data was collected by observation as well as at interview, and focused upon the roles that were occupied by the practice members, the nature of their decision making processes and their reactions (both practical and theoretical) to the initiatives being studied. The cases were analysed thematically, guided by the theoretical framework. These case studies demonstrated that the ideal of rationality that underpins the move towards scientific bureaucratic medicine is not one that has resonance for these practices. Behaviour in response to the initiatives studied could be best understood in terms of the collective sensemaking of those involved. The factors underpinning this sensemaking in the practices studied were explored, and out of this a conceptual model of the processes that take place within general practices in response to external change was developed. In addition, it was found that rather than responding as professionals whose autonomy was threatened by these "top down" initiatives, participants' behaviour could be more clearly understood as the response of "workers" who are seeking to make sense of their working lives. Finally, these detailed case studies demonstrated that the idea that general practitioners, as independent contractors to the NHS, hold all the power in their practices is not sustainable in all cases. These findings suggest that the implementation of change in general practice will only be successful if those seeking to bring about this change are aware of and take into account the micro-context involved. If this is the case, then not only should local implementation teams be prepared to work with practices in ways that are congruent with their internal realities, but also those making national policy should be aware that top-down initiatives will be interpreted by those on the ground in the light of these internal realities and as a result it is unlikely that "rational" implementation will occur.
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Cooke-Davies, Terence John. "Towards improved project management practice : uncovering the evidence for effective practices through empirical research." Thesis, Leeds Beckett University, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.324529.
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Briggs, Marion Christine Elizabeth. "Complexity and the practices of communities in healthcare : implications for an internal practice consultant." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/8969.
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Current literature regarding quality health services frequently identifies interprofessional collaboration (IPC) as essential to patient-centred care, sustainable health systems, and a productive workforce. The IPC literature tends to focus on interprofessionalism and collaboration and pays little attention to the concept of practice, which is thought to be a represented world of objects and processes that have pre-given characteristics practitioners can know cognitively and apply or manage correctly. Many strategies intended to support IPC simplify and codify the complex, contested, and unpredictable day-to-day interactions among interdependent agents that I argue constitute the practices of a community. These strategies are based in systems thinking, which understand the system as distinct from experience and subject to rational, linear logic. In this thinking, a leader can step outside of the system to develop an ideal plan, which is then implemented to unfold the predetermined ideal future. However, changes in health services and healthcare practices are often difficult to enact and sustain.This thesis problematises the concept of ‘practice’, and claims practices as thoroughly social and emergent phenomenon constituted by interdependent and iterative processes of representation (policies and practice guidelines), signification (sense making through negotiation and reflective and reflexive practices), and improvisation (acting into the circumstances that present at the point and in the moments of care). I argue that local and population-wide patterns are negotiated and iteratively co-expressed through relations of power, values, and identity. Moreover, practice (including the practice of leadership or consulting) is inherently concerned with ethics, which I also formulate as both normative and social/relational in nature. I argue that theory and practice are not separate but paradoxical phenomena that remain in generative tension, which in healthcare is often felt as tension between what we should do (best practice) and what we actually do (best possible practice in the contingent circumstances we find ourselves in). I articulate the implications this has for how knowledge and knowing are understood, how organisations change, and how the role of an internal practice consultant is understood. An important implication is that practice-based evidence and evidence-based practice are iterative and coexpressed(not sequential), and while practice is primordial, it is not privileged over theory.I propose that a practice consultant could usefully become a temporary participant in the practices of a particular community. Through a position of ‘involved detachment’, a consultant can more easily notice and articulate the practices of a community that for participants are most often implicit and taken for granted. Reflective and reflexive consideration of what is taken for granted may change conversations and thus be transformative.
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Whaley, Mirtha Montejo. "Effect of personal and practice contexts on occupational therapists' assessment practices in geriatric rehabilitation." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2007. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0002091.
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Calhoun, McKenzie L., Peter Blockhurst, and Jesse Gilbreath. "Transitional Care Management: One Practices Efforts." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2014. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6890.
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Lawrence, Megan Lynn. "Why Do Firm Practices Differ? Examining the Selection and Implementation of Organizational Practices." Thesis, Harvard University, 2016. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:32744397.
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This dissertation is comprised of three studies investigating sources of variation in firm practices. Firm practices may differ both due to differences in the practices firms choose to implement – different types of firms may make different selections – and due to differences in implementation success of similar practices – variation in internal firm conditions may result in differences in otherwise similar practices. The first essay examines a difference in firm practice selection whereas the second and third essays examine differences in firm practice implementation. Essay one considers how ownership impacts the management practices implemented by firms, specifically considering the founder CEO firm’s adoption of management practices as compared to firms with other owner-manager types. Founder CEO firms adopt fewer management practices than firms under other ownership structures, both due to a lack of awareness about the lower quality of their practices and due to greater value placed on the nonpecuniary benefit provided by potentially less efficient but power-preserving practices. Essays two and three use data from a Fortune 100 retail chain that implemented a new restocking practice across a subset of its retail stores. Essay two examines how prior experience with the old restocking practice impacts a team’s ability to perform and learn the new restocking practice. Teams with greater exposure to the old practice perform worse at first – due to experiencing a competency trap – but then improve more rapidly – due to greater efficiency of communication and coordination. Essay three focuses on the impact of pilot use when rolling out the new practice, proposing that a main function of pilot implementations is to allow for vicarious learning opportunities for stores subsequently implementing the practice. The relative performance of the pilot stores as well as the contextual similarity of these stores to the stores learning from them matters a great deal. Nonpilot stores increasingly rely only on their own experiences rather than the pilots’ experiences in instances where the learning opportunities become less obvious.