Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Studi AOD'

Obiettivo: Nelle ricerche sui consumi di sostanze psicotrope, solitamente il contesto viene trattato come un prodotto di processi strutturali più ampi, riducendo le possibilità di una comprensione più accurata delle specificità locali. Durante il lavoro sul campo (2017-2018), Milano Rogoredo veniva considerata la più grande scena aperta del consumo osservabile nel nord Italia. L’obiettivo della ricerca è quello di documentare come il contesto in esame viene influenzato dalle pratiche di consumo e viceversa. Metodologia: La ricerca si serve della metodologia del caso studio per raccogliere e mettere in dialogo diversi tipi di informazioni. L’approccio etnografico utilizzato include interviste in profondità e semi strutturate (42), osservazione partecipante (70 giorni), articoli di cronaca, mappe e fotografie. La cornice teorica post-strutturalista, si basa sugli elementi analitici proposti da Duff (2007): spazio, incorporamento e pratiche. Risultati: La scena aperta del consumo di Rogoredo si configura come un luogo di segregazione socio-spaziale. Le pratiche di consumo che la caratterizzano, creano uno spazio di resistenza nella città tossica. Il disordine droga-correlato percepito dai cittadini porta alla richiesta di purificazione sociale e spaziale. La zona di resistenza che si configura nella scena aperta del consumo fa emergere di legami di comunità e favorisce la diffusione di pratiche di consumo, che richiedono competenze specifiche. La tecnologia della siringa riproduce mondi e divisioni sociali, così come differenze generazionali. La violenza permea le routine e le pratiche quotidiane, che includono lavoro sessuale droga correlato e attività informali di sussistenza. La mancanza di interventi di riduzione del danno strutturati e duraturi riduce lo spazio per negoziare questa violenza. Limiti/implicazioni: I risultati sono specifici del contesto in cui lo studio è stato condotto. I contatti e le informazioni sono stati raccolti in buona parte attraverso gli interventi di riduzione del danno (gatekeeeper). Considerata la strategia di reclutamento adottata, i consumatori non possono essere considerati come rappresentativi della popolazione di riferimento. Valore aggiunto: Nonostante un’ampia letteratura internazionale, l’Italia mostra una mancanza di studi sociologici sulle scene aperte del consumo, in particolare per quanto riguarda l’impatto del contesto sulle pratiche locali di consumo. I risultati possono orientare strategie di riduzione del danno più efficaci e fornire delle evidenze iniziali sull’impatto delle misure istituzionali adottate per far fronte alle scene aperte. La ricerca si propone anche come riferimento per future indagini sulle pratiche di consumo di sostanze psicotrope in relazione al contesto.
Purpose: In most recent drug research, context is still treated as a product of broad structural processes, reducing the chances for a more finely-grained understanding of time and place of consumption. At the time of the field work, Milano Rogoredo was the biggest urban open drug scene in northern Italy. Starting form this case study, the goal of the present work is to document how the specific context is produced through the activity of drug use and how the so constructed context intervenes in the modulation of drug use itself. Methodology: In the research, the case study methodology is implied in order to collect and put into dialogue data of different nature. Analysis was conducted through an ethnographic approach which includes in-depth and semi-structured interviews (42), participant observation (70 days), news articles and use of maps and photos. Drawing on a post-structural theoretical framework, the methodology is based on the analytical elements proposed by Duff (2007): space, embodiment and practices. Findings: Drug use practices embedded in the Milano Rogoredo open drug scene impact on space representations creating a place of resistance in the narcotic city. The so-called drug related nuisance tends to result in a claim for social and spatial purification from citizens. The resistance zone that develops within the open drug scene allows the emergence of community bonds and fosters the spread of drug use practices that involve specific skills. The social object of the syringe reproduces social worlds, social divisions and generational differences. Violence permeates the every-day routines and practices which include drug related sex work and beggary. The lack of structured harm reduction interventions reduces the space to negotiate this violence. Research limitations/implications: The results are specific of the context in which the study was conducted. Contacts and data were mainly gained starting from harm reduction interventions, since these organisations provide the most accessible contact with drug users. Given the recruitment strategy adopted, individuals who are part of the study cannot be considered as representative of the drug using population as a whole. Value/practical implications: Despite a wide international literature, Italy shows a lack of sociological accounts of open drug scenes, particularly regarding the impact of context on local drug use practices. This research gives visibility to the effect of the local setting on drug use practices in a long-lasting ODS in Milan (Italy). In the effort to make interventions always more effective, results can orient harm reduction strategies and provide initial evidence on the impact of institutional measures to face ODS. Along with punctual aspects, outcomes can also orient future research on drug consumption practices and context relevance in drug use settings.

Syftet med studien är att identifiera betydande skillnader mellan vägledningsverksamheterna på University of Wisconsin-Whitewater och Umeå universitet. Ytterligare ett huvudsyfte är att ge förslag på hur studie- och yrkesvägledarna kan utveckla sina vägledningsverksamheter med utgångspunkt i de skillnader vi identifierat. Detta är en komparativ fältstudie med kvalitativa intervjuer. Informanterna är sex studie- och yrkesvägledare som ger en bild av hur vägledningsverksamheterna är organiserade. De berättar om sina arbetsuppgifter och arbetssätt samt vilka utvecklingsbehov de ser inom respektive verksamhet och redogör för sin kompetens. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna är vägledningsmetoder som visat sig vara effektiva internationellt, förklaringar av vägledningstraditionerna som format vägledarkåren i olika länder samt redogörelse för studie- och yrkesvägledarutbildningarna i Sverige och USA. Resultatet visade att det förekom stora skillnader. Av störst betydelse bedöms vara att Umeå universitet har en välutvecklad e-vägledning och drop-in vägledning men saknar karriärvägledning tillgänglig för alla studenter. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater saknar e- vägledning med personlig kontakt öga mot öga samt drop-in vägledning, men lägger stort fokus på karriärvägledning. Slutsatsen är att båda vägledningsverksamheterna kan utveckla sin vägledning genom att lära av dessa skillnader via ett utbyte av vägledningskompetens.
The purpose of the study is to identify significant differences between the counseling centers at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Umeå University. Another main objective is to provide suggestions on how study and career counselors can develop their counseling centers on the basis of the differences identified. This study is a comparative field study with qualitative interviews. The informants are six study and career counselors that provide a picture of how the counseling centers are organized. They talk about their jobs and working practices as well as the need to develop their organizations. They also point out their counseling skills. Counseling methods proven effective internationally, counseling traditions influencing the practice of counseling today and the differences between the Study and Career Counseling Program in Sweden and USA are the theoretical points from where we take our support. The results show that there are in fact big differences. The differences considered to be of most importance is that Umeå University has a well-developed online counseling (e- counseling) and drop-in counseling but has no career counseling available to all students. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is devoid of all face to face e-counseling and drop-in counseling but adds a strong focus on career counseling. The conclusion is that both counseling centers can develop its counseling by learning from these differences through an exchange of counseling skills.

"Multiple Case Study of (Re)-Design and Restructuring of Studio Arts Schools and Departments in the Research University Environment" investigates the effect of a changing academic value system, as it is manifest through activities of studio arts program redesign and restructuring within the specific context of large, public research universities in the United States of America. A multiple case study (of three distinct American studio arts units) of the academic restructuring phenomenon within this specific locus, examining the interplay of studio arts culture with the larger institutional mandates in the restructuring process, this work approaches restructuring as a series of cultural and survivalist responses to a complex and changing environment.

Syftet med vår studie var att undersöka vilka eventuella skillnader och likheter i kompetenser som studie- och yrkesvägledare och coacher besitter och använder i sitt arbete. Utifrån vårt syfte formulerade vi följande tre forskningsfrågor; Vilka kompetenser har de intervjuade studie- och yrkesvägledare erfarenhet av i sin yrkesutövning? Vilka kompetenser har de intervjuade coacherna erfarenhet av i sin yrkesutövning? Och Vilka är de två yrkebenämningarnas eventuella skillnader och likheter i avseende på kompetensinnehav och kompetensanvändning. För att få svar på våra forskningsfrågor så valde vi att genomföra åtta stycken kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra stycken studie- och yrkesvägledare och fyra stycken coacher där samtliga arbetar inom området studier och/eller arbete. För att analysera vårt resultat så tog vi hjälp av EU ́s organ, Cedefops kompetensbeskrivningar av vägledarens arbetsuppgifter samt Kerstin Keens kompetensbeskrivning och Knud Illeris utökade kompetensbegrepp. Resultatet visar att studie- och yrkesvägledarna lyfter fram fem stycken fokusområden vilka är; Metoder och teorier, Empati, Acceptera människors olikheter och olika förutsättningar, Motivation och hopp samt Trygghet, gällande vilka kompetenser som de besitter och använder. Även coacherna lyfter i sina intervjuer fram fem stycken fokusområden vilka är; Arbetssätt och metoder med klienten, Hjälpa klienten att se sina framgångar eller brister, Att klienten åstadkommer något, Våga vara obekväm samt Anpassningar, gällande vilka kompetenser som de besitter och använder. Resultatet visade även att studie- och yrkesvägledarna i vår studie har ett större fokus kring metoder och teorier än våra intervjuade coacher hade. Coacherna däremot hade ett stort fokus på att våga vara obekväm, vara ärlig och att arbeta med att utmana klienterna på olika sätt, vilket inte var lika tydligt hos studie- och yrkesvägledarna. Resultatet visade även på likheter så som att båda yrkesrollerna arbetar empatiskt samt att de arbetar utifrån kompetensen att kunna motivera klienterna till handling. Resultatet från vår studie kan inte uppfattas som generell för alla studie- och yrkesvägledare eller alla coacher utan kan bara hjälpa oss att få en inblick i de kompetenser som de båda yrkesrollerna besitter och använder.
The purpose of our study was to investigate the possible differences and similarities in the skills that study and career counselors and coaches own and use in their work. Based on our purpose, we formulated the following three research questions; What skills does the interviewed study and career counselors have experience off in their professional practices? What skills does the interviewed coaches have experience off in their professional practices? And what are the differences and similarities between the two occupations in terms of competence and competence use. To answer our research questions, we chose to conduct eight qualitative interviews with four study and career counselors and four coaches, all working in the field of study and / or work. In order to analyze our results, we took the help of EU bodies, Cedefop's competence descriptions of the supervisor's duties, and Kerstin Keen's competence description and Knud Illeri's extended competence description. The results show that the study and career counselors highlight five focus areas which are; Methods and Theories, Empathy, Accepting People's Differences and Different Conditions, Motivation and Hope, and Safety, regarding the skills they possess and use. The coaches also highlight five focus areas in their interviews, which are; Way of working and methods with the client, Help the client to see their successes or shortcomings, That the client accomplishes something, The ability be uncomfortable, and Adaptations, regarding the skills they possess and use. The results also showed that the study and career counselors in our study have a greater focus on methods and theories than our interviewed coaches had. The coaches, on the other hand, had a great focus on the ability to be uncomfortable, honest and to work to challenge the clients in different ways, which was not as clear in the case of the study and career counselors. The result also showed similarities such as the fact that both professional roles work empathically and that they work with the ability to motivate the clients into action. The results of our study can not be perceived as general for all student counselors or coaches, but can help us gain insight into the skills that both professors possess and use in their work with clients in this area.

This thesis discusses the interaction between media and power in China, and the influences ofthe interaction on the quality and role of journalism. The interaction is an outcome of the social process in which dissimilar values and disproportionate power compete for media discourse. The existing academic literature in the area of media-power relations over-emphasises the top-down influences of the Party-state and the market, and neglects the bottom-up counteracting force from journalists and newspaper organisations on the quality and role of journalism. Supported by the sociological theory of professionalism, this empirical work examines the cultural transformation of two newspaper organisations and the work of their journalists by using a micro approach. The arguments in this study are based on in-depth interviews with 71 journalists, participant observation during six-months of fieldwork, and textual analyses of news reports on social problems. This study has four major findings. Firstly, this study identifies a group of advocacy journalists that is emerging in China. Being different to journalists who practice Party journalism, this group of journalists wishes to tell the 'subjective truth' and they believe they can improve social development. Furthermore, their journalistic practices are coherent with professionalism. This genre of journalists is driven either by private impulse to achieve public recognition, or by a public motive of serving the public interest. Overcoming obstacles in the process of news reporting, they are practicing their beliefs. In their reports, journalists give voice to the underprivileged and no longer speak for the Party. Secondly, the coherence between advocacy journalists' practices and professionalism, however, is limited by conflicts of interest between newspaper organisations and journalists. Due to concerns about political safety, newspaper organisations limit the courageous practices of advocacy journalism. Journalists gain autonomy when the media organisation fulfils its interests. Journalists and newsrooms exploit a series of journalistic tactics to avoid touching political 'minefields' and to maximise the pursuit of private and public interests. Thirdly, the concern over political safety from the newsroom encounters the need to consider the requirements of other social forces on journalism. The intertwined power relations, and bottom-up factors, i.e. journalists' cognition and belief, the collective professionalism ofjournalists, newsroom culture, and local geo-culture plays an important role. They are either opposed to, or collaborate with, political and market intervention. The interest clash is reflected in the process of self-censorship. Finally, the value priorities of newspaper organisation and wmnmg power m power contests cause the newspaper to decide whether to seek refuge with the authority or to tactically serve the public interest. The former tends to practice Party journalism and help maintain existing social order, by speaking for the authority and the elite. By contrast, although also practicing self-censorship, the latter uses smarter tactics to make a win-win achievement of enjoying commercial revenues and of benefiting democracy and social development. A crevice is therefore created for diversified discourses that contribute to the reconfiguration of power structures and social development.

The thesis is covering an analysis of a concrete acquisition case from CEE. Based on the review of theory a conceptual framework was created and then applied to the acquisition case in order to analyze the process of post-merger integration. As a result, recommendations were created for similar future transactions.

Studie- och yrkesvägledning är en profession vilken samtliga, som gått i skolan i Sverige, har en relation till. Vi har samtliga någon gång under skoltiden mött en vägledare. Lika många möten verkar generera lika många historier och de är inte alltid av god karaktär. Det hänger förhoppningsvis ihop med att det idag inte finns något krav på behörighet för att få arbeta som studie- och yrkesvägledare. Det gör att många möten med vägledare har skett utan de kunskaper, förförståelse och professionalism som en utbildad vägledare med behörighet medför. Forskningsfältet är enigt om att yrkesrollen måste stärkas, undersökas och framhållas på bred front. Denna studie bidrar till att förtydliga vikten av vägledarutbildningens betydelse för yrkesrollen och förtydligar vad som påverkar hur en utbildad vägledare arbetar. Studien är kvalitativt genomförd med respondenter som har gått vägledarutbildningen vid Stockholms universitet. Resultatet visar på ett tydligt samband mellan hur vägledarutbildningen och arbetsplatskulturen samverkar och påverkar hur vägledarna arbetar. Även att vägledarnas arbete kan härledas till kända vägledningsteorier och metoder. Viss kritik mot vägledarutbildningens relevans för yrkesrollen framkommer. Studien resulterar i en modell som kan användas för att beskriva vägledaryrket.
Study and career counseling is a profession which all who have attended school in Sweden is familiar with. We have all at some time during the school day met a counselor. Just as many meetings seem to generate as many stories and they are not always of good character. Hopefully it hangs together with the fact that today there is no requirement for competency to work as a study and career counselor. This means that many meetings with guidance counselors have been conducted without the knowledge, understanding and professionalism as a trained counselor with competence entails. The researchers are agreed that the professional role must be strengthened, investigated and acknowledged on a broad front. This study helps to clarify the importance of the counselor’s education and what this means for the profession and clarify what influences how an educated counselor performs in his professional role. The study is qualitative and conducted with respondents who have studied counseling at Stockholm University. The results show a clear correlation between how counseling education and workplace culture interact and affect how counselors work, even how the counselors work can be traced to accepted theories and methods and also some criticism against counseling educations relevance to their professional role. The study results in a model that can be used to describe the counseling profession.

In recent years, a variant of residual income often called Economic Value Added (EVA)' or Economic Income (EI) has become a popular concern in academia and business communities. This study investigates the general hypothesis that EVA is more highly associated with shareholder wealth and firm values than are traditional performance measures. Two commonly used value-based performance metrics namely, Total Shareholder Return (TSR) and Tobin's Q are also considered to highlight the valuerelevance of EVA vis-a-vis these measures in predicting shareholder wealth. Using a sample of panel data of around 12,000 firm-year observations taken from the Stem Stewart 1000 EVA/MVA database and the DATASTREAM file over the period 1991-2002, this study finds compelling evidence that shareholder value is a function of EVA. This study also provides evidence consistent with the notion that EVA outperforms other traditional performance measures in explaining shareholder wealth. Valuerelevance tests reveal EVA to be more highly associated with shareholder wealth than TSR and Tobin's Q. The incremental tests also suggest that EVA possesses the largest explanatory power (or information usefulness) over TSR and Tobin's Q. These results conclusively support the claims made by EVA proponents and further support the potential usefulness of the EVA metric for internal and external performance.

Denna kvalitativa studie syftar till att studera vilka motivationer vi kan finna hos de som modifierar det digitala spelet Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, samt vad det är de modifierar. Inom studiens ramar knyter vi även samman motivationer och modifikationer. Vi presenterar även relaterad forskning samt introducerar ämnet digital spelmodifiering. Slutsatsen vi kommer fram till är att det finns flera motivationer av varierande slag, vilka kan knytas till flertalet modifikationskategorier. Vi kommer även fram till att vår slutsats kan kopplas till det modifikations-community som är knutet till Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, nämligen ‘Nexus’, genom att vi använder oss av den kulturella kontexten.
This qualitative study is aimed at studying what motivations can be found among those who modify the digital game Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim, and what it is that they modify. Within the confines of this study we also connect motivations and modifications. We also introduce related research and the subject of digital game modification. The conclusion we arrive at is that there are varied motivations that can be connected to several modification categories. We also conclude that our conclusion can be tied to the modification forum for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, called ‘Nexus’, in regards to cultural context.

The topic of this thesis is an adaptation of non-functioning objects, relics of ironworks owned by Vítkovice Machinery Group. Clarified is theoretical ambiguity regarding the forms of industrial heritage conservation as a major cause of late onset of their conversion. Analysed are some contemporary phenomena accompanying the preparation for the conversion in practice. Its delayed but relatively fast process of conversion is examined. Against the background of emerging European trend the change of functions of old buildings is evaluated to meet the cultural needs of modern society. The goal of the thesis is to give a clear and logical picture of problems and situation. The analysis of both of those elements gives assumptions suitable for formulating of conclusions that may be taken as certain warnings and possible recommendations to potential investors.

Genome wide association studies revealed an association of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs11708067 within the ADCY5 gene—encoding adenylate cyclase 5—with increased type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk and higher fasting glucose. However, it remains unclear whether the association between ADCY5 variants and glycemic traits may involve adipose tissue (AT) related mechanisms. We therefore tested the hypothesis that ADCY5 mRNA expression in human and mouse AT is related to obesity, fat distribution, T2D in humans and high fat diet (HFD) in mice. We measured ADCY5 mRNA expression in paired samples of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue from 244 individuals with a wide range of body weight and parameters of hyperglycemia, which have been genotyped for rs11708067. In addition, AT ADCY5 mRNA was assessed in C57BL/6NTac which underwent a 10 weeks standard chow (n = 6) or high fat diet (HFD, n = 6). In humans, visceral ADCY5 expression is significantly higher in obese compared to lean individuals. ADCY5 expression correlates with BMI, body fat mass, circulating leptin, fat distribution, waist and hip circumference, but not with fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c. Adcy5 expression in mouse AT is significantly higher after a HFD compared to chow (p<0.05). Importantly, rs11708067 is not associated with ADCY5 mRNA expression levels in either fat depot in any of the genetic models tested. Our results suggest that changes in AT ADCY5 expression are related to obesity and fat distribution, but not with impaired glucose metabolism and T2D. However, altered ADCY5 expression in AT does not seem to be the mechanism underlying the association between rs11708067 and increased T2D risk.

Syftet med denna studie är att nå ökad kunskap om hur arbetsuppgifter kan se ut för en ny examinerad vägledare på olika arbetsplatser. I undersökningen ges också en blick över vägledarnas upplevelser när det gäller relationen mellan deras kompetens och arbetsuppgifter. Genom kvalitativ metod där fem intervjuer med studie- och yrkesvägledare i Stockholms län har analyserats. Vi har kommit fram till att dessa studie- och yrkesvägledare har haft ett arbete efter avslutad examen inom skolväsendet. Alla vägledarna ser ett samband mellan den kompetens de har fått från utbildningen och deras arbetsuppgifter och yrkesroller. Dessa vägledare upplever också att vägledarens yrkesroll ibland kan upplevas som diffus genom att andra begär uppgifter som inte ligger i vägledarens kompetens.
The purpose of this study is to achieve better understanding of how tasks can see out for a new graduated counselor of various sites. The study a look across the practitioner experiences of the relationship between their skills and duties. Through a qualitative method, five interviews with guidance counselors in Stockholm County have been analyzed. We have concluded that these studies and counselors have had a job after graduating in the school system. All advisers see a connection between the skills they have gained from education and their tasks and roles. These counselors also feel that the counselor's professional role can sometimes be felt as diffuse through the second requires information that is not in the counselor's skills.

I denna studie undersöks sju skolor som saknar vägledare genom intervjuer med skolledarna. Syftet med studien att studera hur rektorer på skolor som saknar vägledare ser på och tolkar vägledning samt hur de organiserar och tillgodoser vägledningI studien används en kvalitativ metod, vilket är relevant för undersökningen eftersom målet är att få en helhetsförståelse och en djupare inblick i skolledarnas syn kring vägledning. I arbetets teoridel presenteras olika teorier och förklaringsmodeller om ledarskap, organisering och översättning (tolkning). Skolledarnas arbete innebär ledarskap inom skolan, organisering av skolan och tolkning/översättning av skolans styrdokument som skollag och läroplan.Resultatet visar i sin helhet att skolorna som saknar en utbildad vägledare kompenserar denna tjänst med annan personal, det kan vara allt från mentor till specialpedagog eller en konsult som redan har annan sysselsättning på respektive skola, detta för att spara på anställningskostnader. Skolledarna ser de knappa resurserna från kommunen som en orsak till att vägledning inte prioriteras och menar att staten och kommunerna därefter bör sats mer på vägledning genom att höja budgeten.

Bakgrund: Den palliativa vården handlar om att vårda patienter i livets slut. Allt sedan dess start under mitten av 1900 talet fram tills nu har den genomgått stora förändringar och meningarna om på vilket sätt denna vård ska genomföras är nu kluvna. Den moderna palliativa vården mål är att ge patienter hälsomässigt god sista tid, när syftet har gått från att bota patienten till att symptomatiskt behandla för att minska smärta och obehag av sjukdom. Syfte Att belysa vilka egenskaper och förmågor sjuksköterskan inom den palliativa slutenvården anser är viktigast för att kunna möta patientens behov i livets slutskede. Metod: I studien genomfördes fem semistrukturerade intervjuer baserade på en intervjuguide enligt Dahlen. Intervjuerna analyserades därefter enligt Graneheim & Lundmans modell. Resultat: Resultatet har presenterats i två kategorier med tillhörande egenskaper och förmågor som framkommit under intervjuerna. Egenskaper och förmågorna som lyfts fram är: ödmjukhet, kommunikation mot kollegor, flexibilitet, lyhördhet, förmågan att se den totala smärtan och kommunikation med patienten. Dessa egenskaper och förmågor är de som informanterna tyckte var viktiga för att kunna ge en god palliativ vård. De intervjuade sjuksköterskorna punkterade dock att de egenskaper och förmågor som lyftes fram som viktiga för palliativ vård även var viktig inom andra vårddiscipliner för att god vård skulle uppnås men att fokus i större utsträckning låg på de sociala bitarna av vården jämfört med andra avdelningar.
Background: Palliative care is about caring for patients at the end of life. From its inception in the mid-1900s until now, it has undergone major changes and the ideas about how this care should be carried out is now divided. The modern palliative care aims to give patients good health-wise last time, when the purpose has shifted from curing the patient to symptomatically treat to reduce the pain and discomfort of illness. Aim: To illustrate the qualities and abilities that nurses in palliative inpatient care consider most important in order to meet the patients’ needs in the final stages of life. Method: Five semi-structured interviews were conducted based on an interview guide created according to Dahlen guidelines. The interviews were then analysed according Graneheim & Lund's model. Results: The results are presented in two major categories and their associated skills and abilities that emerged during the interviews. Skills and abilities highlighted are: humility, communication with colleagues, flexibility, responsiveness, ability to see the total pain and communication with the patient. These skills and abilities are those the informants thought were important in order to provide good palliative care.The interviewed nurses pointed out that these qualities and abilities that were highlighted as important for palliative care was also important in other health care disciplines to achieved good healthcare but the focus on social caring within palliative was practiced in a bigger extent compared to other departments.

The thesis generally talks about mergers & acquisitions, discussing definitions, differences and reasons behind an M&A. I have analyzed what is a merge and what is an acquisition. Why companies combine themselves through an M&A. What are advantages and disadvantages about an M&A. After that the work is followed by a case study, which focuses on Fiat and Chrysler. With regards to this point, the case touches all the steps of the agreement between the two car automakers providing numbers, percentages and graphs to better explain how the agreement was made. After having spoken about the figures of the deal I have analyzed I went through all the steps of the acquisition showing also tables. I went through all important dates of the acquisition going deeply in the heart of the topic. I also analyzed why Fiat acquired Chrysler and why Chrysler felt down in a bankruptcy. Finally I have studied the today's situation of the two car automakers showing their actual trend on the automotive market.

Samhället blir mer och mer globaliserat. Som studie- och yrkesvägledare kommer man varje dag i kontakt med människor med olika bakgrunder. I vårt examensarbete var vårt syfte att få ökad kunskap om vad individer med utländsk bakgrund har för upplevelse av studie- och yrkesvägledning på vuxenutbildningen. Det centrala i vårt arbete var att få ta del av respondenternas upplevelser för att vi och även andra skulle få ökad kunskap om hur studie- och vägledning kan upplevas då man inte är född och uppvuxen i ett svenskt skolsystem. Detta har vi gjort med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod. Vi har intervjuat fyra individer. Vår förhoppning var inte att skapa en generell bild utan att få ta del av individernas upplevelser. Resultatet visade att individerna inte har full förståelse om innebörden av studie- och yrkesvägledning och att de inte heller helt förstår syftet med studie- och yrkesvägledningen. Ingen av våra respondenter har blivit erbjuden studie – och yrkesvägledning utan samtliga har sökt upp vägledningen på egen hand. Sammanfattningsvis efterfrågar våra respondenter en mer rådgivande och stöttande studie- och yrkesvägledning än vad de upplever sig ha fått idag. Faktorer som påverkar detta har visat sig vara t.ex. brist på information, språk, typ av vägledningssamtal, tid och studie- och yrkesvägledarens nyfikenhet och intresse. Vi har i vår studie jämfört respondenternas upplevelser med forskning och styrdokument som berör området.
The society is becoming more and more globalized. As a guidance counselor you will have daily contact with people who have different backgrounds and conditions. In our study our aim was to enhance the understanding of what kind of experience people with different ethnic background than Swedish have of guidance and counseling in adult education. The essence of our work was to take part of our respondent’s experiences. We wanted to understand how the study and career guidance can be experienced when one is not born and raised in a Swedish school system. We have done this by using a qualitative approach. We have interviewed four individuals. Our aim was not to create a general picture but more to get the benefit of the individuals' experiences. The results show that individuals do not have a full understanding of the meaning of study and career guidance, and they do not fully understand the purpose of it either. None of our respondents have been offered guidance. In conclusion, our respondents want a more consultative and supportive guidance than what they feel they have received. Factors that influence this has proved to be such as lack of information, language, type of counseling, time and the career guidance counselor’s curiosity and interest. We have in our study compared our respondents' experiences with relevant research and policy documents.

Målgruppen för studien är de elever som i högstadiet blivit obehöriga till gymnasiet och nu går på något introduktionsprogram. Studien syftar till att belysa hur de talar om sin position och hur detta påverkar resonemanget kring framtiden samt hur de förhåller sig till normer i resonemangen. Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär med livshistorisk metod och det empiriska materialet består av intervjuer. Det saknas i princip framåtblickande studier för denna målgrupp men tidigare forskning finns för den närliggande gruppen dropouts där positionen beskrivs som kostsam. Intressant är därför att vidga forskningsområdet till den position där de obehöriga eleverna som ännu finns kvar i utbildning befinner sig. Slutsatsen är att elever på introduktionsprogrammet talar om sin position som ett fråntagande av deras ansvar för framtiden. De talar om positionen som en brytpunkt där deras önskan om att följa normerna för utbildning ökar motivationen till kompromisser i framtidsvalet. Studiens slutsats är att positionen förskjuter fokus i elevernas resonemang från valalternativen till att få tillgång till en valmöjlighet.
The target group for this study are the students that has become ineligible for upper secondary school and educates in a introductory program. The study aims to convey a picture of how these students speak about their position and how this affects their reasoning about the future and how they relates to norms in this reasoning. The study is qualitative with a life-historical method and the empirical material consists of interviews. There are no prospective studies for this target group but previous research on dropouts in general describes the position as costly. Interesting is therefore to expand the research to the position where ineligible students are in their education. The results of the study suggest that these students speak of the position as a deprivation of their responsibility for their future. These students speak about the position as a breaking point where the desire to follow the norms of education increases motivation to compromise. The study concludes that the position shifts the focus about their future from selections of choice to the ability to choose.

Syftet med det här arbetet har varit att studera, med hjälp av diskursanalys/sättet att tala om arbetslivets framtida förändringar, mer specifikt förutsägelser om arbetslivets automatisering. Metoden har varit kritisk diskursanalys och diskursanalytiska begrepp hämtade från Foucault. Fokus för vår analys har varit en etablerad rapport i vilken man beräknar att 53 procent av jobben på den svenska arbetsmarknaden kan komma att automatiseras inom 20 år. Resultatet visar att sättet att tala om framtidens automatiserade arbetsmarknad i termer av risk, som något som innebär konkurrens mellan länder och grupper och som en naturkraft skapar en diskursordning kring framtidens automatiserade arbetsmarknad. Några av slutsatserna för vårt arbete visar på ett sätt att se på arbetslivets automatisering som något riskfyllt, något som hotar jobben på den svenska arbetsmarknaden och något som sker utan någon aktiv aktör.
The aim of this work was to study, with the help of discourse analysis/way to talk about working life, future changes, more specific predictions about the working life of automation. The method has been critical discourse analysis and discourse analytical concepts taken from Foucault. The focus of our analysis has been an established report which estimates that 53 percent of the jobs on the Swedish labor market can be automated within 20 years. The result shows that the way to talk about the future of automated labor market in terms of risk, in terms of competition between countries and groups and as a force of nature creates an order of discourse of the future of automated labor. Some of the conclusions of our work demonstrates a way to look at working life automation as something associated with risk, something that threatens the jobs on the Swedish labor market and something that occur without having any active agent.

Bakgrund: Andelen kejsarsnitt ses öka i världen och därav finns ett ökat behov att hälso-och sjukvårdspersonalen erbjuder kvinnorna uppdaterad och individanpassad information om ingreppet. Syftet: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelse av information inför planerat kejsarsnitt. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en allmän litteraturstudie och resultatet baserades på nio vetenskapliga artiklar som gjordes genom sökning i tre olika databaser. Artikel granskningen gjordes och bearbetades genom Carlsson & Eiman (2003) kvalitetsgranskningsmall. Resultat: Resultatet baserades på nio vetenskapliga artiklar som valdes ut och tre resultatkategorier framkom; att fatta ett informerat beslut, att förbereda sig och att hantera sin situation. Konklusion: Information har betydelse för kvinnans beslut av förlossningssätt, hennes möjlighet till förberedelse samt för att kunna hantera ett planerat kejsarsnitt. Det finns brister i den information som ges inför ett planerat kejsarsnitt. Kvinnorna önskar evidensbaserad information och stöd ifrån vårdgivaren där de får en välgrundad och korrekt information.
Background: The proportion of caesarean sections is seen to be increasing worldwide and therefore there is an increased need for healthcare professionals to offer women updated and personalized information about the procedure. Aim: The purpose of the literature study was to describe women's experience of information ahead of planned caesarean section. Method: The study was conducted as a general literature study and the results were based on scientific articles made by searching three different databases. The article review was done and processed through the Carlsson & Eiman (2003) quality review template. Results: Based on nine scientific papers selected, which were selected, and three categories of results emerged: To take an informed decision, to prepare and to manage their situation. Conclusion: Information is important for the woman's decision of childbirth, her ability to prepare and to be able to handle a planned caesarean section. There are shortcomings in the information given for a planned caesarean section. Women want evidence-based information and support from the healthcare provider where they receive informed and accurate information.

Purpose: The main objective of this thesis is to study if acquiring companies’ shareholders on the Swedish market earn abnormal returns after an M&A and further to examine possible differences in the abnormal return depending on whether the M&A is announced during a period with high level of merger activity or low level of merger activity. Method: This thesis uses a quantitative research method and an event study to examine abnormal returns. The abnormal return is obtained by calculating the difference between the actual return and the normal return. Stock prices for the thirty companies in the sample have been collected; fifteen M&As from periods characterized by high merger activity and fifteen M&As from periods of low merger activity. The event window consists in total of eleven days, five days before the announcement day and five days after. Day minus six is used as an index. Finally, the results have been tested with t-statistics for further analyzing. Conclusion: Our findings regarding the Swedish market in this thesis is not consistent with most of the previous research. Earlier research claims negative abnormal returns for the acquiring companies’ shareholders. In our study we have found that the Swedish acquiring companies’ shareholders actually earn positive abnormal returns after an M&A. Moreover, the abnormal returns are higher for M&As announced during times with high level of merger activity on the market compared to the abnormal returns for M&As announced when the level activity of merger is low.
Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om förvärvande företags aktieägare på den svenska marknaden uppnår onormal avkastning efter ett företagsförvärv. Studien undersöker även skillnader i onormal avkastning till det förvärvande företaget beroende på om förvärvet genomförts under en tidsperiod med hög respektive låg aktivitet av företagsförvärv på marknaden. Metod: Denna uppsats använder sig av en kvantitativ forskningsmetod samt en eventstudie för att undersöka onormal avkastning. Den onormala avkastningen erhålles genom att beräkna skillnaden mellan den faktiska avkastningen efter ett företagsförvärv med den normala avkastningen om förvärvet inte genomförts. Aktiepriset för de trettio företagen i urvalet har samlats in, hälften av urvalet är hämtat från en period med hög förvärvsaktivitet och resterande från en period med låg förvärvsaktivitet. Händelsefönstret består av elva dagar, fem dagar före och fem dagar efter tillkännagivandet av företagsförvärvet. Dag minus sex används som index. Slutligen har resultatens testats med t-test för vidare analys. Slutsats: Våra resultat gällande den svenska marknaden är inte samstämmiga med de flesta av de presenterade tidigare forskningarna. Enligt mycket tidigare forskning erhåller förvärvande företagens aktieägare negativ onormal avkastning medan vår studie av svenska företag visar positiv onormal avkastning till följd av ett företagsförvärv. Dessutom är den onormala avkastningen högre för företagsförvärv som genomförs i perioder med hög aktivitet av förvärv på marknaden jämfört med den onormala avkastningen för företagsförvärv som genomförs när aktivitetsnivån på förvärv är låg.

In contemporary societies time distinctions are being reconfigured. Although in modernlife technology enables new forms of social activities and entertainments and the possibility to experience them day and night, night has been known and experienced differently in various cultures and in different time periods. Discussions of the city at night are dominated by the framework and experience of Western Europe, the USA and Australia. However, night-life in other places could be different and in order to achieve an in-depth understanding of the concepts of a night-time economy and a 24-hour society it is important to study night-life in various parts of the world. In this thesis Mashhad is investigated as a 24-hour city in Iran. Night-life in Iran, as a Middle-Eastern country, is different from the available literature as a result of various social and cultural factors. In Iran, because of religious discipline, there are no pubs, bars, casinos or clubs. However, cities work at night with a continuity of their day-time activities. Mashhad, as one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam with the shrine of Imam Reza located at its centre, is visited annually by over 25 million pilgrims. The large number of visitors and the shrine are characteristics of the city and its 24-hour activity. Boundaries between day and night in Mashhad are less clear cut and night-life includes all kinds of activities including religious, business, recreational, social or commercial. However, the Regeneration and Reconstruction Plan of Imam Reza’s Shrine Area, started in 2001, is threatening the 24-hour features of the shrine area by attempting to modernise it in order to attract and accommodate more pilgrims. This study aims to investigate how to improve nightlife by considering the impact of urban design. It studies the night-life of the shrine area in Mashhad through a multi-method approach and investigates the impact of recent urban design interventions. In addition, a series of guidelines are proposed for revitalisation of the shrine area whilst keeping and supporting its local active night-life. This study fills a part of the gap in the literature of a 24-hour society and night-time economy through investigating a less-studied type of 24-hour society in a context that has not been considered previously and is helpful in redefining the ideas which have been formed because of this gap. By investigating the interconnections between the temporal structure of cities, their spatial form and mass pilgrimage this study argues that social, cultural, economic, political and climatic factors are all important in the formation of night-life in a city and highlights the possible threats to the night-life of cities that might result from urban design approaches that ignore a local context. It also shows that the social and temporal habits of the people who shape a city’s night-life are a product of the discussed factors which may change through time. By emphasising the importance of the local night-time economy in the formation of 24-hour societies, the findings of this study highlight the necessity of considering the night-life of urban areas in regeneration plans. These findings have direct policy relevance in the regeneration plan of the shrine area in Mashhad and are helpful for regeneration plans of similar cases with local active night-life.

Background: Psychological models propose that amotivational negative symptoms are affected by two types of cognition: anticipatory success (believing one can achieve something) and anticipatory pleasure (mentally pre-creating potential future experiences of enjoyment). Mental imagery manipulations have been shown to effect cognitive change, and may therefore enhance psychological interventions for negative symptoms. This thesis considers the role of positive imagery in people with negative symptoms. Study 1 aimed firstly to investigate the relationship between anticipatory success, anticipatory pleasure and negative symptoms. It then looked at the impact of a positive guided imagery manipulation on these hypothesised mediating factors. Finally, the effects of anticipatory success, anticipatory pleasure and the imagery intervention on a behavioural measure of motivation were explored. Study 2 built on the findings of Study 1 to investigate the potential of guided mental imagery as an intervention to improve functioning. Method: For Study 1, 42 participants with psychosis and negative symptoms completed measures of negative symptoms and imaging ability, before random allocation to either a positive or neutral imagery manipulation. Anticipatory success and anticipatory pleasure towards a dart-throwing task were measured before and after the manipulation. A behavioural measure of motivation was included at the end of the procedure. Study 2 used a pilot case study design to evaluate a therapeutic intervention for negative symptoms using guided imagery. Results: Study 1 showed that negative symptoms were associated with anticipatory success, irrespective of controlling for ability, and with change in anticipatory pleasure. Anticipatory success improved during both imagery manipulations, with an effect of imagery type when the analysis was restricted to those imaging as instructed. Anticipatory pleasure, but not anticipatory success or imagery type, predicted motivated behaviour in relation to the task. In Study 2, a pilot case study of guided imagery focused on recovery goals showed improvements in anticipatory success and goal-directed behaviour. Conclusion: Guided imagery interventions are feasible and acceptable for people with negative symptoms of psychosis, and may improve functioning through cognitive mechanisms.

American musical theater songs are popular with the general public, and many college and university voice students are familiar with them. Some voice teachers also use musical theater repertoire to varying degrees in voice instruction. Such familiarity and interest lend significance to this study of the songs in a teaching context. There is therefore a need for the establishment of repertoire-selection guidelines and pedagogical analysis of selected musical theater songs so that additional teachers will become well informed.Following the introduction in Chapter One, the results of a survey sent to one hundred members of the National Association of Teachers of Singing are presented. The survey posed questions concerning the current use of musical theater songs. Among other things, the results revealed strong interest in the analysis and application of this literature in the voice studio. Guidelines for repertoire selection (also used by the author in selecting songs that address specific aspects of singing) are introduced in Chapter Three, along with a description of analytical procedures. Chapters Four through Eight include summaries of the analyses and suggested applications in the voice studio:Developing the ability to sing longer phrases"You'll Never Walk Alone" (Rodgers)"Where Is Love?" (Bart)"After the Ball" (Harris)• Developing the ability to sing wide intervals in a legato fashion "Lost in the Stars" (Weill)"Warm All Over" (Loesser)"Green Finch and Linnet Bird" (Sondheim)•Developing the ability to articulate words rapidly "My Darling, My Darling" (Loesser) "Seventy-Six Trombones" (Willson) "Soliloquy" (Rodgers)•Developing the ability to move smoothly between registers "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Gershwin) "Where or When" (Rodgers) "O1' Man River" (Kern)•Managing a large range and mature quality "Maria" (Bernstein)"Memory" (Lloyd Webber) "One More Kiss" (Sondheim)Conclusions in Chapter Nine include: (1) teachers should judge musical theater songs by the same criteria as other songs; (2) musical theater literature offers useful material for students who are striving to develop certain aspects of singing; (3) analyses of selected songs demonstrate their suitability for pedagogical use; and (4) there is a need for additional critical analysis of musical theater literature.
School of Music

Denna studie syftar till att utforska och jämföra på vilka sätt lärare i musik och idrott erfar fenomenet prestation i undervisning på gymnasienivå. Detta görs med forskningsfrågorna: Hur ser musiklärare och idrottstränare på fenomenet prestation inom sina respektive områden? och På vilka sätt arbetar musiklärare och idrottstränare för att gynna elevers prestationer? Studiens vetenskapsfilosofiska utgångspunkt är fenomenologi och dess teoretiska utgångspunkt är allmänpsykologins syn på prestation och motivation. Den forskningsmetod som används är semistrukturerad intervju och det är tre musiklärare och tre idrottstränare som har intervjuats. Intervjuerna har transkriberats och bearbetats med hjälp av tematisk analys. Hur informanterna erfar fenomenet prestation och deras arbetssätt har har belysts var för sig, och sedan ställts bredvid varandra och jämförts. De svar som informanterna har gett visar studiens resultat, dvs. fenomenet prestation. Resultatet är uppdelat i två huvudteman: Ämnesbaserat eller individbaserat fokus och Lärarens roll - Instrumentalguide eller målsättare. Det första temat beskriver hur informanterna erfar fenomenet prestation medan det andra temat beskriver vilka arbetssätt informanterna menar att de använder sig av för att gynna sina elevers prestationer. I studiens avslutande kapitel diskuteras resultatets teman med studiens vetenskapsfilosofiska utgångspunkt, teoretiska perspektiv och tidigare forskningsfält.
This study aims to explore and compare the ways in which teachers in music and sport, experience the phenomenon of achievement in teaching at the secondary level. The study has two research questions: How does teachers in music and sport look upon the phenomenon of achievement? and How does teachers in music and sport work to promote student achievements? The philosophical perspective is phenomenology and the theoretical foundation is psychology concerning performance and motivation. The research method is semi-structured interviews, and three music teachers and three sports coaches have been interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and processed using thematic analysis and the result presents the phenomenon of achievement. The results are divided into two main themes: Subject-based or individual-based focus and The role of the teacher - Instrumental guide or goal promotar. The first theme describes the informants 'views on the phenomenon of achievement, and the second theme highlights the work informants use to benefit their students' achievements. The study's concluding chapter discuss the result in relation to research, psychology and phenomenology.

Molecular knots and links are intriguing natural phenomena found to spontaneously form in both the biomacromolecules essential for life (e.g. DNA and proteins) and synthetic polymers. As the presence of these entanglements can influence the stability and tensile strength of such molecules, a better understanding of the factors governing their formation and properties is desirable. In this thesis, the synthesis of several new molecular knot and link topologies is described, the majority of which surpass the current scope of interlocked molecules in terms of their structural complexity. The presented strategy utilises the self-assembly of ligand strands and metal cations into circular helicate arrangements, followed by cyclisation of the interwoven complexes through olefin ring-closing metathesis to afford a knot or link. The topological chirality displayed by such molecules is studied, along with their ability to act as receptors for halide anions and metal cations.

Since the inception of the student supernumerary status, both globally and in South Africa, nursing and midwifery educators have been concerned about the clinical competencies of their students. Student clinical competency levels in South Africa are critical to midwifery practice, especially as most litigation against the Department of Health in South Africa concerns negligence in midwifery practice. In addition, the litigations mostly involve newly qualified midwives, thus suggesting a link with practice competency levels. Several challenges exist in the academic and practice environments regarding student learning, practice and clinical preparedness. Lack of support during clinical placement and a lack of facilities for use during clinical practice modules are among these challenges. Some students, due to the challenges they face with clinical learning and practice, fail to meet the practical competencies for examination entry requirements. Consequently, some of these students have to repeat the year or exit the programme. The current study sought to identify how to assist midwifery educators in their activities to prepare students for clinical placement readiness. The first objective of the study was to explore and describe the perceptions of midwifery educators regarding the need for additional measures to enhance the clinical preparedness of basic midwifery students before they are allocated to the clinical areas. The second objective sought to make recommendations that would further assist the midwifery educators to clinically prepare midwifery students before being allocated and placed in different clinical areas. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was used for the study and the study was conducted at a nursing college in the Eastern Cape Province from August 2014 to January 2016. The research population consisted of midwifery educators at a nursing college and a purposive sampling technique was used guided by set criteria. Data were collected using focus group interviews. Four focus groups were used making a total of 17 participants. The principles applied for data analysis were those of Tesch’s method of data analysis, which were used to develop the themes and sub-themes. An independent coder assisted with the coding of the data for the purposes of trustworthiness. In addition, Lincoln and Guba’s model of trustworthiness consisting of the criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability was used to confirm the validity of the study while the ethical principles adopted were informed consent, justice, non-maleficence, privacy and confidentiality. The study found that the participants perceived numerous challenges that hindered the clinical preparedness of their students. These related to increased workload, lack of support from management and a lack of commitment on the part of students towards their studies. The participants also identified inconsistencies in clinical practice between the clinical midwives and the educators, and even among the educators themselves. This lack of consistency in turn causes confusion among the students and thus impacts negatively on their clinical practice preparedness. Based on these findings recommendations for clinical nursing practice, nursing education and research were made.

This study was aimed at discovering the differences in how children responded to word problems involving an operation in which they had received formal instruction (subtraction) and word problems involving an operation in which they have not received formal instruction. Nineteen children were individually interviewed and were asked to attempt to solve 6 subtraction and 6 division word problems. Their solution strategies were recorded, and analysed with respect to whether or not they were appropriate, as to whether or not they modeled the structure of the problem, and as to how consistent the strategies were, within problem types. It was found that children tended to model division problems more often than subtraction problems, and also that the same types of errors were made on problems of both operations. It was also found that children were more likely to keep the strategies for the different interpretations separate for the operation in which they had not been instructed (division) than for the operation in which they had been instructed (subtraction). For division problems, the strategies used to solve one type of problem were seldom, if ever used to solve the other type of problem. For subtraction problems, children had more of a tendency to use the strategies for the various interpretations interchangeably. In addition, some differences in the way children deal with problems involving the solution of a basic fact, and those involving the subtraction of 2-digit numbers, were found. The 2-digit open addition problems were solved using modeling strategies about half as often as any other problem type. The same types of errors were made for both the basic fact and the 2-digit problems, but there were more counting errors and more inappropriate strategy errors for the 2-digit problems, and more incorrect operations for the basic fact problems. Finally, some differences were noted in the problem-solving behaviour of children who performed well on the basic fact tests and those who did not. The children in the low group made more counting errors, used more modeling strategies, and used fewer incorrect operations than children in the high group. These implications for instruction were stated: de-emphasize drill of the basic facts in the primary grades, delay the formal instruction of the operations until children have had a lot of exposure to word problem situations involving these concepts, use the problem situations to introduce the operations instead of the other way around, and leave comparison subtraction word problems until after the children are quite familiar with take away and open addition problems.
Education, Faculty of
Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of
Graduate

In this study I attempt to develop a rationale for the role of student writing in advancing learning in Zoology. To this end, I use the informed and insightful voices of five academics from the University of Cape Town's Department of Zoology to present a picture of the goals of the discipline, how they view the role that student writing plays in advan~ing these goals, a sense of the tensions they face in dealing with student diversity, and the promise and challenges of innovative approaches. My interest in how staff view student writing stems from a belief that staff make use of student writing in different ways, depending on their assumptions about writing. I explore these assumptions by means of interviews with members of staff, in which I ask about how they understand the pursuit of science, the qualities a scientist needs to develop, the best ways to develop these qualities in students, and the part that student writing plays in this development. What emerges in this study is the understanding that the kinds of writing we ask students to do reflect the forms of educational practice that we sustain. On the one hand, certain forms of writing may support forms of transmission pedagogy that are viewed as being at odds with progressive science education. On the other hand, if we are to develop alternative teaching approaches which are in keeping with contemporary views of science and learning, then we need to develop new genres of student writing that give expression to these goals and methods. The study concludes with suggested avenues into curriculum review that would operationalise the insights developed by this study.

This study took place at a private high school in the Kavango region with my 32 grade 10B learners as the research participants. Its objective was to investigate how the grade 10 learners make sense of concepts on refraction of light through exploring their cultural beliefs/everyday experiences about the rainbow. This research study was essentially triggered by my own classroom experience of teaching the topic on refraction of light. In order to achieve the goal of this research, a qualitative case study located within an interpretive paradigm was adopted. To gather data I used multiple data gathering techniques such as brainstorming session, learners conducting interviews in the community, practical activities and focus group interviews. This resulted in descriptive data that qualified to be analyzed in a qualitative way. The themes that emerged from the generated data were coded using upper letter cases and various colours. A methodological triangulation was employed by using multiple data generation techniques. Member checking during focus group interviews also ensured validity in this case study. The findings of this study revealed that the use of learners’ cultural beliefs/everyday experiences can be used to enhance learner engagement, meaning making and conceptual development during the science lessons. In addition, the ways in which practical activities are designed and presented to learners in the science classroom determine learners’ participation and conceptual attainment. Therefore, based on my research findings, I recommend that teachers need to be trained to be able to elicit and integrate learners’ cultural beliefs/everyday experiences in conjunction with hands-on practical activities which focus on conceptual development during their science lessons. However, although this study had many benefits, it also showed that it is not easy to close the gap between learners’ prior everyday knowledge and school science. This warrants further research.

Thesis (Masters Diploma (Technology))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 1994
The majority of educational establishments in South Africa offering tourism courses concentrate on those subjects that are closely related to the operational side of the industry, for example: Travel Practice and Management, Business Management, Marketing, etc. whilst linle or no applied training for ecotourism is given. On the other hand the impact of tourism on the natural resources of a destination as well as on the host community is steadily increasing, particularly in developing countries. Once this phenomenon is analysed and placed in perspective, structured training and educational activities appear to be one way to ensure that both the conservation and retention of the natural beauty and resources in such destination is addressed. To be effective such educational and training activities should be specific and should take place within the context of ecotourism. The purpose of this study was, in the first place. to define 'ecorourism' and to describe its role within the broader tourism industry. It was further attempted to isolate the characteristics and to draw attention to the sensitive nature of ecosystems. The role of training in the survival of the systems mentioned, that is, the protection and conservation thereof, became patently clear. It further became apparent that the educational needs were not only applicable to the visitor, to the destination, but also to the functionary within the industry. In order to meet the objectives of the tourism trade it will be necessary for prospective employees to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes relative to environmental management. In order to contribute to sustainable tourism development future employees of this industry should also be motivated to participate in the management of the environment.

Bakgrund: stroke betraktas som ett samlingsnamn för hjärninfarkt och hjärnblödning. Stroke är ett globalt folkhälsoproblem som tillhör de fem vanligaste dödsorsakerna i Sverige. Risken att drabbas av stroke skiljer sig mellan åldrar, socioekonomi och insjuknandet ser olika ut även geografiskt. Stroke kan förekomma i olika åldrar, men äldre personer har större risk att drabbas av stroke än yngre personer. Stroke kan orsaka funktionsnedsättningar och leda till många olika begränsningar i patients vardagsliv. Antalet strokefall har minskat bland både kvinnor och män under perioden 2007–2018. Syfte: Var att undersöka patientens upplevelse av sitt liv efter stroken. Metod: En litteraturöversikt med induktiv ansats valde och endast vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ metod har använts i studien. För analysering av data användes Fribergs (2017) metod för kvalitativ forskning. Resultat: Litteratursökningen gav tio artiklar för vidare analys. Resultatet av samtliga artiklar har tillsammans bildat underlag för den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen. Resultatet redovisar strokepatienters känslor och upplevelser i vardagen och presenterar följder och konsekvenser av stroke. Huvudresultatet av studien var att patienter upplevde besvär av såväl fysisk, psykisk, emotionell som social karaktär. Slutsats: Patienten upplever en förändrad syn över sin livsvärld efter stroke. Sjukdomen kan leda till förlust av förmågor och många begränsningar i det vardagliga livet.
Introduction: stroke is considered a collective name for cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. Stroke is a global public health problem that is one of the five most common causes of death in Sweden. The risk of suffering a stroke differs between ages, socioeconomics and the disease also differ geographically. Stroke can occur at different ages, but older people are at greater risk of having a stroke than younger people. Stroke can cause disabilities and lead to many different limitations in the patient's daily life. The number of stroke cases has decreased among both women and men during the period 2007–2018. Aim: was to examine the patient's experience of his life after the stroke. Method: a literature review with an inductive approach was chosen and only scientific articles with a qualitative method were used in the study. For analysis of data, Friberg's (2017) method was used to qualitative research.  Results: The literature search yielded ten articles for further analysis. The results of all articles have together formed the basis for the qualitative content analysis. The results report stroke patients' feelings and experiences in everyday life and present the consequences and consequences of stroke. The main result of the study was that patients experienced problems of a physical, mental, emotional and social nature. Conclusion: The patient experiences a changed view of their life world after stroke. The disease can lead to loss of abilities and many limitations in everyday life.

There are significant differences between developed countries and developing countries in education, life style and health behaviour to identify the effects of the standard of living in both countries on social and health aspects. Information on the negative and positive aspects of every culture is essential in the overall health context to enable policy makers to improve the populations’ general health. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the health and fitness status of sport science students in Germany and Egypt and to identify any relevant differences in these two populations in order to derive possible strategies to promote health in a higher education setting in both countries. The sample of this study was selected from university students as they represent the future elite of companies, communities and countries. 193 students were selected from Germany as a developed country - females (n = 104) and males (n = 89) and 406 were selected from Egypt as a developing country - females (n = 167) and males (n = 238). Sport science students firstly filled in a health questionnaire, and then they participated in anthropometric and fitness tests. The data collection was first contucted on German sport science students at Chemnitz University of Technology in October 2009 (one week). In November 2010 the second year (third and fourth term) sport science students of Menofia University (two weeks). In the comparison between Germany and Egypt in the General health section the results showed that there are significant differences between the German group and the Egyptian group in describing their health status (p = .044) and in looking after their health (p = .000) in females. However, in the male group of both countries no significant difference was found regarding the item looking after their health (p = .370). The overall comparison between the German sample (both genders) and the Egyptian sample (both genders) show that there are significant differences in the items describing their health status (p ≤ 0.05) as well as in looking after their health care (p = .000). In the physical and mental health comparison there is no significance difference in the “chronic pain” section in German females and Egyptian females and German and Egyptian males (p ≥ 0.05), while there are significant differences in all other items (p ≤ 0.05). In the German sample comparison of both genders there are no significant differences in: “Stomach problems”, “Abdominal discomfort”, “Weight loss/weight gain/loss of appetite” whereas there are significant differences in all another items (p≤ 0.05). In the Egyptian group there are significant differences in all another items (p≤ 0.05) except for “Weight loss/weight gain/loss of appetite”. In study and university related problems between Germay and Egypt in both genders, there is no significant difference in the item “problems during study” while there are significant differences in all other items (p≤ 0.05). In the Egyptian group, both gender comparisons show no significant differences in the items: “social isolation”, and the same prospects about “working conditions”. However, there are significant differences in all another items (p≤ 0.05). In the German group in the same context no significant differences were found (p ≥ 0.05). The comparison between Germany and Egypt in the nutrition section showed significant differences in all food types (p≤ 0.05), whereas in the German group there is a significant difference between females and males (p≤ 0.05), and in the Egyptian group there is no significant difference in Healthy food consumption (p ≥ 0.05). The results in the media usage section show a significant difference regarding the media usage behaviour between the German group and the Egyptian group and in the comparison between German group of both genders, and the Egyptian group comparison of both genders where (p ≤ 0.05). Regarding the fitness tests section the results prove that there are significant differences in all tests among the German and the Egyptian group (p≤ 0.05), except in the static pull ups test between German males and Egyptian males (p ≥ 0.05). Significant correlations were found between one of the food types (unhealthy food), some between physical and mental health problems and BMI. There are significant correlations between some items of study and university related problems, and food types and blood pressure, and between fat %, VO2max, and physical activity. A significant link between bad dietary habits in regards to healthy food consumption and students’ own health assessment in Germany was found (95% CI below = 0.10, 95% top = 0.99) with OR = 0.10 and in Egypt (95% CI below = 0.35, 95% CI top = 0.92) with OR = 0.56. Another significant link between a reduced health consciousness and insufficient physical activity in Germany (95% CI below = 0.06, 95% CI top = 0.99) was proven with OR = 0.24. The key results from this study can be summarised in the following points: 1) There is a significant difference between German and Egyptian students in health parameters. 2) Egyptian students have significantly more physical and mental health problems than their German counterparts. 3) The Egyptian students present significantly more study and university related problems compared to German students. 4) The Egyptian students show a significantly higher media usage. 5) Egyptian students participate significantly less in physical activity and therefore perform significantly less well in most fitness test parameters. 6) A high correlation was found between the anthropometric data and some physical and mental health problems as well as study and university related problems and food types. Furthermore, a high correlation between VO2max and physical activity could be identified. 7) Significant link between bad dietary habits in regards to healthy food consumption and their own health assessment. 8) Significant link between a reduced health consciousness and insufficient physical activity. It is evident from this study that there are significant differences between the developed country Germany and the developing country Egypt in regards to general well-being, health problems, which in some parameters is also gender specific in Egypt, physical activity and fitness. The aim of this study was to identify these differences in order to direct future interventional studies in this area as a next step in improving the health of students in different countries. This information could potentially aid policy makers in improving the infrastructure in health care and physical activity and thereby change and/or develop society
Es gibt signifikante Unterschiede zwischen Industrieländern und Schwellenländern bzgl. Bildung, Lebensstil und gesundheitsbezogenes Verhalten. Daher sind Informationen über die negativen und positiven Aspekte jeder Kultur im Gesundheitskontext essentiell, um Entscheidungsträger in die Lage zu versetzen die allgemeine Gesundheit der Bevölkerung zu verbessern. Die Zielsetzung dieser Studie war in diesem Zusammenhang den Gesundheits- und Fitnessstatuts von Studenten der Sportwissenschaft in Deutschland und Ägypten zu bestimmen und relevante Unterschiede in den beiden Populationen aufzudecken, um daraus mögliche Strategien abzuleiten, Gesundheit im univesitären Bereich in beiden Ländern zu fördern. Die Stichprobe für diese Studie rekrutierte sich aus Universitätsstudenten, da diese die zukünftige Elite von Firmen, Gemeinden und ganzen Ländern darstellen. 193 Studenten aus Deutschland, als Industrieland, wurden eingeschlossen – 104 weibliche und 89 männliche. Weitere 406 Studenten wurden in Ägypten, als Schwellenland, rekrutiert – wovon 167 Frauen und 238 Männer waren. Die Probanden füllten zuerst einen Gesundheitsfragebogen aus und nahmen dann an anthroprometrischen Messungen und Fitnesstests teil. Die Datenerhebing wurde zuerst an den Sportstudenten der TU-Chemnitz in Deutschland im Oktober 2009 duchgeführt. Im November 2010 wurden dann die Sportstudenten an der Menofia Univesität in Äypten getestet. Die Ergebnisse im Vergleich des Allgemeinen Gesundheitsteils zwischen Deutschland und Ägypten zeigte signifikante Unterschiede zwischen der deutschen und der ägyptischen Gruppe bzgl. des Items Beurteilung des eigenen Gesundheitszustandes (p = 0.44) und in Auf seine Gesundheit achten (p = 0.000) bei den Frauen. Allerdings konnte kein signifikanter Unterschied bei den Männern beider Länder nachgewiesen werden (p = 0.370). Der Gesamtvergleich der deustchen und der ägyptischen Stichprobe (beide Geschlechter) wiesen signifikante Unterschiede auf bzgl. der Items Beurteilung des eigenen Gesundheitszustandes (p ≤ 0.05) und auch Auf seine Gesundheit achten (p = 0.000). In der Sektion körperliche und geistige Gesundheit konnte kein signifikanter Unterschied festegestellt werden in den Items „Rücken-, Nacken- und Schulterschmerzen zwischen der ägyptischen und deutschen Population (beide Geschlechter) (p ≥ 0.05), aber dafür in allen anderen Items (p ≤ 0.05). In der deutschen Gruppe wurden keine Unterschiede gefunden bei „Magenbeschwerden/Gewichtszunahme/ Appetitlosigkeit“ – allerdings wurden signifikante Unterschiede in allen anderen Items gefunden (p ≤ 0.05) – in der ägyptischen Gruppe verhielt es sich ebenso. In der Sektion Studium und universitätsbezogene Probleme wurde zwischen Ägypten und Deutschland, auβer bei „Mangelnde praktische Relevanz des Studiums, Tests und Seminararbeiten“, in all anderen Items signifikante Unterschiede nachgewiesen (p ≤ 0.05). Der Geschlechtervergleich der ägyptischen Stichprobe zeigte keine signifikanten Unterschiede in den Items „Anonymität und Isolation an der Uni, und generelle Isolation“ wie auch „Schlechte Karriere, Arbeitslast zusätzlich zur Uni, schlechte Arbeitsbedingungen“. Jedoch sind signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Geschlechtern in allen anderen Items zu verzeichnen (p ≤ 0.05). Dies traf jedoch nicht auf die deutsche Stichprobe zu (p ≥ 0.05). Der Vergleich zwischen den deutschen und ägyptischen Studenten in der Sektion Ernährung zeigte signifikante Unterschiede in allen Nahrungstypen (p ≤ 0.05) und zusätzlich in der deutschen Gruppe noch signifikante Unterschiede in der Ernährungsweise zwischen Män und Frauen (p ≤ 0.05). Die Ergebnisse in der Sektion Mediennutzung zeigten signifikante Unterschiede zwischen der gesamten deutschen und ägyptischen Stichprobe – wie auch innerhalb deutschen und ebenso ägyptischen Geschlechtervergleich (p ≤ 0.05). Bzgl. der Fitnessektion zeigten die Ergebnisse signifikant bessere Ergebnisse in der deutschen Kohorte im Vergleich zur Ägyptischen (p ≤ 0.05), mit der Ausnahme der „Statischen Klimmzüge“ bei den männlichen Studenten in Deutschland und Ägypten (p ≥ 0.05). Des Weiteren wurden signifikante Korrelationen gefunden zwischen dem Nahrungstypus „ungesundes Essen“ und einigen Parametern der körperlichen und geistigen Gesundheitsprobleme wie auch BMI. Es gibt ebenfalls signifikante Korrelationen zwischen weiteren Items der Sektion Studiums und universitätsbezogenen Problemen, und Nahrungstypen und Blutdruck – wie auch Körperfett %, VO2max und körperlicher Aktivität. Eine signifkante Verbindung der Wahrscheinleichtkeiten wurde zwischen schlechten Ernährungsgewohnheiten bzgl. Konsum von gesundem Essen und der Selbsteinschätzung der Gesundheit der Studenten wurde festgestellt (95% CI below = 0.10, 95% top = 0.99) mit einer OR = 0.10 und in Ägypten (95% CI below = 0.35, 95% CI top = 0.92) mit einer OR = 0.56. Ein weiterer signifikante Wechselbeziehung konnte zwischen einem reduzierten Gesundheitsbewuβtsein und unzureichender körperlicher Aktivität in Deutschland nachgewiesen werden (95% CI below = 0.06, 95% CI top = 0.99), mit einer OR = 0.24. Die Kernergebnisse dieser Studie lassen sich in folgenden Punkten zusammenfassen: 1) Es gibt eine signifikante Differenz zwischen deutschen und ägyptischen Studenten bzgl. Gesundheitsparameter. 2) Ägyptische Studenten haben signifikant mehr körperliche und mentale Gesundheitsprobleme als die deutsche Stichprobe. 3) Die ägyptischen Studenten zeigten signifikant mehr Studiums- und universitätsbezogene Probleme als die deutschen Studenten. 4) Die ägyptischen Studenten hatten einen signifikant höheren Medienkonsum als die deutsche Stichprobe. 5) Ägyptische Studenten wiesen signifikant weniger körperliche Bewegung auf als die deutschen Studenten und schnitten daher auch mit einer signifkant geringeren Leistung in den Fitnesstests ab. 6) Eine hohe Korrelation konnte nachgewiesen werden zwischen den anthropometrischen Daten und einigen körperlichen und psychischen Gesundheitsproblemen. Des Weiteren wurde erwartungsgemäβ auch eine hohe Korrelation zwischen VO2max und körperlicher Aktivität gezeigt. 7) Es gibt einen signifikantnten Zusammenhang zwischen schlechten Ernährungsgewoheiten bei dem Konsum von gesunden Nahrungsgewohnheiten bei dem Konsum von gesunden Nahrungsmitteln und der eigenen Gesundheitseinschätzung. 8) Des Weiteren gibt es einen signifikanten Zusammenhang zwischen einem reduzierten Gesundheitsbewusstsein und unzureichender körperlicnher Aktivität. Es ist durch die Ergebnisse dieser Studie evident, dass es signifikante Unterschiede zwischen Industrieländern und Schwellenländern gibt bzgl. des allgemeinen Wohlbefindens, Gesundheitsproblemen, von denen einige Parameter in der ägyptischen Population auch geschlechtsspezifisch sind, körperlicher Aktivität und Fitness. Das Ziel dieser Studie war es diese Unterschiede zu identifizieren und damit zukünftigen Interventionsstudien Anhaltspunkte zu liefern, um im nächsten Schritt die Gesundheit von Studenten in verschiedenen Ländern zu verbessern. Diese Informationen kann potentiell Entscheidungsträgern helfen, die Infrastruktur bzgl. Gesundheitsversorgung und die Rahmenbedingungen für körperlicher Aktivität zu verbessern und dadurch die Gesellschaft zum positiven zu verändern bzw. weiterzuentwickeln

This paper researches how information in game tutorials can be retained by the player. We use a teach-back framework to see what information the participants’ retained. The purpose of this study is to understand how a video game can communicate vital information about character mechanics and rules with the help of tutorials integrated through level design. This qualitative study was conducted with 15 participants, they played through a Third-Person Action Platformer game which the authors created for this study. The participants were all experienced in this game genre for the sake of the results’ consistency. The results showed that the most effective method is the one that presented most text and restricted player freedom, that being said it is not the preferred method by the participants. This resulted in suggestions that differed from what is presented to them, some of them including demonstrations in the game world and even some audio elements that could be implemented instead of having a text-based tutorial.
I den här studien undersöker vi hur information i spelhandledning kan bibehållas av spelaren, vi använder en undervisningssammanfattning för att se vilken information deltagarna behöll. Syftet med denna studie är att förstå hur ett videospel kan kommunicera viktig information om karaktärsmekaniker och regler med hjälp av handledning integrerad genom nivådesign. Denna kvalitativa studie genomfördes med 15 deltagare, de spelade genom ett Tredje-Person action Platform spel som författarna skapade för denna studie. Alla deltagarna är erfarna i den här spelgenren för att hålla resultaten konsekventa. Den mest effektiva metoden är den som presenterade mest text och begränsade spelarens frihet men det var inte den föredragna metoden bland deltagarna. Det här resulterade i förslag som skilde sig från vad som presenterades för deltagarna, några av de förslagen inkluderade demonstrationer i spelvärlden och vissa ljudelement som kunde ha implementerats istället för att endast ha en textbaserad handledning.

Combinatorics is a growing topic in mathematics with widespread applications in a variety of fields. Because of this, it has become increasingly prominent in both K-12 and undergraduate curricula. There is a clear need in mathematics education for studies that address cognitive and pedagogical issues surrounding combinatorics, particularly related to students' conceptions of combinatorial ideas. In this study, I describe my investigation of students' thinking as it relates to counting problems. I interviewed a number of post-secondary students as they solved a variety of combinatorial tasks, and through the analysis of this data I defined and elaborated a construct that I call set-oriented thinking. I describe and categorize ways in which students used set-oriented thinking in their counting, and I put forth a model for relationships between the formulas/expressions, the counting processes, and the sets of outcomes that are involved in students' counting activity.

This study explored the relationship between estimation skill and computational ability for whole and rational numbers. The methods carried out were both quantitative as well as qualitative and data were collected from three primary schools along with their associated high school in the Perth area. The year levels chosen were 5, 7 and 9. There were two classes from each chosen primary school representing Year 5 and Year 7 and three classes of Year 9 from the high school. The total number of students involved was 91, 77 and 73 from the three respective year levels. Instruments used for collecting data were group-administered tests and interview. Two parallel tests with identical items, where one of the pair was estimation and the other written computation were administered to all the students in the chosen year levels. Interviews were conducted for the group of selected students based on the criteria: slightly above the average and slightly below the average. There were eighteen students with nine in each group. The results of the correlation shows that performance in estimation is positively correlated with written computation in all the year levels. Moreover, the t-test result reveals that there is no significant difference between the two tests expect in Year 7. Hence, the findings indicate that a child who is good in estimation skill can also perform well in written computation. As such, the importance of achieving estimation skill in a child would be very helpful in solving computation problems with understanding. On the other hand, children's performance related to the development of estimation skill and computational ability seems to be in positive direction from Year 5 to Year 7. Whereas the Year 9's performance is lower than Year 7. Among the topics, the children fared better in whole numbers compared to other topics. Performance tends to follow in a descending order from whole number to ratios. The disparities between estimation skill and computational ability are also more towards the difficult topics like division and multiplication of fractions and decimals. At the same time, the feedback from the interviewees tend to show that, the children from slightly above the average are better at choosing their own sensible strategies for solving the problems, whereas the students from slightly below average are more prone to the rote-learned algorithms. Although, male students appeared to perform better than the female students, the differences in performances are not that high. Thus, the result depicts that there are no significant gender issues in the selected year levels and topics. Further research needs to be carried out in order to determine the relationship between estimation skill and computational ability with topics other than whole and rational numbers, especially in measurement topics. Moreover, such studies can be done involving larger samples, and in other countries as well, Doing so can highlight the importance of the integration of estimation skill in teaching and learning mathematics.

In the first few years of the 21st Century, access to and use of Web 2.0 digital technologies by everyday, non-professional web users increased considerably in the UK. Today anyone of any age with access to a computer, digital tools and an internet connection can engage in social media dialogues as creators and publishers of digital content. This practice is no longer the preserve of the professional. Many academics and media commentators see this as a significant shift from the way individuals traditionally receive and ‘passively’ consume media to a position where they are more actively, responsively and inclusively engaged. In the last fifteen years much research has been concerned with the online activities of children and young people. Several web commentators have written with enthusiasm of the ‘net generation’ and ‘digital natives’. However, little research has been conducted into the digital and online engagement of adult web users. This study investigates how adults aged 18-28, 40-50 and 65+ create, publish and share content online. Content creation, in the context of this project, is defined as an arrangement of visual and/or audio material that requires some element of composition or editing. Through the use of qualitative interviews this research provides an insight into the practices of these three age ranges of adults who use digital technology and the internet to create and share their content. The study addresses how they use content sharing to communicate online and their motivations for engaging in these practices. Issues of this kind are of importance for individuals’ selfexpression and participation in an increasingly digitalised world. The research found that participants from all age groups often used both digital and analogue technologies side-by-side and this helped, rather than hindered, their ability to create and share content. Several participants, particularly the over-65s, revealed that digital technologies were enablers that unlocked suppressed behaviour and creative desires. Artistic self-expression, personal achievement, affiliation to others and receiving recognition and feedback were all given as motivational reasons for creating and sharing content across the age spectrum. The research findings offer an alternative to the over-simplistic and sometimes polemical perception that the so-called ‘digital generation’ are more digitally adept and literate than older internet users.

The expansion of Built Environment Education into art programs is a relatively recent phenomenon but very timely. The need to develop in students an understanding of their living environment is urgent as they inherit a world that is experiencing the depletion of its resources and erosion of its ecological balance.
There is a fundamental need for more comprehensive curriculum planning in built environment education. The goal of this research is to develop a curriculum paradigm that can be used to create curriculum plans and instructional designs for built environment education as part of the art class in secondary schools.
The built environment content of this curriculum paradigm is based on the active investigation of the students' internal world with all its different perceptions and lived experience and how this affects their understanding of the greater built environment. Through a more intense investigation of the greater built environment, the students will then analyze the effect that this environment has on their own perceptions and living habits. By developing a more conscious understanding of the built environment, the students will be better equipped to make informed decisions on how to better adapt to or change their environment.
A guiding principle for the curriculum paradigm was to ensure that the introduction of a new subject area, such as built environment education, into art education curriculum involved processes of creativity and discovery along with self-reflective and participatory action for both the teacher and students. To be effective, the content material must not only be accessible through the traditional modes of academic literature research but also made valid through observation, reflection and interaction with the particular built environment of the teacher and students themselves.
Vigilance and active participation in the process of urban change are vital. These changes can only be effective and enduring if we acknowledge the capacity of the built environment to enrich our lives as private and communal beings.
One of the essential goals of this curriculum paradigm is to capture the excitement and potential that the built environment offers as a pervasive agent for understanding and celebrating constructed past, present and future.

In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, problem solving tends to be highly procedural, and these procedures are typically taught with general instructional text and specific worked examples. Instructional text broadly defines procedures for problem solving, and worked examples demonstrate how to apply procedures to problems. Subgoal labels have been used to help students understand the structure of worked examples, and this feature has increased problem solving performance. The present study explored using subgoal labels in instructional text to further improve learners’ problem solving performance. A factorial design examined the efficacy of subgoal labeled instructional text and worked examples for programming education. The results of the present study suggest that subgoal labels in instructional text can help learners in a different way than subgoal labels in worked examples. Subgoal labels in text helped the learner articulate the general procedure better, and subgoal labels in the example helped the learner apply those procedures better. When solving novel problems, learners who received subgoal labels in both the text and example performed better than those who received subgoal labels in only the example. Learners who received subgoal labels in only the example performed better than those who received subgoal labels in only the text and those who did not receive subgoal labels at all. The present study indicates that subgoal labeled instructional text can improve novices’ problem solving performance in programming, but subgoal labels must appear in both the text and example.

Keratins are important structural components of hair and skin. There has been extensive study of keratins from the health and medical perspectives, although little work has been done to date to investigate their basic physicochemical properties in the form of biomaterials. The work presented in this thesis aimed to study surface and interfacial adsorption and solution aggregation of water soluble keratin polypeptides (made available by previous work within the research group). A range of physical techniques were employed including spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), neutron reflection (NR), dual polarisation interferometry (DPI), quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS).A major technical advantage of the neutron techniques is the use of hydrogen/deuterium substitution to enhance structural resolution. This approach was explored to study the interaction of keratins with both conventional surfactants and novel biosurfactants. The work presented comprises four results chapters. The first examines and compares four widely used interfacial techniques, SE, DPI, QCM-D and NR, by studying the adsorption of C12E6 at the silicon oxide/water interface. Whilst the data exhibits a large degree of consistency in the interfacially adsorbed amount, each technique helped reveal unique structural information with a high degree of complementarity. The second results chapter reports on findings regarding the properties of keratin polypeptides in surface adsorption and solution aggregation. It was found that the keratins adsorbed strongly on the surface of water, and formed rugby-shaped nanoaggregates in solution, the size and shape of which responded to salt concentration. The third results chapter reports on the interfacial behaviour of keratin/surfactants complexes in bulk solution, with cationic DTAB and anionic SDS as model conventional surfactants. It was found that both the electrostatic and hydrophobic forces contributed strongly to the surface adsorption processes. The final results chapter reports on interactions of a coated keratin film with novel biosurfactants including rhamnolipids (R1 and R2 with 1 and 2 sugar head(s), respectively) and Mel-C. The keratin films formed were found to be exceptionally stable and reproducible below pH 8, and these films could be widely used as model keratin substrates for screening their binding with surfactants and bioactive molecules. Both rhamnolipids and Mel-C exhibited strong adsorption onto the keratin substrate and interestingly, whilst R1 exhibited a completely reversible adsorption, R2 showed only a partially reversible adsorption. Mel-C showed some degree of irreversible adsorption similar to R2 and exhibited the strongest adsorption at around pH 4-5. These results show mild interactions with the keratin substrate, but indicate that the extent of adsorption and desorption could be manipulated by surfactant structure or solution conditions. The findings presented in this thesis are fundamental in aiding the development of the use of keratin polypeptides as biomaterials, in applications such as personal care. The work is also highly relevant to the understanding of the interactions between surfactants and keratin molecules at interfaces and in solution.

This study examined the written responses of seven adolescents to three novels. During the course of two school years, the students recorded their ongoing responses to small sections (ten to fifteen pages) of each novel in a response log. These responses were examined for evidence of patterns, typical responses, individual variations, and the effects of narrative structure. The Purves and Rippere instrument was used to determine response patterns while a new instrument developed by the researcher to accomodate the nature of the preliminary, ongoing responses was implemented to address the remaining three questions. The following general observations were made: 1. No predictable, sequential pattern of response could be found in student response writings. 2. Certain responses predominated: namely, narrational retelling, tentative frameworklng of the content, and analysis of characters and events 3. The written responses were generally characterized by considerable variation in individual responses. 4. Texts bearing distinct narrative features prompted different responses both for individuals and the group as a whole. Conclusions: The effects of writing during the reading of literary texts appears to bring response to a clear, conscious level. Writing in the response log encourages a conscious transaction with the literary text and consequently, readers can engage more actively and knowledgeably in the reading experience. Some broad conclusions and implications emerged from the study: 1. Particularly as they encounter complex literary works, adolescents should be encouraged to engage actively and consciously in their reading of literature by recording their ongoing responses in a log. 2. Teachers ought to promote the development of personal literary responses that require active thinking through testing hypotheses, making connections and interpreting the literary content 3. By purposefully structuring active meaning-making in the study of literature, teachers can determine the student needs and create the context for meaningful discussion. Moreover, by publicly sharing the contents of the response logs, all class members can contribute to and enhance their responses. Using writing to gauge the ongoing literary response allows both students and their teachers to be consciously aware of the "sense-making" strategies employed. As the medium for critical reading, writing promotes tentative, flexible construction of meaning. Furthermore, the instrument developed for analyzing the ongoing student responses in this study provides both a way to consciously examine the content of written responses and exposes alternative responses in order to extend understanding and appreciation of literature.
Education, Faculty of
Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of
Graduate

The purpose of this study was to discover similarities and differences in opinions held by secondary art teachers, secondary art students and animators on the role and character of animation in art education. The problem was to determine whether the relative neglect of animation as a part of the art curriculum has come about because the techniques and concepts associated with it are seen as difficult and/or unnecessary to implement by teachers; or whether students are unfamiliar and uninterested in animation as a field of study; or whether animation, in the opinion of professional animators, is not a suitable subject for study. The study was conducted with five secondary art teachers, nine secondary art students and three professional animators. Informants responded verbally to questions posed by the researcher. These responses were documented on a tape recorder and later transcribed for analysis. Responses from the informants generated data relating to five areas of animation: 1) defining animation, 2) potent images, 3) popular culture, 4) careers and 5) backgrounds. The study showed that although animation is a part of students1 popular culture and students are interested in it, teachers are not currently teaching it. Technical difficulties prevent them from doing so, despite the fact that they acknowledge animation as an important art form. The other findings in this study are that both teachers and students are often not consciously aware that they are watching animation; and that there are many misconceptions and prejudices associated with the medium. Implications for art education are discussed.
Education, Faculty of
Graduate