This dissertation includes background on influences of mathematics, mathematics education, and who is viewed as a mathematician leading into three articles exploring students' and teachers' perceptions of mathematics through their lived experiences in both mathematics classrooms and their communities. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis for the methodology, all three articles analyze mathematics autobiographies and semi-structured interviews with five student participants enrolled in the same Algebra I course; Paper 3 also includes the Algebra I teacher. Paper 1 focuses on how students describe their lived experiences in mathematics classrooms. Three themes emerged from the participant data: 1) lack of autonomy and access, 2) feelings hinge on performance in mathematics, and 3) the need for support in mathematics. Each participant shared different experiences, but these experiences can help inform educators how to improve students' experiences in the classroom. Paper 2 sought to understand how middle grade students make sense of what it means to do mathematics in their community. The three themes include: 1) navigating the usefulness of mathematics outside of school, 2) who directs mathematics outside of school, and 3) the need for mathematics in future plans. Connections students made between mathematics and the lives outside of school varied suggesting how broad their definition of mathematics is may vary. Paper 3 focuses on a current mathematics teacher lived experiences to answer, how do teachers' perceptions and lived experiences of mathematics relate to their teaching practices as a mathematics teacher? The three themes that emerged from data in paper three include: 1) performance and requirements of mathematics, 2) applying mathematical ideas, and 3) humanity of learning mathematics.

Research suggests that many high school students are not learning mathematics of value from a personal or an employment perspective. School mathematics often consists of applying memorised algorithms to exercises that do not meaningfully connect with the student's experience, and hence do not lead to the construction of meaningful mathematics concepts by the student. Moreover, most high school mathematics curricula give students a false idea of the essence of mathematics: Instead of understanding mathematics as another powerful lens through which to view the world, and a creative, enjoyable endeavour, it is seen as mere calculation or esoteric gobbledegook. Authentic learning experiences involve a different perspective on both what passes as mathematics and how students learn to mathematise. The study examined high school mathematics knowledge from several perspectives, and sought, through an empirical study, to enhance student learning and attitude towards mathematics through authentic learning. A class of Year 8 students learnt several units of mathematics primarily by authentic methods, using problems or interesting phenomena in the students' own experience, or otherwise meaningful to the student. Qualitative data was collected by multiple methods, including video recordings. Surveys were administered to five classes of Year 8 students and their parents at the beginning and at the end of the semester in which most of the empirical research took place. This allowed a comparison of attitudes towards mathematics between the experimental class and the other classes. A comparison of achievement was also made. / The results indicate that employing authentic learning experiences may enhance learning and attitude towards mathematics. However, prior transmission teaching methods presented a significant barrier to student acceptance of authentic learning. Furthermore, there remain grave problems with other aspects of current high school mathematics curricula, specifically the mathematics content and the assessment style, which act against the full implementation of authentic learning. These problems are investigated and possible future paths considered.

Yoga, an ancient philosophy and practice undertaken as a path towards self-realisation, was originally written for men, by men living in the East. However, a large and growing number of people in the West now practice some form of yoga, with more than 80% of practitioners being women. Since the 1980s, there has been a ‘feminisation’ of yoga in the West, as female teachers and practitioners tailor its practice to meet the specific needs of women. The practice of yoga has also changed to meet the needs of the modern Western practitioner more generally, such that the primary reasons for practicing yoga are to improve physical well-being and to cope with stress. Nonetheless, for some practitioners, yoga continues to offer philosophical and spiritual direction. The aim of this thesis is to critically examine mid-aged women’s experiences of Iyengar yoga. Focusing on a select group of 35 women living in New South Wales, Australia, the study ultimately seeks to determine whether a process of self-transformation arises from their yoga practice. Bourdieu’s concept of habitus provides a very useful context for describing the study participants’ shared disposition and values. The women’s demographic characteristics, for example, help explain why they were attracted to and maintained a regular yoga practice. An aspect of their habitus is also distinctly feminine, incorporating values of connectedness and holism. The women’s experiences were examined to consider why they were practicing yoga. In an exploration of the processes that emerged from the women’s experiences of Iyengar yoga, a paradox arose concerning the nature of ‘the Self’ that is depicted by yoga philosophy, and ‘the self’ that is portrayed in modern societies. To examine how ideals from the West and the East have come together in the modern practice of yoga, the women’s experiences are compared here with Giddens’ ‘reflexive project of the self’ (a process of self-actualisation) and the broader principles of classical yoga (a process of self-realisation). Western practices, like Giddens’ project, emphasise processes of ‘becoming’: a means to perpetually progress and improve oneself. Eastern practices, however, give priority to states of ‘being’, via the cultivation of awareness to attain experiences of constancy and stillness within. The women’s stories and experiences are integral to understanding the processes of self-transformation that arise from their yoga practice. Their experiences demonstrate that although initially reasons for practicing yoga identify primarily with Giddens’ reflexive project (‘becoming’), through the practice of yoga their experiences become embodied (����being����). The thesis explores the evolving interplay between ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ that ensues from experiences of Iyengar yoga, and explains how and why these processes of self-transformation impact on the lives of the women interviewed. / PhD Doctorate

This study aims to explore, describe and thus understand the phenomenon of two-year college program students’ persistence within the context of Taiwanese culture and tradition; and to develop and provide a framework or patterns for understanding working adult students’ persistence for educators. By using a hermeneutic phenomenology approach, the persistence in learning experiences of specific participants was explored based on semi-structured interviews in two exploratory studies linked by a comprehensive literature review. The researcher’s own experience of persistence was also included as part of the study. The data were analysed by using thematic analysis and narrative construction. Findings reveal that participants persist with the support of enabling factors and application of coping strategies despite barriers. The intertwined relationship between the value placed on qualifications, identity recognition and views of persistence contribute to the concept of persistence. This concept develops through schemas emerging from the data: historical effect, cultural reproduction and identity construction. Under the influence of Taiwanese tradition and culture, this concept of persistence immerses into the participants’ knowledge ground and standpoints to understand the world they live in. The concept is defined as ‘no pain, no gain’ and includes dimensions of insisting on the right to study, fulfilment of dreams, being a role model of good study habits, personal growth and enrichment. Participants construct both social identity as graduates and personal identity as progressive, competent and respected individuals. The findings of this study benefit both theory and practice. Theoretical implications and recommendations include providing insights into the concept of persistence through development of schema that underpin factors contributing to working adult students’ persistence in Taiwan. Practical implications and recommendations include insights drawn from the perspective of Taiwanese culture and tradition to understand the experience of two-year college program working adult students to persist in a high level learning environment, which informs educators to see themselves as important sources of support and information, and thus able to assist their students to cope with the barriers to their learning, or to extend persistence outside their formal educational settings and maintain their learning.

This field study investigates the dissemination of an innovation through a descriptive analysis of the Structured Experiences for Use in the Classroom Project. Part I serves as an introduction to the field study and provides information about the role of the author in the Project, data collection methods and terminology used in the study. Part II provides a description of the operation of the Project and an analysis of the network of users of the innovation as well as some case studies of the users. Part III considers the operation of the Structured Experiences for Use in the Classroom Project in the light of the theory of the dissemination of innovations. This part also includes some conclusions about the theory and practice of the dissemination of innovations and raises implications for future practice and policy making. The Project team on the Structured Experiences for Use in the Classroom Project established a network of users of the innovation in order to further disseminate structured experiences and receive feedback on their use. The difficulties and the advantages of this approach are documented in the case studies in Part II. The conclusions from this field study raise questions and seek to indicate some directions in the areas of; the funding of projects, the styles of dissemination, the use of networks and the adoption of innovations.

<p>Stressrelaterad ohälsa återfinns bland de vanligaste orsakerna till sjukfrånvaro i Sverige enligt statistik 2009. För att namnge stressrelaterad ohälsa används bl a utbrändhet, utmattningssyndrom och utmattningsdepression. Den förstnämnda benämningen anses som en olämplig felaktigt förmedlande direktöversättning ifrån det engelska ordet burnout medan den andra och tredje benämningen används och fungerar som erkända begrepp. Det utmattade tillståndet innebär en mängd fysiologiska och psykiska besvär däribland den basala emotionen rädsla och komplexa emotionen ångest. Syftet med undersökningen var att djupstudera dessa emotioner i samband med utmattningssyndrom. I undersökningen deltog 8 personer med erfarenhet av fenomenet. Skriftligen beskrivna svar bearbetades och analyserades enligt metoden meningskoncentrering. I resultatet redovisas fysiologiska och psykiska upplevelser i samband med rädsla och ångest samt tankar och beteenden som upplevdes föregå och/eller förvärra rädslan och ångesten. Upplevelserna kännetecknades av mångfald och gemensamhet där djupgående beskrivningar kan bidra till en ökad kunskap och förståelse samt utgöra en grund för identifiering. Rädslan och ångesten utgör en del i en upplevd komplex problematik kring utmattningssyndrom .</p>

The primary purposes of this study were to explore the relationships among four work experiences (i.e., job variety, job autonomy, job stress, and job feedback) and coaches?? job satisfaction to examine the influence of institutional support (i.e., affective institutional support and financial institutional support) on job satisfaction, and to investigate if the relationship between the type of institutional support and job satisfaction differs (does not differ) between revenue generating sport coaches and non-revenue-generating sport coaches. To achieve these purposes this study examined the relationships among four work experiences and institutional support variables on job satisfaction. This study also examined differences between revenue-generating sport and non-revenue-generating sport coaches. Coaches (N = 599) in 7 sports (i.e., football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis) from NCAA Division I schools were asked to participate in this study. The response rate was a 34.7 % (208 / 599). Participants included 145 males and 63 females. Of the 208 completed and returned questionnaires, 100 (48.1%) were from revenue sport coaches (i.e., football and basketball). Meanwhile, 108 (51.9 %) were from non-revenue sport coaches. The results indicated that job variety, job stress, job feedback, affective institutional support, and financial institutional support were significantly related to job satisfaction. Namely, these three job experiences and two types of institutional support in the organizational environment impacted coaches?? attitudes, or job satisfaction. Further, for revenue generating sport coaches, financial institutional support was a significant indicator of job satisfaction; however, for non-revenue-generating sport coaches, affective institutional support held a stronger relationship to job satisfaction than did financial institutional support. Additionally, one of the job experience variables, job feedback, played a meaningful role to both coaches of revenue sports and coaches of nonrevenue sports in shaping job satisfaction.

Stressrelaterad ohälsa återfinns bland de vanligaste orsakerna till sjukfrånvaro i Sverige enligt statistik 2009. För att namnge stressrelaterad ohälsa används bl a utbrändhet, utmattningssyndrom och utmattningsdepression. Den förstnämnda benämningen anses som en olämplig felaktigt förmedlande direktöversättning ifrån det engelska ordet burnout medan den andra och tredje benämningen används och fungerar som erkända begrepp. Det utmattade tillståndet innebär en mängd fysiologiska och psykiska besvär däribland den basala emotionen rädsla och komplexa emotionen ångest. Syftet med undersökningen var att djupstudera dessa emotioner i samband med utmattningssyndrom. I undersökningen deltog 8 personer med erfarenhet av fenomenet. Skriftligen beskrivna svar bearbetades och analyserades enligt metoden meningskoncentrering. I resultatet redovisas fysiologiska och psykiska upplevelser i samband med rädsla och ångest samt tankar och beteenden som upplevdes föregå och/eller förvärra rädslan och ångesten. Upplevelserna kännetecknades av mångfald och gemensamhet där djupgående beskrivningar kan bidra till en ökad kunskap och förståelse samt utgöra en grund för identifiering. Rädslan och ångesten utgör en del i en upplevd komplex problematik kring utmattningssyndrom .

ABSTRACT Background: A diary often helps the critically ill patient better to understand her/his illness and fill gaps in memory regarding their experiences in the ICU. To date there appears to be a lack of research that specifically focuses on family members’ experiences of the use of a diary within the intensive care setting. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore how family members experienced a diary kept during their sick relative’s stay in the ICU. Methodology: A qualitative methodology and, in particular, a hermeneutic approach were deemed to be appropriate for the study. Eleven participants were interviewed relating to nine diaries. Collected data have been analysed using hermeneutic interpretation inspired by Gadamer. Findings: Family members experienced that the diary sustained strengthened and deepened the connection to their sick relative and confirmed the presence of family members at bedside. The diary worked as a forum for mutual exchange of information between nurses and family members which led to a feeling of being united with the nurses in understanding. This in turn created a sense of togetherness and the family members didn’t feel neglected. In addition the diary was experienced as an implied hope that the outcome of the ICU stay would be good, thereby lending strength to worried family members. Conclusion: The diary was experienced as a tool that enhanced family members’ wellbeing.

The purpose of this study was to describe how adolescents aged 12-18 years with inflammatory bowel disease experience their illness and what coping strategies they use to manage their illness and improve their wellbeing. The method used was a descriptive literature study, and the result of the study included 15 scientific articles. Our results showed that IBD affected the adolescent’s everyday life and social life with friends, family and activities. The adolescents also reported that they experienced a feeling of vulnerability, altered body image and that they saw themselves as different from healthy subjects. Adolescents with IBD have been shown to use the same coping strategies that healthy adolescents are using, that is, confrontational, evasive, independent and optimistic coping. The avoidance coping is more prevalent in adolescents with IBD, as the use of such strategies is specific for IBD because of illness symptoms. There is a need for more research directed at young people with IBD, since previous research is based mostly on adults' experiences of illness.