<p>Studiens syfte är att undersöka tonåringars upplevelser av att leva med diabetes och vilka problem de stöter på i vardagen. Tonårstiden är en omtumlande period då förvandlingen från att vara barn till att bli vuxen sker. Att samtidigt anpassa livet efter en kronisk sjukdom som innebär strikta regler och regelbunden vardag gällande mat och medicinering är påfrestande. En litteraturstudie har gjorts för att sammanställa forskning på området. Artiklarna hämtades i databaserna Cinhal och Medline. Sökorden som använts var: ungdomar, diabetes typ 1 och upplevelser. 14 artiklar valdes ut och analyserades. Två huvudteman definierades, det första var att leva med diabetes med underrubrikerna fritid, medicinering, kost och motion, skola och vård samt livskvalitet. Det andra var relationer med underrubrikerna familjen, vänner och frigörelse. Resultatet visar att tonåringar med diabetes typ 1 känner att de skiljer sig från sina vänner. De måste följa en regelbunden kost och medicinering. De kan inte vara spontana utan måste alltid planera sitt liv efter sin sjukdom. Frigörelseprocessen ser annorlunda ut för ungdomar med diabetes. Flickor och pojkar upplever sin sjukdom på olika sätt, pojkar har svårare att acceptera sin sjukdom och försöker dölja den, flickor identifierar sig mer med sin sjukdom men har svårare att följa de strikta och regelbundna rutinerna.</p> / <p>The aim of this study is to look into the experiences of adolescents living with diabetes and what problems they encounter in everyday life. Adolescence is a difficult period in life in which children grow up to become adults. At the same time it is stressful to adapt life to a chronic disease, with strict rules for food and medication on a regular timetable. A literature review has been made to compile research. Articles were retrieved in the databases Cinahl and Medline. The keywords used were: adolescent, type 1 diabetes and experiences. 14 Articles were selected and analyzed. Two main themes were defined, the first was to live with diabetes with subheadings leisure, medication, diet and exercise, quality of life, health care and school. The second was relationships with subheadings family, friends and emancipation. The result shows that teenagers with type 1 diabetes know that they are different from their friends. They must adhere to a regular diet and medication. They can not be spontaneous because they have to plan life to their illness. Emancipation process is different for adolescents with diabetes. Girls and boys experience their disease in different ways. Boys have more difficulties accepting their illness and try to hide it, girls identify more with it but find it harder to follow the strict and regular routines.</p>

Participation is present as one of the most important factors to achieve sustainable change in human development. Communication and dialogue are amongst the most important tools to create participation. This qualitative study is trying to find out what methods are being used by development professionals to create communication and dialogue. It also studies the development professionals conception of communication with beneficiaries and their view of the beneficiary itself. The data was retrieved from five semi-structural interviews with development professionals active in community development or empowerment. The most important conclusions were that communication with beneficiaries appears to be perceived as consulting the beneficiary, that beneficiaries only are being involved in decisions concerning their proximate reality on a local level, that the beneficiary is most commonly viewed upon as equal, student or passive and that there seems to be a discrepancy between the development professionals’ official discourse, personal opinion and actual practice.

There is growing interest in determining the nature of children’s activity profiles. Recreational activities are considered to be a vital part of the development of children (King et al., 2003). Participation in recreation positively influences the development of skills and competences, social relationships, and long-term physical health (Law et al., 2006). Recently, the importance of fundamental motor skills and perceived physical competence towards lifetime participation in movement and physical activity has gained increased attention (Robinson, 2011). Stodden et al. (2008) proposed a model in which the reciprocal and dynamic relationship between motor skill competence and physical activity was central. Stodden and colleagues’ posited that in middle-childhood motor skill proficiency directly influences participation and also indirectly influences participation via perceptions of physical competence. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between motor skill proficiency (MS), perceptions of physical competence (PPC) and participation in active recreation and physical activities by boys and girls in grade 2. Participants were 398 grade 2 children (mean age= 7 years 8 months, girls = 201) from eight elementary schools. Locomotor skills (LM) and object control skills (OC) were assessed in physical education using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2). Participation in recreation and physical activities was assessed using the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE). Perceptions of physical competence were assessed using the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance (PSPCSA). Descriptive statistics were calculated for five dimensions (diversity, intensity, with whom, where, and enjoyment) of participation, PPC, OC, and LM; and analyses of variance (ANOVA) were used to examine differences between boys and girls for all variables. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients were computed to examine the relationships between motor skills, perceptions of physical competence, and participation in CAPE activity categories of all children and boys and girls separately. Linear regression was used to predict the participation from motor skills and PPC. Overall children participated in more recreational activities and social activities than active recreational pastimes and organized sports. There were no differences between the rate of boys’ and girls’ participation in recreational activities, physical activities, organized sport, and active physical recreation. Girls participated in social activities, skill-based activities, and self-improvement activities more than boys. Girls’ locomotor proficiency and PPC were significantly higher than boys, while boys’ object control proficiency was significantly higher than girls. The relationships between motor skills and participation in CAPE activity categories was consistent and notable for boys, particularly between object control skills and the more active categories of participation. Whereas, there were only two significant relationships between motor skills and participation for girls; object control skills was significantly associated with participation in physical activities and active physical recreation. For boys, PPC was positively associated with all CAPE activity categories except for engagement in self-improvement activities. For girls, PPC was positively associated with participation in social activities, skill-based activities, and active physical recreation. Regression analysis revealed that PPC accounted for 4% of the shared variance in girls’ participation in active physical recreation. For boys, PPC and object control skills accounted for 12.3% of the shared variance in participation in active physical recreation, and object control skills accounted for 5% of the variance in organized sport. These findings illustrate that children participated most often in less physically active recreational activities. There were notable sex-based differences in the relationships between MS, PPC, and participation in CAPE activities. For girls there were few significant relationships between motor skills, perceptions of physical competence and CAPE activity categories. In this study findings suggest that for grade 2 boys, participation in leisure activities is affected by motor skills directly. But this model was not significant for girls. For girls, only perceptions of physical competence predicted active physical recreation. However, findings of the present study suggest that childhood object control proficiency and perceptions of physical competence predicted subsequent time spent in leisure activities, at least for boys. In relation to the Stodden et al. model of developmental mechanisms influencing physical activity trajectories, this study suggests that object control skills may be playing both a direct and indirect role in boys’ participation in active physical recreation and a direct role in their participation in organized sport. For girls in grade 2, the influence of motor skill proficiency is less evident, but their perceptions of competence may play somewhat of a role in their participation in active physical recreation. / Graduate / elnazmiry@yahoo.com

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF KAREN B. BONTRAGER, for the Master of Arts degree in ENGLISH, presented on June 18, 2009, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: PERCEPTIONS OF WRITING PROCESS: A STUDY OF FIRST-YEAR COMPOSITION STUDENTS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Lisa J. McClure The purpose of this exploratory study was to ascertain the perceptions of the composing process held by English 101 students at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Questionnaires were distributed to students in twenty sections of English 101 in the first few weeks and the last few weeks of the fall semester of 2007. The questionnaires invited students to reflect and report on their writing processes. Results of the study indicate that students' perceptions of the writing process are colored by the Current Traditional paradigm: students place a high value on the final product and understand writing as a linear process. There is also evidence that students' perceptions of their revising habits may differ from their actual practices.

This study explored faculty members' perceived importance of family-friendly policies in academia, the extent to which faculty perceive academic institutions as having a social responsibility to make the academy more family-friendly, participants' endorsement of gender-biased norms, and whether the faculty members who participated in this study are considering "opting-out" of academia. Key constructs that were explored include: the ideal worker norm, the motherhood norm, the maternal wall, and bias avoidance. Methodological limitations and the implications for this study were discussed. The participants of this study were 243 female and male tenure-track and tenured faculty members from graduate departments from six nationally accredited, public, U.S. doctoral-granting research universities. The results indicated that although most faculty do not intend to "opt-out" of academia, a substantial proportion reported that they are considering leaving their current institution, or leaving academia entirely. Further, although faculty members' perceptions of whether a family-friendly policy is of personal importance varied, the overwhelming majority of respondents expressed support for such policies. Finally, on average, faculty members did not endorse gender-biased beliefs toward caregiving, with women being less likely to endorse such beliefs.

Elite tennis players are required to perform on a variety of tennis court surfaces which differ in mechanical characteristics, such as friction and hardness, influencing their performance and risk of injury. To understand the influence of surfaces on performance and injury risk, three studies were conducted to investigate tennis players' perceptions and biomechanical responses during tennis-specific movements on different court surfaces. In study 1, tennis players perceptions of acrylic and clay courts were identified following a thematic inductive analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 7) to develop a series of visual analogue scales (VAS) to quantify perceptions during studies 2 and 3. Perceptions of predictability of the surface and players' ability to slide and change direction emerged, in addition to anticipated perceptions of grip and hardness. Study 2 aimed to examine the influence of court surfaces and prior clay court experience on perceptions and biomechanical characteristics of tennis-specific skills. Perception, kinematic, insole pressure and mechanical data were collected on an acrylic and a clay court. In agreement with findings reported in study 1, lower mechanical friction and hardness on the clay court were perceived and accompanied by less predictability and greater difficulty to change direction whilst being easier to slide. As result of sliding, players' adopted an altered technique on the clay court compared to the acrylic leading to reductions in loading provide evidence to explain lower injury risks previously reported on clay courts. Prior clay court experience did not influence players' perceptions. However, biomechanical response to the clay surface differed, such that players with high clay court experiences contacted the ground with an everted foot, believed to contribute to controlling sliding. Differences in perception-response relationships were reported between experience groups suggesting players with greater clay court experience are better able to choose an appropriate response to improve their performance. Friction properties of the surface may change during play on clay courts due to player movements and sliding on the court. Therefore there may be areas of expected and unexpected changes to friction to which players must respond to. Study 3 aimed to examine the influence of changes in friction and players awareness of these changes on perceptions and biomechanical response. Compared with study 1 and 2, players found it more difficult to identify differences in perceived grip during study 3, possibly due the smaller mechanical friction differences reported. Unexpected reductions in friction produced greater initial ankle inversion angles compared to the expected decreases in friction, increasing players' risk of injury. Lower horizontal and vertical loading rates were reported on the lower friction conditions where further sliding was reported; suggesting a reduced injury risk by allowing longer time spent applying the forces. This thesis has identified key perception variables that enabled a holistic understanding of perceptions and their interaction with biomechanical response. Mechanical friction was an important factor influencing players' ability to slide. Sliding on clay resulted in altered loading characteristics, pressure distributions and kinematics potentially reducing players' injury risk. Tennis players' experience of clay courts does not influence their perceptions of the surface but the response that players adopt, which lower their risk of injury and increase performance. It is important when playing on a clay court that friction properties are maintained across the court during a tennis match as much as possible to reduce injury risks, due to the influence of unexpected changes to friction on perceptions and response.

Co-teaching as an inclusive educational model is a new approach in Greece which aims to support the inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. This research aimed to investigate and evaluate co-teaching practices as well as teachers’ and students’ with SEN perceptions with regard to co-teaching. This research adopted a mixed methodology in two independent phases in order to address the needs of the study. Namely, 140 teachers were surveyed and multiple case studies of five different secondary co-taught classrooms were incorporated. This study showed that the way co-teaching is implemented in Greek secondary schools is closer to the model of “one teach-one assist”. Specifically, co-teachers saw the general teacher as responsible for all children, while the special teacher as responsible for an individual child with SEN included in a mainstream classroom. Thus, limited special teacher role expansion to all children was observed. The study showed that the general teachers were more negative about the sharing of various classroom responsibilities compared to the special teachers. Moreover, the approach of children’s withdrawal out of class was implemented to a significant extent. According to the research findings it was largely the special teachers who preferred this integrated approach and not the general teachers. Also, limited differentiation and grouping methods were used by co-teachers. In addition, this study indicated that co-teaching pairs did not collaborate with each other in an extensive way and did not commonly plan lessons together. Thus, teacher participants were quite sceptical in relation to the potential personal benefits of co-teaching to themselves. This study showed teacher training in co-teaching, teachers’ sensitivity and positive attitudes towards children with SEN, collaboration between co-teachers and mutual planning time, clear and official allocation of co-teaching roles and special teachers employment at the beginning of the academic year were all regarded as factors which would facilitate the successful implementation of co-teaching. Interestingly, the present study revealed that from the perspectives of both teachers and children with SEN the model of “one teach-one assist” seemed to have positive academic outcomes to children with SEN. However, the model of “one teach-one assist” seemed to have not only positive but also negative social and personal outcomes for children with SEN. From the perspective of some teachers and children with SEN respondents it seems that the model of “one teach-one assist” limited the social interactions of some children with SEN and interrelationships with the remaining children, which was due to sitting next to them during the lesson time and escorting them during the break time. Moreover, children with SEN did not see that co-teaching resulted in their social skills development. As a result some children with SEN expressed their unwillingness to be supported by a special teacher during the following academic year. Among the various disadvantages of co-teaching that children with SEN mentioned was the confusion that they usually felt when both teachers were speaking simultaneously. Lastly, children with SEN who experienced the out of class support expressed their preference for being supported out of the mainstream classroom. This was because they saw that the out of class support benefited them academically.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was two-fold. It began by exploring the familiarity and perceptions of Saudi faculty members of the CAEP standards. Then it speculated on how these perceptions may influence the outcomes of using CAEP standards on evaluating educational programs in Saudi Arabia. To explore this issue of how educators in Saudi Arabia perceive CAEP standards. The findings from the survey showed that Saudi faculty members at Al-Jouf University were familiar with the Content and Pedagogical Knowledge standards and valued them. They agreed that mastery of the standard items contributes to the improvement of Islamic teachers’ preparation programs. The results concerning the views of participants about the clinical partnerships and practice standard revealed that Saudi faculty members at Al-Jouf University were also familiar with Clinical Partnerships and Practice standards and valued them. They agreed that mastery of the standard items contributes to the improvement of Islamic teachers’ preparation programs. Results from the interviews and focus groups showed that most faculty members in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction in the sample (77.7%) consider themselves well informed about the CAEP standards. In contrast, most faculty members in the Department of Islamic Studies, in the sample (71.4%), did not have knowledge about these standards. For this reason, many of them responded, “don’t know” to most of the questions. Despite the variety among the participants’ responses about the familiarity or preparedness of CAEP standards, they generally had a favorable outlook towards the CAEP standards. The three major categories and the eleven themes present the Saudi faculty members’ perceptions of the CAEP standards. The findings are reported in three main categories: (a) Positive, (b) Neutral, and (c) Negative.

College student use of alcohol is the number one health problem facing this population. For African American college students the problems associated with alcohol use can have far reaching implications associated with graduation rates, socioeconomic station within the community, as well as health status. There are a myriad of factors to consider when examining alcohol use among African American colleges students. These include living arrangement, classification, age, gender, cumulative grade point average, Greek-letter organization affiliation as well as whether or not the student participates in athletics. This research sought to examine alcohol use, perceived norms and attitudes held by African American college students. Results determined that African American college students who consume alcohol when compared to those who do not consume alcohol share similar overall attitudes and perceptions regarding use. The students in this sample held perceptions of alcohol use comparable to students in predominantly Caucasian national samples. Additionally, results showed that African American college student drinkers perceived that students affiliated with sororities and fraternities consumed more alcohol than non-Greek affiliated students. Furthermore, linear regression analyses indicated that participation in athletics, classification, gender and living arrangement were predictors for alcohol use.

So many students enter college without the conceptual knowledge of mathematical principles needed in order to succeed in higher education. Pre-service teachers entering teacher education programs are not exempt from this dilemma. While training to be educators, many pre-service teachers struggle to understand the concepts behind elementary level mathematics. These pre-service teachers will then continue in the education field and teach mathematics to the future generation. Will they teach their students the way they were taught? The purpose of this study is to investigate how pre-service teachers view their past experiences with math during their K-12 education and to compare those views with their perceptions of how they will teach math in the future. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods through surveys, short answer responses, and interviews, this study examines 38 pre-service teachers currently taking math methods courses at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in order to find out (1) how pre-service teachers view their past experiences with mathematics during their K-12 education, (2) what pre-service teachers' visions of how they will teach mathematics to their students in the future are, (3) which appears to have more influence on pre-service teachers' perceptions of their own future math teaching practices: their past learning experiences or their current teacher preparation program, and (4) what pre-service teachers perceive as effective ways of mathematics teaching and learning. Findings revealed that pre-service teachers tend to view their past K-12 math education experiences as mostly consisting of steps and procedures they were taught to memorize, but they have strong feelings about teaching mathematics for conceptual understanding instead of focusing on memorization like they were taught during their math classes in K-12 education. The results from this study also revealed that pre-service teachers feel it will be difficult not to fall back on the way they were taught mathematics when encountering unfamiliar concepts they have to teach. The need for more field experiences and learning how to incorporate project-based learning and presenting diverse ways of problem solving also came out as ways to improve teacher education programs.