An examination of the recent literature revealed there are no established standards for orienting online doctoral students. To address this problem, the relevant literature was examined and suggested that doctoral students can be effectively oriented to their academic environment when provided with the requisite programmatic and institutional information, and factors that support socialization and self-efficacy. A literature-based orientation was developed to examine its impact on students’ first semester success in terms of rates of retention and grade point averages (GPA). This was accomplished using a developmental study approach that included three primary phases: 1) development of a literature-based orientation; 2) implementation of a synchronous online orientation; and 3) evaluation of the impact of the orientation on students’ programmatic knowledge and their perceptions of the factors of self-efficacy and socialization. A survey instrument was developed to evaluate the impact of the orientation on participants and administered to the fall 2017 online doctoral cohort in the criminal justice doctoral (DCJ) program at Nova Southeastern University. Survey results showed that student levels of knowledge increased significantly and those students placed a great deal of value on the socialization factors related to academic relationships with other students and faculty. Students entered the doctoral program with relative high levels of self-efficacy although their confidence level dropped slightly when asked about their ability to persist when encountering personal, financial, or familial difficulties. Included in the evaluation phase were comparisons of archival GPA and retention data from the 2014 DCJ cohort, who did not have the option of participating in a synchronous orientation compared with the 2017 cohort who did participate in the orientation. Additional comparisons were made within the 2017 cohort between those that participated in the orientation and those that did not. The results of the quantitative analyses revealed an 8% increase in retention rates for the 2017 cohort students that participated over the 2014 cohort. The 2017 cohort students that participated in the orientation showed a slight decrease (7%) in overall GPA when compared to the 2014 cohort. Further comparisons made within the 2017 cohort showed that students who participated in the orientation had better rates of retention and GPAs than the students who did not participate. The findings of study provided the following recommendations regarding the minimum standards to include in an orientation including the programmatic factors associated with curriculum requirements, deadline to obtain degree, and location of important program documents such as academic calendars, handbooks/catalogs, and dissertation guidelines. Institutional components included the registration process, academic advisor information, learning management system introduction, research library introduction, financial aid and military veteran specific information. Additionally, the factors that supported socialization and self-efficacy were recommended to be included in a set of orientation standards. Those factors should support student-to-faculty-to-student academic relationships and students who encounter personal, financial, or familial barriers respectively.

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Studien processinriktat och resultatinriktat motivationsklimat på svenska och spanska högstadieskolor undersöker skillnader och likheter inom processinriktat och resultatinriktat klimat. I denna studie undersöks det hur dessa två klimat ser ut på svenska och spanska skolor och detta ur svenska och spanska idrottslärares perspektiv. I studien används Nicholls (1989) teori om de två motivationsklimaten. Empirin är inhämtad via semistrukturerade intervjuer med idrottslärare på tre svenska och tre spanska högstadieskolor. Detta i kombination med Nicholls (1989) teori och andra modeller, ligger till grund för den senare gjorda analysen. Studien kommer till slutsatsen att spanska skolor är mer resultatinriktade medan svenska skolor är mer processinriktade. / The Study mastery and performance motivational climate, a comparison study between secondary schools in Sweden and Spain, examine the mastery orientation and performance orientation. The aim with the study is find out what motivational climate, mastery or performance that is used by physical educators. The theory, Nicholls (1989) theory about the two motivational climates; mastery orientation and performance orientation is used in this study. The empirical data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers at three secondary schools in Sweden and three secondary schools in Spain. This combined with theory and models will be the underlying material to the later analysis. The study will come to the conclusion that Spanish schools are more performance orientated than the Swedish schools which tend to be more mastery orientated.

With the spread of virtual reality, eye tracker embedded VR headset gradually becomes a trend. A company such as Fove has already released its eye-tracking VR headset. However, the relatively low frame rate of eye tracker in VR HMD (e.g. 90 fps) makes tracking unstable with consumption of computing power. Understanding relations between gaze direction and head direction would be helpful, for example, to predict and compensate eye tracking with head tracking. In this research, a unity project consisted of a moving object with variable parameters was created to examine if there’s correlation exists between players’ head direction and gaze direction in eye’s smooth pursuit movement. Furthermore, object parameters, shape, color, distance, speed and horizontal moving degree were tested to explore whether they can elicit statistically significant differences in gaze prediction. Results revealed that while smoothly pursuing a moving object with the gaze, people’s horizontal and vertical component of head direction and gaze direction are separately linearly correlated. Moreover, formulas were calculated via linear regression to express their relations. As for object parameters, significant impacts were detected for all five parameters and interaction effect of speed and horizontal moving degree with various effect size, partial eta squared. / Med spridningen av den virtuella verkligheten blir Eye Tracking-inbyggd VR-headset gradvis en trend. Ett företag som Fove har redan släppt sitt Eye Tracking VR-headset. Emellertid gör den relativt låga bildhastigheten för ögonspårare i VR HMD (t.ex. 90 fps) spårning ostabil med förbrukning av datorkraft. Att förstå relationer mellan blickriktning och huvudriktning skulle vara till hjälp, till exempel för att förutsäga och kompensera ögonspårning med huvudspårning. I den här undersökningen, var ett Unity-projekt bestående av ett rörligt objekt med varierande parametrar skapad för att undersöka om det finns korrelation mellan spelarens huvudriktning och blickriktning i ögonens följerörelse. Dessutom testades objektparametrar; form, färg, avstånd, hastighet och horisontell rörelsegrad för att undersöka huruvida de kan framkalla statistiskt signifikanta skillnader i blickprediktionen. Resultaten avslöjade att medan man rör sig smidigt med ett rörligt föremål med blicken, är människornas horisontella och vertikala komponent i huvudriktning och blickriktning separat linjärt korrelerad. Dessutom beräknades formler via linjär regression för att uttrycka deras relationer. När det gäller objektparametrar detekterades signifikanta effekter för alla fem parametrarna och interaktionseffekten av hastighets-och horisontell rörelsegrad med olika effektstorlek, partiell Eta-kvadrat.

While there is an abundance of research that shows a direct and positive relationship betweenentrepreneurial orientation (EO) and organizational performance the relationship is far from simpleand clear. Research suggest that the relationship is complex and is contingent on internal andexternal variables that affect this relationship. This study examines the effect of EO and itsdimensions on organizational performance in SMEs in Jordan. Further, the study examines themediating effect of internal and external contingency factors such as: market orientation, strategicflexibility and environment hostility on the EO-performance relationship. Using questionnairesurvey the study collected 137 usable questionnaires and utilized PLS to analyze the data. Thestudy found that EO significantly affects performance directly and positively. The study also founda mediating effect of environmental hostility on the relationship between EO and organizationalperformance. No evidence was found to support that MO and strategic flexibility have a mediatingeffect on the EO-performance relationship. With regards to the effect and mediation effect of EOdimensions; the study found that both innovativeness and proactiveness have a significant positivedirect effect on performance. While risk taking has a significant negative direct effect onperformance. With regards to the mediation effect of market orientation, strategic flexibility andenvironmental hostility on the relationships between EO dimensions (innovativeness,proactiveness and risk taking) the study found that only EH has a mediation effect while marketorientation and strategic flexibility have no mediation effect.Specifically, the study also found that EH mediates the relationship between innovativeness andperformance. The mediation is a full mediation since there are both direct and indirect effects ofinnovativeness on performance. The study found a partial mediation effect of EH on theproactiveness-performance relationship since the direct effect becomes insignificant when themediator is added. The study also found a partial mediation effect of EH on the risk takingperformance relationship since the direct effect becomes insignificant when the mediator is added.

This thesis empirically investigates the impact of an individual’s dominant independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation on the effect of the four self-congruity types (actual, ideal, social, ideal social) on brand attitude. A widely used practice among marketers focuses on communicating the notion that using their brands will bring consumers closer to how they would like to see themselves, their ideal self-concept (e.g. being a slim person like the models in the ads), instead of how they actually see themselves, their actual self-concept. However, recent research shows that there is no “universality” of a superior self-congruity effect. Specifically, individual-level characteristics (e.g. public self-consciousness) determine whether actual or ideal self-congruity impacts brand perceptions more strongly (Malär et al., 2011). This study extends that research by considering (a) all four self-congruity types and (b) additional individual-level characteristics (independent and interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation), which are valuable for segmenting consumer markets within and across countries. Survey data from a non-student sample were collected in two countries (the US and India). After performing data cleaning procedures, over 800 usable responses in each country were analysed with the use of PLS-SEM. The findings show that, as expected, these individual-level characteristics have an impact in regard to which of the four self-congruity types has the strongest effect on brand attitude. For instance, for individuals with a local orientation or interdependent self-construal, actual self-congruity has the strongest effect on brand attitude. These findings extend self-congruity theory by considering how an individual’s dominant independent and interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation impact the effect of the four self-congruity types on brand attitude. Moreover, the findings offer marketers insights into which self-concept type they should try to match with their brand communications when targeting these specific consumer groups. Details on the contributions as well as managerial implications are presented.

As an environment, the modern university setting is diverse and subject students to numerous challenges and opportunities that prepare them to enter careers, build families, and grow as an individual. Yet what a student experiences in college differs greatly and is shaped by internal and external factors in their environment, including campus participation, college self-efficacy, depression and stress. Prior research indicates the impact of family on how a student expresses each of these variables (Schmidtgall, King, Zarski & Cooper, 2000; Bradbury & Mather, 2009; Hannum & Dvorak, 2004; Kenny & Donaldson, 1991; Lopez et al, 2001; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2006). However, there is one area of the family that has been scarcely studied in terms of campus experience influence: family communication patterns (FCPs). The present study sought to investigate this connection. Utilizing a survey-based design, 253 student participants were asked questions to identify the amount of conversation and conformity orientation present in their family unit, as well as levels of campus participation, college self-efficacy, depression and stress. Results indicated that conversation and conformity orientation in families were positively correlated with campus participation. Conversation orientation led to higher feelings of college self-efficacy and lower feelings of stress and depression. Conformity orientation had no correlation with experiencing stress or depression. The current study suggests that family communication does indeed influence multiple areas of a student's college experience, though conversation-oriented communication has a greater positive influence. Having a positive and communicative family environment allows students to get involved, lowers their risk of experiencing mental issues, and equips them to feel confident in their environment. However, the obedience and uniformity found in conformity orientation families instills structure in a student, which may help them avoid distractions and stay focused on schoolwork (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 1997).

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