This thesis is an account of the lived experience of doing research in the critical paradigm in the context of the discipline of social ecology. It is a story with actors, a plot, and actions over time. The Worldview of social ecology has embedded within its epistemology the scope for the creative act of narrative, therefore this thesis is a critical conversation told in four voices. The research was embedded in critical social science methodology and method, and attempted to understand and transform the problematics concerning the social relations, practice, language and discourse which were uncovered when five novice nurse academics engaged in teaching a problem-orientated curriculum in the practice setting. It was a critical action research project based predominantly on the Kemmis and McTaggart Model (1988). The research also debated the nature of participative, collaborative action research undertaken in the context of gaining an educational qualification. Relevant to this point, two other contexts of the research were uncovered. The lived experience of ?doing? critical action research with colleagues and friends, in the context of gaining an educational qualification revealed both the praxis nature of ethical research and the reclaiming of an authoritative women?s voice in the academy. The ethical nature of research in critical social science, and the nature and role of human identity was explored in an effort to conceptualise both a methodology and a self identity which was embedded in a context of mutual growth. This growth was similar to Bookchin?s (1990) transitory states of ?becoming? what we wished to become in the academy. It was what is known in organisations as professional development. The author named this becoming, ?Finding a Women?s Voice and Being Heard?. Although ?finding voice? is situated in the personal, ?being heard? involves the ?not I? together with structural features of institutions. As a collaborative group, the participants actioned strategies in an attempt to deal with the structural limitations to our ?becoming?. These strategies, together with the consciousness raising nature of this particular action research project, enabled participants to speak of their own empowerment within an academic context in which they were often rendered powerless. / Master of Science (Hons) (Social Ecology)

The issue of accounting for goodwill has caused considerable concern to accountants and academics. For over 100 years there has been diversity of views as to the nature, recognition and measurement of goodwill. Such diversity of views has contributed to the adoption of a variety of accounting practices for goodwill, which has lead to attempts to regulate practice by accounting professions in the Anglo-American world. The research conducted involves a literature review to identify the concepts and definition of goodwill and the criteria for its recognition and measurement. the investigation will then concentrate upon goodwill arising on consolidation of the financial statements of a group of companies. Major accounting practices will be examined, along with the requirements of the australian and mojor overseas professions on the issue. The findings of a study of listed Australian companies which investigated the accounting policies adopted for goodwill on consolidation before and after regulation of the issue and which sought views upon some of the conceptual issues involved are reported and discussed. Implications of the research for the Australian accounting profession will be addressed, and recommendations will be propsed together with a description of future research opportunities.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers levels of training, perceptions of competence, and past and present practices regarding reading assessment for student with emotional and/or behavioural disorders (EBD). For the purpose of the study, EBD was defined as, a disability characterized by behavioural or emotional responses in school programs so different from appropriate age, cultural, or ethnic norms that they adversely affect educational performance, including academic, social, vocational or personal skills (Forness & Knitzer, 1992, p. 13). An adapted version of the survey entitled, A National Survey of the Training and Practice of School Psychologists in Reading Assessment and Intervention (Machek & Nelson, 2007) was distributed to approximately 200 teachers employed by a large urban school division in Western Canada. One hundred and seventy-five educators responded to a 24-question survey designed to explore teachers perceptions of reading instruction, intervention, and assessment for typically achieving students and students with EBD.<p> Descriptive analyses and analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to examine the mean responses of teachers levels or training, perceptions of competence, and past and present reading assessment practices. Teachers with varied levels of teaching experience and specialized training were found to have received little training (university and professional development) in the area of reading instruction and reading assessment for students with EBD. Furthermore, educators believed they have a low level of expertise and confidence in the area of reading assessment and instruction, and believed they would benefit from additional training.

Information overload is a popular term intimately associated with the information society in which we are now thought to live. This two-year master’s thesis explores perceptions and experiences of this phenomenon through a quantitative study of two groups of academics; on the one hand, academically active information specialists, and on the other, active academics in general. The theoretical framework for this study is based on Orrin E. Klapp’s notion of ‘meaning lag’ and Luciano Floridi’s concept of ‘infosphere’, to provide a context for discussing how and why information overload might develop. The relationship between information overload and ‘information literacy’ is another important point explored as part of this discussion. An international, web-based survey directed at information specialists as well as general academics reveals that information overload is a very common experience for people active in academic settings. A number of statistics are presented regarding how, when and where information overload is usually experienced, as well as the more general information habits and perceptions of the information environment that these groups display. After comparing the two examined groups, the thesis concludes that there are, in fact, no major differences in how these groups perceive and experience information overload and their surrounding information environment. Having an academic interest and specialty in information science is thus not indicative of being able to avoid or even think very differently about information overload. Finally, some relevant research directions are proposed. / Information overload, eller informationsöverflöd, är ett populärt sätt att beskriva en av följderna av det informationssamhälle i vilket vi nu anses leva. Denna uppsats utforskar vilka uppfattningar och erfarenheter som finns av detta fenomen utifrån en kvantitativ studie av två olika grupper av akademiker; å ena sidan akademiskt aktiva informationsspecialister, och å andra sidan, aktiva akademiker i allmänhet. Det teoretiska ramverket för denna studie baserar sig på Orrin E. Klapps begrepp ‘meaning lag’ samt Luciano Floridis tanke om en ‘infosfär’. Dessa skapar tillsammans en kontext för att kunna diskutera hur och varför informationsöverflöd drabbar oss. Relationen mellan informationsöverflöd och informationskompetens är en annan viktig beståndsdel som utforskas i denna diskussion. En internationell, nätbaserad enkätundersökning som författaren utfört bland de relevanta grupperna visar att upplevelsen av informationsöverflöd som ett problem är mycket vanlig i den akademiska världen. Statistik presenteras som åskådliggör hur, när och var de nämnda grupperna upplever ett informationsöverflöd, samt deras informationsvanor och uppfattningar om sin informationsomgivning överlag. Dessa två grupper jämförs löpande i uppsatsen, men resultaten visar på att det trots allt inte existerar några särskilt anmärkningsvärda skillnader dem emellan. De har båda ungefär samma syn på informationsöverflöd och sin informationsomgivning. Slutsatsen blir att en akademisk kunskap om och intresse för informationsvetenskap inte nödvändigtvis innebär att den som besitter detta lyckas undvika eller ens ser annorlunda på fenomenet informationsöverflöd. Uppsatsen avslutas med en diskussion om ett antal relevanta aspekter av informationsöverflöd som framtida forskning med fördel skulle kunna utforska.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers levels of training, perceptions of competence, and past and present practices regarding reading assessment for student with emotional and/or behavioural disorders (EBD). For the purpose of the study, EBD was defined as, a disability characterized by behavioural or emotional responses in school programs so different from appropriate age, cultural, or ethnic norms that they adversely affect educational performance, including academic, social, vocational or personal skills (Forness & Knitzer, 1992, p. 13). An adapted version of the survey entitled, A National Survey of the Training and Practice of School Psychologists in Reading Assessment and Intervention (Machek & Nelson, 2007) was distributed to approximately 200 teachers employed by a large urban school division in Western Canada. One hundred and seventy-five educators responded to a 24-question survey designed to explore teachers perceptions of reading instruction, intervention, and assessment for typically achieving students and students with EBD.<p> Descriptive analyses and analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to examine the mean responses of teachers levels or training, perceptions of competence, and past and present reading assessment practices. Teachers with varied levels of teaching experience and specialized training were found to have received little training (university and professional development) in the area of reading instruction and reading assessment for students with EBD. Furthermore, educators believed they have a low level of expertise and confidence in the area of reading assessment and instruction, and believed they would benefit from additional training.

The notion of the 'public intellectual' has been a recurring discussion topic within sociology and the humanities for decades. Yet it has been largely neglected within media and cultural studies. Accordingly, few scholars have discussed in much depth how public intellectuals operate within the media and what functions this media role may facilitate. Intellectuals in the Australian Press is an exploration into this generally overlooked area of scholarship. It aims to provide three levels of insight into the topic. Firstly, the study looks closely at the appearance and the function of public intellectuals in the Australian press. It outlines how public intellectuals contribute to the newspapers and how newspapers contribute to Australian public intellectual life. Secondly, the thesis outlines and examines in detail three types of public intellectual in Australia. Specifically, it examines the journalist, the academic and the think tank researcher as types of intellectual who write regularly for Australia's newspapers. Thirdly, Intellectuals in the Australian Press delivers detailed intellectual biographies of three of Australia's most prominent press intellectuals, each of whom exemplifies one of these three categories. These commentators are The Australian's Paul Kelly, The Age's Robert Manne, and the Sydney Morning Herald's Gerard Henderson.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to evaluate the extent to which women in higher education experience or are aware of possible limitations placed on them as women in work contexts that historically were the domain of men only. The research critically analysed semistructured interview responses from seven female participants from a South African university. The analysis aimed to investigate the participants’ individual and shared perceptions and to present a view of how they discursively construct their own experience within an academic work environment. The research draws on theories and methodologies developed within critical discourse analysis (CDA) in order to interpret the data. This study draws on Gee’s model of CDA, which conceptualises discourse as inherently political and ideological, and therefore seeks to make clear the discursive connections between discourses and the sociocultural, historical and institutional contexts in which it is created and interpreted. Thus, a close analysis of discourses provides insight into aspects of social reality, including how individuals construct themselves and their personal experiences, as well as their attitudes and assumptions about their social contexts. The study reveals that during their narratives the women participants addressed similar issues and themes relating to gender in an academic work place. The participants also used similar linguistic and discursive strategies to construct their narratives. Subsequent to an analysis of the data using Gee’s model of CDA, it was found that the participants do experience limitations in the workplace, but they did not always directly attribute these limitations to gender. After a final analysis of the ways in which participants express attitudes to the issues being addressed, the study finds that the participants are not often aware of dominant ideologies related to gender, or of how the ideologies affect their experiences. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doelwit van hierdie studie is om die mate waarin vroue in hoër onderwys ondervind of bewus is van moontlike beperkings wat op hulle geplaas word as vroue in werksomstandighede wat geskiedkundig deur mans domineer word. Semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude met sewe vroulike deelnemers by ʼn Suid-Afrikaanse universiteit word krities ontleed. Die ontleding is daarop gemik om die deelnemers se individuele en gedeelde waarnemings te ondersoek, asook om die diskursiewe vertelling van hul ervarings uit te beeld. Teorieë en metodologieë wat ontwikkel is in kritiese diskoersanalise (CDA) word gebruik om die data te interpreteer, terwyl daar spesifieke gebruik gemaak word van Gee se model van kritiese analise. Gee se model konseptualiseer diskoers as inherent polities en ideologies en poog daarom om die diskursiewe verbande uit te wys wat vorm tussen diskoerse en sosiokulturele, geskiedkundige en institusionele kontekste. Dus, ʼn noukeurige ontleding van diskoers bied insig tot aspekte van die sosiale werklikheid, insluitend hoe individue hulself en hul persoonlike ervarings, en hul houdings en aannames oor sosiale kontekste opbou. Die studie toon aan dat die vroulike deelnemers soortgelyke kwessies en temas, met betrekking tot geslag in ʼn akademiese werksplek, tydens hul onderhoude bespreek het. Die deelnemers het ook soortgelyke taalkundige en diskursiewe strategieë benut om hul verhale te struktureer. Na ʼn ontleding van die data met behulp van Gee se model van kritiese analise, is daar gevind dat die deelnemers wel beperkings in die werksplek ervaar, alhoewel hul die beperkings nie altyd direk aan geslag toegeskryf het nie. Na ʼn finale ontleding van die maniere waarop deelnemers hul houdings teenoor die kwessies uitbeeld, het die studie gevind dat die deelnemers dikwels nie bewus is van die dominante ideologieë wat verband hou met geslag nie, of hoe hierdie ideologieë hul ervarings beïnvloed nie.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:35:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5586.pdf: 1088602 bytes, checksum: 0080f5579714a812a1835e6e3287a1c7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-30 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This research is aimed at having deeper knowledge of the challenges faced by a group of university professors to consolidate academic practices with the environmental thematic, having the path of their personal and professional lives as reference, presented by means of biographical narratives. Throughout this study there is an attempt to identify: what are the factors related to the admittance and permanence of professors in the environmental field; what are the mediating elements in the construction processes of academic practices with the environmental thematic; what are the factors inherent to their actions, which move them towards consolidating environmental culture in the academic context. The interpretation of the content in the narratives was based on the theoretical contribution by Isabel Cristina de MouraCarvalho with regards to myths of origin, means of access and rites of admittance to the environmental field; by Hannah Arendt, on the conception of action, and by René Kaes on the conception of intermediate. The results analysis reveals that the childhood experiences of being close to nature, the participation in the social movements in the 70 s and the qualification as an academic researcher are memories brought out from memory, which delineate the myth of origin. The presence of formation of intermediaries in the academic context allowed professors to consolidate academic practices with the environmental thematic. In the absence of these formations remain the conflicts and crisis that, despite jeopardizing advances, don t stop the mobilization of professors for action, for new constructions.The professors actions are mainly found in setting academic practicesoriented by collectivity principles, which highlight the issue of creating groups as space forfruitful dialogues in order to consolidate environmental culture in the academic context. / Esta pesquisa buscou aprofundamentos a respeito dos desafios enfrentados por um grupo de docentes universitários para consolidar práticas acadêmicas com a temática ambiental, tendo como referência suas trajetórias de vida pessoal e acadêmica, reveladas por meio de narrativas biográficas. No percurso do estudo buscaram-se identificar que fatores estão relacionados com a entrada e a permanência dos docentes no campo ambiental; quais são os elementos mediadores nos processos de construção das práticas acadêmicas com a temática ambiental; quais são os fatores inerentes às ações por eles realizadas que os movem para consolidar a cultura ambiental no contexto acadêmico. A interpretação dos conteúdos das narrativas pautou-se nos contributos teóricos de Isabel Cristina de Moura Carvalho a respeito de mito de origem, vias de acesso e ritos de entrada para o campo ambiental; de Hannah Arendt acerca do conceito de ação e de René Kaës a respeito do conceito de intermediário. A análise dos resultados revelou que as experiências na infância de proximidade com a natureza, a participação nos movimentos sociais da década de 1970 e a formação como pesquisador acadêmico são lembranças resgatadas da memória que delineiam o mito de origem. A presença de formações intermediárias no contexto acadêmico permitiu aos docentes consolidar práticas acadêmicas com a temática ambiental. Nas situações de ausência destas formações permanecem os conflitos e as crises como fatores que, embora comprometam os avanços, não impedem a mobilização dos docentes para a ação, para novas construções. As ações dos docentes encontram-se, principalmente, na direção de configurar práticas acadêmicas orientadas por princípios de coletividade, o que coloca em evidências a questão da formação de grupos como espaços de diálogos frutíferos para a consolidação da cultura ambiental no contexto acadêmico.

Magister Library and Information Studies - MLIS / The advent of the 21st century and its dynamic information environment have changed higher education considerably including the library spaces. Library patrons, namely undergraduates, postgraduates, and academics are placing heavy demands on academic libraries requiring support in research, teaching and learning. As a result, academic librarians globally have undertaken major re-evaluations of what they do and how they do it, to ensure relevance amongst their diverse user communities. The new information landscape is fraught with controversies that prompt opposing perspectives towards change acceptance amongst librarians. In Zimbabwe, academic libraries seemed to be lagging behind regarding changes presented by this information landscape. Given this context, the study sought to understand how librarians are adjusting to the 21st century environment against the expectations of the students and academics. The Diffusion of Innovation Theory crafted by Rogers (2003) and the McKinsey 7S model propounded by Waterman, Peters and Phillips (1982) were used as theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The research further applied a conceptual framework from the literature to determine the expectations of students and academics of the academic library in the 21st century. For data collection, the study adopted a case study design and a mixed methods approach using Web-based questionnaires, follow-up interviews and website content analysis. Data was collected from students, academics and librarians at three selected Zimbabwean universities. All data collecting tools were pre-tested amongst librarians, academics, postgraduate and undergraduate students prior to collecting data. Data collected using questionnaires was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel while interview data was analysed using thematic text analysis. Findings of this study revealed that the Midlands State University Library had to a larger extent embraced new trends which are in-line with the 21st century environment compared to the National University of Science and Technology and Lupane State University libraries. The Library and Information Science qualification remains important in service delivery among academic librarians. Inadequate funding, limited time due to multitasking, slow uptake of new concepts and limited knowledge and skills were barriers to keeping up with new trends amongst librarians. Academic librarians collaborated with academics in collection development, Information Literacy Skills (ILS) teaching and uploading theses and research papers into the Institution Repository (IR). / 2018-12-14

Submitted by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2014-06-06T17:07:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Minervina Joseli E. Reis _ Tese.pdf: 3496693 bytes, checksum: 263ea749c8f732ac4e1a85d75e094035 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2014-06-06T17:09:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Minervina Joseli E. Reis _ Tese.pdf: 3496693 bytes, checksum: 263ea749c8f732ac4e1a85d75e094035 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-06T17:09:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Minervina Joseli E. Reis _ Tese.pdf: 3496693 bytes, checksum: 263ea749c8f732ac4e1a85d75e094035 (MD5) / Esta tese tem como objetivo principal conhecer, analisar e estabelecer relações entre experiências leitoras, concepções de leitura e a constituição do sujeitoleitor. Para isso, foi delimitado como objeto de pesquisa as narrativas de experiências leitoras de um grupo de nove professores dos cursos de licenciatura do Departamento de Educação – Campus X da Universidade do Estado da Bahia. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, foi feita a opção pela concepção qualitativa na perspectiva da História de Vida. Os registros de narrativas resultantes das entrevistas semiestruturadas foram analisados com base na Análise de Discurso francesa, por considerar que o discurso não é constituído aleatoriamente, mas a partir do entrecruzamento constante das posições sociais que o sujeito ocupa ou já ocupou nas relações sociais de que participa. Cada narrativa revelou o percurso de constituição de leitor de cada professor colaborador, as suas interpretações, além dos sentidos atribuídos por eles às experiências leitoras vividas em um determinado período da vida. A singularidade e pluralidade das narrativas forneceram-nos pistas significativas sobre a constituição do sujeito-leitor. Em cada narrativa, foi objeto de destaque as pessoas lembradas, as instituições sociais e as diversas práticas leitoras experimentadas em cada instituição, além do gosto e das leituras realizadas hoje pelos professores. Ao concluirmos essa pesquisa, podemos afirmar que, para que se tenham efetivas melhorias na educação é preciso conhecer o sujeito - professor, a sua história, o seu jeito de ver e de se relacionar com o mundo. Isso se torna necessário uma vez que por meio do conhecimento das histórias de vida e formação dos professores, é possível conhecer, analisar, refletir e propor estratégias para superar problemas que há anos afligem o cotidiano da educação brasileira. Para se constituir leitor, não há o caminho a ser seguido, mas um a ser traçado de acordo com a história de vida da pessoa. Assim como não existe um percurso único para se constituir humano, cada ser, cada leitor é único, é múltiplo, é diferenciado. Essa é a beleza de ser humano, de ser leitor da vida que deve ser lida e sentida de diferentes maneiras, em diferentes contextos. / ABSTRACT This thesis aims at knowing, analyzing and establishing relationships between reading experiences, conceptions of reading and the constitution of the reader subject. Therefore, it was defined as the research object the narratives of a reading experience group of nine teachers of undergraduate courses in the Department of Education - Campus X at University of Bahia. For the research development, a qualitative conception in the perspective on the history of Life was chosen. The narrative records from the semi-structured interviews were analyzed based on French Discourse Analysis, considering that the speech is not made randomly, but from the constant intertwining of social positions that the subject occupies or has occupied in the social relations that he participates. Each narrative showed the reader constitution course of each contributor teacher, their interpretations, besides the meanings attributed by them to the reading experiences lived in a particular period of life. The uniqueness and plurality of narratives provided us significant clues about the constitution of the reader-subject. In each narrative the reminded people, the social institutions and the various reading practices experienced in each institution, besides the taste and the readings taken by teachers today were object of spotlight. Concluding this research, we can claim that, to have effective improvements in education it is necessary to know the individual became a professor his story, his way of seeing and relating to the world. This becomes necessary because through the knowledge of life histories and teacher training, it is possible to understand, analyze, consider and propose strategies to overcome problems that for years have been affecting the Brazilian education. To constitute the reader, there is no path to follow, but one to be made according to the person’s history of life. Just as there is no single path to be human formed, every being, every single reader, is multiple, is different. That is the beauty of human being, to be the reader of the life that must be read and perceived in different ways, in different contexts.