No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Many successful professionals, recognized for their experience, knowledge, competence and commitment to their field, experience a contradiction when they realize that their contributions are no longer valued by decision-makers in their organizations. Professionals, regardless of gender, position, education, race or profession, who experience workplace devaluation agree that this experience devalues their contributions and demeans their sense of self. This study illuminates the professionals' perspective of workplace devaluation through their experience. Within the framework of grounded theory methodology, this research examined three research questions: (a) What is the experience of professionals' workplace devaluation? (b) How did professionals learn from the experience? (c) What did professionals learn from the experience? The unit of analysis is the professional within an organization. Four participants were selected who (a) had several years experience with their organization; (b) were previously valued by the organization; (c) were current in their field; (d) had experienced workplace devaluation; and (e) were able to articulate insights, thoughts, and emotions on their experience. Multiple interviews with each participant provided the data. A comparative, iterative analysis of the data yielded: (a) a seven-phase process of the experience; (b) six constructs embedded in the process, and (c) four categories of learning. The dialogic interview method facilitated the participants' apperception, reflection, and progress through the process. Three emotions--fear, powerlessness, anger--and their interaction with the other constructs (autonomy, communication, personalization, authority, and recognition) influenced coping strategies and actions taken by each participant. The four narratives explicate the interrelationships of the findings. Three major conclusions are: (a) A rich description of the workplace devaluation experience offers a glimpse into the complexity of this topic and into the professionals' "lived world." (b) The learning process, grounded in the data, depicts how these four professionals used the power of their emotions to create balance within themselves as they attempted to explicate their situation of workplace devaluation. (c) The results indicate that greater learning occurred in organizational knowledge and intrapersonal knowledge for these professionals. Questions for further research are noted along with practical suggestions and recommendations for the praxis of adult educators, decision-makers, and professionals. / Ph. D.

The study investigated the perceptions of student nurses and supervisors with regard to the block system used in the general nurse diploma programme in Zimbabwe. Their perceptions were elicited so that the researcher could identify the positive and negative aspects of the blook system which respectively promote and inhibit or obstruct the teaching and learning of student nurses. The study was conducted at the Harare, Parirenyatwa, Mpilo and United Bulawayo Schools of Nursing and in Mashonaland East province. A cross·sectional descriptive survey research design was used to obtain accurate information about the block system. Data was collected from nurse teachers, clinical teachers and sisters in charge of wards/units by means of structured interviews and from community health nurses and student nurses by means of self-administered questionnaires. The following positive aspects of study blocks were identified: the availability of time for student nurses to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes without fear of hurting patients, the availability and willingness of nurse teachers to teach, the attendance of study blocks as groups and straight off duties. During clinical area placements, the integration of theory and practice took place, and there were opportunities for student nurses to apply the knowledge and skills they learnt during study blocks and to work as members of health teams. The negative aspects of the study blocks that were identified included too much theory content taught in each study block, inadequate demonstrations, a shortage of nurse teachers, no periods for individual study, a theory-practice gap and the too-frequent use of the formal lecture teaching method. The negative aspects of the clinical area placements included the inadequate teaching/supervision of student nurses, excessive night duties for student nurses, a shortage of qualified staff: clinical allocation of student nurses not based on study block content, inadequate clinical teaching by nurse teachers, and unplanned clinical teaching. Most clinical teaching was performed by peers and the most junior professional nurses. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)

The study investigated the perceptions of student nurses and supervisors with regard to the block system used in the general nurse diploma programme in Zimbabwe. Their perceptions were elicited so that the researcher could identify the positive and negative aspects of the blook system which respectively promote and inhibit or obstruct the teaching and learning of student nurses. The study was conducted at the Harare, Parirenyatwa, Mpilo and United Bulawayo Schools of Nursing and in Mashonaland East province. A cross·sectional descriptive survey research design was used to obtain accurate information about the block system. Data was collected from nurse teachers, clinical teachers and sisters in charge of wards/units by means of structured interviews and from community health nurses and student nurses by means of self-administered questionnaires. The following positive aspects of study blocks were identified: the availability of time for student nurses to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes without fear of hurting patients, the availability and willingness of nurse teachers to teach, the attendance of study blocks as groups and straight off duties. During clinical area placements, the integration of theory and practice took place, and there were opportunities for student nurses to apply the knowledge and skills they learnt during study blocks and to work as members of health teams. The negative aspects of the study blocks that were identified included too much theory content taught in each study block, inadequate demonstrations, a shortage of nurse teachers, no periods for individual study, a theory-practice gap and the too-frequent use of the formal lecture teaching method. The negative aspects of the clinical area placements included the inadequate teaching/supervision of student nurses, excessive night duties for student nurses, a shortage of qualified staff: clinical allocation of student nurses not based on study block content, inadequate clinical teaching by nurse teachers, and unplanned clinical teaching. Most clinical teaching was performed by peers and the most junior professional nurses. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)

No description available.

No description available.

This study was conducted at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and it considered the information literacy and lifelong learning skills of the students in the University. The National Open University is an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system that encompasses education for all, education for life, lifelong learning, life-wide education, adult education, mass education, media-based education, self-learning and part-time studies. The ability to recognise the need for the available information, retrieve, evaluate and use this information is a hallmark towards the direction of information literacy in any society. Developing lifelong learners is central to the mission of higher education institutions like universities, especially for distance learners. The purpose of the study was to investigate information literacy skills amongst the students in the National Open University. This study utilized the case study method of quantitative research mixed with a qualitative strand in its data collection process. The dominant quantitative approach (questionnaire) was used to investigate the information literacy and lifelong learning skills of the students in the National Open University whilst the qualitative approach (interview and document analysis) was used to collect qualitative data needed to clarify areas that were not adequately covered in the quantitative data collection phase. This study used the questionnaire, interview and document analysis as its data collection methods. The study was conducted in five selected study centres out of the seventy-two centres of the National Open University. This study utilized the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) formula, where the sample size of 384 was chosen because the total number of the sampled students’ population was 170 830. From the quantitative perspective of the study, data analysis involved the use of simple frequency and percentage distribution, mean, median and standard deviation. The descriptive statistics were generated on all the variables in the instrument and this was accomplished with the aid of a computer software programme known as the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. A thematic method of data analysis was used for this qualitative strand of the study. The results of the study revealed that the information literacy library facilities available at NOUN were course materials and University websites. The study confirmed that there were no facilities in relation to information literacy development in all the schools and there was no form of information literacy integration curriculum in the University. The study established that there were no information literacy programmes put in place to support, promote and create awareness of information literacy for lifelong learning and no methods were put in place to assess or measure the information literacy competency levels of the students in the National Open University of Nigeria. The study revealed that the link of collaboration between the academics in the school and the professional librarians was weak and not coordinated. The documents analysed brought to light information that provided insights on information literacy development in the University. In the documents analysed, University documents were in place concerning information literacy development but these resources only stated in print, the development processes towards information. The results of the study revealed that there was still so much work to be done with regards to the implementation of policies by the University management and staff towards information literacy development. The students in the University also have a role to play in developing their information literacy skills for lifelong learning. A recommendation that was made from this study was for the University management to integrate information literacy to become part of the university curriculum for all students. Information literacy (IL) policies should be formulated and channelled to support IL education in the University so that students will attain the necessary competencies and skills needed to access, process and assess information. Arising from the results gained from this study, it was recommended that information literacy educators should be trained in the area of information resources and ICT in order to enhance job performance. There is a serious need for the University to engage the librarians through regular training and re-training through professional development workshops. The library staff in conjunction with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) unit of the University should create seminars and workshop for students and staff towards the improvement of information literacy instruction. For effective IL implementation in a distance learning environment, the University should work towards developing an information literacy course that is designed for asynchronous online delivery. A further empirical study on the development and implementation of information literacy skills for students in the University is also recommended. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)