A variety of lenses were used to examine the world of the novice science teacher. A degree of agency was provided by looking through the eyes of the beginning teacher. Previous studies focused on researcher or program’s orientation, the successes of various educator preparation programs, or were limited in scope to elementary teachers of science. This study was conducted to better understand and appreciate the high school novice science teacher’s view of science, teaching, and teaching science in the today’s contextual setting. Experiences encountered during the initial year of teaching high school science and as perceived by teachers without previous professional teaching experience presents are presented. A multiple case study was built around four individual novice cases from one of the largest school districts in the state of Florida. Of the four cases, three participants were rehired for the following year. The fourth left teaching after nine weeks. The research questions are: How do today’s novice science teachers describe their first year’s teaching experiences? How do novice teacher’s feelings about being science teachers change during their first year of teaching? How do beginning science teachers describe their successes? And, what challenges do today’s beginning science teachers face? These research questions were asked to relate the novice experiences and perceptions associated with the initial year of teaching high school science. Emergent themes included concerns for questionable ethical administrative actions and poor administrative decisions as they are perceived by the novice science teacher. Findings of the multiple case study relate experiences perceived as positive, bureaucratic, involving student and parent apathy, local administration, and missed communications. Beliefs changed about student needs, mandated science exams, district micromanagement, confidence, and unique personal changes. Descriptions provided of success involved mentoring, students, lesson planning, confidence, and retention. Perceived challenges were parent and student apathy, mandated science exam validity, student needs, micromanagement of science lessons, discipline, abandonment, and development. The researcher was employed as a science teacher in the same district as the participants, but at a separate high school.

Objective: To understand the use of evidence-informed decision-making within an interorganizational network, and identify the facilitators and barriers to achieving network goals. Design: Case study. Setting: Rural health district in Nova Scotia, Canada (2006 to 2011). Participants: Members from 4 organizations representing community and hospital groups participating in a regional Baby Friendly Initiative network. Methods: A descriptive mixed methods study using focus group and questionnaire methodology. Data were analyzed using framework analysis and social network analysis (SNA). Results: The SNA results highlighted the role that relationships have on the sharing of knowledge among network members. The findings highlight the need for leadership at multiple levels (community, network members, primary organizations, and the provincial government). A lack of resources to achieve the network’s goals was a key barrier. Conclusions: The role of multi-level leadership is important for future network development and community consideration. The case study methodology facilitated momentum towards the network’s goals.

No description available.

The world wide web has gone through several distinct eras since its launch in 1989, going through the eras Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0. There is an upcoming era, Web 4.0, where the web will become seamlessly integrated with people's everyday life. However, creating consumer engagement across platforms has already been recognized as challenging in Web 3.0 (Dolan et al., 2016). A type of storytelling, known for creating engagement is transmedia storytelling (TS). TS is a technique of telling one single story across multiple platforms, and when enjoyed together becomes a full experience. There is limited research conducted on the relationship between TS and the web, which became the problem of this study. The purpose of this study is to explorethe research gap and it was fulfilled by asking two research questions. The first oneestablished an understanding about the relationship between TS and Web 2.0 and 3.0, tounderstand how TS evolves and adapts to the web. Based on the built foundation, the second question aimed to explore the possibilities of TS and Web 4.0, and how they could benefit from each other and grow together. To answer our research questions this paper utilised the method of a multiple-case study that examines two cases, one in Web 2.0, and one in Web 3.0. The data was manually collected, traced and broken down into instances using reverse engineering. To analyse the data, it was rebuilt with visual mapping to understand the connections, and lastly compared to the web characteristics and TS principles. Concluding the findings and analysis, it can be established that TS evolves alongside the web, utilising and adapting to the new characteristics. In Web 2.0, TS relied heavily on offline sources such as DVD’s and TV, while in Web 3.0, it existed solely online. The participatory activity also grew from Web 2.0 to 3.0, where the users were an active part of the campaign evolving in Web 3.0. TS manages to create engagement across platforms, and benefits from new technical innovations. After the individual case reports, and cross-case analysis, it could be concluded that TS has good chances of continuing to adapt in the rise of Web 4.0. This study explored the research gap further, offering valuable insight onthe topic and opening for various further research possibilities, where TS and web cancontinue being investigated.

Donmoyer (1990) suggested that knowledge gained from our own experiences or that of others may be applied to the improvement of practice. The purpose of this study was to provide insight into the experiences of a first-time online facilitator. The research question for this study was: How does a first-time facilitator understand the process of delivering instruction in an online environment? A case study design was applied to this research. The researcher/participant was the case under study in the context of the delivery of online instruction. The researcher who was also the online instructional facilitator experienced the process of delivering online instruction for the first time. The use of this method provided a first-hand perspective of the experiences of an online facilitator. The study was conducted in two phases. During Phase I, the researcher/participant participated in a train-the-trainer program that was delivered using the Blackboard® learning management system. During Phase II, the researcher/participant facilitated an online professional development session created during the training. Data were collected from a variety of sources, including journaling, interviews with a master trainer and other online facilitators, and analysis of course materials and completed assignments. Three themes emerged from the data. The themes were: (a) time, (b) adherence to standards, and (c) absence of physical presence. Recommendations included: (a) alignment of training and evaluation with professional development and content standards, (b) awarding of credit based on demonstrations of learning and student achievement, (c) facilitator awareness of non-instructional responsibilities, (d) training and support for the efficient use of technology to manage administrative and support tasks, (e) enforcement of completion deadlines, (f) provision of feedback on assignments, (g) implementation of additional opportunities for collaboration, (h) participant and facilitator awareness of time and paper needed for learning and record-keeping tasks, (i) training for participants without demonstrated technology proficiency, (j) implementation of a blended training approach, and (k) investigation of web-based publications for use in the delivery of online professional development.

The topic of transparency in CSR reporting provides several opportunities for research. This dissertation contributes to three of them, over the course of three research manuscripts. Research on CSR reporting has produced an extensive literature. Scholars have reviewed this literature with varying extensiveness and points of view. However, the question whether CSR reports overall provide decision-useful information to capital markets has received little attention. Thus, the first manuscript provides such a review of the empirical literature and its major findings. One potential influence on the quality of CSR reports may be the fact whether a report is externally assured by an independent party. The second manuscript thus investigates how external assurance is associated with principles of CSR reporting quality at the firm level. The third manuscript is concerned with the practical implementation of transparency in CSR.

In this essay, two of the most lethal terrorist organizations in the world, al-Qaeda and Boko Haram are being examined and compared based on psychological, political, economical and religious theories. The essay was written with the aim to find out about cause, objectives as well as course of action within al-Qaeda and Boko Haram. One has found out that the cause of al-Qaeda is mainly based on religious and political indicators, while Boko Haram is primary caused by economical and political factors. The objectives for both of the cases are religious, but for Boko Haram, political as well. Both of the organizations use psychological factors as a way to go through with their course of action, but in the case of Boko Haram, the economical indicators are very convincing as well.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Matthew Totten / Due to their high resolution and established success rates, 3D seismic surveys have become one of the most important tools in many hydrocarbon exploration programs. Basic interpretation of seismic reflectors alone, however, may result in inaccurate predictions of subsurface geology. Historically, seismic attributes have played a particularly important role in the characterization of the lithological and petrophysical properties of hydrocarbon reservoirs in Kansas channel fill lithofacies. Integration of an analysis based on post-stack seismic attributes may drastically reduce the chances of drilling in unsuitable locations. Previous theses have focused on establishing a suitable 3D seismic attribute analysis workflow for use in the determination of hydrocarbon production potential in areas of Ness County, Kansas, USA (Abbas, 2009; Phillip, 2011). By applying a similar workflow in the analysis of additional 3D seismic and well log data obtained from a nearby area in Ness County, and comparing those results to existing borehole and production data, this study seeks to test the hypothesis that seismic attribute analysis is a crucial component in the delineation of heterogeneous reservoir stratigraphy in Kansas lithologies. Time-structure maps, in addition to time slices of several 3D seismic attributes including amplitude attenuation, acoustic impedance, and event continuity all seem to indicate that five previously drilled dry wells within the study area were outside the boundary of a meandering, Cherokee sandstone body of potential reservoir quality. Additionally, comparisons of the results of this research to previous studies conducted in Ness County have provided an opportunity to assess, and potentially contribute to, paleodepositional interpretations made through the utilization of a similar workflow (Raef et al., in press). The results of this study seem to support a broadly NE-SW trending meandering channel system, which is in agreement with the interpretations of Raef et al., and the findings of Ramaker (2009).

Separation anxiety is highly prevalent among intellectually and visually impaired individuals, yet little research has been done into its treatment in this population. Due to delayed cognitive skills, these individuals struggle to develop the abstract concept of person permanence, which is necessary to diminish separation anxiety. The first aim of this study was to investigate whether using technology alone or including caregivers was the most beneficial approach to developing person permanence using technology-assisted therapy. The caregivers received training in advance in an attachment-based protocol about securing attachment relationships with the participant. It was hypothesised that the inclusion of attachment figures in technology-assisted therapy would enhance the acquisition of the person permanence concept. The second aim of this study was to determine whether technology-assisted therapy in tandem with the participation of caregivers consequently decreased separation anxiety and challenging behaviour in an adult with intellectual and visual impairment. It was hypothesised that the subject’s anxiety and challenging behaviour levels would significantly decrease due to the intervention. The final aim was to determine how the caregivers and the participant experienced this intervention. It was hypothesised that they would regard it as a positive experience. This single-subject design used a pre-experimental quantitative approach. It was based on the familiar ABAB design and comprised six phases. Phase A served as baseline, giving the participants time to become acquainted with the technology. Phase B consisted of automated responses to the participant’s messages. In phase C caregivers directed the active reply. The daily messages were discussed when the participant and caregiver reunited, incorporating the attachment-based protocol. Phase B and C were repeated. Phase D followed after the devices were handed in. The technology was a specially adapted touch iPhone with an application comprising coloured emoticons. When the participant was physically separated from the caregiver, he could send happy, sad, angry or scared emoticons, or request help. The caregiver, who had a similar device, responded by sending a pre-determined response such as acknowledging the participant’s “I am angry” message with a “You are angry” message. Due to the association between anxiety and challenging behaviour in this population, standardised instruments were used to measure changes in these behaviours. Repeated measure ANOVA and a non-parametric Friedman test were used to analyse the data, specifically comparing phase B and C. Overall, the results showed that behaviour did significantly change over the course of the intervention. The frequency of the various iPhone messages sent by the participant was recorded daily. ANOVA contracts results demonstrated significantly fewer anxious and angry messages sent during the C phases compared with the B phases. The professional caregivers recorded the frequency and intensity of anxiety and challenging behaviours. The ANOVA contrast results showed a significantly lower frequency and intensity of these behaviours in the C phases compared with the B phases. A questionnaire was developed to evaluate the social validity of the intervention. The independent samples t-test demonstrated a significant difference between the mean scores rated by the caregivers at the beginning and the end of the invention. The participant and caregivers were positive about the intervention. Although the results cannot be generalised, it can be concluded that the inclusion of caregivers in technology-assisted therapy can serve as an invaluable aid to developing the person permanence concept. The findings also indicate that the anxiety and challenging behaviour levels shown by the adult with ID and visual impairment decreased due to technology-assisted therapy applied by caregivers, while responses to the social validity of the intervention were positive. / MSc (Research Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study views the Field Band Foundation’s activities through the lens of artistic citizenship. The aim of this study is to create an expanded theoretical framework for music education as/for artistic citizenship by analysing the related literature and data gathered from the Field Band Foundation in the Gauteng area. In Another Perspective: Music Education as/for Artistic Citizenship Elliott (2012a) gives practitioners three goals to realize if they wish to empower participants to achieve artistic citizenship. These three goals may be summarized as: 1) putting music to work in the community 2) infusing music with an ethic of care and 3) making music as ethical action for social justice. These three goals served as the initial compass during the conception and analysis stages of this study. This study was designed as an instrumental case study. The eclectic data set is made up of literature, interviews, documents, visual and audio-visual data gathered from March 2013 to July 2014. Atlas.ti7 was used to analyse the data. A preliminary theoretical framework was created from the literature. In this framework each of the three themes, expressed through Elliott’s goals, are expanded to include various categories. This framework was used as a priori codes to better understand artistic citizenship as lived in the Field Band Foundation. During the analysis of the data gathered from the Field Band Foundation the categories identified in the literature was expanded to include sub-categories. After analysing the data, gathered in the Field Band Foundation, an expanded theoretical framework for artistic citizenship was created. From the view point of artistic citizenship a community music education project, such as the Field Band Foundation, is shown to empower participants to achieve personal and communal transformation. / MMus (Musicology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015