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The aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a behavior based, theory driven multi-component nutrition education Intervention promoting healthy eating among two (17 to 19 year old) Lebanese adolescent samples from contrasting socioeconomic statuses. The effects of the intervention were examined in a quasi-experimental control design trial among two hundred and nine adolescent males and females from Beirut, Lebanon: one hundred and ten belonged to a high socioeconomic status (HSES) population and ninety nine belonged to a low socioeconomic status (LSES) population of adolescents. There were four study groups: two intervention and two control. The intervention groups received twelve nutrition lessons, one hour each, involving class based teaching, print materials and activities delivered by a dietitian. Intervention Mapping protocol was applied and constructs from the Social Cognitive Theory were used for the development of the intervention. At baseline and after the intervention, food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) were administered and three 24-Hour Dietary Recalls were used to examine dietary practices and nutrient intakes while semistructured interviews were conducted to gain insight to underlying determinants of food choice. Quantitative data were analyzed using Mann Whitney U Test and Chi-Square analysis. Post intervention, adolescents in both the HSES and LSES intervention groups showed a significant improvement (p<0.05) in some dietary practices and nutrient intakes; however, the impact was higher in the HSES group. In both intervention groups, positive changes were observed in some personal determinants of food choice but none were noted for external factors. These results propose that the developed nutrition education intervention is a promising instrument to promote healthy eating among similar groups of Lebanese adolescents; however, further research is needed for interventions that specifically target LSES groups.

The digital divide is a core issue of the information society. It refers to the division between those who have access to, or are comfortable using, information and communication technology (ICT) (the "haves") and those who do not have access to, or are not comfortable using ICT (the "have-nots"). The digital divide is a complex phenomenon. The majority of studies to date have examined the digital divide from a socio-economic perspective. These studies have identified income, education and employment as the key factors in determining the division between the "haves" and the "have-nots". Very little research has explore the psychological, social or cultural factors that contribute to digital inequality in community. The current study filled this gap by using Bandura's social cognitive theory (SCT) to examine the psychological barriers that prevent individuals from integrating ICT into their everyday lives. SCT postulates that a person will act according to their perceived capabilities and the anticipated consequences of their actions. Four studies have explored the digital divide using SCT. Because of limitations in the research design these studies have shed only limited light onto current understanding of digital inequality in community. The current research was the first study exploring the digital divide that (i) incorporated both socio-economic and socio-cognitive factors, (ii) used a community context that ensured the recruitment of participants who represented the full spectrum of the general population, and (iii) was conducted in both the US and Australia. Data was gathered via self administered questionnaires in two communities: Brisbane, Australia and San Jose, USA. Completed questionnaires were obtained from 330 and 398 participants from the US and Australia, respectively. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to explore the research question: what influence do socio-cognitive factors have in predicting internet use by members of the general population when the effects of socio-economic factors are controlled? The results of this analysis revealed that attitudes do matter. The US study found that socio-economic factors were not statistically significant predictors of internet use. The only factor that found to be a significant predictor of use was internet self efficacy. In short individuals with higher levels of internet self efficacy reported higher levels of internet use. Unlike the US study, the Australian study found that by themselves several socio-economic factors predicted internet use. In order of importance these were age, gender, income and ethnicity. However, the study also revealed that when socio-economic factors are controlled for, and socio-cognitive variables included into the analysis, it is the socio-cognitive and not the socioeconomic variables that are the dominant (in fact the only!) predictors of internet use. The research illustrated that the digital divide involves more than just the availability of resources and funds to access those resources. It incorporates the internal forces of an individual that motivates to them to use or integrate ICT into their lives. The digital divide is not just about ICT such as computers and the internet. It is about people. As such, the key to solving the issue of digital inequality is not going to be found with corporate or government funds providing physical access to technology. Instead, the key to solving digital inequality is inside the individual person. The alternative view of the digital divide presented in this research is by no means intended to minimise the role played by socio-economic factors. Indeed, the socioeconomic perspective has helped shed light on a very real social issue. What this research has done is suggest that the digital divide is more complex and more involved than has been imagined, and that further and different research is required if genuine insights and real steps are going to be made in establishing an information society for all.

English CLIL-instruction in Sweden is supposed to be beneficial to students who want to improve their academic English vocabulary proficiency in preparation for studies or employment abroad. However, recent research shows that there is no difference in academic English proficiency between students in upper secondary school CLIL-programs and students in regular upper secondary schools in Sweden. Furthermore, educational researchers question if CLIL-programs in Sweden qualify to be defined as CLIL-instruction since Swedish translanguaging is extensively used which does not make the programs 100% Englishmedium instruction. Through teacher observations and questionnaires, this study investigates the classroom practices at a CLIL-program in Sweden in addition to ask the CLIL-teachers about their teaching strategies in regards to promoting students’ acquisition, development, and use of academic English. The findings include that the classroom practices are in accordance with practices considered beneficial to students’ proficiency in academi c English by numerous previous studies. In addition, all the teachers questioned in this study purposely work to support and develop students’ academic language proficiency in their respective subject areas and across the curriculum. The study also found four possible factors that perhaps can undermine the acquisition, development and use of academic English vocabulary and those include the following: First, the teachers believe that the students are already sufficiently fluent in academic English, and thus concentrate more on content than on language in their instruction. Secondly, extensive translanguaging in the classroom is common in addition to the students’ habit of speaking Swedish to each other in stude nt-tostudent communication. Thirdly, the students do not receive the corresponding level of education in their native language of Swedish as they do in English, which can have detrimental effects on their abilities to develop their English past their Swedish language abilities. Finally, classroom practices that are not inclusive of all students can work to undermine the acquisition and use of academic English vocabulary.

O universo escolar é rico de sujeitos e, consequentemente, de comportamentos que tornam essa realidade um curioso objeto de pesquisa. O comportamento dos estudantes que se associa a seu desempenho escolar na disciplina de Física é um interessante agente de estudo. Desse modo, a presente pesquisa buscou compreender o quanto os comportamentos apresentados por alunos que demonstram um melhor desempenho na disciplina de Física estão associados a seus níveis de crenças de autoeficácia (BANDURA, 1986) e ao domínio das regras que estruturam o Contrato Didático (BROUSSEAU, 1986). Assim, por intermédio de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa de estudo de caso, identificamos os níveis de crenças de autoeficácia de dois alunos do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio de uma escola pública do interior do Estado de São Paulo, que apresentam os melhores resultados de desempenho na disciplina de Física. Com o auxílio de um questionário de escala Likert, pudermos mensurar os elevados níveis de crenças de autoeficácia dos sujeitos participantes deste estudo. Além disso, fizemos uso de observações em sala de aula e de entrevistas semiestruturadas para identificar como suas crenças de autoeficácia atuam sobre seus comportamentos e também como esses sujeitos identificam e lidam com o Contrato Didático estabelecido. No decurso da análise das regras do Contrato Didático pudemos analisar como as crenças de autoeficácia influem na interpretação, condução e negociação dessas regras, bem como contribuem para o melhor desempenho dos alunos na disciplina de Física. Desse modo, o estudo nos possibilitou observar diferentes estratégias de aprendizagem, a fim de lidar com semelhantes regras do Contrato Didático que permitem a aproximação e o distanciamento desses alunos do saber físico. Tais perspectivas são reveladas em vista de uma busca constante dos sujeitos pela manutenção do Contrato Didático. O estudo demonstrou também que a motivação estabelecida pelos sujeitos para participar das dinâmicas fundamentadas pelo contrato está intimamente ligada aos seus níveis de crenças de autoeficácia que contribuem para o estabelecimento de estratégias de aprendizagem que permitem o alcance de um suposto sucesso escolar, ainda que este não esteja associado a uma maior aproximação do saber físico. Por fim, os estudantes demonstraram fazer uso de estratégias de aprendizagem relacionadas a seu antigo Contrato Didático, quando foram inseridos em uma situação didática denominada Atividade de Ruptura, na qual os alunos se encontravam em um contexto de estabelecimento de um novo Contrato Didático. O melhor desempenho dos alunos nestas circunstâncias de pesquisa está associado a estratégias de aprendizagem condicionadas a suas crenças de autoeficácia que orientam o comportamento dos sujeitos em vista de suas concepções sobre suas capacidades que estão associadas ao domínio das regras do Contrato Didático. / The universe is rich of individuals and, consequently, of behaviors, making them a curious object of research. The Physics course students behavior associated with their academic performance is an interesting issue to be studied. Thus, this research sought to understand how behaviors of students with a better performance in the Physics course are associated with their levels of self-efficacy beliefs (BANDURA, 1986) and the mastering of the rules which structure the Didactic Contract (BROUSSEAU, 1986). Therefore, through a qualitative case study research, we identified levels of self-efficacy beliefs of two students of the third year of high school in a public school in the State of São Paulo, who have achieved the best results in the Physics course.With the aid of a Likert scale questionnaire, we could measure high levels of self-efficacy beliefs of the participants in this study. In addition, we made use of classroom observations and semi-structured interviews to identify how their self-efficacy beliefs play a role in their behavior, and also how these guys identify and deal with the established Didactic Contract. In the course of the analysis of the Didactic Contract rules, we could analyze how self-efficacy beliefs influence the interpretation and negotiation of these rules, as well as contribute to the better performance of the students in the Physics course. The study enabled us to observe different learning strategies, in order to deal with similar rules of the Didactic Contract, which allows the approximation and distancing of these students from their knowledge of Physics. Such perspectives are revealed in a constant search of the individuals for maintaining the Didactic Contract. It also demonstrated that the motivation established by the individuals to participate in the dynamics based on the contract is closely linked to their levels of self-efficacy beliefs that contribute to the setting of learning strategies that enable the achievement of an alleged academic success, although this is not associated with theirknowledge of Physics. Finally, students have shown to make use of learning strategies related to their former Didactic Contract when they were inserted into a learning situation called Breaking Activity, in which students had toset a new Didactic Contract. The best academic performance under this research circumstances is associated with learning strategies that depend on self-efficacy beliefs that guide the individuals behavior in accordance with their conceptions of their own abilities associated with mastering the Didactic Contract rules.

Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2016-08-08T17:14:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 nataliaquintelarocha.pdf: 528792 bytes, checksum: ba904366eb8400d2ba2612707e5f2730 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-08-09T11:39:49Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 nataliaquintelarocha.pdf: 528792 bytes, checksum: ba904366eb8400d2ba2612707e5f2730 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-09T11:39:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 nataliaquintelarocha.pdf: 528792 bytes, checksum: ba904366eb8400d2ba2612707e5f2730 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-28 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo inventariar as teses sobre personalidade de Aaron Beck e realizar uma análise em relação ao estado em que se encontra a teoria da personalidade de sua abordagem. O campo teórico da Terapia Cognitiva é um tanto negligenciado e possui ainda muitas lacunas, sendo o da teoria da personalidade uma das principais. Para analisar o estado atual do problema na TC, primeiramente descrevemos alguns critérios de teoria científica e da personalidade, além de apresentar brevemente uma discussão e histórico sobre o conceito de personalidade e suas teorias. Posteriormente descrevemos as teses de Beck a partir dos modelos que ele apresentou ao longo de sua obra, sendo o primeiro deles o modelo de depressão, que foi elaborado inicialmente por Beck para explicar e tratar pacientes deprimidos, o segundo o modelo de psicopatologia, em que o autor propõe uma expansão da teoria original para outros transtornos psiquiátricos com poucas alterações na estrutura teórica básica, e o terceiro o modelo modal, sua recente proposta teórica com a apresentação e incorporação de novos conceitos e hipóteses à teoria original, que surge como tentativa de resolver alguns problemas levantados por Beck e seus críticos. Por fim, realizamos a avaliação das teses encontradas. Concluímos que apesar de as teses de Beck sobre personalidade serem relevantes e consistentes, não constituem ainda uma teoria da personalidade completa, pois existem nela lacunas importantes. As principais delas se referem ao posicionamento em relação a uma teoria da motivação e a uma teoria explícita de funcionamento da personalidade não patológica. / This research aims to survey the Aaron Beck’s thesis about personality and analyse the state of the theory of personality in his approach. The theoretical framework of Cognitive Therapy is somewhat neglected and still has many gaps, especially in personality theory. To analyze the current state of this problem in the Cognitive Therapy, we first described some criteria of scientific theory and personality theory, and briefly present a discussion about the concept of personality and its theories. Later we described Beck's thesis from the models he showed throughout his work, the first of them, his model of depression, which was originally developed by Beck to explain and treat depressed patients.The second, the psychopathology model , in which the author proposes an expansion of the original theory to other psychiatric disorders with little change in the basic theoretical framework, and the third is the modal model, his recent theoretical proposal in which he presented and incorporated new concepts and hypotheses to the original theory. This model appears as an attempt to solve some problems in TC raised by Beck himself and by his critics. Finally, we evaluate the thesis found. We conclude that although Beck's thesis about personality are relevant and consistent, don't constitute a complete theory of personality, because of important gaps. The main of them refer to a lack of a theory of motivation and an explicit theory of nonpathological personality.

The subject of this essay is a comparison of essays written by the same learners at two different points in time - i.e. while they were in the first and in the third grades of the Swedish secondary school. The essay includes a presentation of the raw data that have been used. The theoretical background is a general survey of some of the abundant literature relating to Second Language Acquisition and Error Analysis, and a large part of it deals with interlanguage theories. The analytical part of the work presents the results of the study, including a grammatical classification of the totality of the errors encountered as well as a presentation of the results for the whole of each class and for each individual learner. Finally, some of the theories are related to the results of the analysis and some conclusions are drawn. A part of the work consisted in the gathering of essays written by learners (exclusively with Swedish as their mother tongue) of the same class in a real school context, first to make a quantitative study of their errors, and second to make a comparison between their essays written at two different points in time. The aim was to find out if there had been an evolution, and to what extent the evolution had taken place. The hypothesis formulated at the beginning of this essay is that learners, in general, should make fewer errors after two years have passed. The results are that errors concerning Verbs (especially Concord), as well as miscellaneous spelling errors, were the most frequent ones, and this is true for both grades. As the total number of errors is lower for the third grade than for the first, and since the learners' production is larger in the third grade than in the first, the hypothesis can be considered to be true, though a larger study should be conducted to see if a general pattern can be found.

The entrepreneurial intentions of university students are important factors to consider when developing entrepreneurship offerings at tertiary level institutions. This research study reports on pertinent findings from a study which set out to determine Rhodes university undergraduate students‟ entrepreneurial intentions and their pull and push factors that have brought them to the decision to become entrepreneurs. A survey, using a 43 question structured web-based instrument was used to capture the responses from undergraduate students across different departments at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. Key findings suggest that few undergraduate students intend to enter into an entrepreneurship career immediately after completion of their studies, whereas many of the respondents were more interested in doing so five years after graduation. The vast majority of students were satisfied without having formal entrepreneurial education and factors such as previous employment in entrepreneurial activities, and family influence had a statistical significant relationship with entrepreneurial intention.

Bakgrund: Cancer är en av de vanligaste dödsorsakerna bland barn, där ca 300 barn i Sverige insjuknar varje år. Sociala, psykologiska och fysiska faktorer påverkas negativt hos barn med cancer, vilket i sin tur har en negativ påverkan på barnens livskvalité. Barn som drabbats av cancer bör erbjudas fysisk aktivitet, då psykosociala symtom kan reduceras med hjälp av fysisk aktivitet. Syftet med studien var att sammanställa forskning gällande hur beteendeförändring i form av fysisk aktivitet eventuellt kan påverka biopsykosociala faktorer och livskvalitén hos barn med onkologiska sjukdomar, samt bedöma studiernas kvalité. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie utfördes, där sökningarna genomfördes i databaserna PubMed, Medline och CINAHL Plus. Sju studier inkluderades i enlighet med studiens syfte och frågeställningar, samt kvalitetsgranskades enligt SBU:s granskningsmallar för randomiserade kontrollerade studier. Resultat: Fyra av studierna redovisade att fysisk aktivitet påverkar livskvalitén hos barn med cancer. En studie påvisade endast effekt gällande fysiska faktorer och två studier visade inga statistiskt signifikanta effekter. Fem studier bedömdes ha hög kvalité och två medelhög. Slutsats: En beteendeförändring i form av fysisk aktivitet kan påverka biopsykosociala faktorer och livskvalitén hos barn med onkologiska sjukdomar. / Background: Cancer is one of the most common causes of death amongst children and about 300 children in Sweden get sick every year. Social, psychological and physical factors are negatively affected in children with cancer, which has a negative impact on their quality of life. Children with cancer should be offered physical activity as psychosocial symptoms can be reduced by it. Objective was to compile research on how behavioral change in form of physical activity could possibly affect bio-physcho-social factors and the quality of life of children with oncological diseases and to assess the quality of those studies. Method: A systematic literature study was conducted where the searches were made in the databases PubMed, Medline and CINAHL Plus. Seven studies were included in accordance to the objective and issues of the study. The quality was assessed according to SBU's review templates for randomized controlled trial. Results: Four studies reported that physical activity affects the quality of life of children with cancer. One study showed effect on physical factors and two showed no statistically significant effects. Five of the studies were assessed to be of high quality and two of average. Conclusions: A behavioral change in the shape of physical activity may affect biopsychosocial factors and the quality of life of children with oncological diseases.