<p> The purpose of this study was to examine online community college student completion and the effectiveness of student learning in online courses, which was measured through the anticipated final online course grade using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework. The researcher collected completion rate data for both online and face-to-face courses from the 10-day roster to the end of the semester. Surveys consisting of questions from the CoI survey, demographic questions, and the student&rsquo;s anticipated final course grade were administered by the Illinois Easter Community College (IECC) district to online students near the end of spring semester. The first research question examined the difference in completion rates for online and face-to-face courses. There was a statistically significant difference with students less likely to complete an online course in comparison to a face-to-face course. Three research questions assessed the relationship between the three components of CoI and a student&rsquo;s anticipated final course grade. There was no statistically significant correlation between social presence and the student&rsquo;s anticipated final online course grade. Cognitive presence and teaching presence both had a positive statistically significant relationship with the student&rsquo;s anticipated final course grade. The final three research questions that guided this study used multiple regression to examine a predictive relationship between the social, cognitive, and teaching presence and a student&rsquo;s anticipated final course grade. Cognitive presence was the only component of the CoI model that had a statistically significant predictive value on the student&rsquo;s final course grade. Based on the findings from this study, the IECC district and other community colleges should focus more attention on completion efforts on online courses compared to face-to-face courses and develop and teach online courses that enhance the cognitive presence and teaching presence in an online course.</p><p>

The proposed study is of a psychobiographical nature and employs a qualitative research approach. The individual that forms the subject of this study is William Wilberforce. A social activist most of his life, Wilberforce is best known for his voice and works behind the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and the abolition of slavery in 1833. His ambitious nature, social eloquence and verbal intellect resulted in him being elected as a member of parliament in the House of Commons in England during the period 1780 to 1825. Transformed by the Christian faith in 1885, Wilberforce came to the realization he had received a calling from God to speak up for those who could not with a specific task set out before him which was to abolish slavery. It was the purpose of the present research to explore and describe Wilberforce’s psychological development across his life-span according to Carl Rogers’ (1961) personality theory of optimal development. Salient aspects of Wilberforce’s life were related and compared to components of the theory so as to explore and describe the degree of optimal development that Wilberforce reached at different points in his life and whether he could be described as a fully functioning person. According to Rogers’ theory William Wilberforce was chosen as the research subject for his historical contribution to mankind by his devotion to the moral enhancement of his country.

The objective of this study is to examine the hypothesis that to achieve the maximum potential of residential rehabilitation as an integral part of the urban renewal process, it is necessary to develop a positive local government policy for rehabilitation utilizing all the means at the municipality's disposal. Rehabilitation is understood in this study to involve the repair and/or improvement of dwellings within a designated renewal area, together with what public action is necessary to remove environmental deficiencies and provide adequate community facilities. As an introduction to the study, the evolution of the urban renewal process is traced in the United States, Britain and Canada with special reference being made to rehabilitation provisions. The subsequent background study, however, relates solely to North America. The nature of the urban renewal process is reviewed, and the generally accepted terms of 'redevelopment’, 'rehabilitation' and ‘conservation' are defined. The urban renewal process is also related to the overall planning function. An analysis is made of the rehabilitation proposals contained in most of the Canadian urban renewal studies completed to date. These proposals are evaluated and the current situation is presented by referring to the replies to questionnaires mailed to planning officials in cities with completed studies. Little progress has been made in Canada with rehabilitation as part of the urban renewal process, and 'rehabilitation' appears to have different meanings in different cities: some planning officials consider rehabilitation solely as a short-term solution in an area requiring ultimate redevelopment, while others consider rehabilitation to be a justifiable end in itself. The improvement of dwellings is evident in several cities, but no concerted effort has been made to guide and co-ordinate this private activity with plans for environmental improvement. Municipalities have also been reluctant to use their police powers related to housing when a shortage of alternative housing for dispossessed families exists, and inadequate financial assistance for home-owners limits the amount of rehabilitation possible. It is concluded that the realization of the full potential for private rehabilitation efforts cannot be achieved in Canada under existing financial arrangements, and unless legislative changes are initiated. In several cities the initiative for rehabilitation appears to rest completely with the home-owners and in these cases it is not surprising that little has been accomplished. It is considered imperative that local government must indeed formulate and publicize a positive policy for residential rehabilitation, indicating its own responsibility to provide public facilities and its determination to co-ordinate public and private efforts to achieve a more livable community and to reduce the need for the more drastic, costly and disruptive measures of clearance and redevelopment. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Each of us is solitary. Each of us dies alone. That is a fate against which we cannot struggle, but there is plenty in our condition which is not fate, and against which we are less than human unless we do struggle. The people in the industrialized countries are getting richer, and those in the non-industrialized countries are at best standing still: the gap is widening every day. Industrialization is the only hope of the poor. Health, food, education; nothing but industrialization could have made them available to the very poor. Economists are inclined to be impatient in attempting to ameliorate this social condition; and are inclined to think that it should be done. The lessons which the present underdeveloped countries can learn may lie as much in the past as in the contemporary history of their developed forerunners. Such common problems as capital accumulation, economic diversification, balance of payments, technological development, population, labour, employment, land distribution, colonialism, dualism or pluralism, political affairs and social ideology are of importance. However, what are absolutely necessary are systematic comparisons of the processes of economic growth and of the economic structures of different countries by linking non-economic factors to the structure of modern economics. Thereby it will be possible to clarify the character of the process of economic growth and to disclose the relative importance of the various factors. Without over-simplification, dynamic theory can be divided into two categories; economic dynamic approach and sociological institutional approach. No "dynamics of world economic development" is as simple as to be fully explained by one of these approaches. As a result of the inevitable process being a synthetic theory from different opinions founded on different bases, the theory of Professor Walt Whitman Rostow must be considered. It seems that his theory is cogent, and successful in establishing a sequence of cause and effect in the field of economic growth. A matter of factual history observed in the light of economics is fully discussed by using illustrations of sixteen countries in the world. The process of economic development is ascertained. The dynamics of Professor Rostow indicates the ways of mollifying the dangerous characteristics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, of coping with the vast number of underdeveloped countries, and of clarifying the meaninglessness of Marxism. Here, our social hope can find the basis on which policies should be dependent. The trick of getting rich is no secret and the world cannot survive half rich and half poor. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

In the past, little has been written about the systematic acquisition of faculty papers, which are important sources for documenting not only the faculty members themselves, but also universities and the academic disciplines. This thesis investigates the theoretical and practical issues involved in the appraisal for acquisition and selection of faculty papers. The work of the professor is analyzed in terms of the competences that he exercises in carrying out the functions of the university. Interviews with academics verify the functional analysis, confirm the existence of documents predicted by it, and alert the archivist to professors' attitudes that could affect the acquisition of the faculty papers. The account of the interviews is followed by a discussion of various questions concerning the ownership of faculty papers and the most appropriate repositories for them. To further resolve the problems identified, and to lay the groundwork for an acquisition plan, a report is made on interviews and correspondence with archivists from universities and subject discipline history centers and repositories. These sources illustrate current archival practices. It is concluded that most faculty papers belong in a university archives, although there is an important role for the subject discipline history center and repository. The latter institutions offer a different outlook than can be reached through a documentation plan that is focused on one university. To provide a framework for the acquisition of faculty papers, it is suggested that a university-wide records policy be drafted, as the necessary foundation on which to base an archival mandate, an acquisition policy, and a plan for the appraisal for acquisition of faculty papers. Finally, the appraisal for selection of faculty papers is analyzed and seen to be primarily a process of weeding rather than the elimination of whole series. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

Women's empowerment is considered a key driver for social change and an important development objective. Empowerment describes as a process in which women gain the ability to redefine gender roles and the ability to extend possibilities for being and doing. This includes resources and active agency. Despite this, research is limited in scope and geography. Measures to assess empowerment in the development sector often focus on evident forms of agency that do not reflect local meanings of the concept. In South Africa, studies of empowerment are primarily limited to women's decision-making within the household or in their reproductive roles. While many scholarly texts showcase the importance of women practicing their agency for the survival of their households and local communities, few investigate women's own experiences. As such, this thesis aims to raise the importance of women's empowerment in the field of development and to add to understanding of gender in South Africa through ethnographic research methods. Ethnographic research focus on describing and understanding, rather than explaining phenomena. Through semi-structured interviews and participant observations, I explore the ways in which seven women in their local community of Hangberg exercise their agency to develop the community, and the empowerment outcomes of such work. I find that engaging in development activities has realised a proliferation of outcomes relevant to empowerment among the women participants. This includes better intra-household relations, cooperation, wellbeing, and sense of purpose. The women participants see themselves as empowered women who attribute their own personal growth to participating in the development of their community. Furthermore, I find that women actively exercise their agency in response to social, economic and political change. In this, the women participants are exemplars of an alternative ‘solution' to overcoming social and economic despair in their community. At the same time, their empowerment and agency remain limited in terms of levels and reach. The women participants are not able to overcome the broader economic, social and political structures that shape their lives. They remain poised precariously between economic uncertainty and responsibilities of care.

The demise of apartheid has accelerated the emergence of the African middle class. This group's expenditure pattern has recently received public scrutiny, leading to empirical research on their consumption patterns leaning on the theory of conspicuous consumption. It has also been reported that African middle-class households are becoming more reliant on the use of credit and are becoming overindebted. This study explores the composition of the middle class and the factors that lead African middle-class households to becoming over indebted. The methodology is both quantitative and qualitative. Drawing on the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) data, the study examines varying definitions of the middle class in developing country contexts, through comparisons of alternative approaches. This research paper ultimately makes use of the vulnerability approach to define the South African middle class. The empirical results show that the middle class as a whole has grown at a slow rate between 2008 and 2017. However, the African middle class has experienced the most rapid growth, outpacing its white counterpart by a significant margin. The dissertation then uses two waves of (NIDS) data, relating to the periods 2008 and 2017 to present a descriptive analysis of household overindebtedness, which is driven by life-cycle consumption needs. The results show that middle-class households hold a proportionately large amount of debt. Within the middle class, Africans hold the most debt, when compared to other races. To adequately understand the nuances of the indebted African middle class, in-depth interviews were conducted. The results indicate that pertinent issues for this group, such as black tax, contribute to households becoming over-indebted, as this mostly affects the African population group.

This case study focused on the ways in which their exposure to violence impacts on primary school children's learning and their cognitive and emotional development in two primary schools in the Cape Flats Township of Mitchell's Plain. The research aimed to explore the extent to which exposure to violence impacts not only on these learners' learning and development but also the various ways in which these children act-out their violent experiences. The fieldwork focused on how the exposure to violence in the household and community influences/affects classroom learning, in particular, learners' oral and written exercises, as well as the quality of their relationships with teachers and other learners. The theoretical framework for this research is based on Vygotsky's Social Developmental theory. This theory assisted me in my investigation and helped me to understand the consequences of exposure to violence for both learning and cognitive and emotional development within a social, or socio-cultural context. I used Bronfenbrenner's ecological models to explain the impact exposure to violence has on human development and cognitive growth within an ecological system. The research approach made use of a qualitative case study of two primary schools, each situated in a different socio-economic area of Mitchell's Plain. The data was collected from participant observations, focus group interviews, and document analysis of learners' writings and drawings. The research found the sample of learners from both schools to have been affected both mentally/cognitively and emotionally by the violence in the area, and that this had caused these learners to lose focus and had certainly affected their academic performance. A key point that emerged was that the sample of learners participating in the study were struggling to create quality relationships with their teachers and peers. The research showed that, causally related to this, children in the study who had been directly or indirectly exposed to violence displayed a lack of trust and confidence in others, and that this often led to discipline issues in the class.

Includes bibliographical references. / Elder abuse is one of the major problems in South Africa. Elderly people are being abused by their family members, children and members of their communities This problem remains hidden in that most cases are not reported to the officials, and if they are reported, officials are doing little or nothing about them. Although the communities are trying to address the issue, due to underreporting it is very difficult to determine the actual number of the elderly who are being abused daily . Traditionally, the young generation is expected to respect their elderly people, whether they know them or not. However, nowadays it appears that little respect is shown to the elderly. Instead they are often being financially robbed, physically attacked, sexually abused and emotionally threatened. As a result they move to old age institutions or places of safety for safety and security. This paper focuses on those elderly who suffered abuse in their families and communities. The study is conducted in an institution for the elderly. The abused elderly are encouraged to talk about what happened to them and who their abusers are, with the aim of finding out what brought them into an institution. The findings of this research were obtained through focus group and in-depth individual interviews. Access to the institution was given at St. Monica's Home and seven elderly persons, which is 50% of the residents, were interviewed. The same persons participated in both the in-depth individual and focus group interviews as a form of primary data collection. Information was elicited in the form of a focus group discussion and interviews with individuals. The results of this paper indicate that: a) Family and community members are sometimes guilty of abusing the elderly. b) Elderly persons have lost trust in reporting their problems to officials, especially the police. c) The elderly prefer to be at the institution than to be at home, where they were abused by their 'loved' ones. d) Society has, to a large extent, lost traditional and cultural values in respect of caring for the elderly. e) There is a lack of knowledge among people regarding resources that could assist elderly people with their problems. The research results show that there are elderly persons who move to institutions for the aged for safety and security, not because they prefer living there. However, one cannot generalize the findings of the study, as it covered only a small number of persons, and is, therefore, not representative of the elderly in general. The study focused on one institution with a limited population, as it had fourteen elderly people.