This study examines how university academics understand and enact knowledge requirements embedded in official teacher education policies. The research probes faculty understandings of what constitutes ‘relevant and appropriate pedagogies’ in teacher education curricula, and the basis of such knowledge selections in the absence of a stable ‘knowledge base’ of teacher education. In teacher education, new national norms and standards are intended to guide curriculum processes in new programmes. However, policies remain open to wide interpretation and assume common understandings among the teacher education community with regard to knowledge, practices and values. This study, conducted in three university-based Faculties of Education, analyses the curriculum motivations, processes and practices of education academics, in an attempt to understand and explain their responses to policy requirements. The conceptual framework of Paul Trowler is employed to examine the Teaching and Learning Regimes (TLRs) at work in academic contexts. By lifting out the discursive repertoires, identities in interaction, tacit assumptions, connotative codes, implicit theories of teaching and learning, power relations, rules of appropriateness and recurrent practices among faculty members, this research demonstrates how knowledge is mediated in and through institutional contexts. Three parallel Faculty portraits elucidate stark differences in approaches to curricula and in curriculum processes, a consequence of the lack of a stable knowledge base and the perceived vagueness of policy directives. Significantly, institutional histories and traditions feature prominently as ‘shapers’ of academic responses to change, factors that, the study argues, government policies have not taken into account. / Thesis (PhD (Education Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

In today’s society media is ubiquitous. Through its pervasiveness it plays an inextricable role in society, impacting on culture, economy, politics, education and communication. In a postmodern society technological advances have had a profound impact on the development of media, most notably digital media. The intention of this study was to establish whether, in the context of an assumed postmodern culture, young South African adults display behaviour that manifest the tenets of postmodernism in their reactions to contemporary marketing and/or marketing communication, as apparent through their attitudes towards retail shopping and brands, together with their attitudes towards and use of digital media. In this instance digital media is limited to social media and media accessible on mobile phones. The unique properties and interactive capabilities of digital media have altered the dynamics of communication and have given rise to new applications that were not previously possible. This poses challenges for organisations in terms of marketing communication practices with one of the problem areas being that marketers do not know: <ul><li> Whether young South African adults (Generation Y) exhibit postmodern behaviour, in the context of today’s postmodern culture. </li><li> How young South African adults (Generation Y) use digital media? </li><li> How to leverage the unique properties of digital media in marketing communication efforts directed towards young South African adults (Generation Y)? </li> </ul> The main purpose of this research was to reflect on the applicability of modern marketing and/or marketing communication theories, in their current state, in the context of a postmodern society, with specific emphasis on the use of digital media. The secondary purpose of the research was to investigate the affect of postmodern variables on Generation Y and the perspective of this population towards digital media and its role in marketing communication. The study aimed to contribute to the theoretical body of knowledge as follows: <ul><li> To question the application of modern marketing and/or marketing communication theories in postmodern society. In so doing, it suggested that in any given era marketing theories should be representative of the target society, therefore inferring the need to adjust existing theories and their application or formulate new ones that are representative of the specific era. </li><li> To empirically determine whether Generation Y are exhibiting characteristics indicative of postmodern society. </li></ul> Furthermore, the study added value from a practitioner perspective by contributing to new knowledge in the study of Generation Y and digital media. It is anticipated that an improved understanding of Generation Y’s attitudes towards marketing and digital media will serve to improve knowledge of how Generation Y will react in the future as they mature and potentially provide an indication of forthcoming generations’ attitudes towards marketing. Nine research objectives emanating from the research problem were empirically tested through a cross-sectional quantitative exploratory descriptive survey research design. Items in the survey were developed on the basis of observable postmodern characteristics presented in the literature and in consultation with a panel of experts. The survey was distributed by email, which provided a web-based link to access the survey, to the sampling frame; a database comprising of 2,265 students, between the ages of 18-34, enrolled full-time with the department of Marketing and Communication Management (University of Pretoria) during 2011. Convenience sampling was used until a sufficient quantity of fully completed surveys had been collected; 333 usable questionnaires were obtained. The collected data received statistical treatment primarily through the application of exploratory factor analysis and multivariate analysis of co-variance. The theoretical synthesis showed that characteristics of postmodernism are evident in society and affect marketing and/or marketing communication activities. The results of the empirical phase of the investigation demonstrated that respondents show postmodernism traits in their behaviour towards digital media and their reactions towards brands and marketing and/or marketing communication. The most dominant postmodern characteristics displayed by respondents were hyperreality, de-differentiation and fragmentation. Several factors were found to be statistically significant, which may be related to socio-economic conditions, behavioural patterns, and digital infrastructure. These were: ethnicity, cell phone usage, frequency of social media usage, cell phone plan, average monthly Internet expenditure for cell phones, use of Internet bundles on cell phones, and the device used most often to access the Internet. Social media use was identified as an important behavioural outcome by respondents, and the most significant influencing factors related to the dependence that respondents placed on their cell phones and the need to fulfil certain activities only available in the social media space. Finally a conceptual framework was proposed, which integrated theoretical and empirical findings. This framework suggested a broadening of certain roles within marketing and/or marketing communication, namely: consumers transforming to collaborators; communication transforming to interaction; and value exchange transforming to value-in-use. It is anticipated that this study has added to the theoretical level of knowledge by indicating the need to readdress principles and theories of marketing and/or marketing communication in the context of a postmodern society and in particular the use of digital media. An outcome of the study was the proposition of a conceptual framework, which addressed a number of aspects in the transformation from modern to postmodern marketing. Furthermore, at the practitioner level the study has broadened understanding of Generation Y’s behaviour towards digital media in the marketing and/or marketing communication context. Managerial recommendations were expressed on the basis of the theoretical and empirical findings. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Marketing Management / PhD / Unrestricted

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This study explores how self-imposed limitations affect anxieties about art-making and the art-making process. As a teacher, I was interested in how limitations affected student art-making. I used arts-based research methodology to explore spiritual and personal quandaries in my own life through the process of art-making. A consistent thread throughout this investigation was using the process of making art as a way to gain understanding about my own life and teaching. I was also able to create a culture of vulnerability and honesty in my classroom and help my students embrace themselves and their physical, emotional, and situational limitations through the art-making process.

Un système distribué est un système composé d'éléments de calcul autonomes dotés de capacité de communication. Il s'agit d'un modèle commun pour l'étude des réseaux. L'évolution rapide des réseaux sans fils et/ou mobiles aussi bien dans la vie quotidienne que dans la recherche amène progressivement à intégrer la dynamique (i.e. l'évolution dans le temps de la connectivité) dans les systèmes distribués. Concrètement, cela revient à ajouter l'hypothèse que les capacités de communication des éléments du système peuvent varier dans le temps. De nombreux modèles considèrent ainsi la dynamique comme composante à part entière du système (et non pas comme une faute). De manière récente, une nouvelle approche, appelée graphe variant dans le temps, tente d'unifier tous ces modèles dans un formalisme commun qui permet de classifier les systèmes en fonction de leurs propriétés de connexité temporelle. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à des systèmes distribués hautement dynamiques dans lesquels les hypothèses de connexité sont minimalistes. Plus précisément, nous concentrons nos efforts sur les systèmes connexes à travers le temps dans lesquels la seule garantie est que tout élément du système peut infiniment souvent envoyer un message à tout autre (sans garantie sur la pérennité de la route utilisée ni sur le délai de communication). Nous nous intéressons plus particulièrement aux problèmes de couverture (par exemple, ensemble dominant minimal, couplage maximal, ensemble indépendant maximal, ...) dans ces systèmes distribués hautement dynamiques. Les contributions de cette thèse dans ce contexte sont les suivantes. Nous proposons tout d'abord une nouvelle définition pour les problèmes de couverture qui est plus adaptée aux systèmes distribués hautement dynamiques que les définitions existantes. Dans un deuxième temps, nous fournissons un outil générique qui permet de faciliter les preuves de résultats d'impossibilité dans les systèmes distribués dynamiques. Nous appliquons cet outil pour prouver plusieurs résultats d'impossibilité à propos de problèmes de couverture. Ensuite, nous proposons une nouvelle mesure de complexité en temps qui permet de comparer équitablement les performances de protocoles dans les systèmes distribués dynamiques. Enfin, nous donnons un algorithme de construction d'un ensemble dominant minimal dans les systèmes distribués hautement dynamiques. / A distributed system is a system of autonomous computing components endowed with communication abilities. This is a common model for the study of networks. The quick evolution of wireless and mobile network both in everyday life and in research gradually leads to take in account the dynamics (i.e. the evolution over time) in distributed systems. Concretely, this means to add the assumption that the communication abilities of the components of the system may vary over time. Many models consider the dynamics as an integral component of the system (and not as a fault). Recently, a new approach, called time-varying graph, attempts to unify all these models in a common formalism which allows the classification systems based on their temporal connectivity properties. In this thesis, we are interested in highly dynamic distributed systems with minimal connectivity assumptions. Specifically, we focus on connected over time systems where the only guarantee is that any element of the system can infinitely often send a message to any other (no guarantee are provided on the sustainability of the used path nor on the time communication). We are particularly interested in covering problems (e.g., minimal dominanting set, maximal matching, maximal independent set, ...) in these highly dynamic distributed systems. The contributions of this thesis in this context are as follows. We first propose a new definition for the covering problems which is more suited to highly dynamic distributed systems that the existing definitions. Secondly, we provide a generic tool to simplify proof of impossibility results in dynamic distributed systems. We use this tool to prove some impossibility results of covering problems. Then, we propose a new time complexity measure to fairly compare the algorithms performance in dynamic distributed systems. Finally, we give an algorithm that compute a minimal dominating set in highly dynamic distributed systems.

L'objet de cette thèse sur les réseaux de capteurs est l'étude du déploiement minimal de capteurs lorsque ceux-ci doivent couvrir un ensemble discret de cibles plutôt que des superficies. Après la présentation des caractéristiques d'un réseau de capteurs, et l'intérêt d'un déploiement minimal, nous en proposons une modélisation en théorie des graphes. Nous présentons ensuite un état de l'art décrivant certaines techniques de résolution par la programmation mathématique de diverses problématiques dans ce type de réseau. Nous utilisons plusieurs programmes linéaires en variables mixtes afin de résoudre le problème du déploiement minimal des capteurs sous des contraintes de couverture de toutes les cibles et de connectivité des capteurs entre eux. Finalement, nous concevons une nouvelle heuristique de calcul de placement de capteurs lorsque les cibles sont placées sur une grille à motif carré et nous conjecturons que cette heuristique retourne une solution optimale dans tous les cas. / The objectif of this thesis on wireless sensor networks is to study the deployment of a minimal number of sensors to cover specific targets instead of continuous areas. After a presentation of the characteristics of wireless sensor networks, and after justifying the interest of an optimal sensor deployment, we propose a graph-theory based model for wireless sensor networks. We then present a state of the art describing various mathematical programming models and resolution techniques regarding a number of optimization problems in such networks. We formulate several Mixed Integer Linear programs to solve the optimal sensor deployment problem under contraints related to the coverage of all targets and connectivity between sensors. Finally, we conceive a new heuristic for sensor placement when targets are placed in a square grid graph, and we conjecture that this heuristic returns an optimal solution in all cases.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men. The purpose of this quantitative, meta-analysis study was to examine one-carbon metabolism gene polymorphisms in a group of genes to determine their association with prostate cancer risk. The genetic epidemiology theory provided the framework for the study. The data collected were from published articles. From over 2,800 individual studies, 20 articles were retained for results and data abstraction, following the title, abstract screen, and full text screening in the second phase. The data were analyzed by a meta-analysis statistical method, combining the results from selected studies to estimate the overall association. According to study results by the adjusted p-values of fixed model, there was a significant association between decreased risk of prostate cancer and the variant of Allele T, Genotype TT, and the recessive model of C667T polymorphism. In the random model, the adjusted p-values show a significant association between decreased risk of prostate cancer, the variant of Genotype TT, and recessive model. There was an increased risk of prostate cancer in A1298C polymorphism by adjusted p-value on the variant of Genotype AC, in the fixed model. This study leads to positive social change by providing information on an optimization surveillance strategy to ensure valid screening test for prostate disease reporting. Future studies with a greater number of samples are needed, including gene-gene and gene-environment interaction to verify study results.

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Digital innovation (DI) has enabled businesses to enhance their existing market offerings by integrating digital features. Despite advanced technologies, substantial marketing efforts, and global recognition, businesses can still struggle to convince customers to adopt their digital market offering. This process of spreading novel innovation is known as diffusion. In the fast-growing digital world, due to the unique characteristics of DI, traditional diffusion theories and models shows limited explanatory power, creating challenges for researchers and practitioners alike. With the aim to explore these challenges, we position our research within the IS literature with the following research question: "How and why do diffusion enablers and barriers emerge during digital innovation?". We conducted an interpretive case study of Company X, one of the world's largest consulting firms and an active DI practitioner. Our findings suggest that digital innovation diffusion can be enabled or hindered by several understudied interdependencies in its technological architecture. Furthermore, for successful diffusion, how DI distributed division of labor between layers must be effectively embedded and aligned for value in the clients' context. This study provides novel insights, exciting research avenues, and a diffusion strategy for DI practitioners.