Since the 1980s, pre-registration nurse education has undergone dramatic changes that have led to the creation of a new course - Project 2000 - and its delivery within the Higher Education sector. Very little written during this period has addressed the issue of nurse learner wastage/persistence. The literature on nurse learner wastage/persistence prior to this period has tended to be largely atheoretical in nature. One of the chief objectives of this study was to produce a much more complex picture of wastage/persistence. This involved the building of a theoretical framework designed to explore one aspect of voluntary wastage - the interaction between integration and wastage/persistence, and which could capture the complexity of the phenomenon by taking into account the interaction between the individual and the institution within the process of wastage/persistence. This study draws on Tinto's (1975) Student Integration Model, which identified the learners' integration into an institution to be one of the critical factors in understanding the wastage/persistence of learners, as well as on some of the studies within the area of nurse learner wastage/persistence which have examined the role of a learner's identity in the wastage/persistence process. Accordingly, this study defined integration in terms of how well a learner has adopted the identity/ies afforded to them by the institution. Finally, drawing inspiration from Foucault (1988, 1990,1991), this study re-conceptualised identity in terms of the concept of subjectivity and defined integration in terms of how well the learner was able to subscribe to the discourses (and the subject positions that these made available) that constituted the given institution. A multiple case study was carried out that focused on leavers and stayers in the first year of a Project 2000 course in three particular cohorts within a particular institution. A modified version of discourse analysis, referred to as MODA (Meaning Orientated Discourse Analysis), was used. Two major discourses were identified which offered the learner a number of contradictory subject positions regarding what it means to be a learner and a nurse - the 'autonomous' and the 'apprentice' discourse. It was found that stayers were those most able to manage these contradictory subject positions offered by these discourses. This meant that they were more playful in their discursive reading patterns than leavers. This playfulness implied they were not only doing a lot more with these discourses, but that that the nature of what they were doing enabled them to accept and embrace the contradictory notions of what it means to be a learner and a nurse existing in the institution. The stayers' management of discourses was a reflection of the high level of integration that they had achieved within a institution that is riddled with two incommensurable discourses which offer competing definitions of what it means to be a nurse and a learner.

Zugl.: Ilmenau, Techn. Univ., Diplomarbeit, 2005

The purpose of this study is to determine if a transition program has a greater success rate, as measured by GPA, number of students recycled, attendance, and conduct, than a traditional program of study for over age, first time ninth grade students by the end of first semester of the ninth grade. Some of the typical outcomes during the transition to high school from grade 8 to grade 9 are high failure rates, lack of Algebra I readiness, and poor attendance. These concerns contribute to drop-out rates and the level of competitiveness students will have when facing the workforce. This is a timely issue as we continue to address Standards of Learning (SOL) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the initiatives to rethink our high schools as they attempt to prepare students for the ongoing changes of the economy, workforce, and expectations of colleges and universities. / Ph. D.

Eighty percent of all adolescents in Sweden aged 13-19 years are physically active in sports associations growing up during their childhood, however, far from everyone continues as they get older. The aim of this study is to increase the knowledge about sports associations views and perceptions regarding why adolescents quit physical activities and how they work to prevent this to occur. Furthermore, this study will examine the perceptions and opinions these sport associations have regarding recruitment of adolescents for coaching and other positions within their association. The data in this study was collected from nine semi-structured interviews with representatives from sports associations in the county of Umeå. The results from the data analysis indicates that the sport associations seems to be aware of this drop out among adolescents and that the reason for this phenomena is complex and individual. Despite this, little action seemed to be taken among these sport associations in order to try to keep young individuals physically active within the club or with recruitment of these individuals as coaches, even if the sport associations considered it as a good solution to the problem. The main conclusion of this study is that if sport associations are in need of preventing youth drop out they have to increase their activities for preventing it. Furthermore they need to start seeing adolescents as resources to the sport association.

The genetic profiles of evidentiary samples found at crime scenes are generated in order to determine the likelihood that a person contributed to DNA to the sample. One of the most challenging aspects of forensic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis is that samples collected from crime scenes often contain only trace amounts of DNA; these samples are often referred to as low template DNA (LTDNA). Due to the low initial concentration of genetic material in LTDNA samples, substantive environmental insults will likely result in compromised DNA profiles that exhibit lower allele peak heights than expected, or in some cases, complete allele drop-out. The research detailed in this study investigates the impact various sources of compromise have on relative fluorescent unit (RFU) signal obtained from LTDNA samples. The potential for stochastic allele loss during a silica extraction of DNA prior to downstream processing is first considered using a dynamic systems model simulating the probability for allelic loss at each step in the procedure. Next, the impacts of damaging or degrading the DNA on the electropherogram signal are explored. Trends in RFU signal of LTDNA samples subjected to sonication by a sonic dismembrator probe, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, and enzymatic digestion by two different enzymes are assessed, with the aim of creating a reference for typical behaviors in RFU signal data in compromised LTDNA. The distributions of electropherogram profile data from compromised LTDNA are then compared against one another in order to determine if the compromising methods explored in the study act on the samples in similar ways. The RFU signal data from the compromised LTDNA are then evaluated alongside the provided degradation index (DI) value resulting from quantification using the Quantifiler® Trio quantification kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Oyster Point, CA). The DI value acts as an early assessment of the quality of DNA samples and can be used to optimize downstream processing. Its ability to accurately predict behavior in compromised LTDNA samples is assessed through comparison of the DI value to the decrease in RFU signal as the samples are subjected to higher levels of simulated environmental insults.

External Studies has been in operation at Goulburn College of Advanced Education for ten years (1970 - 1980). During this time nearly 1,800 students have been involved in the external programmes. Over half of these students have not completed their studies. This field-study is an attempt to document the actual drop-out rates for the various programmes and to compare the results obtained with statistics available from other tertiary institutions in Australia and overseas. Factors such as student age and sex as related to achievement and time of withdrawal are investigated. The statistics are largely drawn from student files and a questionnaire distributed to a sample of external students. The main thrust of the study is to ascertain the reasons for student withdrawal in an attempt to reduce the attrition rates in the future. Drop-out was found to be the result of a number of contributing factors rather than deriving from any particular reason. The field-study shows that drop-out rates at Goulburn are somewhat similar to those experienced by other tertiary institutions, but that the attrition rate during the first semester of study is excessive.

<p>Syftet med studien var att undersöka huruvida självskattad känsla av skoltrötthet samvarierar med begriplighet, hanterbarhet och meningsfullhet vilka är delkomponenter i KASAM, känsla av sammanhang. Deltagarna var elever som studerar studie- respektive yrkesinriktade gymnasieprogram vid en gymnasieskola i Mälardalen (<em>N </em>= 97). Köns- och studieinriktningsdifferenser samt elevers egna kommentarer kring skoltrötthet var även av intresse. En tvådelad enkät konstruerades och delades ut till eleverna. Enkäten innehöll dels ett självskattningsformulär för att mäta känsla av skoltrötthet och dels Antonovsky´s livsfrågeformulär som mäter KASAM. Begreppet skoltrötthet kom på grund av lågt alfavärde att splittas till lärtrötthet, skolka för att orka, utmattad efter en skoldag samt känsla av otillräcklighet. Resultatet visade att elevers känsla av lärtrötthet samvarierade med meningsfullhet i skolan. Vidare fanns en svag tendens att lärtrötthet även samvarierade med hanterbarhet. Meningsfullhetskomponenten var en signifikant prediktor för lärtrötthet. Begriplighet fick signifikant högre skattning av männen. Inga signifikanta studieinriktningsskillnader förelåg.</p>

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka huruvida självskattad känsla av skoltrötthet samvarierar med begriplighet, hanterbarhet och meningsfullhet vilka är delkomponenter i KASAM, känsla av sammanhang. Deltagarna var elever som studerar studie- respektive yrkesinriktade gymnasieprogram vid en gymnasieskola i Mälardalen (N = 97). Köns- och studieinriktningsdifferenser samt elevers egna kommentarer kring skoltrötthet var även av intresse. En tvådelad enkät konstruerades och delades ut till eleverna. Enkäten innehöll dels ett självskattningsformulär för att mäta känsla av skoltrötthet och dels Antonovsky´s livsfrågeformulär som mäter KASAM. Begreppet skoltrötthet kom på grund av lågt alfavärde att splittas till lärtrötthet, skolka för att orka, utmattad efter en skoldag samt känsla av otillräcklighet. Resultatet visade att elevers känsla av lärtrötthet samvarierade med meningsfullhet i skolan. Vidare fanns en svag tendens att lärtrötthet även samvarierade med hanterbarhet. Meningsfullhetskomponenten var en signifikant prediktor för lärtrötthet. Begriplighet fick signifikant högre skattning av männen. Inga signifikanta studieinriktningsskillnader förelåg.

The accounting profession has been identified as one of the scarce skills in South Africa. This phenomenon has attracted many students aspiring to tertiary education to enrol for an accounting degree. Regrettably, most of these students drop out of the programmes in the second year of their studies due to many challenges that they were not prepared for and that the institutions are not making any extra efforts to address. The objective of the study is to investigate the key factors that contribute to a high rate of second-year Accounting students drop-out in the Department of Accounting at Tshwane University of Technology in the academic years of 2004 to 2006. The study comprises two phases: the theoretical phase and the empirical phase respectively. The theoretical phase encompasses an in-depth review of relevant literature on issues affecting students to drop out of institutions of higher learning. The empirical phase of the research entails testing the opinions of second-year Accounting students on the factors causing the high drop-out rate among them through the use of a questionnaire and followed by interviews with the relevant stakeholders. The study will further report on the findings and recommendations made by the lecturing staff, academic development practitioners, support staff and students on how to improve on the factors identified as the cause of drop-out of students in institutions of higher learning. The findings and recommendations of the study will assist the institution in formulating appropriate strategies that will provide remedial services and that will lead to the reduction of the drop-out rate, and subsequently lead to high retention rates of students at Tshwane University of Technology. This research should also be extended to other similar institutions. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.