abstract: There has been a growing emphasis on the education of future generations of engineers who will have to tackle complex, global issues that are sociotechnical in nature. The National Science Foundation invests millions of dollars in interdisciplinary engineering education research (EER) to create an innovative and inclusive culture aimed at radical change in the engineering education system. This exploratory research sought to better understand ways of thinking to address complex educational challenges, specifically, in the context of engineering-social sciences collaborations. The mixed methods inquiry drew on the ways of thinking perspectives from sustainability education to adapt futures, values, systems, and strategic thinking to the context of EER. Using the adapted framework, nine engineer-social scientist dyads were interviewed to empirically understand conceptualizations and applications of futures, values, systems, and strategic thinking. The qualitative results informed an original survey instrument, which was distributed to a sample of 310 researchers nationwide. Valid responses (n = 111) were analyzed to uncover the number and nature of factors underlying the scales of futures, values, systems, and strategic thinking. Findings illustrate the correlated, multidimensional nature of ways of thinking. Results from the qualitative and quantitative phases were also analyzed together to make recommendations for policy, teaching, research, and future collaborations. The current research suggested that ways of thinking, while perceived as a concept in theory, can and should be used in practice. Futures, values, systems, and strategic thinking, when used in conjunction could be an important tool for researchers to frame decisions regarding engineering education problem/solution constellations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2019

For many years researchers have been troubled with the evaluation of Information Systems (IS) concluding to a lack of understanding as to the time, methods and tools for measuring the impact of IS on organisational performance. Motivated by this lacuna in the literature, this thesis explored the relationship between Information Systems’ Effectiveness and Organisational Performance. The theoretical framework is based on the Delone and McLean’s (D&M) IS success model which is widely adopted in the IS research. Based on a comprehensive literature review on the older and more recent studies the research framework incorporated several new items used by researchers for the measurement of the D&M dimensions. Following a web survey on 168 Greek firms this study sheds some light into the IS field by focusing on how IS effectiveness measures affect Organisational Performance. Data for this study was collected by means of a web-link questionnaire and a sample of 700 companies of different sizes operating in various industries. Many descriptive statistics of academic and managerial importance were produced. Following a correlation analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis, 15 factors were used for Multiple Regression analysis conducted to test a number of hypotheses around the relationship between the dependent construct (organisational performance) and the independent construct (IS effectiveness). This thesis contributes to existing research in the following ways. First, this study extends our knowledge on IS effectiveness as we adapted and modified DeLone and McLean's model of IS success to incorporate new variables from recent research. The results indicate a significant statistical link between IS effectiveness and performance measures. Second, it provides a holistic framework for measuring Organisational Performance with financial and non-financial variables. Finally, the study presents findings from Greek companies that have adopted IS providing practioners with advice for the practices that can lead to possible and realistic benefits.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An exploratory study, conducted in a clothing manufacturing plant, investigated the presence of a single psychological climate in an organisation, as well as the relationship between two increasingly important constructs namely: leader emotional intelligence and the psychological climate of an organisation. Of a total employee population of 1725 a sample of 600 participants were drawn. 297 Completed responses were returned for analyses. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted on both The Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT), which is designed to measure emotional intelligence, and the Organisational Climate Questionnaire of Koys and DeCotiis, which measures psychological climate. Stepwise discriminant analysis provided evidence to accept the proposition that a single psychological climate existed in the organisation. The results of a Pearson correlation analysis, multiple regression and discriminant analysis indicated that emotional intelligence is significantly, positively related to psychological climate as a dependant variable. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Eksploratiewe studie is onderneem in 'n klere vervaardigingsonderneming om ondersoek in te stel na die aanwesigheid van 'n enkel sielkundige klimaat, asook die verwantskap tussen twee belangrike konstrukte, naamlik emosionele intelligensie en sielkundige klimaat in 'n organisasie. 'n Steekproef van 600 deelnemers is geneem uit 'n populasie van 1725 waarvan 297 voltooide antwoorde ontvang en geanaliseer is. 'n Eksploratiewe Faktor Analise (EFA) is op beide die Swinburne Universiteit Emosionele Intelligensie Toets (SUIET), en die Organisasie Klimaat Vraelys van Koys en De Cotiis, wat onderskeidelik emosionele intelligensie en sielkundige klimaat meet, uitgevoer. Bewyse deur middel van stapsgewyse diskriminante analise is ingewin om die hipotese te aanvaar dat 'n enkel sielkundige klimaat in die organisasie aanwesig is. Die resultate van 'n Pearson korrelasie, meervoudige regressie en diskrimante analise het aangedui dat emosionele intelligensie beduidend, positief verwant is aan sielkundige klimaat as 'n afhanklike veranderlike.

BACKGROUND: One of the central determinants of functional outcome in schizophrenia is social cognition (SC). With the wide array of SC domains, factor-analysis provides a powerful tool to identify commonalities amongst their underlying dysfunctions and its neural underpinnings. METHODS: The present study performed exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on 93 patients with early course schizophrenia using eight validated SC subtests. Factors derived from this analysis were then used to investigate their relationships with neurocognitive performance, clinical symptoms, and functional outcome. Moreover, subsequent shape analysis of the amygdala and hippocampus was performed using the MAGeT Brain pipeline to investigate their relationship to the composite scores of SC factors. RESULTS: EFA revealed a 3-factor solution, representing the domains of emotion management, emotion recognition, and theory of mind-social contextual appraisal, together accounting for 63.58% of the variance. Interestingly, only the theory of mind-social context appraisal factor correlated with measures of functional outcome. Addition analysis revealed that higher score on the theory of mind factor is significantly related with higher functional outcome measures and verbal learning performance, as well as with lower negative symptoms. Both emotion management and emotion perception factors indicated significant positive correlations with attention-vigilance while only emotion perception significantly correlated with visual learning and memory. Outward convexity of the right amygdala was identified to be positively correlated with the theory of mind-social context appraisal factor (p<0.05, FDR corrected), while the left and right hippocampus, specifically greater surface area of the dorsal-medial and ventral-lateral aspect of the hippocampus respectively, were positively correlated with higher composite score on theory of mind factor (p<0.05, FDR corrected). CONCLUSION: Our EFA indicates overlap amongst SC subtests which represent three different SC subdomains. Furthermore, shape analysis reveals that displacement and surface area of the amygdala and hippocampus respectively play a role in theory of mind. In the future, the SC factors that we identified, along with their neural correlates, could provide essential diagnostic tools to assess SC functioning in early schizophrenia patients, as well as identify strategies for potential improvement following cognitive remediation therapy.

The current Japanese counseling profession is in the process of reforming and uniting the system and training together for counseling and related professions. Supervision is one of significant training piece in this profession; however, its familiarity among Japanese counseling professionals is very unclear. This study explored how Japanese counseling professionals conceptualize the ideal figure of a clinical supervisor based on the identified fundamental elements of clinical supervision in the US. The preliminary analysis indicates that each aspect of the U.S. clinical supervision models might be adoptable to Japanese counseling professionals. Yet the small sample size does not confirm the conceptual framework of the ideal clinical supervisor for Japanese counseling professionals, the main analysis indicated an alternative culturally appropriate conceptual framework. Further research embracing Japanese cultural characteristics and sound ethical manner in the professional counseling and supervisory relationship would enrich the clinical supervision in Japan.

abstract: Native American students often enter postsecondary education as means of serving a broader community. Studies among a broad base of tribes found that the desire to serve a larger community acts as a motivation to persist through college. However, institutions of higher education often center on individualistic empowerment rather than focusing on how to empower tribal communities. Due to the lack of quality datasets that lend to quantitative research, our understanding of factors related to American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) postsecondary persistence has primarily been based on qualitative studies The purpose of this study is to understand how the desire to serve a larger community influences current and former Cocopah and Quechan undergraduate students’ college persistence. The study adds to the Native American postsecondary persistence literature base, that up till now, has not quantitatively examined students’ desire to serve a larger community as a persistence factor while intentionally sampling two smaller tribes with tribal enrollments less than four thousand. This dissertation presents a Native American persistence model and alternative method of sampling small Indigenous nations, establishes construct validity for an instrument measuring the proposed persistence model and provides evidence the proposed model predicts postsecondary persistence and academic performance. The design of the model derives from a review theories and scholarship on Native American persistence. Subsequently, construction of an instrument measuring the model emerged from the theories, literature, expert feedback, and pilot testing. Using data collected from an online survey of a sample of Cocopah and Quechan students (n=117), the study provides evidence of construct validity of the instrument through an exploratory factor analysis. Following the instrument validation, regression analyses indicates that AI/AN postsecondary persistence within both two-year and four-year institutions is positively associated with student desire to give back. The evidence further suggests that researchers, practitioners, and administrators should expand programs that center on nation-building to increase the persistence of Native American students while simultaneously meeting the needs of tribal nations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Policy and Evaluation 2018

abstract: The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a Compassionate Communication Scale (CCS) by conducting a series of studies. The first study used qualitative data to identify and develop initial scale items. A series of follow-up studies used exploratory factor analysis to investigate the underlying structure of the CCS. A three-factor structure emerged, which included: Compassionate conversation, such as listening, letting the distressed person disclose feelings, and making empathetic remarks; compassionate touch, such as holding someone's hand or patting someone's back; and compassionate messaging, such as posting an encouraging message on a social networking site or sending a sympathetic email. The next study tested convergent and divergent validity by determining how the three forms of compassionate communication associate with various traits. Compassionate conversation was positively related to compassion, empathetic concern, perspective taking, emotional intelligence, social expressivity, emotional expressivity and benevolence, and negatively related to verbal aggressiveness and narcissism. Compassionate touch was positively correlated with compassion, empathetic concern, perspective taking, emotional intelligence, social expressivity, emotional expressivity, and benevolence, and uncorrelated with verbal aggressiveness and benevolence. Finally, compassionate messaging was positively correlated with social expressivity, emotional expressivity, and uncorrelated with verbal aggressiveness and narcissism. The next study focused on cross-validation and criterion-related validity. Correlations showing that self-reports of a person's compassionate communication were positively related to a friend or romantic partner's report of that person's compassionate communication provided cross-validation. The test for criterion-related validity examined whether compassionate communication predicts relational satisfaction. Regression analyses revealed that people were more relationally satisfied when they perceived themselves to use compassionate conversation, when they perceived their partner to use compassionate conversation, and when their partner reported using compassionate conversation. This finding did not extend to compassionate touch or compassionate messaging. In fact, in one regression analysis, people reported more relational satisfaction when they perceived that their partners used high levels of compassionate conversation and low levels of compassionate touch. Overall, the analyses suggest that of the three forms of compassionate communication, compassionate conversation is most strongly related to relational satisfaction. Taken together, this series of studies provides initial evidence for the validity of the CCS. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication Studies 2013

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Educational Psychology Practitioner Scale (EPPS), which was designed to (a) assess the practices, training, and skills of educational psychologists and (b) determine their utility among K-12 schools classroom teachers. Study participants included 161 K-12 teachers across 21 states within the United States. An exploratory factor analysis yielded a 25-item, unidimensional scale. Correlating the EPPS with the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the Job Satisfaction Scale (Warner, 1973) provided discriminant validity for the scale. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.

In order of measuring the relationship between Tinder intensity and self-esteem, the Tinder Intensity Scale was developed in this present study. The scale was developed with help from exploratory factor analysis (EFA) measuring dimensionality and Cronbach's alpha testing the interrelations between the scale items. The EFA found that the Tinder Intensity Scale (Cronbach’s alpha 0.75) consists of two dimensions, one measuring frequency and emotional connection and the other measured dating behavior, such as being the first one to contact a match. The index-scores were used to measure the relationship between the self-esteem score and Tinder Intensity Scale and the scales’ two dimensions. The findings of this study suggest that the relationship between self-esteem and Tinder intensity is rather weak for both men and women, but slightly higher for men’s dating behavior and self-esteem. A reason for this could be due to the low intensity on Tinder in this sample. For future research, it is suggested to examine the relationship on a larger sample. Another suggestion is to determine causality between Tinder use and self-esteem by doing a longitudinal study, where self-esteem is measured pre-Tinder usage and after using Tinder.

The present study examined the structural construct validity of the LoTi Digital-Age Survey, a measure of teacher instructional practices with technology in the classroom. Teacher responses (N = 2840) from across the United States were used to assess factor structure of the instrument using both exploratory and confirmatory analyses. Parallel analysis suggests retaining a five-factor solution compared to the MAP test that suggests retaining a three-factor solution. Both analyses (EFA and CFA) indicate that changes need to be made to the current factor structure of the survey. The last two factors were composed of items that did not cover or accurately measure the content of the latent trait. Problematic items, such as items with crossloadings, were discussed. Suggestions were provided to improve the factor structure, items, and scale of the survey.