<p> Mythological studies deepens and layers the significance of fashion and dress through an archetypal exploration of Greek goddess fashion archetypes--Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, and Hestia. The research reveals how these archetypes and their shadows influence the fashion industry from the creation of a garment to when it is worn on the body. The production component of the dissertation entails archetypal fashion design curriculum that contains an instructor's guide for an archetypal women's fashion design course at the collegiate level. The study is tailored to expand fashion design students' understanding of fashion silhouettes and design elements that fit certain fashion archetypes and how the fashion archetypes manifest within target markets, consumers' styles, and consumption choices. The theoretical portion of the research examines fashion theory as a multidisciplinary approach through which to investigate why the body is covered. Within fashion theory, mythological studies offers a new perspective through which to study fashion archetypally by canvassing Greek and Roman myths tied to the four goddesses and by exploring depth psychological and Jungian concepts, such as archetypes, shadow, psyche, and the collective unconscious as they relate to fashion. </p><p> The research concludes: a woman's fashion identity and personal style convey one or more goddess fashion archetypes; to express identity and style, garments on the body communicate a visual story about oneself to others that relates to one or more of the goddesses' stories (or myths) archetypally; goddess fashion archetypes categorize fashion silhouettes, such as dresses, pants, and gowns, as well as archetypal goddess fashion silhouette themes, such as masculine/structured, feminine/sensual, functional/comfortable, or conservative/playful; and clothing the body is due to an instinctual drive that is informed by Greek goddess archetypes in Western fashion. Further implications for this research include creating a guide for consumers to understand their preferred archetypal style, employing fashion archetypes to retail when merchandising clothing stores and purchasing inventory for consumers, and developing god fashion archetypes, such as Zeus, Hermes, Ares, Dionysus, and Hephaistos for men's fashion. </p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an experiential program on the occupational identity, access, and career maturity of Black and Latino students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Data shows these students to be underrepresented in STEM fields. Student interest and access are noted in the literature to be amongst the reasons minorities do not pursue a career in STEM related fields. Jobs within the STEM industry pay considerably more than non-STEM related jobs, access to these jobs can help individuals transform their socioeconomic status. Lack of access and exposure to these fields for low socioeconomic minorities then becomes a social justice issue. A mixed methods approach was applied which included surveys and interviews of junior students currently in an experiential careers program with a STEM emphasis. Composites and subscales were created and checked for internal reliability and consistency. Interview responses were recorded and coded based on theories of occupational identity and emergent themes. Findings suggest that most students within the experiential careers program exhibited high levels of occupational identity. The experiential learning model works well to support continuous learning and the identity development of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. </p>

This thesis presents a virtual reality system developed to support the training of astronauts as operators of the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) at the Canadian Space Agency. The objective of this system called Virtual Operations and Training Environment (VOTE), is to provide 3D visualization and simulation tools used by instructors to help astronauts understand MSS remote manipulator operations conducted in the context of the International Space Station assembly. The thesis first presents both telerobotics and virtual reality fields with accompanying literature survey followed by the description of the MSS hardware, operation and ground based simulator. A description of the design and details of the current implementation is followed by an evaluation of performance results and anticipated future work.

<p>This ex post facto comparison study of a postsecondary apprenticeship program at a naval ship construction company examined 8 years of academic performance and program completion data for two curricular formats: a 15-week traditional group (1,259 apprentices) and a 10-week accelerated group (736 apprentices). The two groups were investigated to determine if there were significant differences in retention, course grades, and overall GPA between the two curriculum lengths. A chi-square test for association between groups and retention found a statistically significant relationship between retention and curriculum length, &chi;2 (1, <i>N</i> = 1,995) = 65.84, <i> p</i> &lt; .001, with retention greater for the 10-week curriculum. Six of 12 accelerated courses had higher grades (descriptively) than the corresponding traditional 15-week courses, and 4 of 12 accelerated 10-week courses had significantly higher grades (statistically) than the corresponding traditional 15-week courses. The overall GPA for completers was significantly higher for the 10-week curriculum (<i>n</i> = 474, <i>M</i> = 3.02, <i> SD</i> = .79) than for the 15-week curriculum (<i>n</i> = 862, <i> M</i>= 2.83, <i>SD</i> = .81), <i>t</i> (994) = -4.16, <i> p</i> &lt; .001, <i>d</i> = - 0.26. This study has added to the limited body of literature on apprenticeship studies and workforce development by exploring how apprenticeship programs can be accelerated to transform inexperienced skilled labor into a high-performance workforce with a general increase in academic performance. </p>

<p> Workplace training design has evolved from a task-based systems framework managed by the designer, to a collaborative process of problem-solving that includes stakeholders across the enterprise. Collaborative design models address persistent problems, such as cost efficiency, requirements that change late in development, and aggressive timetables, but perceptions of training effectiveness continue to be pessimistic. Given the substantial role of employees in making training effective, by transferring what they learn to their day-to-day responsibilities, this study proposed an emergent design model in which designers collaborate with employees as partners in solving training design problems. Previous efforts to include employees in training design have faltered, because of time and resource requirements which limit participation or greatly expand timelines. This study investigated the potential of broad employee participation, through the widely-used medium of organizational surveys, in which employees are invited to suggest ways to improve their work environment. The study applied a three-phase, mixed methods approach, to investigate whether survey text responses contain viable input into training design, and to explore the nature of that input in terms of major themes about workplace training, and detailed input reflecting employees' experience of online training. Nearly 90,000 text responses were accepted into the study, from industries that include pharmaceuticals, retail, manufacturing, telecommunications and financial services. Analysis exposed the inherent conflict between the designer's focus on training delivery, and the employees' focus on transferring what they learn to their jobs; and a widespread organizational conflict between leadership compensation tied to short-term financial metrics, and long-term strategies that drive infrastructure programs such as workplace training. Responses across all industry sectors in the study reported limited management support for training, which is nonetheless essential to employees' job performance. Responses described online training that makes only minimal use of the basic functions of computer technology. The study validates earlier research questioning workplace training effectiveness, with evidence suggesting that training programs are constrained by organizational challenges that cannot be solved by designers alone. The study suggests that organizations can involve their employees in addressing the conflicts that limit training effectiveness, through design partnership using survey responses.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on January 3, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Faculty of Education, 2003. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 267-285).

Thesis (M.Ed.(Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on May 11, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: A, page: 4576. Adviser: Peter K. Kuchinke. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-190) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.