An experimental data management system has been designed, developed, and implemented in this dissertation. The system satisfies the requirements specifications of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education. The university in this study has installed some learning management systems and assessment systems, such as Banner®, Canvas®, TracDat®, and Taskstream® (university’s name is omitted for anonymity purposes). These systems individually do not perform the necessary data analysis and data management to generate appropriate reports. The system developed in this study can generate more metrics and quantitative measures for reporting purposes within a shorter time. These metrics provide credible evidence for accreditation. Leadership is concerned with improving the effectiveness, efficiency, accountability, and performance of educational programs. The continuity, sustainability, and financial support of programs depend on demonstrating the evidence that they are effective and efficient, that they meet their objectives, and that they contribute to the mission and the vision of the educational institution. Leadership has to employ all means at its disposal in order to collect such evidence. The data management system provides comprehensive data analysis that can be utilized as evidence by the leadership to accomplish its goals. The pilot system developed in this research is web-based and platform independent. It leverages the power of Java® at the front-endand combines the reliability and stability of Oracle® as the back-end database. It has been tested on-site by some members of the departmental faculty and one administrator from the Dean’s Office in the School of Education. This research is a mixed methods study with quasi-experimental treatment. It is a single case experimental study. There is no control group. The sample chosen is a convenient sample. The results of this study indicate that the system is highly usable for assessment work. The data analysis results generated by the system are also actionable. These results assist by identifying gaps in student performance and in curriculum and instruction practices. In the future, the system developed in this dissertation can be extended to other departments in the School of Education. Some implications are provided in the concluding chapter of this dissertation.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 51-53). Also available in print.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between empathy-related constructs of English instructors at Atilim University Preparatory School and certain demographic features such as age, gender, educational background, and experience. The scale which consists of a demographic inventory, a questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview were developed by the researchers. The scale consists of &quot / Interpersonel Reactivity Index (IRI)&quot / . The results of the questionnaire were analyzed through SPSS 15.0. This data gathering instrument was implemented on 90 English instructors working at Atilim University Preparatory School. The results of the interviews were analyzed tghrough content analysis. The result of the study revealed that there is a relationship between perspective-taking and empathic concern tendencies of English instructors and their age and experience.

Acute and chronic pain conditions have a significant impact on the individual who is experiencing pain and resolution of pain continues to present a challenge to nurses and other health care professionals. It is widely accepted that pain education for nurses is necessary if nurses are to deliver effective, evidenced based pain care. Although it has been shown that participation in pain education improves nurses’ pain knowledge, very little is known about the way in which nurses use their improved pain knowledge in their practice or about the conditions that promote application of that pain knowledge. The aims of this study are (a) to explore the transfer of pain knowledge from a continuing education nursing course into practice, and (b) to investigate the impact that the nurses’ participation in action research has on their ability to improve aspects of their pain practice. Participants are 14 registered nurses who successfully completed two accredited pain course units as part of their BSc / BN degree in Nursing. The nurses formed two groups of inquiry, who used both their participation in the pain course and in action research to investigate and change aspects of pain assessment and management practices within their clinical areas. The inquiry groups were located in two different Health Board locations in Scotland. Following involvement in a pain course, the strategies used by the participating nurses to enhance their pain assessment and management practices are examined. Qualitative data was obtained through individual and group interviews, and analysis of significant incidents. An action research approach contributes to an understanding of conditions that promote application of pain knowledge into practice following participation in the course, and focuses on the possibilities for action and improvement of pain care. The findings from this study demonstrate how nurses develop a more patient-centred approach to pain care and become more accountable for their pain practice. The research also identifies a range of strategies used by nurses to improve collaborative working practices with their colleagues that help to reduce some of the obstacles to delivery of effective pain care. From the outcomes of the inquiry, it is evident that these nurses’ participation in action research has increased the possibilities of their involvement in pain practice interventions. Conditions are created through pain course participation and involvement in action research, which supports nurses’ transfer of pain knowledge into practice Additionally, findings demonstrate the potential action research has for identifying problems with pain care and its potential for helping to develop relevant and workable solutions for improving aspects of care. The findings from this study are significant because they inform teaching and learning approaches which can be used with pain education that helps to prepare nurses to deliver more effective pain care within their health care settings.

The initial purpose of this thesis is to begin an exploration into the level of support given by colleges and universities to high-skills lifelong learning in the field of business and management, referred to as executive and professional education (EPE). To properly define level of support several additional undertakings were necessary, including: discovering methods of valuing knowledge to a region, state or country, establishing why participants in EPE programs enroll in them, and developing a set of indicators that would determine the level of support in the higher education system. As the scope of this study in the Unite States is too great, the state of Florida was chosen as a specific case. Florida has a substantial network of both private and public (state) universities and colleges. The thesis concludes with recommendations for advancing the support of EPE in the state of Florida As we move more strongly into the knowledge based economy, and as knowledge creation expands exponentially the need for a continued updating of knowledge and skills in the working community becomes evident. To support this inquiry a set of research questions were developed, as follows: 1 What are the components of relevant EPE? 2 What motivates participants to take part in EPE? 3 What is the level of support of the universities in the state of Florida for EPE? 4 Prepare recommendation based on the findings of the study for the state of Florida to improve support for EPE To address these questions three research methods were employed. Based on the previous experience of the researcher an exploratory case study was written exploring the intricacies of developing a successful EPE department. This exploratory case study served as a basis for developing a survey questionnaire, administered to participants in EPE to determine reasons for their participation. The case study, coupled with certain elements of the questionnaire led to the definition of a group of indicators with which to evaluate the level of support to EPE in a selected group of public and private universities in Florida. This final survey was conducted via the internet by website information of the various universities relative to EPE. Through this research, components of EPE were identified, motivations of participants were ascertained and the level of support by universities was evaluated. The research led to the conclusion that state support of EPE is woefully lacking. Recommendations were developed and included. While this thesis utilized a case, the state of Florida, the researcher believes that the findings and conclusions will be of value to practitioners involved in EPE, as well as to academics studying this area of business education. This research exercise has assisted the researcher in being more effective in managing and developing EPE within his own university. The researcher hopes that the outcome of this research will lead to a more organized approach to EPE in the state of Florida and beyond. As professions and skills are made obsolete in the knowledge economy the need for continued high level lifelong learning becomes increasing important to the sustainability and viability of local, regional, state and national economies.

This study describes the extent to which summative assessment tasks assess the different cognitive levels and learning outcomes with reference to the SAG (2008) for Grade 10 Life Sciences. Essentially, it describes the fit between the intended and implemented assessment, using documentary analysis as a research strategy. In order to determine the fit between intended and implemented assessment the Life Sciences SAG (2008) and question papers on summative assessment tasks were analysed. The question papers were obtained from three schools which were sampled purposively in the Mpumalaga Province. The Life Sciences SAG (2008) was analysed in order to determine the official percentage weightings (marks) of the cognitive levels and learning outcomes which must be assessed in the summative assessment tasks (intended assessment). Using the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy as an analysis tool, question papers on summative assessment tasks were also analysed in order to determine the average percentage weightings (marks) of the cognitive levels and learning outcomes which were assessed (implemented assessment). When the intended and implemented assessments were compared the following results were obtained: For practical tasks and end-of-year examinations there was an incongruity between the intended and implemented assessment in terms of the cognitive levels and learning outcomes. The discrepancy between the intended and the implemented assessment was also found in controlled tests but only in terms of the learning outcomes. In controlled tests the fit between intended and implemented assessment in terms of the cognitive levels could not be determined because the SAG (2008) does not prescribe the cognitive levels which must be assessed. Furthermore, a weak fit between the intended and the implemented assessment in terms of the lower cognitive levels and learning outcomes was found in mid-year examinations. However, there was a strong fit between the intended and implemented assessment in terms of the higher cognitive levels in mid-year examinations. Lastly, for the research projects the fit between the intended and implemented assessment could not be determined because the Life Sciences SAG (2008) does not prescribe the cognitive levels as well as the percentage weightings of the learning outcomes which must be assessed.

Thesis (Master of Military Studies)-Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 2008. / Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Feb 2, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-156).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1996. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 31, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Robert Arnold (chair), Paul Baker, Kenneth Strand, Norman Durflinger. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-74) and abstract. Also available in print.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:53:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DallianeVPA_DISSERT.pdf: 1391094 bytes, checksum: 0a2c3c9e3f5f091c5852dbdf71e9a6a8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-22 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This thesis aims at analyzing from the perspective of the manager the importance of the use of quality management tools and concepts in Federal Universities. It was motivated by the following research problem: do Federal University managers consider it to be relevant the quality management in their institution? Therefore, we sought to gather evidence for a satisfactory approach that addresses the complexity of the topic researched: quality, higher education and quality management systems. We chose to adopt an applied study, the exploratory-descriptive research as to the objective and the quantitative and qualitative research as to the approach to the problem. The object of study is composed by the Planning Provosts of Federal Universities listed in the University Ranking Sheet - (RUF) in 2013. We chose to restrict the sample listing only the provosts of the 20 best-placed universities in the ranking of the Federal Universities. The research instrument was composed of 26 questions, of which 6 questions were designed to identify the profile of the manager, 16 questions of perception (manifested variables) on the importance of quality management in the University, where the managers assigned values (answers) to the affirmatives (that address the main topic of this thesis) based on a Likert scale of 5 points, and 4 open and optional questions, in order to identify general management practices used. It was used for statistical analysis (data analysis) descriptive and factorial statistics. The responses collected through the questionnaire portray the managers? perception regarding the importance of quality management in their institutions. Sixteen variables were addressed, the results of factor analysis of importance were "Important" and "Very Important", where the variable (V2) was "Important" and all others "Very important." With this information, it is possible to prioritize some areas that deserve immediate action. As it was observed that some variables are "Very important" for the vast majority of managers, others did not show the same result as example (V2, V10, V11). It is concluded that the manager?s perception of quality management in his or her institution is relevant, but the same importance is not given to quality programs implemented in other segments of the economy, and that, despite the advancements offered by SINAES, the model does not evaluate the institution in a global way. Thus, with the results, it is expected to contribute to the advancement of the subject, trying to arouse interest from the managers of Federal Universities in the subject, emphasizing the importance of quality management systems as a necessary tool to raise the institutional quality / import?ncia do uso de ferramentas e conceitos da Gest?o da qualidade nas Universidades Federais, que foi motivado pelo seguinte problema de pesquisa: os gestores das Universidades Federais consideram relevante a gest?o da qualidade na sua institui??o? Para tanto, buscou-se reunir elementos para uma abordagem satisfat?ria que contemple a complexidade da tem?tica pesquisada: qualidade, ensino superior e sistemas de gest?o da qualidade. Optou-se por adotar um estudo aplicado, a pesquisa explorat?rio-descritiva quanto ao objetivo e a pesquisa quali-quanti quanto ? abordagem do problema. O objeto de estudo ? composto pelos Pr?-reitores de Planejamento das Universidades Federais, relacionadas no Ranking Universit?rio Folha (RUF) no ano de 2013. Optou-se por restringir a amostra relacionando apenas os pr?-reitores das 20 Universidades Federais mais bem colocadas no Ranking. O instrumento de pesquisa foi composto de 26 quest?es, das quais 6 quest?es destinadas a identifica??o do perfil do gestor, 16 quest?es de percep??o (vari?veis manifestas) sobre a import?ncia da gest?o da qualidade na Universidade, em que os gestores atribu?ram valores (respostas) para as afirmativas (que abordam a tem?tica central dessa disserta??o) compostas com base na escala Likert de 5 pontos, e 4 quest?es abertas e opcional, com objetivo de identificar de forma geral as pr?ticas de gest?o utilizadas. Utilizou-se como m?todo estat?stico (an?lise de dados), a estat?stica descritiva e fatorial. As respostas coletadas por meio do question?rio retrata a percep??o que os gestores tem em rela??o a import?ncia da gest?o da qualidade em suas Institui??es. Foram abordadas 16 vari?veis, os resultados da an?lise fatorial da import?ncia, foram ―Importante‖ e ―Muito importante‖, onde a vari?vel (V2) foi ―Importante‖ e todas as outras, ―Muito importante‖. Em posse dessas informa??es ? poss?vel priorizar algumas ?reas que merecem medidas imediatas. Assim como foi poss?vel observar que algumas vari?veis s?o ―Muito importante‖ para a grande maioria dos gestores, outras n?o apresentaram o mesmo resultado como exemplo (V2, V10, V11).Conclui-se que na percep??o do gestor ? gest?o da qualidade na sua institui??o ? relevante, contudo a mesma import?ncia n?o ? dada aos programas de qualidade implantados em outros segmentos da economia, e que apesar dos avan?os proporcionados pelo SINAES, o modelo n?o avalia a Institui??o de uma forma global. Assim, de posse dos resultados, espera-se contribuir com o avan?o do tema, tentando despertar o interesse dos gestores das Universidades Federais pelo assunto, ressaltando a import?ncia dos sistemas de gest?o da qualidade como instrumento necess?rio para elevar a qualidade institucional