For any integer k≥0, a set of vertices S of a graph G=(V,E) is k-cost-effective if for every v∈S,|N(v)∩(V∖S)|≥|N(v)∩S|+k. In this paper we study the minimum cardinality of a maximal k-cost-effective set and the maximum cardinality of a k-cost-effective set. We obtain Gallai-type results involving the k-cost-effective and global k-offensive alliance parameters, and we provide bounds on the maximum k-cost-effective number. Finally, we consider k-cost-effective sets that are also dominating. We show that computing the k-cost-effective domination number is NP-complete for bipartite graphs. Moreover, we note that not all trees have a k-cost-effective dominating set and give a constructive characterization of those that do.

The National Development Plan (NDP) of South Africa stipulates that the higher education sector should be an agent for change in a country that is facing a plurality of socio-economic challenges. Achieving this is difficult as the amount of resources being made available to the higher educational sector is limited and steadily decreasing. Given this context, it is of the utmost importance that funding allocated to the higher education sector be utilised in an optimal manner. An efficient budget is one tool that can assist in optimising the allocation of limited resources. The study investigated the critical factors that might play a role in creating an environment where efficient budgets could be produced, specifically in the higher educational sector. Two critical factors were identified in the study: firstly, giving budgets a strategic focus and secondly, the role the human element plays as part of an effective budget. An empirical study was conducted to investigate whether the existence or nonexistence of the abovementioned factors influenced the perceived effectiveness of budgets in an institution. It was found that communication of strategic and budgetary goals, as well as managerial involvement, can play an important role in creating a budgetary environment where employees are motivated to prepare effective budgets. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The National Development Plan (NDP) of South Africa stipulates that the higher education sector should be an agent for change in a country that is facing a plurality of socio-economic challenges. Achieving this is difficult as the amount of resources being made available to the higher educational sector is limited and steadily decreasing. Given this context, it is of the utmost importance that funding allocated to the higher education sector be utilised in an optimal manner. An efficient budget is one tool that can assist in optimising the allocation of limited resources. The study investigated the critical factors that might play a role in creating an environment where efficient budgets could be produced, specifically in the higher educational sector. Two critical factors were identified in the study: firstly, giving budgets a strategic focus and secondly, the role the human element plays as part of an effective budget. An empirical study was conducted to investigate whether the existence or nonexistence of the abovementioned factors influenced the perceived effectiveness of budgets in an institution. It was found that communication of strategic and budgetary goals, as well as managerial involvement, can play an important role in creating a budgetary environment where employees are motivated to prepare effective budgets. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Published Article / This study reports the findings of the masters studies on management styles that are adopted in effective secondary schools and examined how the effect of participative management styles could positively change the status of ineffective secondary schools. Two hundred educators and five school principals were sampled for the study. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data for the study. The respondents argued that their school principals adopted democratic, transformational, situational, and behavioural styles of management. They further believed that the adoption of participative management styles would positively change the status of ineffective secondary schools. They argued that by adopting democratic, transformational, situational and behavioural styles of management will encourage educators to: i) develop effective teaching and learning in their classrooms as they will be highly motivated; ii) adopt participative teaching methods that encourage learners to take part in classroom activities with confidence; and, iii) adopt team teaching which contributes to better performance in the classroom.

Published Article / It is required of higher education institutions in South Africa to provide for the development of general skills such as the ability to function in a team, and to apply group work as a method of instruction. After implementation of group work in the new five-year medical curriculum at the University of the Free State, it was realised that ineffective group dynamics and the inexperience of staff and students warranted clear and comprehensive guidelines for group work. For the development of these, opinions of students and staff involved, as well as inputs by experts on group work and literature findings, were evaluated. Their responses are reported and guidelines for effective group work are suggested.

Curriculum is a means by which the medium of thought finds expression. It is a palette for the mind. Curriculum is a device by which thoughts are given form that can be shared. In the hands of a curriculum artist, symphonies of thought are conceived, composed, and performed. Like a palette in the hands of a master, curriculum in the hands of a teacher can transform minds. This dissertation seeks to examine, through reflective inquiry, the efficacy of an integrative, concept‐driven curriculum framework for novice elementary teachers, and, thereby, posit a generalized model of reflective curriculum inquiry to generate a deeper understanding for the researcher and her readers. The emergent model is not a curriculum, but when viewed as a framework, this model can become a means to facilitate design and to further support the development and evaluation of curricula. This dissertation is a story of how a teacher was made, not born. It is a story of how students learned conceptually and performed purposefully. It is also a story of roles and relationships found between students, teachers, parents, administrators, and curriculum. Throughout this dissertation, actor‐network theory (ANT) was used to help describe these relationships between the various roles that I assumed in relation to others, resources, and educational settings. Finally, this dissertation reveals a significant and direct relationship between standards‐derived concept vocabulary, subject matter integration, and literacy development that emphasized the need for a configurable curriculum framework to serve as a model for curriculum inquiry. / text

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The specific focus of this degree paper is an analysis of operational auditing and its possible effects on the delivery of services by the City of Atlanta to its citizens. Strict attention is paid to the staffing, budgeting, and timeliness of the operational auditing operation, and its effects on municipally run operations. The recent interest in operational auditing has stemmed from the desire of municipalities to adequately determine if their operations are being run as efficiently and effectively as possible. The City of Atlanta, while not facing any immediate major economic or operational problems must fact the reality of delivering more services to its citizens with a slowly expanding revenue base. With this, as well as other factors stated in this paper, operational auditing becomes a management tool that should be seriously considered as a menas of dealing with the operational problems that the City is presently facing and will face in the future.

Social work education is increasingly changing, and instructors are experimenting with new methods to deliver social work curricula to reach a larger population of social work students. Students previously excluded from university education based on their geographic location, financial limitations, family or work demands now have an opportunity to access social work programs in Canada using distance education, and distance education has become an emerging field of research. The current study identified instructor and student characteristics and university supports that were assessed as critical in creating an effective learning environment for delivering an entire undergraduate program of social work via distance education. The exploratory-descriptive study utilized a mixed-methods design to examine the perceptions of social work distance educators from four universities that offer a complete BSW degree accredited by the Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE-ACFTS) through distance education: the University of Calgary, the University of Manitoba, the University of Victoria and Dalhousie University. Thirty-four social work distance educators completed a survey questionnaire, and 24 of these participated in qualitative interviews to identify the critical characteristics and university supports. Study findings suggest that effective performance of five distinct roles by both instructors and students are essential to creating an effective learning environment in social work distance education. The required university supports to maintain those roles are also identified. Based on these results a conceptual model for achieving effectiveness in social work distance education is identified. The study suggests what is needed to establish an effective learning environment in social work distance education and confirms the benefits of distance education in social work undergraduate programs. Suggestions for future research are included along with recommendations for building an effective distance learning environment in social work education. / May 2016