This study examines how experiences with art promote healthy cultural identities of self and others, and focuses on the potentially mutual benefits to Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and youth living in developing countries. As a returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) and current elementary art teacher, I combine personal insight with multicultural art education discourse to create a curriculum intended for PCVs to implement during their service. In order to gain relevant feedback on the curriculum's theoretical basis and potential usefulness, I conduct a focus group composed of six RPCVs whose primary or secondary Peace Corps project involved art education or youth development. While examining the critical relationship between the curriculum's meta-narrative, frame narrative, and task narrative, in addition to the unpredictable circumstances Peace Corps service inevitably entails, research findings expose the complex nature of cross-cultural pedagogy. In order to achieve the curriculum's intended goals, implications include emphasizing the PCV's dual role as the facilitator and participant.

In this study information-related activities engaged in by engineers during work task performance in the research and development centre at Sandvik Materials Technology AB are investigated. The purpose of the present study was to identify and achieve an understanding of the information-related activities performed by engineers during work task performance in a corporate context. The work task performance in focus is the task of writing a technical report.The study rests on methodological triangulation through the use of a work task diary, a semi-structured questionnaire and focus groups. In total 16 engineers participated in the study. The theoretical framework is based on theories of information in social practice, the information seeking process and the concept of task.The study presents results showing that engineers work in a highly complex information environment and their work task performance is to a high degree affected by situational attributes such as previous experience, type of work task, time, target group, and access to information. The results show that the information sources preferred by engineers have not changed over time; rather a change is seen in the type of sources. There is a distinct increase in the use of electronic sources; which in turn seem to affect the way engineers perceive accessibility. The study also shows that there are evident situational and contextual attributes affecting the information-related activities. Information needed to perform a work task is strongly related to data retrieved from experiments. There also seems to be an embedded tolerance for a low scientific level in technical reports, even though the scientific practice is the norm.This study also shows that the concept of work task forms a relevant basis for studies of information-related activities, particularly in combination with theories on information in social practice. The model of the work task process combined with a faceted classification of work tasks provides a sound methodological tool for the analysis of work tasks in different contexts.

Background: Chronic wounds are a significant health problem in various populations. Psychosocial stress is a lifestyle factor that has been shown to directly influence wound healing. Current findings support roles for assessment and reduction of psychosocial stress in the comprehensive management of chronic wounds, however, a gap remains between current research and current clinical practice. Purpose: To develop a novel method by which to educate nurses about the effects of psychosocial stress on wound healing while incorporating state-of-the-art technology that is sensitive to the needs of individuals with various learning styles. Objectives: To review current literature documenting the relationship between chronic psychosocial distress and delayed wound healing to identify essential content to include in educational modules for nurses. To develop three educational modules for nurses in inpatient and outpatient settings that address the relationship between chronic psychosocial distress and delayed wound healing, and the effects of stress-reduction interventions in formats that meet the needs of different learning styles. To conduct a focus group discussion with nurse-participants regarding educational module content and delivery methods in order to evaluate and improve these educational modules. Methods: A series of literature reviews were performed between June, 2010 and October, 2013, using articles identified through searches using the databases PubMed and CINAHL. Essential content regarding psychosocial stress and its impact on wound healing was identified, and was used in the development of educational modules, designed to meet the basic needs of individuals with different learning styles. A purposive sample of nurses was recruited through the use of flyers, reviewed the educational modules online, and met for a focus group to discuss their experiences with these modules. Outcomes: A novel method was developed by which to deliver educational material to nurses about psychosocial stress and delayed wound healing. Participants were motivated to learn, had self-awareness of their preferred learning styles, and responded positively to this method of education delivery; they were able to articulate the basic concepts presented in the modules. These findings may be generalizable to a larger audience and may inform the development of future education-delivery approaches in this area.

The purpose of this study is to explore the barriers and opportunities that government-assisted refugee (GAR) women experience in settlement. Using a narrative inquiry approach, I elicited the stories of fourteen GAR women of diverse origins who have lived in Metro Vancouver for one to six years. Discourse analysis of the narratives shared within focus groups and individual sessions reveals a hierarchy of exclusory dimensions (barriers) and transformative dimensions (opportunities) of their adaptation process. The analysis also identifies settlement services and programs perceived as helpful by the women in overcoming identified barriers. The findings demonstrate how GAR women are active in their own cross-cultural adaptation and how this process is facilitated by intercultural communication competence and engagement in receiving communication activities. These findings provide insights for government and immigrant serving agencies concerned with tracking settlement outcomes for this population.

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During the last decades, scholars have discussed the changes of Swedish alcohol culture. Among other things, it has been suggested that parallel with increased consumption levels men’s and women’s drinking is becoming more similar. In connection with this discussion, the purpose of this thesis is to examine Swedish alcohol culture(s) by analysing the meanings that focus groups from different generations ascribe to drinking in relation to different life periods: childhood, adolescence and adulthood. More specifically, it aims to analyse how the interviewees specify and negotiate normative boundaries and self-presentations in relation to norms and discourses of gender and age. An essential part of the analysis is to examine differences within gender and age-groups, as well as the similarities between them. The findings suggest that even though drinking patterns are changing in terms of quantity and choice of beverage, meanings, motives and norms seem to be rather stable – especially in regard to gender. Overall, a distinction is being made between men and women: Femininity is constructed in terms of control, responsibility and caring, and masculinity in terms of fearlessness, breaking of boundaries, and loss of control. Men’s and women’s drinking are also accounted for in different ways. While men’s drinking behaviours are excused with arguments about biology and hormones, women’s (anticipated) responsibility is explained with their connection to motherhood. However; these norms vary in strength and are expressed in different ways, depending on the drinking norms of different life-periods; mainly moderate in childhood and adulthood, and mainly orientated to binge-drinking in adolescence. With regard to positive meanings ascribed to drinking, similarities between age and gender groups are also generally greater than the differences between them. Thus, gendered differences are mainly constructed in relation to behaviours that are perceived as risky or problematic.

No description available.

Flera forskare menar att grunden för läsinlärning börjar så fort små barn hör ramsor, sånger och människor prata. Inom förskoleverksamheten är högläsning en vanligt förekommande aktivitet. Läser man högt för barn redan från en tidig ålder kan det resultera i att barnen tidigt utvecklar sin talförmåga. Under högläsningen kan också barnen ta lärdom av nya ord och påbörjar processen av att lära sig läsa. Högläsning kan också lära barn andra saker, t.ex. hur rösten förändras när man uttrycker känslor. Studier har visat att genom samtal och lek i samband med högläsning stimuleras barnens tankeförmåga då de blir delaktiga i en lärprocess. Föreliggande studie genomfördes med hjälp av två fokusgrupper bestående av pedagoger från förskoleverksamhet. Resultatet visar att pedagoger i förskoleverksamhet medvetet arbetar med högläsning för att stimulera barns språkutveckling. Pedagogerna framhöll att de upplever svårigheter med högläsning, t.ex. avbrott under tiden de läser, annat arbete som tar tid ifrån verksamheten samt för många barn samtidigt som de skall läsa för. Trots svårigheterna som finns läser pedagogerna högt för barnen i verksamheten flera gånger om dagen. De uttryckte att barnen då får en lugn stund där de kan slappna av och vila sig från den annars fartfyllda och högljudda verksamheten. Tillsammans med barnen utforskar pedagogerna böckernas värld och erövrar nya kunskaper i samspelet dem emellan. / Several scientists agree that a base for literacy learning forms as soon as small children hear verses, songs and conversations. Reading aloud is a common occurrence in preschool activities and can result in early development of speech at a young age. Children will learn new words and begin the process of learning how to read. Reading aloud can also teach the children other things for example how the voice changes when someone expresses emotions. Studies have shown that through conversation and play during the process of reading aloud stimulates children’s thinking ability as they take part in a teaching process. This study is conducted with a help of two focus groups which consists of educationalists from preschool activities. The result from this study shows that the educationalists deliberately work with reading aloud to stimulate children’s language development. The educationalists expressed that they experience some difficulties with reading aloud. For example interruptions during the reading, other tasks that takes time away from the activity as well as a too large group of children at the same time. Despite the difficulties the educationalists read aloud to the children in their care several times a day. They expressed that this is a chance for a quiet time when the children can relax and rest from the otherwise loud and busy day. Together with the children the educationalists explore the world of books and conquer new knowledge.

With the first commitment of the Kyoto Protocol commencing in 2008, many signatory governments have identified bio fuels as a favoured response to the problem of fulfilling their countries' pledges to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. Despite the tendency for pressure over climate change to expedite the commercialisation process, detailed evaluation of the claimed benefits, likely efficacy or environmental impact of bio fuels in New Zealand in the form of the Bio fuels Sales Obligation policy (BSO): a mandate place on the Oil Companies to supply a percentage of bio fuel. Systems thinking propound the notion of complex interrelatedness: a pivotal concept in our current understanding of the cumulative effects of greenhouse gas emissions and their relationship to climate change. It also recognizes that the multiple ways in which different stakeholders perceive a contentious question are an integral feature of any problematical situation. By applying systems concepts to qualitative research, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is therefore particularly suitable for the analysis of multiple stakeholder discourse in this situation. The present study employs SSM to examine stakeholder opinion through the construction of conceptual models in the form of rich pictures and root definitions. The researcher invited diverse stakeholders to ‘see what they were thinking’ and reflect upon the beliefs and assumptions that informed their views with respect to New Zealand bio fuels development. With reference to official documentation arising from the policy development process and through a series of interviews and a focus group, the research examines perceptions of the consultation process on bio fuels development and its contribution to informed decision-making. The study data indicates that the scope of enquiry tended to be restricted by early presuppositions regarding the consultation process and its desired outcomes, which consequently shifted the focus of consultation the enquiry from an assessment of the desirability of bio fuels to an appraisal of the feasibility of government policy. However inadvertently, communication was distorted. The research examines the basic assumptions that shaped the discourse and enabled already established opinions to prevail. Furthermore, the thesis explores how using SSM to surface tacit assumptions and challenge proposed models of intervention can help improve the reflexivity of discourse and decision-making. By ensuring open communication remains at the centre of discourse, SSM could provide a means of establishing productive conditions for learning and co-creative dialogue. Consequently the study has important implications for how the ‘health’ of public discourse in New Zealand might be sustained when addressing other similarly complex issues.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1998. / Running title: Focus groups. Includes bibliographical references.