The concept of teaching effectiveness is challenging for researchers to define. Hypothesized as a multidimensional construct, it encompasses content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, personality characteristics of the teacher, and classroom dynamics. No single dimension, trait, or behavior, however, fully captures what it means to be an effective teacher. Measures, such as peer observation, self-report surveys, and student evaluations, assess teacher effectiveness in higher education. Student evaluations of teachers (SETs) assess multiple areas, including: course content, objectives, organization, and the nature, difficulty, and value of a course; teacher preparation, enthusiasm, and subject knowledge; teacher goals for structuring classroom activities and engaging students in academic pursuits (Cashin, 1995; Feldman, 1996; Marsh, 1984; Midgley, 1998). SETs can be seen as expressions of students’ perceptions about an instructor, a course, and a class, but what influences those perceptions? One concept, classroom community, hypothesizes that students’ sense of community is influenced by the quality of interaction with their instructors, fellow students, and course content. Investigations of classroom community associate higher sense of community with more positive academic outcomes. Teachers’ goals for structuring class activities and engaging students is another concept hypothesized to influence students’ perceptions. Teachers’ goal orientation towards their own teaching is also a factor that appears to influence academic outcomes. Using goal orientation theory, Kucsera, Roberts, Walls, Walker & Svinicki (2009) identified three orientations that influence how teachers approach teaching. To date little research has explored how teacher goal orientation might influence students’ perceptions. This study examined whether there is a relationship between teachers’ goal orientation towards their teaching, students’ perceptions of teacher goals for classroom structure and student engagement, sense of community, and student ratings of teacher effectiveness. Undergraduate business communications faculty completed a survey about their goals for their own teaching while their students took a survey about their sense of community in the classroom, their perceptions of their teachers’ goals for engaging them in academic work and an end-of-semester course instructor survey. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the data. Results generally indicated that students’ perceptions are associated with SETs outcomes while teachers’ goal orientations are not. / text

The overall aim of this thesis is to present a model for rational goal-setting and to illustrate how it can be applied in evaluations of public policies, in particular policies concerning sustainable development and environmental quality. The contents of the thesis are divided into two sections: a theoretical section (Papers I-IV) and an empirical section (Papers V-VII). Paper I identifies a set of rationality criteria for single goals and discusses them in relation to the typical function of goals. It is argued that goals are typically set to enhance goal achievement. A goal that successfully furthers its achievement is “achievement-inducing”. It holds for each of the identified criteria that, ceteris paribus, improved satisfaction of a criterion makes a goal better in the achievement-inducing sense.Paper II contains an analysis of the notion of goal system coherence. It is argued that the coherence of a goal system is determined by the relations that hold among the goals in the system, in particular the relations of operationalization, means and ends, support, and conflict. Paper III investigates the rationality of utopian goals. The paper analyzes four arguments that support the normative criterion of attainability: that utopian goals are (1) too imprecise and (2) too far-reaching to guide action effectively, (3) counterproductive, and (4) morally objectionable. A tentative defence of utopian goal-setting is built on counter-arguments that can be put forward to weaken each of the four objections. Paper IV investigates the nature of self-defeating goals. The paper identifies three types of situations in which self-defeating mechanisms obstruct goal achievement: (1) situations in which the goal itself carries the seeds of its own non-fulfilment (self-defeating goals), (2) situations in which the activity of goal-setting contributes to goal failure (self-defeating goal-setting), and (3) situations in which disclosure of the goal interferes with progress (self-defeating goal disclosure). Paper V provides a brief description of the Swedish system of environmental objectives and a preliminary inventory of the management difficulties that attach to this goal system.Paper VI contains an investigation into the rationality of five Swedish environmental objectives through an application of the rationality criteria identified in Papers I-II. The paper identifies and discusses some difficulties that are associated with management by objectives and the use of goals in environmental policy. Paper VII analyses the rationality of the Swedish environmental quality objective A good built environment. Among the conclusions drawn in the paper are that some of the sub-goals to the objective are formulated in terms that are unnecessarily vague from an action-guiding standpoint and that others are problematic from the viewpoint of evaluability. / QC 20100715

The purpose of this study is to collect data on the current practices of coaching as applied in an incubated environment to report on the influence of coaching on entrepreneurial goal-setting behaviour. Previous research has indicated that much criticism has been lobbied at government programmes aimed at providing entrepreneurship development and support, some recognition has been given to some of these government initiatives as well as the progress achieved by some. It is further stated in the Global Entrepreneurship Report (2012) that a number of national experts commend the existence of business support agencies (such as the Small Enterprise Development Agency). A number of significant findings materialized from the current study where it was found that coaching influences entrepreneurial behaviour and that a need exists for more in-depth coaching sessions specifically focused on entrepreneurship in the South African context. Further to this it was found that a need exists for entrepreneurs to be coached by other entrepreneurs and that the role of a coach should be clarified to set realistic expectations from the onset of the intervention. These findings are in agreement with some of the key recommendations from South African national experts as cited in the GEMS 2012 report. The current research adds to the body of research on coaching in general. It also contributes specifically entrepreneurial development programmes in the South African context. The outcome from this research has implications for business coaches, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial development/support agencies as well as those who provide training and incubation programmes for entrepreneurs. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Goal-Oriented Modelling Languages such as the Goal Requirements Language (GRL) have been used to reason about Design Patterns. However, the GRL is a general purpose modelling language that does not support concepts bespoke to the pattern domain. This thesis has investigated how advanced programming language techniques, namely Dependent Types and Domain Specific Languages, can be used to enhance the design and construction of Domain Specific Modelling languages (DSMLs), and apply the results to Design Pattern Engineering. This thesis presents Sif, a DSML for reasoning about design patterns as goal- oriented requirements problems. Sif presents modellers with a modelling language tailored to the pattern domain but leverages the GRL for realisation of the modelling constructs. Dependent types have influenced the design and implementation of Sif to provide correctness guarantees, and have led to the development of NovoGRL a novel extension of the GRL. A technique for DSML implementation called Types as (Meta) Modellers was developed in which the interpretation between a DSML and its host language is implemented directly within the type-system of the DSML. This provides correctness guarantees of DSML model instances during model construction. Models can only be constructed if and only if the DSML's type-system can build a valid representation of the model in the host language. This thesis also investigated design pattern evaluation, developing PREMES an evaluation framework that uses tailorable testing techniques to provide demonstrable reporting on pattern quality. Linking PREMES with Sif are: Freyja—an active pattern document schema in which Sif models are embedded within pattern documents; and Frigg—a tool for interacting with pattern documents. The proof-of-concept tools in this thesis demonstrate: machine enhanced interactions with design patterns; reproducible automation in the PREMES framework; and machine checking of pattern documents as Sif models. With the tooling and techniques presented, design pattern engineering can become a more rigorous, demonstrable, and machine checkable process.

Performance-based contracting (PBC) redefines the relationships between suppliers and buyers and differs from traditional contracting approaches with its reward/payment scheme, emphasis on the performance outcomes, increased supplier autonomy, and transfer of risk and responsibilities to suppliers. Given the 70% of life cycle costs of products/systems reside in sustainment, PBC has led to substantial improvements in availability, maintainability, reliability, and thus total cost of ownership of systems/products. Though PBC has changed the way of doing business and its presence has increased across multiple industry, private and public sectors, for profit and not-for-profit, its implications on various aspects of logistics and supply chain management have been understudied. It is important to explore and establish evidence regarding these implications through academic rigor. Therefore, this three-essay dissertation aims to give some insight regarding structural and behavioral implications of PBC using a multi-method approach. Specifically, it (1) explores the relationship between PBC and supply chain resilience (SCRES), (2) examines the supplier goal commitment (i.e., motivation) in PBC, (3) proposes a mathematical model to find optimal contract length, periodic contract price and investment that concurrently maximizing supplier profit and satisfying buyer requirements. This dissertation offers theoretical and managerial contributions as well.

Bakgrund: Användningen av inhyrd personal har ökat till följd av ett ökat krav på flexibilitet och ingår numera allt oftare i personalstyrkan. Däremot inkluderas sällan den inhyrda personalen i den styrning som utformats för den ordinarie personalen. Styrning används för att påverka personalens beteenden så att de blir målkongruenta. Därför är det intressant att undersöka om inhyrd personal saknar ett målkongruent beteende och således har en negativ inverkan på företagets målkongruens. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka om och varför beteenden överlag skiljer sig åt mellan inhyrd och ordinarie personal hos ett valt företag. Forskningen skapar en djupare förståelse för hur inkludering/exkludering i olika styrmekanismer kan påverka de inhyrdas bidrag till målkongruens. Metod: Studien tillämpar en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med en induktiv ansats. Den forskningsdesign som tillämpats är en enfallsstudie. Empirin till studien har samlats in genom kvalitativa intervjuer med både inhyrd och ordinarie personal samt deras närmsta chef. Materialet har sedan analyserats och tolkats för att besvara forskningsfrågorna. Slutsats: Studien fann att de inhyrda medarbetarna har ett mindre målkongruent beteende än de ordinarie. Skillnaden beror framförallt på de inhyrdas exkludering från företagets formella styrmetoder. Att de inhyrda för det mesta inkluderas i de informella styrmetoderna förklarar varför de inhyrda till viss del ändå uppvisar ett målkongruent beteende. / Background: The use of temporary staff has increased as a result of an increased demand for flexibility and is now increasingly included in the personnel force. Despite that, the temporary staff are rarely included in the control designed for the ordinary staff. Control is used to influence staff behavior so that they become goal-congruent. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate if the temporary staff lack a goal congruent behavior and thus have a negative impact on the company's goal congruence. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether and why behaviors differ between temporary and ordinary staff, at a chosen company. The research creates a deeper understanding about how the inclusion/ exclusion in different control mechanisms influence the temporary staff to contribute to the target congruence Method: The study applies a qualitative research strategy with an inductive approach. The research design that has been applied is a case study at a chosen company. The empirical study has been collected through qualitative interviews with both temporary and ordinary staff and their closest manager. The material has then been analyzed and interpreted to answer the research questions. Conclusion: The study found that the temporary staff have a less goal-congruent behavior than the ordinary staff. The difference is mainly due to the temporary’s exclusion from the company's formal control methods. For the most part, the temporary staff is included in informal control methods, which explains why the they to some extent still have a goal-congruent behavior.

A large body of evidence suggests physical activity is inversely associated with several cardio-metabolic risk factors among children and adolescents. Despite these health benefits, a majority of youth are not meeting the physical activity guidelines set forth by the USDHHS. Schools have been identified as an ideal vehicle for interventions; however, research evidence indicates school-based interventions are not effective at increasing outside of school physical activity. Goal setting may be a potential effective strategy for increasing physical activity among youth; however no previous studies have examined the effects of goal setting on cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity in middle school students. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a S.M.A.R.T. goal setting and self-monitoring intervention on fitness and physical activity in middle school students. Two middle schools in Tallahassee, FL participated in this study. One school served as the intervention and the other served as a delayed intervention measurement only control. The students in the intervention school completed a one-time S.M.A.R.T. goal setting lesson. During the lesson, students were taught the definition of a goal, the importance of goal setting, and how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals. As part of the lesson, students completed a S.M.A.R.T. goal setting worksheet. The objectives of the worksheet activity were to teach students the concepts of S.M.A.R.T. goal setting and to apply this knowledge by creating personal fitness goals. Student fitness goals were entered into an interactive website that acted as a self-monitoring tool. Before and after the intervention, participating students completed a survey assessing student demographics, physical activity, and physical activity self-efficacy. Cardiorespiratory fitness levels, assessed by the PACER test, were also measured pre and post. Betweengroup differences in post-test scores, adjusted for baseline levels, were assessed for statistical significance using ANCOVA. Additional covariates included gender, race/ethnicity, grade level and weight status. After adjustment for baseline levels, students in the intervention school exhibited significantly higher PACER laps in comparison to the control school ((F[subscript (1,257)] = 58.0) p<0.0001)). The PACER scores in intervention school increased from 40.6 laps to 45.9 laps while the PACER scores in the comparison school decreased. There were no significant between-group differences for physical activity or self-efficacy Although these results require replication in larger studies using a group randomized study design and objective measures of physical activity, the results suggest that teaching students about S.M.A.R.T. goal setting may be a potentially effective strategy for increasing fitness in middle school students and worthy of further investigation / Graduation date: 2013

The definition of metrics capable of reporting on quality issues is a difficult task in the health care sector. This thesis proposes a goal-driven methodology for the development, collection, and analysis of health care quality metrics that expose in a quantifiable way the progress of measurement goals stated by interested stakeholders. In other words, this methodology produces reports containing metrics that enable the understanding of information out of health care data. The resulting Health Care Goal Question Metric (HC-GQM) methodology is based on the Goal Question Metric (GQM) approach, a methodology originally created for the software development industry and adapted to the context and specificities of the health care sector. HC-GQM benefits from a double loop validation process where the methodology is first implemented, then analysed, and finally improved. The validation process takes place in the context of adverse event management and incident reporting initiatives at a Canadian teaching hospital, where the HC-GQM provides a set of meaningful metrics and reports on the occurrence of adverse events and incidents to the stakeholders involved. The results of a survey suggest that the users of HC-GQM have found it beneficial and would use it again.

The definition of metrics capable of reporting on quality issues is a difficult task in the health care sector. This thesis proposes a goal-driven methodology for the development, collection, and analysis of health care quality metrics that expose in a quantifiable way the progress of measurement goals stated by interested stakeholders. In other words, this methodology produces reports containing metrics that enable the understanding of information out of health care data. The resulting Health Care Goal Question Metric (HC-GQM) methodology is based on the Goal Question Metric (GQM) approach, a methodology originally created for the software development industry and adapted to the context and specificities of the health care sector. HC-GQM benefits from a double loop validation process where the methodology is first implemented, then analysed, and finally improved. The validation process takes place in the context of adverse event management and incident reporting initiatives at a Canadian teaching hospital, where the HC-GQM provides a set of meaningful metrics and reports on the occurrence of adverse events and incidents to the stakeholders involved. The results of a survey suggest that the users of HC-GQM have found it beneficial and would use it again.

The purpose of the study was to investigate relationships among 7th grade students&rsquo / personal goal orientations, perceptions of classroom goal structure, and learning related variables of efficacy, self-handicapping strategies, cheating behavior, and science achievement. This study was carried out during 2006-2007 spring semester at 12 public elementary schools in Ke&ccedil / i&ouml / ren, Ankara. A total of 1950 seventh grade students from 62 classrooms participated in the study. Data were collected through Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales and Science Achievement Test. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analyses were conducted due to the nested structure of data. Results revealed that students who demonstrated high efficacy, high science achievement, low cheating behavior, and low self-handicapping strategies, which were all adaptive learning patterns, had higher mastery goal orientations. Findings regarding performance-approach goal oriented students, focusing on demonstrating their ability, however, were not as straightforward. Performance approach goals were associated with high efficacy and high demonstration of cheating behavior. Class level analyses, on the other hand, revealed that students&rsquo / perception of the classroom goal structure was a significant predictor of personal goal orientations they adopted. While learning environments emphasizing understanding of the material and self-improvement promoted students&rsquo / adoption of mastery goals / learning environments focusing on performance and relative ability of students promoted students&rsquo / adoption of performance-approach goals. The current study, thus, demonstrated the influence of goal structure of the learning environment on students&rsquo / personal goal orientations which in turn found to be related with various learning related variables.