The teaching of mathematics frequently comes in the line of fire due to under achievement and a lack of critical thinking. Accordingly educationists and mathematicians continually seek ways to overcome this hurdle. Against this backdrop, this study attempts to determine if the acquiring of learning-functions will improve academic achievement as well as critical thinking in mathematics. By means of a literature study the nature and importance of learning-functions for the development of critical thinking skills and the improvement of academic achievement are highlighted. The literature shows that critical thinking skills such as reasoning, analysis, hypothesising, making of decisions and problem solving are important skills for the mastering of mathematics. The learning-functions decoding of knowledge, synthesis and integration of knowledge, comparison, application of knowledge, generating hypotheses and reflection have been identified as the learning-functions which can develop the necessary skills for the mastering of mathematics. As the research stems from a combined interpretivist-positivist paradigm, the researcher used a combined qualitative and quantitative study. As part of the qualitative research, observation has been used. For the quantitative research the true experimental research method with a post-test control group design was chosen. The focus was on the qualitative collection of data, supported by the quantitative data. Twenty-three first year education students, with mathematics as major subject were used for this study. By means of systematic random sampling the students were assigned, as participants to an experimental and a control group. During contact sessions the participants of the experimental group were subjected for a period of eight weeks to an intervention programme with the focus on guided learning of the learning - functions decoding of knowledge, synthesis and integration of knowledge, comparisons, application of knowledge, generation of hypotheses and reflection. The control group received normal classroom instruction with no focus on guided learning of learning - functions. With the implementation of the intervention programme the experimental group was observed with regard to their progressive development of the application of these learning - functions. To determine any signs of progressive improvement of achievement and critical thinking skills in the experimental group during the implementation of the intervention programme, class tests and assignments were completed. Both the experimental- and the control group wrote the same tests and completed the same assignments. The post -test was a final examination paper which was written after the completion of the intervention by both groups to determine to which extent achievement and critical thinking skills improved within the experimental group. It can be inferred from the results of the empirical research that the guided learning of the learning -functions decoding of knowledge, synthesis and integration of knowledge, comparison, application of knowledge, generating hypotheses and reflective thought in the course of teaching mathematics, appeared to have enhanced learners' academic achievement and critical thinking. From a combination of the prominent findings of the empirical research, together with the knowledge gained from the literature study, justified recommendations were made regarding the learning of learning -functions in order to promote critical thinking and achievement in the teaching of mathematics. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The focus of this research study was the assessment of intrapreneurship within public Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges that were earmarked by govemment to spearhead the alleviation of skills shortages in South Africa. Managers within four colleges in the Free State province of South Africa were selected as the study. Establishing an intrapreneurial climate within public FET Colleges can play a significant role in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of services rendered, contributing to the long term sustainability of these institutions. Colleges face various challenges including a lack of intrapreneurial spirit and a fragmented approach regarding their visions, missions and strategic thrusts. The primary objective of the study was to assess the level of intrapreneurship within the four public FET Colleges and to make recommendations on how to improve the level of intrapreneurship within these institutions. A number of secondary objectives were set to support the attainment of the primary objective. A comprehensive literature study was conducted, which was followed by an empirical study. By means of self -assessment and supervisor assessment, perceptions of managers were tested in relation to entrepreneurial characteristics. Furthermore, relationships were determined between demographic variables and intrapreneurship constructs. Following upon a detailed analysis of data in chapter 4, it was concluded that managers regarded the current intrapreneurial climate at FET Colleges as being average. Based on the findings of the empirical study and the insight gained during the literature study, recommendations were made on the fostering of intrapreneurship within the colleges. A framework of practical guidelines and an action plan were compiled that could facilitate the process, thereby assisting public FET Colleges in South Africa to fulfill the vision of the National Department of Education of "...a modem and vibrant nationally co-ordinated FET college system that builds a foundation for lifelong learning and is responsive to the needs ofthe 21 st century". / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The teaching of mathematics frequently comes in the line of fire due to under achievement and a lack of critical thinking. Accordingly educationists and mathematicians continually seek ways to overcome this hurdle. Against this backdrop, this study attempts to determine if the acquiring of learning-functions will improve academic achievement as well as critical thinking in mathematics. By means of a literature study the nature and importance of learning-functions for the development of critical thinking skills and the improvement of academic achievement are highlighted. The literature shows that critical thinking skills such as reasoning, analysis, hypothesising, making of decisions and problem solving are important skills for the mastering of mathematics. The learning-functions decoding of knowledge, synthesis and integration of knowledge, comparison, application of knowledge, generating hypotheses and reflection have been identified as the learning-functions which can develop the necessary skills for the mastering of mathematics. As the research stems from a combined interpretivist-positivist paradigm, the researcher used a combined qualitative and quantitative study. As part of the qualitative research, observation has been used. For the quantitative research the true experimental research method with a post-test control group design was chosen. The focus was on the qualitative collection of data, supported by the quantitative data. Twenty-three first year education students, with mathematics as major subject were used for this study. By means of systematic random sampling the students were assigned, as participants to an experimental and a control group. During contact sessions the participants of the experimental group were subjected for a period of eight weeks to an intervention programme with the focus on guided learning of the learning - functions decoding of knowledge, synthesis and integration of knowledge, comparisons, application of knowledge, generation of hypotheses and reflection. The control group received normal classroom instruction with no focus on guided learning of learning - functions. With the implementation of the intervention programme the experimental group was observed with regard to their progressive development of the application of these learning - functions. To determine any signs of progressive improvement of achievement and critical thinking skills in the experimental group during the implementation of the intervention programme, class tests and assignments were completed. Both the experimental- and the control group wrote the same tests and completed the same assignments. The post -test was a final examination paper which was written after the completion of the intervention by both groups to determine to which extent achievement and critical thinking skills improved within the experimental group. It can be inferred from the results of the empirical research that the guided learning of the learning -functions decoding of knowledge, synthesis and integration of knowledge, comparison, application of knowledge, generating hypotheses and reflective thought in the course of teaching mathematics, appeared to have enhanced learners' academic achievement and critical thinking. From a combination of the prominent findings of the empirical research, together with the knowledge gained from the literature study, justified recommendations were made regarding the learning of learning -functions in order to promote critical thinking and achievement in the teaching of mathematics. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

1ST Otokon, a Pretoria based company delivering energy management systems to the industrial and utility market segments, has shown steady growth since its inception 15 years ago. However, after ailing financial results, all aspects of the business were interrogated. It was doubted whether its energy management system (EMS) offering, ecWIN, was fulfilling the needs of the industry. Therefore this study was needed to identify new technology which could improve the effectiveness of ecWIN. After doing a thorough literature study on ecWIN, its competitors and the technologies currently utilised, the product was mapped to various technology management models. Deficiencies in the current software development environment were identified, including a lack of manpower and old software development tools. The empirical study entailed determining the effectiveness of the product through a user survey in the form of a questionnaire. Certain problem areas (e.g. insufficient software testing and a lack of documentation on advanced features) were identified by this survey. The numerous complaints about the slowness of certain reports and lack in user-friendliness were also highlighted. Also forming part of the literature and empirical study respectively, were the identification and evaluation of new technologies not yet utilised in the ecWIN sphere. Taking a holistic view of all this information, recommendations were made on how to improve the effectiveness of ecWIN. This was presented in terms of three dimensions: • Upgrade the current infrastructure over the next 12 months, mainly with new software development tools such as Centura Team Developer 2005, Crystal Reports, etc. • Improve the cost-effectiveness of ecWIN during 2006 and 2007, typically by utilising GPRS, MMS, WiFi and BlueTooth to retrieve information from meters. • Utilise a new business model (mainly centred on the cost-effectiveness dimension together with Linux and MySQL) which could allow the company to directly compete with other firms, even in the commercial and residential markets. A fourth dimension, consisting of technologies that should not be considered for integration with ecWIN at this stage, was also identified (e.g. IPv6, XHTML and Visual Studio .NET). In a world with rapidly changing technology, this study should not be a once-off process, but should be undertaken regularly to ascertain that the effectiveness of 1ST Otokon's EMS offering is constantly improved through the identification of new technology. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

A utilização de mudas de qualidade, aliada a um preparo de solo adequado, é o primeiro passo para produzir florestas com bom desenvolvimento e aumentar a lucratividade da implantação florestal. O sucesso na formação de florestas com alta produtividade depende diretamente da qualidade das mudas. As mudas devem apresentar características que possibilitem sua resistência às condições adversas encontradas em campo após o plantio, para produzir árvores com crescimento volumétrico economicamente desejável. Como a floresta é um investimento de longo prazo, todas as fases de investimentos com a qualidade de mudas são de fundamental importância para o sucesso do empreendimento florestal. Dessa forma, visando a otimização do uso de recursos (mão de obra, máquinas, métodos de trabalho e insumos) nas etapas de produção de mudas esse trabalho tem como objetivo definir os requisitos básicos do processo de produção de mudas clonais de eucalipto que contribuam para o incremento da produtividade da floresta. O método utilizado para a definição dos requisitos do processo foi o Desdobramento da Função Qualidade (QFD). A qualidade exigida para muda de eucalipto pode ser caracterizada por 12 itens. Foram identificados 31 requisitos técnicos, que abrangem as etapas de estaquia, manejo do viveiro e entrega da muda para o cliente e os requisitos mais importantes para uma muda clonal de qualidade são as atividades de alternagem, fertirigação, e a adubação aplicada em quantidades corretas. / The use of quality seedlings, combined with a proper soil preparation is the first step to produce forests with good development and increase the profitability of forest deployment. The formation of forests with high productivity depends on the quality of seedlings. The seedlings must have characteristics to be enable to resist the conditions found in field after planting to produce trees with economically desirable volumetric growth. As the forest is a long-term investment, all stages of investment with the quality of seedlings are the fundamental importance for the success of the enterprise forest. Thus, in order to optimize the use of resources (manpower, machines, working methods and inputs) in steps of seedling production, this work aims to define the basic conditions for production of eucalyptus seedlings, which contribute to increase the productivity of the forest. The method used to define the requirements of the process was the Quality Function Deployment (QFD). The quality required of eucalyptus can be characterized by 12 items. We identified 31 technical requirements, which include the steps of cutting, nursery management and delivery of changes to the client and the most important requirements for a quality clonal changes are activities increased spacing on the screem of the nursery, fertigation, and fertilizer applied in correct amounts.

Classifier ensembling research has been one of the most active areas of machine learning for a long period of time. The main aim of generating combined classifier ensembles is to improve the prediction accuracy in comparison to using an individual classifier. A combined classifiers ensemble can improve the prediction results by compensating for the individual classifier weaknesses in certain areas and benefiting from better accuracy of the other ensembles in the same area. In this thesis, different algorithms are proposed for designing classifier ensemble combiners. The existing methods such as averaging, voting, weighted average, and optimised weighted method does not increase the accuracy of the combiner in comparison to the proposed advanced methods such as genetic programming and the coalition method. The different methods are studied in detail and analysed using different databases. The aim is to increase the accuracy of the combiner in comparison to the standard stand-alone classifiers. The proposed methods are based on generating a combiner formula using genetic programming, while the coalition is based on estimating the diversity of the classifiers such that a coalition is generated with better prediction accuracy. Standard accuracy measures are used, namely accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve, in addition to training error accuracies such as the mean square error. The combiner methods are compared empirically with several stand-alone classifiers using neural network algorithms. Different types of neural network topologies are used to generate different models. Experimental results show that the combiner algorithms are superior in creating the most diverse and accurate classifier ensembles. Ensembles of the same models are generated to boost the accuracy of a single classifier type. An ensemble of 10 models of different initial weights is used to improve the accuracy. Experiments show a significant improvement over a single model classifier. Finally, two combining methods are studied, namely the genetic programming and coalition combination methods. The genetic programming algorithm is used to generate a formula for the classifiers’ combinations, while the coalition method is based on a simple algorithm that assigns linear combination weights based on the consensus theory. Experimental results of the same databases demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods compared to conventional combining methods. The results show that the coalition method is better than genetic programming.

One of the director activities is motivation of workers. The motivation is internal process, that express desire and willingness of human to take a certain pains leading to reach an important goal or result. This work occupies with the motivation and efficiency of the company . To obtain the information about the motivation of work behaviour is used a methody of questonnaire exploration. On basis of result this analysis is identified the problematic areas and suggested posibilities how to improve the motivation and efficiency system of this company.

För att utvecklingsarbete ska fungera bra på ett företag är det viktigt att företaget kan fånga upp och exploatera de idéer som finns hos medarbetarna, något som industriföretag ofta är väl förtrogna med, men som en del tjänsteföretag idag inte har grepp om. Syftet med denna studie är därmed att visa på de delar av arbete med forskning och utveckling inom industrin som kan hjälpa tjänsteföretag förbättra möjligheterna att ta tillvara på sina medarbetares innovationskraft. Fallstudien är gjord på ett maltabaserat spelföretag, GameCo, och är ett exempel på hur det kan se ut i ett tjänsteföretag som förvisso arbetar med utveckling av idéer, men där det fortfarande finns en del hinder att överkomma, både medarbetarnas inställning och i hur organisationen tar hand om medarbetarnas idéer. Det visade sig att innovation inte var särskilt prioriterat på företaget, att det rådde delade meningar om processer för utveckling och att kommunikationen inte alltid fungerade. De delarna av industrins forskning och utveckling som kan användas behandlar både själva utvecklingsprocessen, dess utformning och vilka delar som anses speciellt viktiga i detta sammanhang, och hur arbetet med innovation och en utvecklingsprocess kan bedrivas, R&Dmanagement. Båda delarna har valts därför att de svarar mot en efterfrågan att förbättra innovationsarbetet genom mer formella vägar, men där det också krävs kunskap om hur utvecklingen ska ledas och organiseras för att en formell process ska vara meningsfull. Slutsatserna av detta blir att tillvaratagandet av innovation kan förbättras när innovationsprocessen formaliseras, när ledningen visar att innovation är ett prioriterat område för företaget och när kunskapsdelningen inom företaget fungerar bra. Dessa slutsatser innebär ofta en stor omställning, och denna kan göras lättare och mer sammanhållen om den görs inom ramen för en arbetsfilosofi. För falltstudieföretaget ges avslutningsvis ett antal rekommendationer baserade på slutsatserna, men där dessa anpassas till GameCos specifika problematik. / For research and development to work well in an enterprise, it is important to be able to capture and exploit the ideas held by employees, something which industries are often familiar with, but that some service companys have little grasp of. The purpose of this study is therefore to demonstrate the elements of the work with research and development in industry that can help service providers improve their ability to take advantage of their employees' innovation. The case study for this report was conducted at a Malta-based gaming company, GameCo, and is an example of how it might look like in a service company. At GameCo the ambition is to work activly with new ideas and innovation, but even so, there are still some obstacles to overcome. It was found that innovation was not one of the main priorities of the company, that there were different opinions on the development process and that the communication between departments and between manager and employee wasn’t always working sufficiently. The parts of the industry's research and development that can be used in the service context and that have been considered for this study are both concerning the development process, the design of it and important parts, and concerning how the process and development-work is managed, R&D-management. Both parts have been chosen because they correspond to a demand to improve the innovation performance through more formal ways, but which requires knowledge about how development should be managed and organized, to be meaningful. The conclusions of this is that the procurement of innovation can be improved when the innovation process is formalized, when management can make known that they consider innovation an important part of everyday work and when sharing of knowledge and knowledge management works well within the organization. These conclusions often imply a big change in the organization, and this change can be made easier and more coherent if it is done within the framework of a philosophy like Lean. In conclusion GameCo are goven some recommendation based on the general conclusions, and adopted to fit the organization and their specific needs.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / In this research, an improved first order formulation is presented to study the critical buckling load in functionally graded beams. The formulation has five independent variables in comparison with the Timoshenko theory that has three. The Trefftz criterion is utilized with incremental and fundamental states to define the stability analysis. Virtual work statements are derived for the finite element model where the field variables are interpolated by Lagrange polynomials. The numerical results are compared and verified with other formulations found in literature. Parametric studies are also carried out for buckling behavior due to different slenderness ratios, power-law indices and boundary conditions. Applications of the model to functionally graded materials show the validity of the present approach.

Thesis (M. A. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Maize seeds differ according to varieties.The traditional maize varieties(also referred to as (Landraces)are maize varieties that have been cultivated and subjected to selection by farmers for generations.They retain a distinct identity and lack formal crop improvement. Improved maize varieties,on the other hand,are bred with characteristics such as drought and disease tolerance. This research was conducted to determine the attributes preferred by farmers when making a maize varietal choice.To be specific, the study aimed to achieve the following objectives:(i) Identify and describe socio economic characteristics of smallholder maize farmers’ in Mogalakwena Municipality; (ii) Analyse socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder maize farmers in Mogalakwena Municipality; (iii) Identify different maize varieties grown by smallholder farmers in Mogalakwena Municipality,and (iv) determine and analyse factors influencing farmers’choice ofa maize variety. Descriptive statistics and the Multinomial Logistic Regression Model were used for data analysis.The results of the study revealed that 64% of the respondents had formal education.This meant that they have the capability to grasp more information, if provided with trainings. It was found that 75% of the farmers did not have access to extension service which is supposed to play a significant role in agricultural information dissemination.The most grown maize variety was land race varieties which constituted 59.5%. This percentage was said to be resultant from limited access to the seed market. Infact,80% of the farmers had to travel an average of 42 kilomteres to access the market which also had a limited number of varieties.The Multinomial Logistic Regression Model revealed that only 5 variables (Educational level, farm size, yield, extension contact and knowledge of maize varieties )were significantat1%,5%,1%,1% and1%, respectively.The majority of farmers were old people with little access to extension service and an inadequate farming knowledge which lead to a highper centage of farmers continuing to grow landrace varieties. Based on the findings, this study recommend further research on attributes that influence farmers varietal choice and Government intervention in provision for resources and development of existing and new infracstrcture to encourage extension service delivery. Keywords:Landrace,improvemaizevariety,smallholderfarmer