Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.(Education Management and Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2005. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Nov. 16, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2004. / Field study. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A., M.Ed.)--Bowling Green State University, 2006. / Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 74 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Curtin University of Technology, 2003.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (May 25, 2006) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This was an exploratory study which used Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident Technique to examine students' experiences in taking their first distance education course. Specifically, the study asked what incidents hindered or facilitated persistence, and if reports of experiences from completers were different from those of non-completers. The 40 subjects for the sample were drawn at random from selected courses at Athabasca University, an open admission distance education institution serving students across Canada. All students were able to identify incidents which hindered or facilitated their progress. A mean of 6.6 incidents was reported per student. From the 265 incidents reported, 13 Basic Categories were formed, with a reliability of 94%. Only one category had less than 20% of students reporting in it. The highest proportion of students reporting in one category was 80%. Significant factors affecting attrition in distance education emerged from the study, as did findings about the similarities and differences between the experiences of completers and non-completers. Suggestions for how the findings might contribute to the development of a model of attrition and retention strategies are included in the discussion. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Internationalization is important for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) since it is a way to survive and to grow. Emerging markets have enormous latent possibilities for SMEs but behind the possibilities there are potential risks linked to political and institutional factors, uncertain economic and market conditions, and unknown business environments. National culture is one of the factors that create distance between home and host countries. In this paper, the author intends to examine the importance of cultural distance in the internationalization process and the relationship between the international experiences and cultural distance. The author focuses on the internationalization process of Swedish SMEs in Russia. Since culture is a complex phenomenon, the author scrutinizes the nature of cultural distance by employing a qualitative method by in-depth interviewing of managers from two Swedish SMEs. The theoretical framework is important for the analysis and consists of the Uppsala internationalization model and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Through the analysis of empirical data and previous research, the author finds that there are significant cultural differences between Russia and Sweden but the role of cultural distance in the internationalization process of the Swedish firms in Russia should not be exaggerated. The author’s conclusions are that cultural distance as a part of psychic distance has influence on the choice of entry mode though its impact is implicit and comes along with other factors. Another finding is that the international experiences of the firms have a great influence on the internationalization process - in the way that cultural distance becomes less important.