Thèse de doctorat : Psychologie : Nancy 2 : 2005. / Bibliographie.

This study argues that one of the solutions to the problem of high matriculation failure rates in black schools is providing resources such as media centres and laboratories to make learning more realistic and interesting to pupils. However, unequal educational provision has meant that less money is allocated to black education in comparison with white, Indian and Coloured education. The study was initiated by the awareness of the lack of media centres in black schools and colleges of education. It focuses on the teaching of library orientation at Esikhawini College of Education, an institution that has features common to all KwaZulu colleges. The population consisted of a group of Secondary Teachers Diploma Second year (STD II) students who did not study library orientation as their ancillary subject. The study shows that most students at the college had not used media centres before coming to the college. It also shows that the time allocated to library orientation is too little; the course should be extended to two or even three years. As a result of these findings, the study recommends that media education be integrated into the curricula starting with the earliest levels of schooling, and that a national policy on the funding of media education be formulated. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, 1992.

Augmented reality (AR) systems that use head mounted displays to overlay synthetic imagery on the user's view of the real world require accurate viewpoint tracking for quality applications. However, achieving accurate registration is one of the most significant unsolved problems within AR systems, particularly during dynamic motions in unprepared environments. As a result, registration error is a major issue hindering the more widespread growth of AR applications. The main objective for this thesis was to improve dynamic orientation tracking of the head using low-cost inertial sensors. The approach taken within this thesis was to extend the excellent static orientation sensing abilities of accelerometers to a dynamic case by utilising a model of head motion. Head motion is modelled by an inverted pendulum, initially for one degree of rotational freedom, but later this is extended to a more general two dimensional case by including a translational freedom of the centre of rotation. However, the inverted pendulum model consists of an unstable coupled set of differential equations which cannot be solved by conventional solution approaches. A unique method is developed which consists of a highly accurate approximated analytical solution to the full non linear tangential ODE. The major advantage of the analytical solution is that it allows a separation of the unstable transient part of the solution from the stable solution. The analytical solution is written directly in terms of the unknown initial conditions. Optimal initial conditions are found that remove the unstable transient part completely by utilising the independent radial ODE. Thus, leaving the required orientation. The methods are validated experimentally with data collected using accelerometers and a physical inverted pendulum apparatus. A range of tests were performed demonstrating the stability of the methods and solution over time and the robust performance to increasing signal frequency, over the range expected for head motion. The key advantage of this accelerometer model-based method is that the orientation remains registered to the gravitational vector, providing a drift free solution that outperforms existing, state of the art, gyroscope based methods. This proof of concept, uses low-cost accelerometer sensors to show significant potential to improve head tracking in dynamic AR environments, such as outdoors.

Adolescence can be described as a period of heightened vulnerability. The transition between childhood and adulthood encompasses challenges associated with the changes experienced in the various domains of development. Risk and opportunity are associated with adolescence and education with regard to dealing with these aspects of adolescent developmental change is critical. Life Skills Education promotes the acquisition of appropriate non-academic skills and behaviour that will empower the adolescent to lead a meaningful life. Life Orientation is South Africa's interpretation of Life Skills Education. This learning area is one of eight within the structure of Curriculum 2005. This study focuses on this specific learning area. The aim of this study was to determine the specific Life Orientation needs of Grade 9 learners and to assess whether the current Life Orientation curriculum meets these needs. The study also set out to establish whether the Life Orientation needs differed according to race and gender. The research consists of a literature and an empirical study. Primary and secondary literature resources, as well as, the Internet, were studied in order to achieve the aims of the study. Information studied was used to design a measuring instrument in the form of a survey. This measuring instrument is statistically valid and reliable. The empirical study was primarily descriptive and quantitative. The sample population comprised of Grade 9 learners from two mainstream English-medium schools in the Vaal Triangle. The findings of this study show that the Life Orientation needs of Grade 9 learners in this sample are largely met by the current curriculum, although a number of deficiencies do exist and recommendations with regard to the relevance of the curriculum have been made. No significant differences between gender and racial groups were found. Furthermore, the Life Orientation needs are practical and future-orientated. These needs reflect the skills required to cope with the socio-economic reality of modern day life in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Adolescence can be described as a period of heightened vulnerability. The transition between childhood and adulthood encompasses challenges associated with the changes experienced in the various domains of development. Risk and opportunity are associated with adolescence and education with regard to dealing with these aspects of adolescent developmental change is critical. Life Skills Education promotes the acquisition of appropriate non-academic skills and behaviour that will empower the adolescent to lead a meaningful life. Life Orientation is South Africa's interpretation of Life Skills Education. This learning area is one of eight within the structure of Curriculum 2005. This study focuses on this specific learning area. The aim of this study was to determine the specific Life Orientation needs of Grade 9 learners and to assess whether the current Life Orientation curriculum meets these needs. The study also set out to establish whether the Life Orientation needs differed according to race and gender. The research consists of a literature and an empirical study. Primary and secondary literature resources, as well as, the Internet, were studied in order to achieve the aims of the study. Information studied was used to design a measuring instrument in the form of a survey. This measuring instrument is statistically valid and reliable. The empirical study was primarily descriptive and quantitative. The sample population comprised of Grade 9 learners from two mainstream English-medium schools in the Vaal Triangle. The findings of this study show that the Life Orientation needs of Grade 9 learners in this sample are largely met by the current curriculum, although a number of deficiencies do exist and recommendations with regard to the relevance of the curriculum have been made. No significant differences between gender and racial groups were found. Furthermore, the Life Orientation needs are practical and future-orientated. These needs reflect the skills required to cope with the socio-economic reality of modern day life in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

This thesis investigated the functional significance ofthe personality construct of action-state orientation (Kuhl, 1981), which is suggested to mediate the efficiency of the volitional approach taken to overcome the difficulties associated with goal initiation, maintenance and completion under competitive pressure. The role of volition, defined as 'the act of deciding upon a course of action and initiating it' [Syn. Will] (German Dictionary of psychology, 1934, p.283) in sport has emerged from unequivocal findings taken from coaches and athletes regarding the effectiveness of goal setting as a performance enhancement strategy (Burton, Weinberg, Yukelson & Weigand, 1998; Weinberg, Burton, Yukelson & Weigand, 2000). Further research exploration of goal setting practices concluded that the most realistic explanation for the lack of goal attainment when utilising goal setting is the lack of an adequate 'action plan' (Burton, Naylor & Holliday, 2000). Whilst goal setting is a process of motivation that ends with a decision to act (Beckmann, 2002; Heckhausen, 1991; Kuhl, 1987), the processes of goal initiation and completion are related to action plans and goal striving, which are issues of volition (Kuhl, 1984; Latharn 2000). Volitional competence is determined by the opposing personality dispositions of action- versus state-orientation. Action-orientation is characterised by an efficient present focus on action and making plans under pressure, whereas state-orientation is associated with an increased propensity to ruminate over real or imagined failure and the state the individual is in, rather than focus on the task at hand (Kuhl, 1994a). Study 1 explores the performance strategies and coping skills utilised by action- and state-oriented athletes under competitive pressure. Scores on the Athlete Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI-28; Smith, Schultz, Smoll & Ptacek, 1995)demonstrated a significantly higher usage of goal setting, relaxation and imagery as well as better emotional control and lower levels of negative thinking in the actionoriented group. Results from the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS; Thomas, Murphy & Hardy, 1999) showed comparable scores between action- and stateoriented athletes in the areas of self-talk and coachability. A similarity which highlights an increased propensity in state-oriented athletes to submit to external control and the beliefs of others in preference to their own personal judgement. Study 2 documents the impact of 5-month intervention with endurance athletes to enhance volitional functioning and self-access to their personal wants, needs and beliefs utilising Personality Systems Interaction theory (PSI; Kuhl, 2000a), which contends volition efficiency is facilitated by positive affect. Eight out of eleven baseline state-oriented athletes scores on the Volitional Components Inventory (VCI; version 6, US-I; Kuhl & Fuhrmann, 1998) showed significantly improved differences in 23 out of a total 35 areas of volitional functioning, including enhanced levels (p<O.05) of emotional control, initiating and self-determination. Significantly decreased scores (p<O.05) in areas including inhibition and fear of failure were also shown. Study 3 presents follow-up interviews with intervention programme athletes to specifically investigate personal experiences and perceptions of behaviour change. Qualitative exploration indicated more pronounced use of avoidance coping strategies related to self-awareness and the adoption of mental skills in three athletes who showed no improved volitional competency. These athletes demonstrated inappropriate and performance impairing methods of enacting their intentions. Overall, results suggest that volitional efficiency is related to the ease of access to personal beliefs, needs and wants as these self-related constructs provide goals with the dynamic properties of being self-determined and intrinsicallymotivated. Goal pursuit can be severely debilitated by intentions that lack energising and protective qualities because limited self-awareness and the use of denial create a situation where intentions are never actually associated with the constructs that govern motivational meaning and action initiation. It is necessary that athletes learn to trust their own judgements and function quickly and correctly when under competitive pressure. If athletes do not develop the ability to appropriately access the mechanisms that enable them to overcome the difficulty of goal enactment, their performance can be compromised. A key implication for professional practice is the need to develop easily adhered-to self-monitoring tools and functionally relevant affect regulation training programmes. Future research directions including the furthering of both the issues of theoretical understanding and the role played by volition in sport are presented.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. David A. Washburn, committee chair; Eric Vanman, Michael J. Beran, Heather Kleider, committee members. Electronic text (76 p. : col. ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Mar. 25, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-76).

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 36-41).

Thèses (M.A.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 1997. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 20 juin 2006). Publié aussi en version papier.

Thèses (M.A.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 2002. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 20 juin 2006). Publié aussi en version papier.