This study focuses on the implementation of Learning Management System (LMS) in the higher education sector in Iraq. Its aim is to develop a policy adoption framework for LMS implementation by scientifically investigating LMS adoption using a model that combines the principles of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework. The research methodology comprises of seven stages that adopts the interpretive paradigm and a mixed-methods research design. A case study design is used to investigate LMS integration in the University of Al-Qadisiyah. A TAM-TOE questionnaire is developed for the academic staff of the University of Al-Qadisiyah, in which the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of LMS are analysed in the case organisation. The technological, organisational, and environmental aspects of LMS implementation are also examined. The survey received valid responses from 283 academic staff. In-depth semi-structured interviews of 8 academics, administrative staff and IT personnel contributed to the qualitative data. The survey respondents are selected using stratified sampling whilst purposive sampling is used to select the interview participants. The questionnaire data was analysed using correlation analysis, whilst thematic analysis is used for the interview data. The study identifies the barriers to LMS implementation as: Lack of or limited teachers’ training, lack of commitment to constructivist pedagogy, lack of experience to use the new technology, lack of technical support, and lack of appropriate educational software. These results feed into the policy framework design. The contribution to research knowledge includes the creation of a new adoption model derived from TAM and TOE to examine the LMS implementation barriers in a war recovering economy like Iraq. This approach the integration of academic users’ acceptance with macro-level factors like government support. The results lease to the development of the LMS policy framework to guide policy makers to prioritise their limited LMS investments. The novelty of the work is the bringing together the considerations of the individual users and the socio-economic context.

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / This research investigates the nature and extent of community participation and involvement in the recruitment and selection processes for Community Health Workers (CHWs), primarily through detailed case studies of three CHW programmes, one in the Western Cape, another in KwaZulu-Natal, and a third which operates in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The first utilizes CHWs in health education and home-based care in Khayelitsha and Nyanga. The second specializes in the training, management and supervision of home-based care CHWs in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal. The third utilizes CHWs in addressing maternal and child health issues in targeted peri-urban and rural areas in the three provinces. The mini-thesis is organized into five chapters: the first chapter provides the introduction and background as well as the methodological design of the mini-thesis; the second chapter focuses on providing a detailed literature review of relevant materials that cover the subject matter; the third chapter provides the descriptive background of the history of CHWs, CHW policies and community participation in South Africa, as well as a description of the three case study organizations; the fourth chapter describes and discusses the findings and the last and fifth chapter provides a summary of the findings as well as recommendations and conclusions. / South Africa

This study focuses on how school management teams manage the school-based continuous professional development of the teachers at their schools. The assumption is that continuous professional development - if school-based - may be more practical in implementing changes because the teachers will be working in a familiar context when managing their own development and in meeting the specific needs of their school. At present the professional development of teachers consists mainly of external workshops and courses. Teachers then return to the school context that has not changed to accommodate what has been learnt at these workshops or courses. The lack of feedback or follow-up has done little to encourage teachers to implement any changes in their teaching practice. The study also explores the practice of school management teams in creating collaborative school cultures for the implementation of schoolbased continuous professional development. The rationale for this study is based on the urgent need for continuous professional development to be part of the schools’ development of teachers. The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development provides the frame of reference. There is, however, a gap in the policy on how continuous professional development should be implemented to create a collaborative school culture and the role that the school management team plays in doing this. The aim of the study was to determine how school management teams managed continuous professional development at their schools; to identify the challenges they faced in managing school-based continuous professional development; and to explore the strategies that contributed to successful school-based continuous professional development. The research methodology employed in this study is a Triangulation Mixed Methods Design. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected simultaneously and analysed separately to understand the research problem. The sample consisted of principals, deputy principals and heads of department of primary schools who were interviewed. Questionnaires were administered to Level 1 teachers at these schools. The interviews were analysed by identifying emerging patterns, themes and categories. The questionnaires were analysed by presenting descriptive statistics about the schools and then inferential statistics were determined that correlated and tested the hypotheses. The results were reported in the form of summaries from the interviews and graphs from the questionnaires. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

No description available.

The effectiveness of South Africa's policy framework towards attracting FDI has been questionable. Determined to redress the instabilities created by the apartheid regime, the Government of National Unity (GNU) commissioned the Macroeconomic and Research Group (MERG), and charged it to devise appropriate policy reforms and intervention mechanism to address the shortcomings. This research critically interrogates the effectiveness of government's policy reforms towards attracting FDI, especially the impacts of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) initiative and the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA). This research concludes that the policy determinants for inflow FDI have been self-defeating. Also, it was found that necessary reforms would have to be conducted to correct some of the shortcomings of the macroeconomic policies, as a way of creating an environment that is capable of attracting greenfield investments (FDI) to South Africa. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

The objective of this study is to conduct a critical evaluation of the Namibian law and policy framework that currently regulates small-scale mining in Namibia. The discussion begins with an introduction to small-scale mining in Namibia which deals with the practice of small-scale mining, inter alia, as far as it is defined and the possible affects thereof. Small-scale mining affects various second generation rights of persons directly involved therein as well as the community as a whole. These rights include child labour; unemployment; gender issues; public health care; occupational health and safety; access to finance; poverty alleviation; and access to mining tools, machinery, markets and buyers. The law and policy framework applicable to small-scale mining in Namibia is accordingly critically discussed in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the current framework. It is found that small-scale mining is quite well regulated in Namibia, but the current law and policy framework is not without its problems. Some of the main weaknesses identified are the centralised nature of the application for and pegging of claims, the lack of formal provision and regulation of the off-set markets, and the lack of access to finance for smallscale miners. Recommendations are made, such as that regulatory measures should be put in place to make provision for and to regulate the off-set markets for the minerals being mined by the artisanal miners. At the end of the study further research topics which relate directly to the regulation of small-scale mining in Namibia are identified. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Das Hochland Nordthailands isi ein Beispiel für eine widersprüchliche Situation die entsteht, wenn ein zentralistisches Regierungssystem seine Kontrolle auf entlegene Gebiete ausdehnt und auf traditionellen Wanderfeldbau auftrifft. Auf Regierungsseite zeichnet sich die Politik durch unterschiedliche Interessen der Walderhaltung einerseits und Integration von ethnischen Minderheiten andererseits aus. Die Bergstämme ihrerseits erstreben Landsicherheit um ihre Subsistenzwirtschaft zu sichern. Somit geht es um Mediation und Konfliktresolution zur Überwindung der Dichotomie zwischen Waldschutz und landwirtschaftlicher Subsistenz. Trotz des fehlenden politischen Rahmens, hat es eine Verschiebung zu mehr partizipativen Ansätzen bei der Entwicklung des Hochlands gegeben, zum Beispiel Community Based Land Use Planning and Local Watershed Management (CLM) des Thai-German Highland Development Programe (TG-HDP) in der Provinz Mae Hong Son. Dieses Forschungsprojekt hat den CLM-Ansatz mit GIS kombiniert um jenseits der Demarkierung von Landtypen die Dorfebene mit höheren Planungsebenen zu verbinden, wie die sich etablierenden Tambon (Sub-Distrikt) Administrative Organisations. Vor dem Hintergrund der grundsätzlichen oben angeführten Probleme und auf den CLM-Ansatz aufbauend, wurden Landnutzungskarten digitalisiert um die Widersprüche zwischen zentralistischer Landklassifizierung und lokalen Dorfgrenzen zu überwinden. Durch den Vergleich von topographischen Modellen und Karten mit Dorfbewohnern und Regierungsorganisationen, könnte eine Kommunikationsplattform für die Formulierung von Landnutzungsplänen etabliert werden. Stolpersteine zur partizipativen Planung werden dargestellt und Empfehlungen für eine koordinierte Politik der Hochlandentwicklung ausgesprochen. Bei der laufenden Dezentralisierung werden die neu entstehenden Tambon (Sub-Distrikt) Administrative Organisations (TAO) sich als Schlüsselverbindung zwischen dem Staat und der Gesellschaft entwickeln. Eine Möglichkeit mit den unterschiedlichen Prioritäten der Teilhaber auf Tambonebene umzugehen könnte sich aus der laufenden Umstrukturierung des Landwirtschaftsministeriums (MOAC) ergeben, als Teil der administrativen Reform. Ein Teil dieser Reform auf Grasebene war die Einführung von Technology Transfer Centres (TTC) seit 1998, mit mittlerweile 82 vom Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE) etablierten Zentren landesweit. In diesem Kontext wird der Tambon ein Test für partizipative Landnutzungsplanung sein, sowohl aus der technischen Perspektive mit neuen Technology Transfer Centres, als auch aus der administrativen mit existierenden Tambon Administrative Organisations. Pläne der Vernetzung von TTCs mit TAOs müssen die Bedeutung der Repräsentanz von Schlüsselinstitutionen der Forstwirtschaft und Landentwicklung für Aspekte der Landnutzung berücksichtigen, sowie lokale Verwaltung und Sozialfürsorge für die Registrierung von Dörfern mit klaren und allseits akzeptierten Grenzen. Ein Ansatz von unten müßte sich auf die drei während der Forschung genannten Hauptprobleme konzentrieren, nämlich Reisinsuffizienz, Waldbrachemanagement und Dorfgrenzen. So lange der Zustand der Landunsicherheit weiterhin vorherrscht, werden Bergstämme Strategien zur Beibehaltung von ausreichendem Ackerland anwenden, wie die Deklaration von bis zu doppelt so vielen Hochlandfeldern und die Zwischenpflanzung mit Heckenreihen auf Bracheflächen um zu zeigen, daß dieses Land genutzt wird. Zur Zeit gibt es keinen einheitlichen Planungsansatz, jedoch hat die öffentliche Debatte in Nordthailand ein Stadium erreicht, inklusive der Bergstämmenminderheit, daß der Prozeß der Institutionalisierung weitergehen wird während das Land den Pfad der Demokratie beschreitet. Die Lösung von Problemen und nachhaltiger Landnutzungsplanung wird somit zu einem Testfall für die Umsetzung von guter Regierung auf lokaler Ebene. / The highlands of northern Thailand are an example of a contradictory situation arising when a centralised government system extends its control to remote areas and clashes with traditional shifting cultivation practices. On the government side, policy is characterised by conflicting interests between forest preservation on the one hand, and the integration of ethnic minorities on the other. Hilltribes, on the other hand, are looking for land security to meet their subsistence needs. It is a precondition for them to modify their traditional farming systems or to explore other alternatives to secure a livelihood. The issue has become one of mediation and conflict resolution in order to overcome the dichotomy between forest protection and agricultural subsistence. In spite of a lack of policy framework, highland development has shifted towards more participatory approaches, for example Community Based Land Use Planning and Local Watershed Management (CLM) of the Thai-German Highland Development Programme (TG-HDP) in Mae Hong Son province. This research project combined the CLM approach with GIS in order to go beyond the demarcation of land types and to connect the village level to higher planning bodies like the emerging Tambon (sub-district) Administration Organisations. In light of the fundamental problem of highland development described above, and building on the CLM approach, land use maps were digitised to help overcome contradictions between central land use classifications and local village boundaries. By crosschecking topographic models and maps with villagers and government agencies, a communication platform could be created for the formulation of land use plans. Stumbling blocks to participatory planning are illustrated and recommendations for a co-ordinated policy for highland development are made. In the current move towards decentralisation, the newly forming Tambon (or sub-district) Administrative Organisations (TAO) will evolve as the key link between the state and society. One potential to deal with differing stakeholder priorities at Tambon level could evolve from the current restructuring of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) as part of the administrative reform. A part of this reform at grass-roots level has been the introduction of Technology Transfer Centres (TTC) initiated in 1998, with 82 of them established nationwide by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE). In this context the Tambon will be a test for participatory land use planning, both in terms of a technical perspective with new Technology Transfer Centres, as well as an administrative one with existing Tambon Administrative Organisations. The plans to link TTCs with TAOs need to consider the importance of representation of key agencies like forestry and land development for aspects of land management, as well as local administration and social welfare for the registration of villages with clear and mutually agreed boundaries. A bottom-up approach would need to focus on the three main problem areas identified during the research, namely rice sufficiency, forest fallow management, and village boundaries. As long as this state of land insecurity persists, hill tribes will resort to strategies to keep enough land for agricultural production, like the declaration of up to twice the number of upland fields under cultivation, and the interplanting of hedgerows in fallow areas to indicate that the land is used. For the time being a unified planning approach does not exist, but a stage of public debate has been reached in northern Thailand, including those of minority hill tribes, that the process of institutionalisation will continue as the country follows a path to democracy. The resolution of problems and sustainable land use planning will turn into a testing ground for the application of good governance at the local level.

The objective of this study is to conduct a critical evaluation of the Namibian law and policy framework that currently regulates small-scale mining in Namibia. The discussion begins with an introduction to small-scale mining in Namibia which deals with the practice of small-scale mining, inter alia, as far as it is defined and the possible affects thereof. Small-scale mining affects various second generation rights of persons directly involved therein as well as the community as a whole. These rights include child labour; unemployment; gender issues; public health care; occupational health and safety; access to finance; poverty alleviation; and access to mining tools, machinery, markets and buyers. The law and policy framework applicable to small-scale mining in Namibia is accordingly critically discussed in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the current framework. It is found that small-scale mining is quite well regulated in Namibia, but the current law and policy framework is not without its problems. Some of the main weaknesses identified are the centralised nature of the application for and pegging of claims, the lack of formal provision and regulation of the off-set markets, and the lack of access to finance for smallscale miners. Recommendations are made, such as that regulatory measures should be put in place to make provision for and to regulate the off-set markets for the minerals being mined by the artisanal miners. At the end of the study further research topics which relate directly to the regulation of small-scale mining in Namibia are identified. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The effectiveness of South Africa's policy framework towards attracting FDI has been questionable. Determined to redress the instabilities created by the apartheid regime, the Government of National Unity (GNU) commissioned the Macroeconomic and Research Group (MERG), and charged it to devise appropriate policy reforms and intervention mechanism to address the shortcomings. This research critically interrogates the effectiveness of government's policy reforms towards attracting FDI, especially the impacts of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) initiative and the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA). This research concludes that the policy determinants for inflow FDI have been self-defeating. Also, it was found that necessary reforms would have to be conducted to correct some of the shortcomings of the macroeconomic policies, as a way of creating an environment that is capable of attracting greenfield investments (FDI) to South Africa. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

The thesis aims to analyse the relations of non-governmental organisations towards the European integration process, which creates an additional platform for their interest representation. This case study focuses on how Czech non-profit organisations, which are dealing in long term with the topic of climate change, try to use the instruments and channels available at the EU level to promote their idea of the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework targets and how the EU climate action policy translates to their understanding of the topic. The thesis is based on the Europeanization theory that assumes that non-state actors are adjusting their behaviour to the existence of another platform of decision making and interest representation. I, therefore, assume, that the selected sample of Czech ecological NGOs tries to actively use the opportunity to participate in the EU decision making - especially because a climate policy is decided mostly at the EU level and therefore the outcomes, such as the 2030 Framework, present another tool to achieve change in the climate policy of the Czech Republic. I conclude that from the perspective of selected NGOs the European climate policy is perceived as an important driver behind the development in this field in both Czech Republic and global negotiations - even though...