A misunderstanding or ignorance of the concept of worship resulting in a misuse of the word worship has necessitated clarification within the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC), an evangelical church denomination. Leaders of PAOC churches, colleges and the denomination have for the most part, received their ministerial training at PAOC theological colleges. In order for PAOC people (i.e. congregants and leaders) to correctly understand and practice biblical worship, those leading the denomination, colleges and churches require accurate teaching on the concept. Curriculum development (revision) within PAOC theological colleges may be necessary for this to take place. This thesis, therefore, studies the worship curriculum and instruction within PAOC theological colleges and clarifies the concept of Christian worship. The PAOC denomination, colleges and churches base their doctrine and practice on the principles of the Holy Bible. Therefore, laying a biblical-theological foundation when defining and teaching Christian worship is essential. If instruction in biblical worship is inadequate and/or optional in PAOC theological colleges, the accurate understanding and practice of worship by PAOC leaders and, in turn, congregants, is diminished. The vast majority of a sampling of PAOC theological college graduates and PAOC leaders believe that all students at PAOC theological colleges should be required to receive instruction in biblical worship. Since the biblical definition of worship relates more to Christians living all of life for God (or spiritual formation) than just to corporate gatherings within the church, it is recommended that worship instruction with this emphasis be required for all students at PAOC theological colleges. This instruction should take place within the biblical, theological and practical theology departments rather than the church ministry or music departments. However, since the purpose for the corporate gathering is to teach and foster whole-life worship, teaching on corporate worship should not be ignored. In order to assist church leaders in offering biblical teaching on worship to their congregations, accurate and thorough instruction at PAOC theological colleges is necessary. Included in this thesis are lesson outlines for whole-life worship instruction within spiritual formation courses or groups, and worship theology instruction within systematic theology or doctrinal courses. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

In communities across the United States, thousands of young people leave foster care without the support of family or community. At age 18, now legally adults, young people in foster care face potentially dramatic life changes as they are terminated from foster care services because they have reached the age of ineligibility, commonly referred to as “aging out.” Although research has increased an understanding of the experiences of youth exiting the foster care system, studies focusing on their experiences while transitioning out of the foster care system and into adulthood have been largely absent in the literature. This qualitative study is an effort to address this gap in the research. Using a modified grounded theory approach, this study explores the experiences of fifteen young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, as they transition to independence after exiting the foster care system. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 young adults ages 18-24, who have aged out of the foster care system or are receiving extended youth services. Results from this study support previous findings that youth exiting the foster care system face challenges transitioning to adulthood, particularly in their efforts to learn the skills needed to function independently, gain the education and/or vocational training to gain skillful employment, and have the social and emotional support needed to help facilitate their transition. The study results indicate that 87% of the participants expressed having a caring, supportive adult in their life who has assisted them. 66% of the study participants were enrolled in post-secondary institutions and expressed the importance of placement stability to maintain school credits and supportive relationships with their teachers. Specific areas of challenge for the youth preparing to transition to independence focused on money management and daily living skills. Implications for further research, professional practice, and policy development include states incorporating tools to assess readiness for independence, addressing the barriers to education as identified in the study and exploring the impact of family involvement/support for youth exiting the foster care system.

Recent research indicates that the Internet (or Net) is currently being used at many post-secondary institutions in support of traditional, classroom-based instruction. From 1994 to 2002, the percentage of post-secondary classes using the Web as a research tool and E-mail as a method of communication has increased almost ten fold. An extensive literature on the evaluation of the Internet as an educational technology has developed in recent years; however, there are some gaps that need to be filled to provide a more complete understanding of the Internet and its use by post-secondary students. First, most of the studies focus primarily on student usage of the Net, and less so on the value (or the advantages and disadvantages) and the utility (or usefulness) associated with that usage. Second, many of these studies make a distinction between the research and communication functions of the Internet. While I argue that this is an appropriate distinction, many examine one function or the other only – and not both simultaneously. The central research problem that this study addresses is helping to fill those two gaps in the evaluation literature by examining in detail student usage, value and utility of the Net as a research and/or communication tool for post-secondary students in support of classroom-based instruction. Drawing upon work from the fields of media studies, learning theory, and theories of communication, I establish a "Net as Tool" framework and adopt a uses and gratifications approach to examine student use of the Net. The three main inter-related concepts of usage, value and utility are used as organizing themes for the study, and I designed and developed a survey instrument to gather original quantitative data from post-secondary students in both Canada and Australia to fully examine those concepts. Two focus group sessions were designed to supplement this quantitative data with qualitative findings (and to generate more in-depth insights into student usage, value and utility of the Net as a research and/or communication tool). The results presented in this study have both theoretical and practical importance. In regards to the theoretical side, I have identified the underlying dimensions of usage, value, and utility, and highlighted what makes the Net valuable and useful as a research and/or communication tool. Additionally, I have identified the factors which are related to usage, value, and utility, and explored the inter-related nature of those three concepts. I concluded my study with an outline of the importance of the skill of digital literacy so that students can cope effectively with the online environment. These findings are significant because they help to fill some specific gaps in the evaluation knowledge of the Net in post-secondary education. In addition, I have developed a practical strategy which suggests how the Net could be used most effectively by students as a research and/or communication tool in support of classroom based instruction. The areas addressed by the strategy include access, infrastructure, technical support, training, integration into the curriculum, and appropriate use of the tool. The overall strategy is important because it contributes to our understanding of the Net as an educational tool, and it outlines ways to address the issue of the digital divide within post-secondary education. It is hoped the strategy will be useful to training staff, post-secondary administrators, instructors, and students.

A misunderstanding or ignorance of the concept of worship resulting in a misuse of the word worship has necessitated clarification within the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC), an evangelical church denomination. Leaders of PAOC churches, colleges and the denomination have for the most part, received their ministerial training at PAOC theological colleges. In order for PAOC people (i.e. congregants and leaders) to correctly understand and practice biblical worship, those leading the denomination, colleges and churches require accurate teaching on the concept. Curriculum development (revision) within PAOC theological colleges may be necessary for this to take place. This thesis, therefore, studies the worship curriculum and instruction within PAOC theological colleges and clarifies the concept of Christian worship. The PAOC denomination, colleges and churches base their doctrine and practice on the principles of the Holy Bible. Therefore, laying a biblical-theological foundation when defining and teaching Christian worship is essential. If instruction in biblical worship is inadequate and/or optional in PAOC theological colleges, the accurate understanding and practice of worship by PAOC leaders and, in turn, congregants, is diminished. The vast majority of a sampling of PAOC theological college graduates and PAOC leaders believe that all students at PAOC theological colleges should be required to receive instruction in biblical worship. Since the biblical definition of worship relates more to Christians living all of life for God (or spiritual formation) than just to corporate gatherings within the church, it is recommended that worship instruction with this emphasis be required for all students at PAOC theological colleges. This instruction should take place within the biblical, theological and practical theology departments rather than the church ministry or music departments. However, since the purpose for the corporate gathering is to teach and foster whole-life worship, teaching on corporate worship should not be ignored. In order to assist church leaders in offering biblical teaching on worship to their congregations, accurate and thorough instruction at PAOC theological colleges is necessary. Included in this thesis are lesson outlines for whole-life worship instruction within spiritual formation courses or groups, and worship theology instruction within systematic theology or doctrinal courses. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

In response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2015, and the longstanding advocacy of Indigenous peoples, there is a national movement within Canada to better support Indigenous students in post-secondary institutions. Research that is strength-based, Indigenous-led, and community-focused recognizes the wealth of existing Indigenous knowledge, practices and programs across Canada. This includes the variety of interventions which are being employed to Indigenize and decolonize post-secondary institutions, such as the On-Campus Friendship Centre at Grande Prairie Regional College. The On-Campus Friendship Centre, which is an Indigenous-based support program for all students, has been running for nearly two decades. Nationally, there are 125 Friendship Centres, yet the On-Campus Friendship Centre is the only one that is directly situated within a post-secondary institution. Through the guidance of my Métis Sash Research Framework, which I created to reconcile Indigenous and qualitative methodologies, I have engaged in research that explores the role of the On-Campus Friendship Centre in the experiences of Indigenous students at Grande Prairie Regional College. From my findings, I discuss the role of the On-Campus Friendship Centre and address prominent challenges within the program. I also highlight wise-practices for improving Indigenous-based support within post-secondary institutions across Canada. / Graduate / 2019-08-31

<p>The dissertation includes two independent chapters which investigated the experiences of individuals with disabilities in connection with societal attitudes regarding disability. The first article is a systematized review which analyzes and synthesizes the existing literature on implicit and explicit disability attitudes across multiple domains (e.g., educational; occupational; healthcare). Chapter 1 identifies common themes across the existing literature and identifies potential predictors and buffers of negative disability attitudes. The article concludes with a call to counseling psychologists to address negative disability attitudes utilizing the roles and themes of the field. Finally, suggestions are made regarding the development and implementation of interventions to help address negative disability attitudes and the subsequent harmful effects. </p><p>The second article is an empirical study that examines factors related to the persistence intentions of individuals with disabilities to address the high attrition rates of this population within postsecondary environments. A moderated mediation model is proposed to address four hypotheses. First, I hypothesized academic self-efficacy would mediate the relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions. Second, coping self-efficacy would mediate the relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions. Third, social self-efficacy would mediate the relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions. Fourth, I hypothesized that endorsing a growth mindset would buffer against the negative indirect relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions which operate through academic self-efficacy. Data were collected from postsecondary students who identified as having one or multiple diagnosed disabilities at a large public university in the Midwest. The study results supported my first hypothesis that academic self-efficacy would significantly mediate the relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions. Additionally, the results revealed that high levels of perceived stereotype threat were associated with lower levels of coping self-efficacy and social self-efficacy, as the researcher anticipated. However, our second and third hypotheses were rejected due to these mediating factors not significantly influencing a participants’ intentions to persist within the academic environment. Finally, the results suggested that one’s mindset of intelligence was a positive main effect predictor of academic self-efficacy. However, contrary to our fourth hypothesis, mindset of intelligence did not significantly moderate the negative indirect relation between stereotype threat and persistence intentions that operate through academic self-efficacy.</p>

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No description available.

Increasing the access to post-secondary education is a top priority around the world, but still many graduates experience serious challenges in entering the labor market. In Tanzania the issue is prominent and partly associated with the skills mismatch, but also with the imbalance of the number of jobs available in relation to the number of graduates seeking for a job. Skills development is acritical element of all efforts in this challenging area, and therefore a number of organizations has emerged to focus on this, especially in Tanzania. The area has been explored in the literature, but mainly quantitatively on a macro-level. Hence, there is a need of more qualitative research regarding the best practices of organizations focusing on skills development. This thesis therefore aims to investigate how skills development organizations can support graduates in entering the labor market in Tanzania. The thesis is a Minor Field Study, implying that semi-structured interviews with graduates and skillsdevelopment organizations were conducted on-site in Tanzania. Further, hypotheses, regarding challenges that graduates experience when entering the labor market, were formulated and tested through qualitative and quantitative data. The findings imply that the challenges graduates experience can be categorized into three groups: structural, skills and attitude. Skills development organizations can therefore support graduates in entering the labor market by addressing these challenges and adopt measures in three different operations: the planning, the execution and the evaluation of skills development activities. Except for specific actions within each operation, the findings accentuate the importance of incorporating both the graduate and employer perspective, as well as viewing the support as a long-term process, from the first years of studies to obtaining employment. / Att öka tillgången till eftergymnasial utbildning har hög prioritet runt om i världen, men trots att fler utbildas är arbetslösheten bland unga fortfarande ett stort problem. I Tanzania är detta särskilt påtagligt och delvis förknippat med kompetens- och kunskapsbrist, men också med obalansen mellan antalet lediga jobb och antalet utexaminerade som söker jobb. Hur organisationer kan stötta unga i övergången från utbildning till arbetsmarknaden har undersökts tidigare, men då främst genom kvantitativ forskning på makronivå. Därför behövs fler kvalitativa studier om hur organisationer effektivt kan stötta unga personer in på arbetsmarknaden, vilket detta arbete syftar till. Studien har utförts som en mindre fältstudie på plats i Tanzania. Den empiriska data som har använts i studien har samlats in genom intervjuer med studenter och organisationer samt genom ett frågeformulär. De empiriska resultaten kombinerades sedan med litteratur för att besvara forskningsfrågorna. Resultaten visar att utmaningar som utexaminerade studenter upplever kan delas in i tre kategorier; strukturella-, kompetens- och attitydutmaningar. Organisationer kan därför stödja utexaminerade studenter att komma in på arbetsmarknaden genom att möta dessa utmaningar och vidta åtgärder inom tre olika områden: planering, genomförande och utvärdering av aktiviteter för kompetensutveckling. Förutom specifika åtgärder inom vardera områden, betonar resultaten vikten av att införa både student- och arbetsgivarperspektivet, samt att se stödet som en långsiktig process, från de första studieåren till anställning eller självanställning

Background Research: The COVID-19 pandemic has likely impacted the resilience of Indigenous and non-Indigenous post-secondary students in Canada. Resilience may be negatively impacted by psychological experiences such as emotional loneliness, social loneliness, and a lack of life meaning. These three psychological experiences are exacerbated by lock down measures, quarantining, and cancelled events such as weddings and funerals. Young adults in post-secondary education must already manage challenging developmental milestones, often with unstable social and familial networks. Furthermore, Indigenous students must manage potentially discriminatory post-secondary environments, as well as school curriculums that challenge Indigenous values. Understanding this, school environments require decolonizing improvements that meet the psychological needs of their students in a changing social, economic, and political climate. Improvements to loneliness and life meaning may subsequently improve resilience, in addition to academic success, inclusion, and stress recovery. Objectives: This thesis aims to provide solution-focused data using Indigenous research methodologies. This thesis specifically explores the statistical relations between emotional loneliness, social loneliness, life meaning, and resilience. Barriers to social support options (i.e., counselling, group therapy, clubs, family, friends, etc.) and university-endorsed activities (i.e., jobs, volunteering, leadership roles, etc.) are also explored for their respective impact on experiences of loneliness and life meaning. Students’ response rates and Indigenous written responses are then analysed (1) to better understand students’ lived experiences, and (2) to uncover decolonizing approaches to improving both on campus social support options and university-endorsed activities. Hypotheses: (H1) Students will report higher scores on measures of emotional loneliness than social loneliness. (H2) Lower scores on measures of emotional loneliness, as well as higher scores on measures of life meaning, will predict higher scores on measures of resilience. (H3) Lower scores on measures of perceived barriers when accessing social support options will predict lower scores on measures of loneliness. (H4) Lower scores on measures of perceived barriers when accessing university-endorsed activities will predict higher scores on measures of life meaning. Method: This thesis incorporates a decolonizing methodology outlined by Hayward et al. (2021). This study utilizes 676 participant responses (3.30% of which identified as Indigenous) from students attending the University of Victoria in a full- or part-time program (Ages: 16-56 years, M = 20.13, SD = 3.84). Data collection occurred between September to December 2021, allowing for responses over the course of one semester. During this period, students were in the process of returning to campus, with daily national COVID-19 cases around roughly 3,000-4000 individuals (Worldometer, n.d.). Online recruitment methods were completed through the Department of Psychology SONA Research Participation System, and through a listserv utilized by the IACE at the University of Victoria. Demographic Questions included employment, financial stability, living situation, social circumstances, school status, workload, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on wellbeing. Standardized Questionnaires included the de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, the Life Engagement Test, and the Brief Resiliency Questionnaire. Additional Questionnaires were created to assess student experiences when accessing both social support options (i.e., the source for support, the method and frequency of contact, and barriers when accessing) and university-endorsed activities (i.e., valued activities, valued aspects of activities, and barriers when accessing). Analysis: At the broadest level, t-tests and hierarchical regression analyses are used to demonstrate a theoretical relation between various predictors and predicted variables. To provide more detail, student response rates for various questionnaires are used to contextualize student experiences when seeking social support options and meaningful activities. For an in-depth account of student experiences, four separate thematic analyses are conducted on Indigenous written responses. Results: All four hypotheses were supported. Scores of emotional loneliness were higher than scores of social loneliness (H1). Scores of resilience were significantly predicted by scores of emotional loneliness and life meaning (H2). These findings justified an exploratory analysis, which demonstrated that only scores of life meaning, and not resilience, emotional loneliness, or social loneliness, predicted scores of school satisfaction. More frequent experiences of barriers to social support options or university-endorsed activities respectively predicted higher scores of loneliness (H3) and lower scores of life meaning (H4). These results are complemented and expanded upon by notable response rates and themes identified from Indigenous student written responses. Discussion: These results suggest the importance of resolving emotional loneliness and a lack of life meaning among post-secondary students, which may be feasible with the use of social support services and university endorsed activities. This may subsequently improve experiences of resilience and school satisfaction. Social Support Options: The Indigenous and general sample both preferred informal, offline, and known sources of support; they also preferred face-to-face, texting, video calling, and phone calling as methods of communication. Common barriers to social support options included issues of cost, the perceived severity of their needs, availability, and a perceived lack of closeness with supports. Across all domains, Indigenous participants were more likely to experience barriers when seeking support. Indigenous written responses specifically identified a need for (1) more considerate services, (2) more culturally and racially specialized services, (3) increased time and availability for each student, and (4) lowered costs. University-Endorsed Activities: The Indigenous and general sample were both more likely to value paid jobs, volunteering, research assistant positions, and off-campus employment, when compared to teaching assistant positions, on-campus employment, or other unpaid positions. They were also most likely to value meeting people with similar interests and gaining knowledge. Students were most likely to face barriers related to a lack of relevant or remote university-endorsed activities. Indigenous written responses suggest an increased need for meaningful, accessible, culturally relevant, and financially rewarding activities. Twenty-one recommendations are offered to decolonize and improve post-secondary settings. / Graduate