Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 16, 2010). School of Economic Sciences." Includes bibliographical references.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a sense of low personal accomplishment that leads to decreased effectiveness at work. The researcher has chosen this particular topic because of recent developments in Lesotho where HIV/AIDS care scale up has been shifted to the clinics. The primary health care staff is requested to take care of very sick patients that need more home care and more social support. This adds to the load of the already overstretched personnel. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among health professionals (doctors and nurses) working in public health institutions in Maseru district of Lesotho using anonymous self administered questionnaires. Data were captured electronically into Epi info version 6 and analysed using Stata version 10.0 and Epi info software to generate frequency tables, to test relationship between demographic data and burnout factors. RESULTS: 200 questionnaire were administered, 155 (77.5%) were filled by health care workers. The age of respondents ranged from 20 to 65 years with 85.6% of them being female, 92.8% were nurses, 11.2% doctors. Working index data analysis showed variable results with 81.8% disagreeing that there were enough staff to provide quality patient care, 78.1% disagreeing that there were enough staff to get the work done and 72.8% that they had opportunity to work on a highly specialized patient care unit. Importantly, 61% of respondents agreed that health care workers had good working relationship. Concerning burnout profile of respondents, 63.3% felt that they were emotionally drained while 79.7% felt used up at the end of work day. 79.3% of respondents obtained satisfaction from working with HIV patients although 60.8% found working with HIV patients emotionally draining. Concerning job satisfaction, 84.2% of respondents were not satisfied with their wage. Considering association between demographics and burnout factors, male respondents were significantly more worried about the risk of contracting HIV from patients (p-value 0.01). In addition, doctors were also worried about the risk of contracting HIV from patients (p-value 0.02). This same feeling was significant among respondents working in hospitals (p-value 0.00). Hospital based respondents were also significantly more emotionally drained from their work than those in health centres (p-value 0.01). CONCLUSION: Key factors associated with burnout in this population include young age, low staffing capacity, low wage and lack of appreciation by managers. Individuals, health facility managers and government should take necessary steps in addressing these factors and thus preventing further worsening of the situation.

Abstract The purpose of this research was to investigate the current conditions and it¡¦s effectiveness of educational professional teams for the physically and mentally handicapped in Kaohsiung City. The research primarily targeted parents of the students who had received services from the educational professional teams for the physically and mentally handicapped in Kaohsiung City, teachers of the students, and administrators. The tool used was ¡§Survey Questionnaire for the Educational Professional Teams for the Physically and Mentally Handicapped in Kaohsiung City,¡¨ which was written by the researcher. Administrators and therapists for the services of these professional teams were interviewed to support the survey research. The questionnaire and interview results were analyzed and synthesized with statistical techniques, and the following findings were obtained: I. At present, in implementing professional team services in Kaohsiung City, the formulation of individualized educational plans by teachers, concerned specialized personnel, and parents, supplementary instruction, team evaluations, parent participation, and teachers¡¦ understanding of auxiliary tools still have a lot to be improved. II. In promulgating related knowledge and skills of professional teams in the the future, teachers that have no background in special education should be considered the most important targets of communication and education. III. Delays in appropriating Ministry of Education subsidies and annual budget, insufficient human resources, lacking in support of school administration, and ineffective communication of concepts of team services between professional personnel and parents are among the difficulties that team administrators face. IV. Insufficient time available for therapy, failure to match between teachers and therapists, insufficient team administrative assistance, and insufficient cooperation from parents are among the common difficulties that professional personnel face at present. V. Delayed provision of therapy service, failure to provide appropriate guidance service, and inappropriate attitude of therapists were considered by the parents that were surveyed to have to be improved with regard to the service of the educational professional teams for the physically and mentally handicapped in Kaohsiung City. VI. Insufficient service in terms of times and amounts of time, failure to provide appropriate service, time-consuming and tedious application procedures, therapists unable to support the teachers, therapists unable to participate in individualized education plans, and therapists¡¦ failure to demonstrate therapy techniques were considered by the teachers to have to be improved urgently with regard to the service of the educational professional teams for the physically and mentally handicapped in Kaohsiung City. VII. On average, the surveyed parents obtained high scores on the survey scale, indicating their subjective satisfaction with the service provided by the educational professional teams for the physically and mentally handicapped in Kaohsiung City. VIII. The surveyed teachers obtained high scores on the ¡§overall scale¡¨ and four sub-scales in the survey scale: ¡§professional integration,¡¨ ¡§professional knowledge and skills,¡¨ ¡§parent participation,¡¨ and ¡§case management,¡¨ indicating good results of implementing professional teams for the physically and mentally handicapped in Kaohsiung City. According to the findings, strategies to solve problems and suggestions on ensuing research in the future are put forth. Keyword: professional team

Program excellence in Extension is contingent on an Extension educator’s ability to identify issues, prioritize these issues, implement educational programs to address these issues and resulting in measurable outcomes, evaluate these issues and utilize the results of these evaluations to redirect educational programs, and utilize these evaluation results as the foundation for program interpretation. The future success of Extension programs is dependent on the capacity of Extension to retain highly qualified Extension educators and the ability of these Extension educators to implement the process of Extension program development. A comprehensive professional development intervention, entitled the “South Region Excellence in Programming Academy,” was designed and implemented from May 2006 to November 2006 to provide early to mid-career Extension educators with comprehensive instruction related to program planning, program implementation and evaluation and interpretation. A Pre-experimental research, One-Group pre-test-post test, involved the administration of a pre-test (O1) to research subjects followed by the Academy (X) and then followed by a post-test (O2) to determine if Extension educators’ knowledge in program development increased as result of participation in the Academy. Extension educators perceive that their proficiency in the Extension program development process increases as a result of their participation in the Academy. Extension educators incorporate principles covered during the Academy and were satisfied with the Academy in terms of providing skills that will enhance their ability to execute the Texas Cooperative Extension Program Development Model. This study showed that as an Extension educator’s knowledge of the program development process increased, and their perception of the elements of program development increased, Extension educators will incorporate the principles of program development covered during the Academy, and Extension educators were satisfied with the Academy. Recommendations are offered to improve future professional development interventions focusing on program planning, implementation, evaluation, and interpretation. The results of this study will contribute to the body of knowledge that will enhance the ability of personnel to provide quality professional development related to program development.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 1988. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Education, University of Glasgow, 1988. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

Thesis--Lund. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-79).

Thesis (PhD(Curriculum Studies))-University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

This study examined professional identity of biology faculty at four-year colleges and universities and the relationship between their perceived identity, as a scientist or a teacher, and their participation in activities related to evidence-based teaching practices. This study drew upon online survey results of 328 college and university biology faculty from across the country. Results from ordinary least squares regression indicated faculty who work at very high, high, and Master's institutions had higher perceptions of science identity. Nontenure track faculty showed higher perceptions of teaching identity. Additionally, the results of this study indicated a strong teaching identity and favorable views on evidence-based teaching related to greater participation in evidence-based teaching practices. Science identity, though positively relate to the outcome, was not a statistically significant predictor of participation in activities related to evidence-based teaching practices. An implication for practice is to recognize biology faculty members' use of newer teaching methods, such as demonstrations of student-centered teaching in lectures in promotion and tenure review. An important implication for future research would be to explore if recognition for outstanding teaching through promotion and tenure cause an increase in the number of faculty who gravitate toward more education-based scholarly activities and, in turn, develop a higher teaching identity.

No description available.