Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-159). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112).

<p> The purpose of the qualitative descriptive case study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of middle school general educators using Individual Education Plans (IEPs) of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study participants consisted of 13 teachers selected from two public middle schools in a suburban county in the State of Georgia. The descriptive case study examined six links associated with the phenomena. The links were inclusion, a description of ASD complexities, and the global significance. Other links to the phenomena were the middle school structure, the legal ramifications, and stakeholder involvement. The six themes and three subthemes developed from the analytic generalizations related to the research question. The data collection procedure included semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Data analysis included using NVivo 10 software to code, organize, and categorize data. The results of the study recommended training and support for general educators using the IEPs of ASD students in middle schools. The conclusion of the study acknowledged the necessity for allowing general educators to make suggestions and accommodations to update middle school IEPs. The study recommended five suggestions to improve the education of middle school ASD students. Three of the recommendations were a project study, developing middle school mini IEPs, and detailed structuring to manage on-going training sessions. Also, parent and student meetings and meet and greet sessions can stabilize parent, student, and every middle school general educator&rsquo;s involvement. </p>

This study investigates the experiences of first year engineering students to a newly implemented engineering problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at Victoria University; its effects on their approaches to learning and their learning outcomes. This qualitative study, which uses ethnographic approaches for data collection and analysis, focuses on the learning cultures that emerge in multicultural PBL teams by interpreting the responses of students to the new emphasis on autonomous learning. In the first year of the curriculum change in this PBL setting, this research captures and theorises student approaches to learning as a team and their learning outcomes by analysing the ways in which these students approach and direct their learning as individuals and as a team.

This study is concerned with the development of entrepreneurship in young Thais, studying at high school level through an entrepreneurship encouragement program undertaken during the recent period of Thailand's economic recovery. This program is considered new to the country since it focuses on high school participants, a target-group untapped by most existing business incubation programs. In addition, it also takes significant account of the experiential learning method for entrepreneurship development. The research shows that the program had substantial, yet limited impact in encouraging its participants to become future entrepreneurs. This was due to the individual background, parental influence, and differences in their own beliefs that played an essential role in supporting or hindering young Thais towards entrepreneurship. Quantitative and qualitative research methods, used in conjunction, were used to portray the overall effectiveness of this program; such a mixed method is not commonly practiced in most entrepreneurship program evaluations. Quantitative research was used primarily to give representative results on how well the specific program objectives had been achieved by the participants as well as to select representatives of the program for the qualitative data gathering. Qualitative research was utilised to capture testimonials of program impacts and to obtain a comprehensive interpretation of participants’ perceptions, evaluation of program effectiveness, and the factors that support or hinder their development towards entrepreneurship. The study suggests that this short-term entrepreneurship encouragement program had limited success; success was dependent on both personal and external factors relating to each participant. It showed that one’s prior condition was a significant determinant of the varying level of success. The program was able to encourage the participants with relatively limited business experience towards entrepreneurship, specifically in stimulating more awareness and knowledge in developing entrepreneurial competencies. For those participants with an established background in business, the program provided a period of incubation that encouraged them to become entrepreneurs; it provided them with an opportunity of real business implementation that increased their prospects of success in future entrepreneurship. The concrete success levels revealed by the study suggests that this short-term entrepreneurship encouragement program might best position itself by providing an initial selection process to separate the ‘entrepreneurto- be’ from the ‘will not be’. The selected ‘entrepreneur-to-be’ could then be further groomed to be one of the successful entrepreneurs to play an important role in driving the long-term economic growth of Thailand.

This study focuses on the development of the English for Architecture Program for architecture students at Chulalongkorn University. The research is set in the context of significant of change being made to the English for Architecture Program at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. The study is based on a needs assessment within the Proactive Form of Evaluation as categorised by Owen, with Rogers (1999) and Owen (2006). The research was conducted in two phases: a research review and a needs assessment. Following an analysis of these phases, a policy for revised English for Architecture Program was developed. A research review was undertaken to determine current best practice in self-directed English language programs. The needs assessment, involving questionnaire surveys, consisted of three steps, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The first involved determining the perceived needs of students prior to undertaking the English for Architecture Program; the second involved determining the desired needs of students following their exposure to an introductory English for Architecture Program; the third involved identifying the desired needs of teachers who teach the English for Architecture Program. A comparison of the quantitative outcomes of the surveys, using descriptive statistics, was undertaken in order to make a comparison between the three sets of responses. The issues that emerged – the role of students, learning style, materials, and assessment – were further investigated, using qualitative methods, by a series of semi-structured interviews undertaken with representative samples of students, and with experienced staff teaching the English for Architecture Program. The three sets of responses to the questionnaire, together with the issues that were discussed in the interviews, were used to determine the needs of a revised program. Finally, the needs were matched with the outcomes of the research review in order to provide the basis for a complete course revision. The findings of this study were validated by means of triangulation of the outcomes of the research: the needs assessment and semi-structured interviews undertaken with architecture students and teachers; the outcomes of the research review. The findings in the study indicate that teachers and students agreed that self-directed learning is an appropriate alternative way of teaching that can change the teaching and learning situation in the Thai context, and that such a change might help improve the efficiency in learning. The research has three significant outcomes: the development of a policy for revised English for Architecture Program for architecture students; a demonstration of the effectiveness of Proactive Evaluation in developing such policy; identification of key elements that are required for change in organisations.

This research identifies the professional development needs of fifty District Directors employed by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Bangkok, Thailand, in order to produce an operational strategy for a learning organisation and an improvement in work quality. The population sample consists of the Permanent Secretary, two Deputy Permanent Secretaries, and all fifty District Directors of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The research involves a Proactive Evaluation, in which a needs assessment of a group of fifty District Directors is undertaken. A mixed methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, is applied. The quantitative research component applies a three-round Delphi survey of the fifty District Directors. The Delphi survey identified seven areas from the sixteen originally submitted; as well, a set of five professional development strategies is identified. The seven elements needed to improve their skills and competencies were: leading an organisation; administering responsibilities rapidly and transparently in order to provide effective service; being mature; establishing good human relationships; collaborating effectively with people and their organizations; providing moral leadership that is concerned with equity and equality; understanding people in order to satisfy their needs. The five professional development strategies required to promote these needs were: improving skills and competencies; successful training; overcoming problems with training; the duration of training programs; selecting suitable training venues. Finally, in order to draw these various elements together, a professional development training policy designed to benefit present and future District Directors of the BMA is developed.

Statistics show that Australia has an ageing population which will experience radical changes over the next 50 years due to the progression into retirement of generations born in the ‘baby boom’ years (1945-1965). Statistics also show that the proportion of Australian people over 65 is increasing and, as the majority of deaths occur in this age group the demand for palliative care, or care of the dying, is also likely to increase. Many retiring baby boomers looking for a sea change, gravitate towards coastal and rural areas may well be contributing to Foskey’s (1998) notion of ‘Aged Care Ghettos’ where these areas may not have the desired infrastructure to deal with an increased demand for health services including palliative care services. An increasing focus on, and public interest in palliative care research will likely emerge in keeping with the changing needs of an ageing population. It will become particularly important that relevant research undertakings are initiated to establish a clearer understanding of the issues and problems surrounding palliative care. At the present time there exists a limited research base in relation to palliative care and related services in Australia. While there has been a concentration of palliative support services in urban settings this has not been the case in rural based settings. Palliative Care Australia (2000) reported that half of the people receiving palliative care in Victoria in 1997 died in rural and regional areas, which may be attributed to harsher living environments, poor access to health services, specialists, and health professionals, lower socio-economic status and employment levels, and exposure to occupational hazards. This thesis is concerned with examining palliative care services and related needs in a selected rural area within the Australian state of Victoria. The overall aim of this research was to investigate the availability of palliative care services, trends in ageing and to examine the relationship between the two. Methodology used in this research incorporated a sequential mixed methods approach of quantitative and then qualitative methodology to determine the relationship between the needs of an ageing population and rural palliative care service delivery in Australia. The data collection included demographic statistics from the Australian Bureau of Census and Statistics and Palliative Care Australia, and were used for descriptive purposes to inform and support this research. Other ordinal data were obtained using a questionnaire. These data were analysed in the context of the research. Qualitative data were obtained through interviews with focus groups. The Gippsland area provided an excellent area for this research and the findings of this research would appear to be consistent with the literature relating to access and equity issues faced in rural areas. Other rural areas may replicate the data gathering used in this research. A number of conclusions are able to be drawn from this research based on the review of literature and examination of the emerging issues, results and findings. Statistical projections into ageing indicate that the health of all Australians will have significant consequences for our society as we generally live longer and healthier lives. Health and ageing predictions and projections should prompt key stakeholders including baby boomers, the aged cohorts of the future, to plan and prepare, perhaps redefining ageing in the attempt. Findings further show that planning should include preparations for the expected rise of dementia related diseases and the implications of gender on health which will have ramifications for an ageing population, and in particular for women as carers in our society. As a result of this research recommendations are made for a model for the delivery of palliative care services in rural areas, which is specific to the needs of an ageing population. These recommendations are made in acknowledgement and with respect and consideration for the concerns of the rural community where feedback from focus group participants suggests that rather than another ‘model’, a hospice is what is needed to meet the current and future needs of rural communities. “Another ‘Model’ is the last thing we need, it’s not the how we are doing things, it’s the where – we desperately need a hospice down here” and, “It’s bricks and mortar we want down here, not more theories”. Evidence collected from this research also suggests that a ‘rural attitude’ to death and dying may prevail. In its simplest form, this attitude emerges in statements such as: ‘it’s the country you expect to get less’ and ‘we just look after our own when we can’. It is also apparent that while people in rural areas have the same medical and palliative care needs as those in metropolitan areas, this research shows that they are differentially disadvantaged when it comes to accessing palliative care services. This research has found that a negative relationship exists between ageing trends in a selected rural area of Australia chosen for this study and the availability of palliative care services.

This research was concerned with an Interactive Evaluation, using an Action Research approach, of the effectiveness of using a Student-Centred Cooperative Approach – as opposed to the more traditional teacher-centred method – in the teaching of a Third Year Architecture subject, ‘Studio Project Design’. The four steps of Action Research – plan, act, observe and reflect – were used to make judgements and recommendations about this new approach. The respondents of this study were forty-six students – of whom twelve were also volunteer participant-interviewees – enrolled in Studio Design, together with three teachers, at the Faculty of Architecture, Sriburapha University, Bangkok, Thailand. A qualitative approach was used to collect and analyse student and staff opinion. The concepts of cooperative learning – including co-operative learning approaches, cooperative instruction, teaching cooperative learning skills, and responses to cooperative learning – were all shown to be relevant in student-centred learning. My Studio Design students and I, jointly, engaged in this research – improving students’ abilities in all components of Studio Design, as well as developing a positive attitude towards design, in general. Most significantly, all students ‘switched on’ to study as a result of the cooperative learning approach used in Studio Project Design. The research was concerned with determining whether or not a Student-Centred Cooperative Approach – which used cooperative and problem-based learning methods – resulted in improved student outcomes. Positive affective outcomes included development of a positive attitude towards design, and an increase in students’ technical and academic competencies that helped them to meet design demands. The outcome was positive. Students increased their learning competencies, enhanced their social skills, were more motivated to study, developed a higher level of interdependence, enjoyed the freedom to think ‘outside the square’, and increased their creativity when exposed to a Student-Centred Approach. To make a Student-Centred Cooperative Approach work more effectively, teachers and administrators within the School of Architecture need to embrace two key elements: first, by seeking to adapt themselves to change by engaging in lifelong learning; second, by undertaking special professional training courses in architecture.

The study is set in the context of increased competition and rapid change in the telecommunications industry in Thailand. The aim of the research and the selected methodological tool of benchmarking is to contribute to improvement of work performance and to provide a basis for such improvement in the Business Management Sector III, including development of employee skills and knowledge, and increasing technical and professional capabilities. This study investigates the workplace practices of TOT Corporation Public Company (TOT) employees, comparing two divisions and utilizing the findings to contribute to plans for continuous improvement. The research complements the corporation's overall strategy to become a learning organization. Qualitative ethnographic research methodology is employed usmg a case study approach and descriptive statistical information is gathered using the methodological tool of internal benchmarking. The internal benchmarking is conducted in the phases of planning analysis integration, action phase and maturity. The research tools employed to conduct the study are observation, interview and self-reflection. The comparison of the revenue sharing process of Sector III, Divisions I and III staff from the observations, interviews and self-reflection provides details of changes deemed to be desirable to be adopted, according to eight themes namely, system management, time management, learning, learning organization, teamwork, motivation, professional development and benchmarking. It is indicated that there are key factors that TOT should consider regarding its organization and staff. An organization where people continually learn how to learn together, should ultimately become a learning organization and its staff require professional development and motivation. However, environmental and financial issues cannot all be resolved immediately and long term planning is required before full movement to a learning organization can occur. This thesis has identified areas of new knowledge for TOT. Benchmarking the two divisions enhances knowledge, understanding and self-development which can bring about the competitive edge that TOT requires. It not only pennits improved work processes but also conceptual thinking, although this is an ongoing process and change will continue to occur. The system management, time management, learning organization, professional development, teamwork and motivation are aspects that TOT should consider for attaining best practice. Knowledge management is required to allow staff to become learners and have improved performance. Employees can learn from their working experience in order to become regular and lifelong learners. This in tum is likely to lead TOT to become a learning organization. This study of performance and change in a large telecommunications company makes a contribution to the industry both nationally and internationally. It contributes to our understanding and knowledge of how change may be managed in a traditional organization in such a way as to enable it to move towards becoming a learning organization.