Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Wealth today cannot be merely measured by material acquisition but also by depth of knowledge, wisdom and understanding. This knowledge, wisdom and understanding lie in the human capital of the organisation. The dynamic nature of business today demands a constant renewal in the aspirations of the employee. Therefore, the performance of the employee in any organisation becomes the most important component. If an organisation is to gain competitive advantage, it must understand how people think, feel and act and then utilize that understanding to increase human performance. The study argues that one of the important feelings that must be understood in order to increase people effectiveness in an organisation is career management. Career management is investing in the minds of the people. The minds of the people are the source of wealth. Developing people to improve their knowledge, skills and capabilities is fundamental to the overall performance of an organisation. Career management helps identify specific talents and behaviours an individual must bring to the job. Career management also brings prosperity and job satisfaction to the individual. Career management as a system to capitalize on the employee's talents and potential should begin with a strong emphasis on personal empowerment and the elimination of self-directed negativity. Against this background, the study looks very deeply into the importance of self management. Further, the organisation itself needs to understand that peak performance is not an event but the life of the business. Whenever the results are announced the competitor listens to establish ways of doing the best. To keep up with the spirit of competitive advantage and gaining peak performance all the time, the organisation must constantly devise means to engage the emotional commitment of the employee. Such means must include career management strategies as also an attempt for employee retention. The organisation must position itself to be a facilitator of career coaching. As a facilitator of career coaching the organisation is able to plan the career success and happiness of the employee. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Vandag se rykdom kan nie net slegs deur middel van materiële geskat word nie maar asook deur diepsinningheid van wetenskap, wysheid en begrip. Hierdie kennis, wysheid en verstand rus in die menslike kapitaal van die organisasie. Die dinamiese soort van besighede deesdae verlang 'n gedurige hernuwing in die strewe van die werknemer. Daarom is dit die prestasie van die werknemer in enige organisasie wat die mees belangrikste komponent is. As die organisasie 'n mededingende voordeel wil bereik,moet die organisasie verstaan hoe mense dink, voel en optree,dan daardie verstand aanwend om menslike vermoëte verbeter. Die studie dui aan dat een van die belangrikste gevoelenswaardes wat begryp moet word om mense se vermoë te verbeter in 'n organisasie, is loopbaanbestuur. Loopbaanbestuur belê in die mense se verstandelike vermoë omdat dit 'n bron van rykdom is. Ontwikkeling van mense om hulle kennis, vermoë en bekwaamhede te verbeter is die grondbeginsel tot die totale prestering van die organisasie. Loopbaanbestuur help om spesifieke talente en houdings te identifiseer wat 'n individu aan die werk moet bring. Loopbaanbestuur bring asook voorspoed en werksbevrediging aan die individu. Loopbaanbestuur as 'n stelsel wat kapitaliseer op die werknemers se talent en potensiaal moet begin met 'n sterk klem op selfbestuur en die verwydering van persoonlike negatiewe. Teen hierdie agtergrond, kyk die studie baie diep na die belangrikheid van selfbestuur. Verder, behoort die organisasie te begryp dat topprestasies nie 'n gebeurtenis is nie, maar die siel van die besigheid is. Wanneer die uitslae aangekondig word, luister die mededinge en doen sy beste om aan nuwe maniere te dink om sy beste voor te lê. Om by te bly met die mededingende voordeel en om die hoë prestasie te bereik teen alle tye moet die organisasie aanhoudelik met metodes voorendag kom sodat die werknemer emosioneel verbind is tot die organisasie. Sulke middelweë moet loopbaan beheer strategies insluit asook 'n poging om werknemer te behou. Die organisasie moet homself so plaas dat hy 'n fasiliteerder van loopbaan afrigting is. Deur as fasiliteerder van loopbaan afrigting op te tree word dit moontlik om loopbaansukses en gelukkigheid van die werknemer te bewerkstellig.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Self-directed learning is a teaching and learning strategy considered important in fostering lifelong learning. Students take responsibility for their own learning with or without the help of others. It is expected of higher education institutions to prepare students for the dynamic world of work so that graduates are multi-skilled individuals capable of working and the same time be lifelong learners. The aim of this study was to assess the readiness to engage in self-directed learning of radiography diploma students at the Technikon Witwatersrand. Assessing the students' readiness to engage in self-directed learning is the first step in the planning and implementation of self-directed learning. The Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale was the instrument used to assess the students' readiness to engage in self-directed learning. The instrument is widely used to assess students' perceived attitudes towards self-directed learning. The scale was administered to a total of 133 students registered for the National Diploma Radiography: Diagnostics at the Technikon Witwatersrand in the year 2003. Of the 133 students, 51, 36 and 46 were in first, second and third year respectively. Data analysis revealed that the first year students' mean score on self-directed learning readiness was relatively higher than those of second and third year students. Assessment practices and prior exposures to self-directed teaching principles were identified as factors that had an influence on how the students perceived themselves to be ready to be self-directed. Results obtained from this study provide valuable information for the Department of Radiography at the Technikon Witwatersrand and any other institution in the preparation, implementation and conceptualization of self-directed learning as a teaching and learning strategy. Recommendations were that lecturers should assume self-directed learning approaches to the first year students from the onset while gradually introducing self-directed learning strategies to the second and third year students. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Selfgerigte leer is noodsaaklik om 'n klimaat van lewenslange selfontwikkeling te bevorder. Hierdie leerstrategie verplig leerders om verantwoordelikheid vir hul eie vordering te aanvaar, met beperkte hulp van ander. Daar is 'n verwagting dat Hoër Onderwys studente sal voorberei om hul plek vol te staan in dinamiese werkstituasies. Daar word ook van gekwalifiseerde beroepslui verwag om op verskeie terreine 'n bydrae te maak tot hul gekose beroep en hulself lewenslank te ontwikkel. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die diplomastudente in Radiografie by Technikon Witwatersrand se gereedheid tot selfgerigte leer te evalueer. Hierdie evaluering word algemeen beskou as die eerste stap in die beplanning en implementering van so 'n leerstrategie. Die Gereedheidskaal vir Selfgerigte Leer (Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale) is gebruik om die studente se houding teenoor hierdie onderrigmetode te evalueer. Altesaam 133 geregistreerde Radiografie studente het aan die navorsing deelgeneem. Van die 133, was 51 eerstejaar-, 36 in hul tweedejaar- en 46 finalejaarstudente. Data analise het getoon dat die eerstejaars 'n hoër graad van gereedheid getoon het vir selfgerigte leer as die tweede- en derdejaars. Die toepassing van bepaalde beginsels van evaluerings en vorige blootstelling aan hierdie leermetode is geïndentifiseer as faktore wat tot hierdie resultaat gelei het. Die resultate van hierdie navorsmg het die Radiografiedepartement aan die Technikon Witwatersrand van waardevolle inligting voorsien in die beplanning, implementering en konseptualisering van selfgerigte leer. Daar word aanbeveel dat dosente 'n selfrigtinggewende benadering met eerstejaarstudente moet volg, terwyl die selfgerigte leerbenadering geleidelik in die tweede en derde studiejare ingefaseer word.

The first year of undergraduate education is a significant transition period. During this time, students are confronted with a variety of new academic and social challenges, which require different emotional abilities so as to support the successful transition in the first year. As such, the study aims to investigate the values of emotional intelligence in facilitating the first year experience. Specifically, a conceptual model is proposed, which postulates that emotional intelligence would have an impact on self-directed learning and student engagement, which in turn, affect the first year learning outcomes. According to Salovey and Mayer (1990), emotional intelligence encompasses the abilities of the appraisal, expression and regulation of the emotions in the self and others as well as the utilization of emotions for problem solving. Its relationship with self-directed learning can be revealed from the analysis of McCombs and Whisler (1989), who suggested that three important elements drive the occurrence of self-directed learning: (i) motivation and positive affect; (ii) self-regulation and (iii) locus of control. They are, indeed, all closely associated with emotional intelligence. Building on abundant evidence showing its relationship with academic study and positive social relationships, emotional intelligence is also expected to influence student engagement. Fredrickson’s (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory also lays the ground for the relationship between the two, as it proposed that the experience of positive emotions promotes exploration and approach behaviour, which, in turn, creates more learning opportunities. Individuals who are more emotionally intelligent are better at harnessing positive emotions. A mixed-method approach with two stages of data collection was employed in this study. In stage one, a total of 1760 first year students at a university in Hong Kong responded to a survey measuring emotional intelligence and self-directed learning during the registration period. In stage two, a follow-up survey gauging students’ engagement and learning outcomes was administered to all participants from stage one at the end of the first year, with 560 responses collected in total. Four focus groups with 18 first year participants with high and low levels of emotional intelligence were also used to explore how they differed in terms of their attitudes and behaviours on self-directed learning and student engagement. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the interrelationships among emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement. The findings affirmed the values of emotional intelligence in influencing self-directed learning and student engagement, which were found to be significantly linked with student learning outcomes. As a whole, the model proposed was able to explain 14% of the variance of GPA and 34% to 40% of the variance of the cognitive, social and self-growth outcomes. The study not only unveils the interrelationships among emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement, but more importantly, it sheds light on how best to improve the quality of the first year undergraduate education as the findings suggest that the enhancement of emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement can have direct or indirect effects to desirable learning outcomes. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this qualitative research, which utilized a narrative design strategy, was to describe the process of self-regulation of a child who has bilateral cochlear implants within the social environment of school. The study investigated the use of self-regulatory strategies by the cochlear implant recipient. It also examined how the child made modifications and monitored learning during activities within the classroom as related to Vygotsky's activity theory and John Dewey's theory of social control. Through data collection of documents, observations, interviews, and researcher field notes, it was found that the child demonstrated several self-regulatory strategies. / Kristin L. Patton. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the self-directed learning (SDL) readiness of third-year medical students in comparison to previously reported scores for the general population; the relationship between SDL readiness and knowledge-based and performance-based measures of success in a medical school using an integrated medical curriculum; and to determine if knowledge-based and performance-based measures of success are significant in predicting Self-Directed Learning Readiness Survey/Learner Preference Assessment (SDLRS/LPA) and National Board of Medical Examiners Family Medicine Shelf Examination (NBME-FM) scores. This study analyzed SDLRS/LPA scores, knowledge-based scores (NBME-FM), performance-based scores (Objective Structured Clinical Examination [OSCE] and preceptor rating), and a combination of knowledge-based and performance-based scores (final grade). Analyses of 873 students resulted in mean scores of 229.06 + 23.19 for the SDLRS/LPA. Correlations were significant (p < .05) for SDLRS/LPA scores to NBME-FM scores (r = .073, p < .05). OSCE scores (r = .133, p < .01), and final grade (r = .138, p < .01). Regression analysis revealed that the total model of NBME-FM, OSC AVG, and preceptor rating predicted 2.1% of the variation in SDLRS/LPA, which was significant (p < .01). Regression analysis revealed that SDLRS/LPA, OSC AVG and preceptor ratings predicted 9.7% of the variance in NBME-FM, which was significant (p < .001). The results support previous findings that medical students' levels of SDL readiness are higher than the general population mean of 214.0 + 23.49. / While the SDLRS/LPA scores of medical students with knowledge-based and performance-based examinations were modest, they mirror the relationships that have appeared consistently across a number of studies and indicate a tendency for students with higher levels of SDL to perform better in medical preparation programs.The SDLRS/LPA adds an important dimension to the assessment of medical students, addressing the emphasis on ensuring that physician preparation programs produce practitioners who are likely to be continuing, lifelong learners. This investigation of SDL in medical education was unique in that it may be the first to look at the relationships of SDLRS/LPA scores with both knowledge-based and performance-based measures as well as with a combination of knowledge-based and performance-based measures. / by Brian W. FIndley. / Vita. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

A major change being advocated in education is that of making students more self-directing; that is, helping them become more responsible for their own learning. The focus of this investigation was on fifth grade students' use of self-directed learning strategies and self-directed perceptual skills. An experimental study was conducted using the nested design for analyzing data obtained from the Guglielmino Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, the Zimmerman and Martinez-Pons1 Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule, and the Bradley-Lane Self-Directing Perceptual Scale. One hundred fifty-two fifth graders were involved in the eight week study along with their six teachers. Both students and teachers were immersed in a module of training that included emphasis upon self-directing behaviors and learning strategies. Two striking findings emerged; namely, (a) in comparing the average number of learning strategies acquired after treatment, the experimental group (low, middle, and high IQ levels) scored 40%, 50% and 29% higher respectively, than did the control group; (b) in comparing the fifth grade students use of learning strategies it was found that most students nearly doubled the number of learning strategies they had previously acquired. Thus, it was concluded that children who do not have actual teaching of information or data concerning learning strategies will likely never acquire the same repertoire of skills that students acquire when exposed to this critical information in some specific, systematic fashion. A primary product developed for the purposes of this investigation was the Bradley-Lane Self-Directing Perceptual Scale—a 132-item Likert Scale designed to identify the self-perceptions of elementary and middle school students. After field-testing, a chi-square treatment was applied to each item of the Perceptual Scale resulting in a reliability of p<.01 for the majority (79%) of the test items, while an additional twelve items (9%) were found to be reliable at the .02 level of significance.

The aim of this work is to confirm and verify the national identity of a target group in relation to the consumption of cultural goods referring to the particular example of the National theatre. With the help of a qualitative research conducted through semi-structured personal interviews supplemented by elements of graphic projective techniques, this selected target group (young people from 16 to 35 years old) hereby represents a new meaning of patriotism and attitude towards the National theatre. The results are put into context together with the goal of my investigation and the theoretical bases.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 346-353).

Eight home economics teachers and I took up the invitation of Coulter (1993) to explore the work of Mikhail Bakhtin as a way of making us more "wide awake" (Greene, 1978) and "answerable" (Clark & Holquist, 1984) for our teaching and researching practices. The study involved learning from our own experiences inquiring into global home economics education. We met as a group once a month, and I met periodically with each teacher, for one semester. Using action research, conceptualized as grounded ethical practice, the research methods were primarily dialogues as conversational inquiry, whereby greater emphasis was given to listening and hearing than ocularcentric methods of gathering data. The three research questions that guided the study related to learning from experience in: the substantive area, in this case developing curriculum for a global perspective in home economics; the action research process, in this case as a process to effect a specific educational change; and the self or personal growth, in this case primarily professional development (Reinharz, 1992). This research report includes narrative and reflective accounts from three forms of action research within the study: teachers cooperating with an outside researcher where the researcher defines the topic and purpose of the research; teachers collaborating with a researcher where the research is seen as mutually beneficial and the topics and purposes are jointly defined; and teachers defining and conducting their own research independently or in collaboration with one another. It captures the diversity and complexity of the teachers' and the researcher's experiences and explores some of the struggles, the tensions, and the inner turmoil associated with action research for educational change. As a result of this research, we have become more consciously intentional in our practices and more thoughtful and reflective of their consequences. The phrase theorizing practice/practicing theorizing captures this notion as the teachers and I turned/retumed to the ethical questions that hold us in education.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-163).