This study explores the perceptions of the first formal cohort of Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) students in the Somatology Department to determine the effects it has had on the social identity of these students. The Somatology ECP was one of the pioneer extended programmes offered in higher education in South Africa. The aim of the programme is to assist under-prepared students and to attend to the transformation of the programme. It is hoped that the insight gained from investigating how these ECP students perceive their situation, opportunities and experiences in relation to their full curriculum peers, can provide relevant awareness in future curriculum development of any programme using this type of extended curriculum model. In curriculum design, the focus is frequently on the academic sphere, with minimal attention to the social development of the student. In recent years there has been a movement in academia to understand the students’ experience holistically in order to develop curricula which successfully improve their academic performance. Although some research has been conducted into foundation provision offered predominantly to address the concern of low throughput rates, few studies have been conducted to determine the effects of these types of programmes on the students’ social identity. Thirteen students that were currently registered in the Somatology Extended Curriculum Programme were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and content analysis was used to identify the main themes from the data. The two main themes that emerged were that students believed the ECP programme had assisted them with the transition from high school to University. They had also constructed and adopted a particular group identity but still become fully integrated with the Full Curriculum students in their second year. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

This collection of interwoven short stories revolves around a small Southern women's college and its inhabitants. Written in first-person from various perspectives, the stories combine, much like Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, to create a final cohesive work that is not quite a novel. Main characters include the gentle, introspective teenage son of a faculty member, the garrulous student with whom he is enamored, and her skeptic of a half-sister. One parallel narrative involves a search for self and story through music and musicians, the other via a campus ghost. The focus, as with Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding, is character-driven rather than plot-based. Shared experiences--an ice storm, a betrayal by college trustees--are viewed through multiple characters, leading to a decision each, though searching for connection, must make alone.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether the culture of a society influences the way in which people justify certain aggressive behaviours in certain situations. A total of 756 students from Spain, Japan and South Africa participated in completing the CAMA, a measure of justification of aggression. The results showed that there were significant differences within the countries. There were differences in the levels of acceptance of certain acts between these countries. Further fmdings also indicated that there was a difference between the males of the countries and between the females of these countries. It was found that cultural influences and the norms within these countries bring about differences in justification of aggression in different situations. There were also some general trends of acceptance, with direct and indirect verbal acts e.g. sarcasm, hindering and shouting being more acceptable than physical acts such as hitting, killing and torture. It is hoped that the present findings of this research will make members of society more aware of their responsibility to help reduce aggressive acts by teaching and reinforcing norms against it. It is also hoped that the international community will gain better insight into the fact that South-Africa faces unique challenges because of the political and social changes in the country. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die primêre doel van die huidige studie was om vas te stelof 'n samelewing se kultuur 'n rol speel by die regverdiging van sekere aggressiewe gedrag in bepaalde omstandighede. 'n Totaal van 756 studente van Spanje, Japan en Suid Afrika het die CAMA vraelys voltooi. Die vraelys meet die regverdiging van aggressie in sekere omstandighede. Betekenisvolle verskille is tussen die lande gevind. Daar is ook betekenisvolle verskille tussen die mans van die drie lande asook tussen die vrouens van die drie lande gevind. Daar is gevind dat kulturele verskille en die norme binne 'n samelewing meebring dat daar verskille is in die mate waarin samelewings sekere aggressiewe gedrag aanvaarbaar vind in sekere situasies. Daar was ook 'n groter algemene aanvaarbaarheid van verbale aggressie bv. sarkasme, verhindering en skreeu as fisiese aggressie soos slaan, om dood te maak en marteling. Hopelik maak hierdie navorsing mense meer bewus van elkeen in die samelewing se verantwoordelikheid om die norme teen geweld te versterk asook om die norme aan hulle nageslagte oor te dra. Verder sal die internasionale gemeenskap hopelik beter insig kry oor die unieke uitdagings wat Suid-Afrika bied as gevolg van die politieke en sosiale veranderinge in die land.

Nursing students have perceived stress associated with nursing education.The purpose of this descriptive correlational research was to determine if there is a relationship between lifestyle practices and stress among baccalaureate nursing students. The sample consisted of 72 junior and senior level baccalaureate nursing students, which was 69.9% of the 102 questionnaires distributed from three schools of nursing of mid-size universities in the midwest. The procedures for protection of human subjects were followed.Pender's Health Promotion Model (1996) served as the theoretical framework for this study. Healthy lifestyle was examined using Pender's Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile (HPLP). Perceived stress was measured by Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).Findings included student's perceived stress some of the time. The mean for the PSS was 2.14. A healthy lifestyle was determined by a mean of 2.6 on the HPLP. The relationship between healthy lifestyle and perceived stress was significantly negatively correlated at a significant level (r=.4949, p=.001).The HPLP consisted of 6 subscales which measured specific components of a healthy lifestyle. Health responsibility was the first subscale. Overall, students reported never to sometimes seeking a healthcare professional to discuss health concerns or reporting unusual symptoms. Physical activity was subscale number two. Overall, one-fourth to one-third followed a planned exercise program with the same percentage reporting regular exercise. Nutrition was the third subscale. The majority of nursing students sometimes ate a healthy diet with an even larger amount never to sometimes limiting use of foods containing sugar. The fourth subscale was spiritual growth with over 40% feeling connected to some force greater than self Sub scale five was interpersonal relations. Responses to the interpersonal relations subscale indicated that students had support systems in place 80% of the time often to routinely. Stress Management was the sixth subscale of the HPLP. Almost 75% of the nursing students experienced stress and rarely participated in activities to reduce stress.Conclusions were that stress was obvious in nursing education. Stress can be reduced by components of a healthy lifestyle. Lifestyle is a controllable factor in life. Since nursing students are students of health., a healthy lifestyle should be practiced by nursing students. Eating a balanced diet, exercising, and participating in activities to reduce stress are some of the components of a healthy lifestyle.This study was significant because findings provided information about lifestyle and the relationship to perceived stress levels. Since high stress levels may reduce academic performance, and unhealthy lifestyles may increase stress, educational programs could be initiated to reduce stress and improve lifestyle behaviors. Support groups could be instituted to provide a way to support healthy lifestyle and ways to reduce stress.The study has implications for nursing students and nursing faculty. Implications include stress assessment of students and stress management education for students. Nursing faculty must educate students about possible causes of stress and provide ample ways to reduce stress by leading a healthier lifestyle. Nursing students and nursing faculty should lead a life of a health practitioner. / School of Nursing

Throughout the long nineteenth century, the European Great Powers and, after 1865, the United States competed for global dominance, and they regularly used their armies to do so. While many historians have commented on the culture of these armies’ officer corps, few have looked to the acculturation process itself that occurred at secondary schools and academies for future officers, and even fewer have compared different formative systems. In this study, I home in on three distinct models of officer acculturation—the British public schools, the monarchical cadet schools in Imperial Germany, Austria, and Russia, and the US Military Academy—which instilled the shared and recursive sets of values and behaviors that constituted European and American officer cultures. Specifically, I examine not the curricula, policies, and structures of the schools but the subterranean practices, rituals, and codes therein. What were they, how and why did they develop and change over time, which values did they transmit and which behaviors did they perpetuate, how do these relate to nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century social and cultural phenomena, and what sort of ethos did they produce among transatlantic army officers? Drawing on a wide array of sources in three languages, including archival material, official publications, letters and memoirs, and contemporary nonfiction and fiction, I have painted a highly detailed picture of subterranean life at the institutions in this study. The reader will find that although practices, rituals, and codes varied from one type of school to the next, the values and behaviors they inculcated were quite similar . . . and quite anachronistic for the liberalizing societies that the products of the schools were meant to serve.

Abstract not available

The purpose of this study was to examine the computer habits and involvement of residential freshmen matriculates at Ball State University to determine if there was a difference in campus involvement levels between students who excessively used the computer for personal or recreational activities and students who did not.The project consisted of 149 non-excessive users (five or less hours per week) and 323 excessive users (more then five hours per week) of the computer for the personal or recreational purposes. Freshmen matriculates were involved in a wide range of opportunities. The higher levels of involvement were from opportunities in Residence Hall, Welcome Week, and UniverCity categories.The findings also indicated that excessive computer users were involved as much as non-excessive users. The amount of time students spent on computers for personal or recreational purposes did not deter students from being involved during their first semester at Ball State University. / Department of Educational Leadership

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is frequently associated with negative occupational, social and psychological outcomes among community samples of adults; as such, it is expected that college students with ADHD face similar struggles. The research targeting this group of individuals, however, is sparse and tempered by significant limitations. The current study aimed to address methodological limitations in the current literature by including instruments to formally diagnosis ADHD and comorbid disorders, utilizing psychometrically sound instruments and comparing functioning of college students with ADHD across gender and subtype. It was hypothesized that participants with ADHD would report lower GPAs, higher levels of emotional distress and negative relationship characteristics than participants without ADHD. It was also hypothesized that participants with ADHD-combined type (ADHD-C) would report higher levels of substance and alcohol use than participants with ADHD-predominately inattentive type (ADHD-I), and that participants with ADHD-I would report higher levels of anxiety and depression than participants with ADHD-C. Women diagnosed with ADHD were expected to report higher levels of anxiety and depression than men diagnosed with ADHD; whereas, men diagnosed with ADHD were expected to report higher levels of substance and alcohol use than women. MANOVA, ANOVA and Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to test hypotheses. Results revealed no significant differences between the ADHD and comparison group on GPA and relationship characteristics. Participants diagnosed with ADHD did report significantly higher emotional distress than participants in the comparison group. No differences in GPA or relationship characteristics were found across ADHD subtype or gender. Overall, these findings provide evidence to suggest that college students with ADHD are functioning relatively well compared to their non-ADHD peers.

Social networking sites and virtual spaces have flourished in the past few years. The author explores the impact of such social networking services on the local community at a small liberal arts college. The author investigates modern trends in community theory. Defining community has become more difficult in modern society, where community is no longer easily distinguished by geographical boundaries. From the background of modern community theory the author explores the designation of virtual spaces as “virtual communities.” Literature and research about virtual spaces indicates that they can provide many of the values thought be to inherent to community membership. The strong localized community on campus makes students hesitant in calling Facebook a “virtual community,” despite its strong integration with the face-to-face community itself. Facebook is seen as simply a tool. This thesis incorporates research on one specific case study: through mathematical and ethnographic research of Facebook.com, the author evaluates the opinions of students in considering virtual spaces as communities.

Social networking sites and virtual spaces have flourished in the past few years. The author explores the impact of such social networking services on the local community at a small liberal arts college. The author investigates modern trends in community theory. Defining community has become more difficult in modern society, where community is no longer easily distinguished by geographical boundaries. From the background of modern community theory the author explores the designation of virtual spaces as “virtual communities.” Literature and research about virtual spaces indicates that they can provide many of the values thought be to inherent to community membership. The strong localized community on campus makes students hesitant in calling Facebook a “virtual community,” despite its strong integration with the face-to-face community itself. Facebook is seen as simply a tool. This thesis incorporates research on one specific case study: through mathematical and ethnographic research of Facebook.com, the author evaluates the opinions of students in considering virtual spaces as communities.