<p> The researcher explored the lived experience of adult online college honor students (AOCHS) with the goal of describing critical factors that support academic success. The study addressed a gap in the literature concerning how the technology and virtual context of adult online college education are perceived, interpreted, and employed by the most successful students in undergraduate online college degree programs. Participants described how they perceived their online learning experience, what meaning they attribute to this experience, and what strategies they employ to achieve academic success in the online learning environment. The study was based on Deming&rsquo;s total quality management philosophy, Nonaka&rsquo;s theoretical context for knowledge generation, and the community of inquiry (CoI), a conceptual framework for online education. An online questionnaire and individual telephone interviews were used to gather qualitative data, which were analyzed using thematic coding and analytic induction to address the study&rsquo;s purpose and answer the research questions. Follow-up interview subjects were purposefully selected to provide a heterogeneous sample based on self-reported demographics, priorities, and motivations. Results showed that honor students&rsquo; expect that the technologies and user interfaces in online college classes should be as engaging and effective as social media, online entertainment, and Internet commerce technologies that they use in their nonacademic lives. That online instructors should be active and encouraging participants in the learning process. And that students&rsquo; personal, academic success is supported by a mature self-image and work ethic, effective time management and workload planning, clear and timely communication with faculty members, positive collaboration with classmates, and fluent use of learning technology.</p>

<p> A large career-centered university in the state of Florida has received a grant to fund what is known as a multidisciplinary center (MDC), which will utilize innovative information communication technologies (ICT), such as video conferencing, to support educators of students with disabilities in eight primarily rural school districts in south-central Florida. Through using video conferencing technologies (VCT), rural educators can request and receive 1:1 consultation, training, and technical assistance from non-rural MDC staff on instructional strategies and interventions geared toward students with complex disabilities. Research on technology acceptance suggests that technology systems aimed at improving job performance may go underutilized if organizations fail to understand the ways certain variables impact end-user decisions to accept and use a given technology system (Venkatesh &amp; Davis, 2000; Venkatesh, Morris, Davis &amp; Davis, 2003). This instrumental collective case study utilizes the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) framework theorized by Venkatesh et al. (2003) to guide the exploration and understanding of end-user perceptions of a video conferencing technology system. Findings suggest that the collective case base their overall decision to accept and use VCT on the belief that using the system provides more timely access to service providers and that these services add value to job-related duties.</p><p>

abstract: A recorded tutorial dialogue can produce positive learning gains, when observed and used to promote discussion between a pair of learners; however, this same effect does not typically occur when an leaner observes a tutorial dialogue by himself or herself. One potential approach to enhancing learning in the latter situation is by incorporating self-explanation prompts, a proven technique for encouraging students to engage in active learning and attend to the material in a meaningful way. This study examined whether learning from observing recorded tutorial dialogues could be made more effective by adding self-explanation prompts in computer-based learning environment. The research questions in this two-experiment study were (a) Do self-explanation prompts help support student learning while watching a recorded dialogue? and (b) Does collaboratively observing (in dyads) a tutorial dialogue with self-explanation prompts help support student learning while watching a recorded dialogue? In Experiment 1, 66 participants were randomly assigned as individuals to a physics lesson (a) with self-explanation prompts (Condition 1) or (b) without self-explanation prompts (Condition 2). In Experiment 2, 20 participants were randomly assigned in 10 pairs to the same physics lesson (a) with self-explanation prompts (Condition 1) or (b) without self-explanation prompts (Condition 2). Pretests and posttests were administered, as well as other surveys that measured motivation and system usability. Although supplemental analyses showed some significant differences among individual scale items or factors, neither primary results for Experiment 1 or Experiment 2 were significant for changes in posttest scores from pretest scores for learning, motivation, or system usability assessments. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2018

M.Com. (Business Management ) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Tech. / Project and programme management have become important organisational developments in today’s business environment. The growth in projects across different sectors and industries, and their capability to enable organisations to cope with change in order to remain in business has emphasised the importance of project, programme and portfolio activities. Although project management has provided a means of achieving goals that could not be achieved in traditional ways, the single project model has failed to address issues that arise when multiple and related projects are undertaken within an organisation. Programme management has then provided a means through which organisations achieve almost everything they undertake. It has been perceived as the strategy implementation vehicle that links the overall strategy of the organisation with the portfolio of projects. While the use of programmes and programme management has grown in organisations, its capability to secure the investment of corporation has not been proven. Numerous failure stories with dramatic consequences for the corporation as a whole have been reported. With the pace of new regulations that require the appropriate and responsible management of company affairs, considering the huge investment that corporations place in programmes, it has become important to devise an efficient and effective mechanism of overseeing these investments. This research addresses the need to improve programme performance and ensure compliance with corporate policies. It focus on the governance side to determine how IT programmes can be governed while making sure that there is enough established control responsibility and accountability to ensure the achievement of the programme strategic objectives. This has been addressed by identifying corporate, information technology and project governance requirements that have implications for IT programme management. This had led to the consolidation of implications identified from the Sarbanes Oxley Act, Control Objective for Information and Related Technology and the Guide to Governance of Project Management in order to provide an integrated view of overseeing the management of programmes. The value of the research is that it has devised a conceptual framework for IT programme management governance that provides a means to ensure both programme performance and compliance to governance requirements that pertain to corporations. The value of the framework is that it contains governance requirements that ensure an efficient and effective decision-making and delivery management, focused on achieving programme goals in a consistent manner while addressing appropriate risks, issues and events that can impede the programme outcome.

The research focused on dissatisfaction with explanations of Information Technology (IT) value. IT’s business potential and the high levels of IT investment have put IT under the management spotlight. Management typically asks: “What is the contribution of our IT investments to improving our corporate strategy and business leverage?” or “How can we monitor the progress and performance of investments, in order to identify improvement actions?” Managers are, however, dissatisfied with explanations of IT value, because attempts to demonstrate the link between IT investments and business performance have produced mixed results. The research objective required the development of a framework as a step towards understanding dissatisfaction with IT value. Three case studies were used that resulted in a concluding theory consisting of a framework, a set of hypotheses describing the relationships between the elements of the framework and a pattern of conditions under which there is dissatisfaction with explanations of IT value. The theory clarifies dissatisfaction with explanations of IT value: IT is on management’s agenda due to its track record; high spending on IT; the need to exploit IT and dissatisfaction with available explanations of IT value. An outcome of this is a concern about IT’s value. Management’s concern is conditioned by factors such as their levels of comfort with IT; the business/IT relationship and management’s mindset about IT as a business resource. The concern becomes a need to control IT which requires an effective IT evaluation process in turn. Steps to ensure an effective IT evaluation process need to address the availability of alternative IT evaluation methods; the mindset about IT evaluation; flaws in IT evaluation methods; problems with defining IT value as well as IT benefits and costs complications. As a result, explanations of IT value may not be satisfactory. IT will then remain on the management agenda and management will continue to be concerned about IT value. The theory indicates two broad strategies to overcome or avoid dissatisfaction with explanations of IT value. The first strategy is to fully understand the reasons for management’s concern about IT value as well as to recognize those conditions that could influence concerns about the value of IT. The second strategy is to ensure an effective IT evaluation process by specifically addressing those factors or conditions that could impact on the effectiveness of the IT evaluation process. / Thesis (DCom (Informatics))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Informatics / unrestricted

The importance of integrating technology across the curriculum has been prominent in educational literature for the past decade. Numerous obstacles have been identified and documented surrounding the successful integration of technology in public schools. Access to hardware, appropriate software, professional training for educators, technical and financial support to sustain meaningful uses of technology in schools are the primary areas to be addressed when designing a comprehensive information technology implementation strategy for educational environments. The obstacles are clear, but many educational leaders have failed to develop a model which successfully addresses the challenge of integrating the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning and as a means of constructing new knowledge for and by students. This paper will explore how technology facilitates learning through inquiry and how inquiry supports a constructivist/constructionist approach to teaching and learning for students and professional staff. This will lead to an examination of how inquiry and constructivism advance the integration of technology in education and how it provides a venue for developing communities of inquiry in schools. A framework for two initiatives developed for Yukon schools will be presented which address many of the challenges common to the successful integration of technology in public schools today. Both initiatives, the Computer Resource Teacher Model (CRTM) and Technology Learning Communities (TLC), promote integrative and constructive uses of technology through an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning with computers. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Steam condensation phenomenon plays an important role in many industrial applications. Especially in energy sector this process requires deep understanding. When noncondensable gases are taken into consideration description of the entire phenomenon becomes more complicated. If the surface condensation is taken into consideration this additional species accumulates and creates noncondensable layer near the surface on water vapour condenses. Due to this effect heat and mass transfer rates from gas mixture decreases. Also volume condensation (if it occurs) is affected by the presence of inert gases. Several examples where the phenomena described above are important can be taken into consideration: studies of accidents in the nuclear power plants where condensation in the volume and condensation on the cold containment’s structures occurs after steam is released due to the pipe brake in the primary loop (especially this is important for PWR’s containments which in normal operation conditions are filled with air or nitrogen); condensation of steam in the pipe systems of BWR reactors where some amount of hydrogen can be accumulated due to the water vapour condensation in nonvented pipes; condensation of steam in the condensers after low pressure stage turbine; etc. Also in other fields, e.g. chemistry or meteorology, the condensation of water vapour in presence of noncondensable species plays very important role. Diffusion surface condensation model and its implementation into CFX – 4 CFD code has been described in this licentiate thesis. Three different situations have been taken into account: surface condensation of water vapour in presence of air on the vertical wall (computational results have been compared with several commonly used correlations), surface condensation of water vapour in presence of air on the horizontal wall (results have been compared with experimental data), volume condensation in presence of air (known also as spontaneous condensation) – principle of the model has been described and calculation example has been presented and analysed. / <p>QC 20100623</p>

Fatigue design of welded structures has always been important for construction equipment manufactures. The product development and manufacturing trends are reduction of lead time, cost and LCC. In manufacturing, improved quality assurance system and automated weld processes will reduce scatter and improve the possibilities for lighter structures with improved performance. At present most fatigue analysis is done using the nominal stress method or by structural testing, sometimes with improved concepts as structural stress or effective notch stress. In this thesis methods for fatigue life assessment, with higher accuracy, have been evaluated on frame structures. The main objectives in this thesis is to investigate the utility of LEFM in fatigue assessment of typical welded structures in construction equipment; to verify the accuracy of LEFM with results from fatigue testing of a complex welded structure and to achieve an better understanding of parameters that influence on crack propagation. The purpose was also to compare different fatigue assessment methods, this has been done to some extent but main part of the work has been on LEFM. An investigation of the accuracy and efforts in connection with different life prediction methods of welded joints in a complex structure has been done. The investigated structure was a frame to a wheel loader. The life prediction was performed with nominal stress, structural stress, effective notch stress and LEFM. The investigations show a lot of scatter in predicted life for the different methods. Fatigue analysis and testing of a welded frame has been performed and discussed. The structure contained typical welds for a frame to a wheel loader. A service load spectrum with an overall stress ratio, R, of about -1 was used. The test results were correlated with LEFM including different assumptions of residual stress distributions. In literature survey information useful in fatigue crack propagation analysis are compiled. The disussed concepts are crack closure, threshold values, crack growth material parameters, mixed mode conditions, variable amplitudes, small cracks and residual stresses. / QC 20101125

The knowledge regarding early stages in polymer crystallisation remains inconclusive due to experimental limitations. The reason is that the initially formed polymer crystals rearrange rapidly at the crystallisation temperature. Faster experimental techniques or simulation would be suitable alternatives to approach the problem. Another possibility would be to use constrained polymer structures, in which crystal rearrangement would be slower. Star polymers with crystallisable arms may be structures sufficiently constrained to be captured in their early crystallisation stages. This study reports the crystallisation behaviour of linear poly(c-caprolactone) (PCL) and star polymers based on dendritic cores with grafted PCL arms. Wide angle X-ray scattering proved that the crystal structures of the different polymers were the same. The samples were also studied by differential scanning calorimetry, finding that the star PCL’s had lower crystallinity, lower rate of crystal rearrangement and higher equilibrium melting point than the linear analogues. Polarized optical microscopy showed that the star polymers crystallized slower and had greater tendency to form spherulites and higher fold surface free energy than linear PCL. The single crystal morphology was more irregular in the star polymers as observed by transmission electron microscopy. These findings confirm the constraining effect of the dendritic cores in the crystallisation of the PCL arms, which retard molecular rearrangement during crystallisation and turn the studied star polymers into excellent candidates to investigate the early stages in polymer crystallisation.