Occupational stressors have been extensively studied as predictors of safety performance and employee well-being in previous research. However, many newly introduced organizational constructs that have the characteristics of an occupational stressor have rarely been studied as such, especially from a within-person perspective. The current study focused on three occupational stressors in relation to safety performance. Based on previous literature, I proposed that within individuals, compulsory citizenship behavior, illegitimate tasks, and interpersonal conflict at work as occupational stressors would have negative effects on employees well-being and safety performance through negative emotions (anger), job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and role stressors (role conflict and role ambiguity). In addition, reception of organizational citizenship behavior (ROCB) and perceived safety climate were hypothesized to moderate the relationships of the three occupational stressors with safety performance and employee well-being. Seventy-one nurses were recruited, and data were collected from their survey responses about their daily experiences on the focal variables for 9 shifts over three consecutive working weeks. Results showed that within individuals, the three occupational stressors were positively associated with employee burnout and physical symptoms, and evidence was found that those associations might be mediated by anger, job satisfaction and role conflict. Further, ROCB was found to moderate some of the associations of occupational stressors with safety performance and employee well-being. However, the current study failed to find support for any of the hypotheses regarding perceived safety performance as a moderator in this sample. Findings, limitations and future directions were discussed.

Bakgrund: Omvårdnad är ett ord som kan ha flera olika betydelser, det kan vara ett verb som något man utövar eller en synonym med kunskap som något som erhålls. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva vad sjuksköterskor och undersköterskor ansåg inbegripas av begreppet omvårdnad och “god omvårdnad” samt vad för arbetsuppgifter de olika yrkeskategorierna utförde inom ramen för omvårdnad. Metod:Individuella intervjuer av tre sjuksköterskor och fyra undersköterskor. Innehållet analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Fem teman och 21 kategorier framkom. Resultat: Respondenterna uttryckte att den basala omvårdnaden hade en central roll inom begreppet omvårdnad. Vid diskussion om vad god omvårdnad innebar framhävde de flesta att ett gott bemötande var avgörande, att utföra arbetsuppgifter med omtanke och respekt. Att bedriva personcentrerad vård ansågs även ge god omvårdnad. Förutom basal omvårdnad och bemötande framkom det att medicinsk teknik var en stor del av arbetet inom omvårdnaden och att samarbete var en viktig del. Det rådde få meningsskiljaktigheter angående sjuksköterskans respektive undersköterskans arbetsuppgifter. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskorna och undersköterskorna som intervjuats har till stor del en samlad bild utav vad begreppet omvårdnad innebär. Det fokuserades mest på basal omvårdnad och gott bemötande vilket båda är två viktiga och centrala delar inom omvårdnaden. Att det inte fanns många meningsskiljaktigheter mellan undersköterskorna och sjuksköterskan kan ses som ett resultat av en tydlig arbetsfördelning. / Background: Nursing is a word that can have several meanings, it can be a verb or be synonymous with knowledge. Aim: The aim with this study was to describe what registered nurses (RN) and certified nursing assistant (CNA) perceived by the expressions nursing  and “qualitative nursing ” and what tasks at work these two different professions performed within the limits of nursing. Method: Qualitative interview study with individual interviews with three RN's and four CNA's. The content was analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Five themes and 21 categories arose. Results: The respondents expressed that the basal nursing care had a central role within the concept; nursing. At discussions about what good nursing meant, it was brought forth that a good interaction was decisive, to perform work related tasks with consideration and respect. To exercise person centered care was also considered to be good nursing. Besides basal nursing care and interactions it became apparent that medical technique is a big part of the job within nursing and that cooperation is an important part as well. There were few differences in opinions concerning RN respectively CNA job tasks. Conclusion: RN's and CNA's that were interviewed have the same general idea about what the concept nursing implies. It mainly focused on basal nursing care and good interactions, which were both considered as important parts within nursing. It can be seen that the lack of differences in opinion between CNA's and RN's is brought forth by a clear division of work between the two.

The tasks generating and their answers automatic checking problems of web-based assessment and testing systems was formulated in this document. The main tasks for thesis were set. The similar systems were analyzed and possible solutions reviewed. In this case, was decided to design the tasks generating and automatic checking software, which will resolve the tasks, brought to user’s recurrence, improve the skills checking. The technologies for this project realization were choused. The created software system was tested and the quality analysis was made. Finally, the experimental research was accomplished. All the research results showed that the raised problems were resolved.

Master’s theses “Application Physics Practical Tasks and Reasoning Schemes in Teaching Mechanic Concepts“ consists of an introduction, 3 sections, conclusions, references to literature and 3 annexes. 8 tables and 18 pictures are presented in the work. The work comprises 72 pages (83 with annexes). Application physics practical task and reasoning schemes, teaching mechanic concept is examined in the theses. The problem of pedagogical and psychological concepts’ formation is examined in section I. In section II all the methodological material (the reasoning of the tasks system, structure and content is presented). The results of the pedagogical experiment are presented in section III. The pedagogical experiment showed, that practical tasks and their conceptional schemes help pupils to improve knowledge in physics as well as an effective way to raise the motivation.

Šio darbo tikslas išspręsti stochastinio programavimo uždavinį panaudojant matematinius paketu. Šiems sprendimams atlikti suprojektuojamas sprendimo algoritmas pagal analizuojama stochastinio programavimo matematinį modelį. Pagal sudarytą sprendimo algoritmą realizuojamas programinis kodas Mathcad, Maple ir MatLab matematiniuose paketuose. Gautų galutinių rezultatų analizė. Darbo metu išskiriamos atitinkamos funkcijos matematiniuose paketuose, kurios naudojamos realizuojant sprendimo algoritmą programiniu kodu. Pateikiamas nelygybių sprendimo struktūrinis modelis kiekvienam iš pasirinktųjų matematinių paketų. Darbo aprašyme pateikiamos sutrumpintos atliekamo tyrimo ir jo dalių teorinės ir praktinės žinios. / The aim of this work is to solve stochastic programming task using mathematical packages. For solving these tasks is projected algorithm according to analyzed stochastic programming mathematical model. Also, according to projected algorithm there is written programmed code for mathematical packages Mathcad, Maple and MatLab. Analyze of work’s results. There is a list of functions used in mathematical packages during project. Also, structural model for solving equalities systems is given for all chosen mathematical packages. In description of this work, you can find a brief theoretical and practical knowledge of this research and its parts.

The goal of this thesis was to define the nature and outcomes of Australian professional supervision by applying Holloway's (1995) Systems Approach to Supervision (SAS) across professional groups. Many Australian professionals such as psychologists, counsellors, and accountants are required to participate in some form of supervision before being granted permission, via registration, to practice independently within their respective fields. This is the first study of its kind to investigate the supervision experience of a range of professional groups within Australia. The SAS model (Holloway, 1995) provided a well-researched theoretical and practical framework with the potential to be applied across professional groups for the purposes of developing, evaluating and enhancing supervisor and supervisee practice. Based on the model, Holloway proposed a number of teaching tasks and functions in a matrix to explain the process of supervision and to assist in the professional and personal development of supervisees. To date, most of the literature on professional supervision has failed to provide a theoretical framework from which results could be meaningfully interpreted. This thesis outlines a program of research which used the SAS model as a theoretical basis for understanding and evaluating the experience of supervision amongst a range of Australian professional and its relationship to effective professional practice. Four studies were conducted in accordance with Mackenzie and House's (1979) Model of Scientific Inquiry. The first study (Study One) was exploratory in nature, and aimed to define the term "supervision" and the anticipated outcomes of supervision activities. The second study (Study Two) was also exploratory in nature, and aimed to evaluate the modes of supervision delivery as well as to collect information regarding the key tasks and functions utilised in professional supervision. The third study (Study Three) was empirical in nature, and investigated the supervision experience of psychologists engaged in supervision in accordance with the SAS model (Holloway, 1995). It longitudinally tracked their performance over a 12-month period as evaluated by both their supervisors and work managers. The fourth study (Study Four) was confirmatory in nature, and was the same as the third study but comprised a different sample of business and accounting (who were not Certified Public Accountants) graduates. The four studies consisted of four separate samples surveyed with self-report measures developed from the SAS model (Holloway, 1995) by the researcher. Study One comprised a sample of 210 supervisor-supervisee dyads. Professional groups in this sample were psychologists, counsellors, nurses, occupational therapists, financial advisors, business consultants, and accountants (without CPA) all of whom were participating in a supervision process. Study Two comprised a total of 200 supervisees broken down into four groups of 50. The professional types included in this sample were psychologists, counsellors, nurses and business consultants and accountants (without a CPA). Study Three comprised 513 supervisees who were participating in supervision as part of the criteria to become fully registered psychologists. Study Four included 480 business consultants and accountants (without CPA) who were in the early years of their career and were participating in supervision as part of their professional development. The central aims of the supervision experience, according to supervisees and supervisors, were to develop skills in counselling, case experience, professional experience, emotional awareness, the ability to self-evaluate and network. The six reported outcomes of supervision were that professional supervision enhanced supervisees' ability to self-evaluate, gain academic knowledge, become emotionally aware, develop profession networks, develop both professional and work skills and to build on relationship skills. The findings supported and extended the SAS model (Holloway, 1995) by adding the tasks of academic knowledge and networking. The definition of supervision found in this research program also supported and built on the definitions already provided in the literature. There was considerable support for the SAS model's matrix in that particular supervision functions employed to teach certain supervision tasks were more effective than others. For example, on the one hand, to teach a supervisee the skill of emotional awareness, a supervisor is best advised to take a supportive/sharing approach. On the other hand, it was shown that the teaching strategy of monitoring/evaluating was not found to be conducive to teaching case conceptualisation skills. The findings also suggested two enhancements to Holloway's original conceptualisation of the SAS model of supervision delivery mode and supervisor allocation. Furthermore, the findings confirmed that the SAS model can be applied to teach and objectively evaluate supervision success by supervisors and managers across professional groups. There were six major contributions of this research program to the field of professional supervision: First, there was the application and validation of a theoretical model, Holloway's (1995) Systems Approach to Supervision, to the supervision experience. Second, there was the development and application of scales to measure supervision performance and satisfaction reliably and with demonstrated construct validity. Third, the methodology which included the collection of both qualitative and quantitative responses from supervisees, supervisors, and managers provided a multi-method approach to understanding professional supervision across professional groups. Fourth, a uniform definition of supervision was identified across a range of professional groups. Fifth, Holloway's supervision teaching matrix was empirically supported and the findings recommend it as a mechanism for developing, evaluating and enhancing supervisor and supervisee practice across a range of professional types. The SAS model was found to be relevant to health-related professional groups but also supported in business-related professional groups. Finally, the research recommended some modifications to the SAS model to incorporate factors such as supervision delivery mode. These additions and the results of the longitudinal research suggested that supervision effectiveness was a predictor of on the job performance ratings by managers. Based on a scan of the literature to date, this research program outlines the first longitudinal empirical study of the relationship between supervision effectiveness and on-the-job performance using a range of professional groups. Limitations and future directions were discussed.

Το Σύστημα Διαχείρισης Μαθησιακών Δραστηριοτήτων LAMS είναι ένα διαδικτυακό εργαλείο για τη δημιουργία και διαχείριση ακολουθιών μαθησιακών δραστηριοτήτων με στόχο την υποστήριξη της σύγχρονης και ασύγχρονης μαθησιακής διαδικασίας. Στην παρούσα έρευνα περιγράφεται μία μελέτη περίπτωσης για την οποία μελετώνται η σχεδίαση, η ανάπτυξη-υλοποίηση και η αξιολόγηση κατάλληλων ακολουθιών μαθησιακών δραστηριοτήτων με το LAMS στα πλαίσια της Θεματικής Ενότητας (ΘΕ) ΠΛΗ37 του ΕΑΠ κατά το ακαδημαϊκό έτος 2010-2011. Οι ακολουθίες μαθησιακών δραστηριοτήτων διατέθηκαν στους φοιτητές μέσω της πλατφόρμας ασύγχρονης και εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευσης (εξΑΕ) Moodle της εν λόγω ΘΕ και ο κύριος στόχος τους ήταν η υποστήριξη των φοιτητών στην εκπόνηση των δύο (2) πρώτων γραπτών εργασιών (ΓΕ) τους. Στα πλαίσια της έρευνας μελετήθηκαν οι αντιλήψεις και οι στάσεις των φοιτητών αναφορικά με τις μαθησιακές δραστηριότητες LAMS, η συμμετοχή τους στις δραστηριότητες αυτές, καθώς και οι γραπτές επιδόσεις τους στις δύο (2) πρώτες ΓΕ της συγκεκριμένης ΘΕ. Για το σκοπό αυτό, οι φοιτητές συμπλήρωσαν ανώνυμο ερωτηματολόγιο και συμμετείχαν σε ατομικές συνεντεύξεις μετά το πέρας της ΘΕ, ενώ αξιοποιήθηκαν τα αρχεία καταγραφής τόσο του LAMS όσο και του Moodle. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι οι φοιτητές εξέφρασαν θετικές αντιλήψεις και απέκτησαν θετική στάση αναφορικά με τις μαθησιακές δραστηριότητες LAMS, ενώ επίσης, παρατηρήθηκε θετική γραμμική συσχέτιση της συμμετοχής τους στις συγκεκριμένες μαθησιακές δραστηριότητες και των επιδόσεών τους στις αντίστοιχες ΓΕ. / The Learning Activity Management System LAMS is a web tool for creating and managing sequences of Learning Activities in support of synchronous and asynchronous learning process. This research describes a case study which examined the design, development-implementation and evaluation of appropriate sequences of learning activities with LAMS, in the PLI37 course of the Hellenic Open University, during the academic year 2010-2011. These sequences of learning activities were available to students through the asynchronous distance learning platform of Moodle, aiming to support the students in the preparation of their first two written tasks. The research examined the conceptions and attitudes of students regarding the learning activities of LAMS, their participation in these activities and their written performance in the first two written tasks. For this purpose, the students completed an anonymous questionnaire and participated in individual interviews after the end of the course, while the log files of LAMS and Moodle were also evaluated. The results showed that students expressed positive conceptions and acquired positive attitudes towards the learning activities of LAMS, while a positive linear correlation between the participation in the learning activities and the performance in their respective written tasks was also observed.

Além de um canal para adquirir informações sobre o ambiente ao nosso redor, o sentido do tato é também o nosso sentido mais social. No entanto, a interação háptica é geralmente implementada como chamariz nas interfaces modernas. Embora a comunicação multimodal seja comum em Ambientes Virtuais, as tecnologias de Realidade Virtual mais acessíveis nem sequer incluem o componente háptico como parte fundamental. Esta tese apresenta estudos sobre percepção, desempenho do usuário, e experiência do usuário com dispositivos de comunicação vibrotátil construídos para suportar diferentes tarefas interativas em ambientes virtuais e físicos. Foram avaliados diferentes atuadores hápticos, configurações de exibição tátil, locais do corpo, perfis de usuário, e métodos para se projetar uma plataforma tátil robusta. Tal plataforma foi finalmente construída como uma tela vibrotátil para ser usada ao redor da cabeça e para suportar tarefas de consciência espacial e comunicação em ambientes virtuais e físicos. Durante a pesquisa foi observado que, apesar de sua importância para a comunicação, o uso proativo de háptica para intercomunicação é surpreendentemente negligenciado. Portanto, foi dada especial atenção aos elementos presentes na articulação da fala para introduzir a articulação háptica proativa como uma nova abordagem para intercomunicação. Foi proposto que a habilidade de usar uma interface háptica como uma ferramenta para comunicação implícita pode suplementar a comunicação e suportar tarefas colaborativas próximas e remotas em diferentes contextos. Além disso, uma interface articulatória pode fornecer um modo direto e expressivo de se comunicar através de sinais táteis. Para demonstrar isso, os resultados dessa pesquisa foram aplicados ao projeto de uma tela montada na cabeça com vibração, especialmente feita para interação com ambientes virtuais imersivos. Tal aparato mostrou-se útil não apenas para orientação no espaço 3D, mas também para intercomunicação em ambientes virtuais colaborativos. Além de nossas contribuições técnicas em relação à construção de uma tela tátil totalmente testada para múltiplas tarefas e contextos, nossa principal contribuição é a concepção e demonstração de um novo paradigma de interação tátil. Tal paradigma se concentra em fornecer maneiras simples e diretas para que indivíduos se expressem através de sinais táteis em aplicações mediadas por computador para interair com seu ambiente e com outros indivíduos. Esse paradigma envolve os usuários finais e permite que eles se tornem interlocutores ao invés de meros receptores do feedback tátil. / The sense of touch not only is a channel for acquiring information about the environment around us, it is also our most social sense. However, haptic interaction is usually implemented as a gimmick feature in modern interfaces. Although multimodal communication is commonplace in Virtual Environments, the most accessible Virtual Reality technologies do not even include the haptic component as a fundamental part. This thesis presents studies on perception, user performance, and user experience with vibrotactile communication devices built to support different interactive tasks in virtual and physical environments. We have assessed different haptic actuators, tactile display configurations, body sites, user profiles and methods to design a robust tactile platform. Such platform was finally built as a vibrotactile display to be worn around the head and to support spatial awareness and communication in both virtual and physical environments. During our research, we particularly notice that the proactive use of touch for intercommunication is surprisingly neglected regardless of its importance for communication. Therefore, we have also directed our attention to elements present in speech articulation to introduce proactive haptic articulation as a novel approach for intercommunication. We propose that the ability to use a haptic interface as a tool for implicit communication can supplement communication and support near and remote collaborative tasks in different contexts. In addition, an articulatory interface can provide a direct and expressive way for communicating through tactile cues. To demonstrate that, our results were applied to the design of a vibrotactile head-mounted display especially made for interaction with immersive virtual environments. Such apparatus was shown not only to support guidance in 3D space but also to support intercommunication in collaborative virtual environments. In addition to our technical contributions regarding the construction of a fully tested tactile display for multiple tasks and contexts, our main contribution is the conception and demonstration of a new paradigm for tactile interaction. Such paradigm focuses on providing simple and direct ways for individuals to express themselves through tactile cues in computer-mediated interaction with their environment and with others. Such paradigm embraces the final users and allows them to become interlocutors rather than just receivers of the haptic feedback.

This diploma work deals the possibilities of use of demonstration set in teaching of optics in the physics. It is focused on general use of technical didactical means in teaching and various approachs to experiments in the school physics. Comparison of actually available sets for demonstration experiments is incorporated in this work. It contains also set of selected experiments and worksheets which were used for verification of tasks. Results of the worksheets are analysed and form the part of the work. The aim is to verify the benefit of use of demonstration sets in the physics teaching.

Técnicas de visualização de informações multidimensionais têm o potencial de auxiliar na análise visual e exploração de grandes conjuntos de dados, através do emprego de mecanismos que buscam tanto representar visualmente os dados quanto permitir ao usuário a interação com estas representações. Neste contexto, diversas técnicas têm sido desenvolvidas, muitas delas sem uma avaliação detalhada e aprofundada tanto de eficiência como de utilidade no suporte às necessidades dos usuários. Contudo, há relativamente pouco tempo começaram a ser publicados trabalhos abordando as diversas questões relacionadas à avaliação de usabilidade de sistemas ou das aplicações que implementam estas técnicas como forma de promover sua eficiente e efetiva utilização. A avaliação de usabilidade de interfaces de sistemas de visualização representa um desafio de pesquisa uma vez que elas apresentam significativas diferenças com relação a outros tipos de interface. Neste sentido, existe uma carência de sistematização (incluindo o uso de métodos e técnicas de avaliação de usabilidade) que explore e considere as características deste tipo de interface de maneira adequada. Esta tese investiga soluções viáveis para o desenvolvimento de uma abordagem sistemática para avaliação de usabilidade de técnicas de visualização de informações multidimensionais e apresenta as seguintes soluções ao problema em estudo: 1) determinação de uma taxonomia de tarefas específica relacionada ao uso de visualizações multidimensionais no processo de análise de dados e 2) adaptação de técnicas e métodos de avaliação de usabilidade, com o objetivo de torná-los mais efetivos ao contexto de sistemas de visualização de informações multidimensionais. / Multidimensional visualization techniques have the potential of supporting the visual analysis and exploration of large datasets, by means of providing visual representations and interaction techniques which allow users to interact with the data through their graphical representation. In this context, several techniques have been developed, most of them being reported without a broad and deep evaluation both regarding their efficiency and utility in supporting users tasks. Few years ago, thus quite recently, several works have been published reporting many issues related to the evaluation of visualization systems and applications, as a means of promoting their efficiency and effective use. In spite of these works, the usability evaluation of visualization systems’ graphical interfaces remains a challenge because of the significant differences between these interfaces and those of other systems. This way, there is a need of finding a systematic approach for such evaluations, including the definition of which usability methods and techniques are best suited for this kind of interfaces. This thesis reports our investigation of viable solutions for the development of a systematic approach for the usability evaluation of multidimensional information visualizations. We have conducted several case studies and experiments with users and have achieved the following contributions: 1) a taxonomy of visualization tasks, that is related to the use of interactive visualization techniques for the exploration and analysis of multidimensional datasets and 2) adaptation of usability evaluation techniques with the goal of making them more effective in the context of multidimensional information visualizations.