Students’ academic self-concepts (ASC) and their orientation towards self-regulated learning are important elements of success. Despite this fact, little work has been conducted exploring these areas medical students. Given the shifting priorities of medical education toward competency-based education and self-directed learning, the goals of this study were to validate an existing measure of ASC and to improve our measurement capabilities for understanding the Master Adaptive Learner (MAL). Evidence for validity and scale reliability was collected for the ASCS with this novel population and a range of motivational and self-regulative variables (Goal orientation, academic emotion regulation, and lifelong learning) were analyzed and reduced to produce a single scale for MAL. Surveys were administered to 203 medical students at an urban, Mid-Atlantic medical school and students’ grades were linked to survey responses. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the original factor structure was not a good fit to the data for the current data. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to identify which structure fit better, and while a three-factor structure was produced, only one factor met reliability standards. This factor, confidence, was merged with items from the other surveys, and reliability scores for a composite MAL scale were identified. Based on these findings and the result of an EFA, the total item pool was reduced from 83 to 25. These 25 items discriminated between two clusters of students: MALs and others. Students’ membership in the MAL cluster predicted greater performance on the first exam in medical school, but not on any other grade outcomes. These results provide early evidence for the continued study of MAL and motivation in medical school, which will help researchers and curriculum designers support the development of future physicians.

No description available.

This research falls within the field of normative business ethics. Its aim is to examine the moral nature of the employment relationship in western democracies by examining the liberal, democratic justifications that are normally advanced for its probity. Its concern is to challenge the notion that the employment relationship is in conformity with these liberal democratic values. Thus, the research is an exercise in the examination of the application of the liberal, democratic tradition to the social institution of employment. Thus research examines areas of dissonance between the political relationship of employee � employer and the dominant values of the liberal tradition found elsewhere in western democracies. The research firstly identifies the key moral characteristics of the employment relationship in private, capitalist organisations. This is derived from a consideration of the development historically, of the employment relationship, with acknowledgement of the combined influences of statute, common law, contract law and custom in forming the current employee relationship. Secondly, the research identifies the justificatory arguments from the liberal tradition that are normally advanced in support of the employment relationship�s moral probity. These include notions of rights deriving from private property, the separation of social life into public and private spheres and the application of contract law to employment. Thirdly, the research examines these arguments for their moral probity. Specifically, this involves an examination of the arguments regarding the private property status of employing organisations, the application of contract law to employment, the moral characteristics of the master and servant relationship as a basis for employment and the relevance of democratic values within employment. As an additional perspective, the literature on human needs is reviewed as a source, outside of the liberal tradition, for a basis upon which to outline the moral requirements of human relationships to work.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The study of employer associations in Australia has focused on the activities of state employers’ federations and peak employer organisations in the federal sphere and on the effect on those organisations of Australia’s compulsory conciliation and arbitration system. The majority of literature has continued to mainly focus on national employer associations and on their difficulties in achieving national unity due to the differing views of their State branches. Despite their historic relevance, state employer associations that were established during the colonial era have been virtually ignored. Whilst single industry associations at the state level have also had to come to terms with the demands of Australia’s dual industrial relations systems, the role of the state systems and of the state-based employer associations appear to have attracted comparatively little academic interest. The effect on employer associations of the character and status of those who direct and influence their operations has received little, if any, analysis. Leading builders who were the major contractors of their time established the Master Builders Association of NSW (MBA/NSW) during the colonial era, and those that led the association throughout the turmoil of the 1890s, a major depression and two world wars continued to be the leading builders in the State of New South Wales. Following the Second World War, the character of the MBA/NSW changed with the absorption of suburban associations that comprised small to medium-sized builders. That development was compounded by the changes in the size, height and complexity of buildings within the Central Business District of Sydney and in other centres throughout the metropolitan area. Enormous capital was required to fund construction works and large corporations were formed and the bench-mark of what constituted a major contractor was raised considerably. Those events had an enormous impact on the character and operations of the MBA/NSW. This historical thesis seeks to explain why the MBA/NSW was successfully established in 1873 after two previous attempts; and, what accounts for its subsequent survival and growth. It analyses the various challenges that faced the MBA/NSW during its first one hundred years and the effect on that association of the policies and practices of iii architects, governments, trade unions and other employer associations. It traces the 1890 establishment of the Master Builders Federation of Australia (MBFA), the oldest federal industry association in Australia, by the MBA/NSW and its sister associations from other areas of Australia and analyses the manner in which the State-based Master Builders Associations each fought to retain their individual independence and reject any attempts to cede their powers so as to convert their federation into a national centralised body. The need for quick national responses of major building companies during the 1970s was addressed through a composite organization created by the Master Builder movement and the Australian Federation of Construction Contractors due to the continued refusal of the Master Builders associations to cede their powers to MBFA. The development of the trade union movement in the building industry in New South Wales is also analysed together with reference to the history of building industry awards in this State. The study also outlines the history of MBA/NSW initiatives and policies related to tendering and industrial relations which came under increasing pressure due to legal challenges from disciplined members and to changes arising from industrial and trade practices legislation. The practice of convening tender meetings, the introduction of Builders Licensing in New South Wales and, the origins of the MBA/NSW Group Apprenticeship Scheme are each described.

The author's ethnographic study of a professional development program for managers and aspiring managers taught at a distance intends to make a substantial contribution to both the theory and practice of continuing education for professionals. The study focused on a group of Deakin University Master of Business Administration (MBA) participants and their experiences of the final two years of the program. Theorising on the professional development experience was based on data gathered from the direct observation of participants working in their study groups and at residential schools. Moreover, data drawn from end-of-year interviews with participants and discussions with MBA teachers also contributed to the theorising process. Theorising spanned a broad set of interactions encompassing participants' formal educational, professional and personal worlds. The thesis is devoted to two aspects of the professional development experience, namely: participants' interactions in their study groups and at residential schools; and participants' attempts to grow and develop as competent professional practitioners during their MBA studies. Interactions with key learning contexts orchestrated by the teaching institution (i.e. study groups and residential schools) are grounded in an analysis of the changing group cultures observed to accommodate the different educational demands of the program. Group interaction on a broader scale is also analysed in the context of the residential schools. The residential school provided a powerful forum for the development of participant activism over the future development of the MBA program. The analysis of the study groups in action led the author to identify the key characteristics of effective educational work groups. The implications of the success of these essentially egalitarian and leaderless groups for the formation of self-managed groups in the workplace is examined. On the matter of professional development, the author reveals the relationships between the nature of participants' jobs, their search for professional integration, their stage of professional empowerment, the strategies they pursued either to empower themselves or others in their organisations and the barriers which were encountered in the pursuit of empowerment. Dramatic examples of professional disempowerment are analysed indicating that interaction between formal off-the-job learning and professional practice in the workplace is not necessarily a smooth and positive experience. The group of participants studied are seen to be heterogeneous in relation to the above factors characterising professional development The implications of the theorising are considered in relation to professional pedagogies, assessment strategies and distance education. Distance education is seen to socially construct the roles of both teachers and students in the educational process. Specifically, teachers are seen to be somewhat marginalised during the program in use whereas the participants are located at the centre of the educational experience. The primacy of participants in the educational process is highlighted through the growing reliance on self-and peer-group assessment skills as participants progressed through the program. It is argued that the teaching institution should encourage and maintain the development of these skills as they represent a major learning outcome of the professional development experience, i.e. the ability to engage in the process of critical self-reflection and informed action.

<p>Kjemisk likevekt i forhold til undervisning er overordnet tema for denne masteroppgaven, og dette har vi sett på fra flere sider. Den første er fra et historisk perspektiv, inkludert temaets plass i eldre norske lærebøker. Så har vi sett på presentasjonen av kjemisk likevekt i nyere 2KJ-lærebøker i forhold til læring og forståelse. Til sist har vi studert forsøk, der hensikten med disse er å illustrere kjemisk likevekt. Kunnskapen om kjemisk likevekt kan kanskje sies å ha sitt utgangspunkt tidlig på 1700-tallet, i arbeidet med å forstå kjemiske reaksjoner. Det var affinitet som bestemte utfallet av reaksjoner (Geoffroys affinitetstabell, 1718). Først i andre halvdel av 1800-tallet skjøt utviklingen av temaet kjemisk likevekt for alvor fart, og det er i denne sammenhengen nordmennene Guldberg og Waage ofte nevnes, spesielt med deres første utkast til massevirkningsloven i 1864. Termodynamikken ble etter hvert mer framtredende etter 1850, og ut på 1900-tallet var affinitetsbegrepet stort sett borte. Gibbs fri energi hadde da tatt over som drivkraften i kjemiske reaksjoner. I dag mener mange at Guldberg og Waages utledning av massevirkningsloven, gjort med utgangspunkt i affinitetskrefter, er ufullstendig og at en termodynamisk begrunnelse må til. I de norske lærebøkene i kjemi har omfanget av, og dybden i forklaringen av kjemisk likevekt endret seg mye fra første gang det ble omtalt i Waages lærebok i 1908, til idag. Fram til krigens dager ble kjemisk likevekt stort sett kort forklart, gjerne sammen med massevirkningsloven. Etter 1940 ble det gitt en fyldigere forklaring i enkelte bøker, for eksempel ble forskyvning av likevektsposisjonen tatt med, men det er ikke noen entydig trend de neste tiårene. Mer fagstoff ble generelt presentert, med store variasjoner avhengig av forfatter. Først på 1970-tallet, hos Salveson og Wang Lund, ble temaet kjemisk likevekt belyst på nærmest samme måte som i dag. Le Châteliers prinsipp nevnes av få forfattere før 1950-tallet, men deretter presenteres det i de fleste av lærebøkene. Mange lærebokforfattere, helt fra begynnelsen av 1900-tallet, påpeker i forordene at kjemi må forståes ved forsøk, og dette tatt i betraktning er det overraskende få forsøk med kjemisk likevekt før fra 1970-tallet. Kjemisk likevekt er et svært vanskelig tema generelt, både for elever og lærere. Studier har vist at det for eksempel er problematisk å forstå reversibilitet, og å skille mellom reaksjonshastighet og likevektsposisjon, samt at et likevektsystem er dynamisk. Det er heller ikke enkelt å forutsi og forklare forskyvning av likevektsposisjonen. I følge R94 er kjemisk likevekt sentralt, noe som reflekteres i lærebøkene etter reformen. Lærebøkene har stort sett det samme fagstoffet med: En introduksjon med generell teori, noe om forskyvning av likevekt (bruk av Le Châteliers prinsipp) og litt om massevirkningsloven. Vi har sett at ikke alle lærebøkene er like konsekvente når det omtales hva som er i likevekt og hva dobbeltpilen står for. Sammen med at kjemisk likevekt er et vanskelig tema generelt, kan uklarheter i læreboktekster gjøre det ekstra problematisk. For å forutsi og forklare forskyvning av likevektsposisjonen blir Le Châteliers prinsipp nesten alltid brukt, selv om en slik bruk har blitt diskutert og kritisert i mange år. Flere forsøk med hensikt å illustrere kjemisk likevekt har blitt brukt, og brukes, i norsk kjemiundervisning. Disse viser reversibilitet og forskyvning av likevektsposisjonen, og kan derfor bidra til at elevene bedre forstår noe av det som er vanskelig med kjemisk likevekt.</p>

Password based logon schemes have many security weaknesses. For secure environments smart card and biometric based authentication solutions are available as replacement for standard password based systems. Nevertheless, the cost of deployment and maintenance of these systems is quite high. On the other hand, mobile network operators have a huge base of deployed smart cards that can be reused to provide authentication in other spheres significantly reducing costs. In this project we present a study of how mobile phones can be used to provide a secure low-cost two-factor workstation logon solution.To find and study the available mobile phone based authentication architectures and come up with workstation logon architecture the study of relevant technologies utilized in these solutions: UMTS networks, Bluetooth communication, Remote Authentication Dial in User Service (RADIUS), authentication and authorization in Windows, Linux, and MAC OS X. The analysis of available mobile phone based authentication schemes like SIM Strong schemes based on EAP-SIM, Session-ID based schemes, and OTP based schemes are also added.A solution for Linux workstation logon process has been proposed in the thesis using the Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM). The Solution uses 2 factors for authentication, one is the static password and the second factor is the mobile based authentication using a 13 character long OTP. With adding the existing technology and giving the administrator the option of selecting the authentication method for user makes the solution more suitable for an enterprise.

The pervasive computing environment for heterogeneous network is on a continuous rise. The ability to interact and control network devices with different functionalities within office and home environment could be very beneficial to a lot of users. The service discovery in computers and mobile devices enabled them to interact with one another through wireless and heterogeneous wired networks. Services advertise their existence in a dynamic way and devices are designed with this capability to discover these services and its properties automatically. These devices are though based on different technologies but are still able to communicate and discover one another based on existing service discovery architectures. It is notable that a significant number of networked devices are now mobile and these mobile devices make service discovery more challenging.In future mobile multi-domain multi-language environments, a service can be anything and introduced by anybody. Consequently, same or equivalent services may have different names and services with same name or type may be completely different. Existing service discovery systems are incapable of handling these situations. We have implemented a service discovery system which supports semantics to service descriptions. It allows any user to act as a service provider and introduce any service at any time. The service provider can define any service as equivalent to any existing service and in any language as wanted. In addition, it is capable to find services that are not exact matches of the requested ones. More semantics are introduced through attributes like EquivalenceClass, ParentType and Keywords. The test conducted on this system in real time proves that the system is efficient and can be applied in real life.

This thesis presents the combination of MPLS-TP protocol with an integrated hybridnetwork, the Opmigua network. It is presented that the MPLS-TP protocol is applicableand follows all the requirements to be compatible with an Opmigua network. Differentnetwork scenarios, combining packet and circuit switching properties with MPLS-TPlabels, are presented. At the beginning of this thesis, are provided the characteristics and requirements of MPLS-TP protocol which the standardization of this is on going. Furthermore, it is explained how the MPLS-TP management and the forwarding plane work. Some references are also given not only to OAM mechanisms, but also to control plane that the MPLS-TP uses. We use both, global and local significance MPLS-TP labels for distinguishing theGuaranteed Service Traffic (GST) packets from Statistical Multiplexing (SM) packets.Using this method, we have concluded some results, as it concerns GST and SMtraffic. GST packets take a global significance label value until to reach the destination node. On the other hand, SM packets take local significance labels for each path into an Opmigua network which follow Optical Packet Switch (OPS) networks. We have proposed a new method for differentiation of packets from low to high priority using extension headers of Internet Protocol v6 either Destination Options Header(DOH) or MPLS-TP as an extension header. The result that we have derived is highand low priority packets are differentiated at ingress Opmigua network which GST packets take global significance MPLS-TP label following Optical Cross Connect (OXC) network and SM packets change per each Label Switched Path (LSP) local significance MPLS-TP labels until to reach the destination. Finally, two MPLS-TP path protection schemes, facility bypass and restoration usingdetours were combined with Opmigua network to provide failures for both, GuaranteedService Traffic (GST) packets and Statistical Multiplexing (SM) packets.

eSporing er et prosjekt for å lage en nasjonal infrastruktur for elektronisk sporing i matkjeden. Denne infrastrukturen, betegnet som eSporingsløsningen, er basert på en tjenesteorientert arkitektur.Med tjenesteorienterte arkitekturer stilles det nye krav til sikkerheten da tradisjonelle mekanismer for sikkerhet ikke er gode nok. Oppgaven har sett på sikkerhetsaspekter i tjenesteorienterte arkitekturer, med fokus på autentisering og tilgangskontroll. En løsning, betegnet som en revidert arkitektur, er presentert som et av resultatene til oppgaven. Arkitekturen er utarbeidet fra en sikkerhetsanalyse på en konseptuell arkitektur. Den konseptuelle arkitekturen, med utgangspunkt i eSporing, innlemmer den funksjonalitet og oppbygning som er spesifikk for tjenesteorienterte arkitekturer. Med dette viser den reviderte arkitekturen til en måte å sikre nettverket og tjenester på som oppgaven har kommet fram til er den mest ideelle for gitt situasjon.Oppgaven har også sett på eSporingsløsningen og sammenlignet denne med den reviderte arkitekturen. Sammenligningen er det andre resultatet til oppgaven og er brukt til å vise til hvordan autentisering og tilgangskontroll kunne vært gjort annerledes i eSporingsløsningen.