This research reports on the use of the resilience assessment approach to evaluate the social-ecological systems (SES) at the NWU (Vaal) for a nine month period from March 2013 to November 2013. The research aims to determine the merits of the use of a resilience assessment approach to determine the resilience of the NWU (Vaal) in respect of social-ecological systems. Objectives of the research include the identification of disturbing events to environmental resilience, to construct a conceptual social-ecological systems model of the NWU (Vaal) in order to determine thresholds relevant to resilience and to determine if the resilience assessment approach can be applied at the NWU (Vaal). Data was collected in the form of a literature review, which aided with the construction of a time line for the focal social-ecological system; document reviews, interviews with relevant role players, observation by the researcher and the use of the assessment approach to construct the social-ecological system model. The research findings include identification of possible disturbances and thresholds relevant to resilience of the social-ecological system of the NWU (Vaal). The construction of a social-ecological system model of the NWU (Vaal) aids with proposals to incorporate a stewardship approach which enhance resilience of the focal social-ecological system. / M (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This research reports on the use of the resilience assessment approach to evaluate the social-ecological systems (SES) at the NWU (Vaal) for a nine month period from March 2013 to November 2013. The research aims to determine the merits of the use of a resilience assessment approach to determine the resilience of the NWU (Vaal) in respect of social-ecological systems. Objectives of the research include the identification of disturbing events to environmental resilience, to construct a conceptual social-ecological systems model of the NWU (Vaal) in order to determine thresholds relevant to resilience and to determine if the resilience assessment approach can be applied at the NWU (Vaal). Data was collected in the form of a literature review, which aided with the construction of a time line for the focal social-ecological system; document reviews, interviews with relevant role players, observation by the researcher and the use of the assessment approach to construct the social-ecological system model. The research findings include identification of possible disturbances and thresholds relevant to resilience of the social-ecological system of the NWU (Vaal). The construction of a social-ecological system model of the NWU (Vaal) aids with proposals to incorporate a stewardship approach which enhance resilience of the focal social-ecological system. / M (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Central to a site-specific approach to performance is the concern for the potential of unconventional spaces. Appearing in multiple mediums, there seems to be little clarity on the parameters of this approach and it appears to have become a flexible term under which a plethora of manifestations have begun to collect. The aim of this thesis is to investigate a personalised site-specific approach to performance in order to provide insight into the role of the director in this approach, as well as to identify possible characteristics that might differentiate a site-specific approach to performance from other outdoor performance genres. Selected visual arts movements of the 1960s and 1970s which contributed towards the gradual development of a site-specific approach are Dadaism, abstract expressionism, minimalism, performance art, happenings, and land art. Artists involved in these movements challenged the traditional idealisation of aesthetic art works by placing importance on the physical experience and creation of art works. Eventually involved artists abandoned the galleries all together, exploring the potential of unconventional spaces through installations and performances. Theatre practitioners such as Artaud, Grotowski, Schechner, Malina and Beck contributed, amongst other things, on the breaking down of the theatre space, removing the stage and seating in order for the performance to engulf the audience in the action. Site-based performance was influenced by the above mentioned practitioners. Possible categories collected under this umbrella term are site-sympathetic, site-adjusted, site-specific and site-generic. Practitioners currently exploring these individual approaches in the Western Cape are amongst others Samantha Prigge- Pienaar, Louise Coetzer and Nicola Hanekom. A practical investigation of a personalised site-specific approach to performance, led to the following conclusions. Firstly, a site-specific approach to creating a performance requires the director to step into the role of facilitator, making decisions in response to the site rather than controlling the site. Secondly, the term site-specific is not fixed, as it expands and develops with the unique needs of every site. Thirdly, it is restrictive to say that elements like music and/or props cannot be brought into the site; however this depends on the nature of the site. Fourthly, while a complete set of characteristics cannot be made absolute for a sitespecific approach to performance two key features of this approach are the centrality of the site and the interactive relationships. Lastly, a site-specific approach to performance asks for a paradigm shift, whereby everything that is considered part of the traditional theatre should be reviewed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die potensiaal van onkonvensionele ruimtes is sentraal tot ’n plek-spesifieke benadering tot performance. Daar blyk egter nie duidelikheid te wees oor die begrensing van hierdie benadering nie en dit lyk asof dit ’n buigsame term is waaronder ’n hele aantal moontlikehede kan voorkom. Hierdie tesis stel dit ten doel om ’n persoonlike plek-spesifieke benadering tot performance te ondersoek ten einde groter insig te verkry ten opsigte van die rol van die regisseur binne hierdie benadering, sowel as moontlike eienskappe te identifiseer wat hierdie benadering tot performance van ander buitelug performance genres onderskei. Gekose visuele kunste bewegings van die 1960s en 1970s wat bygedra het tot die geleidelike ontwikkeling van ’n plek-spesifieke benadering was Dadaïsme, abstrakte ekspressionisme, minimalisme, performance art, happenings en landskap kuns. Kunstenaars wat by hierdie bewegings betrokke was, het die tradisionele idealisering van estetiese kunswerke uitgedaag deur eerder klem te plaas op die skep van en die fisieke belewenis van kunswerke. Op die ou einde is daar wegbeweeg van gallerye en is die potensiaal van onkonvensionele ruimtes deur middel van instellasies en performances ondersoek. Teaterpraktisyns soos Artuad, Grotowski, Schechner, Malina en Beck het onder andere bygedra tot die herkonstruering van die teaterruimte, deur die skeidslyn tussen die verhoog en ouditorium weg te neem en die gehoor in die aksie te dompel. Plek-gebaseerde performance is onder deur bogenoemde praktisyns be nvloed. Moontlike kategorieë wat by hierdie sambreelterm ingesluit word, is plek-simpatiek, plek-aangepas, plek-spesifiek en plek-generies. Praksityns wat tans van hierdie benaderings in die Wes-Kaap ondersoek sluit onder ander in Samantha Prigge-Pienaar, Louise Coetzer en Nicola Hanekom. ’n Praktiese ondersoek van ’n persoonlike plek-spesifieke benadering tot performance het tot die volgende gevolgtrekkings gelei. Eerstens vereis ’n plek-spesifieke benadering tot die skep van ’n performance dat die regisseur die rol van fasiliteerder moet vervul, wat besluite neem in antwoord en reaksie op die ruimte, eerder as iemand wat die ruimte probeer beheer. Die term plek-spesifiek is tweedens buigsaam deurdat dit na aanleiding van die unieke behoeftes van elke ruimte ontwikkel of uitgebrei word. Derdens is dit beperkend om van die veronderstelling uit te gaan dat elemente soos musiek en/of rekwisiete nie in die ruimte ingebring kan word nie, die aard van die ruimte sal dit bepaal. Vierdens, alhoewel daar nie ’n volledige stel eienskappe vasgestel kan word vir ’n plek-spesifieke benadering tot performance nie, is twee hoof kenmerke van hierdie benadering die sentraliteit van die ruimte en die interaktiewe verhoudings. Laastens vereis ’n plek-spesifieke benadering tot performance ’n paradigmaskuif, wat alle elemente wat deel uitmaak van die tradisionele teater in heroorweging neem.

Recently I discovered that preschool education has evolved from integration of various subject contents and working methods. The purpose of my study is to investigate preschool teachers' attitudes and ways of working with a theme-oriented approach. I also want to examine their opinions regarding the integration of subject content in terms of mathematics and science subjects (NO) in preschools theme-oriented work approach. My questions for this study are: What is a preschool teacher's attitude and their ways of working to a thematic-oriented approach? What is a preschool teacher's opinions regarding the integration of subject content, especially in mathematics and science subjects (NO) in their pre-schools theme-oriented work approach? I have used myself a qualitative method of investigation to produce materials for my research project. I collected my empirical material for my study from the semi-structured interviews that was done with four preschool teachers in two preschools in Botkyrka municipality. As for my theoretical perspective, I used John Dewey's well-known knowledge theory called “Learning by doing”, which he indicated as learning through practical work. These working methods based primarily on children’s experience and subject integration. My conclusion is that the four preschool teachers worked thematic in the preschool children in a natural way.  In fact, the thematic-oriented approach appeared in two different work situations (planned and unplanned work situations) in the pre-school. The four preschool teachers developed and improved their own professional skills in the working process and also the children's knowledge and learning skills by prioritizing the children's interests, needs and circumstances. It came to my understanding that both mathematics and science subjects content were integrated in a conscious way in these preschools thematic-oriented approach. The preschool teachers integrated the two subject contents through their creative and joyful way of working. The idea was that the children's curiosity, knowledge, experience and awareness can be raised through various activities and experiments. Hence through the subject integrated approach, the children develop both their skills and conceptual understanding of both subjects content.

Aims: Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is often researched from a reductionist perspective, focusing on pathology and dysfunction (Olney & Kim, 2001). More recently there has been a call towards taking a person-centred, global approach; questioning old ‘assumptions’ about what is currently known, and incorporating the views of the patient (Hill, 1999). This qualitative research study aimed to make a further contribution to the evidence-base by investigating the experience of adjusting to life after ABI. Method: Six participants, (two female, four male) aged 26-49, who had experienced a severe ABI an average of 31 months previously, were interviewed using a semistructured schedule. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed to analyse the transcripts. Results: Five master themes emerged from the participants’ accounts: Experiencing a loss of control; Observed changes as a threat to identity; Being displaced by the injury: Feeling unchanged in a changed world; Attempts at managing a threatened identity, and Enable me don’t disable me: The role of support in recovery. Implications: Clinical implications were considered within Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 2004) Ecological Systems Theoretical Framework. Within the Microsystems (the individual’s immediate systems such as their body, home and work) participants described a struggle to make sense of their perceived loss of control of their body and brain. They described the importance of making sense of these changes. Clinically there is a potential role for professionals to facilitate how people make sense of their experiences, perhaps moving away from reductionist explanations, which appeared to prevent participants from having hope to influence change. From a Macrosystemic level (the individual’s social, cultural and political systems) the participants felt they were less valued and as a result, judged by society and by political systems. Participants’ accounts suggested that they wanted to continue to contribute and be valuable in society. An implication therefore is for professionals involved to take more a political stance in influencing how we currently conceptualise people after brain injury, focusing on enablement rather than disablement.

This qualitative research study examined the usage of whole-language instruction in the classrooms of four self-professed whole-language teachers. Data were collected from the following sources: classroom observations; interviews with the teachers and their principals; and a study of lesson plans, student work, textbooks, and curriculum guides. The following conclusions were drawn from the study. The teachers' pre-existing philosophical views regarding language instruction influenced the effectiveness with which they implemented whole-language instruction more than any other single factor. These philosophical bases also determined, to a large extent, the kinds of whole-language practices and strategies the teachers used in their instruction. The skills-oriented teachers most often stated that they used whole-language instruction in order to review or reinforce skills. The more holistic teachers most often stressed language development, language appreciation, and self expression. The data collected in this study led to the conclusion that teachers must become knowledgeable of whole-language principles and make a personal commitment to the whole-language philosophy in order to develop integrated, coherent whole-language instructional programs. The data also led the researcher to conclude that assessment of whole-language instruction was an area of ambiguity and uncertainty for the teachers involved in the study. The following recommendations were made from the study. Teachers should make conscious efforts to become cognizant of their basic philosophies and beliefs regarding how children learn and develop. Teachers should then ensure that their practices are consistent with their beliefs. Increased emphasis should be placed on developing appropriate means for assessing the effectiveness of whole-language instruction. School districts should provide adequate in-service opportunities and support services and receive the commitment of the teachers before initiating district-wide whole-language programs. Further research should be conducted on how teachers are affected when they are required to teach in ways which are inconsistent with their basic philosophies and/or teaching styles.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of a survey of the various integrated laboratory sequence programs at college and university chemistry departments. A preliminary questionnaire served to determine which chemistry departments had tried an ILS approach. Those departments which responded that they had tried an ILS approach and were willing to answer a questionnaire concerning it were sent copies of the main questionnaire. The returned copies of these two questionnaires form the source of data for the dissertation. The dissertation is organized into five chapters. The first chapter gives the background and significance, statement of the problem, the purposes and delimitations of the study, and a definition of terms. Chapter II is a review of the literature. Chapter III describes the collection of data. Construction, validation, administration, and analysis of the questionnaire are considered. The findings of the study are presented in Chapter IV. After an introduction, the occurrence of ILS programs and the reasons for trying or not trying an ILS approach are tabulated. The nature of the ILS programs which have been tried and the problems and changes that have occurred in the various programs are presented. The last part of Chapter IV is devoted to the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the ILS approach. Chapter V presents a summary of the findings. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made on the basis of the findings.

The UN and NATO have implemented separate approaches to civilian-military cooperation. Central in both approaches is a need for information sharing between civilian and military actors. Without shared information, cooperative planning becomes impossible. For military actors secret information makes sharing difficult and for civilian actors, principles hinder close cooperation. Scholars in the field of intelligence study have identified that states and organizations share information if the benefits of such, outweigh costs and risks. This thesis examines institutional differences between the UN mission MINUSMA in Mali and NATO mission ISAF in Afghanistan, in order to better understand how institutional factors, affect sharing of information. With an outset in Rational Choice Institutionalism and by use of Elinor Ostrom’s Institutional Development and Analysis Framework, an analytical instrument is designed. Through inductive review of interviews, first-hand accounts and reports; factors that drive, enable and hinder civilian-military sharing are indicated. The thesis indicates that the institutional framework of MINUSMA forms interdependency between civilian and military actors, while sharing in ISAF was enabled only when common goals were agreed upon. Military and civilian actors, in both MINUSMA and ISAF point to unclear mandates and vague goals as primary barriers to civilian-military sharing.

The current democratic climate in South Africa, along with current educational reform has called for a re-consideration of assessment and intervention procedures in the education and psychology context. Historical procedures of assessment and intervention programmes have been seen to be culturally biased, unfair, and unethical to children. These methods have been further regarded as too simplistic. A call for an approach to assessing and supporting children, which takes into consideration many factors of the child’s environment, has been placed. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the constructivist ecosystemic approach to assessment and intervention used with a case study, Matthew, who was assessed and supported in this approach prior to the onset of this study. A constructivist, ecosystemic assessment process, The Initial Assessment and Consultation (IAC) was used in understanding the child’s development. Such an assessment process called for an ecosystemic intervention programme, including, learning support through the application of the Cognitive Approach to Literacy Instruction (CATLI) as well as play therapy for the child and parent counselling for the parents. Methods of qualitative data collection were used, such as surveys completed by all the participants and extant data, such as learning support exams, lesson plans and a journal as well as counselling process notes. Thematic content analysis was employed to analyse the data. The findings of this study suggest that a holistic constructivist ecosystemic approach to assessment and interventions is a viable process in understanding and supporting an underachieving anxious child. However, it is acknowledged that a considerable body of research needs to be achieved before this finding can be considered conclusive. In addition, certain constraints to using this approach were acknowledged, such as time and expertise.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Este trabalho aborda o uso de Objetos de Aprendizagem (OAs) voltado para o ensino de CombinatÃria e como esses objetos podem auxiliar no processo de aprendizagem dos alunos. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desse trabalho à verificar se a utilizaÃÃo de OAs nas aulas de MatemÃtica promovem uma melhor assimilaÃÃo dos conteÃdos relacionados à CombinatÃria, buscando despertar no aluno a curiosidade e a investigaÃÃo nesta Ãrea. Por isso, optou-se por um estudo experimental do qual participaram 20 alunos do 3o ano do Ensino MÃdio da Escola de Ensino Fundamental e MÃdio JoÃo Mattos, localizada em Fortaleza, CearÃ. Esses alunos foram escolhidos de forma aleatÃria e divididos entre dois grupos, experimental e controle, com 10 alunos em cada grupo. Para a coleta dos dados, foram utilizados, um questionÃrio socioeconÃmico e um teste de mÃltipla escolha sobre permutaÃÃo, arranjo e combinaÃÃo. Esses dados foram organizados e analisados com o auxÃlio do programa Microsoft Office Excel 2010. Os resultados mostram que o grupo que teve uma abordagem diferenciada (experimental) obteve um melhor desempenho em relaÃÃo ao grupo que teve uma abordagem tradicional (controle). / This work approaches the use of Learning Objects (LOs) facing the teaching of Combinatorics and how these objects can help in the learning process of students. Accordingly, the aim of this work is to check that the use of LOs in Math classes promotes a better assimilation of the contents related to Combinatorics, seeking to awaken in the student curiosity and research in this area. Therefore, we opted for an experimental study involving 20 students of the senior year of High School from School JoÃo Mattos, located in Fortaleza, CearÃ. These students were chosen at random and divided between two groups, experimental and control, with 10 students in each group. For the collect of data, were used, a socioeconomic questionnaire and a multiple choice test about permutation, arrangement and combination. These data were organized and analyzed with the help of Microsoft Office Excel 2010 program. The results show that the group that had a differentiated approach (experimental) obtained a better performance compared to the group that had a traditional approach (control). .