This research explores a range of academic and socio-cultural challenges faced by seven Chinese post-graduate students at the University of the Witwatersrand. The main aims of this study are to identify and understand any academic discourse challenges these students have been experiencing, together with any challenges in their new socio-cultural environment, such as financial or social challenges, and then to investigate the impact of these challenges on their studies and their identities as students. The study is based on data gathered from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven Chinese post-graduate students, from location ‘maps’ completed by each student and from some examples of the writing of three of the students. The findings suggest that these Chinese students are encountering great challenges in relation to English language proficiency and adjustments to new Discourses (Gee, 1996) – both academic and social. The data provide evidence that although these students feel socially disempowered in many respects, their attitudes toward academic study remain positive and each is making steady progress in his or her progamme of study and research. This finding indicates that there seems to be no explicit connection between positive social experiences and academic achievement and contrasts with findings from other research studies in which there is a correlation iii between positive or negative socio-cultural experiences and success or failure in the academy.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Over the past decades, the use and application of statistical concepts for university students have been a big challenge learned from their previous courses. Aftermath of democracy, South African higher education focused on redressing issues of reparation and social imbalances inherited from Apartheid with the commitment to reconstruct a comprehensive educational quality framework. Growing activities lead to new models emphasised to support students and universities in their attempts to demonstrate evidence of enthusiastic statistics learning, with an acceptable degree of accuracy. This study combines quantitative and qualitative research approaches to assess the knowledge of postgraduate students in applying suitable statistical procedures in higher education (HE). The quantitative data were randomly collected from the postgraduate students (n1=307) while the qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews (n2=19) from two institutions (University of Cape Town [UCT] and University of the Western Cape [UWC]) in the Western Cape, South Africa. The SPSS V24 statistical package was used for quantitative data analysis and the explorative design was selected as a theoretical framework to guide the investigation, analysis and interpretation of the qualitative findings. UCT model achieved for all combined categories 73% high prediction accuracy. The UWC model revealed similar results, with ask for help, worth of statistics, fear of statistics monitors, affect, cognitive competence, support from significant others, marital status, ethnic groups and type of study as significant predictors with a high prediction accuracy of 75.49%. Additionally, the ethnic groups, marital status, postgraduate programmes, experiences in statistics and effort were significant contributed factors of SELS beliefs while findings of the combined data of UCT and UWC significantly explained the variation observed in SELS beliefs with only 60% model accuracy. Nevertheless, the qualitative data outcomes indicated that the comments of the participants provided a rich understanding of the perceived failure to choose a relevant statistical test. The results further indicated that confusion and frustration characterised the attitude of students during the selection of a suitable statistical test. The original value of this current study is bridging the inequity gap, in terms of statistics learning, and building a substantial input to the achievement of the objectives of UNESCO, the World Education Forum and the White Paper 3, while ultimately, contributing to the sustainable development of learning statistics at universities in the Western Cape, South Africa. By logical extrapolation, this current study proffers significant insights to the rest of the universities in Africa, and beyond.

nÃo hà / A presente pesquisa versa sobre a afetividade no estudo das condiÃÃes de acessibilidade de alunos surdos em ambiente acadÃmico. Esta investigaÃÃo se situa no paradigma emergente da CiÃncia, o que significa dizer que sua pretensÃo à de produzir um saber comprometido com o claro intuito de potencializar transformaÃÃes sociais. As perguntas que deram partida a este estudo foram: O que torna a universidade um ambiente acessÃvel para o aluno surdo? As polÃticas de inclusÃo sÃo suficientes para tornar a universidade acessÃvel? O lugar à uma dimensÃo importante na dialÃtica exclusÃo-inclusÃo das pessoas surdas? Qual a relaÃÃo existente entre a Afetividade e a Acessibilidade? Para responder esses questionamentos, temos como objetivo geral investigar a relaÃÃo Afetividade (por meio da Estima de Lugar; BOMFIM) e Acessibilidade. O mÃtodo utilizado nesta jornada foi o Instrumento Gerador dos Mapas Afetivos (IGMA) e a ObservaÃÃo Participante. Os dados apreendidos da realidade foram analisados por meio da AnÃlise TemÃtica de ConteÃdo de Laurence Bardin em conjunto com as contribuiÃÃes teÃricas de Espinosa, Vygotsky e Sawaia. O IGMA foi aplicado em alunos surdos do campus do Benfica da Universidade Federal do Cearà em um perÃodo de oito (8) meses de convÃvio do pesquisador com a comunidade surda acadÃmica. Ao tÃrmino, concluÃmos que para a promoÃÃo do bem-estar psicossocial dos discentes surdos a demanda de reconhecimento de sua cultura e identidade à tÃo necessÃria quanto a materializaÃÃo das polÃticas assertivas; que o indicador afetivo contraste possibilita que as paixÃes tristes e alegrias passivas na universidade se transformem em afeto-aÃÃo dando mais clareza aos surdos nas escolhas de bons encontros, o que baseado em Sawaia, chamo de Ãtica da acessibilidade. / This research deals with the affectivity in the study of accessibility conditions the deaf students face in academic environment. This research goes towards the emerging paradigm of science, which means that its intention is to produce a knowledge clearly committed to the objective of enhancing social transformation. The questions that started up this study were: What makes the university an accessible environment to the deaf student? Are the inclusion policies sufficient to make the university an accessible place? Is the place an important dimension in the exclusion-inclusion dialectic of deaf people? What is the relationship between Affectivity an Accessibility? To answer these questions, our general objective is to investigate the relation Affection (considering BOMFIMâs Place Esteem) and Accessibility. The method used in this journey was the Affective Maps Generator Instrument (IGMA) and the Participant Observation. The data seized from reality were analyzed using the Thematic Content Analysis of Laurence Bardin in conjunction with the theoretical contributions of Espinosa, Vygotsky and Sawaia. The IGMA was applied on deaf students of Benfica campus from CearÃâs Federal University in a period of eight (8) months in which the researcher kept close contact with the deaf community. At the end, we concluded that, in order to promote psychosocial well-being of deaf students, the recognition demand of their culture and identity is as necessary as the materialization of assertive policies and that the affective indicator contrast enables sad passions and passive joys in university to turn into affection action giving more clarity to the deaf in the choices of good encounters, which is what, based on Sawaia, I call the ethics of accessibility.

A university library web site is created as a means for providing information resources and services without the limitation of time or space. To ensure that the design of the web site will not be an obstacle to their users, usability is a key issue raised among librarians. In the tertiary context, information literacy is also widely promoted since it is regarded as the skills that can empower human development in the Information Society. These two issues, web site usability and information literacy, have motivated this thesis which is a case study influenced by phenomenography. The research was conducted with the purpose of investigating the relationship between the design of a university library web site, in particular its usability, and the development of students' information literacy through their experience of using the web site. The understanding found within this research is informed by three clear phases of data collection: Phase 1: Development of the Criteria, Phase 2: Assessment of a Usable University Library Web Site Fostering Information Literacy, and Phase 3: Investigation of Students' Conceptions of Information Literacy Development. Various research methods were used in each phase: questionnaires, focus groups, and experts' selection of the criteria for Phase 1, heuristic evaluation and usability testing for Phase 2, and focus groups, think aloud protocols, and interviews for Phase 3. The data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Two major outcomes are revealed as a result of the research. The first is the usability measures/criteria capable of reinforcing information literacy that can be useful in evaluating the design of a university library web site. The second is a model describing students' conceptions of information literacy development through the use of a university library web site. Results of the research also reveal that there is a relationship between the design of a university library web site, in particular its usability, and the development of students' information literacy through their experience of using the web site. This applies particularly at the information level, especially Information Literacy Attribute #2: finding and accessing the needed information efficiently and effectively. The students experience information literacy development through the use of a university library web site by experiential learning. Their conceptions of information literacy development can be divided into three categories: "no development", "restricted development", and "transferable development". Interestingly, there is no difference between students from different disciplines in terms of their ways of experiencing information literacy development through the use of a university library web site. Considering the results, the hypothesis that there is no relationship between the design of a university library web site, in particular its usability, and the development of students' information literacy through their experience of using the web site is rejected. In contrast, the hypothesis that there is no noticeable difference between students from different disciplines in their ways of experiencing information literacy development through the use of a university library web site is accepted. The research makes contributions to both theory and practice. Theoretically, it proposes a model describing students' conceptions of information literacy development through the use of a university library web site as well as the chronology and continuity of their conceptions. Practically, there are implications for university library web site design: implications for usability evaluation methods, for usability measures/criteria capable of supporting information literacy that can be used to evaluate the design of a university library web site, and for the usable and information literacy-supportive design of a university library web site. In addition, it also suggests some implications for information literacy development: implications for investigating the students' conceptions of information literacy development, for information literacy education in regard to the academic environment, and for information literacy education in regard to a university library. The study concludes with recommendations for possible future research in the hope that further insights into the design of a university library web site and information literacy development may be revealed.

This qualitative case study examined the extent to which learning styles were used by teachers in four seventh and eighth grade social studies classrooms in a large suburban north Texas junior high school. The conclusions were as follows: 1) The environment on the junior high level did not afford the flexibility found in the elementary classroom. The changing of students, teachers, and the multi-purpose use of rooms did not afford flexibility of light, temperature, sound, and design preference. 2) The physical and the psychological categories had elements within each category that overlapped. A right brain activity closely aligned to a tactile/kinesthetic activity. A parallel between physical-mobility and psychological-global was noted, as well as a pattern between the global and the tactile/kinesthetic projects. 3) The split lunch period created problems for the global, kinesthetic, impulsive students. The academic environment was interrupted for a thirty minute period; students had to re-acclimate to a more analytic environment after lunch. 4) Each teacher alternated between primary style and secondary and tertiary styles. This mediation ability enabled each teacher to use all styles in lessons the researcher observed. 5) Abstract random and concrete random teachers did more group and team teaching than concrete sequential and abstract sequential teachers. Further, dominant sequential ordering in a teacher limited random activities. Whereas, dominant random ordering in a teacher limited sequential ordering activities. Both groups of teachers experienced teacher burnout when forced out of their primary style. 6) It was easier for those teachers whose primary and secondary ordering were opposite (CS/CR or AS/AR), as opposed to those whose primary and secondary ordering were the same (CS/AS or CR/AR), to align to a different environment. 7) These results suggest that teachers should not be required to stay in any one style. The flexibility of being able to alternate between styles will conserve energy and prevent teacher burnout.

No description available.

After South Africa had adopted a democratic government, the labour force was changed profoundly. With the emphasis on diversity, employees were faced with work teams comprising people from different ages, genders, positions, races etc. The opportunity was given to value and embrace diversity in organisations. On the other hand, opportunities for prejudice and discrimination were greater than ever before. Consequently, stereotyping is evident within these diverse workplaces. If not properly managed, stereotypes can have various negative effects on the organisation. The academic sector in South Africa has to be equipped to manage diversity and therefore stereotypes to ensure the effectiveness of these institutions. The challenge is that employers need to be aware of how to manage such issues. Stereotypes are therefore a significant topic for research, specifically within South Africa. The objective of this research study was to explore stereotypes as experienced by individuals employed in the South African academic environment. A qualitative research study, specifically within the social constructivism paradigm, was employed for this study. A combination of the phenomenological and hermeneutic approaches was employed to reach the objectives of this study. The researcher made use of a case study strategy. Only one single case was utilised in this research study, namely the academic environment. Employees at one higher education institution (and two campuses) (N = 30) participated in this research study. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews, where after thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The results of this study indicated that individuals working in the academic environment in South Africa are consciously aware of the meaning of stereotypes. Most participants were able to illustrate a definition of or meaning for stereotypes. The themes that were mentioned by participants included assumptions, beliefs, categorisation, generalisation, judgement as well as perception. Participants also indicated that stereotypes originate from various sources. Participants reported that primary and secondary exposure, individual differences, subjective perception as well as the fact that stereotyping was part of human nature were possible explanations for the origin of stereotypes. Participants were well aware of the fact that stereotypes originate from both us and others. When being stereotyped, individuals react to stereotypes in different ways. Participants mentioned that they react on a behavioural, cognitive and emotional level. Participants were also asked questions pertaining to the stereotypes they experience. It was found that various stereotypes exist within the academic environment. These stereotypes are experienced on an out-group and in-group level. Stereotypes mentioned by participants included age, gender, nationality, occupation, sexual orientation, race and work-related stereotypes. There were also participants from the study population who stated that they neither experienced stereotypes on in-group nor out-group level. Recommendations with regard to future research and practice were made. / MCom (Human Resource Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

After South Africa had adopted a democratic government, the labour force was changed profoundly. With the emphasis on diversity, employees were faced with work teams comprising people from different ages, genders, positions, races etc. The opportunity was given to value and embrace diversity in organisations. On the other hand, opportunities for prejudice and discrimination were greater than ever before. Consequently, stereotyping is evident within these diverse workplaces. If not properly managed, stereotypes can have various negative effects on the organisation. The academic sector in South Africa has to be equipped to manage diversity and therefore stereotypes to ensure the effectiveness of these institutions. The challenge is that employers need to be aware of how to manage such issues. Stereotypes are therefore a significant topic for research, specifically within South Africa. The objective of this research study was to explore stereotypes as experienced by individuals employed in the South African academic environment. A qualitative research study, specifically within the social constructivism paradigm, was employed for this study. A combination of the phenomenological and hermeneutic approaches was employed to reach the objectives of this study. The researcher made use of a case study strategy. Only one single case was utilised in this research study, namely the academic environment. Employees at one higher education institution (and two campuses) (N = 30) participated in this research study. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews, where after thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The results of this study indicated that individuals working in the academic environment in South Africa are consciously aware of the meaning of stereotypes. Most participants were able to illustrate a definition of or meaning for stereotypes. The themes that were mentioned by participants included assumptions, beliefs, categorisation, generalisation, judgement as well as perception. Participants also indicated that stereotypes originate from various sources. Participants reported that primary and secondary exposure, individual differences, subjective perception as well as the fact that stereotyping was part of human nature were possible explanations for the origin of stereotypes. Participants were well aware of the fact that stereotypes originate from both us and others. When being stereotyped, individuals react to stereotypes in different ways. Participants mentioned that they react on a behavioural, cognitive and emotional level. Participants were also asked questions pertaining to the stereotypes they experience. It was found that various stereotypes exist within the academic environment. These stereotypes are experienced on an out-group and in-group level. Stereotypes mentioned by participants included age, gender, nationality, occupation, sexual orientation, race and work-related stereotypes. There were also participants from the study population who stated that they neither experienced stereotypes on in-group nor out-group level. Recommendations with regard to future research and practice were made. / MCom (Human Resource Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In dieser Dissertation untersuche ich die Forschungswege von sechs Wissenschaftlern, die in verschiedenen Disziplinen und Institutionen in den Vereinigten Staaten und in der Tschechischen Republik arbeiten. Um dies zu tun, verwende ich sogenannte „multi-sited“ ethnographisch-methodische Strategien (d.h. Strategien, die Anthropologen verwenden, um Kulturen an zwei oder mehr geografischen Standorten zu vergleichen), mit dem Ziel, informationsbezogene Verhaltensweisen dieser Wissenschaftler im global vernetzten akademischen Umfeld zu untersuchen, englisch abgekürzt „GNAE“, ein Begriff, der sich speziell auf die komplexe Bricolage von Netzwerkinfrastrukturen, Online-Informationsressourcen und Tools bezieht, die Wissenschaftler heutzutage nutzen, d.h. die weltweite akademische e-IS, oder akademische Infrastruktur (Edwards et al. 2013). Die zentrale Forschungsfrage (RQ1), die in dieser Dissertation beantwortet wird, ist: Gibt es, gemäß der multi-sited ethnographischen Analyse der beteiligten Wissenschaftler in dieser Studie—Personen, die Forschung in verschiedenen Disziplinen und Institutionen sowie an unterschiedlichen Standorten betreiben—Hinweise darauf, dass ein signifikanter Anteil der nicht-institutionellen/informellen informationsbezogenen Forschung über Mechanismen im GNAE, die nicht von Bibliotheken unterstützt werden, betrieben wird, sowie (RQ2): Was für Muster sind vorhanden und wie beziehen sie sich auf informationswissenschaftliche und andere sozialwissenschaftliche Theorien? Und drittens (RQ3): Haben die Resultate praxisnahe Bedeutungen für die Entwicklung von Dienstleistungen in wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken? Ethnographische Strategien sind bisher noch nicht in der Informationswissenschaft (IS) eingesetzt worden, um Fragen dieser Art zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass eine informelle Informationsexploration nur bei zwei Wissenschaftlern, die mit offenen Daten und Tools einer verteilten Computing-Infrastruktur arbeiten, zu finden ist. / In this dissertation I examine the pathways of information exploration and discovery of six scientists working in different research disciplines affiliated with several academic institutions in the United States and in the Czech Republic. To do so, I utilize multi-sited ethnographic methodological strategies (i.e., strategies developed by anthropologists to compare cultures across two or more geographic locations) to examine the information-related behaviors of these scholars within the global networked academic environment (GNAE), a term which specifically refers to the complex bricolage of network infrastructures, online information resources, and tools scholars use to perform their research today (i.e., the worldwide academic e-IS, or academic infrastructure [Edwards et al. 2013]). The central research question (RQ1) to be answered in this dissertation: According to the multi-sited ethnographic analysis of scientists participating in this study—individuals conducting research in various disciplines at different institutions in several geographical locations—is there evidence indicating a significant allotment of non-institutional/informal information-related exploration and discovery occurring beyond official library-supported mechanisms in the GNAE?, and—part two (RQ2) of the central research question—What (if any) patterns are exhibited and how do these patterns relate to information science (IS) and other social science theories? Both RQ1 and RQ2 are exploratory. I additionally ask (RQ3): What might all this mean in the applied sense? by showing examples of services piloted during the research process in response to my observations in the field. Multi-sited ethnographic strategies have not yet been employed in IS, as of the date of publication of this thesis, to examine such questions. Results indicate informal information exploration occurring only with two scientists who use of open data and tools on a distributed computing infrastructure.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to create a set of activities for university teachers that will have the potential to improve the working life of teachers and overall, well-being. The theoretical part of the thesis contains knowledge about well-being, its determinants, sources, but also well-being in connection with health. The next part of the theoretical part deals with the issue of personal change of well-being, how an individual can positively and negatively affect well-being. Furthermore, the theoretical part includes the topics of well-being in the workplace and creating a healthy work environment. In the last and one of the most important chapters of the theoretical part, the issue of well-being in university teachers is discussed, what shapes and influences his well-being. In the practical part there is a design of set of activities to improve well-being of university teachers. These activities are created on the basis of a search of professional literature. The practical part consists of two main parts. The first part contains suggestions for activities to improve the well-being of the university teachers, which the university teacher himself includes in his work life and personal life. In the second part, activities are also reaching to the improvement of well-being of university...