The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a death education laboratory approach on the participants. Measures of death anxiety, general anxiety, and self-concept were thought to be of particular importance and thus were used as dependent variables. The study was designed to obtain measures of the variables through appropriate testing administered immediately following participation in a death lab and one month after participation in the 16-hour death lab. This design was selected because the possibility exists that anxiety levels may increase during a workshop on death and dying. None of the eight hypotheses in this study were statistically validated. Thus the assumption that the death lab as used in this study would have a positive impact on the participants was rejected. However, non-statistical observations and inferences from analysis of covariance and t-test data suggested that the use of a waiting list control group may have biased the results of the study. A second observation made in this study was that high death anxious treatment group members tended to have reduced anxiety scores on post-testing and low death anxious treatment group members tended to have increased death anxiety scores on post-testing. It is not known if this regression toward the mean effect is a recurring phenomenon in the death lab experience.

In this research study, several new in-orbit algorithms are proposed to improve the performance of Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) by estimating the inertia matrix and calibrating the cold gas thruster system of the UoSAT-12 spacecraft. Computer-based simulation models will be constructed using MATLAB and SIMULINK in order to evaluate the expected performance. The first focus is on the identification of the satellite inertia matrix. A new algorithm based on a Recursive Least Square (RLS) estimation technique is proposed for in-orbit use to estimate the inertia matrix (moments and products of inertia parameters) of a satellite. To facilitate this, one attitude axis is disturbed using a reaction wheel whilst the other two axes are controlled to keep their respective angular" rates small. Within a fraction of an orbit three components of the inertia matrix can be accurately determined. This procedure is then repeated for the other two axes to obtain all nine elements of the inertia matrix. The procedure is designed to prevent the build up of momentum in the reaction wheels, whilst keeping the attitude disturbance to the satellite within acceptable limits. It can also overcome potential errors introduced by unmodeled external disturbance torques and attitude sensor noise. The second focus is on a new algorithm for in-orbit use to calibrate thruster coefficients for thrust level and alignment, using three reaction wheel actuators. These algorithms will ensure robustness against modeling errors. The algorithms assume no prior knowledge of the thruster parameters and only an initial guess of the inertia matrix. It is proposed that this calibration can be used during normal mission conditions when the satellite is stabilised. The final goal of this research study was to apply the proposed algorithms in real-time. Firstly, the thruster calibration algorithm was tested on an air-bearing table. Finally, both thruster calibration and moment of inertia algorithms were tested using data generated by UoSAT-12 while in orbit. The practical estimation results proved the feasibility of proposed algorithms.

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The purpose of the study was to forecast the actual performance of five extracurricular educational activities by 128 first year university Physics students using Fishbein's model for the prediction of behavior and behavioral intention. The effectiveness of achievement measures and measures of attitude toward various instructional objects in the prediction of behavior and behavioral intention was also investigated. Consideration of Fishbein's model led to the investigation of several specific problems: (a) the relationship between variables internal to and those external to the model; (b) the relationship between behavior, behavioral intention, and the attitudinal and normative variables of the model; (c) the accuracy with which behavioral intention and behavior could be predicted, and the relative importance of the predictors in the prediction equation; (d) the use of behavioral intention measures as predictors of behavior in specific educational situations; and (e) the detection of possible measurement effects. A Likert attitude scale was used to obtain measures of attitude toward fourteen different aspects of Physics and Physics instruction. Estimates of Grade 12 Mathematics and Grade 12 Physics achievement were obtained from self- reports. Fishbein's model was applied to measures of: students' attitudes toward performing each activity (A act), their social normative beliefs (NB s), personal normative beliefs (NBp),motivation to comply with certain referents (Mc ), and behavioral intention (BI). Behavioral intentions were also predicted for three of the voluntary activities, using measures of A act, NBs and NBp as predictor variables. The measures of normative beliefs were taken with respect to the referents: self, closest friends, parents, majority of the class, lecturer, and religious group. The model for predicting behavioral intention was given by Fishbein in the form of a multiple regression equation, where the criterion variable is BI and the predictor variables are Aact and the summation (over all referents) of NBs multiplied by Mc. Most of the obtained results tended to agree with expectations based on Fishbein's theory. Variables external to the model were, for the most part, poorly correlated with behavioral intention and with overt behavior (B) unless they were significantly correlated with at least one of the predictors given in the model. Statistically significant correlations were consistently found between measures of BI and NBp, Aact, and the normative belief with respect to students' 'best friends'. The magnitudes of correlations between measures of BI and the other social normative beliefs varied considerably across activities, several correlations reaching statistical significance. Correlations between B and measures of BI were generally low, although three out of five were significantly greater than zero. Correlations between behavior and the predictor variables were also small, and were frequently not statistically significant. High multiple correlations obtained in the prediction of BI indicated predictive validity of the predictor variables. In all predictions of BI, NBp had, by far, the greatest weight as a predictor. Beta weights of Aact, and NBs varied greatly across activities. Low multiple correlations were obtained in the prediction of behavior from the predictor variables, substantiating the low product moment correlations obtained between BI and B. The observation that significant positive correlations between behavior and the predictor variables were reduced to nonsignificance when behavioral intention was held constant, tended to substantiate the theoretical expectation that BI is an intervening variable between behavior and the predictor variables. An unexpected result was the detection of significant measurement effects in the prediction of voluntary performance of three activities. These effects were substantiated by means of χ²tests of the independence of behavioral responses obtained under different measurement conditions: administration of the research instrument, a placebo instrument, and no instrument. It was concluded that with the application of Fishbein's theory, the prediction of behavioral intention with respect to performing free-choice activities in an educational setting could be made with considerably better than chance accuracy. The prediction of actual performance of the activities from measures of behavioral intention, however, posed serious difficulties. It was recommended that the possibility of measurement effects influencing the prediction of behavior be given careful consideration in future educational applications of the model. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

The thesis examines diverse methods of damping the librational motion of earth-orbiting satellites. Starting with passive stabilization, two classical mechanisms for energy dissipation are studied, for performance comparison, when executing librations in the orbital plane. The first model, consisting of a sliding mass restricted to relative translational motion with respect to the main satellite body, establishes the suitability of various approaches to the problem in circular orbit. In this case, numerical and analog methods do not readily yield information on the influence of parameters and approximate methods are found to be particularly helpful. Butenin's method based on averaging techniques predicts the response of the satellite with good accuracy for small damping constant while the exact solution to the linearized equations provides optimum damper characteristics for motion in the small. A comparison of the sliding mass damper model with a damper boom mechanism involving only relative rotational displacements, is then performed for equal equilibrium inertias of the damping devices. It indicates that, for optimum transient tuning, the damper boom would have a better time-index while the sliding mass would lead to smaller steady-state amplitudes for low eccentricity orbits. A numerical example using GEOS-A satellite data illustrates the outcome of the study when applied to physical situations. A stability analysis is also included which uses Routh and Lyapunov approaches to determine the domain of parameters leading to asymptotic stability, as well as numerical methods to define the bounds on stable initial disturbances: it is found that for most practical applications, the stability contour in circular orbit is close to that of the undamped case. How-ever, for eccentric trajectory, the amount of damping critically affects asymptotic stability. The next model, which involves active stabilization, uses solar radiation pressure to achieve planar librational control of a satellite orbiting in the plane of the ecliptic. This is obtained by adjusting the position of the center of pressure with respect to the center of mass through a controller depending on a linear combination of librational velocity and displacement. The motion in circular orbit is; first investigated through the W.K.B. method. Although the approximate equation involves an infinity of turning points, only a few of them are required to evaluate the damped behaviour of the system. A comparison of the analytical results with a numerical integration of the exact equation of motion shows good agreement only over a limited range of parameters and, therefore, the latter is used to complete the study for circular and elliptic cases. The concept leads to great versatility in positioning a satellite at any angle with respect to the local vertical. Also, high transient ; performance is observed about local vertical and horizontal and the dichotomous property of good transient associated with poor steady-state inherent to passive damping can be avoided by selecting appropriate controller parameters. An example is included which substantiates the feasibility of the configuration. Finally, the attention is directed towards the influence of gravity torques on the stability of damped axisymmetric dual-spin satellites. The nutation damper mounted on the slowly-spinning section is of the pendulum type. For this section rotating at orbital angular rate, application of the Kelvin-Tait-Chetaev theorem indicates that the asymptotic stability region reduces basically to the mainly positive stable spin region of the undamped case. However, some care is required depending upon the shape and natural frequency of the damper. If the damper section rotates at a much higher rate than the orbital one, torque-free motion need only be considered for short term pre-dictions. Stability charts corresponding to this case, given for comparison, emphasize the effect of gravity. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate

This study was designed to increase understanding of the commitment of an individual to his job or position within an organization. Based on the test instrument designed and evaluated in Lodahl and Kejner's The Definition and Measurement of Job Involvement, an empirical study of job involvement was made. Concurrently, the central life interests of the respondents were measured by means of the questionnaire battery used by Dubin in Industrial Worker’s Worlds: A Study of The "Central Life Interests” of Industrial Workers. The investigation was conducted by means of a questionnaire that combined the involvement and central life interest instruments. The data were obtained from 258 randomly selected employees at three levels of the organizational hierarchy: 104 unskilled employees, 88 skilled tradesmen, and 66 foremen. These individuals worked in a medium-light automotive manufacturing company with plants at two geographical locations that were separated by a distance of several miles. The objectives of the study were essentially threefold. The job involvement instrument was used to determine the extent of job involvement displayed by the sample. Analysis was also conducted to study the effect of job level, age, and job seniority on the degree of involvement. The central life interest instrument was used in a similar fashion, to observe life interest influences resulting from biographical differences with the sample. In both of the above cases comparative data were available from earlier studies in which the instruments had been used, thus providing an additional facet for analysis. Finally the evidence from the study was evaluated to test the general hypothesis, that for any given level of job responsibility, job involvement is in actuality a measure of the "centrality" of life interest in that job. The general conclusion reached in this investigation found that for the present sample, job involvement exists as points distributed across a continuum. A pure work orientation on the one hand, and a preference for the social relationships occurring in the workplace on the other, provide two inversely related extremes. The socially oriented individual is likely to view work as boring and generally unimportant. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

The feasibility of utilizing the environmental forces for three-axis librational damping and attitude control of spinning satellites is investigated in detail. An appreciation of the environmental influence is first gained through a librational dynamics study of spinning, axisymmetric, cylindrical satellites in the solar radiation pressure field. The highly nonlinear, nonautonomous, coupled equations of motion are analyzed approximately using the method of variation of parameters. The closed form solution proves to be quite useful in locating periodic solutions and resonance characteristics of the system. A numerical parametric analysis, involving large amplitude motion, establishes the effect of the radiation pressure to be substantial and destabilizing. Next, a possibility of utilizing this adverse influence to advantage through judiciously located rotatable control surfaces is explored. A controller configuration for a dual-spin spacecraft is analyzed first. The governing equations, in the absence of a known exact solution, are solved numerically to evaluate the effect of system parameters on the performance of the control system. The available control moments are found to be sufficient to compensate for the rotor spin decay, thus dispensing with the necessity of energy sources maintaining the spin rate. The controller is able to damp extremely severe disturbances in a fraction of an orbit and is capable of imparting arbitrary orientations to a satellite, thus permitting it to undertake diverse missions. The development of an efficient yet structurally simple controller configuration is then considered. A logical approach for solar controller design is proposed which suggests a four-plate configuration. Its performance in conjunction with a bang-bang control law is studied in detail. The utilization of maximum available control moments leads to a substantial improvement of the damping characteristics. Attention is then focussed on using the earth's magnetic field interaction with onboard dipoles for attitude control. Magnetic torquing, however, is unable to provide first order pitch control in near equatorial orbital planes. The shortcoming is overcome by hybridizing the concepts of magnetic and solar control. Two magnetic controller models, employing a single rotatable dipole or two fixed dipoles, are proposed in conjunction with a solar pitch controller. The system performance is evaluated for a wide range of system parameters and initial conditions. Although high spin rates lend considerable gyroscopic stiffness to the spacecraft, the controllers continue to be quite effective even in the absence of any spin. Even with extremely severe disturbances, damping times of the order of a few orbital degrees are attainable. As before, the concept enables a satellite to change the desired attitude in orbit. The effectiveness of the controllers at high altitudes having been established, the next logical step was to extend the analysis to near-earth satellites in free molecular environment. A hybrid control system, using the solar pressure at high altitudes and the aerodynamic forces near perigee, is proposed. The influence of important system parameters on the bang-bang operation of the controller is analyzed. The concept appears to be quite effective in damping the satellite librations. Both the orbit normal and the local vertical orientations of the axis of symmetry of the satellite are attainable. However, for arbitrary pointing of the symmetry axis, small limit cycle oscillation about the desired final orientation results. Finally, the time-optimal control, through solar radiation pressure, of an unsymmetrical satellite executing planar pitch librations is examined analytically. The switching criterion, synthesized for the linear case, is found to be quite accurate even when the system is subjected to large disturbances. Throughout, the semi-passive character of the system promises an increased life-span for a satellite. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this research project was to investigate the effectiveness of the two-hour and the one-day Health Promotion Workshops offered to nurses in British Columbia as part of a four month pilot project. The Registered Nurses' Association of British Columbia (RNABC) employed a nurse as special project director to develop and present Health Promotion Workshops to nurses. The goals of the workshop were: 1. To sensitize nurses to their own needs to optimize their own health. 2. To sensitize nurses to their role of sensitizing other to their need to optimize their own health. 3. To motivate nurses to make changes in their personal health behaviours. 4. To motivate nurses to make changes in their role as health promoters. The workshops were offered to all RNABC chapters throughout the province. Seventeen chapters chose the two-hour workshop and 5 chose the one-day workshop. Eight of the two-hour and three of the one-day workshop groups were used for the evaluation. The workshops were evaluated by observation, discussion with some participants, and with responses obtained through questionnaires. The questionnaires were designed to obtain information regarding knowledge, awareness, perceptions of the workshop, and behaviours of the nurses related to physical activity. Control groups were chosen by randomly selecting from the RNABC chapters, nurses who had not attended the workshop. Using analysis of variance, the control groups were found to be equivalent to the workshop groups prior to each session when comparing the questionnaire responses. Multivariate analysis of variance was done to determine differences between the workshop groups and their appropriate control groups six weeks following the workshops. The results indicated that: 1. There was a significant increase in reported exercise behaviours for both the two-hour and one-hour workshop groups. 2. There were no significant differences in reported habits relating to physical activity. 3. There were no significant differences in reported behaviours as a health promoter. Analysis of variance was done to determine significant differences among means for the knowledge test scores of each group. The results indicated that both workshop groups had a significantly higher mean score when compared to their control groups. Seventy-five percent of the participants reported that they identified changes they would like to make in their own fitness and forty-five percent indicated they were able to accomplish changes in this area. Seventy percent indicated they had an increased awareness of their role as health promoters in their work. It was concluded that the Health Promotion Workshops were effective in 1) sensitizing nurses to their own needs to optimize their own health, 2) motivating nurses to make changes in their health behaviours, and 3) sensitizing nurses to their role as health promoters. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

Thesis (M. A. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / The purpose of this study was to find out if athletes who participate in soccer and rugby are aware of the risk of HIV infection in contact sports. The sample consisted of male rugby (n=23) and soccer (30) players registered at the University of Limpopo (Turfloop campus). The research was a quantitative in approach with a cross sectional survey design. A qualitative element, in the form of open-ended questions, made the study more holistic as participants were able to express their thoughts freely. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentage and bar-graphs). Thematic Content Analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data obtained from open-ended questions. Thirteen themes were gleaned from the data namely, prevention, well-being, medical assistance, confidentiality, discrimination, fear and anxiety, emotional support, strategy, participation, mandatory testing, risk and relationship ambiguity. Results of the study, both qualitative and quantitative, generally supported previous research in that there are gaps in HIV knowledge, although not statistically significant. Relationship behaviour in terms of an HIV positive diagnosis reflected ambiguity amongst the participants with some participants stating they would tell their partners but many being unsure or not prepared to tell their partners about their status for fear of the relationship ending.

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (1995) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress results (1996) indicate that the United States has not reached the goal of being first in the world in mathematics and science achievement established by the Goals 2000 Act. Many states have adopted the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards for mathematics instruction, which call for the integration of computer technology, in an effort to improve international and national mathematics achievement results. Recent research (e.g., Anderson & Koedinger, 1995, Mann, Shakeshaft, Becker, & Kotkamp, 1999) has reported significant increases in student achievement in mathematics through the use of intelligent tutoring software such as the Carnegie Algebra Tutor. This study built upon this body research on computer technology and how it can be effectively integrated into classrooms to impact student achievement and attitude. In particular, the effect of the Carnegie Algebra Tutor on student achievement and attitude towards mathematics in an introductory high school Algebra course was examined. The quantitative portion of the study used a non-equivalent control group design. The population of the study consisted of 445 students. Student achievement was measured using scale scores on the Virginia Algebra I SOL assessment with the Total Mathematics portion of the Stanford 9 Ta as covariate. Student attitudes were measured using a shortened version of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales survey. Independent variables included the treatment condition, race/ethnicity, and gender. An ANCOVA was conducted to determine achievement effects, while ANOVA was conducted to determine attitude effects. The qualitative portion of the study consisted of student and teacher focus groups. It was through these focus group sessions that program implementation issues and cognitive and affective effects on students and teachers were examined. Analysis revealed statistically significant mean achievement differences between Black (M=402.2) and White (M=395.7) students. Student focus group data revealed an overall positive experience for students. Emerging themes from the teacher focus group included alignment issues with the Carnegie tutor and the Algebra SOL, implementation concerns, student effects, and software issues. Based on these findings, implications of the results of this study, future avenues of research, and implementation suggestions are offered. / Ed. D.