Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1994. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-36).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2008. / Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until May 30, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80)

The present study investigated Libyan preparatory school English teachers' attitudes to, willingness to use, and familiarity with YouTube as a potential teaching tool. The methodology followed a survey design of twenty-five Likert-scale questions and four mixed-type questions. For the purpose, 124 teachers were randomly selected out of a population of 1,170 preparatory school teachers at 150 schools in Tripoli, the capital of Libya. The result revealed that the participants had positive attitudes to and willingness to use YouTube applications as a beneficial tool for teaching the English language in Libya. On the other hand, participants' level of familiarity with YouTube applications did not match their generally positive perceptions of the affordances of YouTube. They recognized their own lack of computer skills and emphasized the need for special training in order to be able to become effective implementers of YouTube and multimedia resources in general. Overall, participants recognized the importance of using technology in their classrooms and the benefits of YouTube as a potential learning resource for the educational system in Libyan schools. Their enthusiasm was not related to their age or marital status. That is, beyond age differences or marital status, participants demonstrated an open mindedness towards the adoption of multimedia technology in their teaching. These results have direct implications for the adoption of multimedia technology in Libyan schools. They show that Libyan teachers are not outsiders to the general tendencies in our contemporary world, where technological innovations are changing the way we teach and learn. However, the results also suggest that Libyan teachers need training in computer assisted language learning, access to computers and Internet in order to be able to embrace the challenges of the 21st century.

Considerable empirical evidence supports the existence of parental stereotypes. However, the content of these stereotypes is less clear (Valiquette-Tessier, Vandette, & Gosselin, 2015; Valiquette-Tessier, Gosselin, Thomassin, & Young, 2018). Therefore, this study aims to (a) explore stereotypes associated with divorced, step, single, same-sex and adoptive mothers and fathers, in comparison to the stereotypes associated to married mothers and fathers, and (b) assess if a set of independent variables predicts the ratings on the stereotypical content. The procedure employed in this study constitutes the most common strategy for the measurement of stereotypes, that is the three steps method (Bennett & Jamieson, 1999). To fulfill the objectives, one sample t tests and linear regressions were conducted. Results showed that married parents are highly regarded despite the parent gender, and that divorced parents are strongly negatively regarded again for both genders. Single, step, and lesbian/gay parents remain generally negatively stereotyped, despite some more positive views that have emerged here and there. Finally, adoptive parents are stereotyped in a manner that is very similar to married parents, and are even seen more positively on some aspects. On the other part, for both mothers and fathers, the gender and parental status all reached statistical significance in predicting stereotypic category a number of times. However, while age was the most often significant predictor within mothers' reduced models, it never appeared as a significant predictor within fathers' reduced models. Moreover, ethnicity was a significant predictor in many fathers' reduced models, but only reached statistical significance in a few of the mothers' reduced models. The number of times relationship status and sexual orientation came up as statistically significant is relatively similar within both mothers and fathers' models, as was educational attainment which never reach statistical significance in any of the reduced models.

In managing organisations for optimal performance, managers are faced with the dilemma of either positioning their employees to compete or collaborate internally within the organisation. Internal competition can motivate individuals and teams to strive to be the best and in so doing result in continuous incremental performance improvements. In contrast, internal collaboration can result in effective problem solving through knowledge sharing and innovation. Management is therefore faced with a challenging dilemma of how best to leverage these seemingly opposing tensions for optimal performance. This study investigated the key factors that drive the adoption of internal competition and internal collaboration in organisations, the consequences of implementing either management approach, how levels of internal competition and internal collaboration vary at different management levels in the organisation and finally whether a viable hybrid combination of both management approaches was possible. To this end a qualitative research study with an explorative design was conducted with twenty senior executives. The insights from these in-depth interviews formed the basis of the data that was analysed to produce the research findings in this study. The research identified drivers and outcomes of the management approaches under review. The Internal Competition and Internal Collaboration Hybrid Model (Figure 14) emerged from these research findings. This model was found to confirm while the management approaches are different there is an optimal way of combining them to allow managers to leverage competitive and collaborative tensions. In this way managers can achieve sustainable high performance within their organisation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

The benefit of organizations that invest in the people who work for them has been shown in numerous academic publications. Some of these human capacity investments are amongst other the Employee Assistance Program. These programmes are designed to assist employees who in the course of their work encounter personal or interpersonal problems that may or may not influence the work environment. Departments can also make use of Employee Assistance Program (EAP’s) in their bid to offer help to employees. EAP is a program aimed at addressing quality of life and quality of work life of employees. When the mental, physical and emotional capacities are disturbed, the enthusiasm to work seems to decrease and hence economical implications are unavoidable. Good interpersonal relations, quality of supervision, improved working conditions in the workplace are important tasks that can contribute significantly to social factors influencing employee well-being. To make headway on these tasks, a study was conducted with the employees at the Department of Social Development, Germiston Office in Gauteng Province. The aim of this research study was to measure social factors influencing employee well-being at the Department of Social Development, Germiston. The objectives of the study were: • To draw up a profile of employee well-being at the Department of Social Development. • To review literature on social factors influencing employee well-being. • To select and prepare suitable instrumentation for the collection of quantitative data. • To analyze data and determine most suitable indicators of employee well-being. • Data will be interpreted for the purpose of drawing conclusions that reflect the interests, ideas and theories that initiated the inquiry. • To establish relationships between social factors and employees. • To draw conclusions and make recommendations. The findings of this study showed that the problems of the respondents that needed attention of the management are as follows: • Home language is an important determinant that can be associated with equality. English/Afrikaans respondents are less likely to be given equal opportunities to advance in their careers than African-language-speaking respondents. • Home language is an important determinant that can be associated with job satisfaction. African respondents are more likely to experience job satisfaction than English/Afrikaans respondents. • Home language is an important determinant that can be associated with expectation. African respondents are more optimistic about the future than the English/Afrikaans respondents. • Home language is an important determinant that can be associated with energy. English/Afrikaans-speaking respondents are less likely to enjoy the things that they are doing than African respondents. • Home language is an important determinant of that can be associated with responsibility. African respondents are more likely to get what they want if they work hard than English/Afrikaans respondents. There is statistically significant difference between family income of the respondents and energy. Family income is an important determinant that can be associated with energy. The respondents earning more than R6 000 or more per month are less likely to enjoy life than the respondents who are earning less than R5 999 per month. Home language is an important determinant of medical aid. English/Afrikaans respondents have a greater need for medical aid than African respondents. The study has shown that African employees at the organization are generally more contempt in their work than Afrikaans and English speaking employees. One can only speculate as to what may contribute to this marked difference in opinion. Environmental factors may be included in these findings. The study does show however that expectations and perceptions amongst various cultural groups of employees are different and that English and Afrikaans employees are less optimistic about the future than the African group. It is significant to note however that expectations regarding aspects such as access to a medical aid may contribute to a sense of well - being as well. It is important for management to conduct surveys which research how employees are feeling and what the morale is in an organization. The findings will help management in structuring a performance appraisal system, team building as well as developing career development programs and improving factors that have an impact on the well-being of the employees. / Dr. W. Roestenburg

M.A. (Sociology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The impact of computer use is evident in every day life (Harrington, Carter, Birrell and Gompertz, 2000:264). Lind (2002:18) explains that global trends continue to show that the most severe work-related health problems that exist amongst computer users are musculoskeletal disorders. As technology has lead to increases in automation, so it has lead to increases in work-related illnesses. Although studies have explored the effects of ergonomics (Thibodeau, 1995:322) in static working positions there has been little evidence supporting a solution in overcoming poor occupational postures. Many health practitioners argue that occupationally caused, or aggravated, musculoskeletal disorders are steadily increasing. Thus, even though computers have improved productivity and made work easier for the population in general, they have adverse effects as well. Designing the proper tools or a setup of the work place is of prime importance for the elimination of chronic diseases attributed to sedentary lifestyles. Regular physical activity had long been regarded as an important component of a healthy lifestyle. This notion has recently been reinforced by scientific evidence linking regular physical activity with a wide array of physical and mental health benefits, synonymous with an improvement in wellness (Pratt, Macera, and Wang, 2000:63). According to Pratt et al. (2000:63) higher direct medical costs associates with physical inactivity. Further cross-sectional epidemiologic studies and controlled experimental investigations conducted by Okura, Nakata and Tanaka (2003:1131) had demonstrated that physically active adults, in contrast to their sedentary counterparts, tend to develop and maintain higher levels of physical fitness. These studies had not only demonstrated the positive results of physical activity, such as an improvement in blood lipid profile, body composition, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, but had also shown that participation in such activity decreased the risk of developing several chronic hypokinetic diseases, including coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension, non-insulin dependant diabetes mellitus (type II), osteoporosis, colon cancer, anxiety and depression. In addition, low levels of habitual physical activity and the subsequent low levels of physical fitness were associated with a marked increase in all-cause mortality rates. Okura et al. (2003:1131) confirm that effects of exercise intensity on physical fitness and risk factors for coronary Herat disease.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between masculinity-femininity scores on the Terman-Miles Attitude Interest Analysis Test and interest scores on certain subtests of the Kuder Preference Record. Masculinity-femininity was defined as the degree of similarity of the individual's responses to the responses characteristic of men or of women, respectively, of our culture. Interest was defined as the readiness of an individual to engage in some activity. The major purpose of this study was to determine whether members of opposite sexes having similar personality characteristics in relation to masculinity-femininity were closer in interest scores than were members of the same sex having opposite personality characteristics in relation to masculinity-femininity. Four groups of deviates on the masculinity-femininity dimension were selected from a large group of male and female volunteer undergraduates of the University of British Columbia. These four groups were then given the Kuder Preference Record, and six subtests, selected because of their proven ability to discriminate between the sexes, were scored. Statistical analysis showed that the hypothesized relationship did exist in two vocational areas and did not exist in the remaining two vocational areas and two personal areas. The second purpose of this study was to investigate the statement that amount of education is positively correlated with degree of masculinity for both sexes throughout life. A large group of male and female volunteer, white-collar, high-school graduates, none of whom had attended university, was given the Terman-Miles test. A comparison of the scores of these non-university males with the scores of the university males showed that the latter group was significantly more masculine. No significant difference was found in the case of the female non-university and university groups. It was concluded first, that interests, as measured by the Kuder Preference Record, are not as closely related to masculinity-femininity, as measured by the Terman-Miles test, as common-sense judgments of the situation would indicate: and second, that the positive relationship between degree of masculinity and amount of education may exist in the male population, but possibly not in the female population, in our culture. / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate