Virtual teams improve organizational performance and competitiveness because they reduce business travel and allow team members to work from anywhere, anytime, using the Internet to complete projects. Although researchers have identified benefits of using virtual teams, knowledge about how cultural backgrounds influence virtual team performance is limited. Illuminating this relationship may help leadership improve team performance. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of team members with different cultural backgrounds to understand their effect on team performance. The research questions were based on the conceptual framework of organizational cultural theories developed by Schein and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner. Interview questions were electronically distributed to a purposeful sample of 20 participants who worked on virtual teams and could describe their lived experiences. Data were collected, coded using open and axial techniques, and analyzed for themes and patterns. Key themes emerged such as cultural backgrounds, language barriers, communication, conflict, and use of information technology. Findings included techniques for improving communications, understanding different cultural backgrounds, and the satisfaction of team members. Implications for positive social change include an improved understanding among virtual team leaders regarding how different cultural backgrounds influence team performance. Results of this study may benefit organizations by helping them better manage the performance of multicultural virtual teams, thereby leading to improved product development and reduced costs associated with activities such as business travel and remote work.

<p>Pupil achievement and behaviour in schools was earlier seen as given by socioeconomic and biological factors. But since the late 1970s the school effectiveness research has come to give school factors a much greater role for pupils’ attainments. Research has shown that schools´ pedagogical and social climate, which is to be seen as a complex product of deeply felt values and norms held by school principals and teachers and developed through practical actions, can explain variations in effectiveness between schools. Effectiveness is here to be seen as a higher mean cognitive and non cognitive student outcome than is expected with regard to initial attainment or family background. In this context all schools can be effective.</p><p>The purpose of this dissertation is to study the pedagogical and the social climate in two secondary schools in order to answer the question of how the climate can describe their conditions for future evolvement in effectiveness. The method of data collection is qualitative enquiries and has been conducted through interviews with principals, teachers and pupils. Our two schools are based in the same council and have a similar intake of pupils. The results derived from the study show that one school has a better pedagogical and social climate than the other which at the same time gives it greater conditions for future effectiveness.</p>

Pupil achievement and behaviour in schools was earlier seen as given by socioeconomic and biological factors. But since the late 1970s the school effectiveness research has come to give school factors a much greater role for pupils’ attainments. Research has shown that schools´ pedagogical and social climate, which is to be seen as a complex product of deeply felt values and norms held by school principals and teachers and developed through practical actions, can explain variations in effectiveness between schools. Effectiveness is here to be seen as a higher mean cognitive and non cognitive student outcome than is expected with regard to initial attainment or family background. In this context all schools can be effective. The purpose of this dissertation is to study the pedagogical and the social climate in two secondary schools in order to answer the question of how the climate can describe their conditions for future evolvement in effectiveness. The method of data collection is qualitative enquiries and has been conducted through interviews with principals, teachers and pupils. Our two schools are based in the same council and have a similar intake of pupils. The results derived from the study show that one school has a better pedagogical and social climate than the other which at the same time gives it greater conditions for future effectiveness.

Standardized tests are generally based on the norms of the majority population who share the same culture, language and above all, similar prior learning experiences. Because of this, it is problematic for clinicians to use standardized tests when assessing children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. Dynamic assessment (DA) is an alternative assessment method that can circumvent the dilemma of biased testing of children from CLD populations. By looking at the child‟s modifiability instead of static performance DA aims to target the child‟s true language ability. In this study the researchers investigated the difference between narratives produced before and after a dynamic assessment procedure called a test-teach-retest method. 16 South African preschool children were assessed in one session with a wordless picture sequence and then the test-teach-retest format was implemented. Each child was asked to tell the story in the pictures, followed by a dynamic assessment phase (focused questions), and finally a second elicitation of the narrative. No time elapsed between the tests and the teaching phase. Significant differences were found between the narratives elicited before and after the focused questions, but not for all measures. The use of mental state terms (what characters feel and think) increased from the first to the second narrative as well as some of the microstructural elements (linguistic structures) and macrostructural elements (global organization of the story). These results indicate that the use of narrative language in the field of DA has the potential of reducing bias when assessing children‟s narrative ability in culturally and linguistically diverse populations. / Standardiserade test är främst baserade på normer som hämtats från studier av majoritetsbe-folkningen i ett land. En befolkning delar ofta samma kultur och de är ofta enspråkiga, men framförallt delar de liknande upplevelser. På grund av detta är det mycket svårt för kliniker att använda standardiserade test på barn med flerspråkig bakgrund. Dynamic assessment (DA) är en alternativ och dynamisk bedömningsmetod som kan förhindra att språklig testning av mångkulturella barn blir partisk. DA är ett tillvägagångssätt som fokuserar på barns sätt att ta sig an språk medan traditionella mått främst används för att statiskt kvantifiera prestation. Den här uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka om det finns en skillnad i barns sätt att berätta en saga före och efter intervention med dynamisk bedömningsmetod. 16 sydafrikanska förskole-barn testades, varje barn fick vid ett tillfälle berätta två historier till samma bildsekvens. Mel-lan de två berättelserna ställde forskarna riktade frågor om innehållet, dessa riktade frågor motsvarar det dynamiska inslaget i bedömningen. Signifikanta resultat hittades, men inte för alla mätvärden. Signifikant var den ökade användningen av mental state terms (vad karaktä-rerna i en berättelse känner och tänker), samt ökningen av vissa mått på mikro- (lingvistisk struktur) och makrostruktur (övergripande organisering av berättelsen). Detta resultat tyder på att användningen av en dynamisk bedömningsmetod kan ge kliniker ett instrument som är opartiskt vid bedömning av mångkulturella barns berättarförmåga.

This is a study of the curriculum identity of Icelandic craft teachers. The study is based on life history interviews with 42 teachers born between 1913 and 1960. The interviews traced a life long relationship with the subject they chose to teach. Particular attention was paid to how the teachers define their subject and how they identify with it. The information gathered was analyzed with reference to the development of crafts as school subjects in Iceland. The study describes in context the relationship that teachers have with their subjects and attempts to explain it in terms of gender and class. The curriculum identity of the teacher of these subjects is crucial as the subjects are not defined by external means such as a prescriptive formal curriculum or centralized assessment. Each teacher is therefore able to construct a personal curriculum. The curriculum identity of craft teachers is defined by gender and class. The Icelandic school system includes two craft subjects; textiles formerly know as girls' craft, and wood and metalwork, formerly known as boys' craft. In the late seventies the gender segregation was abolished by a policy of equal access to education. Still the subjects retain a gendered definition. This study details the strength of gendered traditions and the complex effects of gender equity policies. Class refers here to the hierarchy of academic and vocational, or intellectual/manual pursuits. Western school systems operate on a dichotomy between mind and matter, where association with matter and the manual is less prestigious. The life histories of craft teachers manifest the effects, as the teachers perceive themselves as a low status group within the school system. The composite life histories of this group of craft teachers outline the history of the school subjects in Iceland, a history that has not been documented. The main contribution of the study is to the definition of curriculum identity, the way in which teachers define themselves and are defined by the subjects they teach. The evidence given by these teachers suggests that teachers tend to see their curriculum identity as deeply rooted in their personal history, even in their family history.

This is a study of the curriculum identity of Icelandic craft teachers. The study is based on life history interviews with 42 teachers born between 1913 and 1960. The interviews traced a life long relationship with the subject they chose to teach. Particular attention was paid to how the teachers define their subject and how they identify with it. The information gathered was analyzed with reference to the development of crafts as school subjects in Iceland. The study describes in context the relationship that teachers have with their subjects and attempts to explain it in terms of gender and class. The curriculum identity of the teacher of these subjects is crucial as the subjects are not defined by external means such as a prescriptive formal curriculum or centralized assessment. Each teacher is therefore able to construct a personal curriculum. The curriculum identity of craft teachers is defined by gender and class. The Icelandic school system includes two craft subjects; textiles formerly know as girls' craft, and wood and metalwork, formerly known as boys' craft. In the late seventies the gender segregation was abolished by a policy of equal access to education. Still the subjects retain a gendered definition. This study details the strength of gendered traditions and the complex effects of gender equity policies. Class refers here to the hierarchy of academic and vocational, or intellectual/manual pursuits. Western school systems operate on a dichotomy between mind and matter, where association with matter and the manual is less prestigious. The life histories of craft teachers manifest the effects, as the teachers perceive themselves as a low status group within the school system. The composite life histories of this group of craft teachers outline the history of the school subjects in Iceland, a history that has not been documented. The main contribution of the study is to the definition of curriculum identity, the way in which teachers define themselves and are defined by the subjects they teach. The evidence given by these teachers suggests that teachers tend to see their curriculum identity as deeply rooted in their personal history, even in their family history. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Especially during the last century the health of school children has been a problem of deep concern. Many physical examinations have been given by numerous organizations with the intention of discovering organic disorders that might be detrimental to a child's normal social life. As a result of such study, humanity has generally come to recognize the social and economic costs of ill-health and has embarked on remedial and preventive campaigns to improve the well-being of children. Foundations have been endowed. Free clinics have been established to serve those families whos incomes prohibit them from securing medical services otherwise; county, city and school nurses and doctors have been employed in districts throughout the country to render treatment and give advice. Health educational campaigns have been conducted and organized health units and agencies have been instituted. Of late, socialized medicine has gained in populatrity as a means of enabling certain unfortunate persons to benefit from expert services. All of these efforts which have been directed mainly in the interests of school children have brought to light many interesting facts relevant to physcial conditions that threaten good health. Few doubt the value of knowing what evil effects diseased tonsils or teeth, diseased heart, curvature of the spine, defective feet, or other physical disorders may have upon the health of the child. Nor do most people question the importance of having these physical handicaps removed or corrected so that one may come nearer functioning to his normal capacity. It is generally recognized today that not only the welfare of the individual but the future of civilization depends greatly upon the health of its citizens. Purposes of this study are threefold: (1) to ascertain certain existing social, economic and educational conditions found among seventh and eighth grade children of Brigham City grouped according to physical rating; (2) to compare the groups with respect of these certain conditions; and (3) where it seems justified, to compare the findings in this project with those disclosed by other research studies. Inasmuch as this is relatively a new field of research many of the comparisions with outside studies are indirect rather than of direct significance.

This dissertation investigated the effects of complex backgrounds on mental rotation. Stimulus familiarity and background familiarity were manipulated. It systematically explored how familiarizing participants to objects and complex backgrounds affects their performance on a mental rotation task involving complex backgrounds. This study had 113 participants recruited through the UCF Psychology SONA system. Participants were familiarized with a stimulus in a task where they were told to distinguish the stimulus from 3 other stimuli. A similar procedure was used to familiarize the backgrounds. The research design was a 2 stimulus familiarity (Familiarized with the Target Stimulus, not familiarized with the Target Stimulus) by 2 background familiarity (Familiarized with Target Background, not familiarized with Target Background 1) by 2 stimulus response condition (Target Stimulus, Non-Target Stimulus) by 3 background response condition (Target Background, Non-Target Background, Blank Background) by 12 degree of rotation (0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270, 300, 330) mixed design. The study utilized target stimulus and target background familiarity conditions as the between-subjects variables. Background, stimulus, and degree of rotation were within-subjects variables. The participants' performance was measured using reaction time and percent of errors. Reaction time was computed using only the correct responses. After the familiarization task, participants engaged in a mental rotation task featuring stimuli and backgrounds that were present or not present in the familiarization task. A 2 (stimulus familiarization condition) by 2 (background familiarization condition) by 2 (stimulus response condition) by 3 (background response condition) by 12 (degree of rotation) mixed ANOVA was computed utilizing reaction time and percent of errors. Results suggest that familiarity with the Target Background had the largest effect on improving performance across response conditions. The results also suggest that familiarity with both the Target Stimulus and Target Background promoted inefficient mental rotation strategies which resulted in no significant differences between participants familiarized with neither the Target Stimulus nor the Target Background. Theoretical conclusions are drawn about stimulus familiarity and background familiarity. Future studies should investigate the effects of long term familiarity practice on mental rotation and complex backgrounds.

The aim of this study is to explore the experiences that migrant parents from the global South have regarding the child developmental assessments carried out by the Child Healthcare Centers in Sweden.  Over the past half-century, the study of child development has been dominated by developmental psychology. Child Studies has taken a critical approach to traditional developmental theories, highlighting the social construction of childhood as opposed to purely biological or universal frameworks. This raises important questions, such as whether all children develop at the same rate, what it means for a child to be in development, and whether various cultures perceive child development in the same way. The data collection method for this study has been semi-structured interviews with five parents originally from the global South living in Sweden who have attended the developmental assessments with their children. The data analysis method has been reflective thematic analysis, resulting in four themes: Age-based developmental milestones according to parents’ cultural perspective, parent’s perceived lack of cultural appropriateness in the child developmental assessments, differences about parental roles in child development according to cultural backgrounds and the centrality of the environment in child development for parents from the global South. The findings of the study are 1. Parents from the global South possess an understanding of child development partially similar and different compared to the one endorsed by the Child Healthcare Centers based on their cultural backgrounds. 2.The difference in the understanding of child development created cultural barriers that affect parents' involvement and contribution in the assessment, and in the appropriateness of the services they received.

The general purpose of this study is to examine the effects of socialization background and cognitive style on individuals' patterns of behavior. The more specific purpose is to integrate the individual differences factor using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator with Meadian Theory of Socialization in order to explore the ways in which a group of incarcerated individuals with prior felony and misdemeanor convictions and a group of college students are different regarding their different socialization background and cognitive styles. Data for this study were collected from a university and a county jail in Texas. During the process of data collection, two questionnaires consisting of 117 items were used to measure individual characteristics and elements of socialization background. This study is organized into four different chapters. Chapter I involves a detailed review of related literature, the purpose of the study, stated hypotheses, significance of the study, and limitations. Chapter II discusses methodological procedures and Chapter III presents the findings of the study. The last chapter includes a detailed conclusion and practical implications of the study. The findings in this study indicated that the group of incarcerated individuals and the group of college students are significantly different in terms of their different individual characteristics and socialization backgrounds. However, it was found that socialization background has the most significant effects on patterns of behavior among the two groups under study. It was concluded that while accepting the crucial importance of socialization factors, specific psychological characteristics of people also need to be integrated into sociological studies concerning human behavior for the better understanding of different groups and individuals in society.