Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / This research work investigates and reports on the contribution of usability and perceptual frameworks towards understanding and ultimately increasing usage of a sales website and a corporate marketing website for a major insurance company in South Africa. It investigates whether the application of usability principles to the sales web positively influences the usage of the sales web system as a tool by intermediaries, and in so doing help the organisation recoup their investment and lower operational costs. This financial services (traditionally insurance) company, like many organisations, is in the process of migrating key operational systems onto web platforms to take advantage of benefits such as the ubiquity of web access and services orientated architecture among others. The research reviewed key frameworks in the area of technology acceptance or usage namely Nielsen‟s usability attributes (Nielsen, 2003). The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), (Davis, 1989). The Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985); and derived a theoretical summative model (the Conceptual Research Model) that combined both usability and perceptual dimensions. The applicability of this summative model was empirically tested using quantitative data relating to system usage and user perception. Empirical evidence was gathered to prove and refine the Conceptual Research Model (CRM), and the data substantiated the inclusion of the constructs in the CRM, as well as the efficacy of the model in a financial services organisation. Through testing of the CRM, this research has also confirmed which specific attributes of usability can be focussed on to bring about positive change in users' usage behaviour and adoption of a website or web application. / South Africa

Syftet med studien är att undersöka unga vuxna invandrares erfarenheter av primärvården. En kvalitativ ansats tillämpas för att söka en djupare förståelse för ämnet och fem semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts. Genom ett snöbollsurval har informanter, bosatta i Mälardalsregionen, valts ut till studien. Informanterna är i åldrarna 24 och 26 år samt har varit bosatta i Sverige i omkring sex år. Resultatet innehåller redogörelser av informanternas erfarenheter av primärvården samt interaktionen med vårdpersonal. Informanterna upplever att deras redogörelser inte blir tagna på allvar och att de inte blir lyssnade till, vilket har lett till upplevelser av att de inte får tillräcklig vård. Vidare framkommer det att språket är en betydande faktor för hur information överförs samt att kontaktmöjligheterna upplevs vara goda. Person-centred care [PCC] kan användas som modell i arbetet om att förbättra möten i primärvården mellan patienter och vårdpersonal. Vidare bidrar modellen till ökad kunskap bland patienter när de får engagera sig i sin egen vård som kan resultera i ökad folkhälsa. PCC kan minska skillnader i hälsa, detta blir av vikt för studiens målgrupp som påvisats ha sämre hälsa än resterande befolkning. Studien påvisar behov av att förbättra möten i primärvården. / The aim of this study is to examine young immigrant adults’ experiences of primary care. The study uses a qualitative approach to seek a deeper understanding of the selected subject, five semi-structured interviews have been made. A snowball sampling was made to find participants living in regions around Mälardalen. The participants are between the ages of 24 and 26 years old and have lived in Sweden for six years. The results contain statements of the informants’ perceptions of the primary care and interactions with the healthcare professionals. The informants experience their statements not being taken seriously and not being listened to, which has led to the experience of not receiving adequate care. Furthermore, the importance of language, when information transfers between patients and healthcare professionals, emerges. The contact opportunities are positively experienced. Person-centred care [PCC] can be used as a model to improve the meetings in primary-care between patients and healthcare professionals. The model can contribute to increased knowledge for patients when they engage in their own care which can contribute to increased public health. For the study’s target group, who are shown to have poorer health, the PCC model becomes important to reduce differences in health. The study shows a need of improving meetings in the primary care.

In this work, the vector equation of a straight line, a topic in vector geometry that students often struggle to understand, was investigated in an interactive, immersive augmented reality (AR) experience. In a user test, 28 undergraduate engineering students solved different collaborative tasks using the AR tool during a student-centred learning activity in a university mathematics course. Augmented reality combines virtual content with the reality to a create a coherent experience. Compared to desktop or mobile applications, immersive AR experiences, often using head-mounted displays (HMD), can be more engaging due to its multi-sensory user interaction, such as hand gesturing, spatial movement, and the perception of true three-dimensionality in a stereoscopic view. Due to recent improvements in hardware and decreasing costs, AR has been used more frequently in educational settings. Still, compared to the mobile form factor, HMD-based AR studies are underrepresented. While multiple studies report benefits of AR in education, such as increased student performance, achieving these benefits depends on the context of use and the specific AR implementation. The results of this work suggest that the three-dimensional and dynamic nature of immersive AR is well suited to investigating mathematical concepts such as the vector equation of a straight line. Compared to virtual reality (VR) experiences, immersive AR facilitates peer-to-peer interaction. Students were motivated to use the technology and reported task-related learning outcomes from the activity. For university curricula to benefit from immersive AR, interdisciplinary teams need to share knowledge to create appropriate AR experiences. Moreover, an AR implementation should follow a long-term approach and include students from both educational and technical domains into the design process.

No / Transition planning using a person-centred approach has, in the main, failed to shape service provision. We offer an alternative based on an ecological understanding of human development linked to public health approaches that prioritise whole system planning. A total of 43 young people with intellectual disabilities, in Bradford, England, who were approaching transition from school or college were recruited to a qualitative study. Their ethnic breakdown was as follows: 16 white British, 24 Pakistani, 2 Bangladeshi and 1 Black African. Each young person was interviewed twice, at recruitment and a year later, to observe any changes in their social networks during transition. Interviews were undertaken with a semi-structured interview schedule and with the pictorial approach of Talking Mats. Both the networks the young people live within, and their sense of what the future might hold for them, are described and linked to Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development. The importance of the family and school is emphasised, as is the absence of engagement in leisure activities and work. Transition planning needs to start with mapping the systems individuals live within, areas of strength should be supported and parts of the system, which are not fit for purpose for these young people, should be prioritised for interventions.

Bakgrund: Diabetes Mellitus är mer vanligt förekommande hos individer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning jämfört med övriga befolkningen. Intellektuell funktionsnedsättning är en kognitiv nedsättning som innebär svårigheter att ta in och bearbeta information samt tillämpa och bygga kunskap. Egenvård är ett begrepp som används för att beskriva de insatser som den enskilde individen vidtar för att lindra eller bota sjukdom och främja hälsa.  Syfte: Att beskriva vad som upplevs påverka egenvården hos individer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning och diabetes. Metod: Litteraturöversikt, med induktiv ansats, baserad på kvalitativa artiklar via datainsamling gjord i CIINAHL och PsychINFO. Metoden snowballing har även använts för datainsamlingen. Resultatet sammanställdes genom en integrerad analys. Resultat: Svårigheter att ta till sig och använda sig av information upplevs inverka negativt på förmågan till egenvård vid diabetes hos individer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning och diabetes. Kunskapen hos vårdteamet och stödet från omgivningen upplevs även påverka egenvården. Slutsats: Möjligheten bör finnas inom ramen för sjuksköterskeprogrammet att synliggöra omvårdnad vid intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Inom vården bör man vidta åtgärder utifrån behovet av mer undervisning om diabetes som är särskilt anpassad för individer som är intellektuellt funktionsnedsatta. Det skulle även vara värdefullt att framtida forskning belyser dessa individers möjlighet till egenvård. / Background: Diabetes mellitus is more common amongst individuals with an intellectual disability compared to the rest of the population. Intellectual disability is a cognitive impairment which results in difficulties with processing information and applying and building knowledge. Self-management is a term used to describe the activities that the individual perform in order to cure disease and promote health. Objective: To describe experiences of what affects self-management amongst individuals with an intellectual disability and diabetes. Method: Literature review, with an inductive approach, with a review of relevant qualitative articles found in CINAHL and PsychINFO. The snowballing method is also used for collecting data. The result is compiled using an integrated analysis.   Result: Difficulties with reciving and using information is experienced to impede the ability to self-manage diabetes amongst individuals with intellectual disability and diabetes. The understanding of diabetes and intellectual disability amongst health care professionals and contextual support is also experienced to affect self-management. Conclusion: Within the context of the nursing program it would be useful with more dedicated education about intellectual disability. More research about these individuals’ ability to self-manage would be useful as well. Within the health care system actions should be taken to meet the need for information that is suited for individuals with intellectual disability.

This study provides a qualitative examination of the role of visualization through an understanding of the thought processes that occur during visualization when Grade 9 learners engage in data handling and spatial tasks. Data were gathered in a problem-centred context from learners' written responses in order to determine the students' visuality. Visuality is defined as how often learners used visualization. In addition interviews were conducted with the learners who described the thought processes that they engaged in during visualization while involved in problem solving. The role of visualization was highlighted through the processes that learners described during the interviews. The tasks which provided manipulative materials helped learners create visual images which promoted the process of visualization. Certain recommendations were made. Knowledge of the role of visualization enables the educator to encourage the use of visualization during the teaching of mathematics. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Mathematical Education)

The social work profession requires the accumulation of theory, knowledge, skills and their integration into practice. The department of social work at UNISA trains students according to the person-centred approach (PCA). The question thus arises whether the social workers trained in PCA at UNISA are able to integrate theory into practice in their different areas of employment. Exploring this would give the department of social work an opportunity to re-visit the teaching of PCA and make some improvements if necessary. The qualitative study was conducted with social workers employed in different welfare organizations in Pretoria. The following themes emerged from the analysis: the perceived significance of building relationship with clients, the organizational influence in counselling, unique experiences with regard to colleagues who graduated from other institutions, challenges in handling a conflict or crisis situation, and lastly the nature of statutory cases. The conclusions were drawn and recommendations were presented. / Social Science / M.A. (Mental Health)

This study aims to investigate the impact of using stories in pre-school mathematics teaching in Saudi Arabia. An intervention was designed to promote interactive teaching and learning in eight classrooms across three private schools. Integral to the intervention was a series of five stories especially written by the researcher based around the same central characters; reflecting the cultural setting familiar to the children, and with a problem-solving storyline. The stories include a range of mathematical facts, skills and concepts applicable to young learners. Additional resource materials to accompany the stories were also designed and provided for the participating teachers. The researcher adopted a qualitative, constructivist, technical action research approach and three data collection tools were used: a bibliographical questionnaire for the teachers; pre- and post-interventions semi-structured interview schedules, and classroom observations. A thematic analysis of the pre- and post-intervention data was undertaken in order to monitor the impact of using the stories in the pre-school classrooms. The study considers the findings from the data in relation to both the teachers’ and the children's’ experiences pre- and post-intervention. In particular, the impact of the intervention on teachers’ subject knowledge, attitudes, confidence and classroom practice is discussed along with the impact on children’s engagement and enjoyment of mathematics; their mathematical understanding and thinking skills. The study concludes that using stories to teach mathematics had a positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning mathematics. Using the stories prompted a positive change in teacher’s and children’s attitudes and feelings towards mathematics; a greater understanding of key mathematical ideas; and an appreciation of the value and uses of mathematics in everyday life. The implications from the study highlight the importance of providing appropriate training for pre-school teachers (and elsewhere) and the pivotal role that using stories can play in ensuring high quality mathematics teaching and learning.

This thesis contributes original knowledge through an inclusive design approach to lowering language and communication barriers in healthcare and suggests shifting the discussion from culture to context to lower intra-cultural hindrances towards learning English amongst some ethnic minorities. It offers an adaptable, scalable concept for gathering data on ethnic minorities (considering both different generations and religions) and employs a framework based analysis in design. Over the course of three studies grounded on theoretical insights from literature, primary research lead to the development and testing of innovative aids for communication, including educative and motivational elements. This research began by seeking to understand ethnic minority consumers (EMCs) perceptions of any barriers hindering their take-up of products or services in the UK, and their preferences. This is particularly significant as the UK s EMC population is predicted to double by 2051 and to diversify further, presenting challenges for social cohesion and planning future community goals. EMCs also represent a significant market for service and product providers. The research focussed on EMCs from the Indian Subcontinent based on religions and generations. It highlighted that first generation females lacking English and/or literacy (across religions and age groups) faced problems with services and issues around empowerment . The importance of improved access to healthcare was a strong theme. On investigating NHS staffs perceptions, five barriers were identified (Language barriers; Low-literacy; a Lack of understanding; Attitudes, gender and health beliefs; and Information retention) and that a female subgroup was particularly affected. This study sets out staffs perceptions of the aids currently employed and suggestions of what would help. It identified a (currently) low use of visual communication aids in adult-patient care and that pharmacist-patient communication in pharmacies was low. Ideally, staff would like patients to learn English and to use more low-cost visual communication aids. These findings lead to the development of innovative visual communication aids through inclusive and user-centred approaches and participatory design and brainstorming methods. This enabled the development of aids by considering the needs of NHS staff, EMCs lacking English and/or literacy and indigenous elderly people to promote better patient-staff communication including a take-away educational element for learning English at home.

Socialstyrelsens brukarundersökning visar att äldre som bor på särskilt boende är mest missnöjda med de aktiviteter och den sociala samvaron som verksamheten erbjuder. Äldreomsorgen bygger på den nationella värdegrunden som innefattar att den äldre ska få leva ett värdigt liv och känna välbefinnande, men det är inte klart hur denna värdegrund påverkar personalens arbetssätt eller de sociala aktiviteter som erbjuds. Vår studie angriper denna fråga. Fem särskilda boenden var representerade både från kommunala och privata vårdgivare i två olika kommuner. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med de särskilda boendes enhetschefer, som sedan transkriberades och tematiskt analyserades. Vårt resultat tyder på att den nationella värdegrunden inom äldreomsorgen tolkas olika på alla de särskilda boendena. Alla enhetschefer la stor vikt på personcentrerad vård, men trots det så erbjöd man liknade sociala aktiviteter ofta då som gruppaktivitet. Resultaten diskuterar vi med hänvisning till Aktivitetsteorin och Gerotranscendenceteorin. / Research shows that many nursing home residents are disappointed with their level of social interaction and activity. Care of older people is argued to be underpinned by national core values such as supporting dignity and well-being, but it is not clear how such values influence nursing home staff practices or the social activities provided. Our study addressed this question. Five nursing homes, representing both private and public care providers, were sampled from two different municipalities. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with the homes’ respective heads of unit, transcribed, and thematically analysed. Our results indicate that the national values for care of older people were interpreted uniquely within each home. All heads of units emphasised the importance of person-centred care, yet similar social activities were offered by all homes, with a focus on group activities. We discuss our results with reference to activity theory and gerotranscendence.