In an era of struggling public educational systems, the Allegheny County Propel Schools organization has made great strides to improve academic performance while producing students who are also great citizens. From their founding less than a decade ago, a clear vision and approach to education, captured in a handful of Promising Principles, has been an unquestionable part of their success. As the organization grows and new schools are planted, Propel must find effective means of replicating their model to ensure that each Propel school is as successful as the others. With this project, the author aims to prove that design and designers have an important role to play in helping this type of organization reach their goals without approaching the situation from a problem-solving, artifact-based angle. Instead, the author deliberately departs from a discipline-specific design approach to engage strategically with an organization devoted to social impact; through this relationship she uses design methodology in a non-traditional setting to show that the power of fully immersive collaboration is greater than the power of design alone. The result is a set of design recommendations for a systemic model of replication that is both sensitive to the organization’s culture and forward-thinking in its approach. This model, paired with the introduction of a new job position and virtual assistant, is a comprehensive proposal for helping the organization plan for future growth. It is meant to provide a foundation for what is possible, a framework for visualizing the potential, attainable next steps.

A new type of chartered holiday, fitness holiday, has evolved during the last years and has also been mentioned in different media channels. Despite this, fitness holiday is a relatively new and unexplored phenomenon, which caught our interest to further explore this. The desire to travel on a holiday of this type has also increased. Therefore, a study about this particular phenomenon with focus on the traveler’s motives behind the choice to go has been done. It’s a qualitative study and most part of the data has been collected during a field study to Playitas Resort, Canary Islands. An observation and several qualitative interviews with visitors at the resort were done during the field study. The purpose of the study is to understand the motive people have for traveling on fitness holidays and the factors behind their choice of destination. The theoretical frame of reference the study has as starting point is a reworked version of Selbys theory Culture and experience in urban tourism to create an understanding of how the buying process happened. To get an understanding about the motive behind their choice of travel, Pearce model Tourist Career Pattern is combined with theories of internal and external forces as well as primary and secondary motives. Lastly, the study show that those who travel on fitness holiday tend to have a similar motive when it comes to the primary motive, internal motivation and also similar reflections in decision-taking. The remaining motives vary depending on personality and identity. The result can to come extent be applied to other travelers since a pattern is found in the analysis.

Tourism as one of the biggest industries in the world has been changing continuously and rapidly. The publishing of the Brundtland Report in 1987 has accelerated the discussion about combining economic, social and environmental factors – the so-called triple-bottom line – in order to secure long-term sustainable living conditions on a finite planet for both business and society. This has lead to occurring pressure from different stakeholder groups as for example policy makers or non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) urging for more sustainable business practise within the industry whereas one important pressure group appears to be missing out in this context: the customers of mass tourism products and therefore the demand side within the economic equation. Tourists have been observed to be overall reluctant to pay price premiums for more sustainable travel alternatives and seem to “take vacation” from their everyday green behaviour. Hence at the current point of time eco-tourism appears to be a market niche in which mainly small-scale providers and NGO’s like Nature’s Best in Sweden operate. However integrating mass tourism into the consideration can be seen as a promising opportunity and from an environmental standpoint an urgent necessity as it can be argued that within an industry of this scale, even small improvements towards more sustainable behaviour bear the potential for a substantial impact. The purpose of this study therefore lies in researching the two marketing tools of brands and eco-labels and the influence they can have individually and in combination on the tourist’s decision making delimitated to the context of charter tourism in Sweden. Through the research of this study it was found that currently no directly applicable theory about the combination of brands and eco-labels seems to exist for marketing neither in general, nor for the tourism industry in particular. This strongly indicates the novelty of the topic of combining brands and eco-labels and points out research opportunities. In order to achieve this purpose, a mixed-method research design was used combining qualitative expert interviews from direct business representatives and a quantitative data collection utilizing the scholarly acknowledged marketing research method of conjoint analysis in one of its most up-to-date forms of an adaptive choice-based conjoint analysis. Theory from different fields of study as consumer behaviour and decision making, branding and eco-labelling as well as sustainability marketing was combined and translated into the new and emerging service category of sustainable tourism. From this a conceptual framework was developed combining the data collection results from the mixed-method approach. This leads to the identification of ways for improving current charter tourism companies’ marketing based on the customers’ current view on utilities within certain aspects of the tourism package. Overall this study therefore contributes to the discussion on how demand for sustainable products evolves and can likely be increased. This is seen as a valuable theoretical, practical and societal contribution as it helps improving tourism companies’ understanding of their customer base and supports offering products/services with an improved perceived individual and societal value for charter tourism companies that aim for a higher degree of sustainability in their objectives.

<p>It is within the context of the persistent feminisation of the HIV and AIDS pandemic that this study, based on the normative provisions of the African Women's Protocol, focused on gender, sex and sexuality in the context of HIV and AIDS. The regime of the African Women's Protocol embodies a framework that can be utilised to combat HIV/AIDS amongst women in Africa by addressing some of the most important issues that need to be tackled if women are to live through this epidemic.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1957. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 290-294).

This thesis explores the roles that medicine, human rights discourse, and the arts play in the project to improve the lives of patients suffering from severe forms of mental illness in the context of the post-socialist transformation of the Czech Republic. It is a study of the ways in which social solidarity and social exclusion intersect in the spaces of mental illness in a particular historical setting, and how the responsibility for care is negotiated between families, communities, the medical profession, and the state. The first part of the thesis focuses on the proposed reform of care for patients with severe mental illness that was put forward in the two decades after 1989. I examine the origins and aims of the attempted institutional change – the ‘humanization of psychiatry’ – in the context of the influential Charter 77 movement which demanded respect for the rights of those who are unable to claim them for themselves. I also trace how the re-establishment of a civil society that owed much to the concept of ‘apolitical politics’ and the process of the reintegration of Czech Republic into the European community impacted the attempted reforms. More than twenty years after the revolution, Czech Psychiatry still does not comply with international standards of care and, as I show, despite the explicit disclaimer with the totalitarian past and great hopes for change, there is in fact a clear continuation of many of the practices, ideas, interactions, as well as forms of governance of the preceding decades. These historical legacies, in combination with other factors, such as ideological disagreements within the psychiatric profession, a lack of political interest in this area, and a strong focus on other economic priorities have all contributed to the failure to improve mental health care. The second part of the thesis offers a complementary perspective on these processes – a view from ‘inside’ of the institutions that provide psychiatric care. The origins of institutional care in Central Europe date back to late nineteenth century, when large hospitals were built within parks as self-sufficient complexes surrounded by walls, outside of large cities. My research took place in two contrasting institutions: one a highly specialised clinical and research center for treatment of acute conditions, and the other a hospital for treatment of chronic conditions originally devoted to those with ‘incurable’ conditions. I show how the notion of ‘curability’ is a crucial factor in both the experience of the patients and the social responses to their conditions. In this part I also explore some epistemological issues in psychiatry, including knowledge, practices, and ideology, in the context of a strong scientific materialism where – unlike in many parts of the world – the tradition of psychoanalysis has been absent. Specifically, I examine the role of neurobiological paradigm in various interpretations of psychotic experience, its affect on patient’s self-understanding, and its role in the externalization of agency and responsibility. Finally I address the phenomenon of using ‘unclaimed bodies’ of psychiatric patients for anatomical teaching and research, and interpret this practice through notions of liminality, impurity, and sacrifice. I conclude the thesis by examining the ethical dimension of psychiatric care in the light of the writings by Emmanuel Lévinas.

This study focuses on the financial management role of principals of Section 21 schools. The research reports on principals working within such a regime. The South Africa Schools Act makes provisions for schools, through their school governing body, of which the principal is a member, to obtain funds from the community. Therefore the acquisition and spending of such funds has to be managed effectively and efficiently. This mini dissertation endeavours to study the changing role of principals with regard to the effective management of school finances and whether they have the necessary skills to perform these duties. Reference is made to similar situations of principals of schools in the United States, England, Australia and certain developing countries. The qualitative research method was used to elicit the perception of Section21 school principals. The research concludes with an attempt to make some recommendations for this new role of Section 21 principals. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)

The study investigated the underlying factors which induce the School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and School Management Teams (SMTs) to boundary cross into each other’s finance functional domain despite the fact that their responsibilities are demarcated in the South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996. The study also intended to examine financial conscientiousness as a critical strategy, which was aimed at achieving the following: restricting the boundary spanning management among School Governing Bodies and School Management Teams, giving direction and strengthening the relationship between the two structures in section 21 high schools. Pragmatism was used as a paradigm for this study as it has been hailed as one of the best paradigms for justifying the use of mixed methods research. The researcher located the study within mixed methods research and employed the convergent parallel design characterised by collecting concurrently both qualitative and quantitative data. The study used a nonprobability sampling strategy – a purposive sampling technique. The study focused on 147 participants. The sample consisted of the following participant sub-groups: (a) 138 questionnaires participants (46 school principals, 46 SGB chairpersons and 46 school finance officers) sampled from 46 high schools, and (b) 9 face-to-face interviews participants (3 school principals, 3 SGB chairpersons) and purposively sampled from 3 different section 21 high schools located in rural, semi-urban and urban areas of the Butterworth District, and 3 Departmental Officials (The District Director, An Education Development Officer, and District National Norms and Standards for School funding coordinator) sampled from the Butterworth Education District. The study was guided by the following research question: What ideas of consciousness raising strategies could help alleviate the crossing over of boundaries between SGBs and SMTs on financial matters of the section 21 high schools? The financial conscientiousness conceptual framework for this study hinged on the conscious raising concept of Paulo Freire supported by philosophical ideas of theorists of school-based management concept, school-based participative partnership concept, school-based participative management concept and teamwork concept. These theories are expected to encourage the inclusive participation when finances are handled in section 21 high schools. The study used a survey questionnaire to collect quantitative dataset and interviews for the qualitative dataset to find answers to the research question and also to enhance the reliability and validity of the research findings. The quantitative data were presented in tables with frequencies and percentages as well as pie charts. Themes and Natural Meaning Units (NMUs) were used to analyse the qualitative data. The overall findings backed by the extant literature and research data indicated that there was lack of trust among SGBs and SMTs. Owing to this mistrust the day to day activities of the school were compromised. There were power struggles between SGBs and SMTs in schools for the control of school finances. There were corrupt practices by both SGBs and SMTs in the management of school finances. The findings also revealed lack of capacity building by the department of education. Furthermore, the SGBs parent component was characterised by high illiteracy level – a systemic weakness worsened by the manipulation perpetrated by both school governing bodies and school management teams during school finance management processes. Resulting from the data analysis, the study recommended the utilisation and application of Sifuba’s School Finance Management Awareness Model (SSFMA) as a new model that could be adopted and adapted by the Department of Education for the school finance management. This will create educational sound atmosphere and realities at school level – a model that is capable of inducing the participative and inclusive behaviour of the SGBs and SMTs when they perform their financial responsibilities

Orientador: Maria Teresa Françoso / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T02:35:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_CamilaMariadePaivae_M.pdf: 5263797 bytes, checksum: 09760343e8c6a05923be7cf27642b699 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Este trabalho visa destacar as vantagens e os pontos que devem ser tratados em um sistema AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location), baseado nas tecnologias de posicionamento por satélites e transmissão de dados via rede de telefonia móvel, quando aplicado ao transporte coletivo por fretamento. Neste sentido, três linhas de ônibus fretado que atendem funcionários da Universidade Estadual de Campinas foram monitorados por um período de 07 semanas no trajeto bairro-universidade. O módulo de rastreamento possibilitou a coleta eletrônica de dados de operação do veículo. Também foram registrados, manual e eletronicamente, informações sobre os usuários do serviço. Os dados coletados foram transmitidos via GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) para a central de controle e disponibilizados na rede mundial de computadores em tempo real. Foram verificados os pontos de parada e os itinerários e foi feita uma análise financeira das linhas de fretamento da Unicamp monitoradas durante a pesquisa. O monitoramento de transporte coletivo fretado, relatado neste trabalho de maneira provavelmente inédita, possibilitou a obtenção de dados para gerência e controle do serviço de fretamento. Observou-se, como esperado, que o sistema permite de maneira eficiente o acompanhamento da operação com registro de posições e velocidades desenvolvidas pelo veículo monitorado e dos locais de parada e itinerários cumpridos. No caso em questão, entre as vantagens obtidas destaca-se a possibilidade de realizar uma fiscalização mais efetiva, tanto pela operadora do transporte, como pela universidade, controlando os horários programados, os itinerários e os passageiros. São apresentadas sugestões para melhoria do sistema de rastreamento utilizado / Abstract: This research aims to point out the advantages and what still needs to be improved in an Automatic Vehicle Location ¿ AVL - system applied to the charter bus service. The sample of three charter bus lines serving Campinas University (Unicamp)¿s workers on their way from home to office, in a seven weak period. The AVL equipment was used to collect electronic operational data. Users information were collected automatically and manually. These data were sent through GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) to the control station and become available in the internet in real time. The itinerary and the bus stops were verified, and a financial analysis of these three lines were made. This could conclude that the system allows monitoring vehicle position and speed, bus stops, traffic points, etc. - supplying data for management and control of the service. It has showed that AVL, when applied in the Unicamp¿s fleet, support better management and control of routes and timetables. In this work it is also proposed improvements in the equipment that has been used. / Mestrado / Transportes / Mestre em Engenharia Civil

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:00:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Karla F Dias.pdf: 1911620 bytes, checksum: a19f9298c2545d1982905f9457d1527f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-05 / This research had as objectives to describe and analyze the environmental approach in chemistry textbooks approved by the National Program of Textbook for high school (PNLEM/2007). This investigation is about a content analysis performed with the aid of three categories created based on the fundamental principles of environmental education as expressed in the Belgrade Charter (1977). Before the proposed by the reference document, the research sought to identify some elements related to environmental education, such as: treatment of social, political, economic, cultural and scientific environmental issues. The results showed that all books reviewed presented the environmental theme through different approaches. The readings, together with data organization, have enabled the creation of a thematic map and a descriptive framework that listed the themes found in each Textbook, as well as its distribution in different chemical content. The analysis identified some aspects, constructed with elements of the Charter Belgrade, within the categories scientific knowledge, knowledge/awareness and participation. In the first category were identified and analyzed aspects concerning the relationship of the content with the environment, the limitation of science face to the environmental challenges, the importance given by Textbook to the scientific knowledge for environmental understanding, the importance of knowledge and technology in the service of human needs. In the second one, knowledge/awareness, the analysis identified social, behavioral, economic and political aspects of the environmental issues. In the Participation category, aspects about the development of sense of responsibility and evaluation capacity were identified, in addition to raising awareness. The survey concluded that some environmental issues are treated in a decontextualized way by shredding the dimension of environmental problems which can reduce the complexity of the relationships between humanity and nature. Although not all books embrace all the principles of Belgrade Charter and even though there is an overestimation of the value of scientific knowledge to the detriment of other determinants for current ecological condition, it is concluded in this survey that the chemistry textbooks can contribute to achieve environmental education in Brazilian schools emphasizing the need for studies about the relationship between the triad components "scientific contents, teacher training and textbook" as one of the relevant aspects to effective consolidation of environmental education in the formal education. / Esta pesquisa teve como objetivos descrever e analisar a abordagem ambiental nos livros didáticos de Química aprovados pelo Programa Nacional do Livro Didático para o Ensino Médio (PNLEM/2007). Trata-se de uma análise de conteúdo realizada com o auxílio de três categorias criadas com base nos princípios fundamentadores da Educação Ambiental expressos na Carta de Belgrado (1977). Diante do proposto pelo documento de referência, a investigação buscou identificar alguns elementos inerentes à Educação Ambiental, tais como: tratamento dos aspectos sociais, políticos, econômicos, culturais e científicos das questões ambientais. Os resultados mostraram que todos os livros analisados apresentam a temática ambiental por meio de diferentes abordagens. As leituras e releituras, juntamente com a organização dos dados, possibilitaram a criação de um mapa temático e um quadro descritivo que elencaram os temas encontrados em cada LD, bem como sua distribuição nos diferentes conteúdos químicos. A análise identificou alguns aspectos, construídos por elementos da Carta de Belgrado, que percorreram as categorias Conhecimento Científico, Conhecimento/Conscientização e Participação. Na primeira categoria foram identificados e analisados aspectos referentes à relação do conteúdo químico com o ambiente, à limitação da Ciência frentes aos desafios ambientais, à importância dada pelos LD ao conhecimento científico para a compreensão ambiental, à importância do conhecimento e da técnica no atendimento das necessidades humanas. Na segunda categoria, Conhecimento/conscientização, a análise identificou aspectos sociais, comportamentais, econômicos e políticos da problemática ambiental. Na categoria Participação, identificaram-se aspectos sobre o desenvolvimento do senso de responsabilidade e da capacidade de avaliação, além da sensibilização. A pesquisa concluiu que alguns temas ambientais são tratados de forma descontextualizada fragmentando a dimensão dos problemas ambientais que podem reduzir a complexidade das relações entre a humanidade e a natureza. Apesar de nem todos os livros contemplarem todos os princípios da Carta de Belgrado e da supervalorização do Conhecimento científico em detrimento de outros determinantes para a condição ecológica atual, conclui-se nessa pesquisa que os livros didáticos de Química podem contribuir para a realização da Educação Ambiental nas escolas brasileiras ressaltando a necessidade de estudos sobre a relação entre os componentes da tríade conteúdos científicos, formação de professores e livro didático como um dos aspectos relevantes para uma efetiva consolidação da Educação Ambiental no ensino formal