Consumer Studies is a valuable and multifaceted subject in South African schools, requiring that teachers in the subject are well prepared. Pre-service Consumer Studies teachers need to be prepared to become lifelong learners to cope with the dynamic nature of the subject, as well as to develop various 21st century skills to be able to deal with the demands of these times. Structured guidance, however, could not be uncovered for the preparation of pre-service Consumer Studies teachers to empower them with the requirements for Consumer Studies education. Sett-directed learning is a process that supports the developn1ent of various 21st century skills, including lifelong learning, and could thus contribute to the development of preservice Consumer Studies teachers, if included in their preparation. A suitable teaching-leaming strategy that could be utilised in the preparation module for Consumer Studies teachers, as well as a vehicle to promote self-directed learning as part of such preparation, was identified in the form of project-based learning. A qualitative case study was employed to investigate how project-based learning as a teaching-learning strategy could promote self-directed learning in a pre-service Consumer Studies teacher preparation module. Project-based learning was found to foster the development of various skills as part of the process, including planning and collaboration skills. Subject content, consistent with what is required to be taught in Consumer Studies education on high school level, was developed and self-directed learning was promoted in participants using project-based learning. Recommendations were suggested for the preparation of pre-service Consumer Studies teachers, as well as for the effective structuring of projects and project-based learning in Consumer Studies. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Relationship of Computer Self-Efficacy and Self-Directed Learning Readiness to Civilian Employees’ Completion of Online Courses. Joan M Lenahan-Bernard, 2014, Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler School of Education. ERIC Descriptors: Computer Self-Efficacy, Self-Directed Learning, E-Learning. This study investigated the relationship of computer self-efficacy (CSE) and self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) to civilian employees’ completion of online courses. A mixed methods design was used to answer five research questions: What is the relationship between CSE and federal civilian employees’ completion of online courses? What is the relationship between SDLR and federal civilian employees’ completion of online courses? What do civilian employees identify as the relationship between CSE and SDLR and their decision to complete or not complete online courses? What do civilian employees identify as the relationship between the workplace environment and their decision to complete or not complete online courses? What results emerge from comparing quantitative data and qualitative data regarding the relationship between CSE and SDLR and civilian employees’ decisions to complete online courses? Ninety-eight civilian employees completed the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) and the Computer Users Self-Efficacy (CUSE) Scale. Archival data were used to measure course completion. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to determine the relationship of CSE and SDLR to the completion of online courses Interviews were conducted to obtain insight into the relationship between CSE and SDLR and civilian employees’ decision to complete online courses. Qualitative data were organized according to the principles of SDLR theory and themes. A merged data display shows responses aligned with questionnaire scores and completion status. Findings showed no statistically significant relationship between the percentage of online courses completed and CSE (r=.04, p=.72, N=98) or between the percentage of online courses completed and SLDR (r=-.15, p=.15, N=98). The relationship between SDLR and CSE was statistically significant (r=.21, p=.035, N=98) which is supported in the literature. Qualitative analysis showed that civilian employees were frustrated by poor design, outdated nature, and irrelevance of most online courses and resources they were expected to use.

La redéfinition de la profession infirmière, intervenue en Europe depuis 1990 afin de répondre aux nouveaux besoins en santé de la population, appelle les professionnelles à se centrer sur la prévention, le maintien et la promotion de la santé dans toutes les situations de soins (OMS, 1986). Cette réorientation, développée dans la formation initiale, touche le développement d’un rôle présenté dans les textes de lois et professionnels comme « autonome » et « indépendant » et pose problème quant à son intégration dans les pratiques de soins infirmiers. En effet, celles-ci, principalement déléguées par le corps médical et par l’institution, font apparaître l’injonction paradoxale au sein de laquelle les infirmières se situent : celle du développement d’une pratique autonome selon des objectifs donnés. A partir d’un échantillon (n=841) issu d’une enquête réalisée auprès de l’ensemble des infirmières d’un CHU en Suisse (n=1951), au travers d’une approche sociocognitive (BANDURA, 2003), la recherche des principaux facteurs favorisant le développement d’une « pratique de santé », identifiée comme la centration sur le malade et sa santé selon sa propre définition de la santé, amène à mettre en évidence une double dimension de l’agentivité: autonome et hétéronome. Ainsi, les résultats montrent que la valeur attribuée par l’infirmière à sa « pratique de santé » détermine son orientation au sein d’un contexte qui reste prioritairement dirigé vers une « pratique de soins », centrée sur la gestion de l’ensemble des soins auprès du patient selon la définition de l’institution. Dès lors, l’autonomie dans les pratiques infirmières se présente comme l’exercice de l’agentivité, soit la puissance personnelle d’agir de l’infirmière, selon sa propre orientation : santé ou soins. Elle se développe significativement chez les professionnelles ayant un haut niveau de formation, santé ou soins, par une approche centrée sur l’apprentissage tout au long de la vie. Cette thèse permet de tracer des perspectives relatives à la clarification des rôles et des missions des infirmières et de leurs développements, au sein des établissements hospitaliers universitaires en particulier. Elle pose la question de la construction d’un sentiment d’efficacité personnelle (SEP) qui ne correspondrait pas à l’attente prioritaire et explicite du contexte. Enfin, en distinguant l’agentivité de l’autonomie, elle contribue à la construction conceptuelle des questions liées à l’autoformation (CARRE, 2005). / The redefinition of the nursing profession, in effect in Europe since 1990 in order to meet the new health needs of the population, requires professionals to focus on the prevention, the maintenance and the promotion of health in all care situations (OMS, 1986). This reorientation, developed in initial training, concerns the development of a role depicted in the professional legal texts as "autonomous" and "independent", while raising the issue of its integration into nurses' care-giving practices. Indeed, these practices, which are mainly delegated by the medical corps and the institution, highlight the paradoxical injunction in which nurses find themselves: developing their autonomous practice in accordance with heteronomously-set objectives. Based on a sample (n=841) taken from a study which surveyed the nursing population of a Swiss university hospital (n=1951), via a social cognitive approach (BANDURA, 2003), the search for main factors that foster the development of "health practices", identified as a focus on the patient and the patient's health according to one's own definition of health, brings to the fore a double dimension of agency : autonomous and heteronomous. Thus, the results show that the value attributed by the nurse to her "health practices" determines their orientation within a context that remains first and foremost directed toward "treatment practices" centered on the management of patient care in all its forms as defined by the institution. Consequently, autonomy in nursing practices appears to be the exercise of agency or of the nurse's personal power to act, according to her own orientation, health or treatment. It develops significantly in highly-qualified professionals, according to an approach centered on lifelong learning. This thesis allows for a marking out of perspectives pertaining to the clarification of nurses' roles and missions as well as the development of these roles within the university hospital structure. It raises the question of the construction of a self-efficacy which would not correspond to the explicit, nor priority expectation of the context. Lastly, by distinguishing agency and autonomy, this thesis contributes to the conceptual construction of questions linked to self-directed learning (CARRE, 2005).

The aim of this thesis is to determine the changes in BOLD signal of the human brain during various stages of reinforcement learning. In order to accomplish that goal two probabilistic reinforcement-learning tasks were developed and assessed with healthy participants by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). For both experiments the brain imaging data of the participants were analysed by using a combination of univariate and model–based techniques. In Experiment 1 there were three types of stimulus-response pairs where they predict either a reward, a neutral or a monetary loss outcome with a certain probability. The Experiment 1 tested the following research questions: Where does the activity occur in the brain for expecting and receiving a monetary reward and a punishment ? Does avoiding a loss outcome activate similar brain regions as gain outcomes and vice a verse does avoiding a reward outcome activate similar brain regions as loss outcomes? Where in the brain prediction errors, and predictions for rewards and losses are calculated? What are the neural correlates of reward and loss predictions for reward and loss during early and late phases in learning? The results of the Experiment 1 have shown that expectation for reward and losses activate overlapping brain areas mainly in the anterior cingulate cortex and basal ganglia but outcomes of rewards and losses activate separate brain regions, outcomes of losses mainly activate insula and amygdala whereas reward activate bilateral medial frontal gyrus. The model-based analysis also revealed early versus late learning related changes. It was found that predicted-value in early trials is coded in the ventro-medial orbito frontal cortex but later in learning the activation for the predicted value was found in the putamen. The second experiment was designed to find out the differences in processing novel versus familiar reward-predictive stimuli. The results revealed that dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex and several regions in the parietal cortex showed greater activation for novel stimuli than for familiar stimuli. As an extension to the fourth research question of Experiment 1, reward predictedvalues of the conditional stimuli and prediction errors of unconditional stimuli were also assessed in Experiment 2. The results revealed that during learning there is a significant activation of the prediction error mainly in the ventral striatum with extension to various cortical regions but for familiar stimuli no prediction error activity was observed. Moreover, predicted values for novel stimuli activate mainly ventro-medial orbito frontal cortex and precuneus whereas the predicted value of familiar stimuli activates putamen. The results of Experiment 2 for the predictedvalues reviewed together with the early versus later predicted values in Experiment 1 suggest that during learning of CS-US pairs activation in the brain shifts from ventro-medial orbito frontal structures to sensori-motor parts of the striatum.

This study determined the number of self-directed learning projects undertaken by older adults and examined the motivational factors and anticipated benefits related to the learning activities. In addition, obstacles to conducting self-directed learning were identified by the respondents. A list of 20,032 names of adults, aged 50 or more years and residing in Tom Green County, Texas, was obtained from voter registration rolls and the residential rolls of four retirement complexes. Four hundred names were randomly selected to serve as the sample of the study. Of the 400 potential subjects, 120 persons agreed to be interviewed. Indepth interviews were conducted using the questions from Tough's Interview Schedule for Studying Some Basic Characteristics of Learning Projects and a probe sheet to identify obstacles to conducting self-directed learning projects. The interviews focused on the learning activities of older adults during the previous year. The 120 subjects of this study conducted a total of 239 learning projects in the previous year, an average of 1.99 self-directed learning projects per person. Ninety-five (95%) percent of the persons interviewed reported to have conducted at least one learning project in the past year. The majority of the learning projects were self-planned for the purpose of self-enjoyment and self-fulfillment. The most frequent obstacles to conducting self-directed learning projects identified by the subjects included: 1) finding the time for the learning activity; 2) the cost of the learning activity; 3) home responsibilities; 4) difficulty deciding what knowledge or skill to learn; 5) difficulty remembering new material or information; and 6) poor health. Comparisons of the results of this study were made with the results of previous studies by Tough, Hiemstra, and Ralston. The data support the belief that books, pamphlets, and newspapers are the primary source of information for the older adult. The results of this study indicate that older adults value self-directed learning as a major source of self~fulfillment in their lives and are motivated to develop new knowledge and skills through self-planned, self-directed learning projects.

In this qualitative case study, self-directed learning theory was used as the lens to explore experiences of nine women entrepreneurs during the first four years of business ownership as they sought to acquire skills necessary to run their businesses. Data were collected over six months through in-person 90-minute interviews and follow-up questions posed by telephone and email. Qualitative data software was used for coding and thematic analysis, resulting in five broad conclusions related to learning, with additional unanticipated findings. Study participants engaged in a variety of self-directed learning activities, mostly through trial and error experimentation, and possessed varying motivations for learning. Educational level and reliance on past industry experience limited openness to new experiences and commitment to learning for some, particularly those with high school degrees or limited college experience. The majority of learning was pursued “just-in-time” as the need mandated when a challenge presented itself rather than in a pre-planned manner. Learning was heavily reliant on other people: most sought the advice of paid professionals, former co-workers, or friends and family. The use of a mentor for learning was identified by one participant, while three employed business coaches for professional guidance. Much of their learning was highly instrumental in nature, focused on here-and-now problem solving related to managing employees, handling legal issues in establishing the business, and learning to market themselves. While extremely self-confident in their abilities, most of the women struggled with issues of family and work-life balance, and several described guilt over neglecting one aspect of their lives for the other. Study conclusions emphasize the importance of knowing how to learn in the entrepreneurial context and suggest ways entrepreneurs can access knowledge and new experiences for learning, with implications for entrepreneurship programs, government agencies, and educators.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(情報学) / 甲第23315号 / 情博第751号 / 新制||情||128(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院情報学研究科社会情報学専攻 / (主査)教授 緒方 広明, 教授 黒田 知宏, 教授 楠見 孝 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Informatics / Kyoto University / DFAM

Action control arises from the interaction of two anatomically distinct decision-making systems, namely goal-directed and habitual behaviour. Goal-directed behaviour is characterized by the consideration of future choices and respective outcomes whereas habitual responding is driven by stimulus-response associations. Response inhibition is essential for goal-directed behaviour and deficits are shown in impulsivity. We administered an acute clinically relevant dosage of the commonly used serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram to sixty-six healthy volunteers in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design. We administered a large task battery in order to study the effect of escitalopram in several cognitive functions including response inhibition, learning and affective processing. We found dissociate effects on cognitive aspects possibly mediated by distinct cortico-striatal loops. Acute escitalopram administration had a beneficial effect on action cancellation, one aspect of inhibitory control, without any effect on action restraint or waiting impulsivity. The treatment resulted in impaired performance in a probabilistic reversal-learning task and increased sensitivity to misleading feedback thus leading to maladaptive performance. An extra-dimensional set shift impairment during an attention set shift task and a tendency towards impaired instrumental learning discrimination were also observed in the escitalopram group. Our results are discussed in the context of well-documented effects of the dopaminergic system and suggestions of opponent interaction of serotonin and dopamine.

A major change being advocated in education is that of making students more self-directing; that is, helping them become more responsible for their own learning. The focus of this investigation was on fifth grade students' use of self-directed learning strategies and self-directed perceptual skills. An experimental study was conducted using the nested design for analyzing data obtained from the Guglielmino Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, the Zimmerman and Martinez-Pons1 Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule, and the Bradley-Lane Self-Directing Perceptual Scale. One hundred fifty-two fifth graders were involved in the eight week study along with their six teachers. Both students and teachers were immersed in a module of training that included emphasis upon self-directing behaviors and learning strategies. Two striking findings emerged; namely, (a) in comparing the average number of learning strategies acquired after treatment, the experimental group (low, middle, and high IQ levels) scored 40%, 50% and 29% higher respectively, than did the control group; (b) in comparing the fifth grade students use of learning strategies it was found that most students nearly doubled the number of learning strategies they had previously acquired. Thus, it was concluded that children who do not have actual teaching of information or data concerning learning strategies will likely never acquire the same repertoire of skills that students acquire when exposed to this critical information in some specific, systematic fashion. A primary product developed for the purposes of this investigation was the Bradley-Lane Self-Directing Perceptual Scale—a 132-item Likert Scale designed to identify the self-perceptions of elementary and middle school students. After field-testing, a chi-square treatment was applied to each item of the Perceptual Scale resulting in a reliability of p<.01 for the majority (79%) of the test items, while an additional twelve items (9%) were found to be reliable at the .02 level of significance.

In 2012, Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I), a division of The Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, introduced a self-directed professional development program that allowed educators to obtain two certification credentials by completing 12 certification projects per credential. This qualitative study used phenomenology to examine the following question: “What are S&I educators’ experiences with self-directed learning in doing certification projects?” Data were obtained through one-on-one, semistructured interviews with seven professionalS&I educators who described their lived experiences with this phenomenon. Self-directed learning theory, as influenced by andragogy, provided the theoretical and conceptual framework for this study and contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the data and findings. Findings indicate that personal and contextual factors influence how self-directed learning for purposes of professional development is experienced; understanding program requirements, expectations, and processes, and possessing sufficient motivation and justification, facilitate involvement in this form of self-directed learning; collaborative learning can be used in self-directed learning and can lead to improved learning and practice-related outcomes; and self-directed learning for purposes of professional development can result in meaningful learning experiences, changes in instructional practice, and perceived professional growth, especially when aligned with compelling professional learning needs and interests. This study concluded by offering recommendations for potentially facilitating S&I educators’ involvement in self-directed learning in doing certification projects and for increasing the impact of such projects on educators’ professional growth.