Within the field of aesthetics, there are several approaches to answering what affects how and whether an individual engages with a particular art or aesthetic object. Two theories that attempt to come to a solution on this issue are theories of attunement and attachment which respectively argue that one’s engagement is primarily affected by one’s attunement or attachment, through a system of values, beliefs, and associations, to an object. While these theories are successful in responding to a variety of cases, individually, they leave something to be desired explicatively, and, in light of this, I will develop in this essay an alternative that centres itself on the character of the aesthetic subject which will do the work of both approaches without having to make any taxing conceptual commitments.

Includes bibliographical references / A customer's overall experience of interaction with a firm can be influenced by a variety of antecedents including employee behaviour, and can affect a variety of constructs including a customer's intention to remain loyal to a firm. The study contributes to the customer experience literature by constructing and empirically testing a theoretical model that integrates the construct of employee engagement as an influencing variable on customer experience in a business-to-business environment. Employee engagement is characterised by the level of engagement an employee depicts through attributes such as vigour, dedication and absorption. The study sampled 106 employee respondents and 1,216 customer respondents of a South African mining and construction firm. The combined dataset of both employee and customer responses was empirically tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The research finds a relationship exists between employee engagement and customer experience of employee performance. Additionally, customer experience of employee performance was significantly statistically associated with overall customer experience, a construct focusing on customer experience comparative to competitors and alternate suppliers. The enhancement of understanding of the antecedents of employee engagement and the effect of customer experience on customer loyalty may assist in the development of interventions to address the gaps in the employee-customer encounter. The principle implication emanating from this study is that customer experience, as a construct, should not be ignored, as the inclusion of a customer experience construct may enhance and complement the prediction of customer behaviour, not only in a business-to-business environment. Establishing the positive and negative levels of the required competencies of employees assists in guiding the supervisory performance discussion, subsequent training suggestions and required on-the-ground coaching.

South Africa has the highest reported prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) worldwide. The high prevalence is aggravated by limited remedial and rehabilitative services in the rural Northern Cape. Parents requested guidance to facilitate the development of their children with FASD. Understanding their needs and strengths will inform intervention programmes to create the stable environments children with FASD require for optimal life outcomes. The aim of the study is to explore the way that mothers facilitate the occupational engagement of their children with FASD as well as the challenges they face. Using a qualitative descriptive study design, the author purposively selected mothers to reveal three turning points in the lives of their children. Semi structured- and photo-elicitation interviews highlighted mothers’ experiences. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and inductively analysed with content analysis. Two themes emerged, namely, “Doing together” and “Varying access to engagement”. The findings of this study highlight the important role mothers play to facilitate the occupational engagement of children with FASD. Recognising mothers as agents of change and including them in intervention will enhance occupational therapy practice in the area of FASD.

Companies lose an average of $1,000 in profit each year for every employee who feels disengaged and uncommitted to the firm's success. Employee engagement is critical to an organization's productivity, profitability, and competitive edge. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that business leaders in a service organization use to increase employee engagement and work performance. The conceptual framework for this study was Homans's social exchange theory. A purposeful sample of 6 company leaders participated in the study based on their success in developing strategies that enhanced employee engagement and performance in an advertising services firm headquartered in Indiana. The study included semistructured interviews to gather in-depth information from participants about their successes related to employee engagement. Conducting member checking with participants and triangulating the data with company documents reinforced the validity of the findings. Data analysis involved using a manual and a computer-aided approach to compile the data, disassemble the data into codes, and reassemble the data into themes. Four key themes emerged: leaders offer attractive company benefits, including flexible work arrangements; leaders empower and appreciate employees; leaders provide professional development opportunities; and leaders foster unity through open communication and team building. The implications for positive social change include the potential to increase employee engagement and performance within firms in the service industry, which can help increase profitability. Higher profitability can enable organizational leaders to financially address social issues such as poverty, which may benefit members of their communities.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(生命科学) / 甲第18703号 / 生博第322号 / 新制||生||43(附属図書館) / 31636 / 京都大学大学院生命科学研究科高次生命科学専攻 / (主査)教授 豊島 文子, 教授 西田 栄介, 教授 松本 智裕 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy in Life Sciences / Kyoto University / DFAM

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This action research was an analysis of a group of eighth grade gifted students ‘classroom engagement in a large urban school district. Over a two-week period a variety of data were collected. Data were collected using the Student Engagement Instrument (Appleton & Christenson, 2004), which is a self-report of students’ perceptions of engagement. Observation data of student engagement were collected using a teacher developed student engagement checklist, which measured academic and behavioral indications of student engagement. At the end of the two week observation period students participated in an exit interview focused on their perceptions of student engagement. The student engagement interview was adapted from an analysis of elementary student engagement carried out by Parn (2006). The data collected were analyzed according to the academic, behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement subtypes. The findings showed that the highest levels of engagement were in the sub-types of behavioral and academic engagement. Levels of affective/psychological engagement were lower than levels of cognitive engagement. The results demonstrated that affective/psychological student engagement was positively related with cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement, and academic engagement.

This study examined the relationship between service-learning and civic engagement in the 2- year college and also investigated specific differences between service experiences to determine whether those differences moderated the relationship between service participation and civic engagement outcomes. The study yielded 110 matching pre- and post-Student Civic Engagement surveys from service-learners in five different course subject areas at a large southeastern community college. The findings of the paired-samples t tests suggest that students experienced significant gains in four of the seven dimensions of civic engagement after participating in service. Students in comparable courses in subject matter but without service-components were also surveyed, yielding 117 matching pre- and post-surveys. A comparison of the mean differences between pre- and post-responses of the non-service-learners and service-learners suggests that the service-learners had a higher tendency than the non-service-learners to participate in the majority of assessed civic engagement activities. The data were sorted by subject area to allow for an analysis of the service-learners and the non-service-learners in comparable courses. Those results, however, were inconclusive, and no clear trends emerged. ANOVAs and independent-samples t tests were used to determine the relationship between gains in civic outcomes and select variables. The findings suggest that the type of service-learning activity, the duration of the service experience, the participant-perceived quality of the service experience, the amount of required student reflection, and the teacher’s frequency of use of active and passive instructional strategies significantly moderate the relationship between service participation and a number of measures of civic engagement.

Background: Marginalized population groups are more likely to be under-represented in autistic children’s research. Rationale: Our understanding of the low levels of research engagement among autistic children from these marginalized groups is limited. Objectives: (1) to examine some of the under-represented populations in autism children’s research; (2) to assess the facilitators and barriers contributing to patient engagement in autistic children’s research; (3) to suggest considerations for the development of a more equitable approach to autistic children’s research. Methods: A scoping review was conducted on studies published during January 2011-December 2021 in five electronic research databases by two reviewers in duplicate. English qualitative/quantitative/mixed methods studies that engaged autistic children aged 2-18 and/or their parents as research participants or in the process of patient-oriented research were included. Results: Some of the under-represented marginalized autistic children populations identified from the 21 included studies were: (1) those living in developing/under-developed countries, (2) those who received autism services from centres that do not collaborate with researchers, (3) families of ethnic minority in Western countries, (4) autistic children who received late diagnosis, (5) families whose first language is not English, (6) male parents of autistic children, (7) female autistic children, (8) families with low household income who are not enrolled in governmental healthcare financial support program and (9) those who lack technological literacy skills. Facilitators of patient engagement were: (1) building trust-based relationships among stakeholders, (2) engaging patients throughout research development, and (3) patient engagement in research funding processes. The barriers were: (1) allocation of research funding, (2) identity conflict, (3) applicability of research evidence, and (4) social stigmatization towards autism. Discussion: To enhance patient engagement in autistic children’s research, policymakers, researchers and funders should prioritize participant’s needs in all stages of the research process. Conclusion: The diverse identities autistic children carry should be better acknowledged. An equity approach to research is needed. / Thesis / Master of Public Health (MPH) / Autistic children from certain marginalized population groups are less likely to be engaged in research. This thesis aims to examine the facilitators and barriers contributing to this phenomenon. As predicted, several child and family characteristics, socio-economic factors, and contextual research structures appear to be associated with patient engagement in autism research. Several recommendations are made for policymakers, researchers and funders on ways to prioritize autistic populations’ needs, enhance patient engagement, and promote a more equitable approach to autism research.

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