Before entering school, children begin their science learning with their parents at home. This study proposes that parents' beliefs and actions regarding science shape their children's knowledge and skills that they then bring to school. Studying parents' beliefs about and practices with their children within the topic area of science provided insight into their influence in helping their children make sense of the world. Therefore, the purpose of this study aimed to investigate parents' beliefs about children's science learning and their actions in facilitating their children's science learning when they visited a science museum from socio-cultural perspectives. To investigate this, a qualitative case study examining nine Taiwanese parents of kindergarteners was conducted. The study was conducted in two parts. Data sources included field notes, parent interviews, and documents such as pictures of the equipment these parents bought for their children. First, through interviews with parents, their beliefs about their children's science learning were identified and examined. Four parts including parents' gendered science beliefs, parents' perceived importance of science learning, parents' beliefs about how science learning should proceed, and parents' beliefs about their engagement in science learning were found. Part two of the study examined how these nine parents' beliefs guided them in making decisions when they interacted with their children in a science museum through observations and follow-up interviews. In most cases, parents' beliefs appeared to be important resources for helping them find a proper way to interact with their children. Three issues including the person who took the lead at the family visits, the quantity of parents' intervention, and the scaffolding strategies these parents employed were found in their interactions with their children. Parents were aware of why they behaved in particular ways: because of their beliefs. Based on the findings, the researcher suggested that parents' beliefs were an important mechanism for influencing children's science learning. A seemingly simple behavior, such as letting children explore one object longer than others, might reflect what was recognized as important in their beliefs. Lastly, the implications for early childhood educators, parents of young children, and future research were provided. / text

The purpose of this master’s report was to investigate how Chinese students who were learning English used Web 2.0 tools for informal learning and to construct a model of informal learning in the Web 2.0 environment. I conducted a pilot study with 32 Chinese students who were learning English and tried to understand how they used Web 2.0 tools as informal learning tools to improve their English. Furthermore, I discussed the main challenges of informal learning in a Web 2.0 environment from the learners’ perspective and from a technical perspective. Then I proposed a model of informal learning in a Web 2.0 environment which may improve learning in an informal learning environment, and provide learners a possible learning method. It is hoped that this model will help students better master learning methods of informal learning in the Web 2.0 environment and lay a good foundation for lifelong learning. / text

Bakgrund: Demenssjukdom är den fjärde största folksjukdomen i Sverige och antalet insjuknanden beräknas öka. Begreppet demens inbegriper progredierande sjukdomar som framförallt påverkar minne, humör och kommunikationsförmåga. Många personer med demenssjukdom vårdas i hemmet av en eller flera anhöriga. Att vara anhörigvårdare innebär ett stort ansvar och påverkar alla medlemmar i familjen. Syfte: Att beskriva anhörigas upplevelser av att vårda en närstående med demenssjukdom. Metod: En litteraturöversikt som bygger på en analys av tio vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ design.  Resultat: I resultatet påvisades negativa och positiva upplevelser. Vissa anhöriga upplevde sig ha blivit starkare i sig själva genom vårdandet av sin närstående men ett flertal uttryckte även känslor som ilska och frustration. Det framkom att anhöriga var i behov av stöd i vårdandet, men att de ofta tyckte att det var jobbigt att be om stöd då de inte ville vara en börda till andra eller till samhället.  Med sjukdomens uppkomst upplevde många en förändrad identitet hos den närstående som påverkade relationen mellan dem. Vissa upplevde rollförändringar i familjen och en saknad av social samt emotionell närhet, medan andra vittnade om att de kommit varandra närmare. Diskussion: Resultatet visar att det finns en stor komplexitet i anhörigvårdares attityder gentemot hjälp och stöd utifrån, detta bör uppmärksammas av sjuksköterskor. Kunskap om anhörigas resurser och styrkor samt deras upplevda börda är en viktig del i sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsarbete. Sjuksköterskan behöver även vara medveten om att det förekommer känslor som ilska och frustration och identifiera dessa hos anhöriga för att undvika att den demenssjuke kommer till skada. Resultatet tyder även på att kvinnor och mäns upplevelser kan skilja sig åt och således kan deras behov se väldigt olika ut. Sjuksköterskan kan därför dra nytta av att beakta ett genusperspektiv i mötet med anhöriga. Resultatet har att diskuterats utifrån Dorothea Orems teori om egenvårdsbalans. / Background: Dementia is the fourth most common endemic disease in Sweden and the number of people diagnosed with dementia is estimated to increase. Dementia includes diseases that affect the brain with symptoms on memory function, mood and communication skills. Several people with dementia is cared for at home by family members. Being an informal caregiver is a large responsibility and affects the whole family. Aim: To describe relative’s experiences of caring for a family member with dementia. Method: A literature review based on the analysis of ten scientific articles with qualitative design. Results: The results showed both positive and negative experiences. Some relatives expressed the feeling of becoming stronger and more resilient as a result of caring for their loved one but there where feelings of anger and frustration as well. The results showed that the relatives where in need of social and formal support but often had a hard time asking for help due to the feeling of being a burden for others and the society. Many experienced that their family member’s identity changed with the disease, which caused a change in the relationship as well. Some expressed role changes within the family and the lack of social and emotional closeness, while others expressed a feeling of becoming closer to each other. Discussions: It became clear that there was a complexity in relative’s attitude to social and formal support and nurses in contact with informal caregivers should be aware of this. Knowledge about informal caregiver’s perceived burden and what they perceive as their strength is an important key part for nurses in their work with dementia patients and their relatives. Nurses need to be aware of the occurrence of feelings of anger and frustration in relatives to be able to spot these and make sure the patient welfare is not compromised. Due to differences in men and women’s experiences it could be useful for the nurse to have a gender aspect in their meeting and caring for informal caregivers. The results were discussed from the perspective of Dorothea Orems self-care theory.

The dissertation analyzes why legislators fail to use their oversight powers over bureaucracy in democratic Mexico. While dominant institutional theories assume a unidirectional flow of authority from politicians to bureaucrats, in Mexico there is a bidirectional negotiation process; as such, principals have formal rights to control the agents, but agents have informal leverage over principals, as well. Due to the absence of a Weberian state and extensive state intervention, bureaucrats are able to control resources that legislators require in order to advance their careers. By distributing resources that politicians can use for patronage purposes, bureaucrats obtain legislators’ consent to design and implement programs as they wish. Consequently, members of Congress renounce their control powers in exchange for securing resources for their constituents or cronies. Furthermore, informal mechanisms of influence neutralize the formal control powers that legislators have over bureaucrats. Public officials’ power and the lack of legislative control over bureaucracy are documented by analyzing the budgetary process and health policy in Mexico between 1997 and 2006. The main implication of the dissertation is that although democratization produced changes that gave more formal powers to Congress, it has not eliminated the informal mechanisms used by bureaucrats to influence legislators. As a result, public officials continue to enjoy ample leeway in implementing public policies and programs. / text

A focus group study of fourteen University of Saskatchewan second to fourth year humanities and social science undergraduate students was conducted in the fall of 2011. The purpose of the research was to determine how students learn about library resources and services. Findings indicate that the participants often use a variety of informal, self-directed and information sharing strategies. Seeking help from professors, peers, friends, and family members is a common practice. Convenience, familiarity, and perceived knowledge are key factors that determine who and how these students learn about the library. Formal instruction and seeking assistance from librarians did not resonate for participants as a typical approach for learning about the library. The author suggests that undergraduate students engage in informal learning and information sharing as many ‘adult learners’ do, similar to an employment setting. The library, within the formal educational structure, lends itself to a more informal learning context. The study concludes that libraries must continue to develop resources, services, and innovative programs that support students’ informal learning styles, while also providing formal instruction as part of the undergraduate curriculum ensuring students are exposed early on to core foundational skills that contribute to their success as informal and self-directed learners.

Tinkamai organizuota, turininga veikla po pamokų, patenkindama mokinių poreikius ir interesus, sudaro galimybę aktyviai dalyvauti visuomeniniame gyvenime, tad jau nuo ankstyvo amžiaus svarbu pratinti mokinius laisvalaikį leisti naudingai sau ir visuomenei. Pastaruoju metu pedagogai, švietimo specialistai ir organizatoriai dažnai kelia klausimą, kaip galima efektyviau plėtoti popamokinę veiklą ne tik kaip dalykinių žinių suteikimo priemonę, bet taip pat - ir būdą, kaip spręsti aktualias dabarties problemas. Iš tikrųjų neformalaus ugdymo tikslai yra daug platesni - ugdyti demokratišką, socialų, savarankišką, kūrybišką vaiką, paruošti jį pilietiškai aktyviam gyvenimui Siekiant paruošti mokinius gyventi ir veiksmingai dirbti XXI amžiuje, turi funkcionuoti neformalus ugdymas, kaip neatsiejama ugdymo dalis, ir turėtų būti nuolatinis kokybės siekimas bei jos tobulinimas. Atlikus kiekybinį tyrimą paaiškėjo, kad neformalaus ugdymo veikla jaunimui, yra itin svarbi bei reikalinga. Daugelis respondentų (mokinių) mano, kad didžioji dalis dirbančiųjų neformalaus ugdymo vadovų nėra kompetentingi, trūksta kūrybingumo bei savo darbą atlieka tik patenkinamai. Taip pat remiantis tyrimo duomenimis, galime teigti, kad neformalaus ugdymo kaina yra per didelė, todėl nėra itin didelio susidomėjimo tarp jaunimo. Labai pasigendama netradicinių sporto šakų bei veiklos susijusios su turizmu. Kokybinis tyrimas rodo labai panašią situaciją, kaip ir kiekybinis. Kliūtis vėl yra finansai, teigiama, jei... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Properly organized, purposeful activity after lessons, which satisfy schoolchildren needs and interests, makes opportunity to participate in public life, so already from young age it is important to teach schoolchildren to spend their leisure usefully for themselves and for public. Recently educator, education specialist and organizer rarely create a question, how we can develop after lesson activities more effectively, not only as formal news provider, but also – and as a manner, how to solve relevant nowadays problems. Indeed informal education purposes are more widely – to educate democratic, social, self-sufficient, creative children, to purpose him for public-spirited active life. Seeking to purpose schoolchildren to live and work affectively in XXI century, the informal education have to operate, as concurrent education part, and have to be permanent seeking of quality and also it perfection. After quantitative research I get results, that informal education activity for teenagers, is really important for them. Many of respondents (schoolchildren) think that most of working informal education managers is not competent; they are lack of creativity and also accomplish their work only satisfactorily. Also containing to exploratory results, it can be propose, that informal education price are too big, so the are no huge interest between teenagers. It is lack of activities as complimentary sport tricks, also activity, which is related to tourism. Qualitative... [to full text]

The aim of this research was to determine the way in which informal caregivers of HIV/AIDS patients experience their task as caregivers as well as to identify factors, or general resistance resources, which exercise an influence on their psychological well-being, and more specifically on their sense of coherence. The stressors encountered by informal caregivers of HIVIAIDS patients have previously been investigated thoroughly in a number of studies. The tasks of informal caregivers very often encompass much more than what would be, for example, included in the nursing context and therefore exceed the limits applying to the formal sector. Stressors to which caregivers are exposed include physical, financial and emotional aspects. It has been proved that this state of affairs has a negative impact on their physical health conditions as well as their psychological well-being. Caregivers do, however, at times report a certain extent of growth experienced by them which can be related to the care giving situation. The salutogenic perspective allows for a study of the origin of health and has, for the purposes of this study, been applied to obtain an alternative description of the caregivers' experiences. According to this perspective health does not merely mean the absence of disease, but also refers to health being influenced by an individual's management of stressful events. When an individual, even if confronted with stressful circumstances, has adequate general resistance resources at his/her disposal, a strong sense of coherence can develop and this will have a positive influence on his/her psychological well-being. In the South African context little if any literature can be found on the salutogenic factors that may affect informal caregivers of HIV/AIDS patients. The investigation of this study was based on an availability sample consisting of 8 informal caregivers of HIVIAIDS patients. A one shot cross sectional design with triangulation of data assessment techniques was used. The researcher obtained data with regard to the caregivers' sense of coherence by means of the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) (Antonovsky, 1987). Semistructured interviews were conducted with all the caregivers involved and a qualitative analysis followed. The results revealed that informal caregivers' sense of coherence was much lower than- that of a group of nurses (formal caregivers) as described by Cilliers (2003). One of the reasons for this significant difference could be the lack of a structured setting or environment in which caregivers still have to perform their duties and responsibilities. According to the results a variety of factors exercising a negative impact on informal caregivers' sense of coherence could be identified. These included (a) stress, (b) exposure to unfamiliar situations, and (c) a lack of counselling skills. Within the framework of the salutogenic perspective there were, however, different factors also known as general resistance resources, that exercised a positive impact on the caregivers' sense of coherence. Among these the following could be counted: (a) spirituality, (b) insight into interpersonal situations, (c) utilisation of social support systems, and (d) multi-disciplinary cooperation. It would therefore seem that informal caregivers do possess general resistance resources which enable them to persevere with their tasks as caregivers in spite of the stressors they encounter on a daily basis. One of the recommendations that can be posed after having carried out this study and after having analysed the results, is the compilation as well as the evaluation and implementation, of a psycho-education training programme for informal caregivers, with special emphasis on such general resistance resources. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Striving for subsistence, the growing population of Caracas has radically transformed the city in the course of the past fifty years. The inability of the city to respond to the accelerated growth that resulted from mass rural migrations left millions to provide land, shelter and basic services for themselves. The barrios, once thought to be a provisional solution to the housing shortage, are now home to more than half the population of the city. The urban poor now live—out of necessity and through improvisation—on steep slopes, unstable soil and in flood plains. Overcrowded and remote, this very dense urban fabric receives sporadic or no basic services. Without land titles or addresses, and until recently omitted from most census data and official maps, the barrio’s population is excluded from the civic life of Caracas. Sitting between remediation and anticipation, three asynchronous projects elaborate pragmatic responses to the prevailing scarcity of resources while concurrently attempting to reduce the current cycle of poverty, violence and exclusion. In their ability to be informally adapted, the schemes test the capacity of popular manifestations of civic life to transform basic infrastructure into collective space. To overcome the precariousness that characterizes the barrios and incorporate them into the existing political mechanisms of the city, the projects are conceived as incremental frameworks that contribute to the physical integration of the ‘informal’ barrios to the ‘formal’ city. Working with water and waste infrastructure, I argue through these projects that architecture can build on the universal nature of necessity to frame a model of civic space­ generated out of the complexity of the barrios and on the auspice of promises.

Lietuvoje, Vakarų Europos šalyse ir visame pasaulyje nuolat diskutuojama apie švietimo kokybę, jo įtaką jaunimo vertybėms ir švietimo strategijos bei politikos prioritetus. Vieni profesionalai ir visuomenės atstovai labiau akcentuoja universitetų kaip mokslo įstaigų, rengiančių specialistus, reikšmę švietimo sistemai, o kiti išskiria neformaliojo ugdymo svarbą, užsiimant konkrečia kūrybine ar svarbia asmenybei veikla, kuri daro įtaką asmenybės vertybėms ir pozityviajai asmenybės socializacijai. Lietuvoje egzistuoja nemažai neformaliojo ugdymo įstaigų, tačiau tai dar neužtikrina kokybiško vaiko ugdymo proceso. Dabartinėje Lietuvos švietimo sistemoje neformaliajam ugdymui reikėtų skirti daugiau dėmesio, dėl problemų, susijusių su neformaliojo ugdymo prieinamumu, finansavimo ir svarbos suvokimu. / New tasks arouse for the educators and leaders of school community in the context of education reform: how to solve the problem of students organized leisure time in a qualitative manner. After-school activity can be considered the main form of organized leisure time, therefore it is relevant to be able to qualitatively and efficiently use all its possibilities of positive effect, precisely: to strengthen child‘s self-confidence, to cherish his/her independence and to occupy him/her after school, saving from undesirable influence in the street. According to G. Kvieskienė (2006), informal education must function in the way the student would have the possibilities to deepen, add and develop the knowledge gained during the formal education; to realize the needs of self-expression during the artistic, sports or other activities; to self-develop as a social subject: to communicate in a free and easy manner; to develop the competences necessary for active economic activity, professional career; to develop the public spirit, national and cultural consciousness.

This thesis proposes an original framework for the analysis of third world informal finance. It will be supported by a comprehensive survey of the associated literature. Specifically, most mainstream interpretations of informal finance adhere to a dualist paradigm that revolves around three key assumptions. First that informal firms are less efficient than formal firms in conducting financial transactions, second that their activities are protected from formal competition due to segmented financial markets, and finally that the economic impact of informal finance is inferior to an overall formal system. Yet much of the qualitative evidence of informal finance contradict these assumptions and limit the validity of dualist interpretations. The dualist conclusion that informal finance is a transitory phenomenon can therefore be derailed, leaving room for a more open ended interpretation of contemporary financial informality.