At a time when policy-makers in Hong Kong are pushing for educational reforms, there seems to be an increasing interest for both the Government and parents to use success stories of our western counterparts as a point of reference in guiding reforms. The general purpose of this study was to examine the subtle interplay of factors (e.g. classroom structures, culturally-derived values, teachers' perceptions of 'what counts’ in education, students' perceptions of their learning, government policy and resources allocation etc) that might contribute to students' motivation orientations. Two primary classrooms, one from each education system (a local school and an international school in Hong Kong), were analysed. Subjects for this study were 80 students who completed a questionnaire and 20 students and 5 teachers who were interviewed individually by the researcher. They were chosen from two Key stage 2 classes in each of the two targeted schools. One specific focus of this investigation was to examine whether there were any significant differences in students' motivational orientations in the two classes of students (who came from two types of schools) studied. A second specific focus was to examine whether there were any differences in the classroom structures and practices between the two classes of students and, if so, to find out to what extent did they account for the differences in students' motivation orientation. The third specific focus was to examine the extent to which culturally derived values served to affect teachers’ interpretation of their professional values and definitions of good educational practices, which in turn defined how they structured their classroom. The last focus was to examine the extent to which culturally derived values served to affect students’ perceptions of the classroom instruction, and their definition of 'how learning should happen' in the classroom. Findings from this study could shed light on whether policy makers are heading for the right direction in education reforms.

Educational programs for children with autism rely on the use of extrinsic rewards to increase childrens motivation to participate. However, maintenance and transfer of intervention gains remains problematic. Research with typically developing children and adults has shown that extrinsic rewards can have differing effects on intrinsic motivation. That is, the ways in which rewards are administered (reward contingency, interpersonal context) can increase, decrease, or leave an individuals intrinsic motivation unaffected. The present research examined whether these characteristics would increase the intrinsic motivation of children with autism, and whether observed increases maintained and generalized to novel contexts. In two different studies, children with autism were given performance-based rewards for engaging in academic activities in both choice and no-choice conditions. Each correct response earned the children one token that was exchangeable for one minute of time with their preferred reward. In some conditions, children were offered opportunities to make choices during the activity, whereas in other conditions, choice making was not allowed. Results indicated that childrens intrinsic motivation for the academics was neither undermined nor enhanced following the receipt of the reward. Further, children showed a clear preference for the academic subject associated with enhanced choice. These results were discussed in terms of Skinners behavioral theory and cognitive evaluation theory. The limitations, as well as the practical implications, are also discussed. / Special Education

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-60).

No description available.

Salt-affected soil is a prominent challenge in agriculture. Nowadays, more than 800 million hectares of land (about 6% of the world’s total land area) are induced with high salt concentrations, and thus, are unsuitable for growing typically salt-sensitive crop plants. The ongoing salinization of arable land exacerbates this limitation. To address this issue, the development of salinity-tolerant crop plants has gained considerable interest, with a protein identified by Prof. Mark Tester's group, named "SALTY2," offering promising potential. SALTY2 is overexpressed in response to NaCl treatment on Salicornia plants conferring salinity tolerance, and following the function of the SALTY2 protein from Salicornia and analogous proteins in Arabidopsis, yeast and in vitro, a universal mechanism in evolution is suggested. During my thesis, we analyzed the biophysical properties of SALTY2, and based on spectroscopic methods we confirmed it is an intrinsic disordered protein (IDP), which is consistent with previous studies claiming that IDPs play a vital role in stress response pathways. We have identified and characterized the loss-of-function "RG/RGG" to "KG/KGG" type mutation and a deltaSTM1 N-terminal mutation, and investigated the interaction of SALTY2 and other cellular components, including short fragment RNA, and 80S ribosome. Together with state-of-the-art high-resolution NMR and Cryo-EM methods we validated the direct interaction of SALTY2 with plant ribosomes, and 25nts random RNA, and determined the 3D structure of ribosome with the potential binding site of the SALTY2 protein. Combining biophysical, structural and functional analyses of the wild-type and loss-of-function mutants of SALTY2, we proposed a potential mechanism by which the IDP protein SALTY2 confers salinity tolerance in plants. These findings offer a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of salinity tolerance in plants via IDPs and contribute to the ongoing efforts to develop salinity-tolerant crop plants.

<p> This THESIS comprises the core of Chapter I and a self-contained excerpt from Chapter II of the author's work "Fibred Categories and the Theory of Structures". As such, it contains a recasting of "categorical algebra" on the (BOURBAKI) set-theoretic frame of GROTHENDIECK-SONNERuniverses, making use of the GROTHENDIECK structural definition of category from the beginning. The principle novelties of the presentation result from the exploitation of an intrinsic construction of the arrow category C^2 of a VL -category C. This construction gives rise to the adjunction of a (canonical) (VL-CAT)-category structure to the couple (C^2, C), for which the consequent category structure supplied the couple (CAT(T,C^2), CAT(T, C)) for each category T, is simply that of natural transformations of functors (which as such are nothing more than functors into the arrow category).</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The present study investigated the effects of reward structure and environmental conditions (i.e., context) on integrated motivation for an accounting task using 101 undergraduate accounting students. A computer-simulated task in which students were asked to estimate allowance for doubtful accounts was used to create and manipulate reward structure (i.e., performance-contingent vs. task-contingent) and context (i.e., self-determined vs. controlled). It was hypothesized that a self-determined context would create greater motivation than a controlled context when motivation was measured by response intensity, response persistence, integrated response intensity, and integrated response persistence. An ordinal interaction was also hypothesized such that in a self-determined context, performance-contingent rewards would create more motivation than task-contingent rewards, and in a controlled context, performance-contingent rewards would create less motivation than task-contingent rewards. Results indicated that response intensity, as measured by time on task, did not support the hypothesized main effect or the ordinal interaction; however, when self-reported effort was used as a measure of response intensity, support for both hypotheses was found. Similarly, when response persistence was measured by time on task, support for the hypotheses was not found; however, when number of problems worked during the free choice period was used to assess response persistence, hypothesized effects were supported. For integrated response intensity and persistence, support for the hypotheses was not found. / Ph. D.

Intrinsically safe (IS) active power supplies subjected to certain transient load conditions can deliver power to a circuit at significantly higher levels than indicated on their nameplate ratings. During a transient load such as an intermittent short-circuit, energy is transferred from the power supply to the short-circuit and an electrical arc may form when the short-circuit is applied or removed. This poses a spark ignition risk as energy is transferred from the arc to the surrounding atmosphere. Currently various International and Australian Standards define the performance requirements for IS electrical apparatus. A duly accredited laboratory is required to establish the intrinsic safety compliance of an apparatus with the Standards. It involves an assessment of the apparatus and may include testing. The assessment of the apparatus determines adequate segregation, separation, construction, and selection of components. The tests performed on the apparatus include a temperature rise test and in some cases, the sparking potential of the circuit is tested using the spark test apparatus (STA). Testing the sparking potential of active power supplies to establish compliance adds significantly to the time and costs involved in establishing compliance. A new alternative assessment method is proposed in this report to augment or replace the testing phase of the compliance certification process for active power supplies. The proposed alternative assessment method (PAAM) is derived from a determination of the steady-state and transient output characteristics of the active power supply under consideration. Parameters such as peak output current, time constant of peak current decay, and the output voltages at these times are measured from the circuit's output characteristics. These measurements can subsequently be used to derive the topology and component values of an equivalent circuit. The resulting equivalent circuit is then considered like a linear power supply and the sparking potential can be determined using existing assessment methods. This thesis investigates in detail the equivalent circuit of a number of direct current (DC) active power supplies whose transient output characteristics exhibit predominantly capacitive behaviour. The results of the PAAM using the equivalent circuit are then compared with results achieved using the current testing procedure with a STA. A small sample of active power supplies is used to generate data from which a relationship between the current testing procedure and the PAAM can be established. The PAAM developed in this research project can be used as a pre-compliance check by designers, manufacturers, or IS testing stations. A failure of this test would indicate that the active power supply's sparking energy is not low enough to be regarded as intrinsically safe. The PAAM requires fewer resources to establish a result than the STA. The benefits of a simplified spark ignition test would flow on from designers and manufacturers to end users.

Motivated employees contribute to the wellbeing of the employee as well as the success of the company. Each and every person is motivated differently and at a different level. One of the biggest challenges for an organisation is to find out how it can motivate employees to ensure job satisfaction and improve employee efficiency and productivity. The objective of this study is to determine how employees of a retirement fund company in Centurion, Gauteng believe they are motivated and how the company is performing in meeting the expectation for motivation of the employees. A comprehensive literature study was done to investigate the theories on motivation. A structured questionnaire was compiled based on the factors of motivation identified in the literature study by the author in collaboration with the Statistical Consultation Service of the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus. Data was captured by the researcher and analysed with the assistance of the Statistical Consultation Services. Based on the results of the data analysis, it is recommended that managers focus on areas identified as important motivators by the employees to improve overall motivation in the workplace. The results also improve the understanding of the managers as to how their employees want to be motivated and how they are currently performing to those expectations. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Motivated employees contribute to the wellbeing of the employee as well as the success of the company. Each and every person is motivated differently and at a different level. One of the biggest challenges for an organisation is to find out how it can motivate employees to ensure job satisfaction and improve employee efficiency and productivity. The objective of this study is to determine how employees of a retirement fund company in Centurion, Gauteng believe they are motivated and how the company is performing in meeting the expectation for motivation of the employees. A comprehensive literature study was done to investigate the theories on motivation. A structured questionnaire was compiled based on the factors of motivation identified in the literature study by the author in collaboration with the Statistical Consultation Service of the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus. Data was captured by the researcher and analysed with the assistance of the Statistical Consultation Services. Based on the results of the data analysis, it is recommended that managers focus on areas identified as important motivators by the employees to improve overall motivation in the workplace. The results also improve the understanding of the managers as to how their employees want to be motivated and how they are currently performing to those expectations. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015