According to David Harvey, neoliberal ideology has emerged as the current hegemonic economic discourse. Therefore, Harvey contends that neoliberalism has permeated every aspect of society, including institutions of higher education. However, the role of neoliberal ideology is perceived as a form of common sense, and thus proponents of neoliberal policies often do not realize that the programs and policies that they are implementing are neoliberal. Furthermore, Harvey argues that another aspect of neoliberalism is its propensity to exclude or ignore society. This thesis explores the relationship between neoliberal ideology and higher education, as well as the tendency of neoliberalism to depict universities and other forms of higher education as catalysts for economic development. In order to examine this relationship, this thesis examines an institution of higher education located in Southside Virginia, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR). More specifically, this thesis takes an in depth look of the academic, research, and outreach/community programs offered by IALR. Moreover, this thesis explains how some of IALR's programs fit within a neoliberal framework and others do not, and how these programs are characterized as mechanisms of economic revitalization in Southside Virginia. Finally, this thesis demonstrates the ways in which IALR has embraced aspects of neoliberal ideology while resisting neoliberalism's tendencies to exclude the community from decision-making processes, yet also inculcate neoliberal ideology into the community's perceptions of economic development and higher education. / Master of Arts

Yes / Background: Interpreting evaluations of complex interventions can be difficult without sufficient description of key intervention content. We aimed to develop an implementation package for primary care which could be delivered using typically available resources and could be adapted to target determinants of behaviour for each of four quality indicators: diabetes control, blood pressure control, anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation and risky prescribing. We describe the development and prospective verification of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) embedded within the adaptable implementation packages. Methods: We used an over-lapping multi-staged process. We identified evidence-based, candidate delivery mechanisms—mainly audit and feedback, educational outreach and computerised prompts and reminders. We drew upon interviews with primary care professionals using the Theoretical Domains Framework to explore likely determinants of adherence to quality indicators. We linked determinants to candidate BCTs. With input from stakeholder panels, we prioritised likely determinants and intervention content prior to piloting the implementation packages. Our content analysis assessed the extent to which embedded BCTs could be identified within the packages and compared them across the delivery mechanisms and four quality indicators. Results: Each implementation package included at least 27 out of 30 potentially applicable BCTs representing 15 of 16 BCT categories. Whilst 23 BCTs were shared across all four implementation packages (e.g. BCTs relating to feedback and comparing behaviour), some BCTs were unique to certain delivery mechanisms (e.g. ‘graded tasks’ and ‘problem solving’ for educational outreach). BCTs addressing the determinants ‘environmental context’ and ‘social and professional roles’ (e.g. ‘restructuring the social and ‘physical environment’ and ‘adding objects to the environment’) were indicator specific. We found it challenging to operationalise BCTs targeting ‘environmental context’, ‘social influences’ and ‘social and professional roles’ within our chosen delivery mechanisms. Conclusion: We have demonstrated a transparent process for selecting, operationalising and verifying the BCT content in implementation packages adapted to target four quality indicators in primary care. There was considerable overlap in BCTs identified across the four indicators suggesting core BCTs can be embedded and verified within delivery mechanisms commonly available to primary care. Whilst feedback reports can include a wide range of BCTs, computerised prompts can deliver BCTs at the time of decision making, and educational outreach can allow for flexibility and individual tailoring in delivery / UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research scheme (Grant Reference Number RP-PG-1209-10040).

In-patient deterioration is a global phenomena and timely recognition and action improves outcome. Intensive care facilities are scarce and expensive and therefore patient care must be optimal. A retrospective health record analysis was used for this study. The findings indicated that nursing personnel do not recognize patient deterioration timeuously. However, the implementation of an outreach team and clinical markers training program improved the recognition of patient deterioration in general wards with three hours and 40 minutes. It is recommended to implement a comprehensive hospital program that addresses the basic knowledge and skills of general ward personnel to observe, recognize, assess and intervene to patients with clinical deterioration. Together with an extensive training program, a basic physiological parameters guideline to activate a team of experts to the bedside, such as an Outreach team, assist nursing personnel to recognize and manage those patients timeuously and ensure treatment in an appropriate level of care. / Health Studies / M. A. (Health studies)

Buddhist prison outreach is a relatively recent development, in the United States of America and elsewhere, and has yet to be chronicled satisfactorily. This thesis traces the physical, legal and social environment in which such activities take place and describes the history of Buddhist prison outreach in the USA from its earliest indications in the 1960s to the present day. The mechanics of Buddhist prison outreach are also examined. Motivations for participating in Buddhist prison outreach are discussed, including Buddhist textual supports, role models and personal benefits. This paper then proposes that volunteers active in this area are members of a liminal communitas as per Victor Turner and benefit from ‘non-player’ status, as defined by Ashis Nandy. The experiences of the inmates themselves is beyond the scope of this thesis. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Religious Studies)

Background: Injection drug use is a popular and concurrently a very hazardous manner of application. In the Czech Republic there are approximately 45 thousand of problem drug users from which 43 thousand are injection users (Mravčík et al., 2014). There are known and mostly in detail described addictive substances which are mostly preferred by these users and it is also described how these substances work in human organism. However, it is a question how they affect the particular behaviour of the user within the injection application. In 2013 in the Czech Republic there were distributed 6,2 million syringes (Mravčík et al., 2014). Aim: The main goal was to ascertain the frequency of the injection application of drugs in case of the problem users and to estimate the general (annual) consumption of the injection material (according to the prevalence estimate for the given area) depending on the typology of the users (type of used drugs, pattern of usage). Sample: The research bracket was formed by 117 respondents form Prague field programme and low-threshold contact centre. Methods: The chosen method of the data collection was the questionnaire which was developed for the purpose of the thesis and which was realized with the administration of the researcher. Data were processed by descriptive...

The thesis concentrates on Approaches of youth drop-in centers and outreach services towards xenophobia and racism among teenagers. It deals with topics, such as xenophobia, racism, situation of Czech society concerning these two issues and the legal view point towards it. It describes the period of growing up, what features and reasons of xenophobia and racism appear among the teenage group. It characterizes a growing up person as a user of social services. The thesis describes inspirational approaches of multicultural education heading towards development of tolerance, possibilities of education and approaches to xenophobia and racism of various organizations. Further on, it gives a number of examples of experiences from several other European countries. It introduces social services of youth drop-in centers and outreach services. It mainly deals with approaches of both services towards working with teenage clients who show signs of xenophobia and racism. The practical part of the thesis discovers approaches of social workers of various youth drop-in centers and outreach services in the Czech Republic towards xenophobia and racism among teenager clients. Key words: xenophobia, racism, teenagers, multicultural/intercultural education, experiences abroad, youth drop-in centers, outreach services

Le rayonnement des experts scientifiques et techniques porte en lui deux dimensions ; une organisationnelle, favorisant l’émergence et le développement de compétences clés et une individuelle contribuant à la motivation intrinsèque de l’expert. Pendant entrepreneurial du rayonnement des enseignants-chercheurs, le rayonnement des experts est « un élément personnel et organisationnel d’appréciation de la réputation de l’expert, évoluant avec le développement de sa carrière, permettant de décrire ses activités en relation directe avec son domaine d’expertise, à l’intérieur ou à l’extérieur de l’entreprise et de prendre en compte son impact personnel dans sa communauté de pratique de référence ». Sa prise en compte dans les pratiques de gestion des experts permet d’apporter un nouvel éclairage sur des pratiques en quête de renouveau. Sans résoudre l’ensemble des problèmes de la gestion des experts, la recherche prend en compte le rayonnement des experts comme levier d’amélioration de leurs pratiques de gestion. L’objectif est d’analyser le rayonnement des experts dans sa double dimensionnalité. L’étude de cas multiple menée sur quatre grandes entreprises industrielles propose une réflexion sur la contribution du rayonnement des experts à la performance de l’entreprise. Ce lien est conditionné par l’intégration du rayonnement à tous les niveaux hiérarchiques de l’entreprise – au niveau de la stratégie générale, du management stratégique des ressources humaines et de l'opérationnel. Le rayonnement comme levier d’amélioration des pratiques de gestion des experts s’inscrit sur le long terme, permettant à l’entreprise d’identifier et d’anticiper ses besoins en compétences d’experts / Experts’ “outreach” is a two-dimension element. First dimension is organizational dimension, which contributes to core competencies development. Second one is individual dimension, which leads to experts’ intrinsic motivation.Experts’ outreach is the parallel of scientific reputation used for researchers. It can be defined as “a personal and organizational element to appreciate experts’ reputation, which changes with expert’s career development. Outreach can take place inside or outside the organization and also allows to measure expert’s impact on his / her scientific community”. The integration of outreach in experts’ management practices can contribute to improve practices, which need some renewal. The ambition is not to resolve all the already identified problems, but to bear a new perspective on the experts’ management practices. The research aims to study both dimensions of experts’ outreach, linked with the firm performance. A multiple case study is realized to analyze four big industrial firms. The link between outreach and firm performance depends on outreach integration within all the strategic levels of the organization, it means general strategy, strategic human resources management and operational management. To conclude, experts’ outreach contributes to improve experts’ management practices, on a long-term perspective. It allows firms to identify and anticipate their needs of experts’ competences

A Semana Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia é um evento anual que busca mobilizar a população brasileira em torno de temas da Ciência e Tecnologia. Desde a primeira edição, em 2004, a Universidade de São Paulo promove um processo de Divulgação Científica por meio de ações de extensão. Apesar de, atualmente, o modelo de \"feira de ciências\" ser a principal estratégia usada pela universidade na maioria das edições do evento, pouco se conhece além do número de visitantes, escolas e ações oferecidas pelos museus e institutos que participam da feira. O presente trabalho busca investigar como ocorrem os processos de elaboração e execução do evento e como o público interage com os expositores. A pesquisa de natureza qualitativa conta com o suporte teórico da Teoria da Atividade, referencial que permite leitura complexa do fenômeno estudado, por sua abordagem histórico-cultural. O foco de análise é a sistematização das Atividades dos sujeitos para localização de contradições e tensões, elementos fundamentais para o surgimento de Ciclos Expansivos de Aprendizagem. Para isso, foram feitas entrevistas semiestruturadas com expositores, organizadores e um representante do Ministério da Ciência Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI). A interação do público com os estandes foi registrada em áudio e vídeo. A análise dos dados permitiu a construção do modelo da Atividade dominante do evento, ou seja, de uma Atividade comum a todos os sujeitos envolvidos na feira, caracterizada como Atividade de Negociação entre Ciência e Sociedade. Também foram caracterizadas as Atividades dos expositores, organizadores e visitantes. Na Atividade de Extensão Universitária, realizada pelos expositores, foi possível identificar que os diferentes sujeitos encontramse em níveis de reflexão diferentes a respeito do trabalho que desenvolvem. A Atividade de Produção do Evento, executada pelos organizadores, apresentou três ciclos de aprendizagem expansiva, mostrando um amadurecimento da organização. Foi possível, ainda, identificar uma interrupção dessa aprendizagem expansiva. Ao analisar a Atividade de Visitação, foi possível perceber a importância do interesse prévio do estudante para a decisão de visitar um estande. Foram caracterizados os tipos de interação encontradas nos estandes, bem como os objetos usados pelos expositores para a construção do discurso. Estes dois elementos permitiram apontar as diferenças na duração das visitas, sendo a combinação destes determinantes para a atração do estande e a retenção do mesmo em um estande. A identificação das Atividades permitiu a construção hierárquica do Sistema de Atividades, no qual observou-se como elementos das Atividades em níveis inferiores eram influenciados pelos objetos transformados das Atividades dos níveis superiores. Sob a ótica dos níveis hierárquicos de contradição proposto por Engeström (1987), foi possível perceber a predominância de contradições terciárias, aquelas que ocorrem entre as Atividades de um sistema, e de contradições primárias, aquelas que ocorrem em um elemento da Atividade. Como contribuição para as discussões na Teoria da Atividade, propõe-se quatro categorias de contradições que emergiram da análise do evento: contradições na esfera das concepções de valores; contradições na esfera da comunicação; contradições de caráter organizacional; e contradições de caráter político. / The National Science and Technology Week is an annual event that seeks to mobilize the population around issues of Science and Technology. Since its first edition, in 2004, the University of São Paulo promotes science communication through outreach activities. Although currently the model of \"science fair\" is the main strategy used by the university in most editions of the event, little is known beyond the number of visitors, schools and programs offered by museums and institutes at the fair. This study aims to investigate how the organization and execution of the event occurs and how the public interacts with the exhibitors. The qualitative research has the theoretical support of the Activity Theory, framework that allows complex interpretation of the phenomenon studied because of its historical-cultural approach. The focus of analysis is the systematization of the subjects Activities to locate contradictions and tensions, fundamental elements for the development of Expansive Learning Cycles. For that, semistructured interviews were conducted with exhibitors, organizers and a spokesman of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The interaction of the public with the stands was recorded on audio and video. Data analysis allowed the construction of a model of the dominant activity of the event, that can be explained as a common activity to all those involved in the fair, characterized as Trading Activity between Science and Society. Also the Activities of the exhibitors, organizers and visitors were characterized. In the University Outreach Activity, carried out by the exhibitors, was possible to identify that the different subjects are at different levels of reflection about the work they do. The Event Production Activity, performed by the organizers, presented three Expansive Learning Cycles, showing a maturing organization. It was also possible to identify an interruption of this expansive learning. By analyzing the Activity of Visitation, it was possible to realize the importance of student interest prior to the decision to visit a stand. There were characterized types of interactions found in the stands as well as the objects used by exhibitors for the construction of the speech. These two elements allowed us to point out the differences in the duration of visits, and the combination of these determinants for attracting visitors to the stand and for their retaining. The identification of activities allowed the hierarchical construction of the Activity System, in which was observed as elements of Activities at lower levels were influenced by the transformed objects of the Activities of the upper levels. From the perspective of hierarchical levels of contradiction proposed by Engeström (1987), it was revealed the predominance of tertiary contradictions, those between the activities of a system, and primary contradictions, those that occur in an Activity element. As a contribution to the discussions for the Activity Theory, we propose four categories of contradictions that emerged from the event analysis: contradictions in the sphere of values conceptions; contradictions in the sphere of communication; contradictions of organizational character; and contradictions of political character

A pesquisa foi estruturada de forma a responder a questão Quais os resultados afetivos obtidos das tensões, conflitos e contradições vivenciadas por estudantes-executivos quando incorporam atividades educacionais corporativas online em suas rotinas?. Com o objetivo de buscar a solução a questão estabelecida foi estudada em profundidade uma turma de Programa de Especialização em Controladoria e Finanças, com atividades predominantemente online. O arcabouço de análise utilizou-se da Teoria da Atividade com o fito de compreender, descrever e analisar os resultados afetivos decorrentes da inserção daquela atividade educacional, identificando as percepções sobre seus impactos nas demais atividades de diferentes esferas das vidas dos sujeitos de aprendizagem. O trabalho justificase por ser a área de educação corporativa online um fenômeno ainda recente e que requer muita investigação pelo seu caráter incipiente e por seu impacto social. A pesquisa teve uma abordagem marcadamente qualitativa, mergulhando em profundidade nos diferentes aspectos envolvidos na análise do fenômeno. Apoiou-se na estruturação de um estudo de caso, fundamentado em uma pesquisa-participante e utilizando-se de diferentes instrumentos de coleta de dados que, em conjunto, permitiram o cruzamento de evidências. As conclusões apontam para a dificuldade dos sujeitos de pesquisa em verbalizar os resultados afetivos decorrentes das atividades. No entanto, com o cruzamento das diferentes fontes de evidência e como fruto da reflexão que considera o contexto em que se realiza a atividade, emergiram do quadro de análise resultados afetivos que relatam, entre outros e de forma não exaustiva, o aumento no nível de segurança no desempenho profissional, a constituição de uma disciplina para estudo (auto-disciplina), a descoberta de um prazer para/com a área de concentração do curso, que redundam em sentimentos de valorização, realização e confiança. Por outro lado, sentimentos como medo, culpa e isolamento, não explicitamente relatados, emergiram da reflexão e do cruzamento dos relatos, decorrentes dos sacrifícios próprios (lazer, cuidados pessoais, hobbies), da família (tempo com filhos, cobrança do cônjuge, auto-cobrança) e com os outros (amigos e comunidade). Finalmente, pode-se concluir que o sentimento que prepondera no grupo em relação a atividade educacional é de que os ganhos superaram as perdas e que os resultados cognitivos e afetivos alcançados passam a fortalecer cada indivíduo permitindo uma maior realização pessoal e um maior grau de desenvolvimento profissional. / The study was designed in a way to answer the question: Which affective outcomes emerge from tensions, conflicts, and contradictions experienced by executive-learners when incorporate online corporate educational activities in their routines? Aiming at solving the research question, I developed an in-depth analysis of a cohort from the specialization program (mostly online) in Controllership and Finance offered by FIPECAFI (educational institution) to CNO (organization). The analysis was supported by the Activity Theory with the goal of comprehending, describing and analyzing affective outcomes based on that particular educational activity, identifying perceptions about its impacts on other activities, in distinct dimensions of the learners lives. The main purpose of the research is related to the fact that online corporate education is still a recent phenomenon demanding intense investigation due to its incipient characteristics and social impact. The study is designed based on a qualitative framework, addressing in detail several aspects related to the phenomenon. It is supported by a case study, based on a participative-research and using distinct data collection instruments that, together, afforded triangulation of evidences. The main conclusion indicates that subjects tend to find difficult to verbally express the affective outcomes emerging from the studied activity. However, after data triangulation and critical reflection about the context where the activity takes place, a set of affective outcomes was discovered, and they help unveil, among others and not exhaustively, the increase in the safety level of professional performance, development of self-study discipline, recognition of pleasure related to the programs field, which result in feelings of value, appreciation, achievement and confidence. On the other hand, feelings such as fear, guilty, and isolation, not explicitly reported, came up from the critical reflection and data triangulation, based on personal sacrifices (leisure, personal care, hobbies), family time (children, spouse demand, self-demand) and devotion to others (friends and community). Finally, the main conclusion based on evidence from the majority of the subjects in this case study (and related to the educational activity) is that benefits outnumbered sacrifices and both cognitive and affective outcomes, combined, tend to make each individual stronger, fostering personal achievement and boosting professional development.

With an increase in the number of people living in proximity to active volcanic centres worldwide, there is a greater need to provide effective and engaging education and outreach programmes to reduce vulnerability and prepare exposed communities for potential future volcanic eruptions. The finalisation of the Sendai Framework (UNISDR, 2015a) has also cemented the need for disaster risk managers to engage at-risk communities with education and outreach programmes, to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by volcanic eruptions worldwide. Education and outreach programmes are already commonplace for disaster risk reduction, with many taking the form of traditional presentations, maps, diagrams, TV and radio broadcasts. In recent years, there has been a shift towards the use of more creative media to communicate volcanic hazards and engage populations in outreach activities. These have included films, comic strips, puppet shows, board games and video games. However, to-date there is little empirical evidence for the use of these media with at-risk communities. This research seeks to address this issue by providing evidence for the effective use of creative media for volcanic hazard education by adopting the use of video games (or serious games). To assess how effective serious games could be as an education tool, a bespoke video game (St. Vincent’s Volcano) was developed collaborative with disaster risk agencies and communities on the Eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent and then trialled with adults and students from across the island. A range of outreach sessions were adopted to compare and contrast the applications of the game and to identify the most effective method of its delivery. These sessions included a traditional outreach presentation used as a control, and a group of UK students for a cohort comparison. Data were collected through a mixed-methods approach. Overall the results of the study demonstrate how successful the game can be as an education tool, promoting knowledge improvement in players. The results also demonstrate how the role of the outreach instructor is important to encourage engagement and can result in higher levels of overall positive engagement exhibited by the students. The game was also successful at promoting knowledge gain and engagement with adult participants. The results also demonstrated promise for games in promoting longer-term knowledge retention and for improving awareness of existing outreach materials. This research provides a foundation for the increased integration of emerging technologies within traditional education sessions. The work also shares some of the challenges and lessons learnt throughout the development and testing processes and provides recommendations for researchers looking to pursue a similar study or to adopt the use of serious games.