Peer review is used as an effective quality assurance measure in many contexts, including science, business, programming or education. In education, several studies confirmed the positive effects of peer reviewing on student learning. Based on recent research concerning the role of media in the peer review process this study investigates how students perceive the process, content and effects of peer reviews. We also analyze students' opinions on different modes of peer reviewing activities, e.g. online vs. face-to-face reviewing. In the context of a computer science course on scientific writing, these research questions were addressed by administering an online questionnaire (n=38) and analysis using quantitative and qualitative methods. Results indicate that students value the peer review activity, take peer reviews seriously and provide comprehensive and constructive reviews. Findings also show that students prefer written online reviews with the possibility of oral follow-up questions to reviewers.

Obesity is a worldwide problem which affects individuals regardless of age, culture or ethnicity. Obesity is associated with health risks, financial implications, and social consequences. There are numerous explanations for obesity, although even with these explanations, long-term treatment for obesity has not been highly effective. Focussing on the lived experiences of obese individuals may illuminate different understandings which could aid in explaining this. Phenomenology, as a branch of philosophy and employed in this dissertation is concerned with individuals’ lived experiences. The present study conducted a qualitative systematic literature review on phenomenological research on individuals’ experiences of obesity. Nine studies were analysed using a qualitative systematic literature review methodology. The data analysis revealed obese individuals’ experiences in three main themes: control, acceptance, and restriction. The three themes were understood to have an interrelationship with one another, and to be in a continuous dynamic interplay, which cannot be separated and understood in isolation, regarding the participants’ experiences. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmchunu2014 / Psychology / unrestricted

Class of 2017 Abstract / Objectives: To conduct a scoping review of studies involving healthcare professionals as study subjects and to describe the methods used, identify the topics researched, and describe the rationale and limitations of using healthcare professionals as subjects. Methods: The study was a scoping review of research utilizing health professionals as study subjects. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in several databases. Two investigators independently screened studies, collected data, and met to resolve discrepancies. Results: Sixty-five studies met the eligibility criteria. Forty-six percent of the studies evaluated cardiovascular events, 25% evaluated cancer, 9% examined ophthalmic events, 5% examined cognitive issues, and 17% miscellaneous topics. Of the 65 studies, 88% were prospective cohort studies. Questionnaires were utilized as the data collection method in 59 studies (91%). Physicians were the primary study subject in 30 studies (46%) and nurses in 20 studies (31%). No study included in the sample identified pharmacists as study subjects. A total of 41 studies (63%) did not list rationales or limitations to utilizing health professionals as subjects. Of the 24 studies that did discuss rationales and limitations, the most frequently cited advantage was reliable self-reporting (38%). The most common limitation to generalizability was high socioeconomic status. Conclusions: Questionnaires were the most common method used to collect data. Physicians were the most often studied health professional. High reliability of data reporting was a common rationale in using health professionals as subjects. The lack of studies utilizing pharmacists as subjects demonstrates an opportunity that should be further evaluated.

Class of 2015 Abstract / Objectives: To establish the impact pharmacists can have on adult immunization rates by having pharmacists available to provide, administer, and advocate for immunizations. Methods: The following databases were searched from inception to November 2014: NLM PubMed; Ovid/MEDLINE; and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were comparative studies reporting pharmacist intervention and their impact on immunization rates. Of 38 publications originally identified, 15 met inclusion criteria. Variables examined included study characteristics, pharmacist intervention, and immunization rates. Results: Of the 15 studies we identified, only ten studies could be analyzed in the meta-analysis. All studies showed increases in immunization rates with pharmacist involvement, but there was high variance. Pharmacist interventions at hospital sites had the greatest benefit for increasing immunization rates (average odds ratio [OR], 10.64, confidence interval [CI] 95%, 5.25-21.49). Pharmacist intervention at one or two community sites had the second highest impact (OR, 2.81; CI 95%, 2.31-3.41). Studies covering multiple sites (more than two) showed the lowest increase in immunization rates (OR 2.26; CI 95%, 1.81-2.81). Conclusions: Pharmacist’s involvement in advocating and administering immunizations directly increases immunization rates in some patient populations. The greatest increases in immunization rates can be seen when pharmacists advocate for immunizations in the hospital setting.

M.Ed. / Over the years, and even now, the Department of Education is busy trying to find a better method of managing and empowering educators with the aim of attaining whole school development. The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) as early as 1992 proposed an educator developmental appraisal system. Workshops are currently conducted to facilitate the implementation of DAS (developmental appraisal system) at schools. This study concentrates on peer appraisal of educators as an aspect of educator management and its contribution to whole school development. The literature indicated that educators are dissatisfied with the traditional appraisal instruments and the old inspection system. Hence it was abolished on the basis that it was not transparent, not developmental and not democratic (SADTU, 1999(a):61). Information obtained from different books clearly states that peer appraisal is a process that directly involves all the educators in a school. It stresses the mutual understanding, transparency and capacity building among the educators. This research used a structured questionnaire to collect data on the opmwns of the respondents in seven of the nine provinces in South Africa. The questionnaire contained 79 items and seven of these items were relevant to peer appraisal. The structured questionnaires were distributed to a convenient stratified sample of educators in seven of the nine provinces. Based on the information from the questionnaire, each item relevant to this particular research was analysed and discussed. After the factor analysis, the significance of the difference between the factor mean scores of various groups for each of the factors that make up whole school development were analysed and explained. The data obtained indicates that peer appraisal of educators has a positive impact on the professional development of educators. An atmosphere of collegial relationships among staff is a pre-requisite for whole school development. It appears as if the learning and teaching process can be improved through the implementation of peer appraisal m schools.

Tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade are measures that are put in place in a country to which an exporter wants to export to. These barriers make it difficult for a new manufacturer to export their products. These measures may be considered undesirable in the context of world trade, because they restrict the flow of goods and are detrimental to the consumer because they drive prices up. The Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations significantly reduced tariff barriers to trade. During the same round, the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade was negotiated with a view to ensure that countries use technical regulations (non- tariff barriers) for no other purpose than to protect the health and safety of the public and the environment. Many of the developing countries have not yet been able to take full advantage of this agreement. It is often difficult and costly for exporters from developing countries to meet the technical requirements of standards and technical regulations and to provide evidence of compliance. This stems from a lack of resources available to developing countries to participate and influence the work of international standards-setting bodies serving as a basis for technical regulation. The absence of internationally recognised national infrastructure for standardisation, accreditation and metrology also prevents acceptance of African products in export markets. Various regions such as Asia and Europe have initiated technical regulatory reforms to align their technical regulations with the requirements of the World Trade Organisation requirements and to establish appropriate technical institutions. These reforms are also expected to assist member countries to gain a competitive edge in global trade ensuring increased gains from trade liberalisation initiatives which provide fair market access for goods and services. Africa appears to be lagging behind the abovementioned regions. The current technical regulatory system in Africa is still too inefficient and ineffective to position African countries competitively. The technical institutions are underdeveloped and under funded and can not support market assess and thus economic development. It is in this context that this study is conducted to explore the technical regulatory framework in Africa against the background of reforms in Asia and Europe with a view of providing public policy recommendations for the establishment of an African technical regulatory system supported by appropriate institutional capacity that may expedite economic recovery for the continent. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / Unrestricted

This is a case study of how Tshwane University of Technology is implementing quality assurance of its academic programmes in accordance with the requirements of the Higher Education Quality Committee. The focus of the study is on the activities of the central quality unit, the Directorate of Quality Promotion (DQP) regarding the evaluation of its programme evaluations. This is akin to a question raised regarding parliamentary procedures, not long ago when the Auditor General appeared before the parliamentary committee on public accounts. The question was ‘Who is auditing the Auditor General?’ Before this question could be asked at TUT, a strategic decision was taken by the current director of the DQP regarding what the directorate needed to do in achieving leadership in this regard. An introductory description is made of the current curriculum development practices within the new educational dispensation. The statutory roles of the Department of Education, the South African Qualifications Authority&the Higher Education Quality Committee in this process are described. This is followed by an explanation of the new programme outlay within outcomes-based education. In offering a theoretical framework for the study various evaluation models are treated, and the CIPP evaluation model is adopted for this study. The research design for the study is allied to a literature-based model by Brinkerhoff, et. al. This is a six step framework for conducting meta-evaluation. The qualitative data analysis takes the form of evaluating the evaluation against thirty International Evaluation Standards of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. These standards are sub-divided into the following categories, namely, utility, feasibility, propriety and accuracy standards. The study concludes that conducting a meta-evaluation for programme reviews has the potential to expose strengths and weaknesses of quality assurance practice. / Dissertation (MEd (Assessment and Quality Assurance in Education and Training))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / MEd / unrestricted

New product development (NPD) is vulnerable to a wide variety of risks arising from within the firm or from the external environment. Existing categorizations of NPD project risks are partial or ill-defined and consequently there is no clear consensus among researchers and practitioners about what constitute NPD project risks. To address this gap, this thesis deploys a systematic literature methodology to inductively develop a comprehensive risk taxonomy from a review of 124 empirical studies. This taxonomy is then empirically validated through a survey capturing data from 263 NPD projects conducted by UK firms. The thesis further investigated the moderating effect of NPD project type (incremental or radical), firm size (SMEs and large firms) and industry sectors on the proposed risk taxonomy. Variation in the perceptions of NPD risk by different members of the team was explored as well. The findings revealed that the principal risk factors affecting NPD projects are technological rapidity risk, supply chain risk, lack of funding and resource risk. The risk profile of radical NPD projects differed to that of incremental projects. SMEs were more vulnerable to NPD project risks than large firms. Most risks influenced NPD projects equally across industrial sectors. Members of NPD project teams from different backgrounds or with different roles perceived risks differently. The proposed taxonomy and its subsequent empirical validation provides a comprehensive and robust taxonomy for identifying and managing risks associated with different types of NPD project conducted by firms of varying sizes from different industrial sectors.

(+)-Neopeltolide is a highly potent marine polyketide natural product with activity against multiple cancer cell lines in vitro. The nanomolar range of antifungal and anticancer cytotoxicity in this tetrahydropyran (THP)-containing polyketide, combined with its limited natural supply, has led to several syntheses. In this study, the feasibility of an oxa-Michael conjugate addition route to cis-2,6-THP rings is examined through the efforts toward a total synthesis of the macrocyclic core of (+)-neopeltolide using a highly convergent route. This study is based on the successful preliminary results with a simple 14-member ring model system and the synthesis of the key aldehyde intermediate shown below. The highlighted transformation of this synthesis will be a transannular oxa-conjugate addition to generate the cis-2,6-tetrahydropyran ring system. This route also highlights a highly convergent Wittig coupling to generate the full carbon framework of (+)-neopeltolide. One of the key goals of this project is to compare this synthesis with a chemo-enzymatic total synthesis that relies on chemistry catalyzed by polyketide synthase enzymes in the late stage of the synthesis.

The development of competency in clinical supervision is becoming an increasingly important element of training and practice in professional psychology. To assist students in developing supervisory competencies, knowledge of relevant research and effective training methods is required. Three studies were designed to add to the field of supervisor development research. In the first study, I conducted a systematic review to examine the extent to which theoretical models of supervisor development have been used in empirical studies of supervisor development within professional psychology. This study revealed that studies rarely employ theory, and when they do, the Supervisor Complexity Model is the most often used theory, likely because it is the only one with an associated measure, the Psychotherapy Supervisor Development Scale (PSDS; Watkins, Schneider, Haynes, & Nieberding, 1995). Building on the findings of this systematic review, in the second study I conducted a reliability and validity generalization on the PSDS. Reliability and validity generalizations are meta-analytic methods that allow reliability and validity data from a measure to be summarized across studies. Results indicate the PSDS has a history of excellent reliability, and higher scores are found with increased supervisory training and experience, evidence of the scale’s validity. The third study is a meta-analysis of the supervisor development literature, in order to assess the effect sizes of training and experience on supervisory development and self-efficacy. Results indicate that training and experience have significant positive effect sizes, though they do not differ from one another. Based on results from these studies I provide recommendations about: the samples with which the PSDS tool is appropriately used, and how researchers might increase reliability within their own future studies, and evidence based recommendations for competency based education efforts.