Little information is available on future vocational preparation for intellectually disabled learners in South African schools. Currently teachers adapt the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) to educate these learners. A literature study was conducted to investigate relevant models in the United States of America in order to develop a framework for a South African vocational training and transition planning programme in the school. Various South African vocational training programmes designed for disabled learners with good literacy and numeracy skills, the role of employment agencies and the local employment possibilities for intellectually disabled people were investigated to assess their suitability for intellectually disabled learners. An Individualised Vocational Programme that involves the parents and their child(ren) was developed to suit the needs of intellectually disabled learners. The RNCS was adapted by means of curriculum straddling and designing down to make the learning material suitable for intellectually disabled learners. The full programme consisted of an adapted interest test, curriculum training, the placement of learners in school jobs/tasks and a home independence programme, The programme was implemented and a mixed method research design facilitated the case study done in a school for severely intellectually disabled learners. Findings revealed that a vocational training and transition planning programme in the school can be managed successfully to the benefit of the parents, learners and the Department of Education. Based on the findings recommendations were made to improve the various sections of the comprehensive programme. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

Text in Afrikaans / The goal with the research is firstly is to study and theoretically describe the interpersonal style repertoire of middle level managers according to the interpersonal approach and more specifically the 1982 Interpersonal Circle. Secondly the interpersonal development interventions and the development process for middle level managers were discussed from this approach. The third theoretical goal involved compiling a interpersonal development programme for middle level managers. The empirical goals of the research involved the evaluation of the interpersonal style repertoires of middle level managers by means of self and fellow manager evaluations in an attempt to get an indication of the most prominent interpersonal styles of middle level managers. Furthermore the empirical investigation involved an analysis of the influence of the interpersonal development programme in expanding the interpersonal style repertoires of middle level managers. The results of the self evaluations suggest that the warm-friendly, deferent-trusting, assureddominant and sociable-exhibitionistic styles are the primary styles of the 263 middle managers in the sample. Their evaluations by the 82 fellow managers seem to indicate that the warmfriendly, assured-dominant, deferent-trusting, and sociable-exhibitionistic styles are the most prominent interpersonal styles of middle level managers. Although these results seem to correspond to the teoretically applicable style repertoires of middle level managers the scores were all below average. XIV With the interpersonal development programme an attempt was made to make the group of 32 managers aware of their own interpersonal style repertoires and to provide them with the opportunity to study the way in which these are used in interpersonal transactions during a experiential learning experience. The development interventions, process and the influence of the development programme are also discussed. / Die doel met hierdie navorsmg is eerstens om die interpersoonlike stylrepertoire van middelvlakbestuurders aan die hand van die interpersoonlike benadering en meer spesifiek 1982 Interpersoonlike Sirkel, te bestudeer en teoreties te beskryf. Tweedens is die interpersoonlike ontwikkelingsintervensies en -ontwikkelingsproses vir middelvlakbestuurders vanuit die benadering beskryf. Die derde teoretiese doelstelling het die samestelling van 'n interpersoonlike ontwikkelingsprogram vir middelvlakbestuurders behels. Wat die empiriese doelstellings in die navorsing betref, is die interpersoonlike stylrepertoire van middelvlakbestuurders deur middel van self- en medebestuurderevaluasies geevalueer om sodoende 'n aanduiding van die mees prominente interpersoonlike style van middelvlakbestuuders te kry. Verder het die empiriese ondersoek ook 'n ontleding van die invloed van die interpersoonlike ontwikkelingsprogram op die uitbreiding van middelvlakbestuurders se interpersoonlike style ingesluit. Die resultate van hulle selfevaluasies suggereer <lat die warm-vriendelik, geleidend-vertrouend, versekerd-dominant en sosiaal-ekshibisionistiese style die primere interpersoonlike style van die steekproef van 263 middelvlakbestuurders is. Wat die resultate van die evaluasies van die 82 medebestuurders betref, blyk dit dat die warm-vriendelik, versekerd-dominant, geleidendvertrouend en sosiaal-ekshibisionistiese style as die mees prominente style is. XVI Alhoewel hierdie resultate in 'n groot mate met die teoereties-toepaslike stylrepertoire van middelvlakbestuurders ooreenstem, was al die tellings ondergemiddeld. Met die interpersoonlike ontwikkelingsprogram is daar gepoog om 'n bewustheid by 'n groep van 32 bestuurders van hulle eie interpersoonlike stylrepertoire te kweek, en om hulle die geleentheid te bied om die interpersoonlike transakies waarin die style na vore tree, tydens 'n eksperimentele leerondervinding te bestudeer. Die gedragsontwikkelingsintervensies, die gedragsontwikkelingsproses en die invloed van die ontwikkelingsprogram word ook bespreek / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com (Bedryfsielkunde)

Vårt samhälle är i ständig förändring. I början av förra århundradet var det industrialiseringen som stod för den stora förändringen, idag är det digitaliseringen. Som ett led till ökad digitalisering i skolan har läroplanernarevideratsför att förtydliga skolans uppdrag i att stärka elevers digitala kompetens. Syftet med denna studien var att undersöka hur lågstadielärare använder sig av digitala verktyg idag, samt vilka uppfattningar som finns om behov av kompetensutveckling för att undervisa utifrån den reviderade läroplanen. För att besvara studiens syfte har kvalitativa intervjuer genomförts, med tio lågstadielärare från tre skolor. Resultatet visar att samtliga lärare idag använder sig av digitala verktyg i matematikundervisningen och att de främst använder digitala verktyg för att variera undervisningen och öka elevers motivation. Vidare visar resultatet att frekventa användningsområdena för digitala verktyg i matematikundervisningen är vid digitala genomgångar, vid färdighetsträning, och för individanpassning. Trots att alla lärare idag använder digitala verktyg visar resultatet att det bland flertalet lärare finns en osäkerhet och ett kompetensutvecklingsbehov, för att känna säkerhet i att undervisa utifrån den reviderade kursplanen i matematik. Resultatet visar även att behov av kompetensutveckling och intresse för digital teknik har ett samband. / Our society is constantly changing. At the beginning of the last century there was industrialization that accounted for the great change, today it is digitization. As part of increased digitalization in schools, the curriculum has been revised to clarify the school's mission in strengthening students' digital skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers use digital tools today in mathematics education and what perceptions exist about the need for skills development to teach, based on the revised curriculum. In order to answer the purpose of the study, qualitative interviews have been conducted, with ten teachers from three schools. The result shows that all teachers today use digital tools in mathematics teaching and that they mainly use digital tools to vary teaching and increase student motivation. Furthermore, the result shows that the most common areas of use for digital tools in mathematics education are at digital reviews, for skills training, for deepening and for personalization. Although all teachers today use digital tools, the result shows that among the majority of teachers there is an uncertainty and skills development need, to feel safe in teaching based on the revised curriculum. The result also shows that digital skills and interest in digital technology seem to have a strong connection.

The measurement of reliable and valid indicators of early child development is necessary for assessing phenomena and is useful in the monitoring of ongoing efforts to eradicate inequalities in the social determinants of health. There is an increasing awareness of the contextual, cultural, and developmental influences on constructs used in early child development (ECD) research. Using a measurement perspective, this dissertation examined the issue of measurement invariance and psychometric validity in early child development research. A construct violates the principle of invariance when two persons from different populations who are theoretically identical on the construct being measured have different scores on it. This dissertation consists of three journal-style manuscripts (published or under review) that were used as examples to address the importance of the issue of measurement invariance and psychometric validity in ECD research using data from two unique areas: autism and executive functioning. The three data sets were collected on pre-school children with parents and or teachers as informants and were chosen to represent different levels of data collection – clinical, community, and population. These data sets allowed for the examination of measurement invariance by type of informant, sex, and age of child. The results from the three studies illustrate the importance of assessing measurement invariance in ECD and whether or not the instruments examined can be used to assess sub-group differences with confidence. A lack of measurement invariance found for two of the studies, suggests that observed group differences in latent constructs could be attributed, in part, to measurement bias. More importantly, bias in the measurement of the constructs of severity of social impairment symptoms in autism, and executive functioning across groups could have an impact on services such as patient treatment. These biases could also influence public policy development, particularly when there may be an underlying need for a cross-group approach where belief systems may affect the meaning and structure of constructs. In summary, measurement invariance should be a prerequisite for making any meaningful comparisons across groups. A requirement of establishing measurement invariance should be included in the guidelines for comparative research studies as a necessary first step before an instrument is adopted for use.

The work aims to analyze the new leasing standard which is supposed to be adopted by IFRS as well as US GAAP. The new standard represents one of the steps in the process of harmonization and convergence between two predominant world accounting standards, which has been in progress since the year 2002. The work provides readers with the comparison of these two leasing standards, resulted from which the need of common lease standard arose. This led to the first exposure draft of convergence standard issue, and finally the re-exposure draft issue. Because the new accounting standard is still in progress, I provide the analysis of the process as at the end of August.

La suicidalité (idéations suicidaires avec ou sans plan, tentatives de suicide) est une problématique très importante à l’adolescence. Les adolescents ayant des traits liés au trouble de la personnalité limite (TPL) constituent un sous-groupe à risque suicidaire. Il est aussi largement reconnu que le désespoir, les symptômes dépressifs, anxieux et extériorisés augmentent la vulnérabilité aux idéations et aux comportements suicidaires. Cependant, le rôle médiateur de ces problèmes de santé mentale, dans la relation entre les traits du TPL et la suicidalité n’a pas été vérifié dans les études antérieures. En s’inspirant des modèles théoriques sur l’émergence de la suicidalité, cette thèse propose un nouveau paradigme conceptuel concernant le rôle médiateur des problèmes intériorisés et extériorisés dans cette relation, chez les adolescents de 12 à 15 ans. L’objectif du premier article de la thèse était d’examiner le rôle de quatre médiateurs (désespoir, symptômes dépressifs, anxieux et extériorisés) dans l’association entre les traits du TPL et la suicidalité. Le deuxième article avait pour but d’approfondir cette question en explorant le rôle médiateur de sept problèmes spécifiques, chez les filles et les garçons : désespoir, symptômes dépressifs, de phobie sociale, d’anxiété généralisée, du déficit d’attention avec ou sans hyperactivité, symptômes oppositionnels et des conduites. L’intégration de certaines hypothèses provenant des modèles théoriques a permis de suggérer des trajectoires hypothétiques de médiation. Concernant la méthodologie, les problèmes de santé mentale ont été évalués par le Dominique Interactif pour Adolescents-Révisé (DIA-R) et l’Échelle de désespoir de Beck. La base de données utilisée pour effectuer l’analyse de cheminement incluait un échantillon de 446 adolescents francophones et anglophones âgés de 12 à 15 ans recrutés dans les écoles et les établissements cliniques de Montréal. Les modèles obtenus à partir des analyses de cheminement ont mis en évidence un bon ajustement des données suggérant la plausibilité des trajectoires hypothétiques proposées. Une association directe a été observée entre les traits du TPL et l’échelle de suicidalité du DIA-R. Tel que prévu, plusieurs problèmes de santé mentale interviennent comme variables médiatrices dans cette relation. Les symptômes dépressifs expliquent l’effet médiateur du désespoir, des symptômes anxieux et extériorisés. Cet effet était observé chez les filles et les garçons. De plus, les résultats mettent en évidence que le lien indirect entre les traits du TPL, le désespoir et la suicidalité était plus important chez les filles. Le lien indirect entre les traits du TPL, les symptômes de phobie sociale, le désespoir et la suicidalité était aussi plus important chez les filles. En conclusion, cette recherche doctorale contribue à enrichir les connaissances au sujet de l’association entre les traits du TPL et la suicidalité, chez les filles et les garçons de 12 à 15 ans. Le cadre conceptuel intégratif suggéré, dans chacun des articles de la thèse, pourrait aider les cliniciens à identifier précocement les problèmes de santé mentale afin de diminuer le risque suicidaire. / Suicidality (suicidal ideations with or without a plan, suicide attempts) is a very important issue in adolescence. Adolescents with borderline traits (BT) represent a high-risk group for suicidality. It is also widely recognized that hopelessness, depressive, anxiety and externalizing symptoms increase the risk of suicidal ideations and suicide attempts. Theoretical models suggested a mediating effect of mental disorders/symptoms between personality characteristics similar to BT and suicidality in adolescence. However, previous studies did not examine this research question. In this present thesis, the integration of theoretical considerations provides a new conceptual framework regarding the mediating role of internalizing and externalizing problems in the relation between BT and suicidality in adolescents aged 12 to 15 years. The objective of the first article of the thesis was to examine the role of four mediators (hopelessness, depressive, anxiety and externalizing symptoms) in the association between BT and suicidality. The aim of the second article was to extend this question by analyzing the role of seven specific problems in boys and girls: hopelessness, depression, social phobia, generalized anxiety, attention deficit/hyperactivity, opposition and conduct symptoms. The integration of certain hypotheses from theoretical models allowed to suggest hypothetical mediational pathways. With regard to the methodology, mental health problems were assessed by the Dominic Interactive for Adolescents-Revised and the Beck Hopelessness Scale. A path analysis was conducted using a sample of 446 adolescents aged 12 to 15 years recruited from school and clinical settings from Montreal. The model obtained from path analysis showed a good fit to the data suggesting the plausibility of pathways. A direct association was observed between BT and the DIA-R Sucidality Scale. As hypothesized, several mental health problems intervened as mediating variables in this relation. Depressive symptoms explained the mediating effect of hopelessness, anxiety and externalizing symptoms. This effect was observed in girls and boys. In addition, the results highlighted that the indirect association between BT, hopelessness and suicidality was more important in girls. The indirect relation between BT, social phobia symptoms, hopelessness and suicidality was also more important in girls. In conclusion, this doctoral thesis contributed to extend our knowledge about the association between BT and suicidality, in girls and boys aged 12 to 15 years. The suggested integrative conceptual framework could help clinicians to early identify mental health problems to prevent the suicidal risk.

I detta utvecklingsarbete studerade författaren en årskurs två klass i en gymnasieskola skola i Helsingborg. Författaren har försökt öka motivationen för elevernas egna lärande under en egen konstruerad och hållen lektionsplanering. Denna studie använder, genom hela utvecklingsarbete, en undervisningsmetod som heter Problembaserat lärande (PBL). Författaren konstruerade en undersökning med inspiration från Biggs et.al. (2001) "The Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire "(R-SPQ-2F) och Ahlfeldt et al. (2005)" Student Engagement Survey"(SE). Under lektionsserien arbetade författaren med god undervisning genom att försöka för att göra lektionsserien meningsfull och låta eleverna arbeta i sina arbetsgrupper under några lektioner. Lektionsserien avslutades med en muntlig presentation av grupparbetet. Författaren genomförde också en intervju med författarens handledare. Resultaten visade att det var viktigt med meningsfullhet i lektionsmaterialet och det läraren har en stor betydelse för att kunna öka elevens motivation eget lärande. Ingen linjär relation visades emellertid och ingen större korrelation mellan enkätsfrågorna kan visas. Användningen av PBL i lektionsserien visade sig vara effektiv när eleverna uppnådde åtminstone de lägsta betygskriterierna för betyg E. / In this development work, the author studied a second grade class at an upper secondary school in Helsingborg. The author have tried to increase the motivation for the students own learning during an own constructed and held lesson plan. This study uses, throughout the development work, a teaching method called Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The author constructed a survey with inspiration from Biggs et.al. (2001) "The Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire" (R-SPQ-2F) and Ahlfeldt et.al. (2005) "Student Engagement Survey" (SE). During the lesson series, the author have worked with good teaching by trying to make the lesson series meaningful and let the students work in their working groups with few lesson sessions. The lesson series ended with an oral presentation of the group work. The author have also conducted an interview with the author s supervisor. The results showed that it was important with meaningfulness in the lesson material and that the teacher has a great importance in order to be able to raise the motivation for the student's own learning. However, no linear relationship showed and no major correlation between the questions could be shown. The use of PBL in the lesson series turned out to be effective when the students achieved at least the lowest rating criteria for the grade E.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the gaming behaviors of married individuals and couples who play Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game(s) (MMORPGs) including gaming addiction, time spent gaming, satisfaction in gaming participation, gaming interaction (between joint gaming spouses), and socio-demographic variables and the subsequent marital satisfaction levels of both individuals in the couple. Hypotheses were generally supported, excluding the hours spent gaming. 685 couples were separated and analyzed according to whether both individuals in the marriage gamed or just one individual gamed (couple-gaming type). Couples in which only one individual gamed (individual-gamer couples) had significantly lower marital satisfaction than all other groups and couples in which both gamed about the same amount of time (equal-gamers) held the highest marital satisfaction of the groups. Prediction models of marital satisfaction were determined for each couple-gaming type. The strongest predictions present in most of the models for marital satisfaction were the frequency that the couple retired to bed at the same time and the frequency that the couple quarreled specifically about gaming. Much MMORPG research has been presented on youth and adults, however to date there is no research on married gamers. Recent research on the video game habits of emerging adults called for further in depth investigation of the implications of video game use in the family formation stage of life.

Föreliggande studie analyserar muntliga aktiviteter i elevböckerna och lärarhandledningarna tillhörande läromedlet ABC-klubben. Läromedlet analyseras utifrån ett kognitivt perspektiv med hjälp av Blooms reviderade taxonomi, vilket även utgör studiens teoretiska referensram. Taxonomin synliggör vilka kognitiva processer och kunskapsdimensioner aktiviteterna erbjuder eleverna att nå. Resultatet av analysen jämförs med lärarnas uppfattning om de muntliga aktiviteterna som läromedlet erbjuder. Det granskade läromedlet valdes ut efter att verksamma lärare på lågstadiet besvarat en enkät om vilket läromedel de använder i svenskundervisningen. Enkäten innehöll också frågor där lärarna bland annat svarade på i vilken utsträckning de anser att läromedlet bidrar till elevernas utveckling av de muntliga förmågorna. Resultatet av läromedelsanalysen visar att antalet muntliga aktiviteter är begränsade. Det visar också att aktiviteterna inte erbjuder eleverna att utveckla den högsta nivån av kunskapsdimensioner och i endast en liten utsträckning den högsta nivån av kognitiva processer. Lärarna upplever dock att läromedlet bidrar till att eleverna utvecklar förmågorna att tala, lyssna och samtala. Studiens slutsats är att eleverna borde få fler möjligheter att nå högre kognitiva processer och kunskapsdimensioner gällande muntlighet. Det kräver att muntliga aktiviteter får större plats i läromedlet.

The Dissertation work is focused on finding the effectivity of the inquiry-based science education of Chemistry subject at elementary schools and grammar schools concerning the topic of Chemistry process. The theoretical part proves the knowledge of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) in the 21 century, specifies the level of research, learning cycle 5E, its positives and negatives. The practical part is created by the files of methodology, particularly the methodological worksheets for teachers and worksheets for pupils as well, regarding the topic Substance Transformation for the elementary schools and for the grammar schools the topic Chemical Reactions and Chemical Equations. In the research part, there are shown the results of paedagogical research aiming at verifying the influence IBSE on to develop the higher mind operations according to Bloom taxonomy, to develop the scientific skills, as well as the survey of pupils' attitudes to this particular educational teaching process. The results obtained from the IBSE implementation and its verification performed by the cognitive tests and further by statistical evaluation, have confirmed the validity of the set hypotheses - the level of pupils' knowledge and skills has been increased, especially at weaker pupils in both degree of schools. By...