The ethnographic study utilized the research techniques of observations, content analysis, and semi-structured interviews with tween participants (i.e., 9 through 13 year-old youth) during an 8-week literary blog project. Twenty-six participants created individual blog pages within a member-only classroom blog site that allowed for online communication between members. the blog project incorporated social networking applications with which youth frequently engage. the research questions ensured data regarding what facets participants found appealing and motivating during the project was collected. the questions allowed for determining if participants utilized peer blogs for reading material selection or repurposed the blogs to discuss other topics. Components of self-determination theory and engagement theory underlay the project design and aided in identifying motivational aspects of the data. Frequency tables outlined the identified patterns and structures of participants’ online activity. Participants found the ability to change the colors of their blog backgrounds and to design their individual blogs and the giving and receiving of feedback to be the two most appealing features of the project. Participants chose books from peer suggestions in the online world but also selected materials from recommendations they received in face-to-face interactions with their peers, their teacher, and the school librarian. Little evidence of repurposing the blog for social topics was observed. Participants engaged in discussions predominantly based around the books they were currently reading or had read. Implications for incorporating social networking applications within the classroom environment are discussed.

The aim of this study was to examine what experience supportstaff have about the work with ensuring supportusers self-determination and participation. The purpose is broken down into two main questions, firstly how supportstaff work with self-determination and participation. Secondly what kind of experience the supportstaff have about opportunities and difficulties in the work with ensuring self-determination and participation. We used a qualitative method and gathered data by using ​thematically open issues ​interviews. We interviewed seven supportstaff in different parts of Sweden. We used two different theoretical approaches, empowerment and Michael Lipsky’s theory about street-level bureaucracy. All informants experienced both difficulties and opportunities in the work to ensure the supportusers self-determination and participation. The informants described how the difficulties can consist of both organizational structures but also in the staff's own approach towards the supportusers. Different working methods, competence and also relationships that are based on trust emerged from the result as opportunities for ensuring the supportusers self-determination and participation. The results of this study is in alignment with previous research, but the study includes new elements for future research.

Based within the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the overall objective of this thesis was to examine how motivational processes involved in the regulation of eating give rise to different self-regulation strategies in terms of eating quality and quantity, and how the adoption of these strategies influence women’s eating behaviors and life satisfaction over time. This objective was achieved through a series of eight studies, divided into four manuscripts. First, a measure that would allow us to assess healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors based on recent recommendations of Canada’s Food Guide was developed and validated. In Manuscript #1, we validated the Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Behavior Scale (HUEBS) by examining the structure of the scale (Study 1 N = 360; Study 2 N = 711) and by establishing convergent validity through the examination of the relationships between motivational concepts, healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors as measured by the HUEBS, and waist circumference (Study 2 N = 711; Study 3 N = 264). Results supported the factor structure of the scale. It was also demonstrated that as women moved along stages of change for eating regulation, they reported higher levels of self-determined (versus non-self-determined) motivation and a higher consumption of healthy (versus unhealthy) foods. Furthermore, findings showed that healthy eating fully mediated the relationship between self-determined motivation and waist-circumference, and that the relationship between self-determined motivation and healthy eating was moderated by stages of change. Since there was also a need to develop a scale that would allow us to measure planning and self-monitoring strategies in terms of eating quality (i.e., nutrient intake) and quantity (i.e., calories and portion sizes), Manuscript #2 validated the Planning and Self-Monitoring the Quality and Quantity Scale (PMQQS; Study 1 N = 355; Study 2 N = 318). Results supported the 6-factor structure of the scale and demonstrated that strategies related to the quality of eating were more strongly and positively associated with healthy eating and more strongly and negatively associated with unhealthy eating, whereas strategies related to the quantity of eating were more strongly and positively associated with bulimic symptoms and Body Mass Index (BMI). Manuscript #3 then examined if the strategies assessed by the PMQQS provided additional variance to eating behaviors over and above the effects of motivation (Study 1 N = 456) and if the strategies mediated the relationships between motivation and eating, while controlling for BMI (Study 1 N = 456; Study 2 N = 979). Overall, it was found that strategies played a significant role in explaining eating behaviors and that planning and self-monitoring the quality of eating mediated the relationships between autonomous motivation and healthy and unhealthy eating, whereas planning and self-monitoring the quantity of eating mediated the relationship between controlled motivation and bulimic symptoms. Finally, in Manuscript #4, we tested a longitudinal model (N = 230) examining the roles of goals and motivation in the prediction of the strategies and various types of eating and the effects of adopting these behaviors on life satisfaction over a 3-month period. Results revealed that intrinsic goals were positively associated with autonomous motivation whereas extrinsic goals were positively associated with controlled motivation for eating regulation at Time 1 (the baseline), and that autonomous motivation positively predicted quality strategies whereas controlled motivation positively predicted quantity strategies at Time 2 (1 month). Planning and self-monitoring quality then predicted healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors, whereas planning and self-monitoring quantity predicted bulimic symptoms at Time 3 (3 months). Finally, healthy eating was positively associated with life satisfaction, whereas bulimic symptoms was negatively associated with life satisfaction at Time 3. Overall, this thesis increases knowledge on why some women succeed, whereas others fail, to regulate their eating behaviors over time.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Over the last ten years, research has shown that adolescent activity has decreased in both developed and developing countries. One way of meeting desirable physical activity levels for adolescents in schools is through physical education. Structured physical education is the ideal form of what physical education should entail, however unstructured physical education can also be incorporated as a method to increase physical activity. Because little is known about the benefits of both these types of physical education, this study aimed to investigate the perceived benefits of structured and unstructured physical education lessons as perceived by Grade Eight and Grade Nine learners and physical education and/or life orientation educators in Cape Town high schools.

No description available.

The purpose of this research was to understand educator experiences associated with a lateral career move. Qualitative narrative interviews were conducted with six educators, including four administrators and two teachers, who met specific research participation criteria. Thematic analysis and axial coding were performed on the collected data. A framework based on self-determination theory was used to further interpret the research findings. Research findings included participant accounts related to organizational perceptions, emotional effects, and perceptions of superordinate behaviors, before and after making a lateral move. Participants reported experiences associated with negative wellbeing and thwarting the basic psychological needs satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness prior to making a lateral move. Participants reported experiences associated with positive wellbeing and supporting the satisfaction of basic psychological needs after making a lateral move. The tenets of self-determination theory were supported. Recommendations for professional practice and future research are included.

The purpose of this study is to use the gamification tool Classcraft in a 5th grade class inorder to see how it affects the students' motivation. More specifically we examined the effectof Classcraft on students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The self-determination theory is the core of this study. Mixed methods were used for data generation and analysis. The chosen methods were interviews, observations and statistics in Classcraft. We performed a quasiexperiment by dividing the 5th graders into two groups, the control and experimental group. The content of the control and experimental group’s lectures were nearly identical, but while the control group were lectured in an ordinary manner, the experimental group were lectured with Classcraft. Using mixed methods we specifically examined if the two groups differed in the amount of optional tasks that were undertaken. The qualitative data was collected through interviews with participants and observations. Quantitative data was collected through Classcraft where we could see how many students took their time to start the optional tasks. The result of this study showed no noticeable result on the quantitative data while in the qualitative data the students were motivated both intrinsically and extrinsically. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka spelifieringsverktyget Classcraft i en årskurs fem för att se hur det påverkar elevernas motivation. Mer specifikt undersökte vi effekten Classcraft hade på elevernas inre och yttre motivation. Self determination teorin är grunden för studien. Mixed methods användes för att generera data och analysera den. Valet av metod bestod av intervjuer och observationer. Vi utförde ett kvasi-experiment genom att dela in klassen som deltog i projektet i två grupper, en kontroll och en experimentgrupp. Kontroll och experimentgruppens lektioner var nästintill identiska. Det som skiljde lektionerna åt var att experimentgruppen fick sin undervisning med Classcraft inkluderat i dom, medan kontrollgruppen hade sin ordinarie undervisning på samma sätt som de undervisats innan projektet påbörjades. Genom att använda mixed methods kunde vi undersöka ifall båda grupperna skiljde sig åt i antalet sidouppdrag som eleverna har valt att göra. Den kvalitativa datan samlades genom intervjuer med elever samt observationer. Den kvantitativa datan samlades genom Classcraft där vi kunde se hur många av eleverna som har valt att påbörja sidouppdragen. Resultatet av denna studie visade inte på något märkbart resultat när man undersöker den kvalitativa datan medan den kvalitativa datan visade på att eleverna kände sig både inre och yttre motiverade.

Nonprofit organization senior leaders conduct business in an increasingly complex and competitive market environment relying on monetary donations to sustain the capacity of their organizations to meet service requirements. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that nonprofit organization senior leaders used to motivate donors to make monetary donations to their organizations. The target population of the study was 3 senior leaders of a nonprofit organization in the southeastern United States who implemented effective strategies to motivate donors to make monetary donations to their organization. The conceptual framework used for this study was self-determination theory. Data collection for this study consisted of semistructured participant interviews, a review of public and internal organization documentation, and organization performance outcomes. Data for this study were manually coded and thematically organized. The analysis of the data identified relationships, effective communication, active listening, and social media marketing as 4 key themes affecting donors’ motivation to donate to nonprofit organizations. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential to provide practical strategies that nonprofit organization senior leaders can use to motivate donors to make monetary donations to their organizations, thereby enhancing senior leaders’ capacity to provide critical services to members of the communities in their organizations’ dedicated service areas.

Syfte Studiens övergripande syfte är att undersöka om fotbollstränare för herrlag på elitnivå i Sverige försöker skapa en inre motivation hos sina spelare. Frågeställningar Hur får fotbollstränarna sina spelare att känna autonomi? Hur får fotbollstränarna sina spelar att ska känna sig kompetenta? Hur får fotbollstränarna sina spelare att känna tillhörighet? Metod Fem fotbollstränare på svensk elitnivå på herrsidan valdes ut då de ansågs inneha den erfarenhet och kompetens för att besvara studiens syfte. Dessa fem fotbollstränare intervjuades. Semistrukturerade intervjuer gjordes utifrån en intervjuguide. Intervjuerna spelades in för att sedan transkriberas och analyseras. Resultat Resultatet visade att tränarna fostrar en inre motivationskänsla hos sina spelare men att olika tränarfilosofier gör att de skapar autonomi, kompetens och tillhörighet på olika sätt. Autonomi uppnåddes genom att spelarna fick vara med och sätta individuella mål och bestämma över den individuella träningen. Tränarna utvärderade spelarnas kompetens genom videoanalyser och datastatistik från matcher, individuella samtal och genom feedback. Både individuell feedback och kollektiv feedback.  Genom att skapa en bra och trivsam miljö för spelarna och ett ärligt och rättvist ledarskap försöker tränarna få spelarna att känna en tillhörighet samt genom att resa tillsammans och göra aktiviteter utanför idrotten.  Slutsats Slutsatsen som drogs i denna studie var att tränarna försöker skapa en inre motivation men gör det på olika sätt. Ekonomiska resurser kan sätta vissa gränsen men den största faktorn till att de skapar inre motivation på olika sätt är att de har olika arbetssätt.

In the years approaching President F.W. De Klerk’s announcement in 1990 that South Africa’s policies would be reformed a number of the right wing groups realised that apartheid would come to an end. This dissertation deals with one response, by the Boere-Vryheidsbeweging (Boer Freedom Movement). By setting up a settlement styled as a ‘growth point for Afrikaner self-determination’ in Pretoria’s eastern hinterland, in 1992, the movement hoped to avert what its numbers saw as eventual black majority rule. The aim of this study is to probe what has become of this settlement roughly 20 years after the transition to full democracy in 1994. The following questions were used as a guideline to this end: (i) On what legal basis has the settlement’s property been occupied?; (ii) Who are the people who moved to the settlement over time?; (iii) How have they generated the capital with which to develop the settlement?; (iv) What is the character of their relationship with each other?; and (v) How have they dealt with external authorities such as the state, province and local municipality? The findings of this study show that the settlement of Kleinfontein has been kept as a set of undivided properties and that none of the residents have individual title. They occupy the settlement by internal agreement alone, and there is no acknowledgement by either the state or private institutions of the internal divisions that have been made. Over time, the founders of the settlement managed to attract two categories of people to live there. The first comprised relatively old lower middle-class people who moved in because of the settlement’s affordability and peacefulness. The second consisted of working age middle-class people with professional jobs who moved in for reasons to do with the ideology of Afrikaner self-determination. As the movement of the second category of people into the settlement accelerated, internal disagreements developed between them and the first category of people, and the settlement as a whole eventually became so paralysed by the conflict that few people have chosen to move there since. The disagreements mainly revolved around the fact that the professionals wanted to transform the settlement so that it meets the middle-class standards found in major South African cities. The lack of consensus eventually resulted in several conflicts with the state, placing a question mark over the settlement’s continued existence in post-apartheid South Africa. / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Anthropology and Archaeology / MSocSci / Unrestricted