Thesis (Ph.D. in Information Sciences)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2007. / Dissertation Advisor(s): Nissen, Mark ; Arquilla, John "September 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-277). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1999. / Field project. Includes bibliographical references.

Organisations worldwide are attempting to increase individual job satisfaction, productivity and efficiency by implementing work teams. This research study evaluates the interventions considered necessary to optimally implement and maintain self-directed work teams (SDWTs). In order to complete this study it was necessary to address the characteristics associated with SDWTs, problems commonly experienced during implementation and functioning of SDWTs and the identification of the interventions used to promote the successful implementation and maintenance of SDWTs. These objectives were achieved by means of a comprehensive literature study. Subsequent to the literature study, a process model for the successful implementation and maintenance of a SDWT within a South African organization was developed. Thereafter, a questionnaire was developed based on the findings of the literature study and distributed to a randomly selected population. The objective of the questionnaire was to evaluate the interventions utilized during the implementation and maintenance of SDWTs. The results of the empirical study were statistically analysed and interpreted. Finally, conclusions and recommendations were made. The most important recommendations are as follows: Firstly, the trade union must be consulted and involved in the decision to implement SDWTs. Members of the team must be exposed to training interventions prior to the implementation of the SDWT. Thereafter, team members must undergo advanced training in interpersonal and problemsolving skills. Salary and reward structures within the organisation must be adapted to suit a teambased environment. Finally, the success of the SDWT will depend on the support provided by management. Management needs to exhibit total commitment to the change on a continuous basis.

Experimental studies suggest alcohol facilitates deliberate self-harm (DSH). One explanation might be that alcohol increases pain tolerance (PT), which may then lead to DSH. This study aimed to examine whether PT mediated the relationship between alcohol and DSH. Further, alcohol is neither necessary nor sufficient to self-harm. Given past non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a good predictor of future DSH, NSSI may moderate these relationships. This study also aimed to examine if mediation was conditional upon past NSSI. Participants (106 men and 104 women) reported on past NSSI and received a drink sufficient to produce target blood-alcohol content (BAC = .000%, .050%, .075%, or .100%). Participants completed a behavioral measure of DSH. Results revealed that the association between BAC and DSH was mediated through PT. Additionally, past NSSI moderated the path between PT and DSH but did not affect the path between BAC and PT. Clinical implications and limitations are discussed.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The purpose of this study is to determine some of the effects of self-directed learning in elementary science on the growth of fifth grade pupils. It was attempted to measure pupil growth in four areas: A. Fact absorption B. General Science Knowledge C. Liking for science D. Learning to generalize Printed materials instructed pupils in the use of simple apparatus to collect data and solve elementary science problems. The approach was inductive and required making generalizations on observed phenomena. A need exists for facilitating the use of activity science in classes where the teacher is unfamiliar with the content and process of science. Teachers who are unfamiliar with science do not deal adequately with the tactics and strategy of science investigation. Materials directed to the student which lead him through the experience of actual investigation might help to overaome some of the reluctance to engage in science activities evidenced by teachers untrained in science. If it can be shown that students are able to learn as much factual material by self-instruction as through the average textbook oriented study, then schools might be able to carry on a science activity program using the processes of science investigation without extensive teacher retraining programs and without loss of subject matter learning. Four self-directed science studies were tried on 128 students of six classes selected at random from schools of a mixed factory-suburban town. One hundred thirty-two students in seven classes were used as a control group. The study was conducted over a period of six months. Experimental and control groups were equated as to I.Q. ratings and scores on a standardized reading test. Teachers were equated on the basis of a town wide supervisors' survey. It was decided to investigate the comparative performance of the experimental and control groups using four different measuring instruments. 1. Growth in specific subject matter knowledge as measured on a prepared fact test. 2. Growth in general science knowledge as measured on a standardized science test. 3. Changes in possible liking for science as measured on a standardized attitude survey. 4. Growth in ability to generalize as measured on an organizational ability test. The four different tests were administered before and after the study and the change in performance was compared across groups for statistical differences. experimental and control groups were also compared in upper and lower I.Q. halves and by sex. The results of the experiment were as follows: 1. Fact absorption There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in gain of factual knowledge, nor was there difference when groups were compared according to sex and I.Q. 2. General Science Knowledge The upper I.Q. pupils of the control group enlarged their general science knowledge significantly more than did the experimental group. Between the two main groups there was no significant difference in gain of general science knowledge. 3. Liking for Science. After self-study activities the upper I.Q. groups expressed a liking for science significantly greater than the corresponding control group. The girls of the experimental groups gained in choices for science more than did the girls of the control group. There was no significant difference in the scores of the total groups. 4. Learning to Generalize. There were no significant differences in gains in organizational abilities between the experimental and control groups and none between the sex groups and I.Q. groups. SUMMARY: Although the present study showed no advantage for self-study activity science over traditional science studies,there is indication that the students learn the factual content as well when learning by themselves as when taught by a teacher. If longer exposure to science self-study activities is needed to show results in behavior of the students, there is much to gain and little to lose by allowing the student to pursue his science studies on his own. / 2999-01-01

The aim of self-directed team learning initiatives is to provide a further level of defence against an eventuality by ensuring that air traffic controllers are aware of the sources of human fallibility, and by developing in the individual controllers and air traffic control teams the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will result in the successful management and containment of inadvertent error. To gain a deeper understanding of self-directed team learning, I investigated the role and contribution of self-directed team learning principles and strategies that were present in the South African Air Force air traffic control team-based work environment. This research study was directed by the following primary research questions: Does self-directed team learning impact on the air traffic control work environment, and what is the nature of self-directed team learning’s impact on the air traffic control work environment? Insights gained as a result of this study contributed to the body of research concerned with learning design, development, implementation and evaluation by self-directed teams as well as the air traffic control discipline. In this mixed-method study quantitative data collection was performed by means of a self-directed team learning questionnaire and a learning approach questionnaire, whereas qualitative data collection relied on individual interviews and focus group interviews. This study involved 25 South African Air Force air traffic controllers (from three operational air traffic control centres). The nature of self-directed team learning’s impact on the air traffic control work environment was illustrated by individual and collective (team) views and dynamics. The impact of air traffic control team performances was traced in terms of identified teamwork characteristics, activities, dynamics, performance measures and focus areas and reflective practices. Results of this study indicated that self-directed team learning offered opportunities to individuals and teams to influence air traffic control performances in an air traffic control work environment. A perceived positive relationship between self-directed team learning and air traffic control operational outputs could be traced. Lastly I concluded that self-directed learning by air traffic control teams had an impact on air traffic control operational outcomes, thus contributing towards a critical air traffic control goal – aviation safety. / Thesis (PhD (Currriculum Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Kolb (1984) identifies learning as a process whereby knowledge is created through transformation of experience. Wenger (1998) would further suggest that education is a mutual development process between communities and its learners, well beyond mere socializing. The value of learning “in community”, then, affords educators an opportunity to create the just right conditions for themselves as both teacher and learner. The success of learning communities depends on reciprocal engagement of its members to share knowledge, experiences, and skills with colleagues (Kling & Courtright, 2003). This study examined the case for blogging as a means to facilitate a self-directed community of professional learners, educators who endeavour to further develop their knowledge, understanding, and expertise of teaching and learning via the cultivation of an authentic informal online learning community. Using social learning theory as the analytical framework, this study looked at ways participation in informal, self-directed online learning communities not only encourages, but discloses potential barriers in participants’ abilities to (1) develop their understanding of teaching and learning as a self-directed, informal online community of engaged professionals; (2) expand their understanding of blogging as a tool to engage and participate in informal, online self-directed professional learning; and (3) deepen their understanding of working within the context of community: self-directed professionals engaging informally online to support, enhance, and reflect critically as engaged learners, specifically through the blogging process. This study investigated various motivations and actions that might bring participants together as engaged, self-directed professional learners and better explain how and why these informal online communities might experience success. Ultimately, it was the researcher’s hope this study would identify specific elements within the participants’ learning, offering both insight and relevance for educators as an engaged, informal, self-directed online community of professional learners.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Foundations and Adult Education / Sarah Jane Fishback / There have been two classic models of the way self-directed learners organize their learning experiences – a planning model, discussed by researchers such as Tough (1971) and Knowles (1975), which considers self-directed learners to be actively and deliberately planning their learning projects, and an environmental model, proposed by Spear and Mocker (1984), which considers these learners to be strongly influenced by what they called the organizing circumstance. Later researchers have found support for both models. Both models posit that learning resources play an important role for self-directed learners, but there hasn’t been much research specifically looking at how learners make resource decisions. For this project, the researcher recruited 13 women from online sewing communities who had reported obtaining a particular hard-to-find sewing resource and interviewed them about their resource decisions and resource libraries. The project asked the questions of how self-directed learners are planning, the criteria they use to choose learning resources, how an environment of plentiful resources and the internet affect these choices, and how learners evaluate their resources. The researcher found that this particular group of learners are conscious only of doing short-term, project-by-project, planning, but reveal another, unconscious level of building mental maps of their entire field of interest, including judgments of their personal interests and evaluations of their personal skill sets. These learners enjoy this learning, and consider their resources to be treats as well as references; they seek relevant content, novelty, and intellectual challenge. They are strongly influenced by their communities, both local and online, but maintain independence in their learning choices.

Education is, at least, the endeavor to get people to do things they could not previously do, to understand things they did not previously understand, and perhaps, to become the people they did not expect to become. - Sockett, 1998, p. 195 In today’s fast-paced technology driven knowledge-based society, students in the Gulf and abroad, are expected to remain engaged while playing a more invested role in becoming independent, mature learners, no matter what their personal or educational challenges are. It is quite common for students to abandon their EFL studies due to a lack of motivation and/or confidence. There has been extensive research undertaken to better understand how motivation and confidence affect EFL/ESL learners, yet little attention has been paid to a more recent area of educational research in emotional intelligence (EI) and how self-coaching may also contribute to a tertiary EFL/ESL learners’ ability to succeed. It is not unreasonable to hypothesize that everyday occurrences encountered in their personal and academic life may very well, at times, have a detrimental effect on students’ confidence and motivation, and therefore impede their ability to reach set goals. This study explores the possible correlations between the three main constructs, confidence, motivation and EI while investigating female Emirati tertiary EFL students at Zayed University in the U.A.E. and their interest towards self-coaching to reach their academic and personal goals. This exploratory longitudinal interpretive study used a mixed-method approach to gather data generated from a survey (CMEII) constructed and piloted for this study and completed by 199 female Emirati tertiary EFL participants measuring motivation, confidence and EI. In addition, student journals, interviews and progress reports retrieved from CMEI workshops also informed the research questions pertaining to these aforementioned constructs. Results suggest that there is a correlation between confidence, motivation and EI. These results would indicate that when the level of motivation increases, so does the level of confidence in speaking English. Motivation to self-direct in English is positively correlated with problem solving, higher life-satisfaction and confidence levels. Surprisingly the higher the academic anxiety, the more students want to self-direct. Furthermore it was found that students participating in this study found self-coaching methods extremely helpful in supporting them in reaching both their personal and academic goals. The implications of this exploratory study into confidence, motivation and emotional intelligence has laid the foundation for future research in this area. By creating and piloting the first Confidence, Motivation and Emotional Intelligence survey instrument (CMEII) designed for the ESL/EFL learning environment, a primary obstacle has been traversed. The CMEII research instrument and results of this study will no doubt help bring light and understanding to how self-coaching and self-direction can support female EFL students in reaching their personal and academic goals in the U.A.E and abroad.

China's open-door policy to the West has created a great demand for Chinese speakers of English. But the existing formal language institutions are far from enough to meet such a great need. Consequently, large numbers of people will have to learn English by themselves, self-directed to different extents, depending on the facilities available to them. There are also large numbers of potential selfdirected learners who do not yet know where to start and how to tackle the task. Self-directed learning, either of English or of other subjects, has always played an important role in China as an alternative form of education. There have been many successful self-directed learners who have made remarkable contributions to the country in different fields. However, self-directed learning of English on a large scale is still a relatively new phenomenon. Some proper guidance and the learners' awareness of the likely difficult areas will make the learning both more effective and more efficient. This study will attempt to examine the gradual change from teacher-centred teaching and learning to learner-centred teaching and learning and the development of self-directed learning. Then the study will try to provide information on some of the self-directed learning programmes of interest to Chinese learners. Afterwards, the study will examine the basic needs and characteristics of Chinese self-directed learners. The greater part of this study will be devoted to the likely areas of difficulty of self-directed learners in China and some possible ways to solve them. The last part will deal with study skills in self-directed learning and use of resources available.