MPH, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / Introduction This study was conducted at selected Primary Health Care clinics in the Johannesburg Metro. The study explored the issues around Sexually Transmitted Infections by identifying gaps with regards to syndromic approach. Proper management and control of STI is crucial because STI lead to serious complications. Objectives To assess clinician knowledge and practices in the management of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) in the Johannesburg Metro District. Methods A descriptive (cross-sectional) study involving a retrospective review of 210 patient records of STI treatment and questionnaire-based interviews of 38 health care providers of STI services in 22 primary health care facilities in the Johannesburg Metro District. Data was collected to measure staff training on STI, provider knowledge of STI syndromic management, and provider adherence to STI syndromic management guidelines based on the District STI Quality of Care Assessment tool. Results Of the 38 providers that were interviewed, 29 (76%) were trained in STI management. Half of these had received their training in STI management > 4 years prior to this study. The proportion of providers who correctly stated STI syndromic management were 33 (87.0%) for penile discharge; 24 (63.0%) for vaginal discharge, 15 (39.0%) for genital ulcer and 14 (37.0%) for pregnancy with PVD. Of the 210 iii patient records reviewed, 148 (70.5%) had prescriptions that were adherent to STI guidelines. Conclusion Clinicians in the public health facilities do have adequate knowledge of syndromic management of STI. Poor adherence to the national guidelines for STI management calls for an ongoing and regular training in STI management in the Johannesburg Metro District.

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. / PROBLEM.-- The study is concerned with the construction and evaluation of a motor educability battery and its relation to rate of motor learning; the motor educability battery is specifically established for sixth grade boys and girls, ages 11 and 12 years. PURPOSES.-- The purposes of the study are: 1. To formulate a battery of motor skills to be used to measure rate of motor learning (criterion). 2. To formulate a motor educability battery using rate of motor learning as the criterion. 3. To compare existing batteries of motor educability with the criterion. 4. To conpare Teacher Rating of motor educability with the criterion. 5. To compare Intelligence with the criterion. 6. To determine any significant differences between rate of motor learning of boys and rate of motor learning of girls. METHOD.-- From 37 motor skills, four were selected: 1) Lacrosse Throw and Catch Motor Skill, 2) Cup-Catch Motor Skill, 3) Balance Board Motor Skill, and 4) Backward Stilt Walk Motor Skill. In measuring rate of motor learning, an attempt was made to start from a practical zero point of experience in the motor skills. Participants who had prior practice or related experience on any of the four selected motor skills were dropped from the study. The motor skill learning for each of the four skills was measured from initial experience to its completion, the score for each skill being the number of trials neceswary for its successfUl completion. The score on each of the four skills for each subject was combined into a Gross Motor Learning Score; this score was the criterion against which the motor educability test items were compared. From 88 motor educability test items collected, twenty-five items with the highest correlation coefficients with the Gross Motor Learning Score were selected to form the Preliminary Motor Educability Battery. By means of statistical analysis, seven of these items were chosen to form the final battery of motor educability (Thornton Battery). By means of statistical analysis, the existing nine motor educability batteries, Teacher Rating of motor educability, and Intelligence were compared with the Gross Motor Learning Score (criterion). Differences in motor learning rates of boys and of girls were also studied. [TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01

by Wong Chui Fong, Tammy. / Title also in Chinese. / Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Bibliography: leaves 75-85.

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University.

This study is an investigation of: the communication skill proficiency of two-year technical-vocational students; the effects of age, ethnic background, and socio-economic index on standardized reading and writing test performance; and of communication skill priorities with respect to content emphasis as perceived by technical-vocational teaching personnel within the Tarrant County Community College system. The purpose of this study is to provide information pertinent to; the development of a functional communication skills program which will complement the occupational student's trade skills; the further development of a pre-technical program currently in operation at Tarrant County Junior College; and the construction of similar programs in other community college systems. This study concludes that the research evidence warrants unique support curriculum programs designed to provide compensatory work and specific training for terminal students in general academic skill areas such as communications.

This thesis presents an exploratory study into the concept of assessment confidence development, building upon previous studies in self-efficacy and academic confidence. In particular, this study concentrates on students transitioning from FE to their first year of HE studies in Business and Management and the associated assessment regime. The resultant substantive understandings of experience of this transition have been constructed with the assistance of 11 first year students, during 2 interviews across a year. The first of these interviews was undertaken in induction week and was followed by a second interview at the end of the first academic year of HE study. An inductive approach has been taken to the production of data which has been analysed using thematic analysis and I-poem analysis in order to theorise around the influencing factors and aspects of assessment design linked to the development of assessment confidence. The subsequent findings have emerged through authentic representation of the student voice, confirmed during member checking exercises. The main findings of this study suggest that students may be more widely influenced by their contextual experiences of FE assessment than have previously been recognised. In addition, student experiences of assessment regimes at this level are typified by familiarity, routine, repetition and modelling. In the transition to HE assessments, the students in this study experienced self-doubt, uncertainty and ambiguity leading to perceptions of risk and lack of control. Assessment design aspects of clarity, relevance and authenticity in addition to student choice and freedom are presented as key to understanding how HE educators can mitigate risk and loss of control during this transitional period. This thesis contributes to the wider understanding of how students interact with assessment during transitional phases and in particular into unfamiliar subject areas with distinctly different assessment regimes. This substantive theorising presented builds upon the more domain specific notions of self-efficacy already associated with student 'confidence' in order to better design the assessment experience for students making that transition.

Scores on a state comprehensive assessment test showed that writing skills of 4th grade students enrolled in a K-8 magnet school in the southeastern part of the United States were below target. The assistant principal of the K-8 magnet school explained that a review of 3-year longitudinal data revealed that the number of students who met proficiency for the 4th grade writing assessment decreased by 1% each year. The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding from teachers about the best practices on how to improve students' writing skills. Denzin and Lincoln's constructivist theoretical concepts of accommodation and assimilation of learning were the basis of the conceptual framework. The research focused on how 3rd and 4th grade magnet school teachers described best practices to improve their students' writing skills. Data were gathered from three sources: (a) semistructured interviews with 5, 3rd grade and 5, 4th grade literacy teachers, (b) review of 10 lesson plans and 10 students' writing samples, and (c) 10 classroom observations. Based on the findings from the data, the following themes led to the professional development training: (a) oral activities to discuss as a class, (b) group discussions to gather feedback, (c) feedback to monitor progress, and (d) corrections. This professional development training is intended to strengthen the participating teachers' abilities to improve the writing skills of their students. The implications for positive social change is training teachers how to effectively instruct diverse elementary students to communicate effectively in writing.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized a core triad of symptoms: impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests (APA, 2000). Impairments in social development, however, have been considered the most salient and handicapping aspect of ASD and, traditionally, the primary deficit from which the diagnosis results. From a cognitive standpoint, it has been argued that these social impairments in individuals with ASDs arise as a result of deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM) development. The degree to which impairment in ToM corresponds to real-world social-communicative impairments has received little attention, however. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ToM and pragmatic language skills discriminated between adolescents with ASD and typically developing, age-matched comparison participants. The study also attempted to explore the relationships between ToM, pragmatic language, and social skills and test the model that pragmatic language mediates the relationship between ToM and social skills. Results indicated that ToM significantly predicted pragmatic language skills and that pragmatic language skills, and not ToM, significantly discriminated between adolescents with ASD (N = 10) and typically developing comparison participants (N = 10). The mediation model above was not supported by regression analysis; however, the results do provide some insight into the relationships between ToM, pragmatic language, and social skills. Implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research were discussed. / School of Education / School Psychology / PhD / Dissertation

Product differentiation is a key feature of modern economies. Although its relevance had already been recognized in the XIX century, it is only in the last forty years that a formal treatment has been developed. The 'address approach' distinguishes between horizontal and vertical product differentiation; in the former, consumers do not agree on the quality ranking of commodities, while in the second they do. The first three chapters of this thesis deal with vertical product differentiation in an imperfectly competitive framework. In particular, the first two essays take into account the empirical evidence concerning labor requirements in the production of vertically differentiated goods in order to model labor and product markets in an upstream-downstream relation to each other. The main assumption is that higher variants of vertically differentiated commodities require highly-skilled labor. This allows to study the links between labor markets and vertically differentiated products markets, their equilibrium implications and issues of trade liberalization. The third chapter explores another side of vertical product differentiation, namely the time-to-market of vertically differentiated goods. This interval, which corresponds to the lapse of time for a product to reach the market, is studied under the assumption that firms can make it shorter through costly investments. The analysis compares firms' choices as a function of the parameters characterizing products and technologies and of market structure. The last chapter develops a general equilibrium model with imperfect competition. The concept of monopoly equilibrium is applied to a Ricardian economy in order to study the emergence of trade in that framework.