The purpose of this study is to explore the life history of Fred Francis Bosworth (1877-1958) and critically analyze the influential factors that may have contributed to his success as a famous healing evangelist. It seeks to answer the question, “How did he develop from a small-town farm boy into a famous healing evangelist and Pentecostal pioneer?” Using the historical case study method as the research design, the study employs a variant of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), which suggests that a person's career choice can be determined by his or her self-efficacy beliefs and expected outcomes. Self-efficacy comes from past performances, various learning, social support and one's reaction to barriers. The aim of the study is to determine how Bosworth's childhood and adolescent experiences, as well as his secular experiences in the business world, may have prepared him for his career as a healing evangelist. By showing how a person's early years can impact his or her future, this research will allow the church to know more about the role of early, natural experiences (including skills and environment), in determining God's will for a person's life and ministry. Although Bosworth, author of Christ the Healer (1948), is widely known for his teachings on divine healing, there is little known about his life history. This study is the first to offer a critical analysis of his entire life and ministry; it is also the first study to use the concepts of SCCT to show how his adulthood success may have been influenced by the experiences of his childhood and youth. This study argues that several factors played a critical role in Bosworth’s development. In addition to music and his secular work as a businessman, these factors include his crises, strong Christian women, healings in answer to prayer, and his work in foreign missions. Although Bosworth and others have attributed his success primarily to his Pentecostal experience, this study contends that his childhood, secular and business experiences played a more important role than has been reported in the literature. Furthermore, this study shows that Bosworth’s path to success can be understood through the elements of SCCT. Through SCCT, one can see how Bosworth developed an interest in the healing ministry, how he chose to pursue the ministry as a career, and how he performed and set goals as an evangelist. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Church History and Church Policy / unrestricted

The underage marriage of girls (UMG) practice by some parents continues to occur in Bo Town, Sierra Leone, and it is a problem. Regardless of the negative consequences, parents continue to marry off their young girls who become wives of rebels and participate in the civil war. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of adult women between 18 and 24 who experienced child marriage, parents who married off their young girls, and community leaders to understand why the UMG persisted in Bo Town. The theoretical frameworks used in this study were the social cognitive theory and self-efficacy behavioral theory. Data were collected through semi structured interviews. Participants in this study consisted of 5 community leaders, 5 adult women between 18 and 24 who experienced UMG before 18 years old, and 5 parents who married off their underage girls in the Bo Town district. Interview transcripts were analyzed, coded, and 16 themes emerged. Some of the themes included poverty, lack of awareness, education, enforcement, monitoring, leadership, child marriage, domestic violence, accountability, responsibility, dowry payment, and female genital mutilation. The findings may influence social change by using practices such as educating, monitoring, enforcing the banning of the UMG policy relentlessly. Furthermore, implementation of mentorship programs, counseling, leadership, and awareness training to young girls and parents could reduce the UMG practice in Bo Town. Consequently, if young girls are educated and allowed access to resources, they could become empowered and productive members of society as a whole, and the UMG problem may diminish in the Bo community.

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As artificial intelligence becomes more widespread, the need forexplanations on how the technology actually works increases.Previous research in the area has mainly focused on studyingexplanations for technologists and domain experts. Moreover, theuser's need for information is rarely accounted for. The purpose ofthis study is to examine which information needs lay users have indealing with the systems that employ artificial intelligence thatsurround them in their daily lives. In order to achieve the purpose ofthe study, as well as building on results from previous research,Netflix was chosen as the object of study. A qualitative study usingsemi-structured interviews was conducted. The research materialwas later analyzed, using thematic analysis. The results show thatthe users’ mental model, and the lack of information from Netflix,affected the users’ information needs. All participants expressedthat the information provided by Netflix was insufficient and thatthey wanted more information. / I takt med at kunstig intelligens blir tatt i bruk av stadig fleresystemer, øker behovet for forklaringer om hvordan teknologienfungerer. Tidligere forskning innen området har hovedsakeligfokusert på å studere forklaringer for teknologer ogdomeneeksperter. Brukernes faktiske informasjonsbehov gjøressjelden rede for. Hensikten med denne studien er å undersøkeinformasjonsbehovet lekbrukere har i møte med de systemer somomgir dem i dagliglivet, som benytter seg av kunstig intelligens. Forå oppnå hensikten med studien, samt å ta hensyn til forslag fratidligere forskning, ble Netflix valgt som studieobjekt. Det blegjennomført en kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerte intervjuer.Materialet som ble samlet inn ble analysert ved hjelp av tematiskanalyse. Resultatet viser at brukerens mentale modell ogmanglende informasjon fra Netflix påvirket deresinformasjonsbehov. Alle deltakerne uttrykte at informasjonen fraNetflix var mangelfull, samt at de ønsket mer informasjon.

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This research aims to enhance Simulation-Based Training (SBT) applications to support training events in the absence of live instruction. The overarching purpose is to explore available tools for integrating intelligent tutoring communications in game-based learning platforms and to examine theory-based techniques for delivering explicit feedback in such environments. The primary tool influencing the design of this research was the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT), a modular domain-independent architecture that provides the tools and methods to author, deliver, and evaluate intelligent tutoring technologies within any training platform. Influenced by research surrounding Social Cognitive Theory and Cognitive Load Theory, the resulting experiment tested varying approaches for utilizing an Embodied Pedagogical Agent (EPA) to function as a tutor during interaction in a game-based environment. Conditions were authored to assess the tradeoffs between embedding an EPA directly in a game, embedding an EPA in GIFT’s browser-based Tutor-User Interface (TUI), or using audio prompts alone with no social grounding. The resulting data supports the application of using an EPA embedded in GIFT’s TUI to provide explicit feedback during a game-based learning event. Analyses revealed conditions with an EPA situated in the TUI to be as effective as embedding the agent directly in the game environment. This inference is based on evidence showing reliable differences across conditions on the metrics of performance and self-reported mental demand and feedback usefulness items. This research provides source modality tradeoffs linked to tactics for relaying training relevant explicit information to a user based on real-time performance in a game.