This thesis examines the state of media literacy in the middle school curriculum of Virginia's public schools. Through in-depth interviews with state certified teachers of English and Language Arts, the goal was to uncover student, teacher, resource, family, classroom, school, and other structural variables that influence media literacy among students at the middle school level, while also uncovering teachers' perception of the Standards of Learning (SOLs) and the benchmarks for media literacy that are contained within those state directives. An additional purpose of this thesis is to contribute to theory building efforts so that media literacy education is better understood in academic literature, in higher education, and in K-12 curriculum. / Master of Arts

No / The intention of this paper is to promote the model of knowledge-based collaborative supply chain management (KBCSCM) system as an alternative strategy for organisations to resolve the problems in their current supply chain management (SCM) in the era of collaborative commerce (c-commerce).

No / This paper presents issues associated with the needs of collaborative supply chain management (CSCM) and proposes a planning stage of a CSCM framework. The proposed planning stage of a CSCM framework incorporates issues of organisation profile, internal functional strategy and supplier-customer strategy. The gauging absence of prerequisites (GAP) analysis technique which embedded in the knowledge-based system is proposed in the planning stage to analyse the gap between the current and the desirable position (benchmark) for an effective implementation in organisation. The planning stage framework provides information specifically for designing a CSCM by focusing on the organisation capability and business processes and discussed the important issues in planning a CSCM for business organisations, specifically for a manufacturing environment. Further research could be carried out to capitalise the framework for improving the CSCM. Practical implications ¿ The proposed planning stage of a CSCM framework enables the chain members to identify key factors or issues for CSCM development.

Researchers investigated how the contingent delivery of a cultural consequence on target culturants in an asymmetric iterated prisoner's dilemma game (IPDG) affected players' choices. The asymmetric IPDG creates an analogue to income disparities created by wage gaps and other cultural practices that create wealth inequalities between different members of the population and allows researchers to explore how these inequalities affect cooperation between players. Six undergraduate students divided into three dyads participated in an ABABCDCD reversal design. An asymmetric IPDG was arranged in Condition A and C such that one player received a greater number of points regardless of the second participants' selections - analogue to contingencies that produce income inequalities from wage gaps. In Condition B and D, a metacontingency was arranged such that delivery of a cultural consequence (CC; bonus points equally distributed among the dyad) was contingent on the oscillating production of target aggregate products (AP) across two consecutive cycles. When participants' coordinated responding and contacted the target AP→ CC relation, the wage gap was reduced. However, individual contingencies are in direct competition for the "wealthier" player, reducing the probability of cooperative responding. Results showed the CC selected certain oscillations between target APs resulting in a decrease of a point disparity between the players while also establishing equal points between the players during certain conditions.

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Syfte Syftet är att undersöka de brister entreprenörer upplevt efter att ha använt sig av Crowdfunding och om Internetbaserade plattformar underlättar informationsasymmetrin mellan finansiär och entreprenör. Samt om entrprenörer anser att Crowdfunding har potential att fungera som självstående finansieringskälla. Teori Tidigare studier visar att finansieringsformen Crowdfunding ofta är bristfällig. Få entreprenörer får tillräckligt kapital och finansieringsformen saknar kompetens och resurser. Metod Kvantitativ enkätundersökning under perioden 11 november 2015 till och med 25 november 2015. Resultat Resultatet från enkätundersökningen bestående av 40 deltagare presenteras i diagram. Analys I analysen jämförs tidigare studier och teorier med resultat och letar samband och kopplingar som förklarar resultatet. Respondenterna ser potential i Crowdfunding. De flesta upplever att de fått tillräckligt kapital och är positivt inställda till skillnad mot tidigare teorier. Slutsats Slutsatsen i undersökningen blir att en del Crowdfuninganvändare använder en annan finansieringskälla också där eget kapital och banklån är vanligast. Tekniken och dålig exponering var de problem entreprenörer ansåg Crowdfundingplattformarna ha, dock har de flesta tro på att Crowdfunding har potential att fungera som en själv-stående finansieringsform.

Digital divide research has recently begun to address the functional gaps between Internet-connected technologies, specifically mobile and wired devices. This study uses nationally representative survey data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project to address this area of research and explores how smartphone-dependence compared to multi-modal access impacts Internet use among key demographic groups including race, sex, age, income, and education. This study also explores how demographic characteristics and smartphone use interact to affect reliance on smartphones and perceptions of the utility of mobile devices. Results show that race, sex, age, income, and education, exhibit different rates of smartphone-dependence, and also perform different online activities with their smartphones. Minorities and younger users are more likely to be smartphone-dependent and multi-modal users suggesting that these demographic groups are adopting mobile Internet technologies faster than Whites and older individuals. Minorities also use smartphones for more news and information activities than Whites, which contradicts traditional usage gap predictions.

Ledarskap har visat sig vara en utav de viktigaste faktorerna för att främja hälsa i arbetslivet. Tidigare forskning betonar att ett hälsofrämjande ledarskap där chefen bland annat är engagerad i de anställdas arbete och tillåter inflytande i beslutstagande ökar medarbetarnas trivsel och välbefinnande i arbetet, samt kan minska risken för sjukskrivning. Det är dock inte alltid chefen når ut med alla delar av sitt ledarskap, vilket kan resultera i ett ”gap” mellan chefens och medarbetarnas uppfattning. Medarbetarna kan då bli omotiverade i arbetet, vilket påverkar såväl individens välbefinnande som företagets och samhällets ekonomi. Syftet med denna studie var att utifrån begreppet hälsofrämjande ledarskap undersöka hur första linjens chefer på ett kommunalt helägt aktiebolag inom energisektorn uppfattade sitt eget ledarskap i jämförelse med medarbetarnas uppfattning av ledarskapet, samt om detta relaterade till medarbetarnas välbefinnande i arbetet. Denna studie är en fördjupning av ett tidigare projekt, GodA och är baserad på tvärsnitts design där både kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder användes. För att jämföra chefens och medarbetarnas uppfattning av ledarskap användes ett urval av enkätfrågor från GodA. Chefens värdering av sitt ledaskap utifrån hälsofrämjande aspekter undersöktes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet visade att det fanns en bred uppfattning kring innebörden av ett hälsofrämjande ledarskap hos cheferna. De upplevde även en viss svårighet i rollen som första linjens chef. Jämförelsen mellan chefens och medarbetarnas uppfattning av ledarskapet resulterade i ett gap, då hälften av grupperna hade en signifikant skillnad. Det fanns även en positiv signifikant korrelation mellan gapet och medarbetarnas välbefinnande, där en större skillnad resulterade i sämre välbefinnande. Då tidigare forskning visat att chefer ofta överskattar sitt ledarskap och att ett gap kan påverka medarbetarnas välbefinnande, är det viktigt att vidare undersöka vad skillnaden kan bero på och hur gapet kan minskas. Det är även relevant att skapa en tydlig definition av ett hälsofrämjande ledarskap i syfte att utveckla hälsofrämjande strategier i arbetet. / Aim: Based on the concept of health promotion leadership, the purpose is to examine how the first-line managers perceive their own leadership in comparison to employees' perceptions of the leadership, and whether this relates to employee well-being at work. Methods: This study is a recess of the project GodA and it’s based on a cross-sectional design with both quantitative and qualitative methods. To make a comparison between managers and employees perception of leadership, a selection of survey questions from GodA was used. The manager’s valuation of the health promotive leadership aspects were examined through semi-structured interviews. Main results: The results shows that there was a wide perception of health promotive leadership among managers. Although it can be interpreted that the managers work from the health promoting leadership aspects, there was a gap between the manager and employee perception of leadership. In half of the groups there was a significant difference. There was also a positive significant correlation between gap and employee well-being, then a larger gap resulted in a lower estimated well-being. Summary: Previous research shows that managers often overrate their leadership and a gap can affect employee well-being. It is therefore important to further investigate what the differences between the manager and the employees can depend on and how the gap can be reduced. It is also important to create a clear definition of a health promotive leadership in order to develop health promotion strategies at work.

Analysis of the National Sample Survey Data from 2011-2012 shows that a gender-based education gap exists. Women are more likely than men to be illiterate. Some parents continue to view household duties as more important than education in the case of girls, causing some to drop out in primary and middle school, which leads to lower experience accumulation. However, females are almost equally as likely as males to be enrolled in school, and an equal proportion of males and females earn higher education degrees. More importantly, the difference in resource allocation seems to be minimal. Although education has a strong, positive impact on wages, returns to education for women are lower than those for men. This is taken into account by parents when making education decisions for their children. As a result, the wage gap appears to be a cause and effect of the education gap.

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