The relevance of this thesis is in addressing information systems business leadership HRIS use issues.The thesis explains acceptance and use issues central to Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) within South African State Owned Agencies (SOAs). Organisations typically deploy HRIS with a view to automate Human Resource (HR) service delivery and administrative functions. Among other values, HRIS produces useful data and information which optimises HR operations and improves decision-making. However, the use of HRIS, notably within SOAs, is poorly understood owing to inadequate literature and contextualised studies. Despite the tremendous amount of investment into such systems, SOAs continuously identify emerging challenges and issues pertinent to HR operations and administration. For instance, despite HRIS automation, job applications and recruitment are still manually processed, which means that the costly implemented HRIS is not effectively used, and is thus underutilised. The burning questions for business leadership remain - why is HRIS not optimally utilised given significant organisational investment on such systems, and the mixed return-on-investments? The other question relates to what the level of acceptance is and actual use of these HR systems. There is also a need to determine to what extent do these systems enable or improve the delivery of human resource services and administration. Moreover, what influences the use of HRIS? Previous literature and organisational practice inadequately addresses these questions. This thesis, therefore, addresses these key issues to bridge these preceding knowledge gaps. In order to explain the use and subsequent effective use of HRIS, the study triangulated three theories as theoretical lenses. These theories are the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Self Determination Theory (SDT), and the Representation Theory (RT). These theories are employed to explore and explain the individual use, and subsequent effective use of HRIS. In this respect, the ontological stance for this thesis is that reality is objective. Thus, the study followed a positivist research paradigm, whilst the research the approach was deductive. A survey research strategy was employed during the study to obtain primary data. Survey participants included executives and individuals from speciality units e.g. HR, Finance, Supply Chain, Support departments (including IT and Help Desks) as well as other HRIS users. Participants were drawn from various South African SOAs. Structural equation modelling and hypothesis testing show that there are myriad of determinants influencing use and effective use of HRIS. The results further show that certain constructs are inconsistent with the existing literature. Nevertheless, this inconsistency speaks to the unique South African SOA contexts. The outcome of the study is a model which theoretically and practically explains those factors which must be considered to effectively use and utilise HRIS. That is, the theoretical, practical, methodological, and contextual contributions of the thesis is in explaining the determinants which are significant for effective use of HRIS. / Centre for Business Manangement / D.B.L.

No description available.

Gamification is a modern concept that makes physical and digital activities engaging and enjoyable just like games. Game elements are added to mobile applications for user retention and engagement. One of the dark sides of gamification i.e., addiction is explored in this novel study in the context of mobile application design. It uses a mixed-method approach to lay the foundation of the relation between gamification and Smartphone Addiction, which is critically explained in a limited literature review using existing theories and studies on gamification. Interviews with behavioral experts confirm the psychological aspects of the research. The study also identifies game elements that contribute to smartphone addiction by a survey analysis of 269 participants. Results reveal Scrolling and Tapping as most addictive game elements. Some elements also show a statistically significant relationship with daily smartphone usage in hours. There are many effective applications of gamification, and in the context of mobile application design, it indeed helps to increase user engagement, however, there is an ethical need to reflect on what the exaggerated form of this engagement can lead to. As future research, a longitudinal study and experiments are suggested to find out this relationship with the use of empirical data.

L’hémophilie est une maladie héréditaire incurable qui ralentit la coagulation sanguine. Le plan de traitement vise à prévenir les saignements pouvant se produire dans les articulations, puisque ceux-ci peuvent causer des dommages à long terme dans les structures internes. Le traitement consiste en l’administration régulière et continue d’injections de concentré de facteur de coagulation. Le plan de traitement inclut aussi des indications sur les activités physiques sécuritaires et celles à éviter pour les patients atteints de la maladie. Peu de recherches psychosociales ont été conduites en hémophilie à ce jour. L’objectif de cette thèse, composée de 5 articles, était de déterminer les facteurs sociocognitifs susceptibles d’influencer l’adhésion aux recommandations chez les enfants et les adolescents atteints d’hémophilie et de proposer des pistes d’intervention. Pour ce faire, nous nous sommes appuyés sur trois modèles théoriques qui apportent, en complémentarité, un éclairage sur des aspects centraux de l’adhésion. Dans le premier article, nous avons traduit en français un instrument de mesure de l’adhésion au traitement par injection et nous avons fourni les données psychométriques préliminaires de l’instrument. Les données ont appuyé son utilisation auprès des jeunes patients, ce qui nous a permis de l’utiliser dans la thèse. Dans le deuxième article, nous avons utilisé la théorie du comportement planifié pour comprendre comment les jeunes se positionnent face aux recommandations de l’équipe médicale en ce qui a trait au traitement par injection et à l’activité physique. Pour cela, nous avons mesuré leur attitude, leur perception de contrôle comportemental, la norme sociale subjective et le comportement passé. Nous avons évalué si ces facteurs étaient liés à l’intention de suivre les recommandations. Les résultats ont indiqué que ces facteurs expliquaient une grande proportion de la variance de l’intention de suivre les recommandations sur l’activité physique, surtout pour celles dites « à risque ». Ayant constaté une bonne adhésion au traitement par injection chez les participants et une adhésion plus faible en ce qui a trait à l’activité physique, nous avons décidé de nous concentrer sur l’activité physique pour la suite. Dans le troisième article, nous avons utilisé le modèle du sens commun pour comprendre comment les patients se représentent leur maladie et si ces représentations pouvaient avoir un impact sur leur pratique d’activé physique. Les perceptions étaient plus négatives pour les domaines suivants : les conséquences de la maladie, le nombre de symptômes et l’impact émotionnel. Lorsque nous avons classé les participants selon leur profil d’activité physique, le sous-groupe « adhésion faible », c’est-à-dire celui qui suivait moins et avait moins l’intention de suivre les recommandations, avait significativement plus de préoccupations par rapport à la maladie et percevait plus de symptômes en moyenne. Le quatrième article souligne l’intérêt du modèle du soutien à l’autonomie de la théorie de l’autodétermination dans l’intervention en hémophilie et consiste en une adaptation pratique de ce modèle aux enjeux spécifiques de la maladie. Le cinquième article porte sur un livret d’information que nous avons développé utilisant la théorie de l’autodétermination. Nous avons utilisé des méthodes quantitatives et qualitatives pour évaluer la réception du livret chez les parents et pour apporter des modifications à celui-ci. / Hemophilia is an incurable bleeding disorder that slows the blood clotting process. The treatment plan aims to prevent bleeding episodes that occur in the joints, since repeated bleeding episodes can cause long-term damage to internal structures. The treatment plan consists of regular infusions of the missing clotting factor and specific recommendations as to which physical activities are safe and which are to be avoided. The objective of this thesis, composed of 5 articles, was to determine the socio-cognitive factors likely to influence the adherence of children and adolescents to the recommendations of the treatment plan, and to suggest avenues for intervention. To do this, we relied on three theoretical models which, together, shed light on the central aspects of adherence: the perspective of young patients on the medical recommendations, their perceptions of the illness and, finally, avenues of intervention to promote better adherence in those young patients in the long-term. In the first article, we translated to French an instrument that measured adherence to the infusion therapy, and we provided the preliminary psychometric data of the instrument. The data supported the use of the instrument with young patients, which allowed us to use it in the thesis. In the second article, we used the theory of planned behavior to understand how young people perceive the recommendations concerning infusion treatment and physical activity. For this, we measured their attitude towards the behavior, their perception of behavioral control, the subjective social norm and past behavior. We assessed whether these factors were related to the intention to follow the recommendations. The results indicated that these factors explain a large proportion of the variance in intention to follow physical activity recommendations, especially for those at risk of causing bleeding. As adherence to injection therapy was high in our sample while adherence to physical activity recommendations was lower and more variable among participants, we decided to focus on the latter for the next articles. In the third article, we wanted to understand how patients view their illness and whether illness perceptions could have an impact on their physical activity practice. For this we used the common-sense model. Perceptions were more negative for the following areas: the consequences of hemophilia, the number of symptoms and the emotional impact. When we ranked participants according to their physical activity profile, the subgroup that followed the recommendations less iv closely and had a lower intention of following the recommendations had significantly more concerns and perceived more symptoms. The fourth article highlights the interest of the autonomy support model in hemophilia intervention and consists of a practical adaptation of this model to the specific challenges of the illness. The fifth article is about the development of an information booklet that we created using the concepts of this theory. We used quantitative and qualitative methods to assess the parents’ acceptability of the booklet and modified the booklet according to their suggestions.

企業における上司の自律性支援とコーチングが部下の外発的動機づけと内発的動機づけにどのように影響を与えるかについて、自己決定理論による説明を試みた。具体的には自律性支援とコーチングが有能感への欲求、自律性への欲求、関係性への欲求という3つの基本的心理欲求を満たすことでより内発的に動機づけられ、基本的心理欲求を満たさないとより外発的に動機づけられるという仮説を構造方程式モデリングによる分析を試みた。 / 博士(政策科学) / Doctor of Philosophy in Policy and Management / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

Vi kommer presentera en kategoriserad och tematiserad översikt av faktorer som främjar/hindrar barns fysiska aktivitet utanför skolans ramar. Avsikten är att försöka göra en inventering av möjliga påverkansfaktorer för vår uppdragsgivare Innovation Skåne och förhoppningsvis skulle detta arbete kunna vara vägledande för dem. Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka barns förutsättningar för fysisk aktivitet utanför skolans ramar. Metoden bestod av en litteraturstudie och barnintervjuer som genomgick tematisk analys. Sedan genomfördes en triangulering mellan de båda empiriska insamlingsmetoderna. Metoderna ställdes mot varandra för att se om barnens perspektiv från barnintervjuerna skiljde åt sig jämfört med forskning från litteraturen och de vuxnas perspektiv på barnens behov. Resultatet är att barnen har väldigt olika uppfattningar om vad fysisk aktivitet är, barnens perspektiv på fysisk aktivitet skiljer sig från forskningens breda definitioner i den utsträckning att sport, idrott och prestation är i fokus. Den tematiska analysens huvudområde och resultat berörde viktiga påverkansområden som möjliggörandet av självvalda aktiviteter och autonomi. Trygghet vid transporter med cykel, föräldranärvaro, gruppgemenskap eller självvald enskildhet i sin egen “bubbla” för att nämna några exempel. Slutsatsen är att det skiljer sig i barnrättsperspektivet gällande utemiljöer och möjligheterna som barnen har för att kunna ha någonstans att vara på efter skoltid eftersom skolorna inte är tillåtna att vistas på förens skoldagarna är slut när man går på högstadiet. Slutligen och också viktigast. Barn styr inte över sin fysiskt aktiva fritid. Det gör de vuxna. / We will be presenting a categorized and thematically analyzed overview of factors that facilitate/inhibit children's physical activity outside the context of compulsory school. The intent is to attempt to make an inventory of possible influencing factors for our client Innovation Skåne and it's our hope that this work could act as a guide in their work. The purpose of this work is to examine children's conditions for physical activity outside of school. The method consisted of a literature study and child interviews which underwent a thematic analysis. After which a triangulation was carried out between the two empirical collection methods. The methods were compared to each other to see if the children's perspective from the child interviews differ compared to the research from the literature and the adults' perspective on the children's needs. The result is that the children have very different perceptions of what physical activity is, the children's perspective on physical activity differs from the research's broad definitions to the extent that sports and performance are in focus. The main area and results of the thematic analysis touched on important impact areas such as the enabling of self-selected activities and autonomy. Safety when transporting by bicycle, parental presence, group community or self-selected privacy in your own "bubble" to name a few examples. The conclusion is that there is a difference in the children's rights perspective regarding outdoor environments and the opportunities that the children have to be able to have somewhere to be after school because the schools are not allowed to stay in until the school days are over when you go to upper secondary school. Last and most importantly. Children do not control their physically active free time. The adults do.

The use of online courses continues to increase despite the small amount of research that exists on the effectiveness of online educational environments. The little research that has been conducted has focused on evaluating factors taken into consideration during the adoption of online learning environments. One notable benefit often cited is the ability to incorporate multimedia such as video games. Although game researchers and developers are pushing for the use of video games for educational purposes, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of serious video games. When paring the increasing use of online educational environments, the push to use serious video games, and the lack of research on the effectiveness of online learning environments and video games, there is a clear need for further investigation into the use of serious video games in an online format. Based on current literature, no other known study has conducted an analysis comparing a serious game-based and non-game based online course; making this a unique study. The purpose of this study was to compare student learning experiences and outcomes between a serious game-based and non-game based online American History course. The data sources were data provided from Florida Virtual School (FLVS) and student and teacher interviews. Random samples of 92 students were statistically analyzed. A group of 8 students and 4 teachers were interviewed. FLVS data provided were analyzed using an independent t-test and the Mann-Whitney test and the student and teacher interview were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results of an independent t-test revealed that there was a significant (p > .01) difference in the mean number of days necessary to complete the course (MGB = 145.80, SDGB = 50.64, MNGB = 112.63, SDNGB = 49.60). The Mann-Whitney results indicated a significant difference between course performance and the type of American history course (Z = -5.066, p > .01); students in the serious game-based online course had an A average whereas students in the non-game-based online course had a B average. The thematic analysis of the relationship between student performance and motivation in both courses indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more reasons for student motivation than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. The thematic analysis of what aspects do students perceive as helpful and/or hindering to their learning indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more desirable, more helpful, less undesirable, and less hindering aspects for their course than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. As a result of the unique nature of this study, the findings provide new information for the fields of research on online learning, serious video gaming, and instructional design as well as inform instructional-designers, teachers, education stakeholders, serious video game designers, and education researchers.

<p dir="ltr">Student attitudes towards chemistry are a contributing factor to their success in chemistry courses and retention in STEMM in higher education. In the last decade, STEMM attrition rates have been an area of concern in the United States. Research in K12 classrooms has demonstrated that culturally relevant pedagogies (CRP) can improve student learning and attitudes toward STEMM. CRP consists of instructional practices and lessons that connect with students’ cultural backgrounds, experiences, and interests. However, few studies on these practices address long term improvements or treatments in a higher education setting. Integration of ethnoscience in course material is a CRP strategy that utilizes cultural systems of knowledge in relation to coursework. This strategy is now an area of interest in the field of chemistry education. This study uses an action research methodology to integrate ethnochemistry into a large, multicultural, first-year general chemistry course and evaluate the impact on student attitudes towards chemistry.</p>

Focusing on personalized grammar tasks, this study dives into the integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence into English as a Second Language education. By utilizing a mixed methods approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative analyses the study explores how personalized learning can be improved by employing ChatGPT. Results from the study indicate that GAI-driven personalization significantly enhances student engagement and motivation. This offers a promising path for tailoring education to individual learner needs toward a more inclusive classroom. A central outcome of this study is the proposal of a new theoretical framework the Personalization-Motivation Integration Framework (PMIF). This framework clarifies the synergistic effects of integrating content and topic personalization to significantly boost student motivation and reach a more inclusive learning environment. This adds to the growing research about AI's potential in education as it indicates that these technologies can significantly enhance teaching and offer a more tailored and inclusive learning environment.

The paucity of women in senior leadership positions as indicated in the Business Women Association of South Africa 2011 census corroborates that gender equality is still a concerning issue even in the democratic era that we live in. This study explores career developmental experiences of women in senior leadership position in the civil engineering industry. The primary objective was to investigate how these professional women were managing their careers and what career experiences contributed to their ascent to the senior echelons of management. Meaning to the career experiences of these women had been given according to the self-determination theory. By means of purposive selection, seven women at senior management level were selected from both the private and public sectors in the civil engineering industry. Based on the semi-structured interviews conducted, personal documents reviewed and footnotes recorded; it was evident that there were different factors that had facilitated the ascent of these women to senior positions. Their career experiences were also characterised by challenges that subsequently instigated the development of coping strategies and methods. The study has implications for organisations in civil engineering that wish to attract and retain women from generations to come. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)