Thesis (M.S.)--Duquesne University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 24-25) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--OGI School of Science & Engineering at OHSU, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 327-344).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-221) and index.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau, 2006. / DatabaseEbrary. EAN: 9781586036744. Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-221) and index.

Electronic learning (e-learning) has recently introduced by the Saudi government to expand educational opportunities at higher education level, especially for women. However, due to the status of women in Saudi society, understanding the ability of women to take advantage of such technology rather than just making it available to them is required and should not be ignored. In this regard, this study aims to illuminate the ability of Saudi women to convert the opportunity offered by e-learning into a valuable educational achievement, by identifying the factors that affect their ability and the dimensions that characterise their capability requirements. To achieve this, the study adopts the capability approach as a guiding theoretical framework to provide a strong foundation and address the developmental theoretical insights as well as to demonstrate the ability of Saudi women to access and use e-learning freely in order to achieve their higher educational goals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from twenty-four women living in the Najran and Northern Border regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using a proxy interview approach. Alkire’s and Robeyns’ techniques, with the support of the Straussian grounded theory procedures, were used to analyse the data collected. The study finds that the ability of Saudi women to convert the opportunity offered by e-learning into a valuable educational achievement is limited and affected by four factors: tribal society culture, cultural use of the internet, family willingness and government stimulation factors. It also identifies thirty-four dimensions that empower or prevent Saudi women’s freedom to access and use e-learning efficiently as a means to attain a valuable educational outcome. The value of the capability approach to inform an analysis on Saudi women's access to e-learning as well as the usefulness of applying the grounded theory to support the capability approach in the process of selecting the valuable dimensions for Saudi women to access e-learning, were also found. The study concludes that e-learning could probably be a bridge to enable women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to access higher education. However, the issue is not just about technical availability, it is also about the capability of women to benefit from such a technology. Therefore, it is not enough to provide Saudi women with an opportunity to complete their higher education via e-learning without giving them the power to access and use it freely, whenever they are able to and want to do so. The study contributes by helping to open the window in front of women so they can make their voices heard and draw the attention of the government on the dimensions that characterise their capability requirements to access and use e-learning freely, as well as to give a better understanding about their situation within Saudi society and its role in affecting their ability. It also introduces a distinctive analytical framework to combine practical and theoretical strands in order to develop practical capability approach dimensions.

Cooperation between people of different nations has existed throughout Europe for centuries on an informal basis as borders have shifted and power has found its way into different hands. During the European integration process of the 1950s, this cooperation was formalized with the creation of the Euroregions, or cross-border regions. These regions were formed to promote common interests and cooperation to counteract barriers and benefit the people residing in the area. The Czech Republic is currently a member of 13 different Euroregions either exclusively or with multiple neighboring countries: Poland (7), Austria (3), Germany (4), and Slovakia (2). Of these 13 regions, four - Silva Nortica (Czech-Austrian, 2002), Bílé-Biele Karpaty (Czech-Slovak, 2000), Silesia (Czech-Polish, 1998), and Egrensis (Czech-German, 1993) - have been chosen to further evaluate how the creation of Euroregions has facilitated regional development. This thesis aims to analyze the level of regional development in the programming periods before and after the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union in these four Euroregions through the application of the theory of learning regions. Then, by applying the three criteria of theory of learning regions to the four chosen Euroregions, it will determine how the...

This study examines boundaries and synergies between continuing professional learning contexts of academy, workplace and profession, and considers what factors and approaches of learning contribute to common good in societies. In a review of literature, historical trends in professions and professional learning, concerns of managerialism and performativity, and educational theories of socially constructivism, developmental and ethical learning were considered. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to collect and analyse data from eighty work-based student documents and from twelve semi-structured interviews with practitioners in four Scottish professions. The findings indicated that learning across contexts was disconnected, creating additional demands for professionals. Increased academic study indicated a more knowledgeable and skilled workforce, with a caveat of market-led credentialism in response to demands for higher qualifications. Professional CPD provided benefits of quality assurance and public safety, but was reported as individualised procedural accountability. Interpersonal communicative action was identified as key to workplace learning, although was afforded less significance than accredited learning in professional and academic contexts. Factors of individualism, accountability and credentialism were noted to have effect on participative workplace learning, which, the study argued, impacted on ethical agency in professions. To address these trends, adaptability, reciprocity and dialogical critical thinking were identified as necessary factors for a continuing professional learning that contributes to common good in societies.

The current trauma literature lacks adequate differentiation between the effects of sexual versus non-sexual trauma on stimuli responses as well as analyses of the college campus as a uniquely challenging environment for rape survivors. In the first study, 66 adults (22 with sexual trauma experience, 22 with non-sexual trauma experience, and 22 with no significant trauma experience) will be exposed to vignettes with threat-generalized, rape-related or neutral stimuli and their arousal rates in response to these cues will be recorded using Galvanic Skin Response and Heart Rate. It is expected that individuals who have experienced sexual assault will show more arousal in response to the rape-related stimuli than the threat-generalized stimuli. In the second study, 44 college age females who have been sexually assaulted (22 living on a college campus, 22 living off of a college campus) will be exposed to the same vignette conditions as in the first study. These women will also be asked to rate their daily/weekly exposure to certain situations or objects representative of the college environment. It is expected that individuals with a higher exposure to rape culture score will be more aroused by the rape-related stimuli. Mowrer’s two-factor theory of learning (1956) along with the shame (Feldner et al., 2010) accompanying sexual trauma suggests that sexually assaulted individuals will exhibit higher levels of arousal to the rape-related stimuli rather than the threat-generalized stimuli, as other trauma victims might.

The path to a career in nursing begins on the first day of nursing training and is not completed until the nurses have worked one year in their profession. During the training period, the student nurses have training elements in two different activitysystems: the higher education institution and the healthcare sector. The aim of this study is to examine and highlight the relationship between the different parts of the training as well as how the relationship is manifested during the newly qualified nurses’ initial period in the profession. The research’s overall question is what makes the newly qualified nurses’ learning and knowledge development easier or harder in relation to the different parts of the nursing training. Interviews have been used to create data which have been analysed based on activity theory, a social theory of learning and different ways of describing knowledge. The research findings show that the activity systems have different knowledge cultures, learning processes and patterns of action. The study participants describe the differences in terms of being in ‘different worlds’. The newly qualified nurses do not always have the practical skills that are sought after and, therefore, cannot always act as independent subjects, but become marginalized non-participants who observe the course of events. Supervision and the rounds are the two most demanding duties during the first year in the profession, since these duties have been practiced to a limited extent during the nurse training placement. The supervisory function appears different to newly qualified male and female nurses. The women in the study feel that it is problematic to be a supervisor for older experienced assistant nurses, in that the assistant nurses do not accept them as supervisors. The men do not indicate this as being a problem, rather emphasizing that the assistant nurses support them in the supervisory function. During the rounds, the nurses must inform the doctor of the state of the patients’ health and care needs. The participants feel that it is difficult to live up to the doctors’ demands ahead of the rounds. In summary, my findings show that the different knowledge cultures in the higher education institution and the healthcare sector make the newly qualified nurses’ learning and knowledge development more difficult. During the first year in the profession, the newly qualified nurses learn to be nurses, and they talk about themselves as nurses in a totally different way than at the start of that year. The changed way of talking about themselves indicates that they have recreated their identity from student nurses to nurses.

This study investigated the influence of music-based socialisation groups upon the social functioning of children in early childhood. A qualitative research approach was followed and a case study research design was employed to investigate the phenomenon at hand. Eight children (aged five to six years) from the Thando Westford Community Crèche in Pretoria, South Africa, were purposively selected to participate in ten music-based group sessions over the course of eight weeks. Each session was video recorded and focused observation was employed to collect data on seven social skills according to the model of Schiller (2009), namely confidence, curiosity, intentionality, self-control, relatedness, capacity for communication and cooperativeness. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants’ teacher to examine the potential for transfer of skills learned in the group to the classroom and to explore the value and feasibility of facilitating such groups within the community crèche setting. Principles of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory formed the theoretical foundation for the design and implementation of the music groups and for the interpretation of research findings. The research findings suggested that the music-based socialisation groups were able to promote each of the seven social skills, although the nature and extent of such influence differed among individuals. Music-based activities displayed several strengths as a medium for working with young children, including the cooperative and inclusive nature of activities. Both contextual and individual factors influenced how the participants responded to the groups. Transfer of skills learned in the groups to general classroom behaviour was limited, perhaps due to a lack of follow-up activities aimed at this purpose. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted