THE COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING OF ADOLESCENTS IN THE LEJWELEPUTSWA SCHOOL DISTRICT REGARDING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Thesis (M. Ed. (Educ. Psych.)) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013Learners who demonstrate inappropriate, anti-social, and/or disruptive behaviours are becoming more prevalent. School personnel are dealing with disruptive behaviours that occur more frequently and that affect staff and learners’ performance. According to Farrell, Meyer, Sullivan and Kung (2003) this prevalence of disruptive behaviour and underperformance in secondary schools is posing a threat to education in South Africa and learners struggle with problems that predispose them to long-term negative outcomes. As children become adolescents, they experience a variety of physical, emotional and interpersonal changes while simultaneously transitioning from elementary to middle school. If the transition is stressful and the climate of the school appears unwelcoming, low self-esteem, a decline in academic achievement and inappropriate behaviour problems may follow (Wagerman & Funder, 2007).Escalating concern regarding disruptive behaviour in schools has led to intensified efforts to understand its causes and consequences, and to identify effective practices and strategies to reduce its occurrence. It is against this backdrop that the researcher attempts to determine the cognitive and social well-being of adolescents regarding emotional intelligence in the Lejweleputswa school district. The research followed a mixed method approach, using the sequential explanatory triangulation type; where questionnaires were completed by secondary school learners followed by interviews with teachers from conveniently selected secondary schools in the Lejweleputswa district of the Free State. The Literature study showed that factors such as learning, intelligence and emotional intelligence were associated with cognitive and social well-being of secondary schools learners. The following data collection instruments were used to gather information regarding the topic. For the quantitative study, a closed ended questionnaire was developed and utilised by one hundred and seventy four (174) learners. For the qualitative part, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten (10) teachers. By using COSOC, the three-way ANOVA and T-test, the seven hypotheses of the study were tested and the findings indicated that there is a significant relationship between and within the independent variables being; gender, grade and residential with regard to cognitive and social emotional intelligence. This study will reveal what aspects of education practices are viewed as helpful as well as areas needing improvement. It will also give insight into whether selected schools are using proactive strategies and techniques demonstrated in the research as being the most effective in terms of changing inappropriate behaviour and underperformance

Advertising towards new millenium : using digital photographic techniques & equipment

ThesisThe approach to the discussions of this script will be to start with a delineation of this field of study, reasons for the decision, equipment required, followed by a discussion of the field of specialization as well as a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen field of specialization

The management whisperer: Ensuring organisational sustainability, viability and competitive advantage through management development via a practice based future fit talent pipeline

The researcher was appointed into the position of General Manager within the Clothing and General Merchandise Supply Chain in a large retail organisation as part of a transformation strategy to turn around a business unit which had historically been delivering substandard performance and had led to significant impacts on organisational performance. Despite the organisation having a number of mechanisms in place to assist line managers to manage the life cycle of an employee during their employment, the performance measures as well as selection of a talent pipeline were measured against the framework of an underperforming environment. Competence was therefore benchmarked on overrated performance against underrated goals which led to ineffective performance and no validity in talent identification. Critical Realism was chosen as an ontological philosophy. Data was generated through four research cycles and processed through grounded theory meta-synthesis methodology. Four core variables emerged from the research: Identification of inherent DNA required for talent succession development, Quality of leadership, Effectiveness of a performance plan and Leading with heart. The driving variable within the balancing loop identified in the causal mechanism was Quality of leadership which is the initial point of influence in the system, and sets off a chain of cause and effect interactions between all the other variables, resulting in either a positive or negative stabilization within this system. This research suggests interventions and mechanisms to improve performance while simultaneously developing a future fit workforce who have the ability to focus on a number of moving parts at the same time. Efficiency is created through their competence in ensuring outstanding operational performance, the engagement and effective management of staff as well as the ability to handle constant change, complexity and uncertainty. The theory built, as well as the proposed interventions and mechanisms were tested and modified within the environment and delivered significant business results. The results achieved as a result of the implementation of the theory, are therefore concrete evidence of relevance, validity and utility. Contributions to practice, theory and research are discussed in this closing chapter of this dissertation

Strategies for the improvement of the industrial oxidation of cymene

The oxidation of cymene with dioxygen has been investigated in some detail with the view of establishing the feasibility of improving the efficiency of the oxidation process. Of particular interest were the rate of cymene oxidation and the selectivity of the oxidation process for the tertiary cymene hydroperoxide, especially at conversions above 15%. In order to be able to evaluate the selectivity of oxidation processes, a reliable method for analysis of the individual hydroperoxides had to be established. Two methods were investigated, namely reduction of the hydroperoxides to alcohols using ferrous sulphate and reduction using triphenylphosphine, and analysing the reduction products by gas chromatography. Of these two methods, the triphenylphosphine method proved to be superior to the ferrous sulphate method and was used as the method of choice for this investigation. A number of oxidation systems were evaluated in an initial screening experiment for the oxidation of p-cymene. The results of this screening experiment showed that three-phase oxidation systems, i.e. systems containing an organic phase, an aqueous phase and gas, gave significantly lower activities than two-phase oxidation systems. In addition, the use of a base in the aqueous layer does not improve the overall selectivity of the oxidation process, but improves the selectivity towards the tertiary hydroperoxide to some extent due to the decomposition and extraction of primary hydroperoxide into the basic aqueous phase. Oxidation systems using a non-autoxidation catalyst, i.e. a catalyst that does not catalyse the conventional autoxidation of organic compounds, gave by far the most promising results. These systems gave both a high selectivity as well as high reaction rate. From the initial screening experiment, and using multi-factorial statistical techniques, two catalyst systems were selected for investigation, namely vanadium phosphate and boron phosphate. The results of these investigations showed that these two catalysts are remarkably active and selective for the oxidation of p-cymene, giving the cymene tertiary hydroperoxide in selectivities exceeding 85% and at substrate conversions as high as 25%. These results are a considerable improvement over currently known oxidation systems and may offer opportunities for further commercial exploitation

Propaganda and the war on truth: examining informational inconsistencies governing South Africa’s Covid-19 policy response

A review of the intellectual and policy environment announces the absence of transparency and rational discourse in assessing the prevailing Covid-19 policy measures. Contextually, propaganda thrives in times of political uncertainty as it serves to either amplify confusion, induce moral dilemmas,or disguise meanings. To this end, this study examines the quality of political communication, underpinning South Africa’s public policy response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It aims to trace the influence of propaganda in informing policy origins and efficacy as it concerns the lethality of Covid-19. Importantly, informational irregularity must be treated with greater accountability and intellectual inquiry as it concerns masking and vaccine hesitancy. Following a qualitative approach and case study research strategy, this study begins by outlining the propagandistic assault on truth and rationality. Next, it confronts the seeming normality, with which the state, media, intellectual and scientific community have nonchalantly dismissed inconvenient truth in the name of misinformation. Of significance is the war on truth and the growing intellectual appetite for ideological realignment that esteems emotional triumph over empirical soundness. Ultimately, the research shows that scientific rationale has been demoted in favor of social solidarity. Finally, propagandist techniques and elements of deception theory entice the analytical appetite by exposing the modus operandi of deceptive operations at work in both masking and vaccine campaigns. The key findings indicate the use of propaganda and deception tactics at play in perception management with a view of influencing public action, corrupting public discourse and delegitimizing the need for factual accountability, concerning compliance with incoherent Covid-19 policy measures

Improvement of propylene yield via butene metathesis

Includes synopsis.Includes bibliographical references (leaves [96]-100).There is an increasing interest in finding ways to produce on-purpose propene, due to the significant predicted propene growth in the next few years without the concomitant growth in the ethene demand, One of the technologies available is 1-butene metathesis, which describes a one-step process where isomerisation of 1-butene to 2-butene followed by cross-metathesis taking place. Products of the cross metathesis are propene and 2-pentene. In addition ethene and 3-hexene are expected as products of 1-butene metathesis

Physicians' perspectives on personal health records: a descriptive study

A Personal Health Record (PHR) is an electronic record of a patient’s health-related information that is managed by the patient. The patient can give access to other parties, such as healthcare providers and family members, as they see fit. These parties can use the information in emergency situations, in order to help improve the patient’s healthcare. PHRs have an important role to play in ensuring that a patient’s complete health history is available to his healthcare providers at the point of care. This is especially true in South Africa, where the majority of healthcare organizations still rely on paper-based methods of record-keeping. Research indicates that physicians play an important role in encouraging the adoption of PHRs amongst patients. Whilst various studies have focused on the perceptions of South African citizens towards PHRs, to date no research has focused on the perceptions of South African physicians. Considering the importance of physicians in encouraging the adoption of PHRs, the problem being addressed by this research project thus relates to the lack of information relating to the perceptions of South African physicians of PHRs. Physicians with private practices at private hospitals in Port Elizabeth, South Africa were surveyed in order to determine their perceptions towards PHRs. Results indicate perceptions regarding benefits to the physician and the patient, as well as concerns to the physician and the patient. The levels of trust in various potential PHR providers and the potential uses of a PHR for the physician were also explored. The results of the survey were compared with the results of relevant international literature in order to describe the perceptions of physicians towards PHRs

Case Study: The dietary management of irritable bowel syndrome

Keywords: irritable bowel syndrome, functional gastrointestinal disorders, FODMAPs, probiotic

Structural adjustment towards sustainable growth and development in Zimbabwe: lessons and conditions

A conference paper on economic structural adjustment programmes in Zimbabwe. Originally prepared for: "Conference on Zimbabwe: macroeconomic policy, management and performance since independence: lessons for the 21st century," 19-21 August, Sheraton Hotel, Harare.Sustained economic growth and development in Africa has been a burning issue for a long time. This paper attempts to evaluate the performance of selected African countries in terms of certain conditions for sustained long term economic growth and development. These conditions were identified and discussed by Harmse (1992), Harmse and De Wet (1994) and De Wet (1995), namely: Efficiency in production (brought about by economic liberalisation and trade through outward-oriented policies); economic stability and finally a well- defined and consistent domestic policy mix which includes fiscal and monetary restraint, human development programmes and especially good education, promotion of the manufacturing sector, export promotion and an unyielding policy stance. Several studies on Sub-Saharan Africa argue convincingly that the economic realities of Africa call for special attention to be paid to imbalances in respect of employment, income, nutrition, health and education which all affect the capacity of the human resource (UNECA, 1989; Brinkman, 1995; Olofin, 1995). Action which will correct these imbalances, entails the creation of an environment in which human resources are developed, infrastructure is built and expanded, while institutions as well as technological and entrepreneurial capabilities to promote exports are cultivated. Although it is already contained in the third condition, it would make sense to emphasise the importance of the human and physical environment aspect by identifying it explicitly as a fourth condition for Africa. We will denote these conditions by the acronym ESCE (Efficiency, Stability, Consistency, and Environment). Many African economies experienced a serious socio-economic crisis during the 1980s, caused by both endogenous and exogenous factors (Thisen, 1992:5-6). Increased protection in the rest of the world, the process of synthetic substitution for raw materials and the intensification of bilateralism at the expense of multilateralism saw Africa's terms of trade deteriorating rapidly. This situation was aggravated by political lipheavals, the great African droughts of 1983-1985, 1987-1989 and 1992-1993, escalating debt burdens and declining resource flows (Thisen: 6-8). Endogenously a lack of the necessary production structure, of income generation and distribution processes, together with unsuccessful adjustment policies led to devastatingly negative per capita growth rates in many African countries (Thisen :7). This paper evaluates the adjustment process in Zimbabwe in comparison with selected other African countries according to the aforementioned criteria or conditions

Striving for excellence: investigating the practical aspects of dietetic practice

Dietetics is a constantly evolving scientific field, and challenges for the dietitian are not restricted to private practice, but rather span across all sectors of the profession, and are an opportunity for personal and professional growth. The need for evidence-based care and sound scientific information in the context of the vast entity of the Internet and social media are indeed daunting in terms of both challenges and opportunities. Developing the appropriate marketing and business skills can be beneficial during the journey of lifelong learning and in the process of becoming a health professional who is known for excellent service delivery and professionalism.Keywords: dietetics practice, social media, marketing, professionalism, evidence-based car