Identifying the component structure of job satisfaction by principal components analysis among extension officers in North West Province, South Africa

The component structure of a 34-item scale measuring different aspects of job satisfaction was investigated among extension officers in North West Province, South Africa. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 40 extension officers from which data were collected. A structured questionnaire consisting of 34 job satisfaction and 10 personal characteristic items was administered to the extension officers. Items on job satisfaction were measured at interval level and analyzedwith Principal ComponentAnalysis. Most of the respondents (82.5%) weremales, between 40 to 45 years, 85% were married and 87.5% had a diploma as their educational qualification. Furthermore, 54% of the households size between 4 to 6 persons, whereas 75% were Christians. The majority of the extension officers lived in their job area (82.5), while 80% covered at least 3 communities and 3 farmer groups. In terms of number of farmers covered, only 40% of the extension officers covered more than 500 farmers and 45% travelled more than 40 km to reach their farmers. From the job satisfaction items 9 components were extracted to show areas for job satisfaction among extension officers. These were in-service training, research policies, communicating recommended practices, financial support for self and family, quality of technical help, opportunity to advance education, management and control of operations, rewarding system and sanctions. The results have several implications for motivating extension officers for high job performance especially with large number of clients and small number of extension agents.

The relationships of character strengths with coping, work-related stress, and job satisfaction

Personality traits have often been highlighted to relate to how people cope with stressful events. The present paper focuses on character strengths as positive personality traits and examines two basic assumptions that were derived from a core characteristic of character strengths (i.e., to determine how individuals deal with adversities): (1) character strengths correlate with coping and (2) buffer the effects of work-related stress on job satisfaction. Two different samples (i.e., a mixed sample representing various occupations [N = 214] and a nurses sample [N = 175]) filled in measures for character strengths, coping, work-related stress, and job satisfaction. As expected, intellectual, emotional, and interpersonal strengths were related to coping. Interpersonal strengths played a greater role for coping among nurses, as interactions with others are an essential part of their workday. Furthermore, intellectual strengths partially mediated the negative effect of work-related stress on job satisfaction. These findings open a new field for research on the role of personality in coping with work-related stress. Character strengths are trainable personal characteristics, and therefore valuable resources to improve coping with work-related stress and to decrease the negative effects of stress. Further research is needed to investigate this assumed causality.

Matem??ticas y comentarios de texto

Se presenta experiencia educativa que propone trabajar en el aula la relaci??n entre las matem??ticas y el comentario de texto para trabajar ambas materias interdisciplinarmente. Se realiza en el IES Luis Carrillo de Sotomayor en Baena, C??rdoba.

Comentarios de textos literarios.

Ofrecer, como método de enseñanza de Literatura, una selección de comentarios de textos literarios adaptados a los alumnos de sexto de Enseñanzas Medias y de segundo de BUP, pensando en el programa del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia para el Bachillerato Unificado Polivalente (BUP). El comentario de textos literarios como método de la enseñanza de la Literatura en segundo de BUP. Los textos escogidos para los comentarios van desde la Edad Media (Poema del Mío Cid, La Celestina...) hasta la actualidad (con textos de Buero Vallejo, Camilo José Cela y otros textos de autores hispanoamericanos). Cada texto va acompañado de preguntas alusivas, un vocabulario básico, un texto crítico y en algunas ocasiones se incluye algún otro texto que añade información sobre el autor o la época en la que se escribió. Se recoge un abundante número de textos y comentarios literarios seguidos de cuestiones que ayudan al alumno a descubrir los aspectos más importantes del texto. Debido a la variedad de los textos escogidos el método está adaptado a cada uno de ellos, también se insertan otros textos del mismo autor para completar su conocimiento y ofrecer una visión más amplia de su obra. Se incluye también un texto crítico, fragmentos de un señalado crítico referentes a aspectos del autor o su época y, finalmente, un vocabulario de términos genéricos utilizados en los comentarios. La experiencia de las actividades propuestas durante el curso 1974-75 ha demostrado, según explica el director del trabajo, que el número de comentarios propuestos por el MEC es excesivo. Además, el presente trabajo proporciona unos materiales de trabajo lo suficientemente abundantes como para que el profesor pueda elegir según sus preferencias, por lo que parece de gran utilidad para la enseñanza de la Literatura.

An Extension to the Tactical Planning Model for a Job Shop: Continuous-Time Control

We develop an extension to the tactical planning model (TPM) for a job shop by the third author. The TPM is a discrete-time model in which all transitions occur at the start of each time period. The time period must be defined appropriately in order for the model to be meaningful. Each period must be short enough so that a job is unlikely to travel through more than one station in one period. At the same time, the time period needs to be long enough to justify the assumptions of continuous workflow and Markovian job movements. We build an extension to the TPM that overcomes this restriction of period sizing by permitting production control over shorter time intervals. We achieve this by deriving a continuous-time linear control rule for a single station. We then determine the first two moments of the production level and queue length for the workstation.

This is funny : On the beneficial role of self-enhancing and affiliative humour in job design

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Job stress and burnout in residential child care workers in Spain. ' Estr??s laboral y burnout en educadores de acogimiento residencial en Espa??a'

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Resumen tambi??n en ingl??s

Job demands, job resources and individual innovation at work : Going beyond Karasek's model?

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Resumen tambi??n en ingl??s

Extension of the Job Demands-Resources model in the prediction of burnout and engagement among teachers over time. 'Una ampliaci??n del modelo de demandas-recursos laborales en la predicci??n del burnout y del engagement en profesores'

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Resumen tambi??n en ingl??s

Comentaris a la intervenció del professor Ken Bain: S'aprèn res estudiant a la universitat? = Comentarios a la intervención del profesor Ken Bain: Se aprende algo estudiando en la universidad? = Comments on professor Ken Bain's lecutre: Do we learn anything at university?

Comentaris a la videoconferència de Kenneth Bain sobre l'aprenentatge universitari

Política exterior y globalización. Comentarios a la Visión Colombia II Centenario: 2019

De manera propositiva el gobierno del presidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez presentó a los colombianos el 7 de agosto de 2005 un ejercicio prospectivo de planeación denominado 2019 Visión Colombia II Centenario. El objetivo de este ejercicio era “servir como punto de partida para pensar el país que todos los colombianos quisiéramos tener, para el momento de la conmemoración del segundo centenario de vida política independiente, a celebrarse el 7 de agosto de 2019”.1 El Departamento Nacional de Planeación asumió la responsabilidad de plasmar la visión que surgía al interior del estamento público, esencialmente ministerios y departamentos administrativos. Se esperaba que esta propuesta preliminar fuera enriquecida a través de un proceso de discusión y concertación con los diferentes estamentos de la sociedad en un diálogo profundo y constructivo entre los colombianos en el que fuera posible sumar voces en torno a una misma idea de país.2

Does Facebook ruin your job Prospects?

News Report: Every Potential 2040 President Already Unelectable Due To Facebook:YouTube fake American news item (2min 39secs) in which all possible candidates are excluded because of something they show on Facebook. And Could your Facebook page ruin your job prospects? - A Guardian article that suggests that employers may be more tolerant than supposed.

7 Tips for Finding a Job After College

A good discussion of things you can do while at University to improve your opportunities when you leave university. Written from an American viwpoint but mostly still valid

Job Specs for COMP1205

You will find here two job specs: - one for an academic internship - one for an industrial internship Choose one to target your CV at before writing it.