Those who can, teach: the formative influence of socio-cultural constructions of teachers in children's literature and learners' notions of teaching

This interdisciplinary study uses grounded theory to interrogate the socio-cultural relationship between readers and the texts written for them to explore the question of articulation between learners’ notions of teaching and narrative representations of teachers found in children’s literature from the UK. Utilising the principles of Personal Construct Psychology (Kelly 1955), an in-depth analysis of literature written for child- and young adult readers forms the basis of the study, the findings of which informed an exploration of participants’ perceptions of literary and actual teachers. A total of 163 teacher-characters from 45 examples of fiction for children and young adult readers were critiqued; as a result, eight prevalent character roles and traits were identified, developing previous findings by Dockett, Perry and Whitton (2010) from their study of teachers in English language picturebooks. Narrative methodologies, including character profile depictions and an approach based on the Storycrafting method (Karlsson and Riihelä 1991), were used in order to explore links between the depictions of characters in published works and the fictions created by 22 pupils aged 9-10 in an English primary school; this was repeated with ten university students training to teach on an undergraduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) degree. Finally, repertory grid interviews were conducted with all 32 participants to establish individuals’ construct systems regarding the characteristics of literary and actual teachers. Initially the study had intended to identify a taxonomy of archetypal characters, however the emerging constructs indicated a diversity of representation that would have rendered a taxonomy meaningless. Instead, the character roles and traits presented themselves as more meaningful sociocultural constructs. Their appearance in both the published and participants’ corpora indicated a direct link between the depictions of teachers in children’s literature and participants constructs regarding the role. Detailing the eight roles and traits of the teacher within Anglo-centric children’s literature, including four not previously identified, comprises an original contribution to knowledge, as does the utilisation of Personal Construct methodologies in the analysis of children’s literature. Broadening the study to include literature and participants from different socio-cultural groups, and the application of the methodology to examples of literature written by children are areas suggested for further research

Piercing the corporate veil: Australia and China

While Australia has long adopted the corporate veil piercing doctrine from the UK model, China has only recently enacted veil piercing provisions in 2006. This thesis compares Australia’s long standing veil piercing doctrine and China’s recent veil piercing enactment to determine which jurisdiction provides better veil piercing laws in protecting creditors’ interests. The findings of this thesis are significant for creditors such as foreign lenders or business partners who wish to choose a wellprotected and safe market in which to invest. This thesis will provide a discussion and comparison on Australia’s and China’s directors’ duties to prevent insolvent trading and instances in which veil piercing can occur. There will be an addition of another jurisdiction, United States in lieu of China, because China’s insolvent trading laws are based on US laws and there is a dearth of academic literature in the area of insolvent trading laws in China. This thesis will argue that Australia has better veil piercing laws to protect creditors’ interests compared to China due to the very limited scope of China’s veil piercing laws, which are drafted in vague terms and the Chinese civil legal system (in which the doctrine of precedent is absent). In addition, the author suggests that this is due to the fact that many companies are still State Owned Enterprises in China, subject to strong political influence and therefore protective of state shareholders

Navigating Multiple Roles: Physicians Married to Non-Physician Professionals

A qualitative study of the lived experiences of dual career couples in which one partner is a physician is being proposed to fulfill the requirements for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Family Studies. The study will look specifically at how these couples manage the role expectations and demands from the home front as well as from the work front. The study will also investigate how these couples create time for the dyad considering the demands of both careers. While dual career couples have their distinct features, physician families that have dual career attachments have been under studied in regard to the impact their work has on their marriage, and there is need for more empirical research that addresses this and other issues. The proposed study will add to the empirical literature and will have implications for future research, theory, and practice, as well as for work-life policy issues for physicians

Building a Better HAL 9000: Algorithms, the Market, and the Need to Prevent the Engraining of Bias

As sci-fi fans will recall, the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey is focused on the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence. In the movie, HAL (Heuristically programmed Algorithmic Computer) 9000 computer is an artificial intelligence and the onboard computer on the spaceship Discovery 1. HAL 9000, more commonly called “Hal,” is capable of many functions, such as speech, facial recognition, lip reading, interpreting emotions, and expressing emotions. HAL is built into the Discovery 1 spacecraft, and is in charge of maintaining all mechanical and life support systems on board. As the movie progresses, the astronauts become concerned about HAL’s behavior and agree to disconnect him, in essence killing HAL. HAL becomes aware of the plan and seeks to stop his death as the movie plot climaxes in a conflict between intelligent machine and his human controllers. Interestingly, 2001: A Space Odyssey author Arthur C. Clark could not have been more accurate about one of the emerging conflicts to face humanity: what role does society want machines to play in coordinating and governing human activity? The debate resonates from the shared economy to the ethics of artificial intelligence. This article seeks to advance the debate about the need for data regulation that focuses on the impact of the use of the data. First, it provides a brief explanation of data analytics, algorithms, and machine learning. Second, the article explores some of the common mistakes associated with data modeling within algorithmic processes. Third, the paper explores the impact of the use of data, specifically data that is used to create a digital personhood, to inform algorithms that perform basic services. Fourth and finally, the article seeks to define an ethical decision-making model and regulatory structure for data focusing on the impact of the use of the data upon the individual and society

Distance learning : adult learners and computer-mediated communication

Advisors: Rebecca P. Butler.Committee members: Laura Johnson; Sharon Smaldino.The dissertation explored the perceptions of non-traditional adult learners enrolled in higher education at a distance, using computer mediated communication (CMC), tools. Twenty-one students participated in three research modes including surveys, interviews, and journaling.Adult Learning Theory provided the theoretical framework for the data analysis. The research found that participants were open to using new communication devices when provided clear direction on how to use the technology as well as a perceived need for its application to their coursework. Students perceived communication devices were barriers to learning when technology required more work to learn, were deemed not useful past the course, and the class was not organized to use the tools effectively. Adult learners included in my study desired strong connections with CMC tools to interact with classmates and professor.In addition to their educational pursuits, most of these adult learners had multiple responsibilities that impacted the perceived time needed to devote for learning new communication tools. Students embraced new communication technologies that fit their needs and enabled optimal use of their time. This study shares that when adult learners understand the purpose of new communication tools, they are more likely to adapt new technology for use in the future.Ed.D. (Doctor of Education

Educational methods and technologies in undergraduate veterinary medicine: a case study of veterinary teaching and learning at Glasgow, 1949-2006

This case study, of veterinary education at Glasgow between 1949 and 2006, was undertaken to provide an illustrative account of learning and teaching practices over time. Ultimately the aim was to inform discussions on curriculum reshaping in undergraduate veterinary education at Glasgow. A questionnaire was distributed to 2360 alumni, 513 students and 50 teachers, to obtain quantitative data on the availability and perceived usefulness of different educational methods and technologies, analysed using SPSS. Qualitative data were sought principally through ten student focus groups and interviews with over thirty current and former staff, theoretically coded using NVivo. Questionnaire responses (from 11.5% of alumni, 23.8% of students and 72% of teachers invited to participate) revealed that lectures, printed notes, tutorials, practical classes and clinical training were used consistently over time and rated highly by stakeholders, confirming the importance of didactic teaching methods coupled with discussion and practical hands-on experience. The focus groups with students highlighted their strong desire for earlier clinical training, with the recognition that a case-based approach resulted in more meaningful learning. The interviews with staff revealed that whilst all staff welcomed the opportunity for increased vertical integration, problem-based learning was rejected as a wholesale solution. Highlights of the school’s curricular innovations to date include the clinico-pathological integrated sessions, the lecture-free final year, and the introduction of a veterinary biomolecular sciences course that allowed for a seamless vertical integration in years 1 to 4. However, recent efforts to implement self-directed learning and assessment strategies have been hampered by the fact that these were isolated innovations set within a traditional teacher-centred paradigm. There was little support among stakeholders for undergraduate specialisation. There is still a perceived need for veterinarians to have omni-potential – if not to be omnicompetent. However, it is recommended that the current system of tracking be replaced with a more streamlined core-elective system, to allow students to pursue specific topics of interest in the later years of the course. Teachers and students cited attributes of ‘good’ teachers. These generally did not change over time, although technologies did change. Good communication appears to be central to good teaching, with an in-borne desire to enthuse and motivate students to learn for the pleasure of learning rather than the need to hurdle-jump examinations. Both teachers and students cited good teaching characteristics in terms of the teacher as authority and motivator, rather than as a facilitator of independent learning, reflecting the nature of the traditional, didactic course. There was little evidence of pedagogical change resulting from technological innovations. If anything, newer technologies compounded surface learning approaches and low level cognitive processing, rather than promoting deep learning and higher order thinking skills. Identified barriers to teaching innovations included lack of time, reward and support (for teachers and students). Future curricular innovation will require a substantial investment in the scholarship of teaching – rewarding staff for excellence in teaching, putting it on a par with research excellence, and ensuring the necessary support mechanisms and infrastructure are in place to ensure the success of a self-directed learning curriculum. A guided discovery learning curriculum is recommended, a compromise between traditional teaching and a fully problem-based curriculum. The study did not specifically focus on assessment, but it is recommended that learning, teaching and assessment practices should be constructively aligned

Transfer of learning in undergraduate radiotherapy education - An Exploration of the Recontextualisation of Patient Safety Knowledge in the Curriculum

This empirical case study explores what constitutes patient safety knowledge in the therapeutic radiography (TR) curriculum and how undergraduate students transfer this type of knowledge from the classroom to the workplace. Drawing on Guile and Evans' theory of recontextualisation (2010), the theoretical framework examines how the curriculum content and pedagogic practices from an undergraduate TR programme, based in a UK higher education institution, transfer to a placement programme based in a Foundation Trust Hospital where the students undertake workplace experience. The methodology used a qualitative, interpretive paradigm. Data collection between January and April 2015 involved documentary analysis of course documents and semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students, workplace educators and faculty staff. Observation involving level five students was undertaken in the workplace. Research findings showed that knowledge was recontextualised in the operation of the radiotherapy equipment, in the implementation of infection control measures and in the identification of patients. Additionally, content recontextualisation of professional and regulatory guidance showed that the safe use of ionising radiation constituted the core knowledge of radiography practitioners. Conclusions were that patient safety was multidimensional in practice thus defying the attempt to contain this concept as a discrete entity. This research forms the first study in the field of TR showing a socio-cultural understanding of how professional statements are recontextualised in the practice of patient safety. Curriculum statements regarding skills development and proficiency constitute an informal, self-directed workplace curriculum that is driven by students’ motivation to become competent practitioners. This study contributes to the literature on patient safety in the undergraduate healthcare curriculum and highlights the omission of the systems approach in the TR curriculum. In the application of the theoretical framework of recontextualisation, recasting of practice knowledge from the workplace into the formal TR undergraduate curriculum is shown thus demonstrating the explanatory power of this conceptual lens in this radiography discipline. Keywords: patient safety, healthcare, recontextualisation, therapeutic radiography, knowledge transfer, undergraduate education, workplace learnin

The reception and study of Renaissance architecture in Great Britain, 1890-1914

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2007.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections."February 2007."Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-292).The writing of Renaissance architectural history in the period 1890-1914 in Great Britain changed dramatically. Despite modernism's tenet of rejecting history from design, Renaissance architectural history in Great Britain functioned as both an alternative to and a source of inspiration for modernism. At first Renaissance architecture supplied a stylistic alternative to the Gothic Revival; then it acted as a bastion against modernist influences from the Continent. Finally, it provided a foundation of aesthetic principles applicable to modern design. With the advent of university programs in architecture, the writing of architectural history became more formalized, marking the beginning of architectural history's autonomy as a discipline and foreshadowing modernism's rejection of history from the design process. In my dissertation I analyze the perceptions and presentations of Renaissance architecture in order to investigate the relationship between history and design in architectural education, literature, and practice at the turn of the century in Great Britain. An analysis of architectural curricula, designs, and publications from this period reveals the development of an autonomous architectural history and the foundations of a modern architecture.by Katherine Jean Wheeler.Ph.D

An information system in general practice

Abstract Not Provided