Note Acquisition: A Comparison of Student Versus Teacher Monitored Progress

The action research plan documented in this paper was driven by the researcher\u27s interest in the most effective strategies for optimizing student achievement of new notes on a band instrument. During four cycles, the researcher gathered student achievement of new notes when teacher monitoring and student monitoring. Fifth grade students playing the flute completed both types of monitoring and the results were recorded and compared using a dependent T-test and a bar graph. The researcher is in her fourth year of teaching and teaches fifth and sixth grade students primarily. Students learned a total of 99 new notes during the study. The results show that students in the study learned more notes when completing the teacher monitoring cycle. Students averaged 4.22 new notes when student monitoring and 6.77 new notes when teacher monitoring. This study opened the researchers\u27 eyes to several types of effective progress monitoring tools and processes. The findings will encourage further exploration and use of progress monitoring tools in the band classroom

Utopian fantasies of the perfected imperial prospect and fractured images of unresolved ambivalence and unsuppressed resistance : the Groote Schuur landscape considered as an imperial dream topography of Cecil John Rhodes, 1890-1929

The Groote Schuur landscape, probably more than anywhere else in South Africa, is a truly hybrid landscape. Many sets of big ideas were at play on this landscape between 1890 and 1929. At the end of the nineteenth century, Cecil Rhodes brought ideas of paternalism, imperialism and empire to the Estate and notions of creating a European space in Africa; Groote Schuur would be a meeting point where Africa and Europe would fuse in the same frame, where the wildness of Africa and the empire would energise the classicism of European civilisation. The idea of Britain in Africa perhaps found its most expressive form in the establishment of the European styled University of Cape Town on the slopes of a distinctly African mountain. As W J T Mitchell argues, landscape should be "seen more profitably as something like the dreamwork of Imperialism, unfolding its own movement in time and space from a central point of origin and folding back on Itself to disclose both utopian fantasies of the perfected imperial prospect and fractured images of unresolved ambivalence and unsuppressed resistance". Furthermore, this landscape is complicated by the dynamic shifts and changes that occurred in social and political thought during this period. Ideas on paternalism, of Britain having a pastoral role in Africa, were increasingly overshadowed by ideas of indirect rule and nationalism after Union in 1910 and then by the beginnings of ideas on absolute racial separation. A sense of trusteeship was increasingly supplanted by ideas of partnership between coloniser and colonised. These contestations are all played out on the landscape, just as they were in other fields and are complicated further by the enduring legacy of Rhodes. Intention: In this mini dissertation I will examine in detail four elements of the Groote Schuur Estate to see how these "big ideas" of dream topographies are played out on this specific landscape. 1890 is a natural starting point for my project since this was the year in which Rhodes took up permanent residency at Groote Schuur, acquired property that extended from "Mowbray southwards to Constantia" and began shaping the landscape according to his will. However, I have extended my study beyond the year of Rhodes' death in 1902, to 1929. This later date was the year that the University of Cape Town moved into its new Groote Schuur campus, and celebrated its centenary anniversary here. The event was seen as marking the conclusion of one of Rhodes' earlier dreams; the founding of a "teaching University in the Cape Colony... under the shadow of Table Mountain"

Content to consider: Exploring gender bias in colonial collections

[still need] “Truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are.” Friedrich Nietzsche, “On truth and lie in an extra-moral sense” (Nietzsche, 46) Digitisation of cultural heritage collections in and by libraries, archives and museums is never a neutral process. The decisions we make today about what to digitise from our collections are inextricably influenced by past decisions made about which items should even be included in our collections. These selection processes reflect and perpetuate the worldviews of those people making these decisions as well, as power balances, or imbalances, prevalent at that time. In much of Africa, and elsewhere, European colonialism exerted a profound influence over collecting institutions and continues to affect how they operate today. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the selection process and decisions made by institutions were not inevitable and that, very often, collections are imbued with various biases. If we are to avoid replicating and reinforcing these normalised biases, we must first be aware of how and why value judgements were made. Using gender imbalance in collections as an example, I suggest that exposing and interrogating biases during the planning stage of a digitisation project can be a very rewarding process that not only reveals “gaps” in a collection, but creates spaces for other voices to be heard

Public Health Policy on the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on the Behavior Patterns of Families

This study examined the public health measures adopted by the Jordanian government that contributed to stemming the spread of the pandemic and the impact of these measures on the behavior patterns of families. Content analysis was used with 117 news briefs, and interviews were conducted with 20 families identified through snowball sampling. Ecological systems theory and a public health model are used to frame our understanding of the results. We found themes from interviews that included a shift to online education, use of social media, changes in consumer behavior, and social initiatives

Mutations in the _SC4MOL_ gene encoding a novel methyl sterol oxidase cause autosomal recessive psoriasisiform dermatitis, microcephaly and developmental delay

Disorders of cholesterol biosynthesis have clinical manifestations involving skeleton, eyes, neurologic development, and skin. We describe a patient with congenital cataracts, developmental delay, microcephaly, and low serum cholesterol who developed severe psoriasiform dermatitis and arthralgias beginning at age 3. Her brain MRI indicatedminor gliosis. Quantitative sterol analysis of patient plasma and skin showed marked elevation of 4alpha-methyl- and 4, 4'-dimethylsterols, indicating a deficiency in the first step of sterol C4 demethylation in cholesterol biosynthesis. Molecular studies showed mutations in _SC4MOL_, a gene predicted to encode a sterol C4 methyl oxidase. Thus, our patient has a previously undescribed inborn error of cholesterol biosynthesis. Cellular studies with patient-derived fibroblasts showed higher mitotic rate than control cells in cholesterol-depleted medium, in which _de novo_ cholesterol biosynthesis was increased with the accumulation of methylsterol. Immunologic analyses showed dysregulation of immune-related receptors in the patient and her father. Inhibition of sterol C4 methyl oxidase in human transformed lymphoblasts or in fresh leukocytes induced activation of cell cycle, and immune receptor dysregulation. These findings suggest that methylsterols influence mitotic capacity and immune function. _SC4MOL_ is situated within the psoriasis susceptibility locus _PSORS9_, and is likely a genetic risk factor for common psoriasis

Looking Local: An Exploration of Texas Residents’ Perceptions of the GO TEXAN Certification Program to Develop Brand Positioning Strategies

State agricultural certification programs allow consumers to knowingly purchase products grown or produced in their state. However, consumers may not be aware of or understand the concept behind these certification programs. This study examined Texas residents’ awareness and perceptions of one state agricultural certification program, GO TEXAN. To position a brand and develop key messages, communicators must be aware of how the audience views the brand, its key qualities and characteristics, and the information channels to distribute the messages. To do so, we distributed a survey instrument embedded in Qualtrics to a panel of Texas residents. We found respondents were generally unaware of the GO TEXAN certification program; however, the results of this study provide evidence of the consumers preferred products and qualities of GO TEXAN’s certified products. We suggest communicators use elements of brand positioning to develop strategic key messages that are relevant to target audiences. Specifically, messages should be developed with key frames highlighting product freshness, flavor, taste, and purchase convenience. Communication efforts should be developed to provide emphasis to these attributes on the product label, at farmers markets, and at places of purchase. Further, we recommend future research should explore how types of key messages impact brand awareness, loyalty, and willingness to purchase

Making a Case for McDonald’s: A Qualitative Case Study Examining the McDonald’s “Our Food Your Questions” Campaign

In the last decade, a trend of consumer skepticism toward the agricultural industry has emerged. The consumer is demanding to know how food is grown, processed, its origin, and its content. At the same time, these same consumers are increasingly voicing their concerns and fueling the fire of misperception through the use of social media. Many organizations are counteracting these misperceptions by developing food campaigns detailing the food production process from the farm to the table. In this qualitative case study, McDonald’s social media video campaign, “Our Food, Your Questions” was analyzed to determine how a specific corporation provided content in particular frames to meet consumers’ demand for food-based information. Findings from this study suggest user-generated content helped develop the content for the social media campaign in terms of video topics and specific content addressed. Further, content in these videos were framed to help viewers connect to the video content and messages and to show that the company participates in socially responsible behavior. The recommendations and implications provide suggestions on how agricultural communicators could incorporate multimedia content into their campaigns to better facilitate communication