Explorations in drama, theatre and education : a critique of theatre studies in South Africa.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1987.This dissertation explores the potential of theatre studies to develop a pragmatic and relevant pedagogy for South African students and adults. The contention is that the dominant paradigm as conceptualized in the discipline ‘Speech and Drama’ is outdated. Section One offers a critique of this paradigm and an analysis of the premises that supported its foundation and consolidation in English-language South African Universities. Following this a search is instituted for a methodology of theatre studies which is both appropriate to present circumstances and which could encompass all South Africans. In Section Two, a survey of theories of performance is undertaken because a methodology of theatre studies is, of necessity, linked to performance theory. The pioneering contributions of some South African scholars are explained and evaluated as part of a larger body of theoretical analysis in both the humanities and the social sciences. In Section Three, the search for a methodology is approached from a different angle. The researcher offers a detailed descriptive analysis of her own work in the Department of Speech and Drama at the University of Zululand both among students and in a nearby rural community. This serves to explore the kinds of learning that occur through practical involvement in drama, theatre and specifically playmaking. These learning processes are related to the distinctive functions in drama and theatre, namely the heuristic, communicative and interpretative functions. The work is connected to progressivist trends in education and participatory research in the field of adult education. One of the intentions behind the work was, indeed, to challenge commonsense perceptions and discover the extent to which individuals are ‘victims of their own biography’. This challenge is specifically related to anti-feminist, racist and class perceptions. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for a learner-centred approach to theatre studies that is rooted in personal experience and consciously mediated through refined and extended conceptual categories. The tension between the development of students’ analytical powers and communicative skills is explored and a semiotic approach to analysis is posited. The importance of extending university work into the wider community is discussed and related to a rural development project involving playmaking, undertaken to research the potential of learning through drama for adults

Improving understanding of teaching strategies perceived by interprofessional learning (IPL) lecturers to enhance students’ formulation of multidisciplinary roles: an exploratory qualitative study.

Background: interprofessional learning (IPL) is an educational process intended to equip health and social care students with appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes for effective interprofessional working. By and large, the literature review highlighted in this article has shown that IPL is a worthwhile pursuit, with some studies highlighting conflicts over best teaching methods to use. In response, the aim of this exploratory research was to improve understandings of teaching strategies perceived by IPL lecturers to enhance students' formulation of multidisciplinary roles.Methods: an exploratory qualitative study was carried out. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with a purposive sample of 4 consenting IPL lecturers. The objectives of the study were to extend understandings of strategies believed to enhance or inhibit students' accurate assimilation of Allied Health Professional (AHP) roles, to nurture awareness of potential obstacles that may inhibit successful delivery of IPL, to promote insight into what constitutes quality delivery of IPL, and to identify potential topics for further research.Findings: five themes emerged from the data: (1) IPL lecturers hold contrasting viewpoints about the need for IPL; (2) improved understanding of roles is directly proportional to time spent with AHPs; (3) perspectives differ about when and where IPL should be taught; (4) stereotyping and negative attitudes inhibit accurate role construction; and (5) positive role modelling by lecturers is important.Conclusions: this article acts in a conscience-raising manner and highlights five key areas of lecturers' understandings about how to effectively deliver IPL. This nurtured awareness will be used to develop and evaluate new implementations in IPL and education

Improving understanding of teaching strategies perceived by interprofessional learning (IPL) lecturers to enhance students’ formulation of multidisciplinary roles: an exploratory qualitative study.

Background: interprofessional learning (IPL) is an educational process intended to equip health and social care students with appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes for effective interprofessional working. By and large, the literature review highlighted in this article has shown that IPL is a worthwhile pursuit, with some studies highlighting conflicts over best teaching methods to use. In response, the aim of this exploratory research was to improve understandings of teaching strategies perceived by IPL lecturers to enhance students' formulation of multidisciplinary roles.Methods: an exploratory qualitative study was carried out. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with a purposive sample of 4 consenting IPL lecturers. The objectives of the study were to extend understandings of strategies believed to enhance or inhibit students' accurate assimilation of Allied Health Professional (AHP) roles, to nurture awareness of potential obstacles that may inhibit successful delivery of IPL, to promote insight into what constitutes quality delivery of IPL, and to identify potential topics for further research.Findings: five themes emerged from the data: (1) IPL lecturers hold contrasting viewpoints about the need for IPL; (2) improved understanding of roles is directly proportional to time spent with AHPs; (3) perspectives differ about when and where IPL should be taught; (4) stereotyping and negative attitudes inhibit accurate role construction; and (5) positive role modelling by lecturers is important.Conclusions: this article acts in a conscience-raising manner and highlights five key areas of lecturers' understandings about how to effectively deliver IPL. This nurtured awareness will be used to develop and evaluate new implementations in IPL and education

Developing interprofessional education online:An ecological systems theory analysis

This article relates the findings of a discourse analysis of an online asynchronous interprofessional learning initiative involving two UK universities. The impact of the initiative is traced over three intensive periods of online interaction, each of several-weeks duration occurring over a three-year period, through an analysis of a random sample of discussion forum threads. The corpus of rich data drawn from the forums is interpreted using ecological systems theory, which highlights the complexity of interaction of individual, social and cultural elements. Ecological systems theory adopts a life course approach to understand how development occurs through processes of progressively more complex reciprocal interaction between people and their environment. This lens provides a novel approach for analysis and interpretation of findings with respect to the impact of pre-registration interprofessional education and the interaction between the individual and their social and cultural contexts as they progress through 3/4 years of their programmes. Development is mapped over time (the chronosystem) to highlight the complexity of interaction across microsystems (individual), mesosystems (curriculum and institutional/care settings), exosystems (community/wider local context), and macrosystems (national context and culture). This article illustrates the intricacies of students’ interprofessional development over time and the interactive effects of social ecological components in terms of professional knowledge and understanding, wider appreciation of health and social care culture and identity work. The implications for contemporary pre-registration interprofessional education and the usefulness and applicability of ecological systems theory for future research and development are considered

Reduced Lentivirus Susceptibility in Sheep with TMEM154 Mutations

Visna/Maedi, or ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP) as it is known in the United States, is an incurable slow-acting disease of sheep caused by persistent lentivirus infection. This disease affects multiple tissues, including those of the respiratory and central nervous systems. Our aim was to identify ovine genetic risk factors for lentivirus infection. Sixty-nine matched pairs of infected cases and uninfected controls were identified among 736 naturally exposed sheep older than five years of age. These pairs were used in a genome-wide association study with 50,614 markers. A single SNP was identified in the ovine transmembrane protein (TMEM154) that exceeded genome-wide significance (unadjusted p-value 3×10−9). Sanger sequencing of the ovine TMEM154 coding region identified six missense and two frameshift deletion mutations in the predicted signal peptide and extracellular domain. Two TMEM154 haplotypes encoding glutamate (E) at position 35 were associated with infection while a third haplotype with lysine (K) at position 35 was not. Haplotypes encoding full-length E35 isoforms were analyzed together as genetic risk factors in a multi-breed, matched case-control design, with 61 pairs of 4-year-old ewes. The odds of infection for ewes with one copy of a full-length TMEM154 E35 allele were 28 times greater than the odds for those without (p-value<0.0001, 95% CI 5–1,100). In a combined analysis of nine cohorts with 2,705 sheep from Nebraska, Idaho, and Iowa, the relative risk of infection was 2.85 times greater for sheep with a full-length TMEM154 E35 allele (p-value<0.0001, 95% CI 2.36–3.43). Although rare, some sheep were homozygous for TMEM154 deletion mutations and remained uninfected despite a lifetime of significant exposure. Together, these findings indicate that TMEM154 may play a central role in ovine lentivirus infection and removing sheep with the most susceptible genotypes may help eradicate OPP and protect flocks from reinfection

Efficient three-dimensional reconstruction of aquatic vegetation geometry: Estimating morphological parameters influencing hydrodynamic drag

Aquatic vegetation can shelter coastlines from energetic waves and tidal currents, sometimes enabling accretion of fine sediments. Simulation of flow and sediment transport within submerged canopies requires quantification of vegetation geometry. However, field surveys used to determine vegetation geometry can be limited by the time required to obtain conventional caliper and ruler measurements. Building on recent progress in photogrammetry and computer vision, we present a method for reconstructing three-dimensional canopy geometry. The method was used to survey a dense canopy of aerial mangrove roots, called pneumatophores, in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta. Photogrammetric estimation of geometry required 1) taking numerous photographs at low tide from multiple viewpoints around 1 m2 quadrats, 2) computing relative camera locations and orientations by triangulation of key features present in multiple images and reconstructing a dense 3D point cloud, and 3) extracting pneumatophore locations and diameters from the point cloud data. Step 3) was accomplished by a new ‘sector-slice’ algorithm, yielding geometric parameters every 5 mm along a vertical profile. Photogrammetric analysis was compared with manual caliper measurements. In all 5 quadrats considered, agreement was found between manual and photogrammetric estimates of stem number, and of number × mean diameter, which is a key parameter appearing in hydrodynamic models. In two quadrats, pneumatophores were encrusted with numerous barnacles, generating a complex geometry not resolved by hand measurements. In remaining cases, moderate agreement between manual and photogrammetric estimates of stem diameter and solid volume fraction was found. By substantially reducing measurement time in the field while capturing in greater detail the 3D structure, photogrammetry has potential to improve input to hydrodynamic models, particularly for simulations of flow through large-scale, heterogenous canopies

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

From technology teacher to technology integration specialist : preparing for a paradigm shift

Advisors: Elizabeth Wilkins.Committee members: Sharon Smaldino; Andrew Tawfik.Includes bibliographical references.Includes illustrations.This dissertation examines the effectiveness of a professional development program designed specifically to provide foundational knowledge and skills to Technology Teachers in preparation for a transition to a Technology Integration Specialist position. Specifically, it evaluates the Technology Teachers' changes in knowledge and beliefs as a result of the professional development. The program evaluation also looks at the Technology Teachers' perceptions of organizational support and their own abilities to fulfill the Technology Integration Specialist role. All aspects are surveyed prior to and at the conclusion of the professional development program to assess changes. Qualitative data from meeting notes, discussion boards, and classroom observations complement the quantitative data to provide a more thorough understanding, given the small sample size in this study. The data reflected changes in knowledge but not beliefs after the professional development program. The Technology Teachers' perceptions of support as garnered from the survey showed little change, while the qualitative data from meetings and discussion board contributions revealed other perceptions that were not included in the survey questions. Finally, their perception of their own abilities to perform the responsibilities that would be associated with the Technology Integration Specialist role seemed unaffected by the professional development program. Ultimately, the professional development program only had a noticeable effect on building the Technology Teachers knowledge and exposing their perceptions of insufficient organizational support.Ed.D. (Doctor of Education