The Magic Circle: An Essential Experience Through Virtual Theatre

This thesis explores the similarities of video game design elements within the world of theatrical scenic design. Using my 2019 scenic design of Marc Camoletti’s bedroom farce Boeing Boeing as the backdrop, I discuss the core concepts of game design. I then describe the scenic process of the production and the journey from concept all the way through to a virtual reality recreation of the design. The study of game design in theatre has the potential to open a wide new world of opportunities in the scenic design industry. This paper examines how the theatre can benefit from game design in several areas, such as artist and technical design, economic and financial relief throughout production, performance, and efficiency. But the primary focus is on the dramatic and positive impact that it can have on communication and the way that theatre artists can work together in a collaborative setting. For the theatrical world, game design presents a wide and exciting realm of possibilities in not only design, but for theatre as a whole

Assessing the Impact of White Noise on Cognition in Individuals with and without ADHD

Although originally viewed only as a childhood disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is now recognized to persist into adulthood in many individuals. Adults with ADHD often demonstrate academic, cognitive, and general functioning deficits as a result of their symptoms. Theorists have suggested that features typically associated with ADHD, such as distractibility, excessive motor activity, and executive dysfunction, may stem from being under stimulated at a physiological level. This lack of arousal potentially causes individuals to seek out stimulation, making them more susceptible to background noise and other environmental stimuli. However, previous research primarily focuses on children and adolescents with ADHD, utilizes few cognitive tasks, and has demonstrated inconsistent results. This study attempted to address limitations in the current literature by examining the effects of white noise on verbal memory, working memory, and response inhibition in adults with and without ADHD. Participants were asked to complete self-report measures of ADHD symptoms and computerized cognitive tasks assessing verbal memory, working memory, and response inhibition, while wearing headphones that broadcast white noise, during half of each task, or no sound, during the other half of each task. A repeated-measures MANOVA analysis indicated that there was no main effect of noise and no significant interaction of diagnostic status and noise on scores, suggesting white noise did not facilitate selective attention. Implications and limitations are discussed

Examining Patterns of Executive Functioning Across Dimensions of Psychopathology

Executive functioning is a multifaceted collection of higher-order cognitive processes used to perform goal-oriented tasks. Although this construct is heavily researched, a major issue regarding the current literature stems from the influence of task impurity, which interferes with how executive functioning performance is interpreted. Additionally, while executive functioning has been previously explored in clinical populations, less work has evaluated this topic measuring dimensional psychopathology. The present study sought to examine the role of executive functioning, as it relates to dimensional psychopathology. Data was analyzed from a total of 731 individuals between the age of 18-59 years who took part in the Nathan Kline Institute (NKI)-Rockland project. A three-factor model of executive functioning (i.e., inhibition, shifting, and fluency) proposed by Karr et al. (2018) using scores primarily from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) and an original three-factor model of dimensional psychopathology (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and thought disorder symptoms) using the Adult Self-Report (ASR) and Peter’s et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI) were constructed with confirmatory factor analyses and then compared using structural equation modeling. Results supported both three-factor models as having adequate fit for this sample and indicated that internalizing and externalizing psychopathology had positive and negative relationships with different factors of executive functioning, while thought disorders traits were not related to executive functioning. Implications for future work are discussed

Examining instructional decisions of highly-regarded secondary teachers enacting a curriculum aligned to state standards

Despite firm knowledge of the instructional actions taken by skillful teachers, the evidence of persistently low levels of literacy achievement among urban secondary students underscores the complexity of achieving meaningful change in routine teaching practices. This study was motivated by the need to improve teaching practices and improve literacy achievement among Black and Latino youth. In this mixed-methods study, I researched the extent to which the understandings about effective instruction guided the instruction of two highly-regarded secondary English language arts classroom teachers. The data for this study included initial teacher interviews, videos of classroom observations, teacher and researcher reflections of practice, and teacher retrospective interviews. The analyses included identifying, analyzing, and classifying: (1) the occurrence of explicit instruction of reading strategies, development of requisite background knowledge, culturally responsive pedagogy, and disciplinary literacy in English language arts secondary classrooms, (2) the types of decisions teachers make related to these factors when enacting a standards-based curriculum, and (3) how these decisions affect student achievement. The analyses led to two major findings: (1) both teachers modified the new standards-based language arts curriculum, but in varied ways and for substantially different reasons; and (2) the students whose instruction included the use of research-based strategies to access and build requisite background knowledge along with disciplinary literacy strategies made significant gains in reading achievement. The overall results of this study confirm and expand the existing literature in several ways: (1) by calling attention to how curricular modifications related to the development of requisite background knowledge and instruction in disciplinary literacy strategies serve to facilitate students’ access to complex texts; (2) by identifying some of the reasons for and obstacles to curricular modification for particular teachers in particular contexts; and (3) by providing preliminary evidence of positive reading outcomes for Black and Latino students who read complex texts in classrooms in which teachers emphasize disciplinary literacy practices, development of requisite background knowledge, and explicit instruction in comprehension strategies

It Takes an Instigator, Vision and Passion, Promoting Health In Haiti: Developing a Partnership Between an Impoverished Nation and an NGO to Develop Advanced Practice Nursing Education, A Case Study

Four nurse educators went to Haiti after the 2012 earthquake to help rebuild the School of Nursing in Port-au-Prince. They were alarmed by the low level of health care in Haiti. Most people have no care, and those that do are treated by nurses who are not trained to do so. This article details the steps the nurses went through to start a family nurse practitioner program in Haiti to address the need for primary care and discusses how they created the partnerships necessary to start such an innovative program at the University of Haiti

Lonesum (0,1)-matrices and poly-Bernoulli numbers of negative index

This thesis shows that the number of (0,1)-matrices with n rows and k columns uniquely reconstructible from their row and column sums are the poly-Bernoulli numbers of negative index, B[subscript n superscript ( -k)] . Two proofs of this main theorem are presented giving a combinatorial bijection between two poly-Bernoulli formula found in the literature. Next, some connections to Fermat are proved showing that for a positive integer n and prime number p B[subscript n superscript ( -p) congruent 2 superscript n (mod p),] and that for all positive integers (x, y, z, n) greater than two there exist no solutions to the equation: B[subscript x superscript ( -n)] + B[subscript y superscript ( -n)] = B[subscript z superscript ( -n)]. In addition directed graphs with sum reconstructible adjacency matrices are surveyed, and enumerations of similar (0,1)-matrix sets are given as an appendix

Inclusion of African American Vernacular English in the classroom

A plethora of research exists citing the poor academic performance of African American children in this country (D\u27Angiulli, Siegel, & Maggi, 2004; Labov, 1971, 1995; Miranda, Webb, Brigman, & Peluso, 2007). A large amount of the research is specific to reading deficits identified with African American students. Students who are successful readers are also successful in the other content areas. Lytel and Botel (1990) along with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE, 2009) contend that literacy encompasses reading, writing, speaking, and understanding. They go further to say that if one is to acquire these skills, learning has to be relevant. Sword and Wheeler (2004) contend that the traditional pedagogical practices create barriers for the child who struggles to learn mainstream American English as these methods are exclusionary and say his language is error-filled or incorrect. If teachers are to be effective in the classroom, they must create a way to overcome these linguistic barriers. A welcoming culture is crucial to the promotion of human learning, and only when we invite the whole child into our classroom will we be contributing to this element of school culture (Barth, 2002). When we include the students\u27 home language we are including his culture thereby helping him make meaning from and connect to the instruction. To include African American Vernacular English in the classroom validates the language and culture of those students who possess it as their primary language. Additionally, to include African American Vernacular can provide teachers with the tool they need to be more effective

Reforming the Laws and Practice of Diplomatic Immunity

As a result of public criticism and increasingly strained relations between diplomatic communities and local communities, Congress recently enacted legislation that dramatically changes United States diplomatic immunity law. This legislation eliminates the complete immunity from criminal and civil law proceedings that was afforded most foreign diplomats and their staffs, and establishes the rules of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as the measure of diplomatic immunity in the United States. This article will examine the theoretical justification for diplomatic immunity and its application in the United States. The manner in which the recently enacted legislation alters United States diplomatic immunity law, as well as the reasoning and possible impact of such law reform, also will be discussed