Enhancing teaching and learning through dialogue: a student and staff partnership model

This paper explores a model for developing student and staff partnerships to enhance the quality of teaching and learning and situates the model in literature on student engagement. The model enables staff and students to step outside their normal roles and the traditional student-teacher relationship into a less pre-defined mode of interaction and liminal space where conversations about teaching and learning can take place. At the most transformative, this model enables academic staff to get a sense of learner perspectives and to view students as partners and collaborators while students develop insights into the perspectives of staff. The authors argue that the model represents an innovative approach to engaging students in a meaningful way in enhancing teaching and learning and has the potential to reframe the student-teacher relationship into a more collaborative one that goes beyond listening to students

LMDA Review, volume 12, issue 1

Contents include: Re-Viewing Denver, University & Student Caucus, Keynote Ashara Ekundayo, Denver Theatre Artists on Local Theatre Ecology, Workshop Sessions Round 1: Dramaturgy & Architecture, Dramaturgical Voices Inside the Theatre, Dramaturgy/Making a Life, Workshop Sessions Round 2: New Play Festivals, Dramaturgical Voices Outside the Theatre, Educational Theatre, TheatreFest Playwrights, Advocacy, Elliott Hayes Award Winner Judith Rudakoff, and Regional VP Update.https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdareview/1024/thumbnail.jp

Review: The Newsletter of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, volume 11, issue 3

Contents include: Section I: Re-Viewing Denver; The Conference in Detail; Dramaturgical Voices Outside the Theatre; Section II: Articles & Announcements. Issue editor: Gretchen Haleyhttps://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdareview/1048/thumbnail.jp

Review: The Newsletter of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, volume 16, issue 2

Contents include: Driving, LMDA Conference 2006: Think Dramaturgically, Act Locally, Words of Welcome from the Conference Committee, Developing a Sense of Community: Reflections on the Balance of a Community Engagement and Artistic Integrity while Creating a Dramaturg-Driven Documentary Play, In Print: The Seattle Public Library Introduction, The Seattle Public Library: A Conversation, Dramaturgy as Catalyst: A Rockies Dramaturg Driven Project, and American Playwrights and Playwriting. Issue editors: D.J. Hopkins, Shelley Orr, Madeleine Oldhamhttps://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdareview/1033/thumbnail.jp

Review: The Newsletter of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, volume 15, issue 2

Contents include: Shopping=Theatre: Re-Staging Retail in NYC, LMDA\u27s Prez On Our Upcoming Extravaganza in the Lone Star State, Confessions of an Early Career Dramaturg, Dramablog, Dramaturging Education, Educating Dramturgs, Henier Muller on 42nd Street, LMDA\u27s Dramaturg Driven Project Gets Under Way, LMDA Regional Updates Issue editors: D.J. Hopkins, Shelley Orr, Megan Monaghan, Madeleine Oldhamhttps://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdareview/1031/thumbnail.jp

Is there sufficient Ensifer and Rhizobium species diversity in UK farmland soils to support red clover (Trifolium pratense), white clover (T. repens), lucerne (Medicago sativa) and black medic (M. lupulina)?

Rhizobia play important roles in agriculture owing to their ability to fix nitrogen through a symbiosis with legumes. The specificity of rhizobia-legume associations means that underused legume species may depend on seed inoculation with their rhizobial partners. For black medic (Medicago lupulina) and lucerne (Medicago sativa) little is known about the natural prevalence of their rhizobial partner Ensifer meliloti in UK soils, so that the need for inoculating them is unclear. We analysed the site-dependence of rhizobial seed inoculation effects on the subsequent ability of rhizobial communities to form symbioses with four legume species (Medicago lupulina, M. sativa, Trifolium repens and T. pratense). At ten organic farms across the UK, a species-diverse legume based mixture (LBM) which included these four species was grown. The LBM seed was inoculated with a mix of commercial inocula specific for clover and lucerne. At each site, soil from the LBM treatment was compared to the soil sampled prior to the sowing of the LBM (the control). From each site and each of the two treatments, a suspension of soils was applied to seedlings of the four legume species and grown in axenic conditions for six weeks. Root nodules were counted and their rhizobia isolated. PCR and sequencing of a fragment of the gyrB gene from rhizobial isolates allowed identification of strains. The number of nodules on each of the four legume species was significantly increased when inoculated with soil from the LBM treatment compared to the control. Both the proportion of plants forming nodules and the number of nodules formed varied significantly by site, with sites significantly affecting the Medicago species but not the Trifolium species. These differences in nodulation were broadly reflected in plant biomass where site and treatment interacted; at some sites there was a significant advantage from inoculation with the commercial inoculum but not at others. In particular, this study has demonstrated the commercial merit of inoculation of lucerne with compatible rhizobia

Noble Metal Nanoparticles for Biosensing Applications

In the last decade the use of nanomaterials has been having a great impact in biosensing. In particular, the unique properties of noble metal nanoparticles have allowed for the development of new biosensing platforms with enhanced capabilities in the specific detection of bioanalytes. Noble metal nanoparticles show unique physicochemical properties (such as ease of functionalization via simple chemistry and high surface-to-volume ratios) that allied with their unique spectral and optical properties have prompted the development of a plethora of biosensing platforms. Additionally, they also provide an additional or enhanced layer of application for commonly used techniques, such as fluorescence, infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Herein we review the use of noble metal nanoparticles for biosensing strategies—from synthesis and functionalization to integration in molecular diagnostics platforms, with special focus on those that have made their way into the diagnostics laboratory