In training programs designed to help immigrant women adapt to Canada, drop-out rates are frequently high and attendance is often low. Investigating some reasons behind this observation was the motivation for this thesis. A literature review revealed that curricula used in existing programs are often developed from experts' understanding of immigrants' needs; research on immigrant women's curricular needs as perceived by themselves is virtually nonexistent. An objective of this thesis was to address this knowledge gap. This study inquired into what curricular needs immigrant women have, how these needs differ, and what relationship exists between the women's backgrounds and their curricular needs. A questionnaire was developed and validated by an expert panel, and then administered to graduates from an orientational training program. Post-survey interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), factor analysis, and linear discriminant analysis. It was found that the program, although well received, did not reflect the curricular needs perceived by the immigrant women themselves. Life skills instruction was unwanted by many students while English and computer lessons were in demand. A desire to regain higherquality jobs partially explained the women's curricular needs. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This thesis is a design for Puccini's opera, La Boheme, which I have set in the 1890’s instead of the l830's in which Puccini originally set it. The main reason for this period change is based on the fact that the music, the spirit, and the characters themselves, seem to fit naturally and appropriately into the glitter, the charm, and the artistic mood of the "gay nineties". I have set the opera on the Metropolitan Opera House stage, and have included-photographs of the half-inch scale model constructed for this purpose. The actual settings are simple, suggesting only the basic architectural necessities, in order to allow the background - a system of projection screens and mirrors, to predominate and filter through the action constantly. In designing the costumes, I have adhered closely to the silhouette of the 1890's, exaggerating, simplifying, or emphasizing particular elements in order to heighten their dramatic effect. I have assigned specific, restricted colour schemes to the characters which I considered appropriate and in character. Although I did not rely entirely on artistic works, the majority of the research into the period is centred around the paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, and Utrillo, as well as the lithographs and posters of Lautrec, Cheret, and other turn-of-the-century artists. The thesis also includes technical drawings and a lighting layout, section, and instrument schedule. Generally speaking, charm, simplicity, and a romantic mood, are the qualities for which I strove in the design of the opera. / Arts, Faculty of / Theatre and Film, Department of / Graduate

It is widely acknowledged that without volunteer guides, or docents, most museums and galleries would find it impossible to offer education programmes as they are known today. Docents work in the critical interface between visitors and works of art, yet often they are viewed as being passive, and often ineffective, transmitters of the gallery's educational message. The literature on gallery education emphasizes docent "management", or the methods used to recruit, train, and supervise docents. But gallery staff must consider the docent’s beliefs, values, and viewpoints about art, and about education, for improvement of education programmes to occur. This study describes, and analyzes, the docent’s perspective of gallery education programmes, and the extent to which docents are actively engaged in the ongoing process of learning to help others learn. In order to obtain their perspective, six docents in two art galleries were engaged in long, semi-structured, and repeated interviews. These interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. Categories derived from the teacher's practical knowledge, such as subject, curriculum, instruction, self, and milieu, were used as a framework to describe and analyze the docent's practical knowledge. It was found that though the docents did indeed hold a coherent body of knowledge that originates in their practice, their theoretical knowledge of art was often an inadequate base on which to build an interpretation of the gallery's exhibitions. Differences were found in the educational goals of the gallery, and between the institution, and the docent’s educational values and purposes. Educators need to be aware or the shifting, complex, and sometimes paradoxical nature of the docent’s role. The docent’s perspective must be considered in the successful planning and implementation of education programmes. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

It is generally accepted that interpretation plays a significant role in tourism. It can help to enrich visitors’ experience and their cultural and environmental knowledge so that empathy towards conservation, heritage and culture can develop. However, there is a concern that much of the interpretation practised by the tourism industry is of poor quality. Its significance in ecotourism, cultural tourism, wildlife tourism, heritage and adventure tourism, and the concern about its quality gives rise to the need to examine how effective guides are in its delivery, what makes guides effective or ineffective and what continuing education and training they require for effective interpretive delivery. It is against this background that this study was done in order to investigate the interpretive effectiveness of tour guides in South African national parks. The overall purpose of the study was to design a model for effective interpretation for tour guides operating in South African national parks. To accomplish this, an in-depth literature review was done, followed by an empirical investigation. From the literature, the concept of environmental and cultural interpretation was analysed and the constructs that form the theoretical framework for measuring interpretation identified. A conceptual model was formulated that indicates that the effectiveness of tour guides is related to park policies; knowledge and appropriate application of interpretive delivery techniques; management support, evaluation and tourists’ feedback. A mixed method research design was employed, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. In-depth interviews were conducted with nominated officials in the parks to solicit their views on what they perceive as critical issues in the delivery of effective interpretation. Tour guides were surveyed to determine their perceptions of problems with interpretive delivery techniques and their continuing education and training needs in regard to interpretive delivery techniques. Tourists were surveyed to determine their perceptions about their general satisfaction as attributed to interpretation, and the extent to which tour guides applied the interpretive delivery techniques during interpretation. Purposive sampling and convenience sampling techniques were used in this study. Data analysis on the qualitative interviews was done by summarising the content and categorising the statements made by the officials from certain which conclusions could be drawn. These interviews generated certain constructs and variables which were included in the survey instrument. Critical factors for effective interpretation, according to officials, were identified. These included communication skills, continuing education and training, knowledge of the area and a passion for the task. Quantitative data was analysed by ranking those factors which proved to be most problematic in effective interpretive delivery, the most important of which is addressing tourists by their names, using the five senses to enhance the experience, gaining the attention of the tourists, encouraging participation of tourists and presenting the content in a simple manner. Tour guides generally did not rate delivery techniques as being “serious” problems. It was taken into account that tour guides may be reluctant to state the level of a perceived problem in applying effective delivery techniques and to overcome this limitation, questions relating to the need for training in the same delivery techniques were included in the questionnaire. The results indicated a higher level of the need for training than the level of the perceived problem. Tourists were generally satisfied with the tour guides’ interpretation although only a few were not satisfied with the interpretation of tour guides. However, to ensure sustainability, there is a need for continuing education and training in interpretive delivery techniques and interpretive content for tour guides. This study makes a valuable contribution in regard to tourism, in both the academic and the professional (interpretive guiding) spheres. It provides clear guidelines for national parks to improve the quality of the visitor’s experience and should contribute to the achievement of the goals of sustainability. It provides information that will assist officials in the national parks and those who provide professional development training for guides to better understand guides’ need for further training skills in interpretation in South Africa, an issue which has not been adequately researched in this country. The study produced a model that could enhance interpretive delivery techniques of tour guides in South African national parks. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Tourism Management / unrestricted

Orientador: Cláudio Kitano / Co-orientador: Luis Elvira Segura / Banca: Aparecido Augusto de Carvalho / Banca: Ricardo Toquio Higuti / Banca: Flávio Buiochi / Banca: Nicolás Leoardo Pérez Alvarez / Resumo: O estudo da interação de ondas elásticas em sólidos imersos em um fluido tem sido reconhe- cido como um meio viável para caracterização de líquidos. As ondas guiadas em estruturas tipo placa possuem a característica de serem multimodais e dispersivas. Estas características introduzem mais informação ao processo de medição, além de tornar a análise teórica e a inter- pretação física dos resultados experimentais mais envolventes. Quando a placa está em contato com o fluido, há uma forte atenuação devido às ondas de fuga e perdas viscosas no fluido. Esta característica pode ser explorada para a caracterização de líquidos, devido à alta sensibilidade associada à interação entre a onda e o fluido. Pensando nesta particularidade estudou-se o modo quase Scholte, que é um tipo de onda de interface cuja energia está confinada perto da região da superfície da placa. A análise deste modo propagante é uma alternativa atraente para se determinar a velocidade volumétrica longitudinal e a atenuação no líquido, o que proporciona valiosas informações sobre as propriedades do fluido. Neste trabalho, as ondas guiadas (mo- dos de Lamb e quase Scholte) são teoricamente descritas por um sistema de equações obtido do modelamento de uma placa sólida homogênea em contato com um fluido viscoso, o qual é descrito usando a equação de Navier-Stokes. As curvas de dispersão e atenuação das ondas de Lamb e do modo quase Scholte são obtidos numericamente como soluções das equações carac- terísticas. Experimentos foram realizados visando mensurar a velocidade de fase e a atenuação para os modos de Lamb e quase Scholte, mostrando a existência de bandas de frequências de baixa atenuação. Estas medições foram obtidas usando transdutores longitudinais de banda larga acoplados a prismas de acrílico, excitados com pulsos senoidais e posteriormente analisa- dos em tempo-frequência / Abstract: The study of the interaction of elastic waves in solids immersed in a fluid has been recognized as a suitable method for fluid characterization. Guided waves in plate-like structures, are mul- timodal and dispersive. These characteristics provides more information in the measurement process. In addition, the theoretical analysis and physical interpretation of the experimental results become more involved. When the plate is in contact with a fluid, there is strong attenu- ation due to Leaky waves and viscous losses in the fluid. This characteristic can be explored for the fluid characterization, due to the high sensitivity associated to the interaction between the wave and fluid. From this feature a study about the quasi-Scholte mode was done, which is a kind of interface wave and its wave energy in the fluid is confined in the region close to the surface of the plate. The analysis of this propagating mode is an attractive alternative to determine the bulk longitudinal velocity and attenuation in the liquid, which provide valuable information about the liquid properties. In this work, guided waves (Lamb and quasi-Scholte modes) are theoretically described by a system of equations obtained by modeling a homo- genous solid plate in contact with a viscous fluid, which is modeled using the Navier-Stokes equation. The dispersion and attenuation curves of Lamb waves and quasi Scholte mode are numerically calculated from the characteristic equations. Experimental measurements were conducted in order to obtain the phase velocity and attenuation for the Lamb waves and quasi Scholte mode showing the existence of low attenuation frequencies bands. These measurements were obtained by using longitudinal wide band transducers coupled to acrylic wedges, excited with senoidal pulses and then time-frequency analysed. In order to evaluate the potential use of this result in NDT applications ultrasonic images were also ... / Doutor

According to the PEW Internet Project’s December 2007 survey, on a typical day 73% of young adults (age18-29) use their cell phone or PDA. An informal survey of 150 East Tennessee State University students indicated they would be highly likely to use a handheld device to access course materials or library related information. Dovetailing with our student population’s desire to use their Blackberries, IPODs, and other handheld devices, the ETSU Library decided to adapt its library guides to work in the mobile handheld environment. The library uses LibGuides, an application for producing webpages, which are linked to ETSU’s online course management system Desire2Learn (D2L). A link to the library homepage already exists on every D2L course site. The decision to go mobile not only determines the content but how a librarian customizes a subject guide to be embedded in a course’s D2L site, builds subject guides for the library’s webpages, or produces individual guides for researchers. These mobile subject guides include text and links to online materials such as the online catalog, e-books, databases, Internet sites, bibliographic style guides, and advice on database selection. Librarians have to be prepared to tailor subject guides based on the capacity of the devises currently being used by their clients; one size doesn’t fit all.

A novel design for a DC excited cw C02 metal waveguide laser has been developed in which a slotted hollow-cathode in a transverse discharge also doubles as a metal waveguide. This design has been implemented in a compact design that produces up to 1 watt of cw, 10.6 μm radiation. The discharge characteristics, laser gain and laser output has been studied as functions of various discharge parameters. The advantages of the new transverse discharge of the slotted hollow cathode geometry include low voltage, positive impedence and high optical gain. Overall efficiency is comparable with those of conventional longitudinal CO2 lasers. The output laser modes were very clean low order Gaussian modes.

Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) uses photoelectrons excited from material surfaces by incident photons to probe the interaction of light with surfaces with nanometer-scale resolution. The point resolution of PEEM images is strongly limited by spherical and chromatic aberration. Image aberrations primarily originate from the acceleration of photoelectrons and imaging with the objective lens and vary strongly in magnitude with specimen emission characteristics. Spherical and chromatic aberration can be corrected with an electrostatic mirror, and here I develop a triode mirror with hyperbolic geometry that has two adjacent, field-adjustable regions. I present analytic and numerical models of the mirror and show that the optical properties agree to within a few percent. When this mirror is coupled with an electron lens, it can provide a large dynamic range of correction and the coefficients of spherical and chromatic aberration can be varied independently. I report on efforts to realize a triode mirror corrector, including design, characterization, and alignment in our microscope at Portland State University (PSU). PEEM may be used to investigate optically active nanostructures, and we show that photoelectron emission yields can be identified with diffraction, surface plasmons, and dielectric waveguiding. Furthermore, we find that photoelectron micrographs of nanostructured metal and dielectric structures correlate with electromagnetic field calculations. We conclude that photoemission is highly spatially sensitive to the electromagnetic field intensity, allowing the direct visualization of the interaction of light with material surfaces at nanometer scales and over a wide range of incident light frequencies.

The equations tor the propagation of Electromagnetic and Optical waves in tapered fibers and metallic waveguides are derived. Solutions are derived for the displacement of the beam from the waveguide axis as a function of distance along the axis, and also tor the beam width as a function of distance. These equations are solved numerically for a variety of tapered guides. Experiments are conducted which verify the theoretical results.

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