This thesis presents two deduplication techniques that overcome the following critical and long-standing weaknesses of rule-based deduplication: (1) traditional rule-based deduplication requires significant manual tuning of the individual rules, including the selection of appropriate thresholds; (2) the accuracy of rule-based deduplication degrades when there are missing data values, significantly reducing the efficacy of the expert-defined deduplication rules. The first technique is a novel rule-level match-score fusion algorithm that employs kernel-machine-based learning to discover the decision threshold for the overall system automatically. The second is a novel clue-level match-score fusion algorithm that addresses both Problem 1 and 2. This unique solution provides robustness against missing/incomplete record data via the selection of a best-fit support vector machine. Empirical evidence shows that the combination of these two novel solutions eliminates two critical long-standing problems in deduplication, providing accurate and robust results in a critical area of rule-based deduplication.

Nurse educators are challenged with a new generation of students referred to as the Millennial generation. These millennial students, who have different learning style preferences, are testing the traditional pedagogical methods of nurse educators such as lecture. The social nature of millennial students coincides with the social constructivism theory that students learn in groups. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine if there was an improved retention of knowledge in millennial students who were taught by collaborative learning strategies rather than the traditional lecture method in an associate degree nursing program. Additionally, the study examined if learning by the students' preferred learning style resulted in a higher level of achievement on a comprehensive standardized examination versus learning by a nonpreferred style. The theoretical framework for this study was founded on the social constructivism theory suggesting students build knowledge through social group interactions. The quasi-experimental study was conducted at an associate degree program in the Midwest. The nonprobability purposive sampling was utilized to examine the means of a comprehensive standardized examination and a learning styles preference assessment. The statistical analysis utilizing the analysis of covariance did not produce statistically significant findings in the differences in the comprehensive standardized examination score means between the students taught by the lecture method and students taught by the collaborative method when controlled for the cumulative grade point average. Additionally, the study did not find statistically significant differences in mean comprehensive standardized examination scores when taught by the students' preferred learning style versus being taught by their nonpreferred style. Although not significant, the study did find students who were taught by the collaborative method had higher scores than those who were taught by the lecture method. In addition, learning styles preferences were not significant in determining academic success. The implications of the study are significant to nursing education by highlighting the importance of using collaborative activities and multiple teaching modalities.

This study explored how Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) elicits learners’ reasoning about stoichiometry. The study further explored the perceptions of both teachers and learners over the use of POGIL in the field of stoichiometry. A qualitative case study was carried out at two conveniently and purposely sampled township schools in Pretoria, South Africa. For this purpose, two 11th grade physical sciences classes (N=48) and their respective teachers who were previously trained to teach using POGIL, gave consent to participate in the study. Data were collected using pre-intervention test, post-intervention test and lesson observations, as well as focus group interviews for learners and individual interviews for teachers. All data were coded and analysed with the aid of ATLAS.ti software for qualitative data analysis. The pre-intervention test indicated that the learners lacked reasoning in solving stoichiometry questions. The post-intervention test results indicated that the learners improved their mathematical reasoning and achievement. The findings from the observations indicate that the learners were excited, motivated and actively engaged in their work, assisting one another by endeavouring to answer questions supported with justification. The findings from the focus group interviews indicate that the learners were excited to learn using POGIL and wished to use it in other subjects such as mathematics. The learners anticipated an improvement in their grades and understanding of stoichiometry. The findings from the teachers’ interviews indicated that they too appreciated using POGIL. They found POGIL useful in reducing misconceptions, increasing learner participation, increasing understanding and achievement, and felt that their learners were interested in utilising POGIL as a learning tool. The results indicated that POGIL increased learners’ reasoning, understanding, achievement, active participation, and interest in learning. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / National Research Foundation (NRF) / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / PhD / Unrestricted

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Background: High-fidelity simulation recreates real-life situations in a safe learning environment and encourages critical thinking in students. Published research in simulation in psychiatric/mental health nursing is sparse. Methods: Four scenarios exemplifying drug or alcohol abuse utilizing the computerized, mannequin SimMan® were implemented. Students evaluated their learning experience following completion of the simulation via a 20-item, Likert-scale survey which included open-ended questions. Results: Results were positive. Students rated all items on the survey as “agree” or “strongly agree” (Mean 4.77, SD=0.55). Conclusions: High fidelity clinical education simulations are an effective means of facilitating student learning of psychiatric and mental health clinical experiences. Students found simulation to be a useful and engaging means by which to learn to care for clients with drug or alcohol abuse disorders.

A story is an established method of communicating fact, fiction, parable, and myth from cultural generation to generation. Is it possible to actively engage accounting students with content when the student becomes the storywriter? Can story writing by the student be an effective teaching tool, and should accounting professors consider its use in their classrooms? This archival research seeks to review the literature regarding the value of story writing as a pedagogical tool across academic disciplines in higher education, synthesize the findings of existing research and describe the uses, benefits and difficulties with using story writing in various accountancy classes across the curriculum.

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The need for annotated corpora in a variety of different types of research grows constantly. Unfortunately creating annotated corpora is frequently cost-prohibitive due the number of person-hours required to create the corpus. This project investigates one solution that helps to reduce the cost of creating annotated corpora through the use of a new user interface which includes a specially built framework and component for annotating part-of-speech information and the implementation of a dictionary. This project reports on a user study performed to determine the effect of dictionaries with different levels of coverage on a part-of-speech annotation task. Based on a pilot study with thirty-three participants the analysis shows that a part-of-speech tag dictionary with greater than or equal to 60% coverage helps to improve the time required to complete the part-of-speech annotation task while maintaining high levels of accuracy.