This thesis focuses on the ways in which theoretical models based in rhetorical studies can be used to enhance both the understanding and the practice of communication. In particular, my project shows that rhetoric and communication theory can provide a foundation for improving communication practice. <p>Every communicative act takes place within a context, as Lloyd F. Bitzer established. This same understanding of the centrality of situation to communicative effectiveness permeates the work of several other theorists whose work is discussed in this thesis, among them Wayne C. Booth, Kenneth Burke, George L. Dillon, Barnett Baskerville, and Donald Schon. <p>Using Bitzers conception of the rhetorical situation as the theoretical focus, two main concerns are addressed in the thesis: the relationship between rhetoric and the practice of technical communication, and the integration of theory and practice as the foundation of rhetorical understanding. The first three chapters present a series of theoretical models, and the practical use of this theory is tested by an exercise in writing a public speaking handbook for engineering undergraduates (presented as Chapter Four of the thesis). The audience for this handbook is specific and the purpose is narrow to give advice on preparing, practising, and presenting design presentations to professors and clients. This experiment is then followed by a reflection on the writing process and some conclusions about the relationship between rhetorical theory and communicative practice.<p> The key result of this research and case study is a deepened understanding of how rhetoric operates or how it should be studied. As a rhetorician, I found it discouraging even at times humiliating to discover how much difficulty I had in adapting my discourse to a specific audience. This research makes clear that an understanding of theory without a solid grounding in practice is insufficient for rhetorical mastery. While my original goal was to demonstrate the usefulness of theory to improving practice, this thesis shows as well the extent to which rhetorical theory also depends on an understanding of the demands and constraints of actual practice.

In this paper we analyze development problems and tendencies of virtual education. Separately it’s emphasized the situation with distance education (DE) in Lithuania. The structure, principles and facilities of LieDM network are briefly described. In the first part of the paper main attention is paid to the technological aspect. Examples of different methodologies are overviewed as well as existing norms and standards. In detail we overview the requirements of recorded video presentations and solutions using different media formats and software products. In the second part the specific situation of DE application in Klaipeda University is analyzed. We make the requirement specification and the description of application area. Finally we make a design of the virtual learning management system using procedures of system engineering.

Using presentations in an m-Learning environment enables delivery of rich content to a mobile phone learner. This study investigated how to prepare and stream presentations from a desktop computer to a mobile phone in near-realtime. It also addressed communication between users using interactive text chat in the same environment. Our analysis of text/podcast-based m-Learning applications revealed limited interactivity and lack of diversity in content streamed. To address this, we developed a mobile-based application that uses a task-timer model to synchronize with a server every n units of time to enable near-realtime streaming of presentation slides between mobile and desktop users. The application included text-based instant messenger. Laboratory experiments investigated the use OpenOffice and PowerPoint presentations and techniques used to convert these presentations into mobile phone compatible formats. Experiments were carried out with smart mobile phones running on a third generation cellular network. We employed transaction-logging techniques in addition to automated image analysis techniques to observe and record data. Analysis of the results revealed using presentations enabled more rich content than text-based models such as short message service-based frameworks and podcasts. Although m-Learning is not yet widely adopted, applications such as the one developed in the study offer high hopes for m-Learning because of the use of rich content and interactivity between users.

The work of mathematical giants, such as Lobachevsky, Gauss, Riemann, Klein and Poincaré, to name a few, lies at the foundation of the study of the highly structured Riemann surfaces, which allow definition of holomorphic maps, corresponding to analytic maps in the theory of complex analysis. A topological result of Poincaré states that every path-connected Riemann surface can be realised by a construction of identifying congruent points in the complex plane, the Riemann sphere or the hyperbolic plane; just three simply connected surfaces that cover the underlying Riemann surface. This requires the discontinuous action of a discrete subgroup of the automorphisms of the corresponding space. In the hyperbolic plane, which is the richest source for Riemann surfaces, these groups are called Fuchsian, and there are several ways to study the action of such groups geometrically by computing fundamental domains. What is accomplished in this thesis is a combination of the methods found by Reidemeister &amp; Schreier, Singerman and Voight, and thus provides a unified way of finding Dirichlet domains for subgroups of cofinite groups with a given index. Several examples are considered in-depth.

Masters of Science / Using presentations in an m-Learning environment enables delivery of rich content to a mobile phone learner. This study investigated how to prepare and stream presentations from a desktop computer to a mobile phone in near-realtime. It also addressed communication between users using interactive text chat in the same environment. Our analysis of text/podcast-based m-Learning applications revealed limited interactivity and lack of diversity in content streamed. To address this, we developed a mobile-based application that uses a task-timer model to synchronize with a server every n units of time to enable near-real time streaming of presentation slides between mobile and desktop users. The application included text-based instant messenger. Laboratory experiments investigated the use Open Office and PowerPoint presentations and techniques used to convert these presentations into mobile phone compatible formats. Experiments were carried out with smart mobile phones running on a third generation cellular network. We employed transaction-logging techniques in addition to automated image analysis techniques to observe and record data. Analysis of the results revealed using presentations enabled more rich content than text-based models such as short message service-based frameworks and podcasts. Although m-Learning is not yet widely adopted, applications such as the one developed in the study offer high hopes for m-Learning because of the use of rich content and interactivity between users. / South Africa

Despite the upsurge in fact-based and verbatim theatre in recent years (Fogarth and Megson 2009: 1), engagement with the form as a technique equally suitable for poetry has been especially limited. This thesis examines the deployment of verbatim methods in a series of poems which constitute the creative element, written in order to (re)present expressions of identity and ideas of imagined community during the 2011 riots in Birmingham. Located in the context of this particular disorder, United We Stand explores both individual and group experiences of the events that took place in Birmingham. The series of verbatim poems draws on data extracted from 25 semi-structured, life-story interviews with participants who lived or worked in the city during these incidents. In doing so, both the thesis and the creative practice that informs it critique Benedict Anderson s earlier model of the nation as an imagined community (1983; 1991; 2006). While quantitative network analysis is deployed to establish the ties between media channels and ordinary citizens that were maintained online through social networking, creative and reported responses published by these same media sources are analysed in relation to national narrative conventions (Billig 2001; Mihelj 2011). This demonstrates that new and popular media played a significant role in (re)presenting imagined communities in this setting. By providing evidence for the existence of these shifting imagined communities across various geographical, social and cultural scales, the thesis suggests that Anderson s decision to focus on the nation is problematic. It argues that his framework is partial and that a new definition of imagined community as both fluid and emergent is necessary. Literary context for the thesis is found in the origins and developments of verbatim; exploring early documentary theatre practice and contemporary verbatim productions by Richard Norton-Taylor, Alecky Blythe, and Gillian Slovo. Through an analysis of Bhanu Kapil Rider s The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers (2001), the thesis illustrates how existing poets have organised comparable methods in their own work. This culminates in a demonstration of practice as research by producing a ground-breaking body of work: United We Stand is a series of poems crafted through the deployment of verbatim methods. The thesis demonstrates that deploying verbatim methods in poetry is suitable for (re)presenting expressions of identity and ideas of imagined community in this context. By transforming the voices of ordinary people of Birmingham, United We Stand reflects the media narratives that precede it: the poems are a direct engagement with the same fluid and emergent imagined communities that they argue existed. More importantly, though, this thesis goes beyond contemporary techniques of verbatim and establishes the evolutionary nature of it as a poetic practice. The combination of verbatim methods and visual-digital tools that I deploy throughout United We Stand results in a new creative process which I have termed Digital Poetic Mimesis.

This diploma thesis is dealing with the presentation of technical topic The usage of digital technologies from the educational program The human being and the work-world a with the didactical elaboration of this topic, specific to the theoretical section of Peripheral equipment of the PC and Digital camera. In the theoretical part of this thesis is written the characteristics of the educational program The human being and work-world and didactical technique needed to this topic. Next part is about how to use the PC at schools, and how to include the presentations to the education in light of the concept called Users conception of technical subjects{\crq} education. In the practical part of this thesis I try to suggest the detailed topics of Peripheral equipment of the PC and Digital camera education. The presentations were created to all theoretical knowledge and next step was the each topic methodology elaboration. The methodology was created to be able to suggest various kind of pupils{\crq} work and various educational tools. The thesis also contains the practical attestation of this suggest at basic school. This thesis provides the instruction, how to educate the topic The digital technologies usage especially for the technical education students.

Background: Psychiatric inpatient staff members work with arguably the most challenging service users. However, reference to these challenges often does not go beyond ‘challenging behaviour’, offering no insight into the actual presentation, thus preventing formulation of the perceived challenges, or subsequent interventions. Moreover, studies have shown that staff responses to challenging presentations can impact on both the staff member and the service user. In particular, staff causal attributions have been shown to impact on their therapeutic response (Apel & Bar-Tal, 1996), as well as being associated with staff emotions (Colson et al., 1987). In turn, the emotional response has been found to be associated with coping, both of which have also been found to effect staff behavioural response, as well as staff members’ psychological well-being (Wykes & Whittington, 1998). However, there have been limited studies assessing these relationships with psychiatric inpatient staff. This may be due to the lack of assessment tools developed for this staff group to measure these particular domains. A specifically designed tool would enable consistent assessment to take place to build on our theoretical knowledge of psychiatric inpatient staff members’ perceived challenges, and their responses to them, as well as highlight specific areas within these domains where further staff training and support is required. Aims: The first aim of the study was to explore psychiatric staff’s views on the challenges they faced when working with service users in inpatient settings, their emotional responses, attributions, and coping strategies about those challenges and then to develop a measure which would accurately capture these (the SEACCS). The second aim was to assess the reliability of the new scale as well as explore relationships within the SEACCS. Finally, the third aim was to assess content and face validity, as well as conduct preliminary psychometric investigations of the construct validity of the newly developed measure. Method: The study was conducted using various methods across three phases. In order to generate items for the SEACCS, a systematic review of the relevant literature and semi-structured interviews took place during the first phase. Secondly, the results of Phase I were combined in order to develop and construct the SEACCS. The third phase involved a postal survey of the SEACCS (including re-test), followed by psychometric investigations to scrutinise the items, explore the reliability, and construct validity of the SEACCS.Results: Twenty three studies were included in the systematic review. The results highlighted inconsistent measurement and findings of the domains concerned. Seven multi-disciplinary staff interviews took place. Thematic analysis was used to conduct four separate analyses focusing on each of the research questions. Several themes and sub-themes were found. Themes such as: ‘Engagement’, ‘Attributions of controllability’, and ‘Behavioural responses’. Findings from the review, thematic analyses, and consultation groups (content and face validity) were combined in order to develop the 64 item SEACCS. A total of 76 multi-disciplinary psychiatric inpatient staff members completed the SEACCS, 15 of which completed re-tests. No items were removed following item scrutiny assessments. Preliminary psychometric investigations indicated good reliability, significant relationships across domains within the SEACCS, and partial construct validity with the GHQ-28.Conclusion: The results of the current study provide the first step in the development and construction of a clinically relevant tool that can be used to assess these domains. The methodological limitations and clinical implications are considered, and future directions for research in this area are suggested.

The aim of this study is to elucidate how a number of pupils in grade four experience the Storyline working method and its influence on their perception of oral presentations to the class. The main method used in the study was qualitative interviews. A questionnaire was administered in order to elicit the views of the whole class about Storyline and about talking in front of others, and in order to see which pupils were suitable to interview. The selection consisted of twenty-two pupils in grade, six of whom were interviewed.  The result showed that Storyline was appreciated by the pupils, who found the method interesting, engaging, and a positive factor in making the teaching meaningful. The Storyline method has been shown in this study to make it easier for pupils who otherwise find it difficult to talk in front of the class. According to the respondents, this is due to group presentations, visualizations, and the fact that the pupils are not forced to talk about their own lives and experiences. The pupils have fun and are inquisitive, which is a key factor in all teaching.

Preliminary studies have stirred the hope that sound-field stimulation through auditory steady state evoked potentials can be used to assess aided thresholds in the difficult-to-test population. Before the introduction of ASSEP into the clinical field, as a technique for the prediction of aided thresholds in the difficult-to-test population, a question arises concerning its clinical validation. The application of ASSEP through sound field stimulation, in the determination of aided thresholds and for the evaluation of amplification fittings, is dependent on the determination of unaided responses. Subsequently the estimation of unaided thresholds in the hearing impaired population is dependent on the establishment of normative data from the normal hearing population. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of insert earphones and sound field speaker presentation on threshold estimations using monotic auditory steady state evoked potentials, in a group of normal hearing adults. To achieve the aim of the study, a comparative, within-group experimental design was selected. The results of the current study indicated that the monotic single ASSEP technique under both insert earphone- and sound field conditions provided a reasonable estimation (25-35 dB HL for inset earphones; 20-33 dB HL for sound field speaker presentation) of the behavioural pure tone thresholds. The minimum response levels obtained under insert earphone conditions differed significantly from those obtained under sound field conditions for all the frequencies tested except 2 kHz (p < 0.01). Subsequently, the current study indicates that minimum response levels obtained using a specific transducer should serve as the basis of comparison with behavioural thresholds obtained under the same transducer. Therefore, behavioural pure tone thresholds obtained under insert earphone conditions will not suffice as a basis of comparison for minimum response levels obtained for the ASSEP technique under sound field conditions, and vice versa. This research endeavour concluded that the monotic ASSEP technique under both insert earphone and sound field conditions provide useful information for the estimation of frequency specific thresholds, but that the results are transducer specific and that comparison across transducers should be avoided. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / Unrestricted