No description available.

<p>Communication tools such as text-based instant messaging, voice and video relay services, real-time video chat and mobile SMS and MMS have successfully been used among Deaf people.&nbsp / Several years of field research with a local Deaf community revealed that disadvantaged South African Deaf people preferred to communicate with both Deaf and hearing peers in South African&nbsp / Sign Language as opposed to text. Synchronous video chat and video relay services provided such opportunities. Both types of services are commonly available in developed regions, but not in&nbsp / developing countries like South Africa. This thesis reports on a workaround approach to design and develop an asynchronous video communication tool that adapted synchronous video codecs&nbsp / to store-and-forward video delivery. This novel asynchronous video tool provided high quality South African Sign Language video chat at the expense of some additional latency. Synchronous video&nbsp / codec adaptation consisted of comparing codecs, and choosing one to optimise in order to minimise latency and preserve video quality. Traditional quality of service metrics only addressed real-time video quality and related services. There was no such standard for asynchronous video communication. Therefore, we also enhanced traditional objective video quality&nbsp / metrics with subjective assessment metrics conducted with the local Deaf community.&nbsp / </p>

The teaching and learning of mathematics has presented a great challenge for mathematics educationalists over many decades. Researchers have been searching for new strategies and techniques for improving the understanding of abstract mathematical concepts. With the current changes in the mathematics curriculum in South Africa, it is important to ensure that no learner is left behind in the pursuit to produce mathematically literate learners nationally. Teachers are encouraged to teach a common curriculum so that all learners have equal opportunities of attaining success in a democratic society in any chosen field. Some teachers achieve mathematical success easily while others struggle to achieve similar outcomes. Whilst we acknowledge that teachers ought to emulate the practices of other good teachers, we often do not seek explanations of what makes a teacher effective and how they achieve success in a classroom. As can be conceived, apart from probing teachers’ content knowledge, it is necessary to know how this knowledge can be used for optimal results in the course of teaching within the diverse South African classroom. In other words, it becomes necessary to interrogate the teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge because of the uniqueness of the South African context. It is for this reason that an in-depth study was done to explore Master teachers’ use of visuals as tools within mathematics classrooms. This study focused on six experienced mathematics teachers or Master mathematics teachers. These teachers were selected from six Dinaledi schools located in KwaZulu- Natal. The schools catered for learners from multicultural and multiracial backgrounds. Activity theory was used as a framework to locate the study. Each activity system was interrogated within an interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected using six methods and five research instruments. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2010.

No description available.

No description available.

Investigating the Neural Correlates of Crossmodal Facilitation as a Result of Attentional Cueing: An Event-Related fMRI Study. Degree of Masters of Science, 2008 Zainab Fatima Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto ABSTRACT Attentional cueing modulated neural processes differently depending on input modality. I used event-related fMRI to investigate how auditory and visual cues affected reaction times to auditory and visual targets. Behavioural results showed that responses were faster when: cues appeared first compared to targets and cues were auditory versus visual. The first result was supported by an increase in BOLD percent signal change in sensory cortices upon cue but not target presentation. Task-related activation patterns showed that the auditory cue activated auditory and visual cortices while the visual cue activated the visual cortices and the fronto-polar cortex. Next, I computed brain-behaviour correlations for both cue types which revealed that the auditory cue recruited medial visual areas and a fronto-parietal attentional network to mediate behaviour while the visual cue engaged a posterior network composed of lateral visual areas and subcortical structures. The results suggest that crossmodal facilitation occurs via independent neural pathways depending on cue modality.

During the 1987-88 academic year at Ball State University, it was decided that a series of transparency masters should be produced to support changes occurring in the state's curriculum for industrial technology education. With my interests in instructional material, I felt that this was the year to produce such materials. The instructional benefits to prospective and veteran teachers seem well worth the time and effort.Upon the discussion of changes in the curriculum conclusions as to personal feelings have ranged from panic to delight. Most feelings of panic stemmed from unpreparedness and lack of high quality instructional material. The observation has formed the objective for this creative Project: to use data gathered from Indiana's State Curriculum Guides, recommended textbooks and interviews with high school instructors to design transparency masters for instructional implementation. / Department of Industry & Technology

This creative project is to create a DVD as an interactive tool for Muncie Public Library librarians, introducing the library's environment and promoting programs to local residents. The DVD provides a friendly interface and utilizes the latest technology, such as Quick Time movies, 360° Virtual pictures and animations in introducing the library's facilities and guiding Muncie residents visually around the library. Additionally, the DVD provides a new method instead of a traditional flyer for residents to access the library's services and programs. / Department of Telecommunications

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Chemistry