This study identified teaching strategies of successful trombone professors for undergraduate trombone students. Participants were three professors at accredited colleges in the United States who had received international awards in the field of trombone pedagogy. A comprehensive interview instrument was administered to each participant in a multiple case studies research design. From the gathered data, a classical content analysis revealed 79 emergent themes from 375 coded passages, with 45 of the emergent themes being commonalities among the three participants. In addition to specific teaching strategies, three meta-themes emerged from an examination of these commonalities: Product Over Process, Individualized Teaching Approaches, and Raising Student Awareness of Issues. A teaching model of the three professors is presented based upon these meta-themes, and findings and implications of the research are discussed.

The main objective of this research work is to provide a tool to prevent the severe hearing sensitivity to patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience. The key element in our work is to identify commonalities between sounds that bother an ASD patient, and implement a procedure using PC or smartphone as platform - based on those results, which will lead to the prevention of “bothersome” sounds for the ASD sufferer and later to desensitization. To do so, we implemented a first application that evaluates the auditory sound sensitivity of a person, and a second application that determines those factors that are related to hearing sensitivity of the patient, suggest sounds in the preventive process, and proposes use of appropriate sounds in the desensitization process. While the current implementation is a prototype, we are determined to pursue the development at professional level and implemented as very user friendly application, which we hope will become a popular tool used by medical personnel and ASD patients for the identification of an individual’s specific sound sensitivities and his/her desensitization to those sounds.

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Yes / The aim of this paper is to explore eleven year old children's understanding of well-being through their completion of Well-Being Maps and subsequent interviews on their content. The children were asked to describe the people, places and things which they viewed as important to their sense of well-being. The subsequent interviews explored their rationalisations for their choices. Ninety-two eleven year old children attending four schools with varying levels of deprivation and ethnic diversity took part in the study. This is the first section of an English study which is a part of the Multi-National Children's Understanding of Well-Being Study involving 26 countries which aims to explore how children conceptualise and experience well-being from a comparative and global perspective. Commonalities and divergences in the English children's responses were explored. Across the entire sample of 92 children, there were clear commonalities. Relationships with family, predominantly parents, were viewed as very important. The reasons provided were consistent love and affection; constant support, encouragement and protection; fun to be with. The duration of this quality of parent-child interaction appeared to be the key. Trust and a sense of security were the result. Relationships with friends were deemed important by over two thirds of the children. The qualities of these relationships mirrored those with the parents with a sense of trust and security being present. Where places and activities were included on their maps, they were often linked to important relationships. Activities appeared to be important in acknowledging the relationship but also maintaining it. Activities were also valued by the children for skill development. There were some differences across the sample with relationships with friends and grandparents being more reported as important in the two areas of high deprivation, irrespective of ethnic diversity. The level of material possessions and holidays abroad were much more frequently reported in the school serving the low deprivation area. At times, the explanations for differences appeared to be an interplay of socio-economic factors and religious and cultural traditions. Suggestions for further research on children's perspectives on factors important to their well-being are made. / Health Foundation, England

This study reflects on an outreach initiative between two differing tertiary cultures established on different continents. The aim is to develop an understanding of what happens when a prestigious American university and a South African Higher Education Institution meet around a computer-mediated situation. Various inter-relating aspects such as cooperation and cooperative learning, educational technology, Higher Educational Institutions, globalisation, the international Digital Divide, cultural diversity, commonalities, cultural differences, an international learning programme, and power relations in international partnerships are explored. The effect of technology on education is that information is no longer restricted to a single geographical setting, instead it has expanded and became a dynamic international driving force. Increasing educational needs compel Higher Education Institutions to provide in these needs and to adapt to a more flexible learning style. Globalisation causes the world to get smaller, compressed, interconnected and resulted in a world that is in effect flat. Information communication technologies are changing the world. On the one hand the Internet promotes communication and freedom but on the other hand causes uneven development all over the globe. The Digital Divide pertains to the divide between the global well-resourced learners and the local under-resourced learners. Cultural differences between nations and organisations can be interpreted against the background of different models of cultural dimensions. The focus of the study is to explore the effect of commonalities and cultural differences on cooperative learning at organisational level. Power relations between international partners were challenging and resulted in conflict and differences of opinion. The project started with the University of Pretoria’s visit to Stanford University in November 2004. The preparation, organisation and planning phases continued through 2005. The ELISA project was intended as a three-year intervention from 2006 through 2008. The first year was supposed to be a pilot phase to gather and provide information for use in the second and third years. This study pertains to the pilot phase which started in February 2006 until June 2006. It was successfully completed and achieved a 93% success rate. However, in September 2006 Stanford unexpectedly informed the South African partners that the project would be discontinued due to several reasons. Their objections related to the lack of visible progress regarding content scheduling, media production, course logistics, and research practicalities. Although there were accommodating personalities among the project leaders on both sides interpersonal conflict between the remaining project leaders developed. The partners on both sides could not generate sufficient commonality regarding the need to continue. The situation was worsened by the fact that the initial rationale for the project lacked shared motivation among the project leaders on both sides. It is suggested that more research be conducted to explore possible differences of opinion and undercurrents among project leaders throughout the project, and to scrutinize the initial rationale as well as curriculum issues in good time, and to investigate the role of power relations between international partners that are funded by international grants, and the effect of these power relations on the learning experiences of the students involved. Copyright / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / The purpose of the study described in this thesis was to investigate the structure required to implement and manage digital forensic readiness within an enterprise. A comparative analysis of different digital forensic readiness frameworks was performed and, based on the findings of the analysis, the digital forensic readiness commonalities framework (DFRCF) was extended. The resultant structure was used to design a digital forensic readiness maturity assessment model (DFRMAM) that will enable organisations to assess their forensic readiness. In conclusion, both the extended DFRCF and the DFRMAM are shown to be validated by forensic practitioners, using semi-structured interviews. A qualitative research design and methodology was used to perform a comparative analysis of the various digital forensic readiness frameworks, to comprehend the underlying structures. All the participant responses were recorded and transcribed. Analysis of the findings resulting from the study showed that participants mostly agreed with the structure of the extended DFRCF; however, key changes were introduced to the extended DFRCF. The participants also validated the DFRMAM, and the majority of respondents opted for a checklist-type MAM. Digital forensic readiness is a very sensitive topic since organisations fear that their information might be made public and, as a result, increase their exposure to forensic incidents and reputational risk. Because of this, it was difficult to find participants who have a forensic footprint and are willing, able, and knowledgeable about digital forensic readiness. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge by presenting an original, validated DFRCF and DFRMAM. Practitioners and organisations now have access to non-proprietary DFRMAM.