abstract: Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological condition in children and can have a significant negative impact on education. The current study aimed to examine factors that may influence the likelihood that a teacher will contact the parents of a student with epilepsy for information regarding the disorder and its impact within the school environment. Specific variables of interest included teacher knowledge about epilepsy and confidence when teaching at student with epilepsy, parent perceived knowledge about epilepsy, and parent socio-economic status. Variables were assessed through the previously developed Teacher Epilepsy Knowledge and Confidence Scales (TEKCS) as well as case vignettes. Overall findings suggest that teachers provided with a letter from a parent of a student with epilepsy are highly likely to contact the parent for more information regardless of the above mentioned factors. Additional supplemental analyses replicated previous findings indicating that special education teachers and teachers currently teaching a student with epilepsy possess more knowledge and confidence than general education teachers and those teachers who are not currently instructing a student with epilepsy. In addition, this study also examined the specific types of information teachers sought from parents. Study limitations, implications for practice, and future research directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2013

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Epileptic seizures are characterised by an onset of abnormal brain activity that evolves in space and time, which ultimately returns to normal background activity. For different types of seizures, the abnormal activity can be vastly different both in duration, electrographic morphology and spatial extent. Mechanistic understanding of the different seizure dynamics (spatially, as well as temporally) is crucial for the advancement and improvement of clinical treatment. To gain a deeper mechanistic insight into different seizure dynamics, mathematical models of brain processes were developed in this thesis. These models are used to explain electrographic seizure dynamics in their temporal, as well as their spatio-temporal evolution. Our studies show that the temporal evolution of seizure dynamics can be understood in terms of prototypic waveforms, which in turn can be represented in terms of three neural population processes. Such a minimal framework lends itself to a detailed phase space analysis, which elucidates seizure waveforms and seizure transitions as topological properties of the phase space. Based on the phase space considerations we show how during spike-wave seizures, single-pulse stimuli can have more complex effects than previously thought. In terms of the spatio-temporal dynamics of seizures, mechanisms for focal seizure onset and propagation are investigated in a model cortical sheet of coupled, discretised columns. The coupling followed nearest-neighbour, as well as realistic mesoscopic cortical connectivities. Different possible causes (e.g. spatial heterogeneities) of seizure generation, as well as different seizure spreading patterns (via different networks) have been investigated. We conclude that focal seizure onset can be due to global (e.g. whole-brain level) causes, global conditions & local triggers, and local (e.g. cortical column level) causes. Clinically relevant predictions from this work include the suggestion of a specific stimulation protocol in spike-wave seizures that incorporates phase space information; and the suggestion of using microscopic cortical incisions to disrupt the integrity of abnormal cortical tissue in order to prevent focal seizure onset. In conclusion, multi-scale computational modelling of seizure dynamics is proposed as an important tool to link theoretical understanding, experimental results, and patient-specific clinical data.