Humans have caused grave ecological and economic damage worldwide through the introduction of invasive species. Understanding the factors that influence community susceptibility to invasion are important for controlling further spread of invasive species. Predators have been found to provide biotic resistance to invasion in both terrestrial and marine systems. However, predators can also have the opposite effect, and facilitate invasion. Therefore, recovery or expansion of native predators could facilitate the spread of invasive species. Needles et al. (2015) demonstrated that the threatened southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) facilitated the invasion of an exotic bryozoan, Watersipora subatra. However, the underlying mechanism was not fully understood. We tested the hypothesis that sea otter predation on Romaleon antennarium crabs indirectly facilitated the abundance of W. subatra. To do this, we collected weekly data on sea otter foraging and quantified the abundance of crabs in the sea otter diet. We also conducted a caging experiment, where we experimentally manipulated crab densities and limited otter access using exclusion cages on pier pilings in Morro Bay, CA. We used photoQuad image processing software to calculate the abundance of W. subatra on PVC panels within each treatment group. We found that crabs were the second most abundant prey item in Morro Bay, comprising 25.1% of the otter diet. Through the caging experiment, we found that W. subatra abundance significantly increased as crab densities decreased. Our results indicated that sea otters indirectly facilitated the invasion of W. subatra by reducing R. antennarium crab densities and sizes. Removal of crabs may release W. subatra from the disturbance caused by crab foraging behavior. Understanding the impacts of top predators in invaded ecosystems has important management implications, as recovery of predator populations could unintentionally benefit some non-native species. Therefore, management should focus first on prevention and second on early detection and eradication of invasive species likely to benefit from predator recovery.

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The activities of modern society create an unsustainable trajectory for life on planetearth. The issues related to that, as summed up in the sustainability challenge, are interdependentand complex, thus effective solutions must be systemic and involve diverse stakeholders.One proposed tool from the field of Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) to operationalizeparticipatory multi-stakeholder engagement is the procedure ABCD. But a procedure is onlyone aspect, how it is used determines its success. Through exploring Polyvagal Theory andrelated approaches (PRA), this research suggests an approach to support ABCD practitionersin conducting good facilitation by incorporating a practical understanding of the human nervoussystem. To do so, 15 PRA- and six ABCD-facilitators were interviewed, an advisory boardworkshop with four experts was conducted, and a survey with 13 SSD practitioners gave feedbackon a first draft to iteratively produce a guidebook prototype for PRA-informed ABCDfacilitation. It consists of central PRA-informed concepts, 10 principles, five categories ofmethods, and specific amendments for the ABCD procedure. Almost all parts of the guidebookprototype saw high approval for usefulness and applicability. The results of this research suggestthat PRA-informed ABCD facilitation might support a transition towards sustainability,although its application depends on the context of the procedure.

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This study identifies and assesses a more specific relationship between the online instructor presence and the online learner's experience than is currently offered in previous studies. Guided by three questions, the study asked: (a) What is the relationship between the online instructor communication style and the learning experience, as defined by the adult learner's cognitive achievement, ratings of the overall course experience, and perceptions of the instructor's performance; (b) What is the relationship between the strength (contact frequency with the learner) of that communication style (facilitating or non-facilitating) and the learning experience; and (c) What is the relationship between selected learner demographic variables (previous subject experience on the job and previous experience with the vendor's online learning environment) and the learning experience. The study included an examination of ex post facto data that depicted the interactions between 89 students and 9 instructors in 358 asynchronous, professional development class discussions. The examination revealed the presence and frequency of select instructor behaviors more acutely define the communication style and strength of the online instructor's relationship to the professional adult's online learning experience. The study's additional findings support earlier research that suggests prior learner experience relates positively to online learning outcomes. These findings contribute to the larger body of knowledge related to online instruction. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this dissertation is the delineation of a new approach, or, more precisely, a new "role" and "methodological system," for those persons engaged in building and managing multi-actor structures, or "networks," for the purpose of policy implementation. As policy formulation and implementation can be viewed increasingly as taking place inter-organizationally, and consisting of individuals, special-interest groups, public organizations, private organizations, non-profits, etc., none of whom have the individual power to autonomously determine the strategies and actions of all the other actors, policy processes can no longer be viewed as the implementation of ex ante formulated goals, but instead must be seen as an interaction process in which actors exchange information about problems, preferences and means, and trade-off goals and resources. That is, the context of "getting things done" in the public sector is changing from a singular organizational context to a multiple-organization network context. Managerially, we must respond accordingly. While there has been an increasing recognition in the literatures of at least three distinct fields of enquiry [political science, organization theory, and policy science] that such networks are becoming the "reality" of daily operation, much less has been written attempting to aid the acting administrator to function successfully within this new setting. Even less has been written concerning how to actually build and use a network setting to one's advantage in an implementation endeavor. We are left in need of a new way to successfully approach implementation through complex multi-actor settings. As it becomes increasingly difficult to administer policy implementation through a single, public organization, the need for new tools and understanding that will enable us to achieve public ends in such complex settings becomes apparent. Such an approach must work to successfully accommodate the increased role of extra-organizational actors, a new role of the administrator as "network facilitator," and still afford the ability to plan for and carry out project implementation. Because the invention of such an approach will require the accommodation of a different view of the administrative world (i.e. a more dynamic context, ephemeral definitions, new roles and responsibilities, and a new method to approaching work life), its development cannot constitute a straightforward reshuffling of the boxes of the administrative process, or the simple adoption of some new buzzwords. It demands, instead, that we begin by asking some fundamental ontological (what is reality) and epistemological (how can we know it) questions. It is after addressing these fundamental concerns that this volume will work to build a new approach to functioning proactively in a network setting. Following a discussion on what the role of "network facilitator" means in relation to current understanding of public management, this treatise will describe a new methodological system for use by the administrator playing such a role. The "methodological system" for building implementation networks that is advocated here is composed of three overlapping methodologies: 1) "Contextual Assessment" - Mapping a Network's Political-Economy; 2) "Stakeholder Analysis & Management" — Understanding Who Should be at the Table and Furthering the Conditions for Cooperation; and, 3) "Joint Visioning" " The Facilitation of Project Planning in a Network Setting. In the chapter on "contextual assessment," the reader will be introduced to a method that uses the political economy framework of Wamsley and Zald to derive an interview instrument for use by a recently appointed network facilitator (somebody appointed the responsibility of "getting something done" cross-organizationally). Combining the political economic framework with other standard qualitative methods, including gaining entrance, selecting interview type, snowballing, and quota sampling, one should be able to assess the existing political and economic environment surrounding a potential implementation network and, further, begin to select from that environment a first set of stakeholders in the budding implementation network. This method will result in a "conceptual mapping" of the environment from which one may begin to select potential resources to build an implementation network. Following that, the reader will be introduced to two methods, that when used together, will allow for the analysis, categorization, and selection of network stakeholders. Taken together, these methods can be referred to as "stakeholder analysis." It is the successful selection and management of these stakeholders that will result in the formation of a young implementation network. Finally, the reader will be introduced to a method of "joint-visioning," a process for working with a set of stakeholders to create a shared understanding of the social/organizational and technical/functional systems required for a new implementation network to function. While the theoretical conception here of joint-visioning is new, the techniques suggested to support this method are probably the least original of the techniques associated with the three methods introduced in this volume (in that they are based on recognized methods of group facilitation). The joint-visioning method proposed here is probably most remarkable for what it is not, corporate strategic planning. A discussion about the problems of adopting corporate strategic planning in the public sector will begin this section, followed by a discussion of why something else, like joint visioning, is probably more appropriate. Each methodology has been constructed from the ground up by appropriating parts of different methodologies that have been advocated in different areas of application. Specifically, methods, approaches, and understandings have been appropriated from the literatures of corporate management, stakeholder analysis, action research, political economy, community facilitation, knowledge engineering and management, and strategic planning. These methods have been combined and modified to better serve as tools for network establishment and management. This methodological system has been developed as much from experience as from scholarly analysis. Accordingly, a case study, one that has directly led to the development of many concepts in this system, will be discussed and used for "real-world" elaboration of the concepts described. Specifically, each of these methods will be accompanied by an in-depth discussion on how it was applied in the "Travel Shenandoah" case study. Benefits, as well as problems with the proposed methods will be highlighted. Where appropriate, possible modifications to a method will be suggested. / Ph. D.

Frederick Jackson Turner was a prominent American Historian who lived during America's Progressive Movement of the early twentieth century. Turner's most seminal piece, The Significance of the Frontier in American History, commonly referred to as The Frontier Thesis, challenged the accepted assumption that American culture stemmed from European ancestors. Turner resisted conventional wisdom that did not take into account the struggles and advances of the pioneers of the West. Turner believed the experiences of the pioneers forced them to adapt and modify their European roots, thus developing a distinct and separate culture from Europe. As a university professor, training a plethora of doctoral students in the field of history, Turner embraced the changes in educational thought of the time; including the importance of lifelong learning and the need to continually re-evaluate previously held beliefs. To Turner, a university professor's priority was to facilitate learning experiences that helped develop students into independent and competent critical thinkers. One way Turner differed from his contemporaries was the way he studied and wrote about history. Turner subscribed to the ideal that all aspects of historical events, incorporating information that set a complete context of the event itself was essential. The historiography Turner employed is considered a standard today. The Progressive Era also brought a wave of reformation in political, social and educational thought. Adult education programs began to develop throughout the nation. Adults for the first time had low cost opportunities outside of collegial studies to expand their professional expertise, literacy skills, and appreciation for art and entertainment. Adult education thinkers also began to systematically research and study ways in which adults best learn. The impetus of this study was to examine Turner's educational and career efforts juxtaposed with adult learning theory, principles and practices as an embedded university elite and active planner and participant of alternative adult education programs. As such, this study investigated Turner as an educator outside the field of adult education, who emulated the principles, practices and value structure of adult learning theory. / Ph. D.

Various prior research studies have investigated the positive and negative effects of an audience on task performance, yet very little research has been conducted specifically on dancers. The focus of this study will be on the interaction between Goal Orientation and Level of Expertise in relation to social facilitation and task performance in ballet dancers. Participants were assessed based on performance with and without an audience at varying levels of expertise. The theory of social facilitation was examined in relation to several subject variables mentioned in background research. The results of this study suggest a trend supporting the hypothesis that a person's reaction to an audience is at least partly dependent on both Goal Orientation and Level of Expertise as explained by drive theory. This study gives dancers valuable insight on personal performance.

Yes / The use of problem-based learning (PBL) in Health Professional curricula is becoming more wide spread. Although the way in which the tutor facilitates PBL can have a major impact on students’ learning (Andrews and Jones 1996), the literature provides little consistency as to how the tutor can effectively facilitate PBL ( Haith-Cooper 2000 ). It is therefore important to examine the facilitation role to promote effective learning through the use of PBL. This article is the first of two parts exploring a study that was undertaken to investigate tutors’ experiences of facilitating PBL. This part focuses on the methodology and the combining of innovative processes with traditional philosophical traditions to develop a systematic educational research methodology. The study was undertaken respecting the philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology but utilised alternative data collection and analysis technique. Video conferencing and e-mail were used in conjunction with more traditional processes to access a worldwide sample. This paper explores some of the issues that arose when undertaking such a study. The second article then focuses on exploring the findings of the study and their implications for the facilitation of PBL.