Partnership for arts integration : exploring the experiences of teachers and artists working with integrated arts programs

This research acknowledges the difficulties experienced by teachers presenting integrated arts curricula. Instructional support is offered by arts organizations that provide arts partnerships with local schools boards. The study focuses on the experiences of 8 teachers from a Catholic school board in southern Ontario who participated in integrated arts programs offered by The Royal Conservatory of Music's Learning Through the Arts™ (LTTATM) program and a local art gallery's Art Based Integrated Learning (ABIL) program and examines their responses to the programs and their perception of personal and professional development through this association. Additionally, questions were posed to the . "aftisfs"from-tneSe]Jfograrrrs;-and"they liiscus·sed·how"participating in-collaboration with teachers in the development of in-school programs enabled them to experience personal and professional development as well. Seven themes emerged from the data. These themes included: teachers' feelings of a lack of preparedness to teach the arts; the value of the arts and arts partnerships in schools; the role of the artists in the education of teachers; professional development for both teachers and artists; the development of collegiality; perceptions of student engagement; and the benefits and obstacles of integrating the arts into the curriculum. This document highlights the benefits to both teachers and artists of arts partnerships between schools and outside arts organizations.

Sinister creativity: a phenomenological exploration of some of the experiences and perceptions of six lefthanded visual artists

Six lefthanded artist-educators were interviewed to attempt to discover any patterns t6 their perceptions and experiences. Artists have their own culture and priorities. According to the literature, lefthanded people appear more likely to suffer from dyslexia, allergies, asthma and other auto-immune diseases as well as machinery and equipment injuries. Patterns emerging suggested that lefthanded people indeed suffer more from dyslexia. More startling was the distinct possibility that many artists have traumatic childhood histories. This would commonly include negative school experiences, and for a significant number sexual assault, perceived or actual abandonment by parents, and/or consistently low selfesteem. The researcher discovered possible reasons why creative people frequently have problems at school, why they tend to be rebellious and anti-establishment oriented, how many of them perceive societal rules, and why they are more likely to be lefthanded. These characteristics all have significant implications for art school administrators.

The impact of a digital children's literature program on primary students' reading motivation

This qualitative study stemmed from a concern of the perceived decline in students' reading motivation after the early years of schooling, which has been attributed to the disconnect between the media students are accustomed to using outside the classroom and the media they predominantly use within the classroom. This research documented the effectiveness of a digital children's literature program and a postreading multimedia program on eight grade 1 students' reading motivation, word recognition, and comprehension abilities. Eight students were given ten 25-minute sessions with the software program over 15 weeks. Preprogram, interim-program, and postprogram qualitative data were collected from students, teachers, and parents through questionnaires, interviews, standardized reading assessment tools, classroom observations, field notes, and student behaviour observation checklists. Findings are summarized into 3 themes. The motivational aspects and constructivist styles of instruction in the digital reading programs may have contributed to 5 student participants' increased participation in online storybook reading at home. Qualitative data revealed that the digital children's literature program and multimedia postreading activities seemed to have a positive influence on the majority of grade 1 student participants' reading motivation, word recognition, and listening comprehension skills. These findings suggest the promise of multimedia and Internet-based reading software programs in supporting students with reading andlor behavioural difficulties. In keeping with current educational initiatives and efforts, increased use of media literacy practices in the grade 1 curriculum is suggested.

Adult Learning in the Transformational Environments of the Digital Revolution: Connecting Theory and Practice

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning preferences and the post-secondary educational experiences of a group of Net-Gen adult learners, aged between 18 and 35, currently working in the knowledge economy workplace, and their assessment of how adequately they were prepared to meet the requirements of the knowledge economy workplace. This study utilized an explanatory mixed-method research design. Participants completed a questionnaire providing information on their self-reported learning style preferences, their use of digital tools for formal and informal learning, their use of digital technologies in postsecondary educational experiences, and their use of digital technologies in their workplace. Four volunteers from the questionnaire respondents were selected to participate in interviews based on the diversity of their experiences in higher education, including digital environments, and the diversity of their knowledge economy workplaces. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed for descriptive and demographic statistics, and categorized so that common patterns could be identified from information gathered from the online questionnaire and interviews. Findings based on this study indicated that these Net-Gen adult learners were fluent with all types of digital technologies in collaborative environments, expecting their educational experiences to provide a similar experience. Participants clearly expressed an understanding that digital/collaborative aptitudes are essential to successful employment in the knowledge economy workplace. The findings of this study indicated that the majority of participants felt that their post-secondary educational experiences did not adequately prepare them to meet the expectations of this type of working environment.

Artists Rendering of Isobel Price

Artist’s rendering in colour of Isobel Price in an oval frame with a hook at the top and a section at the back which contains a lock of hair. This painting was done by Gerald Sinclair Hayward who was a renowned artist whose work was displayed at an exhibition in New York in 1899. He painted Theodore Roosevelt, William K. Vanderbilt and members of the ruling families of Britain, Germany and Russia. The frame is enclosed in a folding case lined with velvet and silk. The silk is quite worn. The outside of the case appears to be leather and has a stand for setting it upright. It closes with a metal latch. This is accompanied by a note by R. Band.

QUANTIFICATION AND EXTRACTION OF SURFACE FEATURES FROM DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELS

Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) are important in geology and geomorphology, since elevation data contains a lot of information pertaining to geomorphological processes that influence the topography. The first derivative of topography is attitude; the second is curvature. GIS tools were developed for derivation of strike, dip, curvature and curvature orientation from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). A method for displaying both strike and dip simultaneously as colour-coded visualization (AVA) was implemented. A plug-in for calculating strike and dip via Least Squares Regression was created first using VB.NET. Further research produced a more computationally efficient solution, convolution filtering, which was implemented as Python scripts. These scripts were also used for calculation of curvature and curvature orientation. The application of these tools was demonstrated by performing morphometric studies on datasets from Earth and Mars. The tools show promise, however more work is needed to explore their full potential and possible uses.