360 research outputs found
Columbus\u27s Ghost: Tourism, Art and National Identity in the Bahamas
No full textIan Gregory Strachan (1969-), Bahamian writer, Chair of English Studies at College of the Bahamas, author of God\u27s Angry Babies (1997) and Paradise and Plantation (2002)
El fantasma de Colón: El turismo, el arte y la identidad nacional en las Bahamas
No full textIan Gregory Strachan (1969-), Bahamian writer, Chair of English Studies at College of the Bahamas, author of God's Angry Babies (1997) and Paradise and Plantation (2002).
Researching in cross cultural contexts: a socially just process.
No full textIn this paper, we explore culture and its relationship to cross cultural research. The context for this research is Vanuatu, a small South Pacific Island nation. The action research process used was a collaboration between two New Zealand academics, two Ni Vanuatu women researchers and 13 participants over a two year period. The focus of the action research was the design and delivery of a culturally appropriate educational leadership development programme for women. The collaborative research process raised a number of ethical and methodological considerations, for example, the importance of mutually respectful relationships, working in partnership, collaboration, capacity building, transparent communication and consideration of the local context. Using stories from the Vanuatu context, we illustrate how we navigated culture to be able to research in socially just ways. Being involved in socially just, cross cultural research calls for a thoughtful, well-designed and culturally informed approach throughout all stages of the research process, from initial planning through to follow up and capacity building and finally, the sharing of research findings
On the central role of Somers' D
No full textSomers' D and Kendall's tau-a are parameters behind rank or nonparametric statistics, interpreted as differences between proportions. Given two bivariate data pairs (X1, Y1) and (X2, Y2), Kendall’s tau-a parameter tau-XY is the difference between the probability that the two X–Y pairs are concordant and the probability that the two X–Y pairs are discordant, and Somers' D parameter DYX is the difference between the corresponding conditional probabilities, given that the X-values are ordered. The somersd package computes confidence intervals for both parameters. The Stata 9 version of somersd uses Mata to increase computing speed and greatly extends the definition of Somers' D, allowing the X and/or Y variables to be left- or right-censored and allowing multiple versions of Somers' D for multiple sampling schemes for the X–Y pairs. In particular, we may define stratified versions of Somers' D, in which we compare only X–Y pairs from the same stratum. The strata may be defined by grouping a Rubin–Rosenbaum propensity score, based on the values of multiple confounders for an association between exposure variable X and an outcome variable Y . Therefore, rank statistics can have not only confidence intervals but also confounder-adjusted confidence intervals. Usually, we either estimate DYX as a measure of the effect of X on Y , or we estimate DXY as a measure of the performance of X as a predictor of Y, compared with other predictors. Alternative rank-based measures of the effect of X on Y include the Hodges–Lehmann median difference and the Theil–Sen median slope, both of which are defined in terms of Somers' D.
Geology of the Strachan Creek area, British Columbia
No full textThe Strachan Creek area is on the east shore of Howe Sound about three miles north of the town of Horseshoe Bay, B.C. The rocks of the area consist of migmatite of the Bowen Island group, volcanic rocks of the Gambier group, plutonic rocks of the Coast Intrusions, and late basic and acidic dykes. These rocks are described and their relationships discussed,
A striking feature of the Strachan Creek area is the banding in the diorite, one of the units of the Coast Intrusions. Each complete band is a couplet composed of one light- and one dark-coloured layer, one layer grading into the other. The light-coloured layer is composed mostly of plagioclase, whereas the dark-coloured layer is composed mostly of hornblende and magnetite. Generally, the ratio of hornblende (plus magnetite) to plagioclase decreases downward from a sharp contact, the couplets thus resembling inverted "graded-bedding". The author tentatively concludes that the banding in the diorite originated by a process of differentiation and crystal rising within a cooling diorite magma.Science, Faculty ofEarth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department ofGraduat
'n Intertekstuele studie : Die werfbobbejaan van Alexander Strachan
No full textThe title, "'n Intertekstuele studie: Die werfbobbejaan van Alexander Strachan", refers to an analysis of the way in which intertextual processes generate meaning in this text. It is analysed with specific regard to the way in which it enters into signifying and detennining relationships with other texts, notably texts by the same author. A significant part of the intertexts that are reassembled, refined, restated, amplified, contradicted or diffused throughout Die werfbobbejaan are located in other works in the Strachan oeuvre: n Wereld sonder grense (1984) and Die jakkalsjagter (1990). These three texts are related as a triptych of intertextual association, and the boundaries between them are not hermetically sealed. Intertextual activity in Die werfbobbejaan involves an intricate network of interfigural relationships. The identities of numerous characters in the text start to coincide with those of other characters to which they are linked intertextually. Characters travel across the boundaries supposedly separating "different" texts. The doubling and displacing of characters alert us to the fact that the text is not fixed within stable boundaries. Codes, scenes, snippets of dialogue and even moods also penetrate the boundaries between "different" texts and recur in the form of mirror images or ghostly transformations of themselves. These intertextual patterns mobilise an active reading process and unify the act of reading with that of writing in "a single signifying process" (Barthes 1979: 79). The narrator in Die werfbobbejaan is a woman writing a biography about an author. Reading his novels and unpublished manuscript she finds that the manuscript of her subject anticipates and later even dictates "extra-textual" reality and inserts her into the fiction. The way in which the biography is taken up in the play of intertextuality leads to the perception that the fictional author is an intertextual mirror image of the real author, who belongs to the extra-textual world outside the book. In this way intertextual activity in Die werfbobbejaan destabilizes the frame between fiction and reality. No reading of Die werfbobbejaan can be complete without taking into account the plurality of simultaneously perceived meanings triggered by intertextual activity in the text
Verhale as singewing : Alexander Strachan en Cormac McCarthy
No full textM.A.Even at a superficial glance there seems to be remarkable similarities between the "Border trilogy" of the American author Cormac McCarthy and the work of the Afrikaans author Alexander Strachan. The last three novels by McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses (1992), The Crossing (1994) and Cities of the Plain (1999), are referred to as the "Border trilogy". The first three novels by Strachan are also sometimes referred to as a "trilogy". Frontiers/borders are important in the novels under discussion: The Crossing (1994), Die jakkalsjagter (1990) and Die werfbobbejaan (1994). The Crossing is the second novel of the 'Border trilogy". The title of Strachan's fist work is 'n Wereld sonder grense ("A world without borders"). In The Crossing tracking a wolf plays an important role while Die jakkalsjagter is about hunting a jackal. Die werfbobbejaan is about hunting down a baboon. Both McCarthy's and Strachan's works have been compared to the Western (films/novels dealing with the cowboys of North America). These superficial similarities seem to invite further comparison. The following themes are present in both authors' works and are compared in this study: The world can never be known The world is incomprehensible. It is constantly changing and always out of reach. The world is like "a snowflake" and like "breath" and cannot be held, because it only exists in people's hearts. The world is also incomprehensible in Strachan's work, because all certainties are undermined. Khera cannot understand Zuhiland in the same "logical" way that she could understand her world in Cape Town. The strange stories told by the people in Zululand (izinganekwane) make her aware of supernatural powers. Nothing can really be known about the world. The story that the witness tells becomes the world All objects are without meaning unless their stories are known. Truth is only to be found in narration. The world exists in narration. Therefore "the witness is all". Free will and predetermination The view of the world and our destiny in the world in The Crossing is compared with the view of the world in Die jakkalsjagter and Die werfbobbejaan. There is not one final answer to the question of determinism and free will in The Crossing. On the one hand it seems that history happens according to a predetermined plan of God. On the other hand it seems that human beings can make decisions and be in control. In this novel we find the idea that the future and the past can only be known as it exists in the present. The Strachan novels, Die jakkalsjagter en Die werfbobbejaan, reflect a certain determinism. Everything heads towards a final showdown with the death of the old man in the sod house. Khera's actions are predetermined. Things happen without her intention. The importance of stories is found in all three novels under discussion, The Crossing, Die jakkalsjagter and Die werfbobbejaan. "Things separate from their stories have no meaning. They are only shapes. Of a certain size and color. A certain weight. When their meaning has become lost to us they no longer have even a name. The story on the other hand can never be lost from its place in the world for it is that place" (Crossing: 142-143). The importance of the story is that it gives meaning to the things. All stories are the same story. The izinganekwane could be parallelled to the corrido (Spanish tales). Both are part of a hostile country, a different language and both are old tales that seem to determine the future
Effectiveness of technology to support work based learning: the stakeholders' perspective
No full textHigher education provision typically requires learners to physically attend sessions on campus. The economic climate has changed significantly over the past few years in the UK and globally. Inevitably changes to student funding and the increased competitive nature of the job market have impacted on university teaching. The use of work based learning (WBL) is an alternative flexible form of learning that attempts to tackle these issues. It enables students to learn whilst they work, addressing the funding issues, and enhancing their employability through the acquisition of higher professional qualifications. Often such WBL programmes are designed, delivered and supported from the view of the student and academic staff with little consideration of other stakeholders such as employers, workplace mentors and professional bodies and the input they can bring to enrich the learning and teaching provision. This paper presents the findings from a survey conducted among stakeholders from all four pillars of WBL, namely the learner, the academic environment, the workplace and the external context. Online questionnaires and interviews were carried out with students, tutors, program leaders, employers and professional bodies from four postgraduate programmes at the university. The results show that while there is a reluctance to embrace technology among some academic staff, students are generally positive about using the technology. The survey also demonstrates that there is a lack of creativity and imagination in the use of technology, where often platforms such as virtual learning environments are used simply as repositories for presentation slides, handouts, etc. The results of the study conclude or rather remind all involving parties to pay more emphasis on quality of online programme delivery by embracing technology and use it in novel and imaginative ways to provide a learning and teaching provision fit for the twenty-first century
New Pedagogical Models Facilitated by Technology
No full textThis paper discusses the outcome of research conducted to assess the effectiveness of Work-Based Learning (WBL) from the perspective of stakeholders. WBL has increasingly become an area of interest for the higher education (HE) sector. It can support the personal and professional development of students who are already in work. The focus of the learning and development tends to be on the student’s workplace activities. Previous research has mainly considered only two stakeholder contexts, namely the learner and the academic institution. The significance of the study stems from extending the stakeholder contexts to include the employer and the professional body. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of delivery of WBL from the perspective of a range of stakeholders including students, programme leaders (PLs), tutors, university support services, employers and representatives of professional bodies. Case study research methodology was adapted with mixed method research techniques for data capture and analysis using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study examined five (5) WBL programmes at Northumbria University in the UK. The three most influential factors in the effectiveness of WBL were found to be: quality, access and support. The contribution to new knowledge in WBL research is through a “Four-Pillar model” which has been developed to reflect the stakeholder contexts. Consideration of this model helps ensure WBL programmes cater for the current demands from the labour market. The findings of this study include factors which facilitate and/or obstruct the effective implementation of WBL programmes whilst identifying feasible strategies to overcome those challenges and share them with all stakeholders of WBL. Recommendations are made on resolving the identified issues and to extend and improve the effectiveness of WBL. Finally this paper looks at how these results could apply to encourage WBL uptake in a third world developing country like Sri Lanka where you are starting from a zero base. Sri Lanka is yet to embark on WBL formally although online distance learning is more of a reality
Genetics and Genomics in Medicine
No full textEvery geneticist knows ‘the Strachan and Read’, probably the most popular textbook for Human Molecular Genetics. Now, the first author Tom Strachan from Newcastle upon Tyne, presents, together with two coauthors, a further textbook on ‘Genetics
and Genomics in Medicine’. Already the title tells us that the field has broadened and that knowledge has increased
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