title: Design exploration of ebook interfaces for personal ebook libraries on tablet devices

authors: Vanderschantz, Nicholas

subjects: computer science

abstract: Mobile eBook readers and reader applications are readily available and are marketed as convenient for accessing personal eBook collections. Different brands of readers and apps are frequently evaluated and compared in consumer, trade, and popular magazines, but rarely in academic studies. This present study examines nine personal digital library (pDL) interfaces, from which design cues are drawn and paper prototypes of pDL for eBooks are developed. The paper prototypes are evaluated in a usability study to elicit the eBook display preferences of users.

text: Design exploration of ebook interfaces for personal ebook libraries on tablet devices Mobile eBook readers and reader applications are readily available and are marketed as convenient for accessing personal eBook collections. Different brands of readers and apps are frequently evaluated and compared in consumer, trade, and popular magazines, but rarely in academic studies. This present study examines nine personal digital library (pDL) interfaces, from which design cues are drawn and paper prototypes of pDL for eBooks are developed. The paper prototypes are evaluated in a usability study to elicit the eBook display preferences of users.

year: 2015

title: Master of Hallucination: A Pragmatist Epistemology and Exploration of Mystical Experience

authors: Barron, Daniel James

subjects: philosophy

abstract: Mystical experience appears to have always been a feature of human consciousness, and occurs with an enormous variety of content, character, and context. A modern awareness of the variegated nature of mystical experience has led to particular types being almost automatically considered false, usually on somewhat dubious grounds. How might a sound epistemology of mystical experience be developed? Most philosophers who tackle this question attempt to shoehorn mystical experience into a relatively traditional epistemology, with unconvincing results. God or whatever supernatural realm or entity a mystic might claim to perceive is a special kind of object, and requires a special epistemic approach. A common theme of mystical experience is the special knowledge or power that its subject claims to have gained. Perhaps such potentially tangible benefits should be made the focus of an epistemology of mysticism. In this thesis, my first act is to define mystical experience in a broader, more inclusive sense than most other treatments of the topic have done. I then examine the problems of formulating a viable epistemology of mystical experience around the traditional notions of objectivity and subjectivity, explore the question of whether current evolutionary theory can aid us in understanding the epistemic worth of mystical experience, and develop a pragmatist epistemology of mystical experience that draws on the work of William James and John Dewey. I conclude the thesis by arguing for an understanding of mystical experience as a supremely valuable force regardless of the reality of the supernatural, and as a potential cornerstone in a twenty-first century humanism.

text: Master of Hallucination: A Pragmatist Epistemology and Exploration of Mystical Experience Mystical experience appears to have always been a feature of human consciousness, and occurs with an enormous variety of content, character, and context. A modern awareness of the variegated nature of mystical experience has led to particular types being almost automatically considered false, usually on somewhat dubious grounds. How might a sound epistemology of mystical experience be developed? Most philosophers who tackle this question attempt to shoehorn mystical experience into a relatively traditional epistemology, with unconvincing results. God or whatever supernatural realm or entity a mystic might claim to perceive is a special kind of object, and requires a special epistemic approach. A common theme of mystical experience is the special knowledge or power that its subject claims to have gained. Perhaps such potentially tangible benefits should be made the focus of an epistemology of mysticism. In this thesis, my first act is to define mystical experience in a broader, more inclusive sense than most other treatments of the topic have done. I then examine the problems of formulating a viable epistemology of mystical experience around the traditional notions of objectivity and subjectivity, explore the question of whether current evolutionary theory can aid us in understanding the epistemic worth of mystical experience, and develop a pragmatist epistemology of mystical experience that draws on the work of William James and John Dewey. I conclude the thesis by arguing for an understanding of mystical experience as a supremely valuable force regardless of the reality of the supernatural, and as a potential cornerstone in a twenty-first century humanism.

year: 2011

title: Student voice and agency for Indigenous Maori students in higher education transitions

authors: Amundsen, Diana Leigh

subjects: Social Sciences

abstract: This article reveals the complexities of Indigenous students navigating the neoliberal model of education through an examination of Māori transitions into higher education contexts in Aotearoa New Zealand. In a recently completed doctoral study, the lived transition experiences of Indigenous Māori higher education students were critically investigated from a student voice perspective. Data were collected and analysed through repeated semi-structured interviews, focus groups and visual stories in a semi-longitudinal study with 20 Māori students enrolled in a wānanga, a polytechnic and a university. Using a Bourdieuan theoretical framework for analysis, findings revealed that participants experienced their transition as a journey. Students perpetually evolved their identities and agency in relation to the tertiary education environments and social structures they encountered which supported or constrained transition experiences. Within wānanga, participants felt their Māori cultural identity was highly valued; within polytechnics, there was a sense that Māori culture is included but more could be done; within universities, a need for more inclusive practices to support Māori learner requirements was identified. This empirical research outlines learning for Māori students in higher education, and is a timely addition to knowledge revealing the complexities of teaching in the neoliberal model of higher education with Indigenous people.

text: Student voice and agency for Indigenous Maori students in higher education transitions This article reveals the complexities of Indigenous students navigating the neoliberal model of education through an examination of Māori transitions into higher education contexts in Aotearoa New Zealand. In a recently completed doctoral study, the lived transition experiences of Indigenous Māori higher education students were critically investigated from a student voice perspective. Data were collected and analysed through repeated semi-structured interviews, focus groups and visual stories in a semi-longitudinal study with 20 Māori students enrolled in a wānanga, a polytechnic and a university. Using a Bourdieuan theoretical framework for analysis, findings revealed that participants experienced their transition as a journey. Students perpetually evolved their identities and agency in relation to the tertiary education environments and social structures they encountered which supported or constrained transition experiences. Within wānanga, participants felt their Māori cultural identity was highly valued; within polytechnics, there was a sense that Māori culture is included but more could be done; within universities, a need for more inclusive practices to support Māori learner requirements was identified. This empirical research outlines learning for Māori students in higher education, and is a timely addition to knowledge revealing the complexities of teaching in the neoliberal model of higher education with Indigenous people.

year: 2019