title: Bridging disciplinary boundaries through facilitated teaching partnerships

authors: Jolley, Alison

subjects: academic development

abstract: In times of increasing workload, even the most well-intentioned of staff may struggle to dedicate time to reflect on and develop their teaching practices. One accessible and important way to engage in this work is through conversations with colleagues. Prior work suggests that even informal conversations can help several dimensions of teaching and learning – enabling colleagues to better manage practicalities, improve their practice, be reassured about their approaches, vent about events, and transform their mindsets. We describe a structured model for facilitating collegial conversations that might not otherwise happen organically. Participants of the ‘Teaching Partnerships Initiative’ (n=14) were assembled into duos or trios with similar teaching and learning interests, but different academic disciplines. With support from an academic developer, participants worked together to articulate their goals and progress then reflect on both over four to six months. Projects included enhancing engagement of online learners, developing more inclusive assessments, and creating interactive activities. Here, we present reflections from three participants on the impact that this work has had on their teaching development, both immediately and approximately 18 months after the initiative. Participants reported multiple benefits, including prompting changes in practice, affirming existing practice, receiving peer feedback from an ‘outside’ perspective, having accountability, and creating tangible teaching resources (activities and assessments). Alongside participant reflections, we present facilitator perspectives and contextualise our results within the wider academic development literature. We also discuss recommendations for future initiatives based on our findings, including intentionally partnering colleagues from different disciplines, balancing structure and flexibility, and providing choice for participants to focus on topics driven by their own specific interests.

text: Bridging disciplinary boundaries through facilitated teaching partnerships In times of increasing workload, even the most well-intentioned of staff may struggle to dedicate time to reflect on and develop their teaching practices. One accessible and important way to engage in this work is through conversations with colleagues. Prior work suggests that even informal conversations can help several dimensions of teaching and learning – enabling colleagues to better manage practicalities, improve their practice, be reassured about their approaches, vent about events, and transform their mindsets. We describe a structured model for facilitating collegial conversations that might not otherwise happen organically. Participants of the ‘Teaching Partnerships Initiative’ (n=14) were assembled into duos or trios with similar teaching and learning interests, but different academic disciplines. With support from an academic developer, participants worked together to articulate their goals and progress then reflect on both over four to six months. Projects included enhancing engagement of online learners, developing more inclusive assessments, and creating interactive activities. Here, we present reflections from three participants on the impact that this work has had on their teaching development, both immediately and approximately 18 months after the initiative. Participants reported multiple benefits, including prompting changes in practice, affirming existing practice, receiving peer feedback from an ‘outside’ perspective, having accountability, and creating tangible teaching resources (activities and assessments). Alongside participant reflections, we present facilitator perspectives and contextualise our results within the wider academic development literature. We also discuss recommendations for future initiatives based on our findings, including intentionally partnering colleagues from different disciplines, balancing structure and flexibility, and providing choice for participants to focus on topics driven by their own specific interests.

year: 2025

title: Bovine Pre-gastrulation Development and the role Of Rauber's Layer

authors: van Leeuwen, Jessica

subjects: embryology

abstract: Although conception rates in cattle are estimated to be 90%, little over half of each insemination results in the birth of offspring. The majority of total combined foetal and embryonic loss is sustained between the bovine blastocyst hatching at Day 8 and the onset of gastrulation after Day 14. Post hatching, the bovine embryo develops a morphological architecture which is very different to the mouse, with a flat epiblast and the loss of the polar trophoblast, known as Rauber’s layer. In mice, the polar trophoblast is essential for the induction of gastrulation and the formation of the placenta. The pre-gastrulation layout of cattle embryos is shared by a diverse phylogeny of placental forming mammals, from rabbits to pigs, and it is therefore considered the more typical mode of mammalian embryonic development. Yet, compared to mouse embryonic development, relatively little is known about the gene expression and signalling networks required for successful gastrulation in these species, particularly cattle which are also economically important.

This thesis studied the morphological and gene expression events during Days 11-15 in cattle which coincides with the period of greatest embryonic loss. A detailed morphological staging system is presented that is supported with spatio-temporal gene expression patterns of genes known to play fundamental roles in mouse pre-gastrulation development. Novel morphological structures and processes were identified such as the formation of the cattle anterior visceral hypoblast (equivalent to the mouse AVE) and cavitation of the epiblast in preparation for epithelialisation of this tissue. Both of these processes are considered pre-requisites for the induction of gastrulation in mammals. The spatio-temporal gene expression patterns prior to gastrulation showed overall high concordance with mouse development however, processes that lead to asymmetry in the mouse involving extra-embryonic tissues have diverged and this can be related back to the different embryonic layouts and polar trophoblast fates between cattle and mice.

Functional studies were carried out in cattle embryos to investigate the relative roles of the three first cell lineages (trophoblast, epiblast and hypoblast) in contributing to embryonic loss and to investigate the possible role of Rauber’s layer in pre-gastrulation development. Over-expression of the weak pro-apoptotic factor BAD resulted in the selective loss of the epiblast between Days 7 and 13/14 of development. The trophoblast was not measurably impaired and although the hypoblast was not lost, the gene expression profile of this tissue was dramatically altered. These results indicate a gradient of sensitivity of epiblast>hypoblast>trophoblast tissue and suggest the epiblast contributes more greatly overall to embryonic loss. This result provides insights into the phenomenom of “phantom pregnancies”, which also are due to loss of the epiblast/embryo proper and are thought to occur in 12-22% of cattle pregnancies. 

The loss of Rauber’s layer is thought to occur by apoptosis and the results shown in this thesis support this idea. Over-expression of anti-apoptotic BCL2 resulted in a delayed loss of Rauber’s layer. BCL2 embryos also had an increased epiblast length and one embryo showed ectopic mesoderm formation. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a maintained Rauber’s layer could lead to an increase in NODAL signalling. 

The findings in this thesis provide a foundational step in the establishment of the bovine embryo as a model for mammalian development. The results also demonstrate functional perturbations of the cattle embryo are experimentally feasible, and how these have revealed insights into cattle embryonic loss and the role of Rauber’s layer in development.

text: Bovine Pre-gastrulation Development and the role Of Rauber's Layer Although conception rates in cattle are estimated to be 90%, little over half of each insemination results in the birth of offspring. The majority of total combined foetal and embryonic loss is sustained between the bovine blastocyst hatching at Day 8 and the onset of gastrulation after Day 14. Post hatching, the bovine embryo develops a morphological architecture which is very different to the mouse, with a flat epiblast and the loss of the polar trophoblast, known as Rauber’s layer. In mice, the polar trophoblast is essential for the induction of gastrulation and the formation of the placenta. The pre-gastrulation layout of cattle embryos is shared by a diverse phylogeny of placental forming mammals, from rabbits to pigs, and it is therefore considered the more typical mode of mammalian embryonic development. Yet, compared to mouse embryonic development, relatively little is known about the gene expression and signalling networks required for successful gastrulation in these species, particularly cattle which are also economically important.

This thesis studied the morphological and gene expression events during Days 11-15 in cattle which coincides with the period of greatest embryonic loss. A detailed morphological staging system is presented that is supported with spatio-temporal gene expression patterns of genes known to play fundamental roles in mouse pre-gastrulation development. Novel morphological structures and processes were identified such as the formation of the cattle anterior visceral hypoblast (equivalent to the mouse AVE) and cavitation of the epiblast in preparation for epithelialisation of this tissue. Both of these processes are considered pre-requisites for the induction of gastrulation in mammals. The spatio-temporal gene expression patterns prior to gastrulation showed overall high concordance with mouse development however, processes that lead to asymmetry in the mouse involving extra-embryonic tissues have diverged and this can be related back to the different embryonic layouts and polar trophoblast fates between cattle and mice.

Functional studies were carried out in cattle embryos to investigate the relative roles of the three first cell lineages (trophoblast, epiblast and hypoblast) in contributing to embryonic loss and to investigate the possible role of Rauber’s layer in pre-gastrulation development. Over-expression of the weak pro-apoptotic factor BAD resulted in the selective loss of the epiblast between Days 7 and 13/14 of development. The trophoblast was not measurably impaired and although the hypoblast was not lost, the gene expression profile of this tissue was dramatically altered. These results indicate a gradient of sensitivity of epiblast>hypoblast>trophoblast tissue and suggest the epiblast contributes more greatly overall to embryonic loss. This result provides insights into the phenomenom of “phantom pregnancies”, which also are due to loss of the epiblast/embryo proper and are thought to occur in 12-22% of cattle pregnancies. 

The loss of Rauber’s layer is thought to occur by apoptosis and the results shown in this thesis support this idea. Over-expression of anti-apoptotic BCL2 resulted in a delayed loss of Rauber’s layer. BCL2 embryos also had an increased epiblast length and one embryo showed ectopic mesoderm formation. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a maintained Rauber’s layer could lead to an increase in NODAL signalling. 

The findings in this thesis provide a foundational step in the establishment of the bovine embryo as a model for mammalian development. The results also demonstrate functional perturbations of the cattle embryo are experimentally feasible, and how these have revealed insights into cattle embryonic loss and the role of Rauber’s layer in development.

year: 2016

title: PIWeCS: enhancing human/machine agency in an interactive composition system

authors: Whalley, Ian

abstract: This paper focuses on the infrastructure and aesthetic approach used in PIWeCS: a Public Space Interactive Web-based Composition System. The concern was to increase the sense of dialogue between human and machine agency in an interactive work by adapting Paine's (2002) notion of a conversational model of interaction as a ‘complex system’. The machine implementation of PIWeCS is achieved through integrating intelligent agent programming with MAX/MSP. Human input is through a web infrastructure. The conversation is initiated and continued by participants through arrangements and composition based on short performed samples of traditional New Zealand Maori instruments. The system allows the extension of a composition through the electroacoustic manipulation of the source material.

text: PIWeCS: enhancing human/machine agency in an interactive composition system This paper focuses on the infrastructure and aesthetic approach used in PIWeCS: a Public Space Interactive Web-based Composition System. The concern was to increase the sense of dialogue between human and machine agency in an interactive work by adapting Paine's (2002) notion of a conversational model of interaction as a ‘complex system’. The machine implementation of PIWeCS is achieved through integrating intelligent agent programming with MAX/MSP. Human input is through a web infrastructure. The conversation is initiated and continued by participants through arrangements and composition based on short performed samples of traditional New Zealand Maori instruments. The system allows the extension of a composition through the electroacoustic manipulation of the source material.

year: 2004