Digital Commons Network^™

Building A Community Art Garden: A Participatory Eco-Arts Based Educational Research Project, Beryl R. Cohen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study is to explore how a community comes to understand their sense of place as they create a school art garden, and then consider their relationship to it, and to the natural world. Using qualitative arts-based methods of inquiry and A/r/tography, I weave and construct text and visual images, which portray human actions and experiences within the framework of Environmental Inquiry. As a participant, I also respond to the project through the creation of artwork.

Rich community narratives and data analysis resulted in the following themes: Teaching and Learning; Activism; Connection to Nature; Health and Healing; …

Validation Of A Novel Methodology For Evaluating Surgical Tissue Plane Identification, Syed T. Ali

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Introduction: The ability to identify tissues planes is a fundamental surgical skill. This study attempts to validate a previously developed test for assessing this ability.

Methods: 48 video captured images from laparoscopic right hemicolectomies were presented on an iPad to 18 surgeons who were grouped based on experience (Consultants (C), Senior trainees (S), and the Junior trainees (J)). Subjects were asked to draw a line indicating the tissue plane of dissection. Lines were compared by a modified Hausdorff measure. Within group variability represented group precision and trainee accuracy was determined from comparison to Consultants.

Results: Within group comparisons demonstrated Consultants …