Most Popular Books by Jane Davis

Author's abstract: This study presents a view of reading instruction based on investigating motivation and engagement related to adolescent literacy practices through graphic novels. A case study utilizing the graphic novels grounded in the theoretical approach of critical literacy demonstrated increases in motivation toward reading from a more critical social lens. Participants in this case study were chosen from a set of ninth grade literature classes in a rural high school. The students were placed as a result of the random selection of heterogeneously mixed student abilities providing a rich mix of perspectives and motivational levels among the students. Allowing students to view character experiences in graphic novels through both graphic and traditional text opened possibilities for opportunities in improving reading comprehension by increasing motivation and engagement. A change from traditional viewpoints that focus on mastery of skills to a critical view about text has the potential to allow adolescent students to question, to challenge, and to seek the unknown which in turn motivates this same learner to read. The primary findings include: (1) a positive connection between student attitudes toward reading and their engagement with text; (2) the reaction of students to elements of popular culture that included graphic novels created a bridge to traditional literature and improved student relationships with reading standard text; (3) challenging students to view text whether from a traditional standpoint or through the medium of sequential comic art supported the students' ability to redefine reading from critical perspectives; (4) critical readings of traditional text and graphic novels gave voice to the students as direct agents of their own learning particularly as it related to real-world social issues; and (5) student motivation toward independent and academic reading was improved by teacher passion and commitment to the understanding and connection of text and graphics to the literature formats. Further study is recommended in the areas of the impact of the teacher on student motivation. Additional study is recommended related to the use of popular culture to enhance learning and motivation.

Stay at home mum, Anna Dawson is searching for something more than domestic life. Anna's kids are eight and ten and growing up fast. With a little more time on her hands, Anna wants more from her life. She considers going back to her roots as a writer, however she only wants to work on her terms, but can she given she hasn't been in the work force for 10 years? Anna writes an exceptionally funny and entertaining journal, with comical narrative from the whole family, as they wind each other up but also love each other very much.

Photon-mediated interactions between atoms coupled to an optical cavity are a powerful tool for engineering entangled states and many-body Hamiltonians. These applications motivate the construction of an optical cavity enabling coherent nonlocal spin interactions, with transverse optical access for high-resolution imaging and addressing of atomic sub-ensembles. Using this apparatus, we implement a nonlocal Heisenberg Hamiltonian, where the relative strength and sign of spin-exchange and Ising couplings are controllable parameters. This tunability enables the demonstration of an interaction-induced protection of spin coherence against single-atom dephasing terms. The optical access afforded by a near-concentric cavity facilitates local control and imaging of the magnetization for Hamiltonian tomography and spatially resolved detection of the spin coherence. Imaging also allows for the first observation of cavity-mediated spin mixing in a spin-1 system, a new mechanism for generating correlated atom pairs. Whereas the single-mode cavity most naturally mediates all-to-all couplings, I will also discuss progress in generalizing to control the distance-dependence of the interactions, with prospects in engineering the spatial structure of entanglement. I furthermore propose and analyze two specific protocols in quantum control enabled by strong and tunable atom-light interactions. I first introduce a protocol that enables entanglement-enhanced measurements near the Heisenberg limit while reducing technical requirements on detection. This is accomplished via an interaction-enhanced readout that relies on reversing the sign of global Ising interactions. Dispersive atom-light interactions also enable heralded schemes, in which a high-fidelity pure state is produced upon probabilistic detection of a single photon. In this context, I show how a time-shaped single-photon pulse can ``paint'' an arbitrary superposition of coherent spin states while avoiding infidelities due to finite cavity linewidth.

"A rose garden. A woman with white hair. An embossed envelope from the palace. 'Lucy Forrester, for services to literature, you are nominated for a New Year's Honour.' Her hands shake. But it's not excitement. It's rage. For five decades, she's performed angry poems, attacked government policy on everything from Suez to Trident ... Lucy knows who she is. Rebel, activist, word-wielder, thorn in the side of establishment. Not a national bloody treasure. Whatever this is - a parting gesture, a final act of revenge, or the cruellest of jokes - it can only be the work of one man. Dominic Marchmont, outspoken literary critic and her on/off lover of fifty years, whose funeral begins in under an hour. Perhaps, suggests husband Ralph, the invitation isn't the insult it seems? What if Dominic - the man they both loved - has left her an opportunity?"--Publisher's description.

The report covers initial studies directed toward standardization of basic symbols representing 'enemy, ' 'friendly, ' and 'unknown' targets on a radar scope. College students of both sexes and enlisted military men served as subjects. In Experiment I, subjects assigned and ranked 68 geometric designs within the three meaning categories. Experiment II studied retention values after a short exposure to these same forms. Experiment III required all subjects to design a code differentiating the three meaning categories. All significant findings on meaning were highly dependent on pictorials. Perceptual differentiation and ease of learning are recommended as the major dimensions of code design. (Author).

Sequel to TJarryn's Miracle'. Adventure story about two boys whose friendship is disruputed by the new-found Christianity of one but strengthened by their encounter with ostrich thieves. The author has published widely for young teenagers.

"Civil Rights era pamphlet... Davis has written a frank and impassioned account of the injustices and ironies of life in America. From the terror of lynching, to troop deployment in Vietnam, reduced educational opportunities for African Americans, all the way down to the domestic harassment."--Bookseller's description.