Autoethnography and teacher development

Autoethnography has largely been deployed in formal therapeutic situations, with its potential for application in general personal and professional development only now emerging. Autoethnography presents valuable opportunities for application in situations requiring a connection between self-understanding and broader socialization processes. This paper explores the nature of autoethnographic approaches to research, including various methodological issues pertaining to Self as data-source, and describes initial outcomes of a research project aimed at illuminating procedural and epistemological issues attached to the use of autoethnography in teacher education and professional development situations. The importance of excavating Self and identity through the autoethnographic process is highlighted with the paper drawing upon examples from practice to illustrate possibilities for the deployment of agency through critical analyses of Self

Repatriating race: exorcising ethno-exclusion

Race is widely acknowledged as one of humankind's most pernicious and enduring myths, and its contemporary ideological doppelganger – ethnicity – presents as arguably the single most divisive, oppressive and dangerous axis of identity at work in the world today. Attempts to develop more racially/ethnically harmonious communities have typically looked to education programs, usually conducted through the formal mechanisms of schooling, as a primary vehicle for the development of greater understanding and 'naturalizing' of difference. Focusing almost exclusively on the effects of racism and marginalization on the typically located victims of such oppression, these programs have largely ignored the importance of turning the focus of attention on to those positioned as beneficiaries of racism. That such programs have been largely unsuccessful in any broad societal sense has led to the exploration of alternative approaches to developing racial and ethnic awareness. This paper derives from a long-term project that has been anchored by two key political imperatives: making whiteness visible and effecting conscientization through autoethnographic work. Research on this project with pre-service teachers, most of it funded over several years, and more recently with middle (secondary) school students has provided valuable insights into more effective possibilities for the development of anti-racist pedagogies and for the decentring of the WWW (White Western Ways) that the authors see as crucial to a genuine move towards ethnic harmony. The first part of this paper exposes and justifies the ideological and procedural underpinnings of the program design and operation, and the second section reports on the outcomes to date. The authors conclude with a set of implications and possibilities for further, future activity

New looks at and for Onespa, Buzyges, and Librita (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae), with new combinations and descriptions of a new genus and six new species

Thirteen species of skippers (six newly described; Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae: Hesperiini) from higher elevations of Mexico and Central America are reviewed. These are included in four genera (one newly described), some with proposed new combinations. Onespa Steinhauser, 1974, originally described as monotypic, is shown to include three species in addition to its type species, Onespa nubis Steinhauser, 1974. One of these, Atrytone gala Godman, 1900, that has been misplaced in several genera since its description, represents a new combination. The other two species, distributed in montane habitats in northwestern Mexico and in Costa Rica, are described as new. Buzyges Godman, 1900, distributed in Mexico and Central America and also formerly considered monotypic, is shown to embrace four species. Besides the type species, Buzyges idothea Godman, 1900, two species long placed in Poanes Scudder, 1872, Pamphila rolla Mabille, 1883, and Poanes benito Freeman, 1979, are included as new combinations. Another species, known only from Costa Rica, is described as new. These are united by several superficial characters, but especially by genital morphology of both sexes. Librita Evans, 1955, was described to include three species of which one, Librita raspa Evans, 1955, was subsequently removed. Augiades heras Godman, 1900 is here also removed from Librita and placed in a new genus with three previously undescribed species. This completes the disintegration of Librita, which is now monotypic. The four genera, although exhibiting similarities suggesting potential alliance, differ in their unique combinations of several superficial and genital traits from each other and other hesperiine skippers

The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases

[Excerpt] The statutory debt limit applies to almost all federal debt. The limit applies to federal debt held by the public (that is, debt held outside the federal government itself) and to federal debt held by the government’s own accounts. Federal trust funds, such as Social Security, Medicare, Transportation, and Civil Service Retirement accounts, hold most of this internally held debt. The government’s surpluses or deficits determine essentially all of the change in debt held by the public. The government’s on-budget fiscal balance, which excludes a U.S. Postal Service net surplus or deficit and a large Social Security surplus of payroll taxes net of paid benefits, does not directly affect debt held in government accounts. Increases or decreases in debt held by government accounts result from net financial flows into accounts holding the debt, such as the Social Security Trust Fund. Legal requirements and government accounting practices also affect levels of debt held by government accounts. On August 2, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; S.365), after an extended debt limit episode. The federal debt reached its statutory limit on May 16, 2011, prompting Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to declare a debt issuance suspension period, allowing certain extraordinary measures to extend Treasury’s borrowing capacity. The BCA included provisions aimed at deficit reduction and would allow the debt limit to rise between $2,100 billion and$2,400 billion in three stages, with the latter two subject to congressional disapproval. Two of the three increases, totaling $900 billion, have occurred, and a request for a third increase is likely to occur in mid-January 2012

The type of Copaeodes chromis Skinner, 1919 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae)

The holotype of Copaeodes chromis Skinner, 1919 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), housed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, is a typical specimen of Zariaspes mythecus Godman, 1900

Crystalline Polymers with Exceptionally Low Thermal Conductivity Studied using Molecular Dynamics

Semi-crystalline polymers have been shown to have greatly increased thermal conductivity compared to amorphous bulk polymers due to effective heat conduction along the covalent bonds of the backbone. However, the mechanisms governing the intrinsic thermal conductivity of polymers remain largely unexplored as thermal transport has been studied in relatively few polymers. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to study heat transport in polynorbornene, a polymer that can be synthesized in semi-crystalline form using solution processing. We find that even perfectly crystalline polynorbornene has an exceptionally low thermal conductivity near the amorphous limit due to extremely strong anharmonic scattering. Our calculations show that this scattering is sufficiently strong to prevent the formation of propagating phonons, with heat being instead carried by non-propagating, delocalized vibrational modes known as diffusons. Our results demonstrate a mechanism for achieving intrinsically low thermal conductivity even in crystalline polymers that may be useful for organic thermoelectrics

What Students Expect and What They See: Ideology, Identity and the Double Auction Classroom Experiment

Many economists find that classroom experiments using the Double Auction (DA) trading institution are an effective pedagogical tool in introductory economics classes. Results of such experiments reliably illustrate the concepts and descriptive relevance of the theory of competitive equilibrium (or CE). However, we have noticed that the degree to which students are "surprised" by the CE theory's ability to predict DA outcomes seems to vary from class to class, and especially across classes at markedly different universities. We speculate that this is due to differences in students' ideological leanings and that these, in turn, are related to various socioeconomic or "identity" variables, such as class and race, that may vary systematically across universities. This paper reports some initial experimental results that explore this hypothesis. We find that only a few socioeconomic variables significantly predict students' ideology, and that at least one measure of ideology is a robust predictor of students' prior expectations and posterior evaluations of the predictive performance of CE theory. Several other variables, including sex, union status and work experience, also help predict students' expectations or evaluations; but none of these is as strong or robust as ideology itself.

Process Capability in a Computer Integrated Manufacturing Cell

With the rise of automation in traditional manufacturing processes, more companies are beginning to integrate computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) cells on their production floors. Through CIM cell integration, companies have the ability to reduce process time and increase production. One of the problems created with CIM cell automation is caused by the dependency the sequential steps have on one another. Dependency created by the previous step increases the probability that a process error could occur due to previous variation. One way to eliminate this dependency is through the use of an in-process measuring device such as a Renishaw spindle probe used in conjunction with a computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine. Western Kentucky University (WKU) utilizes a CIM cell in the Senator Mitch McConnell Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics laboratory. The laboratory is located in the Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences department and gives students the opportunity to learn how automated systems can be integrated. The CIM cell consists of three Mitsubishi six-axis robots, a Haas Mini-mill, a Haas GT-10 lathe, an AXYZ, Inc. CNC router table, 120 watt laser engraver, an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), material handling conveyor, and vision station. The CIM cell functions throughout the curriculum as a means for applied learning and research. The researcher used this CIM cell in order to determine if an in-process measuring device, such as the Renishaw spindle probe, had the ability to affect process capability. The researcher conducted the study to see if an in-process measuring device can be integrated into the CIM cell located in the Senator Mitch McConnell Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics laboratory to eliminate compounding variation. The researcher discovered that through the use of a Renishaw 40-2 spindle probe used in conjunction with a CNC Haas Mini Mill, process capability has the potential to be improved in a CIM cell by accounting for compounding variation present in the process

Urban design and social capital: lessons from a case study in Braunstone, Leicester, UK

A valuable asset in sustainable regeneration is the ‘community’ with their developed networks, bonds and ties or in other words its social capital which is a useful resource. Braunstone in Leicester is typical of many disadvantaged areas in the UK, with persistent socio-economic problems exacerbated by a poor physical setting. With a large regeneration programme funded by the New Deal for Communities coming to a close, we conducted a case study to explore the impact of improved local facilities and the effect of walkability on social capital. The lessons learnt suggests that responding to needs at a finer grain is vital in developing neighbourhoods for social capital such as responding to the needs of different user groups, responding to local patterns of use and needs of micro localities, and improving the perceptions of neighbourhoods. Local facilities and neighbourhood walkablity provides incentives for longer term residency, and facilitates interaction which helps social capital to grow. Accessing services by walking and using public transport proves vital to engage in social activities, while a poor physical environment, lack of accessible services and public transport negatively affects participation in social and leisure activities. Facilities and buildings provide a mediating role in developing social capital in a community, providing opportunity for social interaction which encourages people to reside in an area for longer. Improving connections beyond the neighbourhood is important to help retain people for longer term residency to develop social capital