1,630 research outputs found
Affinities and Beyond! Developing Ways of Seeing in Online Spaces
This article presents an insider view of an online community of adults involved in sharing digital photography through a host website, Flickr. It describes how reciprocal teaching and learning partnerships in a dynamic multimodal environment are achieved through the creation of a ‘Third Space’ or ‘Affinity Space’, where ‘Funds of Knowledge’ are shared and processed in such a way that new meanings and discourses are generated. It is argued that this process is evidence of valuable learning and of the deepening of global understandings within the local space of Flickr. The new understandings are at least partly identifiable on the Flickr space, through the co-constructed ‘folksonomy’ or ‘online taxonomy’ of ways of looking at the world. Further, the article provides evidence for broadening existing definitions of literacy, at a time when the visual mode increasingly works interactively with verbal cues and explanations
Cornelius Lanczos's derivation of the usual action integral of classical electrodynamics
The usual action integral of classical electrodynamics is derived starting
from Lanczos's electrodynamics -- a pure field theory in which charged
particles are identified with singularities of the homogeneous Maxwell's
equations interpreted as a generalization of the Cauchy-Riemann regularity
conditions from complex to biquaternion functions of four complex variables. It
is shown that contrary to the usual theory based on the inhomogeneous Maxwell's
equations, in which charged particles are identified with the sources, there is
no divergence in the self-interaction so that the mass is finite, and that the
only approximation made in the derivation are the usual conditions required for
the internal consistency of classical electrodynamics. Moreover, it is found
that the radius of the boundary surface enclosing a singularity interpreted as
an electron is on the same order as that of the hypothetical "bag" confining
the quarks in a hadron, so that Lanczos's electrodynamics is engaging the
reconsideration of many fundamental concepts related to the nature of
elementary particles.Comment: 16 pages. Final version to be published in "Foundations of Physics
The algebraic hyperstructure of elementary particles in physical theory
Algebraic hyperstructures represent a natural extension of classical
algebraic structures. In a classical algebraic structure, the composition of
two elements is an element, while in an algebraic hyperstructure, the
composition of two elements is a set. Algebraic hyperstructure theory has a
multiplicity of applications to other disciplines. The main purpose of this
paper is to provide examples of hyperstructures associated with elementary
particles in physical theory.Comment: 13 page
Acting together: ensemble as a democratic process in art and life
Traditionally drama in schools has been seen either as a learning medium with a wide range of curricular uses or as a subject in its own right. This paper argues that the importance of drama in schools is in the processes of social and artistic engagement and experiencing of drama rather than in its outcomes. The paper contrasts the pro-social emphasis in the ensemble model of drama with the pro-technical and limited range of learning in subject-based approaches which foreground technical knowledge of periods, plays, styles and genres. The ensemble-based approach is positioned in the context of professional theatre understandings of ensemble artistry and in the context of revolutionary shifts from the pro-technical to the pro-social in educational and cultural policy making in England. Using ideas drawn from McGrath and Castoriadis, the paper claims that the ensemble approach provides young people with a model of democratic living
Rethinking non-traditional resistance at work : the case of the Indian Diaspora in Mauritius
Resistance at work can take many forms and this is reflected in the multiple ways it has been theorised in research. In this paper, I use postcolonial theory to analyse employee resistance in Mauritius. To do this, I deploy Homi Bhabha’s concepts of mimicry, ambivalence and hybridity to explore non-traditional forms of resistance among the Indian Diaspora working in the hotel industry. Using ethnographic research, I firstly look at its ‘home’-making practices as it is within the home that visions of community emerge (Bhabha, 1994) which could later influence behaviours at work. I argue that the Diaspora maintains connections with its ancestral roots via routine religious practices and language use while concomitantly resisting assimilation in the local context. The analysis is then extended to their workplace where further forms of non-traditional resistance are found to be enacted which are strongly influenced by the same values emerging at home
Literacy practices of primary education children in Andalusia (Spain): a family-based perspective
Primary school children develop literacy practices in various domains and situations in everyday life.
This study focused on the analysis of literacy practices of children aged 8–12 years from the perspec-
tive of their families. 1,843 families participated in the non-experimental explanatory study. The
children in these families speak Spanish as a first language and are schooled in this language. The
instrument used was a self-report questionnaire about children’s home-literacy practices. The data
obtained were analysed using categorical principal components analysis (CATPCA) and analysis of
variance (ANOVA). The results show the complex relationship between literacy practices developed
by children in the domains of home and school and the limited development of a literacy-promoting
‘third space’. In conclusion, the families in our study had limited awareness of their role as literacy-
promoting agents and thought of literacy learning as restricted to formal or academic spaces
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