The contribution of knowing practice to the theory–practice ‘divide’ in global learning

This article draws on research exploring how practitioners in development education centres (DECs) in England conceptualise global learning and understand the relationship between theory and practice. It responds to ongoing critique that when it comes to practice, there is a lack of clarity and reflection on conceptual and theoretical issues, and their implications for what practitioners know and do. Informed by critical grounded theory, the research analysed data obtained through focus groups which were designed to engage practitioners in a process of reflecting on their work collaboratively and critically. While findings from an early analysis of responses appeared to support arguments about a weak theory–practice relationship, revisiting participants’ emphasis on what they do as practice prompted exploration of the literature on similar debates in wider professional contexts. This introduced insights centred on concepts of embodied and ‘knowing practice’. Applying these concepts back to the data supported evidence of a more complex and symbiotic relationship between theory and practice in some participants’ responses. This was significant in reframing the theory–practice divide assumed by the research aims, shifting the emphasis from knowledge to practice, and opening up questions about what knowledge and practice means in the context of DECs. It also empowered practitioners by alerting them to possibilities for engaging more actively with knowledge and transforming their practice collectively

Gapped boundaries and string-like excitations in (3+1)d gauge models of topological phases

We study lattice Hamiltonian realisations of (3+1)d Dijkgraaf-Witten theory with gapped boundaries. In addition to the bulk loop-like excitations, the Hamiltonian yields bulk dyonic string-like excitations that terminate at gapped boundaries. Using a tube algebra approach, we classify such excitations and derive the corresponding representation theory. Via a dimensional reduction argument, we relate this tube algebra to that describing (2+1)d boundary point-like excitations at interfaces between two gapped boundaries. Such point-like excitations are well known to be encoded into a bicategory of module categories over the input fusion category. Exploiting this correspondence, we define a bicategory that encodes the string-like excitations ending at gapped boundaries, showing that it is a sub-bicategory of the centre of the input bicategory of group-graded 2-vector spaces. In the process, we explain how gapped boundaries in (3+1)d can be labelled by so-called pseudo-algebra objects over this input bicategory

The Ill Effects of Mid - 1980s Tax Policy on Higher Education

This article will focus on the provisions of the 1984 and 1986 Acts that most directly affect higher education in an adverse way. While tax legislation in the early 1980s left higher education relatively unscathed, these two acts of the mid- 1980s had major detrimental effects on higher education. This article will catalog and assess the impact on higher education of several tax law provisions enacted in the mid-1980s. It is the thesis of this article that the individual pieces of legislation are a de facto (and probably unwitting) educational policy that adversely affects higher education. This article will not rehash all of the arguments for or against providing tax incentives for higher education. These have been amply analyzed in prior literature. There appears to be a general social consensus that higher education should be encouraged and that the tax system should not discourage it. Tax incentives for higher education have a long and venerable history. It is an abrupt change from prior practice, therefore, for tax policy to take a turn in precisely the opposite direction

Measuring attitudes towards Global Learning among future educators in England

This paper reports upon a multi-agency approach to measuring attitudes towards global learning among future educators at a university in the north-west of England. This study provides a response to concerns that global learning research and evaluation of global education interventions tend to focus upon short-term, observable outcomes rather than longer-term changes in behaviour, attitude, and practice. It is based upon the assumption that global learning in teacher education must focus upon the development of who the educator is as a person, including his or her values, attitudes, and associated dispositions. This paper will outline the process of constructing an attitude inventory, based upon Thurstone scaling, by a range of professionals working in local government, teacher education, and non-government organizations that promote global education. It reports upon the use of this survey at the beginning, middle, and end of a compulsory course completed by a cohort of 154 undergraduate students of primary teacher education. The findings show positive changes in attitudes towards global learning among females and eradication of the most negative attitudes towards global learning during the course of study. Causal factors relating to cultural practice are suggested. The limitations of this particular tool for researching global learning are discussed alongside the insight gained from this collaborative process of evaluation

Representations of the Necklace Braid Group: Topological and Combinatorial Approaches

The necklace braid group NBn is the motion group of the n+1 component necklace link Ln in Euclidean R3. Here Ln consists of n pairwise unlinked Euclidean circles each linked to an auxiliary circle. Partially motivated by physical considerations, we study representations of the necklace braid group NBn, especially those obtained as extensions of representations of the braid group Bn and the loop braid group LBn. We show that any irreducible Bn representation extends to NBn in a standard way. We also find some non-standard extensions of several well-known Bn-representations such as the Burau and LKB representations. Moreover, we prove that any local representation of Bn (i.e., coming from a braided vector space) can be extended to NBn, in contrast to the situation with LBn. We also discuss some directions for future study from categorical and physical perspectives

Higher lattices, discrete two-dimensional holonomy and topological phases in (3+1)D with higher gauge symmetry

Higher gauge theory is a higher order version of gauge theory that makes possible the definition of 2-dimensional holonomy along surfaces embedded in a manifold where a gauge 2-connection is present. In this paper, we study Hamiltonian models for discrete higher gauge theory on a lattice decomposition of a manifold. We show that a construction for higher lattice gauge theory is well-defined, including in particular a Hamiltonian for topological phases of matter in 3+1 dimensions. Our construction builds upon the Kitaev quantum double model, replacing the finite gauge connection with a finite gauge 2-group 2-connection. Our Hamiltonian higher lattice gauge theory model is defined on spatial manifolds of arbitrary dimension presented by slightly combinatorialized CW-decompositions (2-lattice decompositions), whose 1-cells and 2-cells carry discrete 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional holonomy data. We prove that the ground-state degeneracy of Hamiltonian higher lattice gauge theory is a topological invariant of manifolds, coinciding with the number of homotopy classes of maps from the manifold to the classifying space of the underlying gauge 2-group. The operators of our Hamiltonian model are closely related to discrete 2-dimensional holonomy operators for discretized 2-connections on manifolds with a 2-lattice decomposition. We therefore address the definition of discrete 2-dimensional holonomy for surfaces embedded in 2-lattices. Several results concerning the well-definedness of discrete 2-dimensional holonomy, and its construction in a combinatorial and algebraic topological setting are presented

Representations of the loop braid group and Aharonov–Bohm like effects in discrete (3+1)-dimensional higher gauge theory

We show that representations of the loop braid group arise from Aharonov–Bohm like effects in finite 2‑group (3+1) -dimensional topological higher gauge theory. For this we introduce a minimal categorification of biracks, which we call W‑bikoids (welded bikoids). Our main example of W‑bikoids arises from finite 2‑groups, realised as crossed modules of groups. Given a W‑bikoid, and hence a groupoid of symmetries, we construct a family of unitary representations of the loop braid group derived from representations of the groupoid algebra. We thus give a candidate for higher Bais’ flux metamorphosis, and hence also a version of a ‘higher quantum group’

High-speed Photometric Observations of ZZ Ceti White Dwarf Candidates

We present high-speed photometric observations of ZZ Ceti white dwarf candidates drawn from the spectroscopic survey of bright DA stars from the Villanova White Dwarf Catalog by Gianninas et al., and from the recent spectroscopic survey of white dwarfs within 40 parsecs of the Sun by Limoges et al. We report the discovery of six new ZZ Ceti pulsators from these surveys, and several photometrically constant DA white dwarfs, which we then use to refine the location of the ZZ Ceti instability strip.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, 2 figures, to appear in "19th European White Dwarf Workshop" in the ASP Conference Serie

SN2013fs and SN2013fr: Exploring the circumstellar-material diversity in Type II supernovae

We present photometry and spectroscopy of SN2013fs and SN2013fr in the first 100 days post-explosion. Both objects showed transient, relatively narrow H$\alpha$ emission lines characteristic of SNeIIn, but later resembled normal SNeII-P or SNeII-L, indicative of fleeting interaction with circumstellar material (CSM). SN2013fs was discovered within 8hr of explosion. Its light curve exhibits a plateau, with spectra revealing strong CSM interaction at early times. It is a less luminous version of the transitional SNIIn PTF11iqb, further demonstrating a continuum of CSM interaction intensity between SNeII-P and IIn. It requires dense CSM within 6.5$\times$10$^{14}$~cm of the progenitor, from a phase of advanced pre-SN mass loss shortly before explosion. Spectropolarimetry of SN2013fs shows little continuum polarization, but noticeable line polarization during the plateau phase. SN2013fr morphed from a SNIIn at early times to a SNII-L. After the first epoch its narrow lines probably arose from host-galaxy emission, but the bright, narrow H$\alpha$ emission at early times may be intrinsic. As for SN2013fs, this would point to a short-lived phase of strong CSM interaction if proven to be intrinsic, suggesting a continuum between SNeIIn and II-L. It is a low-velocity SNII-L, like SN2009kr but more luminous. SN2013fr also developed an IR excess at later times, due to warm CSM dust that require a more sustained phase of strong pre-SN mass loss.Comment: MNRAS accepted. 28 pages, 23 figures, 8 table

Detection of Chern numbers and entanglement in topological two-species systems through subsystem winding numbers

Topological invariants, such as the Chern number, characterize topological phases of matter. Here we provide a method to detect Chern numbers in systems with two distinct species of fermion, such as spins, orbitals or several atomic states. We analytically show that the Chern number can be decomposed as a sum of component specific winding numbers, which are themselves physically observable. We apply this method to two systems, the quantum spin Hall insulator and a staggered topological superconductor, and show that (spin) Chern numbers are accurately reproduced. The measurements required for constructing the component winding numbers also enable one to probe the entanglement spectrum with respect to component partitions. Our method is particularly suited to experiments with cold atoms in optical lattices where time-of-flight images can give direct access to the relevant observables