Maxwell's Equations in a Uniformly Rotating Dielectric Medium and the Wilson-Wilson Experiment

This note offers a conceptually straightforward and efficient way to formulate and solve problems in the electromagnetics of moving media based on a representation of Maxwell's equations in terms of differential forms on spacetime together with junction conditions at moving interfaces. This framework is used to address a number of issues that have been discussed recently in this journal about the theoretical description underlying the interpretation of the Wilson-Wilson experiment.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Homegrown Ingredients: Creating Tools When the Information Literacy Supermarket Fails You

When established sources change formats, switch platforms, or upgrade, they aren’t always user-friendly, especially for inexperienced researchers. After using ill-fitting and frustrating legal research tools for years, librarians and instructors at the University of Dubuque jumped in and created local homegrown tools. Instead of changing an effective assignment to bend to inadequate search tools, the course coordinator and library liaison created and adapted tools to fit the assignment. Capitalizing on the librarian’s research skills, the professor’s subject expertise, and the plethora of free tools, the learning experience students (and professors and librarians) have is now more rewarding. Rather than lead students through complicated methods of information hunting, customized research tools allowed instructors to focus on how to use the information. Creation of local tools can be time-intensive, but the resulting value to all involved is well worth the effort. Both librarians and instructors report that the database has significantly decreased the amount of time students spend selecting a topic, leaving more time to focus on application of resources, the actual learning objective. This session will provide a brief description of an introductory-level assignment, an overview of previous tools used, and the librarian\u27s role in the course. The presenter will also explain the process of creating a database and illustrative content narrative and the impact on student learning. Participants will engage with the final products and discuss how to apply these ideas to their own instruction

The politics of protest in newspaper campaigns: dissent, populism and the rhetoric of authenticity

Newspaper campaigns embody newspaper’ most emphatic claims to speak for ‘the people’, and as such are generally regarded as populist. However, they can be oppositional, engaging in dissent of one sort or another, and often assume a certain amount of political engagement with that dissent on the part of the audience. This article examines the potential of newspaper camapigns to facilitate the political engagement of citizens through the politics of protest. It draws on qualitative analysis of seven campaigns that ran in the Scottish press between 2000 and 2005, and semi-structured interviews with relevant journalists. The distinction between legitimate protest and manipulative populism is made in terms of: (a) the rhetoric and strategies of political representation, participation and influence and (b) the construction of political legitimacy in terms of the public interest and the moral authority of the ‘victim’. It is argued that populist impulses dominate, driving a tendency to use discourses of emotional authenticity and offence to legitimise demands for a plebiscitary response to popular of ‘victim’ preference and to close down controversy and debate, with the principal objective marketing the newspaper as an influential community champion

Come Together Like Voltron: Strategies for Intentional Reference

Public services includes both reference and instruction services, but why don\u27t the two work together? Train together? Reference is the public service the profession has tried to abandon. Integrating reference into instruction and training staff members side by side allows for ideas and solutions to be shared across professional boundaries. Reference staff can then use and mirror language the students hear in classrooms, steer students towards sources appropriate to the assignment, and open communication from reference staff to instruction librarians on the types of questions they are seeing at the reference desk. Reference interactions can spur conversations with faculty for instruction and open up collaboration possibilities beyond the classroom. Reference is often done in isolation, both as a service and as a staff. Staffing the desk is a solo task and most of the conversations that happen with other members of a reference team only happen in passing or are about little more than swapping shifts. Taking a systematic approach to reference takes the burden off of the individual and creates a collaborative and intentional service. Reference services are vital to a library. Unlike other essential services, reference often lacks structure, support, or training beyond the very basics. Simple steps can be taken to rectify this. In this presentation, we will discuss some of the strategies we implemented like training IL staff and reference staff together, creating internal collaborative resources, scheduling regular reference team meetings, and coordinating reference staffing with instruction schedules allowing staff to have formal and informal conversations about reference

Greece in crisis: austerity, populism and the politics of blame

Within the broader debate on the Greek crisis, the theory of ‘populist democracy’ postulates that populism is fundamental to the sustenance of the Greek political system and is at the heart of Greece's endemic domestic weaknesses. This article tests this assumption empirically through the use of a sophisticated framing analysis of speeches delivered by the leaders of the five parties in the Greek parliament in the period 2009–11. The findings confirm that populism: (a) is expressed through the narratives of political actors; (b) is observed across the party system; (c) is expressed in the forms of blame-shifting and exclusivity; and (d) differs depending on position in the party system. The article contributes to the debate by testing and building on the theory of democratic populism, providing a novel way of measuring and operationalizing populism and identifying a new typology that distinguishes between mainstream and fringe populism

Plurinacionalismo y estatalidad: el caso de Irlanda del Norte

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The effect of school closures on primary science education – a study

Teaching and learning science during the school closure period was always going to be a challenge. However, lockdown research conducted by the University of Central Lancashire shows that children from deprived backgrounds are at greatly increased risk of having their scientific aspirations blighted by Covid. Lead researcher Dr. Cherry Canovan considers the problem – and what can be done about it

More than a grand day out? Learning on school trips to science festivals from the perspectives of teachers, pupils and organisers

Science festivals are a rapidly-growing phenomenon worldwide, and many such events host trips by school parties. However what type of learning takes place on these visits, and how effective it is, has not as yet been a focus of academic study. This paper investigates these questions from the perspective of three groups – teachers, pupils and festival organisers – and asks how well the attitudes and priorities of these categories are aligned. We find that teachers and organisers share the primary aim of affective learning (excitement, inspiration) and that this is experienced by almost all pupils. A secondary aim of cognitive (factual) learning is reported by just under half of pupils. However a third aim of careers learning which was expressed by festival organisers and some teachers was not reported by pupil participants. In addition, we found that the groups could work more effectively together to promote educational aims by measures such as reducing the novelty of the event situation and making educational agendas for the visit clearer. Finally, to address the areas of misalignment pinpointed in this study, we give a series of recommendations to optimise learning at such events

“Going to these events truly opens your eyes”. Perceptions of science and science careers following a family visit to a science festival

Young people's decisions to study post-compulsory science are strongly influenced by the attitude of their parents, but many families, especially those from deprived backgrounds, see science as ‘narrow’ and ‘not for us’. We asked whether family attendance at a science festival — a growing but under-studied activity — could shift attitudes. Our mixed-methods study found parents from more deprived areas were disproportionately likely to say attendance had improved their perception of science. Parents from the most deprived areas were significantly more likely to feel increased positivity about their children pursuing science careers. Participants also reported learning about the breadth of careers in science. However we found no evidence that attendance boosted informal science activity in low-SES families