44,013 research outputs found
Teacher and child talk in active learning and whole-class contexts : some implications for children from economically less advantaged home backgrounds
This paper reports the experiences of 150 children and six primary teachers when active learning pedagogies were introduced into the first year of primary schools. Although active learning increased the amount of talk between children, those from socio-economically advantaged homes talked more than those from less advantaged homes. Also, individual children experienced very little time engaged in high-quality talk with the teacher, despite the teachers spending over one-third of their time responding to children's needs and interests. Contextual differences, such as the different staffing ratios in schools and pre-schools,may affect how well the benefits of active learning transfer from preschool contexts into primary schools. Policy-makers and teachers should pay particular attention to the implications of this for the education of children from economically less advantaged home backgrounds
Diversity and inclusivity at university: a survey of the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) students in the UK
The extent to which UK universities are ‘gay friendly’ has received some attention in the press. Whilst there are a number of published studies exploring campus climate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) students and/or staff, these are primarily localised studies undertaken in State Universities and Baccalaureate Colleges in the US. The present study is a nationwide UK study of campus climate, based on survey data collected from a sample of 291 LGBT students from 42 universities across the UK. The findings show that despite the increased implementation of an equality agenda (e.g. equal access; widening participation) in UK Higher Education, homophobia on campus is still a significant problem and therefore universities are not perceived nor experienced by LGBT students as ‘safe spaces’ in which to be open about sexual orientation/gender identity. The implications of the findings for university policy and practice in relation to LGBT (and indeed all) students is also explored.</p
Basis Independent Measures of R-parity Violation
We construct basis-independent expressions that measure the magnitude of
-parity breaking due to possible superpotential terms in the Minimal
Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, in the absence of soft
supersymmetry-breaking terms and spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking. We also
discuss briefly their application to a consistent treatment of cosmological
constraints on -parity violation.Comment: 13 pages, Late
The Supernova Legacy Survey 3-year sample: Type Ia supernovae photometric distances and cosmological constraints
Aims. We present photometric properties and distance measurements of 252 high redshift Type Ia supernovae (0.15 < z < 1.1)
discovered during the first three years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). These events were detected and their multi-colour
light curves measured using the MegaPrime/MegaCam instrument at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), by repeatedly
imaging four one-square degree fields in four bands. Follow-up spectroscopy was performed at the VLT, Gemini and Keck telescopes
to confirm the nature of the supernovae and to measure their redshifts.
Methods. Systematic uncertainties arising from light curve modeling are studied, making use of two techniques to derive the peak
magnitude, shape and colour of the supernovae, and taking advantage of a precise calibration of the SNLS fields.
Results. A flat ΛCDM cosmological fit to 231 SNLS high redshift type Ia supernovae alone gives Ω_M = 0.211 ± 0.034(stat) ±
0.069(sys). The dominant systematic uncertainty comes from uncertainties in the photometric calibration. Systematic uncertainties
from light curve fitters come next with a total contribution of ± 0.026 on Ω_M. No clear evidence is found for a possible evolution of
the slope (β) of the colour-luminosity relation with redshift
Neutrino Oscillations Induced by Gravitational Recoil Effects
Quantum gravitational fluctuations of the space-time background, described by
virtual D branes, may induce neutrino oscillations if a tiny violation of the
Lorentz invariance (or a violation of the equivalence principle) is imposed. In
this framework, the oscillation length of massless neutrinos turns out to be
proportional to M/E^2, where E is the neutrino energy and M is the mass scale
characterizing the topological fluctuations in the vacuum. Such a functional
dependence on the energy is the same obtained in the framework of loop quantum
gravity.Comment: 5 pages, LaTex fil
Attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and support for lesbian and gay human rights among psychology students
A questionnaire comprising two scales, the short form of the Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG-S; Herek, 1984) and the newly devised Support for Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Scale (SLGHR) were administered to 226 students taking undergraduate psychology courses at universities in the United Kingdom, to assess their attitudes towards lesbians and gay men, and their level of support for lesbian and gay human rights. The results indicated that whilst only a small percentage of respondents expressed negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men on the ATLG-S, the sample as a whole did not overwhelmingly support lesbian and gay human rights. The lack of support for lesbian and gay human rights is discussed in relation to its implications for psychology students as future practitioners and policy makers.
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Electroweak Precision Data and Gravitino Dark Matter
Electroweak precision measurements can provide indirect information about the
possible scale of supersymmetry already at the present level of accuracy. We
review present day sensitivities of precision data in mSUGRA-type models with
the gravitino as the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The chi^2 fit is
based on M_W, sin^2 theta_eff, (g-2)_mu, BR(b -> s gamma) and the lightest MSSM
Higgs boson mass, M_h. We find indications for relatively light soft
supersymmetry-breaking masses, offering good prospects for the LHC and the ILC,
and in some cases also for the Tevatron.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Talk given at the LCWS06 March 2006, Bangalore,
India. References adde
The Search for Celestial Positronium via the Recombination Spectrum
Positronium is the short-lived atom consisting of a bound electron-positron
pair. In the triplet state, when the spins of both particles are parallel,
radiative recombination lines will be emitted prior to annihilation. The
existence of celestial positronium is revealed through gamma-ray observations
of its annihilation products. These observations however have intrinsically low
angular resolution. In this paper we examine the prospects for detecting the
positronium recombination spectrum. Such observations have the potential to
reveal discrete sources of positrons for the first time and will allow the
acuity of optical telescopes and instrumentation to be applied to observations
of high energy phenomena.
We review the theory of the positronium recombination spectrum and provide
formulae to calculate expected line strengths from the positrons production
rate and for different conditions in the interstellar medium. We estimate the
positronium emission line strengths for several classes of Galactic and
extragalactic sources. These are compared to current observational limits and
to current and future sensitivities of optical and infrared instrumentation. We
find that observations of the Ps-alpha line should soon be possible due to
recent advances in near-infrared spectroscopy.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
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