Secondary teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of their pre-service education and strategies to improve pre-service education for teachers: A school based training route in England

This study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the impact of an EBITT course on teachers' early professional development, identify strengths of the course and also the ways in which the training could be improved. Data collected was recorded during individual face- to- face interviews using a structured interview schedule. In devising our approach we utilised the model suggested by Sharon Feiman-Nemser in her article How do Teachers Learn to Teach? in Cochran - Smith et. al. (2008) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education The data was analysed to explore (after 2-4 years reflection): • which elements of initial training were valuable and less valuable • what they have learned since the course • which aspects of the course the teachers feel should be improved It was cross referenced against findings from national surveys of teachers in their post qualifying year of teaching (induction year) and early years of teaching conducted by the TDA. These findings were presented as part of a common wider international study on the same theme in four countries (UK, Spain, Australia, and Ireland)

Intensity fluctuations in steady state superradiance

Alkaline-earth like atoms with ultra-narrow optical transitions enable superradiance in steady state. The emitted light promises to have an unprecedented stability with a linewidth as narrow as a few millihertz. In order to evaluate the potential usefulness of this light source as an ultrastable oscillator in clock and precision metrology applications it is crucial to understand the noise properties of this device. In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the intensity fluctuations by means of Monte-Carlo simulations and semi-classical approximations. We find that the light exhibits bunching below threshold, is to a good approximation coherent in the superradiant regime, and is chaotic above the second threshold.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Extreme non-linear response of ultra-narrow optical transitions in cavity QED for laser stabilization

We explore the potential of direct spectroscopy of ultra-narrow optical transitions of atoms localized in an optical cavity. In contrast to stabilization against a reference cavity, which is the approach currently used for the most highly stabilized lasers, stabilization against an atomic transition does not suffer from Brownian thermal noise. Spectroscopy of ultra-narrow optical transitions in a cavity operates in a very highly saturated regime in which non-linear effects such as bistability play an important role. From the universal behavior of the Jaynes-Cummings model with dissipation, we derive the fundamental limits for laser stabilization using direct spectroscopy of ultra-narrow atomic lines. We find that with current lattice clock experiments, laser linewidths of about 1 mHz can be achieved in principle, and the ultimate limitations of this technique are at the 1 $\mu$ Hz level.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Exploring Buddhism as a ‘Tool’ to Support Well-Being: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Western Adopters’ Experiences

Buddhism is an ancient religion and philosophy of living that is practised worldwide. More recent interest in mindfulness as a practice and intervention in the West has highlighted Buddhist-derived concepts as useful in supporting health and well-being. As a result, the desire to understand Buddhism in its more complete form has strengthened. Although research into mindfulness and compassion is growing, there is a new interest in second-generation mindfulness, i.e. interventions that draw upon a more holistic use of Buddhist practices. To date, little research has explored this in Western contexts. For the current study, Nichiren Buddhists from the United Kingdom who had been practising for at least three years were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore their experience of this practice and how it informed their approach to daily life and, in particular, their health and well-being. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was employed as a method to understand the participants’ experiences. Three themes were generated using an inductive approach: (1) finding meaning—“All experiences have got so much value now”— which reflected the participants’ determination to seek purpose and value in all aspects of their life; (2) Buddhism as a needed ‘tool’—“I use it all the time”—which revealed their practice as an important method to help them manage their lives; and (3) agency—“I’m in control of my destiny”—which highlighted the participants’ engagement (supported by their Buddhist practice) in taking responsibility for their actions and responses. Findings indicate the need for future studies to further explore Buddhism as a mechanism for enhancing and sustaining well-being

Effect of continuous gamma-ray exposure on performance of learned tasks and effect of subsequent fractionated exposures on blood-forming tissue

Sixteen monkeys trained to perform continuous and discrete-avoidance and fixed-ratio tasks with visual and auditory cues were performance-tested before, during, and after 10-day gamma-ray exposures totaling 0, 500, 750, and 1000 rads. Approximately 14 months after the performance-test exposures, surviving animals were exposed to 100-rad gamma-ray fractions at 56-day intervals to observe injury and recovery patterns of blood-forming tissues. The fixed-ratio, food-reward task performance showed a transient decline in all dose groups within 24 hours of the start of gamma-ray exposure, followed by recovery to normal food-consumption levels within 48 to 72 hours. Avoidance tasks were performed successfully by all groups during the 10-day exposure, but reaction times of the two higher dose-rate groups in which animals received 3 and 4 rads per hour or total doses of 750 and 1000 rads, respectively, were somewhat slower

Vortex interaction, chaos and quantum probabilities

The motion of a single vortex is able to originate chaos in the quantum trajectories defined in Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics. In this Letter, we show that this is also the case in the general situation, in which many interacting vortices exist. This result gives support to recent attempts in which Born's probability rule is derived in terms of an irreversible time evolution to equilibrium, rather than being postulated.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Geometrical view of quantum entanglement

Although a precise description of microscopic physical problems requires a full quantum mechanical treatment, physical quantities are generally discussed in terms of classical variables. One exception is quantum entanglement which apparently has no classical counterpart. We demonstrate here how quantum entanglement may be within the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics visualized in geometrical terms, giving new insight into this mysterious phenomenon and a language to describe it. On the basis of our analysis of the dynamics of a pair of qubits, quantum entanglement is linked to concurrent motion of angular momenta in the Bohmian space of hidden variables and to the average angle between these momenta

Endpoint thermodynamics of an atomic Fermi gas subject to a Feshbach resonance

The entropy and kinetic, potential, and interaction energies of an atomic Fermi gas in a trap are studied under the assumption of thermal equilibrium for finite temperature. A Feshbach resonance can cause the fermions to pair into diatomic molecules. The entropy and energies of mixtures of such molecules with unpaired atoms are calculated, in relation to recent experiments on molecular Bose-Einstein condensates produced in this manner. It is shown that, starting with a Fermi gas of temperature $T= 0.1 T_F^0$, where $T_F^0$ is the non-interacting Fermi temperature, an extremely cold degenerate Fermi gas of temperature $T \lesssim 0.01 T_F^0$ may be produced without further evaporative cooling. This requires adiabatic passage of the resonance, subsequent sudden removal of unpaired atoms, and adiabatic return. We also calculate the ratio of the interaction energy to the kinetic energy, a straightforward experimental signal which may be used to determine the temperature of the atoms and indicate condensation of the molecules.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure