Diversity, Dilemmas and Transformation in Post-Compulsory Education: an Introduction to the Special Issue on Work Based Research

As governments recognize the central place of post-compulsory education in regenerating and modernizing the economic and social fabric of society (BIS 2008), it is appropriate for us as educational researchers to question whether this recognition beckons a different role for research in post-compulsory education. Much of this research is work based, using a broad interpretation of this term, and the majority of articles received by this journal (though the proportion published is a lower one) reflect this balance. Work based research in education poses particular challenges for the researcher and the practitioner, whether the focus is practitioner research, in which case the dilemmas can centre on potential role conflict between practitioner and researcher roles, or whether the work based research is observational – analyzing others’ professional practice, in which case the dilemmas can centre on power relations between researcher and researched, the politics of research, and ethical questions around care for participants and the degree of their involvement or non-involvement in the total research enterprise. This article reviews the prospects for work based research in post-compulsory education and introduces the articles in this special issue

Possible observation of phase separation near a quantum phase transition in doubly connected ultrathin superconducting cylinders of aluminum

The kinetic energy of superconducting electrons in an ultrathin, doubly connected superconducting cylinder, determined by the applied flux, increases as the cylinder diameter decreases, leading to a destructive regime around half-flux quanta and a superconductor to normal metal quantum phase transition (QPT). Regular step-like features in resistance vs. temperature curves taken at fixed flux values were observed near the QPT in ultrathin Al cylinders. It is proposed that these features are most likely resulted from a phase separation near the QPT in which normal regions nucleate in a homogeneous superconducting cylinder.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Pituitary Metastasis: Lung Cancer Presenting as Bitemporal Hemianopsia with Diabetes Insipidus and Anterior Pituitary Deficiency

Symptoms and signs of pituitary disease are rarely the first manifestations of malignancy originating in another organ. We present a case which exemplifies the key points that suggest a diagnosis of metastatic pituitary disease. Our patient\u27s diagnosis was adenocarcinoma of the lung with a metastasis to the intrasellar and suprasellar regions, which caused diabetes insipidus, anterior pituitary deficiency, and visual field defects. The metastasis had a dumbbell appearance and extended from the sella turcica into the suprasellar region. Diabetes insipidus was the initial clinical manifestation of lung cancer in this patient. A metastasis to the pituitary should be suspected if diabetes insipidus is the initial manifestation of an intrasellar mass

Virtual Coaching for Novice Teachers

Virtual bug-in-the-ear technology presents one tool that allows practitioners and university educators can use to attract, prepare, and retain high-quality teachers. The experience of Project TEEACH based at the University of Alabama suggests that simple technology tools could be used effectively to support teachers through their most challenging instructional situations. Such coaching provides the kind of at-the-elbow support that can be most beneficial to young teachers

A multifractal zeta function for cookie cutter sets

Starting with the work of Lapidus and van Frankenhuysen a number of papers have introduced zeta functions as a way of capturing multifractal information. In this paper we propose a new multifractal zeta function and show that under certain conditions the abscissa of convergence yields the Hausdorff multifractal spectrum for a class of measures

Comparative validation of the IPAQ and the 7-Day PAR among women diagnosed with breast cancer

BACKGROUND: The criterion-related validity and measurement bias of the long form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was compared to the 7-Day Physical Activity Recall (PAR). METHODS: Participants were women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and enrolled in the ongoing Women's Healthy Eating and Living Study. Women (N = 159, average age 57 years) wore an accelerometer for one week and then completed the IPAQ or the PAR. RESULTS: The validity correlation of the PAR was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the IPAQ (0.73 vs. 0.33, respectively). The PAR and IPAQ overestimated total physical activity by 13% vs. 247%, respectively. The PAR had better sensitivity (p = 0.14) and specificity (p < .01) than the IPAQ (100% vs. 71% and 84% vs. 59%, respectively) in predicting attainment of the ACSM physical activity guideline. CONCLUSION: The PAR was superior to the IPAQ in terms of validity, measurement bias, and screening statistics