Distance education for dentists: Improving the quality of online instruction

Abstract

This study describes the development and the evaluation of quality assurance criteria for online dental education. These criteria were developed by the authors and evaluated by oral health professionals through an Internet survey. The survey indicated that oral health professionals ranked the creation of scientifically based, frequently updated courses that clearly define their educational goals and objectives as highly important.     

The development of gender differences in affective expression and in the relationship between mood and achievement-related self-judgments

In this study, 434 children and adolescents completed the Control-,Agency-, and Means-ends beliefs Interview (CAMI). Moreover, we asked for current mood-state and achievement-related affect after success and failure at school. There was no gender difference in achievement-related affective expression in children (9 and 10 years old), but there was a substantial difference in adolescents (15 and 16 years old), boys reporting less affect than girls. A different pattern emerged for the impact of affect on achievement-related beliefs. Again, children did not show any gender difference. In adolescents, however, boys' current mood-state was related to agency beliefs to a higher extent than girls' current mood state. Thus, boys, in comparison to girls, may develop inhibition of affective expression, but over the same span, they continue to base agency beliefs on their current mood-state whereas girls do not.     

The Contribution of International Large-Scale Assessments to Educational Research: Combining Individual and Institutional Data Sources

The present paper aims to discuss how data from international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) can be utilized and combined, even with other existing data sources, in order to monitor educational outcomes and study the effectiveness of educational systems. We consider different purposes of linking data, namely, extending outcomes measures, analyzing differences over time or across cohorts, and supplementing context information. These linking strategies are illustrated by a non-exhaustive selection of studies that exploited ILSAs to investigate a wide range of educational topics. We conclude that the main contribution of ILSA to educational research lies in the ways they facilitate analyses of educational policy and policy-related issues at the institutional level by means of cross-country analyses. However, the scope of these studies also covers high-quality data on lower levels of the educational system.     

Practical Experience in Teacher Education: the Norwegian case from a mid‐Norwegian perspective

After numerous debates and discussions over the last century Norway decided in 1992 to extend the half year GCE‐course at the universities to a one year study. Due to this decision it was for the first time written National Guidelines for these kinds of studies.

This paper seeks to show how this change is carried out at one of the four universities in Norway—the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The author presents this reform under the heading practical experience in Teacher Education. This is done because the National Guidelines for Norway underline that all theory in the GCE‐studies must be school‐based. Practical classroom experience is, in other words, supposed to be the starting point for all theory being taught as a part of the GCE‐program.

This paper also tries to view the Norwegian change in the GCE‐course from international trends within teacher education.     

Electronic Commerce: Definition, Theory, and Context

Electronic commerce is a relatively new concept that crept into the business vocabulary during the 1970s. A picture of electronic commerce is emerging in which the Internet will become the essential dial-tone for conducting business by the year 2000. This contribution addresses definitional, theoretical and contextual issues including the nature, drivers, enablers, and the magnitude of electronic commerce. The author discusses the role of electronic markets, the effects of information technology on electronic commerce, interactivity, and the evolution of disintermediation to reintermediation. A definition and typology of electronic commerce are offered. Theoretical and conceptual approaches to electronic commerce are advanced in terms of (1) transaction cost theory, (2) marketing, (3) diffusion, (4) information retrieval, and (5) strategic networking. Lastly, the author poses the question of how electronic commerce adds value.     

Technical possibilities and economic prospects for coal refining

International preoccupation with the oil crisis has tended to concern itself mainly with the economic aspects and this has obscured the fact that, regardless of price, the world's oil reserves are rapidly becoming exhausted. Alter-native sources of energy are, therefore, not merely desirable but essential and much attention is now being directed to the more effective use of coal, reserves of which are still very substantial. This article reviews—in both practical and economic terms—current technology for the refining of coal and the prospects it offers for the future.     

Effects of Example Choice on Interest,Control, and Learning

We investigated example choice as a new method for the teaching of formal theoretical principles. Formal principles are presented with several examples from different topics, and students choose the one that interests them most. Example choice might be related to prior knowledge, interest, or perceived control. In an experimental study, we examined the effects of degree of example choice and degree of prior knowledge on interest, perceived control, and learning outcomes in a presentation on confirmation bias. The main finding was that participants who could choose an example showed more interest in the presentation of the formal principle than participants who either were given an example by the experimenter or only saw the presentation. Control was lowest for the group without example choice and without prior knowledge. Finally, prior knowledge, but not example choice, increased performance on a transfer of knowledge task. Example choice thus offers a new approach for closing the gap between formal principles as presented at school and a student's interests.