A Review of Practical Reasoning in Child and Youth Research

The purpose of the review is to investigate various relations between the concepts of competence and participation found within child and youth research with the aim of identifying differences in practical reasoning of the various kinds of child research. The search identified 260 articles, and an in-depth analysis of 39 articles was conducted, elaborating the conceptual differences inherent in the different child research fields. Based on a philosophy of practice, the analysis identified 3 different causal connections between the concepts of competence and participation, indicating 3 different ways of understanding means and ends in child research. The review thereby offers an understanding of how and why interdisciplinary problems sometimes occur in education and child care.     

Working with distant researchers—Distance and content in university–industry interaction

This paper studies the role of geographic proximity for interaction on R&D, by exploring the special case of formalised university–industry interaction in the engineering sector. While numerous studies find that geographic proximity facilitates spillover effects between university and industry by utilising evidence from e.g. patenting and publishing activities, the geographical dimension is largely understudied in studies that report evidence from direct interaction. A series of interviews with R&D managers suggests that linkages in geographical proximity are more likely than distant linkages to generate impulses to innovation and create significant learning effects at the firm. Similarly, geographic proximate interaction is more likely to successfully contribute to R&D projects with short time to market. For long-term R&D projects, geographic proximity is generally seen as a less critical factor. A survey to 425 R&D managers in Swedish engineering firms provides evidence that supports these hypotheses.     

Critical perspectives on Danish early childhood education and care: between the technical and the political

This paper discusses trends in contemporary Danish early childhood education and care (ECEC). Data are sourced from various policy documents, along with material from ongoing research projects in which the authors are involved. It is claimed that contemporary policy on Danish day care services has a tendency to emphasize narrow curriculum improvements and standardized testing. The democratic dimensions are still relatively strong, but at the moment these dimensions are interpreted within a skills‐and‐testing framework, which is leading to a situation where the political masquerades as the technical.     

Graphical means for inspecting qualitative models of system behaviour

This article presents the design and evaluation of a tool for inspecting conceptual models of system behaviour. The basis for this research is the Garp framework for qualitative simulation. This framework includes modelling primitives, such as entities, quantities and causal dependencies, which are combined into model fragments and scenarios. Given a library of model fragments and a scenario describing an initial situation, the qualitative simulation engine generates predictions in the form of a state–transition graph. This rich knowledge representation has potential for educational purposes. However, communicating the contents of simulation models effectively to learners is not trivial. The predicate logic format used by Garp is not easy for non-experts to understand, and a simulation often contains so much information that it is difficult to get an overview while still having access to detailed information. To address these problems, a tool has been developed that generates graphical representations of the information contained in a qualitative simulation. This tool, named VisiGarp, incorporates a vocabulary of graphical elements for model ingredients and relationships, and combines these into interactive diagrams. VisiGarp has been evaluated by thirty students, with promising results, using a setup which included simulation results and exercises about Brazilian Cerrado ecology.     

Personality Traits Are Associated With Cortical Development Across Adolescence: A Longitudinal Structural MRI Study

How personality traits relate to structural brain changes in development is an important but understudied question. In this study, cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA), estimated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), were investigated in 99 participants aged 8–19 years. Follow‐up MRI data were collected after on average 2.6 years for 74 individuals. The Big Five personality traits were related to longitudinal regional CT or SA development, but limited cross‐sectional relations were observed. Conscientiousness, emotional stability, and imagination were associated with more age‐expected cortical thinning over time. The results suggest that the substantial individual variability observed in personality traits may partly be explained by cortical maturation across adolescence, implying a developmental origin for personality–brain relations observed in adults.     

Anabolic–androgenic steroid use and correlates in Norwegian adolescents

This paper surveys the prevalence and correlates of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) use among Norwegian adolescents, and examines the degree to which sports participation is a mediating or moderating factor to well-known correlations between AAS use and problem behaviour. The data come from the “Ungdata” study, a cross-national youth survey system offered to all municipalities in Norway (response rate: 74%, N?=?77,572). The study demonstrates a lifetime prevalence of AAS use of 1.27% and a higher prevalence among boys (1.81%) than girls (0.76%). The analyses show that AAS use is clearly related to problem behaviour such as violence and other substance use. When controlling for problem behaviour, there are no correlations between AAS use and exercising in a sports club or on one’s own, whilst there is a weak positive correlation between AAS use and exercising in a gym or engaging in other forms of physical exercise such as dancing or martial arts. These patterns are more or less the same for boys and for girls. We conclude that adolescent AAS use is a low-prevalence phenomenon that primarily takes place in smaller subgroups of individuals who engage in other forms of problem behaviour as well.     

The First Historical Movements of Kinesiology: Scientification in the Borderline between Physical Culture and Medicine around 1850

The kinesiology concept is used worldwide and by many different professional groups with scientific aspirations. Yet nobody seems to know much about where it comes from and why it came into existence. This article traces the origins of the concept back to one of Sweden's greatest cultural exports of the nineteenth century – Swedish gymnastics – and the efforts of especially Swedish physiotherapists and physical educators to spread its scientific doctrines throughout the world. Primarily their goal was to convert the representatives of conventional medicine (pharmacology) into a more mechanical mode of understanding and curing illness (physiotherapy). While following in the footsteps of one physiotherapist/physical educator –‘the father of kinesiology’– and examining the ideological and historical conditions his so-called ‘mission’ was ruled by, the social construction of knowledge and science is made visible in a way seldom highlighted in the history of medicine and physical education.     

Uncovering young children's motivational beliefs about learning science

Young children, ages 5–6 years, develop first beliefs about science and themselves as science learners, and these beliefs are considered important precursors of children's future motivation to pursue science. Yet, due to a lack of adequate measures, little is known about young children's motivational beliefs about learning science. The present two‐part study explores the motivational beliefs of young children using a new measure—the Young Children's Science Motivation (Y‐CSM) scale. Initial measurement development involved a thorough literature review of existing measures, and an extensive piloting phase until a final instrument was reached. To establish scale reliability, measurement invariance as well construct and criterion validity, the final instrument was administered to a new sample of 277 young children, age 5–6 years, in northern Germany. Results reveal that children's motivational beliefs can be empirically differentiated into their self‐confidence and enjoyment in science at this young age. Older children were more motivated in science, but no significant gender differences were found. Importantly, children in preschools with a science focus reported significantly higher science motivation. This finding stresses the importance of early science education for the development of children's motivational beliefs science.     

Investigating Critical Friendship: Peeling Back the Layers

ABSTRACT

This self-study documents two teacher educators’ professional inquiry into the notions of critical friendship. Specifically, we asked: How does our interactive inquiry on the topic of critical friendship lead us to new understandings of critical friends? Three theoretical perspectives framed this study – More Knowledgeable Others, Thought Collective, and reflection. Data sources included (a) artifacts from the self-study scholarship/literature, (b) written and real-time (audio recorded) dialogue, and (c) critical friend response memos. We systematically analyzed our data, linking the initial themes to our theoretical frame. These themes led to three findings about critical friendship: flexible definitions, complex characteristics, and multiple learning phases. Based on these findings, we created two research tools useful for researchers enacting critical friendship – the Critical Friend Definition Continuum and the Critical Friend Guide for Quality Assurance. Ultimately, we assert that we, along with our colleagues, must be responsible brokers of critical friendship by explicitly explaining our purposes, definitions and uses of critical friendship within our work as self-study researchers.