Assessing “The Regulars”—and Beyond

Commenting on online news articles must be considered an online staple—an established practice among news consumers that is currently being funnelled from the Web pages of news organizations to third-party platforms such as Facebook. The paper at hand adopts an exploratory approach and provides insights into the fervency and popularity of commentators and comments on the Facebook pages of two Swedish and two Norwegian newspapers. The results indicate that while immigration issues are a common topic in both countries, the Swedish context stands out by also featuring high degrees of commenting activity in relation to issues of gender equality. Identifying a series of differences in how these opportunities to comment on news are used in each country, the Swedish context appears to offer a wider range of opinions among the most fervent commentators in comparison with Norway. A similar tendency is found among the most “liked” comments.     

Giftedness and evidence for reproducibly superior performance: an account based on the expert performance framework

Giftedness researchers have long debated whether there is empirical evidence to support a distinction between giftedness and attained level of achievement. In this paper we propose a general theoretical framework that establishes scientific criteria for acceptable evidence of superior reproducible performance, which any theory of exceptional performance must explain. We review evidence for superior reproducible performance, generally emerging only after extended periods of deliberate practice that result in subsequent physiological adaptations and complex cognitive mechanisms. We also apply this framework to examine proposed evidence for innate talents. With the exception of fixed genetic factors determining body size and height, we were unable to find evidence for innate constraints to the attainment of elite achievement for healthy individuals.     

Social capital and the educational achievement of young people in Sweden

Based on Bourdieu’s conceptualization of social capital (the social stratification perspective), this study examines the impact of social capital on the educational outcomes of young people in Sweden, with a focus on the extra-familial aspect of social capital – that is, social capital generated by parental networks and active membership in various social organizations and friendship networks. The results indicate that the class background of respondents is the main predictor of access to all three forms of extra-familial social capital. However, after controlling for class background, the children of racialized immigrant groups are more likely to have access to more types of social capital than others. All three aspects of extra-familial social capital positively influence the educational performance of pupils.     

Students' cognitive focus during a chemistry laboratory exercise: Effects of a computer‐simulated prelab

To enhance the learning outcomes achieved by students, learners undertook a computer‐simulated activity based on an acid–base titration prior to a university‐level chemistry laboratory activity. Students were categorized with respect to their attitudes toward learning. During the laboratory exercise, questions that students asked their assistant teachers were used as indicators of cognitive focus. During the interviews, students' frequency and level of “spontaneous” use of chemical knowledge served as an indicator of knowledge usability. Results suggest that the simulation influenced students toward posing more theoretical questions during their laboratory work and, regardless of attitudes, exhibiting a more complex, correct use of chemistry knowledge in their interviews. A more relativistic student attitude toward learning was positively correlated with interview performance in both the control and treatment groups. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1108–1133, 2007     

Leading the teacher team — balancing between formal and informal power in program leadership

This continuous research within Nordic engineering institutions targets the contexts and possibilities for leadership among engineering education program directors. The IFP-model, developed based on analysis of interviews with program leaders in these institutions, visualizes the program director’s informal and formal power. The model is presented as a tool for starting a shared discussion on the complexities of the leadership of engineering program development. The authors liken program development to hunting in teams. Each individual expert in the program is needed, and all experts will need to work and collaborate for the same target. This calls for strategic and long-term thinking of engineering education development. Institutions should support the development of both formal structures as well as informal leadership skills among their program directors, but never fall for the temptation to see the program director as the only actor on the stage.     

The relationship between trainees’ evaluation of teaching and trainee performance among Norwegian executive students

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between students’ reactions to teaching and their consequent performance as measured by course grades. Reactions to teaching were reported by 189 adult part‐time students enrolled in postgraduate studies over two consecutive academic semesters across six different study programs in a large Norwegian training institution. These students’ reactions to teaching were then assessed in relation to their consequent performance, in terms of their individual final course exam grades. The results showed that students’ reactions to teaching were unrelated to their consequent course performance. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Novelty-oriented value propositions for new technology-based firms: Impact of business networks and growth orientation

To perform, new technology-based firms (NTBFs) need to develop value for customers that distinguish them from others in the market. Therefore, the development of novelty-oriented value propositions are important, and may be influenced by several factors. We argue that the propensity to become more novelty-oriented can be influenced by an internal drive to grow (growth orientation) and by external contributions (business networks). Hence, the purpose of this paper is to analyse how business networks and growth orientation effects on the novelty orientation of NTBF value propositions. Based on survey data from 401 NTBFs founded between 2013 and 2015, in the nascent start-up phase novelty-oriented value propositions of NTBFs positively relate to informal (management) networks, as well as founders' attitudes towards growth. Thus, such networks and attitudes from founders should be supported in the very early phases of start-up if novelty orientation is to be preferred as a performance determinant.     

Relationships between epistemic beliefs and achievement goals: developmental trends over grades 5–11

Examining how students’ epistemic beliefs (EB) influence their cognition is central to EB research. Recently, the relation between students’ EB and their motivation has gained attention. In the present study, we investigate the development of the relationship between students’ EB and their achievement goals (AG) over grades 5–11. Previous studies on this topic are limited, in both number and range, and have produced inconsistent results. We performed a cross-sectional study, ranging over grades 5–11, and a 3-year longitudinal study (n = 1230 and 323, respectively). Data on students’ EB and AG were collected via questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a two-factor goal model (Mastery and Performance goals) and a structure of students’ EB comprising Certainty, Source, Development, and Justification. For each grade, students’ CFA scores on the respective goals were regressed on their scores on the EB dimensions by orthogonal projection to latent structures analysis. Although results indicated a weak relation between students’ EB and AG, trends in the cross-sectional data were largely replicated in the longitudinal study. Though naïve EB were in general associated with performance goals and sophisticated EB with mastery goals, the transition to upper secondary school was associated with changes in the relationship between students’ EB and AG. We discuss how the commonly used formulations of EB items may affect their ability to measure the naïve-sophisticated continuum, in turn affecting the predictive roles of EB dimensions.