Simulation research and design: a dual-level framework for multi-project research programs

Collaborations between researchers and practitioners have recently become increasingly popular in education, and educational design research (EDR) may benefit greatly from investigating such partnerships. One important domain in which EDR on collaborations between researchers and practitioners can be applied is research on simulation-based learning. However, frameworks describing both research and design processes in research programs on simulation-based learning are currently lacking. The framework proposed in this paper addresses this research gap. It is derived from theory and delineates levels, phases, activities, roles, and products of research programs to develop simulations as complex scientific artifacts for research purposes. This dual-level framework applies to research programs with a research committee and multiple subordinate research projects. The proposed framework is illustrated by examples from the actual research and design process of an interdisciplinary research program investigating the facilitation of diagnostic competences through instructional support in simulations. On a theoretical level, the framework contributes primarily to the literature of EDR by offering a unique dual-level perspective. Moreover, on a practical level, the framework may help by providing recommendations to guide the research and design process in research programs.

     

Computer-Based Classification of Preservice Physics Teachers’ Written Reflections

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Reflecting in written form on one’s teaching enactments has been considered a facilitator for teachers’ professional growth in...     

Policy entrepreneurship in the co-evolution of institutions, preferences, and technology: Comparing the diffusion of totally chlorine free pulp bleaching technologies in the US and Sweden

This paper uses the concept of policy entrepreneurship to explain the social processes underlying sustainable technical change in the pulp and paper industry in the 1990s. It presents a detailed case study on the differences in the transition to and diffusion of totally chlorine free (TCF) pulp bleaching methods in Sweden and the USA. This change was sustained in the former, while it was almost absent in the latter. The paper studies the causes for this difference. It looks at the complex coevolution of technology, institutions, and consumer preferences that has taken place in both countries and draws conclusions on how transitions to sustainable paths in production and consumption may be supported by economic and social policy.     

Internal and External Time Conflicts in Adolescents: Sleep Characteristics and Interventions

ABSTRACT— Daytime fatigue and lack of sleep seem to increase throughout adolescent years. Several environmental, psychological, and biological factors have been associated with the development of sleep across adolescence. The aim of the present article is to summarize these factors and to give examples of various outcomes in sleep patterns among adolescents studied in different cultural settings. It is obvious from earlier work that many adolescents have displaced circadian rhythms and lack of adaptation to school hours due to an early school start or additional burdens for work. Several interventions have aimed to help the adaptation process by supporting sleep processes and changing scheduling, in this way promoting classroom alertness. In summary, adolescents worldwide shorten their sleep due to schoolwork hours and additional work, especially by disturbing their sleep due to circadian misalignment.     

Increasing the career choice readiness of young adolescents: an evaluation study

A career workshop that applies models of the Cognitive Information Processing Approach (Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, &; Lenz, 2004) and incorporates critical ingredients (Brown and Ryan Krane, 2000) to promote the career choice readiness of young adolescents was developed and evaluated with 334 Swiss students in seventh grade applying a Solomon four group design with a three-month follow-up. Participants significantly increased their performance in terms of career decidedness, career planning, career exploration, and vocational identity. Implications for evaluation research and counselling practice are presented.     

Father Absence in Pregnancy or During Childhood and Pubertal Development in Girls and Boys: A Population-Based Cohort Study

This cohort study, including 15,810 children born 2000–2003 in Denmark, aimed to investigate the association between father absence in pregnancy or during childhood and pubertal development in girls and boys. The children were followed from 11 years of age and throughout pubertal development. Mean age differences according to exposure groups were estimated for each pubertal marker separately and for a combined pubertal marker. The results suggested that father absence in pregnancy and during childhood was associated with earlier pubertal development in girls, and father absence from late childhood was associated with earlier pubertal development in boys. The paternal investment theory, the psychosocial acceleration theory and the energetics theory were explored, and did not seem to explain the observed associations.     

Parsing written language with non-standard grammar

Reading and Writing - Morphologically marked case is in Arabic a feature exclusive to the variety of Standard Arabic, with no parallel in the spoken varieties, and it is orthographically marked...