Applying artificial intelligence insights in a CAI program for “open sentence” mathematical problems in primary schools

Elementary school children are often unclear which operations to use when tackling mathematical problems of the open sentence kind (e.g. 3+*=7). We give details of (a) some of their impasse-repair and other problem-solving strategies; (b) computer models of knowledge and misconceptions underlying those strategies; and (c) a CAI program which can identify strategies and remedy gaps in knowledge and misconceptions. Tests of that program with second graders in five schools over six weeks indicate that one third profited significantly. The results are further discussed.1. Jacobijn A. C. Sandberg, is now at the Department of Social Science Informatics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Note     

Exploring the Attractiveness of a Norwegian Rural Higher Education Institution Using Importance-Performance Analysis

High school graduates in rural counties often move to urban areas to study at higher education institutions (HEIs). Because graduates from HEIs often settle in regions in which they graduate, the result is a permanent out-migration of young talent from rural areas. This study adds to the body of literature on student choice by addressing measures that can make a university located in a rural region more attractive to local high school graduates. Empirical data are gathered from potential students at the University of Nordland, located in northern Norway. Importance-performance analysis and gap analysis are applied to study the factors that are most important for students. As a result, this study serves as a good starting point for small rural universities in understanding local students and devising methods to increase attractiveness for this group so that more young talent might choose to remain in rural areas.     

A winding road – professional trajectories from higher education to working life: a case study of political science and psychology graduates

This qualitative and longitudinal study focuses on graduate employment and the development of graduate employment paths. The aim of this article is to explore the present professional trajectory from higher education to working life, with particular reference to graduates from two different study programmes at Linköping University in Sweden: Political Science and Psychology. More specifically, the article focuses on how graduates construe their professional trajectories in terms of their envisaged future work as senior students, and later as novice and early-career professionals with 18 and 34 months of work life experience. The results indicate that graduates’ professional identities and vision of their future work change over time. The set of categories, depicting the graduates’ vision and experiences of their professional trajectories, do not seem to follow a specific temporal and logical progression in their career. Rather, they appear in different order and at different points in time after graduation. The results, instead, endorse the discourse of lifelong learning and the need for flexibility and employability on the labour market.