Not Read,but Nevertheless Solved? Three Experiments on PIRLS Multiple Choice Reading Comprehension Test Items

Multiple-choice (MC) reading comprehension test items comprise three components: text passage, questions about the text, and MC answers. The construct validity of this format has been repeatedly criticized. In three between-subjects experiments, fourth graders (N ₁ = 230, N ₂ = 340, N ₃ = 194) worked on three versions of MC items from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2001 reading comprehension test with relevant components successively deleted: “original version” (text, questions, MC-answers), “version without text” (questions, MC-answers), “version without text and without questions” (only MC-answers). Answering correctly the MC items became more difficult as the relevant information was eliminated. In the two narrative fictional texts presented, the students' performance of the version without text was not better than chance. Conversely in the informational (fictional) text, the students' performance of the version without text was better than chance. In the third condition, students' performance was never better than chance.     

Hot and Cool Self-Regulation,Academic Competence,and Maladjustment: Mediating and Differential Relations

This study examined differential and mediating relations between hot and cool self-regulation (M_age = 48.2 months; N = 1,155, 48% girls), first-grade (M_age = 77.5 months) maladjustment (externalizing [EXT] and internalizing [INT] behavior), and first- and second-grade (M_age = 89.5 months) academic competence (AC). Using teacher reported EXT, INT, and AC, partial support for the differential perspective was found in that only hot self-regulation was significantly related to EXT, whereas both hot and cool self-regulation was significantly related to AC. Moreover, hot self-regulation indirectly predicted second-grade AC through first-grade EXT, lending some support for the mediating perspective also. The findings contribute to an understanding of how self-regulation is related to academic and behavioral school adjustment.     

Associations between individual and collective efficacy beliefs and students' bystander behavior

This study examined whether defending and passive bystanding during peer victimization episodes were associated with individual- and classroom-level efficacy to stop peer victimization. Self-report survey data were analyzed from 1,467 Swedish fourth-grade students (mean age = 10.55) from 100 classrooms in 63 schools. Multilevel analyses revealed that, when witnessing peer victimization, students more often defended victims if they were high in defender self-efficacy and if they belonged to classrooms high in collective efficacy. In contrast, students were more likely to remain passive if they were low in defender self-efficacy and if they belonged to classrooms low in collective efficacy. Taken together, our findings suggest that efficacy beliefs both at the individual and at the classroom level contribute to explaining variability in students' bystander behaviors, which has potential implications for prevention and intervention work.     

Fish Oil Supplementation in Pregnancy and Neurodevelopment in Childhood—A Randomized Clinical Trial

A double-blind randomized controlled trial of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LCPUFA) supplementation or matching placebo during third trimester of pregnancy was conducted within the COPSAC₂₀₁₀ mother-child cohort consisting of 736 women and their children. The objective was to determine if maternal n-3 LCPUFA pregnancy supplementation affects offspring neurodevelopment until 6 years. Neurodevelopment was evaluated in 654 children assessing age of motor milestone achievement, language development, cognitive development, general neurodevelopment, and emotional and behavioral problems. Maternal n-3 LCPUFA supplementation during pregnancy improved early language development and reduced the impact of emotional and behavioral problems. The n-3 LCPUFA supplementation was in boys associated with the earlier achievement of gross motor milestones, improved cognitive development, and a reduced impact of emotional and behavioral problems.     

Technological change in the Norwegian whaling industry: A case-study in the use of patent-statistics as a technology indicator

This paper presents an example of the use of patent statistics as a technology indicator in one industry. The first part deals with the problem of interpretation. Through examination of several other partial technology indicators, it is concluded that at least in this industry, patent statistics provide a reliable indicator, not only for the timing of inventions, but for the timing of innovations and diffusion as well. The reason is that the intervals between the stages in the innovation process are very short. This contradicts evidence from many other industries, and it is therefore emphasized that generalizations are unwarranted.The second part of this paper deals with the possible causes of technological change in Norwegian whaling. The methodology is inspired by J. Schmookler's work. Thus, the patents are correlated with other indicators of economic development in the industry. But while Schmookler's view is that the patent activity is determined by social demand and economic growth, the conclusions for the Norwegian whaling industry point in the opposite direction: the technological transformation that took place during the 1920s and early 1930s was forced upon the firms in their efforts to cut costs, which was achieved by rationalizing production and catching methods in line with a downward price trend for whale oil.     

Systemic rejection: political pressures seen from the science system

The emphasis on competitiveness and the knowledge-based economy in European policymaking has resulted in a heightened focus on monitoring and steering the science system, particularly through metric-based instruments. Policymakers’ general aims of fostering excellent research and breakthroughs are shared by researchers as well; however, below the surface is a paradox that is rarely discussed. The political system and the science system understand and pursue these concepts and objectives differently. Through two case studies on high-performing university-based research environments in Denmark and Sweden, this article uncovers the ways in which highly successful researchers often behave in ways that run counter to policy steering attempts. They do this by shielding themselves and their research group from steering pressures originating in the political system. Using Luhmann’s systems theory, the cases demonstrate why the relationship between the science system and the political system needs to be understood as a horizontal rather than a vertical relationship, and using concepts from organizational theory, provides a model and terminology for identifying and analyzing the types of mechanisms and strategic responses that the science system uses to shield itself from political steering pressures.     

A Research Review of Nurse Teachers’ Competencies

The conceptions of what constitutes nursing competence and how such competence is taught and learned are changing, due to rapid changes in in the health sector. Nurse teachers’ competencies for providing high-quality, up-to-date nursing education, are developing accordingly. This paper reviews the existing research on nurse teachers’ competencies and addresses how this research identifies, describes, and conceptualizes these competencies. A rigorous search, retrieval and appraisal process identified 25 relevant studies for inclusion in the review. A thematic synthesis was applied to the findings of the studies and subsequent themes were synthesized. The thematic synthesis of the empirical evidence resulted in the five broad themes: academic, nursing, and pedagogical competencies; attitudes; management and digital technology. However, these separate elements appeared to be highly integrated. Hence, this paper indicates that nurse teachers’ competencies may be assessed using a holistic approach, which could bring together the disparate attributes required for successful professional performance in specific situations.     

Managing mergers — governancing institutional integration

Despite striking similarities, the adoption and implementation of policy shifts regarding higher education governance vary considerably across the globe, suggesting a mixed picture of diversification and isomorphism both within and across national higher education systems. By unpacking one particular structural reform process, this paper focuses on mergers as both a governance tool and a governance result in higher education. The paper analyzes the strategic decisions taken by Norwegian higher education institutions during 2014 in the light of a proposed national reform to merge institutions in order to enhance quality in higher education. The empirical basis of the paper consists of analyses of the commissioned self-evaluations of the higher education institutions, and the strategic choices and dilemmas they expressed. The process can be seen as organizational engineering in the sense that it emerges from the self-evaluation process, but is also subject to governancing on the part of the ministry.