Changes in the cross-country ski base properties resulting from the ski use

In this work, changes in the cross-country ski base properties resulting from stone grinding, skiing, waxing and re-stone grinding have been investigated. The surface topography, crystallinity, wettability and sliding properties of cross-country ski bases were recorded using a selection of measurement techniques: non-contact chromatic confocal microscopy, contact-type surface roughness analyser and scanning electron microscopy (topography), Raman spectroscopy (crystallinity), contact angle measurement (wettability) and a ski tester (sliding properties). The tested skis were used for 150 km and waxed 35 times. The ski base surface became smoother and the orientation and crystallisation of the base material increased. Wear decreased the hydrophobicity and increased the sliding friction. Even though re-grinding did not restore all of the ski base properties, re-grinding improved the wettability and sliding properties. The results help to optimise stone grinding interval to maintain the performance of the skis.     

Pattern discernment and pseudo-conceptual development in early childhood mathematics education

In this empirical study, we investigate an early childhood education activity in mathematics on the concept of ‘pattern’. The children participating in the study attend an intermediate form of schooling in Sweden called ‘the preschool class for six-year-olds’, intended to facilitate their transition from preschool to school. Following a prolonged activity over 45 minutes, we analyse for what the children are supported in discerning and what they give as evidence of having discerned in and about patterns. The theoretical point of departure is variation theory, conceptualising learning as increased discernment. The results show that in terms of the important Vygotskian distinction between ‘pseudo concepts’ and ‘concepts (proper)’, the children's discernment and what they are supported in discerning are of the former kind. Pseudo concepts are discussed as integral to the institutional form of the preschool class and premised to be important to the child's further conceptual development.     

When Does Tool Use Become Distinctively Human? Hammering in Young Children

This study examines the development of hammering within an ontogenetic and evolutionary framework using motion‐capture technology. Twenty‐four right‐handed toddlers (19–35 months) wore reflective markers while hammering a peg into a peg‐board. The study focuses on the motor characteristics that make tool use uniquely human: wrist involvement, lateralization, and handle use. Older children showed more distally controlled movements, characterized by relatively more reliance on the wrist, but only when hammering with their right hand. Greater age, use of the right hand, and more wrist involvement were associated with higher accuracy; handle use did not systematically change with age. Collectively, the results provide new insights about the emergence of hammering in young children and when hammering begins to manifest distinctively human characteristics.     

Primary school text comprehension predicts mathematical word problem-solving skills in secondary school

This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the extent to which primary school text comprehension predicts mathematical word problem-solving skills in secondary school among Finnish students. The participants were 224 fourth graders (9–10 years old at the baseline). The children’s text-reading fluency, text comprehension and basic calculation ability were tested in grade four. In grade seven and nine, their skills in solving mathematical word problems were assessed. Overall, the results showed that text comprehension in grade four of primary school predicts math word problem-solving skills in secondary school, after controlling for text-reading fluency and basic calculation ability. Among boys, good text comprehension skills in grade four predicted good math word problem-solving skills in grade seven. Among girls, good text comprehension skills in grade four predicted their subsequent mathematical word problem performance in grade nine. The practical implications of the results are discussed as well.     

How are universities responding to demands for an improved learning environment?

Globally, universities are currently facing increased external demands to strengthen and develop their learning environments. The article examines how a sample of Norwegian universities responds to governmental demands concerning establishing good learning environments. Based on document analysis and interviews, the article demonstrates that the concept of the learning environment seems to be interpreted and implemented in a standardised way and that institutional work in this area might suffer from a decoupling between ‘administrative’ and ‘academic’ responsibilities. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the universities studied to a great extent seem to rely on copying and imitating understandings of the concept instead of using it to develop more specific and uniquely local practices. In conclusion, the article calls for more attention to the consequences of specific organisational solutions, and it is argued that more attention should be given to identifying factors that enable or constrain how universities handle external pressure for change.     

Dimensional comparisons in subject-specific academic self-concepts and achievements: A quasi-experimental approach

Even though marks in different subjects are substantially correlated, the corresponding self-concepts often display a very weak association. The “Internal–External Frame of Reference Model” (I/E-model; Marsh, H. W. (1986). Verbal and math self-concepts: an internal/external frame of reference model. American Educational Research Journal, 23, 129–149) explains this finding: social comparisons (resulting in positive correlations of the self-concepts) and dimensional comparisons (resulting in negative correlations of the self-concepts) are confounded. A rarely tested hypothesis derived from the I/E-model is that the dimensional comparison process only affects the self-concepts, if the students achieve differently in the corresponding subjects. In a sample of N = 1508 students (grades 7 and 8), low correlations of the self-concepts for four subjects could be observed only in students displaying different school-marks in the corresponding subjects. In students who have the same marks in different subjects, the self-concepts showed a substantial positive correlation.     

Stimulus blocking during compound discrimination training with pentobarbital and visual stimuli

Learning & Behavior - To investigate blocking by drug-induced stimuli and visual stimuli, three groups of rats were trained to escape shock in a T-maze by choosing the left or right arm. During...     

Academic Leadership: Prescriptions,Practices and Paradoxes

Ideas from the new public managementphilosophy infusing higher education oftenstress the need for strong and strategicacademic leadership if successful adaptation toa changing environment is to take place. Byshowing some of the challenges facing academicleaders in Sweden and Norway, this articlequestions the wisdom of employing new publicmanagement ideas on leadership during changeprocesses in higher education. It is arguedthat an academic leadership able to attachmeaning to paradoxical situations and toilluminate challenging dilemmas may be a morepromising option for a sector where change inthe years to come will be more the standardsituation than the exception.     

Gender differences in mental simulation during sentence and word processing

Text comprehension requires readers to mentally simulate the described situation by reactivating previously acquired sensory and motor information from (episodic) memory. Drawing upon research demonstrating gender differences, favouring girls, in tasks involving episodic memory retrieval, the present study explores whether gender differences exist in mental simulation in children (Grades 4 to 6). In Experiment 1, 99 children performed a sentence–picture verification task measuring mental simulation at sentence level. In Experiment 2, 97 children completed a lexical decision task in which imageability of words was manipulated to measure mental simulation at word level. Only for girls we found faster reaction times for matching versus mismatching sentence–picture pairs (Experiment 1) and high‐imageability versus low‐imageability words (Experiment 2). The results suggest that girls construct more coherent and vivid mental simulations than boys and rely more heavily on these representations. The results emphasize the importance of including gender into reading comprehension research. [Correction added on 13 June 2016, after first online publication: The affiliation of author “Björn B. de Koning” was previously wrong and has been corrected in this current version.]     

`Alternative' Universities Revisited: A Study of the Distinctiveness of Universities Established in the Spirit of 1968

In the late 60s and early 70s,several universities were set up in variousEuropean countries with the intention ofproviding an alternative to establishedinstitutions of higher education. The newuniversities were expected, amongst otherthings, to experiment with new forms ofleadership and management internally, giveteaching and learning higher priority, and tobe regional relevant institutions for the areain which they were located. The paper analysesto what extent three such universityestablishments: Aalborg University in Denmark,Maastricht University in the Netherlands andTromsø University in Norway have managed tomaintain and develop their alternative profileduring the last thirty years. The studysuggests that even though the universities insome areas have adapted to environmentalpressure, they have managed to keep theirprofile as innovative and alternative.