‘Alternative’ universities revisited: A study of the distinctiveness of universities established in the spirit of 1968

Abstract

In the late 60s and early 70s, several universities were set up in various European countries with the intention of providing an alternative to established institutions of higher education. The new universities were expected, amongst other things, to experiment with new forms of leadership and management internally, give teaching and learning higher priority, and to be regional relevant institutions for the area in which they were located. The paper analyses to what extent three such university establishments: Aalborg University in Denmark, Maastricht University in the Netherlands and Troms?University in Norway have managed to maintain and develop their alternative profile during the last thirty years. The study suggests that even though the universities in some areas have adapted to environmental pressure, they have managed to keep their profile as innovative and alternative.     

Improving Bhutan’s academic libraries,recommendations from a situational analysis

Abstract

This paper reports from a survey of media exposure and level of knowledge among senior high school students at various locations in Indonesia. Government budgets for education have recently been dramatically reduced in Indonesia and increasing financial burdens are put on the households, like in many other poor countries. There is a tendency to increasing differences in quality of schooling among social layers and geographical areas. Main conclusions in this research are that information asymmetry exists as a problem in society and that type of school and location matter more than media exposure for students’ knowledge level. Students in public schools generally score significantly higher than those in private institutions. Also, students’ level of knowledge tends to fall with decreasing level of geographical centrality. Our policy recommendations include increased public investment in quality schooling for all.     

Research on Teachers and Teacher Education in Scandinavia: a retrospective review

The important role in learning and upbringing played by teachers has been acknowledged for a long time. However, research on this question belongs with few exceptions, to the post‐war area in all the Nordic countries. During the last few decades a extensive research within a variety of studies have addressed the question. And, in accord with realistic expectations, the research conducted within this area since the middle of the 1950ties reflects a change in the interest of researchers similar to that found outside the Nordic countries, from studies of teacher behaviour to research on teacher cognition and analyses of the interactions between students and teachers in the classroom. The review also reveals a clear and significant change in the use of research methods: quantitative methods have declined while qualitative methods have expanded. It seems characteristic of research within this area that a great number of studies have been explorative in nature and that few of them have been followed up by more intensive and theoretically grounded research. It is the authors' opinion that, considering the great number of unanswered questions and the importance of solid knowledge of the questions related to teachers' qualifications and to teacher education, it seems that research within this area is still in its infancy stage.     

The ideal teacher: orientations of teacher education in Sweden and Finland after the Second World War

There are many similarities between the Nordic countries of Sweden and Finland, but they have made different decisions regarding their teacher-education policies. This article focuses on how the objectives of teacher education, particularly the vision of the ideal teacher, have changed in Sweden and Finland in the period after the Second World War. In Finland, the period since the 1960s can be described as a gradual scientification of teacher education. The image of the ideal teacher has transformed according to a research-based agenda, where teachers are expected to conduct minor-scale research in the classroom. In Sweden since the 1980s, on the other hand, teacher education has oscillated between progressivist and academic orientations, following shifts in government between the Social Democratic Party and the centre-right. Since the turn of the millennium, however, a consensus in favour of a strengthened research base of teacher education has also emerged in Sweden.     

Inside the Nobel Committee on Medicine: Prize Competition Procedures 1901–1950 and the Fate of Carl Neuberg

The present study explores some ofthe mechanisms at work in the award of theNobel Prize in medicine or physiology duringthe period 1901–1950. In his will, Nobelmentioned three explicit criteria for the NobelCommittees, but an examination of the fate ofGerman biochemist Carl Neuberg reveals howimplicit criteria came to be added. Forexample, the Nobel Committees in Medicine andChemistry were challenged by the emergence ofnew disciplines such as biochemistry, and inresponse began to rotate awards arounddifferent specialities.     

Optimal timing of movie releases in ancillary markets: The case of video releases

The optimal time for the release of a film in the video market is derived theoretically and shown to depend on characteristics of its cinema performance and on several other parameters. It is empirically confirmed that the model can explain the changing film release patterns in the years of video market growth. The model can also be applied to other ancillary markets for motion pictures as well as to paperback releases of books.     

Identifying paths to audience success of media products: the media decision-makers’ perspective

Research on media success factors is a fragmented field. Definitions, measures, and methods vary, and findings are often inconsistent. In an attempt to fill this perceived research gap, we distilled generic success factors of media products from the literature. Guided by theory and empirical findings, these factors were aggregated to complex concepts, building blocks of success that we further investigated in an exploratory qualitative study. We found that the building blocks are applicable to all types of media, independent of seriality and content types of media products. Subsequently the research question of this article is: Which building blocks of success are most important for media products? To answer this question, we conducted an online survey of 255 media professionals in print, audio-visual, and online media in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. To analyze our data, we deployed qualitative comparative analysis, a method based on set theory that is suitable to investigate complex causality. We conclude that four building blocks are necessary for success: “good” distribution, environmental orientation, form/design, and human resources are preconditions for achieving success in terms of audience market share. In addition, three patterns emerge in the sufficient paths (combinations of building blocks) to success. Which route to success a media product shows can be related to the width of its topical scope and the corresponding projected audience size.     

Designing the Auditor: A Prototype of Locative Radio with Original Sound Content

Location-based sound media are similar to traditional radio in that they rely on communication in sound alone. The smartphone has GPS and Bluetooth, and it is easy to attach sound to locations like a rail station, a neighborhood, or a street. The research team designed a media prototype, Auditor, and produced a soundscape called “The Railroad Dialogues.” The medium and content were tested in a field trial with 42 young, urban headphone listeners. The article reports on the informants’ level of immersion in the sound content and interface, and considers their potential to supplement radio in the future.     

Students’ genre expectations and the effects of text cohesion on reading comprehension

This study raises the question what makes school texts comprehensible by analyzing whether students’ genre expectations about literary or expository texts moderate the impact of different forms of text cohesion on reading comprehension, even when the texts are similar regarding their genre. 754 students (Grade 9) from comprehensive schools read one of four text versions with similar content, but different degrees of local and global text cohesion. The four more or less cohesive texts were introduced as literary texts (part of a story) or as expository texts (newspaper article), although the different genres were only purported and the texts contained both literary and expository passages. Reading comprehension was assessed with multiple-choice-items, semi-open, and open-ended questions. Results demonstrate that global cohesion was profitable for reading comprehension with expository expectations, but not with literary ones. Local text cohesion and both forms of cohesion in combination did not interact with students’ genre expectations and had no main effect on comprehension. When students reading skills and prior knowledge were considered, the interaction was still apparent. Moreover, students with lower levels of reading skills tended to profit especially from texts with global cohesion, whereas the readers with higher reading skills achieved equal means in reading comprehension irrespective of the degree of global text cohesion. The findings are discussed with respect to theoretical aspects of text–reader-interactions, cognitive and emotional components of genre expectations, and the composition and instruction of comprehensible school texts.