The Tutor’s Approach in Base Groups (PBL)

In this article, the concept of approach related to tutor functioning in problem-based learning (PBL) is explored and the significance of a phenomenological perspective of the body in relation to learning and tutoring is investigated. The aim has been to understand the concept of approach in a context where the individual, thoughts, emotions and body are regarded as a whole in a learning process – a non-dualistic entity. The analysis is primarily based on Merleau-Ponty (Phenomenologie de la Perception. Editions Gallimard, Kroppens fenomenologi. Oslo: Pax) and Leder (1990). The outcome of the analysis is related to the pedagogical view that characterises PBL and tutoring in base groups. An earlier study (Silén Licentiate thesis n 3/1996. Linköping University) about tutor functioning in PBL was the starting-point for the exploration. On the basis of the phenomenological analysis, I assign approach the following meaning: - the total message expressed by ‘the lived body’ in interaction with its life world. The analysis indicates that the tutor’s approach influences group work in different ways. One of phenomenology’s most important messages implies that the tutor’s approach should be characterised by ‘presence’, attention on the students and what is happening in the group, and not on the tutor’s own actions and thoughts. The ability to be ‘present’ is possible when the knowing is rooted in the lived body. This conclusion brings to the fore the necessity of the tutor’s own understanding of the ideas of PBL and the underlying theories, and also highlights the importance of regarding tutor training as an ongoing learning process. The focus of the exploration has been on the tutor in PBL. In principle, I would argue that a corresponding line of reasoning is applicable to tutoring and learning in general.     

Context specificity of conditioning in flavor-aversion learning: Extinction and blocking tests

In three experiments using rats as subjects, we investigated the degree to which a conditioned flavor aversion transfers from one context to another. Experiment 1, using a one-trial conditioning procedure, found no effect of a change of context on a conditioned aversion. Experiment 2 employed a multitrial procedure and demonstrated that a conditioned aversion was extinguished more rapidly after a change of context. Experiment 3 showed that context change decreased the effectiveness with which a conditioned flavor could block acquisition of an aversion by a second flavor. It is argued that these data cannot be explained in associative terms, and that they constitute evidence of conditionality in a simple aversive conditioning procedure.     

Psychosocial Adjustment among Children Experiencing Persistent and Intermittent Family Economic Hardship

Much research on family economic hardship and its effects on children has been cross-sectional in nature, has focused primarily on white children, and has assessed the impact of episodic rather than chronic economic difficulties. In contrast, the present research was designed to study outcomes associated with persistent economic hardship among a heterogeneous group of children over time. Results showed that, for both black and white children, a broad range of difficulties was associated with enduring economic hardship. Children who experienced persistent family economic hardship were more likely than those who did not to have difficulties in peer relations, show conduct problems at school, and report low self-esteem. Children who experienced intermittent family economic hardship fell between the other 2 groups. Connections between persistent economic hardship and psychosocial adjustment were more pronounced for boys than for girls. Consistent with suggestions by a number of investigators, the impact of economic hardship on children in the present sample was mediated in part by its association with parental behavior.     

EcoWellness: integrating the natural world into wilderness therapy settings with intentionality

Wilderness Therapy (WT) programming has been criticized for underutilizing nature as an active co-facilitator in treatment. Although some concept models in the field take into account nature’s contributions in WT, an abundance of multidisciplinary research suggests that nature contact and connection could be of greater emphasis. The purpose of this article is to introduce the EcoWellness model as one empirically based approach for facilitating intentional nature connection in WT. The state of WT research and supporting theory are reported. The EcoWellness framework is overviewed and embedded within the multidisciplinary literature. A case example is presented and implications for integrating EcoWellness into WT practice, training, and research are discussed.     

Verbal Intelligence: a key to basic skills?

Intra‐individual variability of cognitive measures, such as verbal and spatial ability tests, has frequently been reported to typify learning disabled children. To test the generality of such findings, longitudinal data from a large representative and non‐clinical sample of Swedish children (n = 812) were analysed. At age 10, the children were tested with a Swedish intelligence scale. At age 13, basic academic skills were measured by standardised achievement tests. Typical cognitive profile types, based on the verbal and spatial intelligence subtests, were identified through cluster analyses (CLUSTAN) of the girl and boy samples separately. The satisfactory solution arrived at was a five‐cluster representation for the girls (n = 497) and an eight‐cluster representation for the boys (n = 497). For both sexes, verbally as well as spatially oriented profiles emerged. However, the verbal orientation was more pronounced for girls, whereas the boys displayed greater variability and stronger spatial orientation. General intelligence at age 10 was a strong predictor for basic skills at age 13 (r > 0.70). Verbally strong children tended to achieve better than predicted by their overall level of intelligence, whereas spatially oriented children showed a less favourable development in basic academic skills. The results are discussed in relation to neuropsychologically‐based models of reading disability and theories of language and development.     

Softwaretechnische Instrumentenunterstützung für ein leistungssteuerndes HNO Navigationssystem

Zusammenfassung  Durch Einsatz von Softwaretechnik k?nnen immer komplexere Funktionalit?ten in Medizinger?ten realisiert werden. In der computerunterstützten Chirurgie werden Assistenzsysteme entwickelt mit dem Ziel, die Risiken bestehender Behandlungsmethoden zu minimieren und in neue chirurgische Anwendungsbereiche vorzudringen. Um die steigende Komplexit?t solcher Systeme zu beherrschen, müssen anstelle von hardwarenahen Implementierungen Abstraktionskonzepte gefunden werden, die überschaubare Programmstrukturen und problemlose Erweiterbarkeit erm?glichen. Für das bereits klinisch evaluierte Navigationssystem FESS-Control wird mit Hilfe von bekannten Softwaretechnikmethoden ein Modell entwickelt und implementiert, das im Gegensatz zur bestehenden Implementierung die Beschreibung leistungsgesteuerter chirurgischer Instrumente auf einer abstrakten Ebene und deren sichere automatisierte Erkennung erm?glicht. FESS (functional endonasal sinus surgery) ist eine minimal invasive Behandlungsmethode für die Nase und Nebenh?hlen, bei der der Chirurg keine direkte Sicht zum Operationssitus und den Instrumenten hat. Mit dem Ziel, den Chirurgen w?hrend des Eingriffs zu unterstützen, verwendet FESS-Control eine optische Navigationskamera, um die r?umliche Lage eines Shavers bezüglich des Patienten und dessen Bilddaten w?hrend der Operation zu bestimmen. Gleichzeitig erfolgt zum Schutz sensibler Strukturen eine Leistungssteuerung des Instruments. Mit Hilfe des neuen Modells wird die Beschr?nkung des existierenden Systems, welches nur gerade Shaverans?tze navigiert, aufgehoben und die Verwendung weiterer in der medizinischen Anwendung ben?tigter Shaverans?tze erm?glicht. Die neue L?sung für das FESS-Control System ist ein überzeugendes Beispiel dafür, dass Methoden der Softwaretechnik auch in den Anwendungen der Medizintechnik gewinnbringend eingesetzt werden k?nnen. CR subject classification  J.3 ; I.6.5     

Softwaretechnische Instrumentenunterstützung für ein leistungssteuerndes HNO Navigationssystem

Durch Einsatz von Softwaretechnik k?nnen immer komplexere Funktionalit?ten in Medizinger?ten realisiert werden. In der computerunterstützten Chirurgie werden Assistenzsysteme entwickelt mit dem Ziel, die Risiken bestehender Behandlungsmethoden zu minimieren und in neue chirurgische Anwendungsbereiche vorzudringen. Um die steigende Komplexit?t solcher Systeme zu beherrschen, müssen anstelle von hardwarenahen Implementierungen Abstraktionskonzepte gefunden werden, die überschaubare Programmstrukturen und problemlose Erweiterbarkeit erm?glichen. Für das bereits klinisch evaluierte Navigationssystem FESS-Control wird mit Hilfe von bekannten Softwaretechnikmethoden ein Modell entwickelt und implementiert, das im Gegensatz zur bestehenden Implementierung die Beschreibung leistungsgesteuerter chirurgischer Instrumente auf einer abstrakten Ebene und deren sichere automatisierte Erkennung erm?glicht. FESS (functional endonasal sinus surgery) ist eine minimal invasive Behandlungsmethode für die Nase und Nebenh?hlen, bei der der Chirurg keine direkte Sicht zum Operationssitus und den Instrumenten hat. Mit dem Ziel, den Chirurgen w?hrend des Eingriffs zu unterstützen, verwendet FESS-Control eine optische Navigationskamera, um die r?umliche Lage eines Shavers bezüglich des Patienten und dessen Bilddaten w?hrend der Operation zu bestimmen. Gleichzeitig erfolgt zum Schutz sensibler Strukturen eine Leistungssteuerung des Instruments. Mit Hilfe des neuen Modells wird die Beschr?nkung des existierenden Systems, welches nur gerade Shaverans?tze navigiert, aufgehoben und die Verwendung weiterer in der medizinischen Anwendung ben?tigter Shaverans?tze erm?glicht. Die neue L?sung für das FESS-Control System ist ein überzeugendes Beispiel dafür, dass Methoden der Softwaretechnik auch in den Anwendungen der Medizintechnik gewinnbringend eingesetzt werden k?nnen.     

How education policy is made meaningful – a narrative exploration of how teachers show autonomy in the development of teaching and learning

This study addresses how the autonomy of teachers in higher education, in relation to education policy and reform, can be understood. By taking a narrative-in-action approach, we studied health profession teachers’ activities and reasoning within their ongoing practice during one year. The findings show how the teachers created their own policies and in what way these policies became meaningful. As teachers in this study continuously made changes, the joint creation of policies contributed to their sense of togetherness and the re-building of a community of practice. In parallel, they increased the evidence-based standards related to their discipline and experienced a shift in perspective concerning teaching and learning. The importance of their jointly made policies can be explained by how they learned a student-learning view together, and built on their own ideas of what educational matters needed to be developed. At the same time, their activities and reasoning mirror ‘a debated but yet prevailing view’ on the discourse of quality and a number of ideals thereof such as transparency and standardisation, effective teaching and increased academisation.