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.     

Differences in impact characteristics,joint kinetics and measurement reliability between forehand and backhand forward badminton lunges

ABSTRACT

This study identified the effect of badminton lunging directions on impact characteristics, joint kinetics and measurement reliability. A total of 14 badminton players performed 20 lunges in both forehand and backhand sides. Ground reaction force (GRF) and three-dimensional joint moment variables were determined for further analyses. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to determine any differences between the two lunge directions and intra-class correlation (ICC) and sequential averaging analysis (SAA) were used to estimate the minimum number of trials. Compared to the forehand side, participants experienced significantly larger total GRF impulse (+ 3.8%, p = 0.021) and transverse moment (hip + 63.5%, p < 0.001; knee + 80.7%, p = 0.011), but smaller hip (?7.7%), knee (?18.7%) and ankle frontal moments (?58.0%, p < 0.05) in backhand lunges. The minimum number of trials was similar for both lunge directions, as the averaged absolute differences was less than one in both ICC and SAA. Furthermore, smaller minimal number of trials was determined by the ICC (7.9–8.0), compared with the SAA approach (9.5–10.3). Lunge direction would influence GRF and joint loading, but not on the measurement reliability. These results give important insights to establish performance or equipment evaluation protocols during badminton lunges.     

Designing a sequence of activities to build reasoning about data and visualization

Our complex world requires multivariate reasoning to make sense of reality. Within this paper, we offer a sequence of activities designed to develop multivariate reasoning by explicitly connecting data and visualization. The activities were designed based on a hypothetical learning trajectory we conjectured for students with limited experience with multivariate visualizations. Drawing from evidence collected using these activities in a series of professional development sessions with in-service teachers, we find that the activities functioned as intended, and thus we promote these activities for developing students' multivariate reasoning at the secondary and post-secondary level. We detail specific challenges the teachers faced, and based on these results, offer our reflections and recommendations for curricula and teaching.     

Bodily practices and discourses of hetero‐femininity: girls' constitution of subjectivities in their social transition between childhood and adolescence

In foregrounding how girls use their bodies when negotiating subjectivities as adolescents, this paper explores possible ways of doing, being and becoming an adolescent girl in urban, multicultural school contexts. Drawing on interview material generated through a longitudinal qualitative study of children's social transitions between childhood and adolescence, the paper more specifically examines how girls constitute subjectivities through bodily practices which position them according to dominant discourses of hetero‐femininity. The paper goes on to argue that the way in which girls negotiate these discourses through practices on and with their bodies has a significant impact on how they subsequently experience their social transition between childhood and adolescence.     

A bibliometric analysis of the clinical development of drugs in Norway for the year 2000

Purpose: Bibliometric analysis of publications was used to investigate the research output relating to the development of drugs in Norway and to evaluate the impact of Norwegian involvement in this research. Material and methods: One hundred and nine articles published between 2002 and 2008 were analysed. Bibliometric methods used were as follows: information on peer review, impact factor (IF), the Science Citation Index (SCI) and the representation of Norwegians in the list of authors. Results: All publications were in journals with peer review or in publications with corresponding evaluation. Industrial support, international research cooperation and drug development in phases I, II and III seem to promote publication in journals with high IF and a high SCI. In 63% of the international project articles, the Norwegian contributors were not represented in the list of authors. Conclusion: In addition to a scientific standard secured by referees, three probably independent factors – industrial support, international cooperation and early phases of the research (phases I, II and III) – seem to promote publications in journals with high IF and a high SCI. A more active Norwegian contribution to the research should be encouraged.     

The Power of a Comfortable White Body: Race and Habitual Emotion

Abstract

This article explores the role of white comfort in sustaining white hegemony in institutional culture and classroom dynamics. The presumption of comfort and security in established social norms enacts an embodied commitment to white supremacy that operates concurrently with conscious, articulated desires to pursue equity, as it delimits how white people imagine what authentically equitable institutions might look and feel like. The article draws on theological uses of phenomenology and developmental psychology to describe how the white self develops within a hegemonic social milieu and how an embodied sense of agency and comfort within unjust social structures facilitates white normativity.     

Examining Elementary School Students’ Mental Models of Sun-Earth Relationships as a Result of Engaging in Engineering Design

Current reform efforts in science education in the United States call for students to learn science through the integration of science and engineering practices. Studies have examined the effect of engineering design on students’ understanding of engineering, technology, and science concepts. However, the majority of studies emphasize the accuracy of students’ scientific thinking instead of what students’ conceptions are. The aim of this study was to examine elementary school students’ conceptions of sun-Earth relationships as a result of engaging in an engineering design-based science task. Two independent fifth grade classrooms were identified. Each classroom teacher had 2 groups of students: 1 group engaged in traditional science lessons (control) and 1 group engaged in engineering design-based science lessons (treatment). Data were collected via multiple choice knowledge assessments, a draw-and-explain item, and semi-structured interviews designed to elicit students’ working mental models of the relationship between the sun and Earth. Results indicated a range of five different mental models expressed by students in both the control and treatment groups. These findings suggest that students still harbor alternate conceptions and possibly conflicting ideas regarding various sun-Earth relationships. If teachers are expected to implement science and engineering practices, attention must be given to not only what students’ misconceptions are but, more importantly, how best to implement design-based science lessons that facilitate students’ application and understanding of related science concepts.