Environmental education policy research – challenges and ways research might cope with them

This essay examines the relationship between research and policy and, more specifically, how researchers might relate to policy work. Given the current international policy focus on climate change, green growth and sustainability in general, it argues for strengthening and widening policy research in the areas of Environmental Education (EE), Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Education. It especially makes a case for two kinds of research on EE policy: (1) a multi-sited approach to empirical documentation and theory development which explores the relationships between international policy agreements and local practice, and (2) an interactive policy-engaged approach to research.     

Work-time profile,blood lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion in the 1998 Greco-Roman wrestling World Championship

The aim of this study was to examine work-time profiles, blood lactate concentrations and perceived exertion among Greco-Roman wrestlers in the 1998 World Championship. Forty-two senior wrestlers from nine nations were studied in 94 matches. Each match was recorded with a video camera (Panasonic AG 455, film rate: 25 Hz) and analysed for duration of work (wrestling) and rest (interrupt) periods. Blood lactate concentration was determined with an electrochemical device (Analox P-LM5) and a rating of perceived exertion scale (Borg) was used to estimate general exertion and exertion in the extremity and trunk muscles. The mean duration of the matches was 427 s (range 324-535 s), with mean durations of work and rest of 317 and 110 s, respectively. The mean periods of work and rest were 37.2 and 13.8 s, respectively. Mean blood lactate concentration was 14.8 mmol · l -1 (range 6.9-20.6). The difference in mean blood lactate concentration between the first- and final-round matches was not significant ( P > 0.05). Blood lactate concentration was significantly higher ( P ? 0.04) in matches of long duration than in those of short duration. The mean general rating of perceived exertion for all matches was 13.8 according to the scale used. Most of the wrestlers (53.3%) perceived exertion to be highest in the flexors of the forearm, followed by the deltoids (17.4%) and the biceps brachii muscles (12.0%). In addition to a relatively high rating of perceived exertion in the arm muscles, this indicates a high specific load on the flexor muscles of the forearm.     

Children with motor coordination problems and learning disabilities in reading,spelling, writing and arithmetic

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to investigate the incidence of motor coordination problems (clumsiness) among 10‐year‐old learning disabled children and to examine the characteristics of children with motor coordination problems. It was found that the strongest relationship between motor and learning problems seemed to exist in handwriting and arithmetic and the weakest in reading. With regard to the assignment to different subgroups based on deficient reading and spelling strategies, more clumsy children with dyslexic problems were classified in the ‘phonological’ and ‘mixed’ groups than in the ‘morphemic’ group. Our study also supports the heterogeneity of children labelled ‘clumsy’. The clumsy children varied widely in their characteristics and concomitant disabilities. No significant difference between the children with motor problems and a control group of ‘normal’ children was found when intelligence was accounted for.     

Self‐esteem in Children with and without Motor Co‐ordination Problems

This article presents results from a study of 36 pupils (8–10 years of age) in face‐to‐face conversations with their teachers about water as an environmental phenomenon based on a photograph of a rainforest. The teachers’ rather vague goal was to have the pupils talk about the water cycle. The sessions were audio‐recorded and analyzed with respect to: (1) scaffolding strategies used by the teachers, (2) possible implications of these strategies on the pupils’ sense‐making, and (3) what accounts of the water cycle as a school‐science learning‐content were made. Three different patterns of scaffolding strategies were found. Some pupils did not even come close to talking about the water cycle, whereas others arrived at a rather fragmented picture.     

Autonomy Support and its Links to Physical Activity and Competitive Performance: Mediations Through Motivation,Competence, Action Orientation and Harmonious Passion,and the Moderator Role of Autonomy Support by Perceived Competence

The purpose of the present study was to test a Self‐Determination Theory (SDT) process model in relation to involvement in physical activity and competitive performance among students (N = 190). In this model, perceived autonomy support from teachers and coaches was expected to be positively related to autonomous motivation, perceived competence, harmonious passion and action orientation, and that they would be positively related to involvement in physical activity and competitive performance. In using LISREL to test the model, autonomy support was positively linked with perceived competence, autonomous motivation, and action orientation. In turn, perceived competence (through harmonious passion), autonomous motivation, and action orientation were all positively associated with involvement in physical activity, whereas perceived competence and autonomous motivation were positively correlated with competitive performance.     

Investigating Students' Perceived Discipline Relevance Subsequent to Playing Educational Computer Games: A Personal Interest and Self-Determination Theory Approach

The purpose of this study is to explain students' perceived relevance of playing an educational game as a means for development of discipline competence. Based on self-determination theory and the concept of personal interest, we propose that: Satisfying students' basic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness when playing educational games is critical for arousal of intrinsic motivation in learning-through-gaming; Students' interest in the core subject and their intrinsic motivation in learning-through-gaming are important for their perceptions of how relevant they believe the gaming session is for the discipline they are studying. The results from an empirical study indicate that arousal of intrinsic motivation in the ongoing gaming session is more important than pre-gaming interest in the core subject for participants' post-gaming perception of how relevant such gaming is as a means for developing their discipline competence. The results also indicate that satisfying basic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness is critical for arousal of intrinsic gaming motivation. Our findings have implications for the choice of pedagogical means when utilizing educational games as a complementary alternative to traditional learning methods. To that end, we offer directions for future research.     

The ghostly workings of Danish accountability policies

Abstract

This article proposes a framework for thinking about the ghostly, thus arguing that policy can be understood as a landscape of intersecting and colliding temporalities from which arouse curious workings of barely-there forces, spooky energies and vibrating saturations of affective ambivalences. I present an empirical study of a policy agenda of introducing an assessment culture and improving the management of the Danish public school. I explore how all the routines and habits deemed outdated and sought annihilated by a new policy paradigm continue to haunt head teachers as seething presence of lurking resistance towards the policy aims as well as insidious doubts. Thinking about the ghostly contributes to studies of education policy by locating the reality of power in the mundane everyday doings and experiences of educational practitioners and insisting on the very tangled way people sense and intuit the complexities of contemporary forms of power.     

Information management in law enforcement: The case of police intelligence strategy implementation

Strategy implementation is important because failure to carry out strategy can cause lost opportunities and leave police officers reluctant to do strategic planning. Lack of implementation creates problems in maintaining priorities and reaching organizational goals. The strategy execution task is commonly the most complicated and time-consuming part of strategic, management. Yet, strategy implementation suffers from a general lack of academic attention. This research paper makes a contribution to police strategy implementation literature by developing a, research model to study the extent of intelligence strategy implementation.     

中国女排滑坡因析

本文从世界女子排球运动发展的趋势和世界超一流排球队所应具备的诸因素入手，来分析中国女排近年滑坡的原因，希望能借此帮助中国女排走出困境．     

Decomposing Cross-Country Differences in Skills: Evidence from Four Nordic Countries

This paper performs multivariate analysis of skill differences in four Nordic countries as assessed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey of adults aged 16–65. The differences in average skills between Finland and each of the three Scandinavian countries are decomposed into a component that is due to different skill levels in subgroups of the population and a component that is due to differences in the composition of subgroups. The decompositions show that the high Finnish average skill level compared to the three Scandinavian countries can be attributed to the low share of immigrants in Finland and to high scores among Finns with high school and less than high school education. The Finnish average score is pulled substantially downwards as a consequence of the low numeracy skill level among older Finns, which is consistent with an increase in the quantity or quality of Finnish education over time, relative to the other three Nordic countries.