What is valued in friluftsliv within PE teacher education?—Swedish PE teacher educators’ thoughts about friluftsliv analysed through the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu

The value assigned to friluftsliv (activities similar to outdoor education) in physical education teacher education (PETE) and in the physical education (PE) syllabus in Sweden does not seem to result in the implementation of friluftsliv in the practice of teaching in Swedish schools. This study investigates how the identified values of friluftsliv, expressed in interviews with 17 PE teacher educators in Sweden, reflect struggles for legitimate and privileged knowledge in PETE. The exploration of friluftsliv within PETE reveals positions that appear to be an effect of the dominating logic of sport within Swedish PETE and the limited influence of the academic field. The educational consequences of the identified values are analysed and discussed from a socio-cultural perspective.     

Gymnastics

The 16 highest‐scored Roche vaults (G1) performed during the 2000 Olympic Games were compared with those receiving the 16 lowest‐scores (G2). A 16‐mm motion picture camera operating at 100 Hz recorded the vaults during the competition. The results of t tests (p < .05) indicated G1, compared to G2, had (a) shorter time of board support, greater normalised average upward vertical force and backward horizontal force exerted by the board, greater change in the vertical velocity while on the board, and greater vertical velocity at board take‐off, (b) comparable linear and angular motions in pre‐flight, (c) smaller backward horizontal impulse exerted by the horse, smaller loss of the horizontal velocity while on the horse, and greater horizontal and vertical velocities at horse take‐off, (d) greater height and larger horizontal distance of post‐flight, (e) higher body mass centre at knee release, and (f) higher mass centre, greater normalised moment of inertia, and smaller vertical velocity at mat touchdown. Therefore, gymnasts and coaches should focus on sprinting the approach; blocking and pushing‐off the take‐off board rapidly and vigorously; departing the board with a large vertical velocity; exerting large downward vertical force and small forward horizontal force from the handstand position while on the horse; departing the horse with large horizontal and vertical velocities; and completing the majority of the double salto forward near the peak of trajectory and releasing the knees above the top of the horse to prepare for a controlled landing.     

The power of role design: Balancing the principals financial responsibility with the implications of stress

The Anglo-Saxon countries have implemented Management by Objectives (MBO) complemented with school-based management (SBM) fairly rapidly. Although these countries are considered something of a benchmark of stability, research on principals reveals that they experience high levels of stress and that this is associated with poorer job performance. These findings raise the question of whether increased stress and poorer performance are the result of the new SBM role. In this article, empirical research on Sweden is used to address this question. While Sweden has not come as far as England in the implementation of SBM, it is farther along than other European countries. Paying specific attention to the SBM role, the article uses a qualitative method to describe the implementation of MBO in two cases with different characteristics, one centralized and one decentralized. A quantitative method is also used to conduct a large scale study of stress levels among all principals in upper secondary schools in Sweden. The results indicate that the choice of whether to retain the traditional principal role, developed at a time of centralized management by rules, or to replace it with a new SBM role influences the level of stress that principals experience, although in different ways. The practical implications of these findings are discussed in the final section of the paper.     

Improving higher education practice through student evaluation systems: is the student voice being heard?

Many higher education institutions use student evaluation systems as a way of highlighting course and lecturer strengths and areas for improvement. Globally, the student voice has been increasing in volume, and capitalising on student feedback has been proposed as a means to benefit teacher professional development. This paper examines the student evaluations at a university in Trinidad and Tobago in an effort to determine whether the student voice is being heard. The research focused on students’ responses to the question, ‘How do you think this course could be improved?’ Student evaluations were gathered from five purposefully selected courses taught at the university during 2011–2012 and then again one year later, in 2012–2013. This allowed for an analysis of the selected courses. Whilst the literature suggested that student evaluation systems are a valuable aid to lecturer improvement, this research found little evidence that these evaluations actually led to any real significant changes in lecturers’ practice.     

Genetic and environmental influences on prereading skills and early reading and spelling development in the United States, Australia, and Scandinavia

Genetic and environmental influences on prereading skills in preschool and on early reading and spelling development at the end of kindergarten were compared among samples of identical and fraternal twins from the U.S. (Colorado), Australia, and Scandinavia. Mean comparisons revealed significantly lower preschool print knowledge in Scandinavia, consistent with the relatively lower amount of shared book reading and letter-based activities with parents, and lack of emphasis on print knowledge in Scandinavian preschools. The patterns of correlations between all preschool environment measures and prereading skills within the samples were remarkably similar, as were the patterns of genetic, shared environment, and non-shared environment estimates: in all samples, genetic influence was substantial and shared environment influence was relatively weak for phonological awareness, rapid naming, and verbal memory; genetic influence was weak, and shared environment influence was relatively strong for vocabulary and print knowledge. In contrast, for reading and spelling assessed at the end of kindergarten in the Australian and U.S. samples, there was some preliminary evidence for country differences in the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences. We argue that the apparently higher genetic and lower shared environment influence in the Australian sample was related to a greater emphasis on formal reading instruction, resulting in more advanced reading and spelling skills at the end of kindergarten, and thus there was greater opportunity to observe genetic influences on response to systematic reading instruction among the Australian twins.     

The engineering of engineering education: curriculum development from a designer's point of view

Engineers have a set of powerful tools at their disposal for designing robust and reliable technical systems. In educational design these tools are seldom applied. This paper explores the application of concepts from the systems approach in an educational context. The paradigms of design methodology and systems engineering appear to be suitable for both analysing existing education and designing new curricula.     

Student evaluations of course and teacher: factor analysis and SSA approaches

The present study attempts to discover organizing principles in college students’ evaluations of their formal and informal educational programs. The study was conducted during the 1998–99 academic year. The data consisted of 14,344 assessment sheets completed by students at the Jordan Valley Regional College in Israel. Each assessment sheet contained 12 variables. Factor analysis revealed two main factors: the course (seven variables) and the teacher (five variables). A Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) revealed an additional distinction. Some of the evaluation items relate directly to the course or teacher and some relate to the interaction between the course or teacher and the students. Distinguishing between these categories could be helpful in identifying or correcting bias in student evaluations.     

Processes of problem solving: Comparison of an American and a European view

Analysis of the ability to solve problems occupies an important place in recent research within instructional psychology. In the U.S.A. processes of problem solving are now mostly studied within the framework of the information-processing approach. A European trend in research on thinking and problem solving, that parallels this American work, is based on the action-oriented approach. Until now both approaches have developed independently. A consequence of this situation could be that differences between both conceptions will be accentuated, while points of convergence remain hidden. Therefore it seems desirable to start an exchange of ideas between the two approaches. The present article provides an example in this direction. The example relates to the work of Resnick and Glaser on problem solving in instructional settings on the one hand, and a view developed in the Netherlands during the 70s on the other.Paper presented at a seminar at the University of Pittsburgh, Learning Research and Development Center, March 1979.     

Preparing Healthcare Professionals for Telemedicine: Results from Educational Needs Research

As part of an overall research program to create a set of web-based interactive distance learning modules, an educational needs assessment was conducted. The educational needs assessment is undertaken to collect information via observation and interview as to which knowledge areas are most desirable for incorporation into the interactive distance learning modules. This research is best undertaken with a neutral stance and without any preconceptions or hypotheses as to which knowledge areas are likely to be most useful. The interactive modules were designed to enhance the utilization of telemedicine by health care providers. This paper is a report on the methodology used and the findings of the needs assessment. The educational needs assessment acts as a compass to guide the creation of curricula. In the design of interactive learning, the needs assessment may be an important tool that informs not only the selection of the content, but also the selection of technology and courseware processes. The methodology described herein may be useful as a template for other authors of interactive learning courseware. The results of this study identified four clusters of content to be offered and confirmed the selection of interactive, web-based distance learning as the most appropriate delivery approach.