A comparison of student teacher learning from practice in university-affiliated schools in Helsinki and Johannesburg

In a comparative study of student teachers in Finland and South Africa, the researchers aimed to capture students’ views of how and what they had learned from practice in two university-affiliated primary schools. With data from survey questionnaires, we found that students in the two customized programmes accentuated different domains of teacher knowledge. The newly established teaching practice school in Johannesburg afforded closer integration of university and school practicum experiences for students than the well-established school in Helsinki. The authors conclude that an innovative teacher education model can be re-invented in a significantly different context and also add new dimensions to the original.     

The use of domain-specific concepts in biomedical text summarization

Text summarization is a method for data reduction. The use of text summarization enables users to reduce the amount of text that must be read while still assimilating the core information. The data reduction offered by text summarization is particularly useful in the biomedical domain, where physicians must continuously find clinical trial study information to incorporate into their patient treatment efforts. Such efforts are often hampered by the high-volume of publications. This paper presents two independent methods (BioChain and FreqDist) for identifying salient sentences in biomedical texts using concepts derived from domain-specific resources. Our semantic-based method (BioChain) is effective at identifying thematic sentences, while our frequency-distribution method (FreqDist) removes information redundancy. The two methods are then combined to form a hybrid method (ChainFreq). An evaluation of each method is performed using the ROUGE system to compare system-generated summaries against a set of manually-generated summaries. The BioChain and FreqDist methods outperform some common summarization systems, while the ChainFreq method improves upon the base approaches. Our work shows that the best performance is achieved when the two methods are combined. The paper also presents a brief physician’s evaluation of three randomly-selected papers from an evaluation corpus to show that the author’s abstract does not always reflect the entire contents of the full-text.     

Measuring college students' reading comprehension ability using cloze tests

Recent investigations challenge the construct validity of sustained silent reading tests. Performance of two groups of post‐secondary students (e.g. struggling and non‐struggling) on a sustained silent reading test and two types of cloze test (i.e. maze and open‐ended) was compared in order to identify the test format that contributes greater variance in reading comprehension. One hundred participants were recruited from students enrolled in a preparatory course for a high‐stakes statewide reading examination. Our results suggest that all three measures have good concurrent validity. There was no evidence that open‐ended cloze performance was more related to verbal ability than any other reading measure. Maze performance did the best job at discriminating between our struggling and non‐struggling readers. Implications for reading comprehension assessment in post secondary‐aged adults are discussed.     

Structured and unstructured homeschooling: a proposal for broadening the taxonomy

In recent decades, parental involvement in their children’s education has been steadily increasing. Perhaps the ultimate form of parental involvement is the phenomenon called elective home education – EHE (also known as homeschooling). It is customary to divide EHE into two categories according to the degree of structure: structured EHE and unstructured EHE (or unschooling). Advocates of structured learning study in the home framework according to a defined curriculum, whereas unstructured learning advocates study content determined in accordance with the child’s wishes, with no external dictates. This division relates to learning as one entity. This article proposes to distinguish between two dimensions of structure: content and process. In order to demonstrate this distinction, qualitative research was conducted in which 30 mothers who educate their children at home were interviewed and asked what they actually do within the framework of EHE. The research findings suggest that the two types of EHE are indeed different from one another with regard to the structure of the content of instruction and learning as well as the structure of the process. The article addresses the importance of broadening the traditional distinction (structured and unstructured EHE) to include content and process.     

Potential of the acoustic micromanipulation technologies for biomedical research

Acoustic micromanipulation technologies are a set of versatile tools enabling unparalleled micromanipulation capabilities. Several characteristics put the acoustic micromanipulation technologies ahead of most of the other tweezing methods. For example, acoustic tweezers can be adapted as non-invasive platforms to handle single cells gently or as probes to stimulate or damage tissues. Besides, the nature of the interactions of acoustic waves with solids and liquids eliminates labeling requirements. Considering the importance of highly functional tools in biomedical research for empowering important discoveries, acoustic micromanipulation can be valuable for researchers in biology and medicine. Herein, we discuss the potential of acoustic micromanipulation technologies from technical and application points of view in biomedical research.     

Changes in performance and poling kinetics during cross-country sprint skiing competition using the double-poling technique

In this study, changes in skiing performance and poling kinetics during a simulated cross-country sprint skiing competition were investigated. Twelve elite male cross-country skiers performed simulated sprint competition (4 × 1,150 m heat with 20 min recovery between the heats) using the double-poling technique. Vertical and horizontal pole forces and cycle characteristics were measured using a force plate system (20-m long) during the starting spurt, racing speed, and finishing spurt of each heat. Moreover, heat and 20-m phase velocities were determined. Vertical and horizontal pole impulses as well as mean cycle length were calculated. The velocities of heats decreased by 2.7 ± 1.7% (p = 0.003) over the simulated competition. The 20-m spurting velocity decreased by 16 ± 5% (p < 0.002) and poling time increased by 18 ± 9% (p < 0.003) in spurt phases within heats. Vertical and horizontal poling impulses did not change significantly during the simulation; however, the mean forces decreased (p < 0.039) (vertical by 24 ± 11% and horizontal by 20 ± 10%) within heats but not between the heats. Decreased heat velocities over the simulated sprint and spurting velocities within heats indicated fatigue among the skiers. Fatigue was also manifested by decreased pole force production and increased poling time.     

Preparing Students for College: The Implementation and Impact of the Early College High School Model

As implemented in North Carolina, Early College High Schools are small, autonomous schools designed to increase the number of students who graduate from high school and are prepared for postsecondary education. Targeted at students who are underrepresented in college, these schools are most frequently located on college campuses and are intended to provide students with 2 years of college credit upon graduation from high school. This article reports on preliminary 9th-grade results from 285 students in 2 sites participating in a longitudinal experimental study of the impact of the model. These early results show that significantly more Early College High School students are enrolling and progressing in a college preparatory course of study. This expanded access, however, is associated with somewhat lower pass rates for some courses, suggesting the need for strong academic support to accompany increased enrollment in more rigorous courses. Implementation data collected on one school indicate that it is successfully implementing the model's components.     

Four Decades of Finnish Educational Sociology

This section focuses on educational sociology and social pedagogy, two designations mirroring somewhat different perspectives on very much the same reality. The first article presents Finnish Educational sociology from the 1950s to the 1990s and is based on doctoral dissertations and other significant or typical studies in the field. The author argues that empirical research originated during the 1950s and the early 1960s. A typical theme of early research emphasized the school class as a miniature society. In initial studies on the activities and social participation of youth, society itself was already dealt with as a structural entity. In the 1970s, when the Finnish comprehensive‐education system was built, educational policy and the socialization process were the major themes. Then, in the 1980s, the march towards diversification and the development of a range of educational sociologies started. Finally, the expansion of evaluation research was realized in the context of the deep Finnish economic depression of the early 1990s. The lesson here is very sociological: the social context does matter. The second article focuses on development of theory and research related to social pedagogy in Norway, a ‘new’ Norwegian subfield within the discipline of education which was bom almost three decades ago. It is marked by some influential intellectual patterns 1970s from the new social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. In the discourse on social pedagogy in Norway the reception and utilization of inspirations from the Norwegian positivism debate, the new sociology of education and post‐positivist social theory were the main academic sources of development which motivated normative and empirical research on a number of new themes. The author argues that the subfield of social pedagogy has led to a renewed understanding of the role of normative theory within education as an academic field of knowledge, to a broad acceptance of the possibilities of qualitative research strategies, and a new emphasis on integrative research efforts; but at the same time this engagement has reduced the outcome of a unique contribution to a thorough reconstruction of educational research and scholarship.     

Pedagogical work,stress regulation and work-related well-being among early childhood professionals in integrated special day-care groups

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between early childhood professionals’ (ECPs) stress regulation (using salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase [AA] measurements), work engagement and the quality of their pedagogical work in integrated special day-care groups. Participants were 89 ECPs from 21 integrated special day-care groups located in Helsinki, Finland. The special educational needs of children (who were between 3 and 6 years of age) in these groups varied from language disorders and self-regulation difficulties to severe disabilities. Data was collected by using work engagement surveys, salivary cortisol and AA measurements and observational assessments of pedagogical work. This study is novel, in that it combines approaches from different disciplines to investigate work-related well-being among ECPs. Our findings demonstrate the close relationship between ECPs’ stress regulation and the quality of pedagogical work in teams. Whilst ECPs’ high work engagement was associated with better-quality pedagogical work, we did not find any associations between different biomarkers and work engagement. Our study highlights the importance of teamwork, not only as fundamental to high-quality early childhood special education, but also in supporting the well-being of ECE professionals. The findings can be applied in future studies and can be used to inform intervention aiming to enhance working conditions in day-care centres.     

Mapping the impact of climate change on biomass accumulation on stone

Several climate parameters affect the growth of organisms and, hence, their capacity to accumulate biomass. In the present research, we analyse the influence of two parameters, temperature and precipitation, on biomass accumulation on stone substrate, and propose a function to estimate it in temperate areas. The expression is subsequently used for the first time to evaluate the impact that climate change would have in biomass accumulation in Europe. The models on climate change predict an increase in temperature and precipitation in northern areas of Europe for the far future (2070–2099), which would lead to a higher accumulation of biomass. Otherwise, a significant reduction in precipitation is expected in southern areas of Europe, associated with a lower biomass accumulation in such areas.