Starting the pluralistic tradition of teaching? Effects of education for sustainable development (ESD) on pre-service teachers’ views on teaching about sustainable development

There is currently a well-established belief among politicians, scholars and university representatives that educational systems can produce positive attitudes towards sustainable development (SD) among citizens. This article investigates whether Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in teacher education has effects on pre-service teachers’ perceptions of how to teach pupils about SD. The results from a panel study on the effects of a course on SD held at the University of Gothenburg (n = 323) is presented. The surveys consisted of questions about pre-service teachers’ approach to teaching about SD. The study included a control group (n = 97). The results indicate a short-term effect among the pre-service teachers towards actively getting pupils to discuss issues concerning the environment but without influencing their opinions about it. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the results for the idea of ESD in teacher training programmes.     

Information-system structure by communication-technology concepts: A cybernetic model approach

Information-systems are classified into two types, termed “Evidence-of Existence” and “Presentation” of information. The objective of the evidence-type system lies in the domain of documentation and retrieval of information. The structure of this system-type is developed, with application of cybernetic concepts, as an isomorphic model in analogy to the system-structure of communication technology. The latter postulates three criteria of structuring: (1) Source-Channel-Sink, with input-output characteristics, (2) Filter-type communication-channel, (3) Reversable code. These criteria are applied to the structuring of information-systems of the evidence-of-existence type. For the purpose of two-way communication the information-systems have to be represented by closed-loop models. The selective-retrieval requirements necessitate the system-channel to be a filter of information. These information-filters are implemented by keyword-phrases, being identical with the codewords. They yield a uniquely decodable code which is totally reversible to adequately serve both the documentation and the retrieval of documents. It is proven that hierarchic information-systems, applying categorization or subject-heading objects of information, do not meet the mandatory code-requirements. The inherent coding-deficiencies of hierarchic systems generate intolerable retrieval ambiguities. The same critique applies to the thesaurus concept. The development of a novel species of thesaurus is suggested, realizing a kind of Linnéan encyclopedia of general human knowledge, presenting all relevant interrelations of objects of knowledge. Such thesaurus would provide the much needed support for formulating efficient search queries. Other relevant features of communication technology, like the information-potential, should be isomorphically transformed into information-system models.     

Boundaries as mechanisms for learning in emergency exercises with students from emergency service organisations

To prepare emergency response organisations for collaborative work in unpredictable and dynamic situations, various types of exercises are widely used. Still, our knowledge of collaboration exercises with emergency response students is limited. This study aimed to contribute to this field by exploring boundaries that emerged between collaborating organisations in exercise activities and how these boundaries could be understood for learning. Drawing on the Akkerman and Bakker framework of boundaries as learning mechanisms, this study explored an exercise, including full-scale scenarios and seminars with students from the police, ambulance and rescue services education in Sweden. Thematic analysis of interviews and observations illustrated boundaries that emerged regarding vocabulary, prioritisation, roles, knowledge gaps and overlapping responsibilities across organisations. Rather than dissolving boundaries, this article suggests that boundaries can be utilised in exercises to support the students to contextualise their knowledge in relation to the demands of collaborative work. The concepts boundary work and boundary awareness were suggested to capture more generally the dynamics of learning in exercise contexts.     

Ein Fremdenrecht für Wissenschaftler und Auslandsstudierende?

Das Fremdenrechtspaket 2007 führte auch im Bereich des Aufenthalts von Studierenden und Wissenschaftlern zu einschneidenden ?nderungen. Von universit?rer Seite wird h?ufig kritisiert, die neuen – tendenziell restriktiveren – Regelungen beeintr?chtigen die Internationalit?t und Mobilit?t der ?sterreichischen Universit?ten. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht den Inhalt der einschl?gigen Regelungen, beleuchtet deren Auslegung durch die Praxis kritisch und zeigt auch aus rechtspolitischer Sicht m?gliche ?nderungsvorschl?ge auf.     

CURIOSITY AND EXPLORATORY BEHAVIOUR IN ABILITY DEVELOPMENT

Effective diagnosis and appropriate fostering of giftedness require accurate knowledge of the nature and course of intellectual development. However, psychological theories developed until now have not paid sufficient attention to the influence of children on their own development. The study reported here shows that cognitively gifted children who display well developed exploratory behaviour interact with their environment in an active way. Confidence in exploring the environment, which children acquire as a result of favourable social processes, facilitates the emergence of problem solving behaviour. As a result, such children are able to expand their cognitive abilities independently on the basis of their own activity. The task for educators is to promote exploratory behaviour and systematically expand the child's repertoire of behaviours through the application of appropriate interaction strategies.     

Effects of Day-Care on Cognitive and Socioemotional Competence of Thirteen-Year-Old Swedish Schoolchildren

This is a follow-up study of an earlier one in which positive effects of early day-care experience were found on children's cognitive and socioemotional competence at age 8. 128 children were followed from their first year of life. At 8 and 13 years of age, 92% and 89% of the children, respectively, remained in the study. Most children could be classified according to age at first entry into day-care. Cognitive and socioemotional competence was rated by the children's classroom teachers. Hierarchical regression and path analyses were used in the statistical treatment of the data. It was possible to trace independent positive effects of age of entry into day-care as far as age 13. Children entering center care or family day-care before age 1 generally performed better in school when 8 and 13 years old and received more positive ratings from their teachers on several socioemotional variables. The path analyses indicated the following causal model: family characteristics, such as type of family, family's socioemotional status, and mother's educational level, influence the time of first entry into day-care. This variable, in turn, has consequences for children's competence at 8 and/or 13 years of age even after controlling for home background, child gender, and intelligence, which, of course, have their own effects. The effect of socioeconomic status was often mediated through age of entry into day-care.     

Establishing an Explanatory Model for Mathematics Identity

This article empirically tests a previously developed theoretical framework for mathematics identity based on students’ beliefs. The study employs data from more than 9,000 college calculus students across the United States to build a robust structural equation model. While it is generally thought that students’ beliefs about their own competence in mathematics directly impact their identity as a “math person,” findings indicate that students’ self‐perceptions related to competence and performance have an indirect effect on their mathematics identity, primarily by association with students’ interest and external recognition in mathematics. Thus, the model indicates that students’ competence and performance beliefs are not sufficient for their mathematics identity development, and it highlights the roles of interest and recognition.