The psychometric properties of the Trauma Symptom Checklist For Children (TSCC) in a sample of Swedish children

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) and to study traumatic symptoms in a normative group of Swedish children and adolescents. METHOD: A normative group of 728 children and adolescents age 10-17 and a clinical group of 91 children and adolescents known to have experienced sexual abuse participated in the study. A test-retest procedure was conducted with 79 participants from the normative group. RESULTS: Good reliability such as internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) for the total scale .94 (ranging in the clinical scales .78-.83) and test-retest for the total scale r=.81 (ranging in the clinical scales .67-.81) were found. The confirmatory 6-factor analysis explained 50.7% of the variance. Other validity measures such as concurrent validity and criterion related validity were also shown to be satisfactory. The normative sample of Swedish children and adolescents showed lower means on the subscales than has been reported in previous studies from a number of other countries. CONCLUSION: The Swedish version of TSCC has been shown to be a screening instrument with satisfactory psychometric qualities that is capable to identify trauma symptoms among children and adolescents who have themselves self-reported experiencing trauma or for whom clinicians have identified traumatic experiences.     

Simulated Sustainable Societies: Students’ Reflections on Creating Future Cities in Computer Games

The empirical study, in this article, involved 42 students (ages 14–15), who used the urban simulation computer game SimCity 4 to create models of sustainable future cities. The aim was to explore in what ways the simulated “real” worlds provided by this game could be a potential facilitator for science learning contexts. The topic investigated is in what way interactions in this gaming environment, and reflections about these interactions, can form a context where the students deal with real world problems, and where they can contextualise and apply their scientific knowledge. Focus group interviews and video recordings were used to gather data on students’ reflections on their cities, and on sustainable development. The findings indicate that SimCity 4 actually contributes to creating meaningful educational situations in science classrooms, and that computer games can constitute an important artefact that may facilitate contextualisation and make students’ use of science concepts and theories more explicit.     

Introducing a symbolic interactionist approach on teaching mathematics: the case of revoicing as an interactional strategy in the teaching of probability

This study examines an interactional view on teaching mathematics, whereby meaning is co-produced with the students through a process of negotiation. Further, teaching is viewed from a symbolic interactionism perspective, allowing the analysis to focus on the teacher’s role in the negotiation of meaning. Using methods inspired by grounded theory, patterns of teachers’ interaction are categorized. The results show how teachers’ actions, interpretations and intentions form interactional strategies that guide the negotiation of meaning in the classroom. The theoretical case of revoicing as a teacher action, together with interpretations of mathematical objects from probability theory, is used to exemplify conclusions from the proposed perspective. Data are generated from a lesson sequence with two teachers working with known and unknown constant sample spaces with their classes. In the lessons presented in this article, the focus is on negotiations of the meaning of chance. The analysis revealed how the teachers indicate their interpretations of mathematical objects and intentions to the students to different degrees and, by doing so, create opportunities for the students to ascribe meaning to these objects. The discussion contrasts the findings with possible interpretations from other perspectives on teaching.     

Practices Regarding Reporting of Reliability Coefficients: A Review of Three Journals

Practices regarding the reporting of reliability coefficients in 3 journals from 1990 to 1997 were examined. Given that scores, not tests, are reliable or unreliable, particular attention was paid to the provision of reliability coefficients computed for the data actually being analyzed in substantive studies. One third of the articles reviewed made no mention of reliability. Almost 36% of the articles provided reliability coefficients for the data being analyzed. Examples of good reporting practices are provided. In 2 of the 3 journals reviewed, there was little change in the frequency and style of reliability reporting in the period covered. The authors suggest a modification in editorial journal policies to bring about a change in reliability-coefficient reporting practices.     

Reading Skill and the Processing of Text Structure

Backman, J., Lundberg, I., Nilsson, L.‐G. & Ohlsson, K. 1984. Reading Skill and the Processing of Text Structure. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 29, 113‐128. Oral reading speed, free recall and summarization of narrative stories presented on videotex were studied as a function of reading skill, text structure and physical factors such as paragraphing and color cueing of clauses on various levels of importance. A total of 144 subjects (13‐14 years old) participated in the experiment, half of them being rated as poor readers and half as good readers. Good readers outperformed poor readers on all dependent variables. Important propositions were better recalled and were more often included in summaries than less important parts of the texts, especially if they were signalled by a different color. However, the impact of graphical cueing depended on reading skill, text type and task. The interactions were discussed in terms of differences in processing strategies and prior knowledge.     

Analyzing effective communication in mathematics group work: The role of visual mediators and technical terms

Analyzing and designing productive group work and effective communication constitute ongoing research interests in mathematics education. In this article we contribute to this research by using and developing a newly introduced analytical approach for examining effective communication within group work in mathematics education. By using data from 12 to 13-year old students playing a dice game as well as from a group of university students working with a proof by induction, the article shows how the link between visual mediators and technical terms is crucial in students’ attempts to communicate effectively. The critical evaluation of visual mediators and technical terms, and of links between them, is useful for researchers interested in analyzing effective communication and designing environments providing opportunities for students to learn mathematics.     

Knee angular displacement and extensor muscle activity in telemark skiing and in ski-specific strength exercises

Much of the training of competitive telemark skiers is performed as dry-land exercises. The specificity of these exercises is important for optimizing the training effect. Our aim here was to study the activation of the knee extensor musculature and knee angular displacement during competitive telemark skiing and during dry-land strength training exercises to determine the specificity of the latter. Specificity was analysed with respect to angular amplitude, angular velocity, muscle action and electromyographic (EMG) activity. Five male telemark skiers of national and international standard volunteered to participate in the study, which consisted of two parts: (1) skiing a telemark ski course and (2) specific dry-land strength training exercises for telemark skiing (telemark jumps and barbell squats). The angular displacement of the right knee joint was recorded with an electrogoniometer. A tape pressure sensor was used to measure pressure between the sole of the foot and the bottom of the right ski boot. Electromyographic activity in the right vastus lateralis was recorded with surface electrodes. The EMG activity recorded during maximum countermovement jumps was used to normalize the EMG activity during telemark skiing, telemark jumps and barbell squats. The results showed that knee angular displacement during telemark skiing and dry-land telemark jumps had four distinct phases: a flexion (F1) and extension (E1) phase during the thrust phase of the outside ski/leg in the turn/jump and a flexion (F2) and extension (E2) phase when the leg was on the inside of the turn/jump. The vastus lateralis muscle was activated during F1 and E1 in the thrust phase during telemark skiing and telemark jumps. The overall net knee angular amplitude was significantly greater (P<0.05) for telemark jumps than for telemark skiing. Barbell squats showed a knee angular amplitude significantly greater than that in telemark skiing (P<0.05). The mean knee angular velocity of the F1 and E1 phases during telemark skiing was about 0.47 rad?·?s^?1; during barbell squats, it was about 1.22 rad?·?s^?1. The angular velocity during telemark jumps was 2.34 and 1.59 rad?·?s^?1 in the F1 and E1 phase, respectively. The normalized activation level of the EMG bursts during telemark skiing, telemark jumps and barbell squats was 70–80%. In conclusion, the muscle action and level of activation in the vastus lateralis during the F1 and E1 phases were similar during telemark skiing and dry-land exercises. However, the dry-land exercises showed a larger knee extension and flexion amplitude and angular velocity compared with telemark skiing. It appears that an adjustment of knee angular velocity during barbell squats and an adjustment of knee angle amplitude during both telemark jumps and barbell squats will improve specificity during training.     

Drive for dough. PGA Tour golfers’ tee shot functional accuracy,distance and hole score

Abstract

A player’s ability to score low is critical to the tournament outcome in golf. The relationships of round scores to fairways hit in regulation or striking distance on two holes per round have been investigated before with some disagreement. The purpose is therefore to examine the relationships of par-4 and par-5 hole scores to tee shot functional accuracy and distance, measured as lie of the ball and penalty, and striking distance or distance to the pin for the second shot. Such information is possible to collect without interviewing players. The best US Professional Golfers’ Association Tour players’ statistics during a season are used, provided by the Professional Golfers’ Association Tour and ShotLink. Distance was measured with laser equipment. The results include significant (P < 0.05) correlations between score and striking distance or distance to pin, when hitting rough but not fairway on par-4s and when hitting fairway and rough on par-5s. It is therefore relevant, for performance, to consider the type of fairway miss as well as the striking distance in relation to the par and length of the hole. The findings can be considered when making gap and needs profiles, and when making tactical decisions for tee shots on different types of holes.     

Cross‐Country Skiing

The purpose was to study the adaptation to speed in the temporal patterns of the movement cycle and determine any differences in velocity, cycle rate and cycle length at the maximum speed level in the different classical style and freestyle cross‐country skiing techniques. Eight skilled male cross‐country skiers were filmed with a digital video camera in the sagittal plane while skiing on a flat cross‐country ski track. The skiers performed three classical style techniques the diagonal stride, kick double poling and the double poling technique and four freestyle techniques paddle dance (gear 2), double dance (gear 3), single dance (gear 4) and combiskate (gear 5) at four different self‐selected speed levels slow, medium, fast and their maximum. Cycle duration, cycle rate, cycle length, and relative and absolute cycle phase duration of the different techniques at the different speed levels were analysed by means of a video analysis system. The cycle rate in all tested classical and freestyle techniques was found to increase significantly (p < .01) with speed from slow to maximum. Simultaneously, there was a significant decrease in the absolute phase durations of all the investigated skiing techniques. A minor, not significant, change in cycle length, and the significant increase in cycle rate with speed showed that the classical and freestyle cross‐country skiing styles are dependent, to a large extent, on an increase in cycle rate for speed adaptation. A striking finding was the constant relative phase duration with speed, which indicates a simplified neural control of the speed adaptation in both cross‐country skiing styles. For the practitioner, the knowledge about the importance of increasing cycle frequency rather than cycle length in the speed adaptation can be used to optimise a rapid increase in speed. The knowledge about the decrease in absolute phase duration, especially the thrust phase duration, points to the need for strength and technique training to enable force production at a high cycle rate and skiing speed. The knowledge that the relative phase duration stays constant with speed may be used to simplify the learning of the different cross‐country skiing techniques.     

Teacher Education for the New Century in Sweden

The future of teacher education (TE) is currently under discussion in Sweden and a reform proposal has been presented. Future TE provides one single examination for all types of teachers. It also provides a flexible choice of alternative courses, a mandatory course in inclusive education and a range of optional specialisations. After many post-war years of reform in the Swedish school system, the education of comprehensive schoolteachers was itself eventually reformed in 1988. Since then, major changes in schools have occurred: legislation has been liberalised and economic constraints have accelerated. A shortage of teachers in certain subjects and certain parts of the country is a cause for concern. In this article, the new TE proposal is presented and discussed, and the possible future of the Swedish school and TE are outlined. It is argued that implementation of certain parts of the reform proposal will cause problems. L'avenir de la formation des enseignants est un sujet discuté actuellement en Suède et une proposition de réforme vient d'être présentée. La prochaine formation des enseignants stipule un examen unique pour tous les types d'enseignants, ainsi qu'un choix flexible de cours alternatifs, un cours obligatoire en éducation spécialisée et une partie de spécialisation optionnelle. Après plusieurs années d'après-guerre de réformes du système scolaire suédois, la formation des professeurs d'écoles a été finalement réformée en 1988. Depuis lors, des changements majeurs sont intervenus: la législation a été libéralisée et les contraintes économiques se sont accrues. Le manque d'enseignants dans certaines disciplines et dans certaines régions du pays est une préoccupation. Dans l'article, la proposition de formation des enseignants est présentée et discutée, et l'avenir probable de l'école suédoise ainsi que celui de la formation des enseignants y sont esquissés. Il y est aussi démontré que l'application de certaines parties des propositions de réforme causera quelques problèmes. El futuro de la formación de profesores se estádiscutiendo actualmente en Suecia y una propuesta de reforma ha sido presentada hace poco. La futura formación implica un solo examen para todas las categorías de profesores. Asimismo implica una mayor flexibilidad en la elección de cursos alternativos, un curso obligatorio en educación especial y una variedad de cursos de especialización opcionales. Después de varios años de reforma del sistema educativo en Suecia en el período de posguerra, una reforma de la formación del profesorado de secundaria se llevóa cabo en 1988. Desde entonces, se han evidenciado varios cambios: la legislación se liberalizó y los recortes económicos se incrementaron. La falta de profesores para ciertas asignaturas y en ciertos lugares del país constituye un problema cada vez más grande. En el artículo se presenta y se discute la propuesta del nuevo currículo asícomo el posible futuro de la educación en Suecia. Se argumenta que será difícil llevar a cabo ciertas partes de la propuesta de la reforma. Die Zukunft der Lehrerausbildung (LA) wird gegenwärtig in Schweden diskutiert, und ein Reformvorschlag ist vorgestellt worden. Die künftige LA sieht einen einzigen Abschluß für alle Lehrerkategorien vor. Sie bietet auch eine flexible Auswahl an alternativen Kursen, einen obligatorischen Kurs in Sonderpädagogik und einen Vertiefungsteil nach Wahl an. Nach vielen Reformen des schwedischen Schulsystems in der Nachkriegszeit wurde schließlich im Jahr 1988 die Ausbildung für Lehrer der Klassen 1-9 reformiert. Seitdem haben große Veränderungen stattgefunden: die Gesetzgebung ist liberalisiert worden, und die wirtschaftlichen Hindernisse haben sich zunehmend vermehrt. Ein Lehrermangel in gewissen Fächern und in gewissen Regionen des Landes schafft Probleme. In dem vorliegenden Artikel wird der Vorschlag der neuen LA vorgestellt und diskutiert, und die mögliche Zukunft der schwedischen Schule und Lehrerausbildung wird skizziert. Es wird für die These argumentiert, daß die Verwirklichung gewisser Teile des Reformvorschlags Probleme verursachen wird.