Swedish Universities towards Self-Regulation: A New Look at Institutional Autonomy

Swedish universities are required to change towards more effective self-regulation as the government has recently reduced state steering and devolved further responsibilities to them. In this paper, self-regulation is related to the concept of autonomy, a concept which is analysed on the two dimensions of purpose and authority, resulting in four models of state governance and consequently in a different space of action for the institutions. However, in order to develop self-regulation, the space granted must also be used effectively to realise autonomy. Six Swedish higher education institutions are analysed concerning how they have used their new space of action and what restrictions they have met in their efforts for self-regulation.     

Conceptual learning in relation to near and far transfer in the secondary school subject of economics

In this study we investigated the effects of two treatments supplementing students’ (16 to 18 years of age and in pre-university education) regular course in economics. One treatment, labelled concept treatment, aimed at the solidification of the students’ knowledge about economic concepts and their interrelations. The other treatment, labeled context treatment, aimed at the solidification of the connections between economic concepts and practical contexts. The aim of the study was to find out which treatment was most effective in meeting two demands that have been made by educators and advisory boards. The first demand is that students should gain competence in analysing practical problems from an economic perspective. The second demand is that students should be prepared for transfer of what they learned in the lessons to problems that are new to them.     

The Teacher Research Update Experience: Perceptions of Practicing Science, Mathematics, and Technology Teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine how the practicing science and mathematics teachers participating in the University of Florida's Teacher Research Update Experience (TRUE) perceived their experiences in Summer 2000. We conducted in-depth interviews and collected data from survey questionnaires and addressed research in the following areas: How do participants perceive their experiences during the 7-week program designed to enhance science, mathematics, and technology knowledge and skills? How have these experiences contributed to their professional and personal growth and development, and how will they influence teaching and student learning? Findings from interviews provided insights into the thoughts, motivations, and, in some cases, insecurities of these adult learners. Follow-up studies are indicated on long-term impact of immersion professional development programs.     

Perfectionism in Academically Gifted Students: A Systematic Review

Educational Psychology Review - Perfectionism has long been recognised as a psychological factor that can enhance or interfere with the healthy adjustment of young students who are academically...     

Fear of Death and Examination Performance in a Medical Gross Anatomy Course with Cadaveric Dissection

Cadaveric dissection offers an important opportunity for students to develop their ideas about death and dying. However, it remains largely unknown how this experience impacts medical students' fear of death. The current study aimed to address this gap by describing how fear of death changed during a medical gross anatomy dissection course and how fear of death was associated with examination performance. Fear of death was surveyed at the beginning of the course and at each of the four block examinations using three of the eight subscales from the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale: Fear of the Dead, Fear of Being Destroyed, and Fear for the Body After Death. One hundred forty-three of 165 medical students (86.7%) completed the initial survey. Repeated measures ANOVA showed no significant changes in Fear of the Dead (F (4, 108) = 1.45, P = 0.222) or Fear for the Body After Death (F (4, 108) = 1.83, P = 0.129). There was a significant increase in students' Fear of Being Destroyed (F (4, 108) = 6.86, P < 0.0005) after beginning dissection. This increase was primarily related to students' decreased willingness to donate their body. Concerning performance, there was one significant correlation between Fear for the Body After Death and the laboratory examination score at examination 1. Students with higher fears may be able to structure their experience in a way that does not negatively impact their performance, but educators should still seek ways to support these students and encourage body donation.     

Too Much Familiarity! The Developmental Path of the Fluency Heuristic in Children

We tested whether changes in attribution processes could account for the developmental differences observed in how children’s use fluency to guide their memory decisions. Children ranging in age from 4 to 9 years studied a list of familiar or unfamiliar cartoon characters. In Experiment 1 (n = 84), participants completed a recognition test during which the perceptual fluency of some items was enhanced using a prime. In Experiment 2 (n = 96), participants completed a source recollection judgment on their recognition decisions. Primed items were recognized at a higher rate than unprimed items. However, while young children rely on fluency for all items, older children use fluency only for unfamiliar items. This pattern came together with a reduction in familiarity-based—but not recollection-based—memory responses.     

Responsive Parenting Buffers the Impact of Maternal PTSD on Young Children

SYNOPSIS

Objective. This study investigates maternal responsive parenting behaviors as a theorized buffer to the detrimental impact of maternal PTSD symptoms on young children’s depression and anxiety symptoms, disruptive behavior, and stress-related symptoms. Design. A multi-ethnic sample of 242 trauma-exposed mothers and their preschool-aged children was assessed. Maternal responsive parenting behaviors were observed during standardized parent-child interactions. Maternal and child mental health symptoms were reported by mothers. Results. Maternal PTSD symptoms were associated with their responsive parenting behaviors and predicted children’s mental health symptoms. Responsive parenting was inversely associated with children’s depression and stress-related symptoms. Moderation analyses revealed an interactive effect of maternal symptoms and responsive parenting on preschool children’s disruptive behavior and stress-related symptoms. Conclusions. Responsive parenting behaviors can mitigate the ill effects of maternal PTSD symptoms. Nurturing relationships buffer the impact of maternal PTSD. Helping parents’ to sensitively respond to their young children’s distress can support positive outcomes in children.     

Prior incest in mothers of abused children

Previous studies have shown that most abusing parents have a history of physical abuse or neglect in their own childhoods. There is little data on the frequency of prior sexual abuse among parents who physically or sexually abuse their children. Many case reports describe the uncovering of a prior incest experience in a parent during the investigation of the child's current incest accusation, but it is unclear how frequently this occurs. One hundred mothers of abused children were asked about sexual incidents that occurred before age 18; the control group consisted of 500 normal women from the same community who were surveyed during meetings of various voluntary organizations. Age and ethnicity did not differ in the two groups. Of the mothers of abused children, 24% reported a prior incest experience, whereas only 3% of the control women reported prior incest. This eightfold difference was highly significant. The 34 mothers from families where sexual abuse was occurring were no more likely to report prior incest than were the 66 mothers from families where physical abuse occurred. The one case of genital mutilation of a child occurred in a family where both parents had been incest victims. Case studies indicate that the parent who has been an incest victim has inhibitions and fears about tenderness, traceable to the childhood incest experience, which are important in the development of either physical abuse or sexual abuse in the family.     

Emergent identity and dilemmatic spaces: pre-service teachers’ engagement with EAL collaboration

Integrationist policies that promote the mainstreaming of English language learners are well established in many English-speaking countries. This has led to the embedding of English as an additional language (EAL) methodology in teacher education, and also to the notion of collaboration between English language teachers and content area teachers. Teacher positioning is integral to the processes of collaboration, and in this article it is argued that both sociocultural identity constructs and the notion of dilemmatic spaces can be used jointly to explore this positioning. A framework that draws upon these two theoretical perspectives is discussed. It was developed to investigate pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) perceptions of collaboration with EAL teachers, and is applied to three secondary PSTs who were undertaking an EAL methodology course in an Australian university.