Coaching doctoral students – a means to enhance progress and support self-organisation in doctoral education

In this paper we focus on individual coaching carried out by an external coach as a new pedagogical element that can impact doctoral students’ sense of progress in doctoral education. The study used a mixed-methods approach in that we draw on quantitative and qualitative data from the evaluation of a project on coaching doctoral students. We explore how coaching can contribute to the doctoral students’ development of a broad set of personal competences and suggest that coaching could work as a means to engender self-management and improve relational competences. The analysis of the participants’ self-reported gains from coaching show that doctoral students experience coaching as an effective method to support the doctoral study process. This study also provides preliminary empirical evidence that coaching of doctoral students can facilitate the doctoral study process so that the doctoral students experience an enhanced feeling of progress and that they can change their study behaviour in a positive direction. The study discusses the difference between coaching and supervision, for instance power imbalances and contrary to earlier research into coaching of doctoral students this study indicates that coaching can impact the supervisor–student relationship in a positive way.     

Black Stockings and Pot Pourri: Gender Issues in Design and Technology

Product designers are an integral part of bringing technology to life and it is predominantly males as designers who ‘clothe’ technology in the designs which utilise it. Consequently products used by and identified with women are in fact designed by men. One of the guiding precepts of design as it is taught and practised, is that people buy particular artefacts in order to express and/or confirm their identity. It has been argued that the success of gendered designs in the late nineteenth century reflected the social construct of gender difference. I argue that this has remained unchallenged to date and that the gender stereotyping of products further stereotypes technology. The theoretical debates about gender and technology are rarely introduced to product design students because the predominantly male lecturers are reluctant to deal with the issues themselves.     

Too much,too soon? A critical investigation into factors that make Flipped Classrooms effective

The Flipped Classroom (FC) method is used widely in higher education, with studies claiming various benefits. However, to date, little work has focused on what makes FCs effective for student learning. This study presents data collected from interviews with 14 UK-based undergraduate students, investigating their perceptions of participating in a series of FC sessions. Findings indicate that the FC format discouraged a significant number of students from attending. However, students who did attend the flipped classes reported valuing the resultant learning opportunities and enjoying the experience. This study sheds light on the learning process within the FC. Challenges in implementing the FC were highlighted both by students who attended and by those who did not. We conclude that implementing the FC should not be undertaken lightly or be seen as a quick fix; at minimum, it requires staff willingness and opportunities for engagement and peer learning.     

IETF第69次会议提出需更多考虑最终用户的利益

不像以前的IETF会议那样,IETF第69次全体会议并不是以技术演示为特色.Olaf Kolkman解释说,很难找到既有趣又与整个IETF团体都很相关的演讲者和话题.后来的开放MAC讨论上提出了一些建议,包括互联网研究任务组(IRTF)主席Aaron Falk提出的应该包含进更多的研究议题,这样可能会鼓励更多的研究者参与到IETF的工作中来.另一位参会者提出,应将IETF的工作组(WG)或IRTF的研究组(RG)的工作展现给更广泛的受众,例如IETF大会的参与者.     

需更多考虑最终用户的利益

IETF第69次会议提出不像以前的IETF会议那样,IETF第69次全体会议并不是以技术演示为特色。Olaf Kolkman解释说,很难找到既有趣又与整个IETF团体都很相关的演讲者和话题。后来的开放MAC讨论上提出了一些建议,包括互联网研究任务组(IRTF)主席Aaron Falk提出的应该包含进更多的研究议题,这样可能会鼓励更多的研究者参与到IETF的工作中来。     

Maternal smoking behavior, background and neonatal health in Finnish children subsequently placed in foster care

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate retrospectively neonatal health and maternal background among a sample of children taken into custody and placed in foster care and to investigate the relation between medical and social risk in the neonatal period. METHOD: The data-linkage study combined two registries: the Finnish Medical Birth Registry (MBR), from January 1, 1987 to December 31, 1989, and the Finnish Child Welfare Registry (CWR) from January 1, 1987 to December 31, 1997 using personal identification numbers (n=1,668). As controls all Finnish children born in 1987 were chosen (n=59,727). Infant neonatal health was estimated using the following indicators: birth-weight and birth-length, birth-weight by gestational age, 1-minute Apgar scores, and discharge age from the nursery. Maternal background characteristics included maternal age, parity, marital status, number of antenatal visits at maternity clinics and smoking during pregnancy. RESULTS: We found that the 1,668 children in the study had a lower birth-weight and birth-length, shorter gestational age, lower 1-minute Apgar scores and later discharge from the nursery than the population-based controls. The proportion of teen-age mothers was about four times higher and the proportion of unmarried women was twice as high. A majority of the women (56%) reported smoking during pregnancy, compared with only 15% of the population-based comparisons. Children subsequently taken into custody had poorer health at the time of birth than other children and these differences could only partly be explained by the differences in smoking habits during pregnancy. The women in the study made use of the free health controls at maternity clinics as much as the population-based comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that social and medical risks are related in the neonatal period. Since almost all mothers visit maternity clinics, there are possibilities for early intervention.     

Declining interest in science in lower secondary school classes: Quasi-experimental and longitudinal evidence on the role of teaching and teaching quality

Although promoting student interest is a pivotal educational goal, student interest in science, and particularly in physics, declines substantially during secondary school. This study focused on the long-term development of interest in physics at the lower secondary level (grades 5–7) and examined the role of teaching and teaching quality on the development. In particular, the study investigated the role of whether or not physics was taught in class and the role of perceived teaching quality for classes' interest trajectories. The results provide evidence of declining interest in physics from Grade 5 to 7, with stronger declines from Grade 5 to 6. Whether classes participated in physics teaching or not neither notably reduced nor increased interest in physics. However, several dimensions of perceived teaching quality (in particular, cognitive activation and cognitive support) mitigated the decline in interest.