Engaging employers in assessment

The authors describe a pilot project in which formative feedback from industry professionals creates a genuine learning experience for students.     

Experiments with Audio-Visual Aids at the Stockholm School of Education

The current educational plans for different school grades consider the use of AV aids as something quite natural and self-evident. But in order to put the plans into action it is important that the various training colleges spend enough time on teaching the use of AV aids.     

Training School Leaders in Sweden

The article analyses the identified needs of school leader training in Sweden against the background of declared aims and a general policy of decentralisation. Strategies designed to meet these needs are described, together with evaluative comments.

Dans le contexte d'une politique générale de décentralisation et en tenant compte des objectifs définis pour le système scolaire suédois, l'article analyse les besoins reconnus de la formation des responsables. Des stratégies prévues pour répondre à ces besoins sont décrites avec des remarques sur l'évolution.     

The static and dynamic stiffness behaviour of composite golf shafts and their constituent materials

Golf shafts are normally characterised using static or quasi-static tests, yet the golf swing itself is dynamic. The purpose of this research was to determine whether stiffness properties obtained from these tests can be used when modelling the dynamic behaviour of golf shafts made from carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP). Three shafts, matched for all properties except shaft flex, were subjected to human swing testing by 12 skillful players whilst strains were recorded. Peak principal strains as well as strain rates increased as shaft flex decreased (p < 0.001). CFRP flat panels with lay-ups similar to those contained in the shafts were constructed and tested statically and at strain rates between 10⁻⁴ and 4 s⁻¹. Some level of strain-rate dependency was found for these panels, but only for strain rates exceeding those seen during a swing, which suggests that static material tests are appropriate for measuring the dynamic stiffness of golf shafts.     

Didactic dissonance: teacher roles in computer gaming situations in kindergartens

In computer gaming situations in kindergartens, the pre-school teacher’s function can be viewed in a continuum. At one extreme is the teacher who takes an intervening role and at the other extreme is the teacher who chooses to restrict herself/himself to an organising or distal role. This study shows that both the intervening position and the organising or distal role are challenging. An alternative role is an intermediate position in which the teacher is a contributor and encouraging bystander. The term didactic dissonance is suggested to capture the challenges and tensions in didactic situations where teacher and child participate with conflicting roles and expectations. Didactic dissonance may help educators reflect on teacher roles in didactic contexts.     

The importance of financial aid: The case of higher education in Sweden

This is the first in a series of investigations planned with a view to studying the effects of the financial aid reform which was introduced in Sweden in the mid-1960s. The group studied is a nationally representative sample of those born in 1948. It is shown that social background is a strongly influential factor in the selection for higher education. However, this class bias would have been far greater if it had not been for the national financial aid system. The aid is not only important for recruitment but also to enable the students to complete a degree program and this is particularly true for those from lower socio-economic strata.     

The conceptualization of cases of physical motion

The question addressed in the present article concerns the contextual character of students’ conceptions of cases of psysical motion. An interview investigation with students following the mechanical engineering line of study at Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden was carried out during the students’ first year of study, before and after their first course in Mechanics. In the interviews, the students were verbally presented with eight cases of physical motion, four before and four after the course. The analysis of the conceptualization of physical motion points clearly to the very restricted contextual character of the conceptions of the cases. In previous research, the tradition of describing thinking and knowledge in terms of cognitive structures, shemas, models and so on, is very dominant. In relation to our results, one problem with the focus on cognitive structures is the assumptions made about generality across case or instances. Also, the students’ starting-point for their reasoning about the cases is not in any conceptual framework but in the specific cases. The conceptualizations are related to the students’ previous experiences rather than to any clearly delimited and structured conceptual framework.     

Variables affecting students' intrinsic motivation for school mathematics: Two empirical studies based on Deci and Ryan's theory on motivation

The self-determination theory of Deci and Ryan, developed in order to explain the intrinsic motivation of human behavior, was tested empirically by a cross-sectional and longitudinal study related to a school subject (mathematics). The studies were conducted to examine the effects of the mathematics teacher's controlling strategies (as perceived by the students) on students' intrinsic interests for mathematics, their achievements, and their self-concept in mathematics. The samples in Study 1 (the cross-sectional study) consisted of 171 seventh-graders and 164 eighth-graders. Based on previous research, Model 1 was developed and tested by means of LISREL (path-analysis of cross-sectional data). Model 2 was constructed and tested in Study 2, i.e., data from the two samples were collected one year later and used (longitudinal path-analysis of panel-data). The findings of the two studies indicate that students' intrinsic interest for mathematics, their performance in mathematics, and their mathematical self-concept vary as a function of the mathematics teacher's controlling strategies.