A conceptual framework for developing an activity-based approach to career counselling

The present paper develops a conceptual framework for an activity-based approach to career counselling. The main objective of this approach is to combine clients' practical activity, such as visits to educational institutions, work practices etc., with their psychological processes leading to occupational choice. Some basic ideas that are relevant to developing an activity-based approach to counselling in postmodern work life and some recent changes in work life itself and in the individuals' relation to work are discussed. These include plasticity, which emphasizes the individuals' capability and activeness in shaping both their working environment and themselves; the nonnormative nature of the developmental tasks that postmodern work life sets for the individual; the openness and nonlinear nature of the counselling process and the implications of this on the role of the counsellor; and the usefulness of conceptualizing the counselling process as a metaphorical reality. Also, some preliminary findings from a research project aimed at developing a counselling process model which is congruent with activity-based approach are presented. The implications of these findings on the framework are also discussed.     

Learning design and learning analytics in mobile and ubiquitous learning: A systematic review

Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning (m/u-learning) are finding an increasing adoption in education. They are often distinguished by hybrid learning environments that encompass elements of formal and informal learning, in activities that happen in distributed settings (indoors and outdoors), across physical and virtual spaces. Despite their purported benefits, these environments imply additional complexity in the design, monitoring and evaluation of learning activities. The research literature on learning design (LD) and learning analytics (LA) has started to deal with these issues. This paper presents a systematic literature review of LD and LA, in m/u-learning. Apart from providing an overview of the current research in the field, this review elicits elements of common ground between both communities, as shown by the similar learning contexts and complementary research contributions, and based on the research gaps, proposes to: address m/u-learning beyond higher education settings, reinforce the connection between physical and virtual learning spaces, and more systematically align LD and LA processes.     

Exploring gender roles’ effects of Turkish women teachers on their teaching practices

The purpose of this study is to investigate how gender roles of women teachers affect their practices in the classrooms. Participants in the study were 75 female teachers working in elementary schools in Adana, Turkey. Findings indicated that gender roles of women teachers have important effects on their educational practices. Women teachers explained how their gender roles affect their profession mostly in terms of “also being a mother” in both positive and negative directions. The main points in teachers’ explanations were “being a mother and a spouse”, “stress”, “close relationships with students and parents” and “lack of authority and issues of confidence”.     

Factors affecting bioscience students’ academic achievement

The examination of academic progression has become an essential tool for measuring the effectiveness of educational systems. Research concerning the relationship between student learning and how they progress in their studies, however remains scarce. The aim of this study is two-fold: Firstly, the study aims to analyse first-year bioscience students’ perceptions of their teaching–learning environment and their approaches to learning as well as the relationship of these to academic achievement as measured by students’ progression in studies and how they succeed. Secondly, the present study explores factors students feel either enhance or impede their studying as well as the relationship of those factors with their approaches to learning and academic achievement. The data consist of responses from 188 first-year students who began their studies in the fall 2007 and 2008. The data were collected in a Finnish context with a modified and shortened version of the Experiences in Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ). The analyses were carried out using factor analysis, one-way ANOVA and structural equation modeling. According to the results, organised studying was related to both academic progression and study success. In addition, academic progression was positively related to peer support. Furthermore, most of the students found that problems in time management impeded their studies and that pre-set schedules enhanced them. Results indicate that social support and self-regulation skills are important for academic achievement.     

Child physical abuse and concurrence of other types of child abuse in Sweden-Associations with health and risk behaviors

ObjectiveTo examine the associations between child physical abuse executed by a parent or caretaker and self-rated health problems/risk-taking behaviors among teenagers. Further to evaluate concurrence of other types of abuse and how these alone and in addition to child physical abuse were associated with bad health status and risk-taking behaviors.MethodsA population-based survey was carried out in 2008 among all the pupils in 2 different grades (15 respectively 17 years old) in Södermanland County, Sweden (n = 7,262). The response rate was 81.8%. The pupils were asked among other things about their exposure to child physical abuse, exposure to parental intimate violence, bullying, and exposure to being forced to engage in sexual acts. Adjusted analyses were conducted to estimate associations between exposure and ill-health/risk-taking behaviors.ResultsChild physical abuse was associated with poor health and risk-taking behaviors with adjusted odds ratios (OR) ranging from 1.6 to 6.2. The associations were stronger when the pupils reported repeated abuse with OR ranging from 2.0 to 13.2. Also experiencing parental intimate partner violence, bullying and being forced to engage in sexual acts was associated with poor health and risk-taking behaviors with the same graded relationship to repeated abuse. Finally there was a cumulative effect of multiple abuse in the form of being exposed to child physical abuse plus other types of abuse and the associations increased with the number of concurrent abuse.ConclusionsThis study provides strong indications that child abuse is a serious public health problem based on the clear links seen between abuse and poor health and behavioral problems. Consistent with other studies showing a graded relationship between experiences of abuse and poor health/risk-taking behaviors our study shows poorer outcomes for repeated and multiple abuse. Thus, our study calls for improvement of methods of comprehensive assessments, interventions and treatment in all settings where professionals meet young people.     

Designing Nordic technology-enhanced learning

The latest developments of information and communication technologies (ICT) and its large penetration in different sectors of our society pose new challenges and demands in the field of education. This special issue entitled “Designing Nordic technology-enhanced learning (TEL)”, presents and discusses how researchers in the Nordic countries are currently framing and thinking about issues that are related to pedagogical design of learning spaces, digital literacies, educational professional development, design of tools engaging students in collaborative inquiry learning as well as design-oriented multimodal understandings of learning.The objective pursued with the special issue has been to reflect upon current problems that educational institutions, practitioners and TEL researchers are facing in the Nordic countries as regards the acknowledgment of young people's ICT practices within formal education. Such analytical work has led us to identify and elaborate on what we believe constitute forthcoming research challenges for learning and education in the Nordic countries.     

The Independence of Research—A Review of Disciplinary Perspectives and Outline of Interdisciplinary Prospects

Minerva - The independence of research is a key strategic issue of modern societies. Dealing with it appropriately poses legal, economic, political, social and cultural problems for society, which...     

Associations Between Teacher-Rated Versus Self-Rated Student Temperament and School Achievement

This study examined whether teacher-rated versus self-rated student temperaments are different in relation to the school grades in Maths and Mother language (ML) instruction in a nationally representative sample of Finnish Secondary School students (n?=?1,063, mean age 15.1 years). The results indicated that teacher-rated temperament was more strongly associated with students' Maths and ML grades than self-rated temperament. All the teacher-rated temperament traits were associated with school grades, accounting for 38% and 45% of the variance in Maths and ML, respectively. Of the self-rated temperaments, high task orientation and its components, high persistence and low distractibility, were associated with better school grades both in Maths and ML. Low reactivity and low negative emotionality were associated only with better ML grades, whereas high inhibition was associated only with better Maths grades. A temperament-conscious education needs to be taken into account in future teacher training.     

Problem-based learning used in the context of cardiac rehabilitation: different scenes and different roles

Several studies show that how patients have difficulties in changing lifestyle even though such changes are essential because they are suffering from a life-threatening disease. Coronary artery disease (CAD) patients met 13 times during a year and used problem-based learning (PBL) to improve their empowerment and self-efficacy in making lifestyle changes. District nurses functioned as tutors, helping patients to formulate issues and to state self-care goals. To identify and describe the enactment of PBL, an ethnographic approach was used, including, for example, participant observations and interviews, all derived from six sessions of the education programme. Five different enactments were found, metaphorically expressed as: ‘The study circle’, ‘The classroom’, ‘The expert consultation’, ‘The therapy session’ and ‘The coffee party’. The education programme did not always function as it was supposed to according to the model, but perhaps this should not be seen as a failure of the pedagogical intervention since these enactments as a whole seem to be a way for the patients to be able to make healthy lifestyle changes. The metaphors can broaden the understanding of what can happen when implementing problem-based learning in health care practice.