Editorial introduction

Editorial introduction     

Tricks,Lies, and Mobile Phones: ‘Phone Friend’ Stories in Papua New Guinea

Since their arrival in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2007, mobile phones have become objects of broad moral concern, particularly around issues of female social and physical mobility. I explore these concerns through a discussion of stories about ‘phone friends’ – frequently unknown callers who initiate long-term correspondence and exchange relationships via mobile. I argue that these stories, which resemble the long-established genre of giaman (trickster) folktales, condense and make explicit one of the central problems generated by mobile phone use in PNG: that of how to maintain morally appropriate forms of exchange in a context where spatiotemporal relations have been radically distorted and in which the identity of participants can be easily hidden. The appeal of phone friend stories, I suggest, lies not so much in their critique of social climbing or female mobility, but in their consideration of the problem of mediation.     

Identity Matching to Scientists: Differences that Make a Difference?

Students' images of science and scientists are generally assumed to influence their related subject choices and aspirations for tertiary education within science and technology. Several research studies have shown that many young people hold rather stereotypical images of scientists, making it hard for them to see themselves as future scientists. Adolescents' educational choices are important aspects of their identity work, and recent theories link individual choice to the perceived match between self and prototypical persons associated with that choice. In the present study, we have investigated images of scientists among the segment of the upper secondary school students (20 % of the cohort) from which future Danish scientists are recruited. Their images were rather realistic, only including vague and predominantly positive stereotypical ideas. With a particular Science-and-Me (SAM) interview methodology, we inquired into the match between self- and prototypical-scientists (N?=?30). We found high perceived similarity within a core of epistemological characteristics, while dissimilarities typically related to a social domain. However, combining interview data with survey data, we found no significant statistical relation between prototype match and aspirations for tertiary education within science and technology. Importantly, the SAM dialogue revealed how students negotiate perceived differences, and we identified four negotiation patterns that all tend to reduce the impact of mismatches on educational aspirations. Our study raises questions about methodological issues concerning the traditional use of self-to-prototype matching as an explanatory model of educational choice.     

Participatory pedagogy in an open educational course: challenges and opportunities

This article presents an empirical study of an open educational course in an online peer-to-peer university (P2PU). P2PU is a nonprofit organization offering free educational opportunities. Focus is on how peers are part of creating course content in a Web 2.0 environment. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have evolved into two different pedagogical directions: content-based xMOOCs and connectivist cMOOCs. cMOOCs emphasizing learning in networks developed informally, where learners are part of creating course content, resemble P2PU`s vision. We investigated processes of interaction in co-creation of tasks in an open educational course and what opportunities and challenges emerge. We employed template analysis for coding data. We report two different processes of interaction between users and organizers: problem identification and co-creation of tasks. This study contributes to understanding a new model of teaching and learning through scrutinizing participation in an open educational course and explores implications for the learning experience.     

Children's self-perceived bodily competencies and associations with motor skills,body mass index,teachers' evaluations,and parents' concerns

Abstract

The associations between physical competence, self-perceived bodily competence, parental concern for their children's motor skill development, and teachers' evaluation of their bodily competence were assessed in 646 six- to seven-year-olds. Physical competence was assessed by the German motor ability test “Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder”, while the children's, their parents', and their teachers' evaluations were obtained through questionnaires. Parental concern, teacher evaluation, and a high body mass index were the strongest predictors of low physical competence (motor skill quotient <85). Teachers' evaluation of bodily competence was associated with low self-perceived bodily competence in the children even after adjustment for motor skill quotient, with an odds ratio of 2.3 (P < 0.05) between the lowest and highest of the three levels after correction for motor skill competence. Results indicate that teachers' evaluation of children's motor skills should be considered a key factor when tracking and assessing physical competencies among youth.     

Phonological awareness training and remediation of analytic decoding deficits in a group of severe dyslexics

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Auditory Discrimination in Depth Program (ADD) in remediating the analytic decoding deficits of a group of severe dyslexics. A group of ten severely dyslexic students ranging in age from 93 to 154 months were treated in a clinic setting for 38 to 124 hours (average of 65 hours). Pre- and post-treatment testing was done with the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test and the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization to assess changes in phonological awareness and analytic decoding skills. Results revealed statistically significant gains in phonological awareness and analytic decoding skills.