Contract arrangements in the Nordic countries—solving the efficiency/effectiveness dilemma?

Steering higher education through the establishment of a “contract” between the state and the individual higher education institution is becoming an increasingly popular way of regulating the relationship between the two actors in the Nordic countries. This article addresses some theoretical foundations for this approach derived from principal/agent theory and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of established contract arrangements in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. The article discusses the potential of using such arrangements in relation to the efficiency/effectiveness dilemma. It is emphasized that trust is vital in solving this dilemma and that the balance between the need for public accountability, the efficient regulation of higher education, and institutional change must be given high priority in refining existing contractual arrangements.     

What did PISA and TIMSS ever do for us?: the potential of large scale datasets for understanding and improving educational practice

ABSTRACT

There appears to be something of an intellectual and philosophical gulf between education researchers who seek insights from statistical analyses of complex data-sets such as those provided by the OECD (PISA), and others who seek to develop rich, contextualised socio-historical understandings that can shed light upon why particular classroom practices operate and are sustained within a given milieu. This paper outlines these different perspectives, with particular reference to non-cognitive factors. Detailed analysis of the roots of high academic achievement, and associated challenges to student wellbeing, in many East Asian countries, is provided. The important influence of broad political and societal factors is highlighted by reference to cross-cultural differences across a large number of countries. The paper concludes by stating that while data from large datasets can assist in gaining greater understanding of cross-cultural differences, to be meaningful, such analyses should be incorporated within complex ecosystemic accounts.     

Grundbildung,Allgemeinbildung und Fachunterricht

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag thematisiert das nicht unproblematische Spannungsverh?ltnis von Grundbildung, Allgemeinbildung und Fachunterricht. Anspruchsvolle Fachinhalte, die über die in der internationalen PISA-Studie untersuchten Basiskompetenzen hinausgehen, lassen sich nicht mit einem normativen Verweis auf allgemeine Kompetenzen (wie Lernf?higkeit, Sozial-oder Probleml?sekompetenz) für alle Heranwachsenden rechtfertigen. Die Allgemeinheit der Bildung ist vielmehr im Faktum der Kontingenz und Differenz jeglicher Fachinhalte zu suchen. Bildung wird dabei als die F?higkeit zum Umgang mit Ungewissheit definiert. Anhand einer Fallstudie mit einer Hamburger Lehrerin wird gezeigt, dass diese Bestimmung für Lehrende pragmatisch auf die Realisation „guten“ Fachunterrichts hinauslaufen kann. Unter Bildungsaspekten zeigt sich das Handeln der Lehrerin dabei implizit an einer Als-ob-Didaktik orientiert, deren Grundzüge im Beitrag verallgemeinernd herausgearbeitet werden. Eine geeignete Rahmenkonzeption dafür steht mit der Bildungsgangdidaktik zur Verfügung, die die tats?chlichen Lern-und Bildungsprozesse der Schülerinnen und Schüler in das Zentrum ihrer Theoriebildung stellt.

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Summary Basic education, general education and subject-focused lessons This contribution focuses on the not unproblematic tensions between basic education, general education and subject-focused lessons. Demanding subject matter, which offers more than those basic competencies studied in the international PISA study, cannot be justified for all learners with a normative reference to the attainment of general competencies (i.e. learning, social and problem-solving skills). Generality is indeed to be found in the contingency and difference of subject matter. Bildung is defined as the ability to deal with uncertainty. On the basis of a case study of a teacher from Hamburg, it will be demonstrated that this concept can — in pragmatic terms — simply mean the realization of „good“ subject-focused teaching. According to the theory of Bildung, it can be shown that the teache’s work is implicitly based on a didactic with as-if-character, which will be further generalized in this paper. An appropriate framework for such concepts is offered by the Bildungsgangdidaktik, which places the realized learning and educational processes at the center of its theory.

     

How learning conditions and Program structure predict burnout and satisfaction in teacher education

To support prospective teachers’ professional development, teacher education should be characterised by conditions that help to prevent burnout and facilitate satisfaction. This study investigates predictors of burnout and satisfaction in teacher education by drawing on universities with different teacher education programme structures and assumed different learning conditions. Programme structure and student characteristics were conceived as antecedents of perceived learning conditions; burnout dimensions and student satisfaction were hypothesised to be consequences of both the distal and more proximal variables. Data were collected at four time points from N = 3,892 students enrolled in teacher education at 13 universities. Structural equation modelling revealed favourable effects of autonomy support, competence support, and social relatedness on the core burnout dimensions and satisfaction. Effects of programme structure on these outcomes were small and mediated by autonomy support and difficulty of demands. Study self-efficacy emerged as a broad personal resource. Implications for teacher education are discussed.     

Measuring learning outcomes

The growing interest for measurement of learning outcomes relates to long lines of development in higher education, the request for accountability, intensified through international reforms and movements such as the development and implementation of qualifications frameworks. In this article, we discuss relevant literature on different approaches to measurement and how learning outcomes are measured, what kinds of learning outcomes are measured, and why learning outcomes are measured. Three dimensions are used to structure the literature: Whether the approaches emphasise generic or disciplinary skills and competence, self‐assessment or more objective test based measures (including grades), and how the issue of the contribution from the education program or institution (the value‐added) are discussed. It is pointed out that large scales initiatives that compare institutions and even nations seem to fall short because of the implicit and explicit differences in context, whilst small‐scale approaches suffer from a lack of relevance outside local contexts. In addition, competence (actual level of performance) is often confused with learning (gain and development) in many approaches, laying the ground for false assumptions about institutional process‐quality in higher education.     

Fatigue in soccer: a brief review

This review describes when fatigue may develop during soccer games and the potential physiological mechanisms that cause fatigue in soccer. According to time-motion analyses and performance measures during match-play, fatigue or reduced performance seems to occur at three different stages in the game: (1) after short-term intense periods in both halves; (2) in the initial phase of the second half; and (3) towards the end of the game. Temporary fatigue after periods of intense exercise in the game does not appear to be linked directly to muscle glycogen concentration, lactate accumulation, acidity or the breakdown of creatine phosphate. Instead, it may be related to disturbances in muscle ion homeostasis and an impaired excitation of the sarcolemma. Soccer players' ability to perform maximally is inhibited in the initial phase of the second half, which may be due to lower muscle temperatures compared with the end of the first half. Thus, when players perform low-intensity activities in the interval between the two halves, both muscle temperature and performance are preserved. Several studies have shown that fatigue sets in towards the end of a game, which may be caused by low glycogen concentrations in a considerable number of individual muscle fibres. In a hot and humid environment, dehydration and a reduced cerebral function may also contribute to the deterioration in performance. In conclusion, fatigue or impaired performance in soccer occurs during various phases in a game, and different physiological mechanisms appear to operate in different periods of a game.     

Anwendungs- und Transaktionsisolation unter Java

Zusammenfassung  Die Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE, frühere Bezeichnung: J2EE) wurde entwickelt, um den Einsatz von Java in unternehmenskritischen Transaktionsanwendungen, wie etwa Finanzbuchhaltungs- oder Warenwirtschaftssystemen, zu erm?glichen. Die Programmierung ist jedoch immer noch sehr aufwendig, wenn es darum geht, die Isolation parallel laufender Transaktionen zu gew?hrleisten. Die Einhaltung der Transaktionsisolation ist eine Grundvoraussetzung, um die zugrunde liegenden Daten in einem konsistenten Zustand zu halten. Der vorliegende Beitrag analysiert die existierenden Probleme und gibt einen überblick über die derzeitig verfügbaren oder diskutierten L?sungsans?tze. CR subject classification  A.1 ; D.3.2 ; D.3.4 ; D.4.1     

Development of Inhibited Children''s Coping with Unfamiliarity

In a longitudinal study, 87 children were observed in dyadic free-play sessions with unfamiliar peers at 4, 6, and 8 years of age and were judged by their parents for inhibition. Correlational analyses showed that observed inhibited behavior as well as parental judgments of inhibition became increasingly associated with solitary-passive activity and lost an initial negative correlation with parallel play. Extreme group analyses of the time structure of the behavior of continuously inhibited and control children indicated that with increasing age, many inhibited children spend longer periods in solitary-passive activity, whereas many controls spend longer periods in social behavior. These findings suggest that dispositional inhibition toward strangers becomes increasingly associated with unsociable behavior, which makes it difficult to distinguish between the dispositions of inhibition and unsociability at the empirical level.     

Effects of Art Education in Secondary Schools on Cultural Participation in Later Life

This paper reports on the effects of art education in secondary schools on the cultural participation of Dutch students 10–20 years after leaving school. We draw our conclusion from a sample survey among 1034 students from 31 schools, half of whom took art as a subject of examination. Art examination subjects were more often chosen by students who were already active in the arts, come from culturally active families, and who more often chose languages and other humanities in their examination package. However, in spite of their affiliation with art prior to choosing an examination package, training in the arts during secondary school was found to add to their participation in cultural activities ten to twenty years later. The effects are restricted to the same art discipline as the art lessons attended, and apply to both receptive [enjoying art of artists] and productive [producing art] cultural participation.