The gap between educational research and practice: Views of teachers,school leaders,intermediaries and researchers

The relation between educational research and practice is a growing point of interest and has produced numerous lively debates. Although many reports and position papers have been published on this topic, little empirical data are available. The aim of this study is to explore the gap between educational research and practice and to assess the views of different key actors. After reviewing the literature, focus group interviews were organised with teachers, school leaders, researchers, and intermediaries. Questionnaire data were obtained from educational research professors in Flanders. Results indicate that the gap between educational research and practice should be approached as a complex and differentiated phenomenon. All participants agreed that more cooperation between researchers and practitioners is necessary. This could be achieved by establishing ‘professional learning communities’ or by promoting a ‘design‐based research’ model.     

To play or not to play,that’s the question – young people’s experiences of organized spontaneous sport

As an attempt to reach physically inactive young people, especially girls, organized spontaneous sport (OSP) was implemented as a part of the state programme ‘The Sports Lift’ (2010). Projects, however, tended to primarily attract physically active boys rather than the actual target group. This problem calls for a qualitative approach to gain further knowledge about the interplay within the activities. Accordingly, this study aims to examine young people’s experiences of OSP activities with focus on participation, leadership and determining processes. To fulfil this purpose, a case study design was implemented. Data were collected through observations (pilot study) and semi-structured interviews with participants. The theoretical point of departure is developmental ecology, emphasizing the individual’s interaction with the multilevel environment. Results show that OSP is experienced as different from conventional organized sport. Further, the domination of boys is made possible through upholding the masculine sports norm, which is actualized within determining processes.     

Does slow motion impact on the perception of foul play in football?

Objectives: Slow-motion replays of foul play situations are now used in the education and training of sports officials. We investigated the impact of video speed on the decision-making process of association football referees and how this interacted with expertise. Methods: Three different groups of referees, varying in level of expertise, assessed video clips from an in-game perspective. Video clips represented corner kick and open play situations in which a foul occurred or not. For these foul/no foul situations, the referees had to make a technical (no foul; indirect free kick; direct free kick; or penalty kick) and a disciplinary decision (no card; yellow card; or red card), under both slow-motion and real-time viewing conditions. Accuracy scores were determined by comparing participant’s responses with the decisions of an expert panel. Results: Significant differences were observed across groups for foul/no foul situations, suggesting that the experts were able to process the available information more effectively than their less expert colleagues. The accuracy scores for the technical decision were higher in slow motion (67%) compared to a real-time viewing condition (56%), particularly for corner kick situations. No differences were found between real time and slow motion for the disciplinary decision. Conclusions: Slow-motion footage results in higher accuracy scores for complex technical decisions. These findings have implications for the use of slow-motion replays in the decision-making process of referees.     

The organizing and regulation of mountain guiding in Scandinavia 1820–2016, with a glance at the Alps

Abstract

In this article, we study how mountain guiding was organized and regulated in Scandinavia and the Alps between 1820 and 2015 and focus on the most important differences and similarities in Scandinavia, and between Scandinavia and the Alps. We conclude that Switzerland and Chamonix (France) represent two different systems in the Alps during the nineteenth century. However, through the emergence of national and international guide unions the regulation of mountain guiding in the Alps today appears unified, with a close connection between national regulation and mountain guide unions. In Scandinavia, Norway and Sweden historically had similar practices organizing and regulating mountain guiding, where a relatively strong layman tradition emerged during the 1960s and 1970s. In 2008, legal decisions led Sweden to change its system to match the Alp model, while Norway held on to the layman tradition. This leaves mountain guiding in Norway as a distinctly less regulated field than in France, and Switzerland, as in and Sweden.     

TIJAH: Embracing IR Methods in XML Databases

This paper discusses our participation in INEX (the Initiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval) using the TIJAH XML-IR system. TIJAHs system design follows a standard layered database architecture, carefully separating the conceptual, logical and physical levels. At the conceptual level, we classify the INEX XPath-based query expressions into three different query patterns. For each pattern, we present its mapping into a query execution strategy. The logical layer exploits score region algebra (SRA) as the basis for query processing. We discuss the region operators used to select and manipulate XML document components. The logical algebra expressions are mapped into efficient relational algebra expressions over a physical representation of the XML document collection using the pre-post numbering scheme. The paper concludes with an analysis of experiments performed with the INEX test collection.     

The role of knowledge in participatory and pluralistic approaches to ESE

The purpose of this article is to investigate in situ the functions that knowledge has when used by students in argumentative discussions. The study is based on Dewey’s pragmatic perspective of knowledge, which means that knowledge gets its meaning in the activity at hand. The analyses are conducted using Transactional Argumentation Analysis, which is a combination of pragmatic meaning analysis and Toulmin’s argument pattern. The empirical material consists of video-recorded lessons from two seminars in a Swedish upper secondary school. The results show that knowledge plays a crucial role in the discussions. Six different functions are identified: emphasising complexity, clarifying and correcting, highlighting conflicting interests, providing evidence in a counterargument, predicting the consequences and adding support to an earlier claim. Knowledge also has general functions, such as justifying a claim, and is part of a collective process aimed at understanding the issues discussed. Further, the students use knowledge from different disciplines, such as environmental studies, history, politics, biology and human geography.     

A resourcification manifesto: Understanding the social process of resources becoming resources

In times of major global interconnectedness and environmental change, the pressure to identify, create, and exploit new resources is certain to intensify. Given that there are unavoidable trade-offs, conflicts, and arenas for violence involved when increasingly more material and immaterial things are turned into resources, we call for explicit research on the very process – a process that we label resourcification. The concept of resourcification shifts attention from essentialist queries about the nature of resources to a focus on the social processes through which things are turned into resources. In search of a better understanding of resources in the Anthropocene and, in particular, an understanding about the way resources emerge and are used, resourcification offers a new conceptual framework that allows for a systematic search for knowledge about the diversity of contexts, conditions, modes, and temporalities of resourcification. This Resourcification Manifesto offers a theoretical and empirical framework for a radical and disruptive approach to innovation, sustainability, and management studies and policies.     

Prisoners’ academic motivation,viewed from the perspective of self-determination theory: Evidence from a population of Norwegian prisoners

International Review of Education - The study presented in this article explores prisoners’ academic motivation structure from the theoretical perspective of self-determination theory, using...     

Building strong parent–teacher relationships in primary education: the challenge of two-way communication

This study investigates which subjects teachers talk about with parents in parent–teacher conferences and other contact moments, and how they communicate with regard to these subjects. Fifty-five in-depth interviews were carried out with teachers from special education schools, at-risk schools serving low socio-economic status children and mainstream primary education schools in the southern part of the Netherlands. The results illustrate that (1) two-way communication is used the most in at-risk schools, (2) teachers find it difficult to involve parents in the decision-making process concerning special care for the child, and (3) the teachers’ attitude towards parents is best when it comes to difficult discussion topics. When situations are really difficult, teachers stand alongside the parents instead of addressing them from their expert role, asking them ‘How can we solve this together?’. Teachers should be more aware of this quality, and not be afraid to address difficult subjects or conflicts.     

工程教育的环境

学习的环境(Context)是关于理解并学习知识和技能的一整套文化环境。我们认为,产品、过程或者系统的生命周期——构思-设计-实施-操作(以下简称CDIO)即为工程教育的环境,而非内容。教育的背景,我们传授的技能和我们所表达的态度,都表明构思-设计-实施-操作是一个工程师在社会中的职责。这是有效实践的第一准则所反映的中心思想,该准则就是CDIO准则1。本文首先回顾了职业工程实践的环境,指出了社会发展和技术更新带来的不变和变化着的各个方面。然后,我们描述了CDIO的工程教育环境,并突出强调了与CDIO不同但同样可行的其它工程教育环境的模型。在特定环境中进行工程教育的原因是显而易见的,它效法职业实践,有助于学习技能,是应用在工程教育和高等教育中基于环境学习的理论和最好的实践。最后,本文结尾讨论了对于采取适当的环境开展工程教育、更有效地培养工程师的广泛社会需求。突出阐述了中国工程教育的发展,同时也介绍了瑞典和美国对工程教育的需求。