Public Sector Research: A Growing Role in Innovation Systems

This essay highlights three converging trendsexperienced by `public sector research' duringthe past decade. Looking especially at France,our discussion draws attention to the new rolesof universities, the blurring of relationshipsbetween types of research institutions andresearch activities, and the development of`research collectives' as an organizationalfeature now emerging throughout Europe.     

Instructional Goals: determination and specification

This paper develops the argument that the form in which instructional goals are specified should depend on the nature of the knowledge underlying the particular instruction being developed. It examines the two central issues of goal determination (how goals are derived) and goal specification (how they should be represented) in order to counter the assumption that one type of goal formulation (be it via behavioural objectives, work models, or cognitive objectives) is optimal for instruction.     

Autopsy-Based Learning is Essential But Underutilized in Medical Education: A Questionnaire Study

To this day, autopsies and dissections have been essential in medical education, but declining autopsy numbers have endangered this long-standing tradition. Students' perceptions of these teaching methods should be constantly updated to help educators understand how to achieve their teaching goals. The purpose of this study was to explore the state of autopsy- and dissection-based teaching in two Finnish universities based on the experiences of the students, survey their perceptions of such teaching, and to compare the Finnish situation with students' perceptions in other countries as it emerges from medical literature. A questionnaire went to 859 second-, fourth-, and sixth-year medical students. The questions concerned dissection and autopsy classes these students had attended, the views of the students in regard to the number of classes, and the benefits of and attitudes towards autopsy teaching. An open question of how to improve autopsy teaching was included. The response rate was 19.4%. Most respondents requested more autopsy and dissection classes, especially practical education. They found autopsies most beneficial in learning anatomy and dealing with one's own emotions related to death. Their experiences proved least beneficial for interaction with the relatives of a deceased patient and for people skills. Integrational methods and focusing on the main learning outcomes were suggested as improvements. Overall, students found dissection and autopsy teaching important, but felt concerned about the diminishing autopsy numbers. Focusing on main learning objectives and better integration of autopsies in the teaching of different specialties could help to utilize autopsies to a greater extent.     

Analysis of a multifaceted interactive pedagogy program in an upper limb anatomy course: A time series study

Many new methods have contributed to the learning of anatomy, including several interactive methods, increasing the effectiveness of educational programs. The effectiveness of an educational program involving several interactive learning methods such as problem-based learning and reciprocal peer teaching was researched in this study. A quasi-experimental before–after study on three consecutive groups of second-year students at the Grenoble School of Medicine was conducted. The lectures were replaced by an educational program based on the problem-based learning method and reciprocal peer teaching. The first session was dedicated to reading clinical cases illustrating the medical concept, so that the learning objectives for the second session could be set. Then, after viewing digital courses, the second session was dedicated to a synthetic presentation by the students themselves, followed by an interactive summary with the teacher. The analysis of 630 students showed a significant increase in the theory test results for those who took part in the intervention: 9.71 versus 9.19 (β = 0.57, P = 0.036). Moreover, satisfaction was high after the intervention (mean = 4.5/5), and when comparing the two pedagogical approaches the students showed a clear preference for the program implemented with the concepts highlighted such as interactivity, in-depth work, group work, and autonomy. A multifaceted interactive pedagogy program could have a significant impact on the results of the theoretical concepts presented and on satisfaction as well as increased investment by students in learning anatomy.     

Research on illustrations in text: Issues and perspectives

So many studies have failed to show significant effects for illustrations in texts and teaching materials that, the author remarks, if the research is taken at face value, it is not difficult to begin believing that illustrations really are not very important in assisting learning. However, he concludes, their value has been confirmed by a sufficient number of studies to support intuitive beliefs and researchers now must move on, using new frameworks to study the reasons illustrations can aid learning.     

“Compulsory Schooling” Despite the Law: How Education Policy Underpins the Widespread Ignorance of the Right to Home Educate in France

ABSTRACT

Everyone in France takes for granted the existence of compulsory school attendance (“école obligatoire”) while home education remains very exceptional. Yet school attendance is not, and has never been, legally compulsory in France. How can one explain the fact that the right to home educate is little known and practiced? This article researches how public policies may foster this widespread ignorance. Drawing mainly on archival records of French Parliament debates about compulsory instruction in 1882, 1936, and 1998, it depicts various ways for lawmakers to contribute to this ignorance.     

Universities’ Autonomy in Times of Changing Higher Education Governance: A study of the Swiss academic labour market

Although eternally debated, the issue of autonomy in higher education is rarely analysed in its complexity. To address this issue, this article uses an analytical matrix which combines the distinction between substantive and procedural autonomy and the distinction between HEI governing bodies, academic professions and individual academics. This framework allows for analysing—by the example of the Swiss academic labour market—how changes in national steering can lead to the redistribution of autonomy between the mentioned actors. Further insights relate to the observed higher education system’s decentralised character. Empirical findings—based on the examination of three special programmes initiated by the federal government—indicate that HEI actors lose some substantive autonomy in favour of the Confederation, and—against the general tendency induced by New Public Management to reinforce HEI governing bodies—procedural autonomy is rather redistributed to individual academics and academic professions.     

Dealing with Power Games in a Companion Modelling Process: Lessons from Community Water Management in Thailand Highlands

Abstract

Although stakeholder participation is expected to promote equitable and sustainable natural resource management, lessons from the past tell us that more careful attention needs to be paid to achieving equitable impacts. Now the question is how to address social inequities and power asymmetries. Some authors emphasize the need for more dialogue, while others prefer a critical perspective, arguing that dialogue might not be sufficient to avert the risk of a process deepening existing social inequities. This article aims to enrich this debate and question the practical implications of the critical perspective through an in-depth analysis of power games in a participatory process.

A Companion Modelling (ComMod) process was conducted in an Akha community of Northern Thailand with a critical perspective, i.e. with a concern for the less influent stakeholders. Simulation tools such as role-playing games were used to mediate a cross-cultural learning process among researchers, farmers and administrators about a local irrigation water management problem. The detailed analysis of power games in this learning and negotiation process reveals that in spite of initial power asymmetries, the poorest farmers of the community started to voice and assert their interests. This was very much due to the role of a Western researcher who put the equity issue on the public agenda and to the strategic support of a charismatic Christian leader.

We identify a set of practical facilitation methods that helped to manage power asymmetries and to level the playing field, but we also discuss the main limits of our cultural-embedded methodological choices. Acknowledging that ‘the facilitators’ neutrality' is an illusion, this study allows us to raise the question of their social legitimacy. We suggest that they should systematically make explicit and reflect on their cultural-ideological background and methodological hypothesis and choices and their effects on the socio-political context. This article is an original attempt to accept this challenge.     

The influence of ventilatory control on heart rate variability in children

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of breathing frequency and tidal volume on resting heart rate variability in children aged 9 years ( n = 29) and 16 years ( n = 19). Heart rate variability was measured in four conditions: (1) without the control of ventilation followed at random by (2) a fixed breathing frequency of 12 breaths· min -1 , (3) a breathing frequency of 12 breaths· min -1 but with a fixed tidal volume of 30% vital capacity and (4) a fixed breathing frequency of 6 breaths·min -1 and a tidal volume of 30% vital capacity. A total of 128 RR intervals (the time between two spikes in the heart rate) were detected and absolute high- and low-frequency spectral components were calculated using autoregressive modelling. The younger children were unable to control ventilation to achieve conditions 3 and 4; therefore, a 2 2 2 (group 2 condition) analysis of variance was used to analyse conditions 1 and 2. There were significant interactions between group and heart rate variability conditions for the low-frequency component and the ratio of low to high frequencies ( P ? 0.001). The main effect for condition showed that at 12 breaths· min -1 with no fixed tidal volume there was a significantly higher standard deviation of the RR interval, total power and high-frequency ( P ? 0.01) and lowfrequency spectral components ( P ? 0.05) than in the condition with no ventilatory control. Across the four breathing conditions for the older participants, the high-frequency spectral component was significantly higher in the condition at 6 breaths· min -1 with a fixed tidal volume than in that with no ventilatory control ( P ? 0.005); the ratio of high to low frequencies was significantly lower for the spontaneous condition than those performed at 12 breaths· min -1 ( P ? 0.001). The results provide evidence of the need for ventilatory control when assessing short-term resting heart rate variability in children.