Problematizing the absent girl: sport as a means of emancipation and social inclusion

Abstract

Absence from sport participation among girls from ethno-cultural minorities is often highlighted as an inclusion policy challenge. Based on 35 interviews with community sports coaches, managers and partners, we explore how the absence of girls is problematized in four Swedish sports-based interventions, focusing on how problems, as well as the means and the ends of social inclusion, are articulated. The girls are assessed as being in need of social change due to their alleged social exclusion. Absence is explained by “patriarchal norms” as well as by the introvert conduct of the girls themselves. Girls-only sports activities performed by female coaches as role models are described as a way for girls to gain social inclusion and to become emancipated from subjugating norms. In conclusion, participation in community sport is highlighted in discourse as crucial for adopting powers of emancipation. A similar discourse could be recognized elsewhere, inside and outside the realm of sport.     

Assessment of Middle Ear Anatomy Teaching Methodologies Using Microscopy versus Endoscopy: A Randomized Comparative Study

Teaching methodologies for the anatomy of the middle ear have not been investigated greatly due to the middle ear’s highly complex structure and hidden location inside of the temporal bone. The aim of this randomized study was to quantitatively compare the suitability of using microscope- and endoscope-based methods for teaching the anatomy of the middle ear. We hypothesize that the endoscopic approach will be more efficient compared to the microscopic approach. To answer the study questions, 33 sixth-year medical students, residents and otorhinolaryngology specialists were randomized either into the endoscopy or the microscopy group. Their anatomical knowledge was assessed using a structured anatomical knowledge test before and after each session. Each participant received tutoring on a human cadaveric specimen using one of the two methods. They then performed a hands-on dissection. After 2–4 weeks, the same educational curriculum was repeated using the other technique. The mean gains in anatomical knowledge for the specialists, residents, and medical students were +19.0%, +34.6%, and +23.4%, respectively. Multivariate analyses identified a statistically significant increase in performance for the endoscopic method compared to the microscopic technique (P < 0.001). For the recall of anatomical structures during dissection, the endoscopic method outperformed the microscopic technique independently of the randomization or the prior training level of the attendees (P < 0.001). In conclusion, the endoscopic approach to middle ear anatomy education is associated to an improved gain in knowledge as compared to the microscopic approach. The participants subjectively preferred the endoscope for educational purposes.     

Associations between individual and collective efficacy beliefs and students' bystander behavior

This study examined whether defending and passive bystanding during peer victimization episodes were associated with individual- and classroom-level efficacy to stop peer victimization. Self-report survey data were analyzed from 1,467 Swedish fourth-grade students (mean age = 10.55) from 100 classrooms in 63 schools. Multilevel analyses revealed that, when witnessing peer victimization, students more often defended victims if they were high in defender self-efficacy and if they belonged to classrooms high in collective efficacy. In contrast, students were more likely to remain passive if they were low in defender self-efficacy and if they belonged to classrooms low in collective efficacy. Taken together, our findings suggest that efficacy beliefs both at the individual and at the classroom level contribute to explaining variability in students' bystander behaviors, which has potential implications for prevention and intervention work.     

Document retrieval on repetitive string collections

Most of the fastest-growing string collections today are repetitive, that is, most of the constituent documents are similar to many others. As these collections keep growing, a key approach to handling them is to exploit their repetitiveness, which can reduce their space usage by orders of magnitude. We study the problem of indexing repetitive string collections in order to perform efficient document retrieval operations on them. Document retrieval problems are routinely solved by search engines on large natural language collections, but the techniques are less developed on generic string collections. The case of repetitive string collections is even less understood, and there are very few existing solutions. We develop two novel ideas, interleaved LCPs and precomputed document lists, that yield highly compressed indexes solving the problem of document listing (find all the documents where a string appears), top-k document retrieval (find the k documents where a string appears most often), and document counting (count the number of documents where a string appears). We also show that a classical data structure supporting the latter query becomes highly compressible on repetitive data. Finally, we show how the tools we developed can be combined to solve ranked conjunctive and disjunctive multi-term queries under the simple \({\textsf{tf}}{\textsf{-}}{\textsf{idf}}\) model of relevance. We thoroughly evaluate the resulting techniques in various real-life repetitiveness scenarios, and recommend the best choices for each case.     

Zooming in Time—Exploring Students’ Interpretations of a Dynamic Tree of Life

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Central to evolution is the concept of a common ancestry from which all life has emerged over immense time scales, but learning and teaching temporal...     

Better safe than sorry? Risk and educational research

This paper presents the argument that education and the teaching profession have been saturated by a new form of risk consciousness and risk consideration. The aim is to shed light on this issue and present a number of empirical examples and questions of interest in educational research. Furthermore, the paper presents some of the central theories regarding risk and an attempt is made to relate these theories to an epistemological framework. The article also emphasizes the problems and issues that arise from the way teachers think, experience and manage risk in their daily work, and examines how this affects their didactic intentions and, in the long run, also the pupils’ learning potential. It is the intention of the authors, in the scientific as well as in the professional discussion, to reintroduce the positive connections between teaching and risk zones, as well as between professional development and risk taking.     

Language problems in children with learning disabilities: do they interfere with maternal communication?

In this study, parent-child interaction in two carefully matched subgroups-school-age boys with learning disabilities (LD) who showed a discrepancy between their verbal IQ and performance IQ and had more extensive difficulties in higher-level language abilities (VIQ < PIQ, n = 8) and boys with LD who did not manifest a discrepancy between verbal IQ and performance IQ (VIQ = PIQ, n = 8), were investigated. The effects of the child's language problems on child task performance and on the quality of maternal communication were analyzed in a mother-child problem solving task. Children in the VIQ < PIQ group were found to be less successful on the task than children in the VIQ = PIQ group, and their mothers exhibited lower communication clarity in their instructions than the mothers of the children in the VIQ = PIQ group. An interesting interaction effect was found for communication deviances. For mothers in the VIQ < PIQ group the extent of deficient communication increased from the monologue to the dialogue situation, whereas communication deviances decreased for mothers in the VIQ = PIQ group. Three possible models are discussed in light of the differences between the subgroups.     

Sickness presenteeism of German teachers: prevalence and influencing factors

The aim of the present study was to investigate teachers’ sickness presenteeism (SP). We examined the prevalence of SP in a sample of teachers as well as work-related and health-related influencing factors of teachers’ SP. We used a cross-sectional study design. Teachers working at different types of schools in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany) participated in an online survey. We used Pearson’s Chi-squared test (in case of categorical variables) or Mann–Whitney-U-test (in case of continuous variables) to test for differences between SP and sociodemographic/work-related/health-related factors. Factors influencing SP were identified using multivariable logistic regression analyses. Nine hundred and twenty-four teachers working at 42 different schools completed the questionnaire (response proportion: 50.1%). The prevalence of SP in our study was 57.1%. The multivariable logistic regression analyses showed less support by supervisors (aOR: 1.77; 95-CI: 1.21–2.60), inappropriate administration efforts (aOR: 1.56; 95-CI: 1.16–2.11), and inappropriate recognition of performance (aOR: 1.44; 95-CI: 1.04–198) as well as exhaustion/fatigue (aOR: 2.29; 95-CI: 1.71–3.08) as main predictors of teachers’ SP. SP is widespread among teachers. As SP is associated with impairment of psychological and physical health in the long run, it is important to implement measures to reduce SP. A climate of support and cooperation as well as assistance for ill teachers to deal with work missed due to absence might be useful strategies.     

From e‐learning space to e‐learning place

In this paper, it is argued that e‐learning environments are currently more like ‘buildings’, ie, learning spaces, rather than ‘schools’, ie, places for learning. The concepts originated from architecture and urban design, where they are used both to distinguish static spaces from inhabited places, and more importantly, as design objectives. The transformation from space to place is supported and enabled by social interactions between the (learning) community members. We argue that this distinction between the concepts explains some of the problems with current e‐learning systems and propose issues to consider when designing new systems. By acknowledging the importance and characteristics of a place, designers and researchers can justify the need and support for social interactions in learning space, consequently enabling social community building in e‐learning environments, and most importantly, supporting the development of a user‐friendly and motivating e‐learning place.