Learning to argue as a biotechnologist: disprivileging opposition to genetically modified food

In the public discussion of genetically modified (GM) food the representations of science as a social good, conducted in the public interest to solve major problems are being subjected to intense scrutiny and questioning. Scientists working in these areas have been seen to struggle for the position of science in society. However few in situ studies of how the debate about science appears in learning situations at the university level have been undertaken. In the present study an introductory course in biotechnology was observed during one semester, lectures and small group supervision concerning GM food were videotaped and student’s reports on the issue were collected. The ethnographic approach to Discourse analysis was conducted by means of a set of carefully selected and representative observations of how a group of students learn to argue and appropriate views held in the Discourse they are enculturated into. While socio-scientific issues (SSIs) are often associated with achieving scientific literacy in terms of “informed decisions” involving “rational thought and Discourse” this study shows that SSI in practice, in the context studied here, is primarily concerned with using scientific language to privilege professional understandings of GMOs and discredit public worries and concerns. Scientific claims were privileged over ethical, economical and political claims which were either made irrelevant or rebutted. The students were seen to appropriate a Discourse model held in the biotechnological community that public opposition towards GMO is due to “insufficient knowledge”. The present study offers insights into biotechnology students’ decision making regarding socio-scientific issues, while also demonstrating the utility of Discourse analysis for understanding learning in this university context. Implications for reflection on the institutional Discourse of science and teaching of controversial issues in science are drawn and the study contributes to the investigation of claims of scientific literacy coupled to SSIs and argumentation     

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.     

Ways of relating to computer use in pre‐school activity

In the present study, three different pre‐school settings were investigated. The dual aim of the study was to analyse the teachers’ ways of relating to the computer as a tool in pre‐school activity, and to describe the three learning environments focusing upon how the computer was used. Data were collected at three Swedish pre‐schools, where one computer was available in each department. Three ways of relating to computer use were identified: as a threat to other activities, as an available option, and as an essential activity. A relationship was found between these categories and the three learning environments, characterized respectively as protective, supporting, and guiding.     

Art,Design & Technology ‐ a Plea to Reclaim the Senses

The paper explores the inherent confusion surrounding the existence of design in two foundation areas of the English National Curriculum. We argue that this is a consequence of a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of art, design and technology. Whereas technology should be considered as a cross‐curricular set of skills and knowledge with a variety of technologies applicable to different subject domains, design more properly belongs to the diffuse subject of art with its range of skills, crafts and cultural knowledge bases. We argue that design and technology can learn from the expressive and open‐ended processes of art making. If the practice of design is to operate effectively in the classroom then it needs to embrace more exploratory strategies to playing and making. Teachers of all age groups need to foster a greater engagement with sensory materials to enable pupils to create a context for the making of personal meanings. The notion of the teacher practitioner is a key component and the studio practice of artists and designers provides a useful framework in the adoption of such approaches.     

Understanding the increase in parents’ involvement in organized youth sports

As part of an ethnographic study on young people and learning (the knowledge in motion across contexts of learning project, set in Norway), we interviewed a diverse sample of parents of young teenagers, many of whom were active in organized sports. The parents described their level of involvement in sport in a way that contrasted sharply to our own experiences participating in youth sports in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then most parents were absent from the sports fields. This new role of sports in the practice of parenthood is what we investigate in this study. The purpose is to further the understanding of the cultural processes that drive what we see as a marked generational change in the relationship between organized sports and the practice of parenthood. In contrast to previous studies, we also focus on the relationship between generational change and classed patterns in parenting. Our data suggest that across social classes, parents see involvement in sports as normal, and as a way to connect to the child emotionally and to further the child's development. We interpret the significance of sports in the parent–child relationship as related both to the normalization of youth sports that the parents experienced when they grew up, and to the new cultural ideas of parenthood that they encounter as adults. We find that there are tensions embedded in this new form of parenthood that are particularly evident in what we call ‘deep involvement’, an intensified form of parental engagement with youth sports that is practiced primarily by fathers in the economic fraction of the middle class. We conclude that the new role of sport in the practice of parenthood is a classed as well as a generational phenomenon.     

Future pest status of an insect pest in museums,Attagenus smirnovi: Distribution and food consumption in relation to climate change

The brown carpet beetle Attagenus smirnovi, Zhantiev 1973 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) is an important pest of objects of organic origin in museums of cultural and natural history in Europe. Future climate changes are expected to lead to increasing temperatures, which will affect the pest status of this species. In the present study a laboratory investigation was conducted to elucidate the effect of temperature and humidity on the amounts of organic material consumed by larvae of A. smirnovi. In the case of new and old skin, consumption was approximately twice as high at 28 °C compared to 20 °C. Wool was consumed in the greatest amounts: 169 mg of wool was consumed in three months by 30 A. smirnovi larvae. The expected future climate changes in Scandinavia are assumed to lead to higher temperatures in museums and stores where climate is not regulated. Updated data on the present distribution of A. smirnovi in Europe show that it is widespread and common, also in regions with a climate that does not support its survival out of doors. Thus, dispersal of this pest probably only rarely occurs by flight, but usually with human activity. Due to the widespread distribution of A. smirnovi, it is likely that damages in museums and collections in Scandinavia due to this pest will increase as climate changes come into effect.     

Whole school approaches to education for sustainable development: a model that links to school improvement

This study applies a model of school organisation developed by one of the authors to investigate school improvement processes leading to a whole school approach in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) literature. The model is operationalized to a survey instrument and distributed to Swedish upper secondary teachers. The instrument provides empirical indications of teachers’ perceptions of their schools in terms of four major dimensions of an ESD whole school approach, the importance assigned to a holistic vision, routines and structures, professional knowledge creation, and practical pedagogical work. The aims of the study are to compare the teachers’ perception of their school organisation. We compare perceptions of teachers working in schools actively implementing ESD and teachers in comparable reference schools. Comparisons are also made between teachers from schools applying different strategies and quality approaches in implementing ESD. The results indicate that, relative to teachers in ordinary schools, those in ESD schools perceive their school organisations to have higher quality and coherence, with greater potential to support teaching and pedagogical work in practice. However, there is substantial variation in perceptions of teachers from different ESD schools. The model’s robustness is validated by coherence of earlier results in the same schools.     

Teaching the writing of psychological reports through formative assessment: peer and teacher review

This paper describes the teaching of psychological report writing at Karolinska Institutet and the efforts to improve it through the introduction of formative assessment applied as peer and teacher review. 48 fourth-year psychology students were required to write a psychological report. Half of the students also participated in a non-mandatory peer review of a first draft. All students handed in a preliminary version of the report, had it reviewed by the teachers and made alterations before handing in a final version. The results showed that both peer review and teacher review were valuable methods in the teaching of psychological report writing.     

Privatisation,Decentralisation And Governance In Education In The Czech Republic,England, France,Germany And Sweden

The Czech Republic, England, France, Germany and Sweden differ culturally and economically, but they commonly exhibit general trends of decentralisation in the control of educational processes and outcomes. The present contribution looks at these five European countries as the venue for case studies in educational restructuring as well as evaluation, assessment and reporting. It shows that such trends have been most radical in the Czech Republic and Sweden, while England has centralised curriculum policy and France has devolved some decision-making to bodies at lower levels, but as representatives of the central state.