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Background: Schools are important arenas for the promotion of critical health literacy (CHL) among adolescents. Key domains of CHL are information appraisal, understanding social determinants of health, and abilities to act on determinants of health. In this paper, we examine the psychometric properties of the Critical Health Literacy for Adolescents Questionnaire (CHLA-Q). Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was performed at 5 schools in Norway. Respondents included 522 pupils aged 13-15 years old. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the structural validity. Internal reliability was assessed using ordinal Cronbach's alpha. Results: The estimated model had acceptable closeness of fit. Five of 6 scales displayed adequate internal reliability. Conclusion: The results indicate acceptable fit of the CHLA-Q framework and that 5 of the 6 scales are applicable to inform future research and interventions. More research is needed on measurement of the second domain of CHL.

Pervasive gaming is a new and emerging gaming genre where the physical and social aspects of the real world are integrated into the game and blends into the player's everyday life. Given the nature of pervasive games, it may be possible to use that type of game as a tool to support learning in a university course by providing a gameplay where the students, by playing the game, expands the area of learning beyond the lecture hall and lectures and into the students everyday life. If this is possible, the area for learning will also become pervasive and be everywhere and anywhere at any time. To address this research area, a prototype of a playable pervasive game to support learning in university studies has been designed. This paper presents the experimental pervasive game "Nuclear Mayhem" and how the game was designed to be pervasive and support the curriculum of the course. Analysis of log files showed that 87% of the logins in the game client was done outside of the time period that was allocated to lectures and lab exercises and that logins where registered in all the 24 hours of a day. These numbers indicate that the game became pervasive and a part of the students/players everyday life. Interviews with the players indicate that they found the game exciting and fun to play, but that the academic tasks and riddles that they had to solve during the game were too easy to solve. The paper concludes that games such as "Nuclear Mayhem" are promising tools to support learning and transform the area for learning to become pervasive relative to the players everyday life and suggest improvements in the game for the next versions.

The revised two-factor study process questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) has widely been considered valid and reliable in many contexts for measuring students' learning approaches. However, its cultural specificity has generated considerable discussion, with inconclusive results when translated to different languages. This paper provides more insights into the construct validity of a Norwegian version of this instrument. The R-SPQ-2F is composed of ten items designed to expose deep learning approaches and 10 items designed to expose surface learning approaches. A survey research design involving a sample of 253 first year university students in a mathematics course was adopted. Ten hypothesized models were compared using a series of confirmatory factor analyses following the model proposals reported in the literature. A weighted least square mean and variance adjusted (WLSMV) estimator was used to enhance model parameter estimations under multiple violations of assumptions inherent in ordinal data. The results favored a two first-order factor model with ten items measuring the deep approach and nine items measuring the surface approach including a deletion of one item from this instrument. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence for the cultural specificity of the instrument that is consistent with the literature. The R-SPQ-2F is therefore recommended to assess students' approaches to learning, and further studies into its cultural specificity are recommended.

In recent decades, Norwegian schools have experienced increased cultural diversification among students. Growing heterogeneity in origin and culture may enhance the risk of student marginalisation, segregation and exclusion. In response to these challenges, this paper examines students' intercultural empathy and, particularly, how schools can develop their intergroup empathy to support social inclusion. Theoretically, we applied an inclusive citizenship perspective. The study draws primarily on quantitative data gathered from paper questionnaires collected from 1006 students in two upper secondary schools and three lower secondary schools. We explored the antecedents of intercultural empathy among the students using regression analyses. First, we found that there are substantial differences between the scores of boys and girls on intercultural empathy. Second, we found that information on culture and diversity was a predictor of certain aspects of intercultural empathy. Third, a variety of school variables were applied to explore possible ways to support student intercultural empathy, which showed moderate associations with intercultural empathy. Fourth, variables measuring students' perceptions of human rights implementation in school were also moderately associated with aspects of intercultural empathy. The results and their implications for teaching are discussed.

This paper presents a conceptual model of information behaviour. The model is part of the Search Situation Transition method schema. The method schema is developed to discover and analyse interplay between phenomena traditionally analysed as factors influencing either information retrieval or information seeking. In this paper the focus is on the model's five main categories: the work task, the searcher, the social/organisational environment, the search task, and the search process. In particular, the search process and its sub-categories search situation and transition and the relationship between these are discussed. To justify the method schema an empirical study was designed according to the schema's specifications. In the paper a subset of the study is presented analysing the effects of work tasks on Web information searching. Findings from this small-scale study indicate a strong relationship between the work task goal and the level of relevance used for judging resources during search processes.

Although well researched in educational studies, inquiry-based learning, a student-centred way of teaching, is far away from being implemented in day-to-day science and mathematics teaching on a large scale. It is a challenge for teachers to adopt this new way of teaching in an often not supportive school context. Therefore it is important to provide high-quality professional development (PD) at a large scale. However, there is little empirical evidence about the effects of scaled-up professional development initiatives. Therefore, this paper presents an international research study for which long-term PD courses have been designed. These courses have been implemented across Europe in twelve different countries at scale by using the so-called "Cascade Model." Here, course leaders are educated, who in turn educate other teachers. The research study aimed at evaluating the overall impact the scaled-up PD had on teachers and at also identifying variables influencing this impact.

A collective Competence Improvement Project (CIP) was conducted for educational psychological counselors (n = 5) along with teachers (n = 11), special education teachers (n = 7), and child and youth workers (n = 11). All of the participants were involved in the training and teaching of children with autism/ASD in a small municipality in Norway. The CIP focused primarily on competence improvement in the participants' overall knowledge and theoretical conceptions about autism/ASD. Additionally, other goals included competence improvement in Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT), Pivotal Response Training (PRT), and Social Stories™ (SS). The results demonstrate that the CIP contributed to improvements in some of these targeted areas but not in all. Educational psychological counsellors and special education teachers benefited more and satisfactorily from the CIP than teachers and child and youth workers (CYWs). It is now clear that achieving significant improvement in competency does not necessarily equate to satisfactory improvement. Additionally, improving the professionals' theoretical knowledge is important, but it does not necessary lead to improving their operational knowledge--their capacity for implementing their knowledge in practice. This paper presents the background, implementation, and results of the CIP, and it closes with a discussion of the findings and conclusions about their implications for future CIPs and research.

The increasing relevance of information and communication technologies (ICT) and society's transition towards an information or knowledge society have led to the emergence of new challenges for schools and school systems. Thus, the need for students to develop new forms of skills like "digital literacy" or "computer and information literacy" (CIL) is constantly gaining in importance. In the IEA's ("International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement") ICILS 2013 ("International Computer and Information Literacy Study"), the aforementioned competencies were investigated--along with CIL learning contexts and outcomes (such as school-level factors in different education systems)--for the first time for secondary schools by applying computer-based student tests. The research presented in this paper focuses on the school-level factors that support or hinder the use of ICT by teaching staff and students' CIL, drawing in the process on information obtained through school and teacher questionnaires. A multilevel approach was chosen for this research, drawing on representative data from four of the countries which participated in ICILS 2013, namely Australia, Germany, Norway and the Czech Republic. The results show that the relevance of school-level determinants for the use of ICT by teaching staff in schools differs between education systems. Only in Germany, for example, does pedagogical IT support seem to be crucial for the use of ICT in teaching. In the Czech Republic, the self-efficacy of teaching staff plays a key role, whereas in Australia, the participation of teaching staff in professional development activities can be identified as relevant for students' acquisition of CIL. The results also show a statistically significant correlation between the teachers' use of ICT in schools and students' CIL for Germany, yet indicate no significant effects for Australia, Norway and the Czech Republic. In addition to these and the more specific findings for the considered countries, the international comparison presented in this paper reveals both strengths and developmental potential for the selected education systems.

Teaching online requires different skills, roles and competencies for online instructors compared to teaching in traditional learning environments. Universities should offer ongoing support in various forms to help academic staff through their online journey. This paper provides insights into a multinational faculty development program for teaching online, elaborating on results of expectancy and satisfaction surveys. From a local program to a subproject within the Swiss National Science Foundation Project Scopes, e-Tutor aimed at expanding competencies in online lecturing and providing OER material for training colleagues. Designed in the form of a descriptive case study, this research was conducted with 34 attendees of e-Tutor. Data was collected using an e-learning readiness and expectancy questionnaire, and open-ended questions after the program to measure satisfaction. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey data and content analysis for open-ended data. Participants considered e-Tutor a well-planned and targeted program with good theoretical and practical balance. Duration of such courses, opportunities for adaptation to real-life situations, and localization of the content are areas to be explored further. For future studies, it would also be interesting to see whether participants can apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills to create efficient online learning environments.

Validation of data collection instruments is a necessary step in all research and should be regarded as an integral component in every stage of the research process; however, the validation process is often not accounted for in detail in published studies. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and validation of the Ungspråk electronic questionnaire, which was designed to explore teenagers' multilingualism and multilingual identity in the Norwegian school context. It aims to examine whether having a multilingual identity correlates with several variables such as language practices, languages studied in school, open-mindedness, and beliefs about multilingualism. To our knowledge, the Ungspråk questionnaire is one of the first validated tools for quantitatively investigating learners' multilingual identity in school settings. Different qualitative and quantitative procedures were adopted for validating Ungspråk, including piloting sessions with students from two lower secondary schools. The results of the validation processes suggest that the Ungspråk questionnaire is a robust instrument for investigating young learners' multilingual identity. It is easy to use, acceptable to learners, and fulfils stringent criteria of reliability and validity.

Purpose:The aim of the present paper was to study preferences for web based self-administered questionnaires (web SAQs) vs. paper-based self-administered questionnaires (paper SAQs) and to evaluate the feasibility of using web SAQs in patients referred to cardiac, lung, occupational and cancer rehabilitation programs. Methods:The patients were approached by mail and given the choice to answer the compulsory SAQs either on paper or on a web-based platform. Results:Hundred and twenty seven out of 183 eligible patients (69.3%) were willing to participate and 126 completed the study. Web SAQs were preferred by 77.7%, and these patients were significantly younger, more often cohabiting and tended to have higher level of education than paper SAQ users. Mean number of data missing per patient was less among the web SAQ users than the paper SAQ users (0.55 vs. 2.15,p < 0.001). Costs related to human resources were estimated to be 60% lower with web SAQs compared to paper SAQs. Conclusions:Web SAQs were well accepted among the patients scheduled for rehabilitation, led to less missing data and considerable cost savings related to human resources. Patients referred to rehabilitation should be offered the choice to complete self-administered questionnaires on internet platforms when internet access is common and available.Implications for RehabilitationThe high acceptability of web-based self-administered questionnaires among rehabilitation patients suggests that internet platforms are suitable tools to collect patient information for rehabilitation units.Web-based modes of patient data collection demonstrate low number of missing data and can therefore improve the quality of data collection from rehabilitation patients.Use of web-based questionnaires considerably reduces administrative costs of data collection in rehabilitation settings compared to traditional pen and paper methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The latest curriculum reform in Norway is one example of an education reform with a highly emphasised assessment for learning (AfL) agenda. Acknowledging that there is a lack of empirical research on AfL in physical education (PE), and that AfL potentially can have an important role to play in development of PE pedagogy, this paper set out to examine the extent to which the emphasis on AfL from educational authorities has led to change in assessment practice in PE. Purpose and research question: The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of AfL in PE at upper secondary level in Norway, and discuss possible implications. More specifically we ask "How do students' and teachers' perspectives of assessment practices in PE reflect AfL key principles?" Methods: A mixed-method design has been applied in this study. Quantitative data, collected through a questionnaire answered by 1486 students from six upper secondary schools (15-19 years), were combined and compared with qualitative data from focus groups of a total of 23 PE teachers at the same schools. Data were analysed in relation to four key principles of AfL. Findings: For the majority of the students in the study, their reports of assessment practice in PE did not reflect the four key principles of AfL. This result was supported by the fact that their PE teachers conveyed very varied understandings and enactments of AfL. The study revealed some difference between teacher and student perspectives regarding AfL key principles, in particular regarding feedback that moves learners forward. Conclusions: The study demonstrates limited implementation of AfL principles in PE and we conclude that the educational authorities' emphasis of AfL has not proven productive in PE. However, most of the teachers acknowledged the need to change teaching and assessment practices in PE, and all schools in the study are observed to be in an area of changing assessment. Considering the findings on different AfL key principles, this study highlights engaging student more directly in assessment processes as an important development area.

There is a need for a more sustainable diet in many countries. Using Mediterranean principles could provide a possible answer. The principles of the Mediterranean diet and suitability to the Nordic diet have been discussed in courses mainly for Norwegian food and health teachers and students visiting Greece. What benefits do the participants experience after returning home and how do they apply their new knowledge in Norwegian conditions? We studied the themes from the exam papers to find out which knowledge the participants acquired from the course, and how they transferred their knowledge about the Mediterranean diet to Norwegian conditions. We also conducted a survey among the participants; they reported that they felt they benefited from the course. It seems the students are able to translate their knowledge about Mediterranean diet to Norwegian conditions, and the teachers who participated in the course used their knowledge in teaching. Most of the participants use this knowledge in their daily lives.

This paper focuses on a generational change taking place in the Polish academic profession: a change in behaviors and attitudes between two groups of academics. One was socialized to academia under the communist regime (1945-1989) and the other entered the profession in the post-1989 transition period. Academics of all age groups are beginning to learn how tough the competition for research funding is, but young academics ("academics under 40"), being the target of recent policy initiatives, need to learn faster. Current reforms present a clear preferred image for a new generation of Polish academics: highly motivated, embedded in international research networks, publishing mostly internationally, and heavily involved in the competition for academic recognition and research funding. In the long run, without such a radical approach, any international competition between young Polish academics (with a low research orientation and high teaching hours) and their young Western European colleagues (with a high research orientation and low teaching hours) seems inconceivable, as our data on the average academic productivity clearly demonstrate. The quantitative background of this paper comes from 3704 returned questionnaires and the qualitative background from 60 semi-structured in-depth interviews. The paper takes a European comparative approach and contrasts Poland with 10 Western European countries (using 17,211 returned questionnaires).

This paper reviews literature on the rationale, challenges, and recommendations for choosing a nonequivalent comparison (NEC) group design when evaluating intervention effects. After reviewing frequently addressed threats to validity, the paper describes recommendations for strengthening the research design and how the recommendations were implemented in a current study. Next, tests were performed in order to investigate whether the added design components had contributed to increased internal validity by creating comparable cluster groups at baseline. In order to estimate the external validity or the potential generalizability of results, the statistical power of the study was calculated up front and representativeness of the participating schools in relation to other schools in Norway was examined. Baseline comparisons indicated that the addition of several design elements, such as the random invitation of multiple, stratified, and active comparison groups, may have reduced significant validity threats stemming from selection bias. The need for more accurate and reliable effect estimates in school-based evaluation research is discussed.

This paper describes three case studies, where language learners were invited to use "LingoBee" as a means of supporting their language learning. LingoBee is a mobile app that provides user-generated language content in a cloud-based shared repository. Assuming that today's students are mobile savvy and "Digital Natives" able to engage in language learning autonomously using technology, initial studies were conducted with little or no intervention by the language teachers. However, the support and guidance provided within a teacher-led context can impact positively on learner engagement and use of LingoBee. The authors discuss this hypothesis using three case studies conducted in three European countries, within the EU LLP project SIMOLA, Situated Mobile Language Learning. This paper answers the research question: Does the level of the support and guidance, pedagogical approach and prior learning impact on learners' engagement and use of LingoBee? An earlier version of this paper was presented at the IADIS Mobile Learning 2013 conference.

Purpose: Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) involves discretionary behaviour advantageous to the organisation that goes beyond existing role expectations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between the strength of accountability and teachers' OCB within three different management systems in which teachers are working: a system of assessment-based accountability; a system of the gradual introduction of accountability devices; and a system with no tests or examinations. Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modelling of cross-sectional surveys from the three different management systems was used to estimate the path coefficients and to compare the strength of relationships between concepts in the models. Findings: The analysis shows that the factors that influence OCB in an accountability regime are clearly different from those in a regime with weak or no accountability devices. Research limitations/implications: A cross-sectional study does not allow us to test causal relationships among antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour. The use of self-reported questionnaire data is another shortcoming. Furthermore, the response rates leave uncertainty about whether the samples are representative. Practical implications: The strength of accountability in education governance might influence OCB among teachers. Educational administrators could benefit from exploring this issue to help the establishment of institutional arrangements. Social implications: The paper shows that OCB amongst teachers is essential for the smooth functioning of schools for several reasons. Originality/value: The study integrates three strands of theories that have their focal points in employees' perceptions of exchange: Shore's theory on employee-organisation relationships; Bryk and Schneider's theory on trust in schools; and theories on accountability. (Contains 2 tables, 4 figures and 5 notes.)

The present paper investigates the relationship between the revised Adult Dyslexia Check List (ADCL), and the performance on a standardized battery of reading and spelling tests in adults, when used in an incarcerated population in Norway. The paper reports two sub studies. Study 1 examined the psychometric attributes of the ADCL by analysing the internal consistency and factor structure of the questionnaire. Six hundred subjects responded to the ADCL and also rated their self-perceived reading and writing difficulties on two simple graded scales. The ADCL yielded acceptable internal consistency and a three factor solution was identified in the Norwegian version of the ADCL. In study 2 the ADCL was analysed for its ability to predict objectively measured reading and spelling skills. Ninety-two incarcerated adults completed the test. Their ADCL scores, their response on the self-perception questions and the three factors were correlated with the subjects' achieved scores on the standardized reading and spelling test. The analyses revealed that participants' ADCL scores and their standardized test scores did not share much variance. However, self-perceived reading and writing difficulties correlated moderately with the standardized test. (Contains 8 tables.)

This paper is focused on virtual campuses, i.e. virtual worlds representing real educational institutions that are based on the metaphor of a university and provide users with different learning tools. More specifically, the idea of integrating a virtual campus into the context of a virtual city is suggested. Such a virtual city, where students live and work, can extend the possibilities of a virtual campus in supporting learning and socializing. This paper provides a description and analysis of an empirical case study that was performed to test and develop these ideas. Based on the results of the study, a set of guidelines for designing a virtual campus in a city context is presented. (Contains 15 figures.)

Web 2.0 technologies are becoming popular in teaching and learning environments. Among them several online collaborative writing tools, like wikis and blogs, have been integrated into educational settings. Research has been carried out on a wide range of subjects related to wikis, while other, comparable tools like Google Docs and EtherPad remain largely unexplored in the literature. This work presents a case study investigating education students' perceptions of collaborative writing using Google Docs and EtherPad. Both tools provide opportunity for multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously, have a separate space for written metacommunication, and are promoted by software designers to be fairly intuitive to adopt without prior training. The work investigates if perceptions depend on factors such as gender, age, digital competence, interest in digital tools, educational settings, and choice of writing tool, and examines if the tools are easy to use and effective in group work. This paper focuses on quantitative results of survey questionnaires. Further qualitative analysis will be presented in a later paper. The theoretical framework is drawn from two learning theories, the social-constructivist learning theory and the community of practice, and their relationships to collaborative tools. Related research literature is characterized by a number of issues: positive elements of use, advantages of using Web 2.0 technologies, critical issues regarding the pedagogical value of Web 2.0, and the role of the teacher in using these technologies. The case study participants were 201 education students who just began their four-year initial teacher education at two study programs with a total of six classes at the university Teacher Education Unit. They were assigned a collaborative writing task and asked to take an on-line survey on completion. When the survey closed, a total of 166 students (83.6%) had participated. The results were analyzed based on frequency distributions. The hypothesis that students with high digital competence and a positive attitude towards digital tools are more positive than average seems to be confirmed. Also gender does not play any particular role. As for younger students being more positive than older, the population of older students was so low that no conclusion can be drawn. The work does not validate that EtherPad users are more positive than Google Docs users, but this may be explained by EtherPad being unavailable for some time during the students' collaborative writing period. Furthermore only 13.9% of the students were motivated to use the tools for collaboration, and only a minority of the students (15.7%) reported that the quality of collaboration in the group increased with use of the tools. Likewise, the tools did not work as expected for a majority of the students (70.5%). Forty-seven percent of the students liked to comment and edit others contributions to group work. Although the results cannot be generalized to a larger group of students, and no definite conclusions can be drawn from the questionnaires about the usefulness and effectiveness of Google Docs and EtherPad for collaborative writing, the results cannot be underestimated since some results are consistent with the research literature. Future research consists of the qualitative evaluation of the students' comments to open ended-questions in the questionnaire, the students' collaborative essay papers, and their contributions to group work. It may also be important to examine the extent and quality of utilization of the tools for collaborative writing. Triangulation of the data collected may shed light on how they really perceived the effectiveness of Google Docs and EtherPad to support collaborative writing among students. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

This paper identifies and critiques literature on the experience of transition between primary and secondary school; how and why it is seen as critical and in what ways it can be supported. The aim of this literature review is to remind readers of this important period on the lives of young people and the diverse range of issues which they face. There is general consensus in the literature that well-designed and implemented transition approaches can assist in the process of supporting students, their families and school staff. Teachers are crucial in supporting children and young people moving in, between and out of school and making these transitions positive experiences. Therefore, pre-service teacher education needs to include awareness and understanding of the main issues in relation to transition. Teacher educators need to consider how they can incorporate transition programs and strategies in their courses to ensure that graduate teachers have the skills and knowledge to mediate some of the pressures that their students are facing when dealing with transitions. (Contains 1 figure.)

This paper reports on a questionnaire survey of 16 national libraries designed to clarify how national libraries attempt to justify their web archiving activities. Results indicate they envisage that a) the benefits brought about by their initiatives are greater than the overall costs, b) the costs imposed on libraries are greater than the costs imposed on stakeholders, and c) all of them are making efforts to respond to legal risks in various ways (e.g. legislation, contracting and opt-out policies) although there are trade-off relations in terms of costs for negotiation, scope of access and size and scope of the web archive. The paper discusses whether a basic logic for justification of their web archiving is valid from the perspective of balancing cost-benefit. Further, it highlights the potential, underlying premises of the logic that motivates the intervention of national libraries as public sector organizations. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

Most studies on reusable digital learning materials, learning objects (LOs), relate to their use in universities. Few empirical studies exist to explore the impact of LOs on pedagogy, especially in schools. This paper provides evidence from an evaluation of the use of LOs in schools. The evidence is from a European Union-funded project, Context eLearning with Broadband Technologies (CELEBRATE), involving 500 schools in six countries across Europe, in a pilot to examine the impact of LOs on pedagogy. It brought together producers and users to try out technically and pedagogically sound ways of producing, making available through a portal, and using LOs. This paper reports data from both quantitative and qualitative studies conducted during 2004, including: online surveys (of all the teachers involved), routine data from the portal and semi-structured interviews in 40 schools in all six countries. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 12 notes.)

The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss some communicative opportunities currently emerging in networked classrooms and their implications for didactics. In particular, I examine multiple contexts that appear and how they give rise to diverse practices. However, such practices often have their origin in out-of-school contexts and not in institutional discourse and curricula. Consequently, we need to understand how these practices can be explored and exploited in educational contexts. Otherwise, schools risk losing out on important cultural change and may fail to prepare learners for emergent communicative opportunities and requirements. In this paper, which is based on a longitudinal study of Norwegian teachers of English practising in technology-rich environments, I discuss the implications of teaching in and across multiple contexts that emerge in technology-rich environments. Findings indicate that we need to develop our notion of didactics so that it supports teachers working across multiple contexts. As such, didactics takes on the characteristics of a boundary object that mediates learning in and across different social worlds.

In this paper the academic English reading proficiency of 578 Norwegian university students was quantitatively examined. Self-assessment items were used to measure reading proficiency in Norwegian and English and validated using an International English Language Testing System Academic Reading Module. The study found that about 30% of the respondents had serious difficulties reading English, while an additional 44% found it more difficult than reading in their first language. The main problems encountered were unfamiliar vocabulary and slow reading, while extracurricular readers and respondents who were able to guess word meanings from context had higher reading scores. Poor language proficiency was a problem for many, to the extent that they fell below the linguistic threshold level. The study showed that, contrary to expectations, Norwegian EFL instruction at upper-secondary schools fails to develop the academic English reading proficiency needed for higher education. (Contains 4 tables.)

Over time international large-scale assessments have grown in terms of number of studies, cycles, and participating countries, many of which are a heterogeneous mix of economies, languages, cultures, and geography. This heterogeneity has meaningful consequences for comparably measuring both achievement and non-achievement constructs, such as social and emotional skills. In this paper we propose one way to directly incorporate country-specific differences into the methods used to construct background scales. We use research that demonstrates data quality issues in international assessment and the degree to which these issues can impact inferences. Our proposed solution incorporates innovations that have been developed for achievement measures but have not been applied to background scales. We demonstrate this possible solution with PISA 2012 data.

This paper reports on the results from administering a modified version of the Introductory Astronomy Questionnaire (IAQ) to middle school students and preservice science teachers in Norway. Ranking tasks formed a key part of the instrument, and we detail a new method for analyzing ranking task data. One of our main findings was that even after instruction, a significant proportion of students held erroneous views and conceptions regarding sizes, distances, and the nature of basic astronomical entities, such as stars and planets. We argue that the commonalities between some of the issues we identified and those presented in extant studies--from a variety of countries, with samples ranging from junior high school students and undergraduates to primary school teachers--may point to deeper cognitive issues inherent in, and possibly unique to, engaging with astronomy.

This paper presents the experienced difficulties of students participating in the multidisciplinary, remote collaborating engineering design course challenge-based innovation at CERN. This is with the aim to identify learning barriers and improve future learning experiences. We statistically analyse the rated differences between distinct design activities, educational background and remote vs. co-located collaboration. The analysis is based on a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire (N = 37). Our analysis found significant ranking differences between remote and co-located activities. This questions whether the remote factor might be a barrier for the originally intended learning goals. Further a correlation between analytical and converging design phases was identified. Hence, future facilitators are suggested to help students in the transition from one design phase to the next rather than only teaching methods in the individual design phases. Finally, we discuss how educators address the identified learning barriers when designing future courses including multidisciplinary or remote collaboration.

Extensive research emphasises the importance of parental involvement for children's learning and academic achievement. This paper reports from a Norwegian study researching parents' experiences on follow-up after their child's cochlear implantation. Within this context, parental involvement is suggested to be of major importance for the child's language learning. The study explores the parents' talk on their involvement in the child's language after implantation. Data consist of 27 written parental accounts and interviews with 14 of these parents. The analysis shows the parents' extensive involvement in the child's language learning. The study brings into conversation how understandings of learning influence parental involvement, leading to implications for the parents and children involved. It addresses a need for debate on how parents can support children's learning, whilst avoiding parenthood becoming a series of educational tasks.

A crucial skill for researchers in inter- and transdisciplinary environmental projects is the ability to be reflexive about knowledge and knowledge production. Few studies exist on the operationalization of reflexive skills and teaching and learning strategies that help students master these skills. This research aims to contribute in this direction. We distinguished two components of reflexive skills: (i) assessing the relative contributions of scientific disciplines and non-academic knowledge in addressing environmental issues; (ii) assessing the role of norms and values in research. We developed a framework for teaching and learning reflexive skills and evaluated this framework within a quasi-experimental educational setting involving 3 groups of 30 students. Students' reflexive skills were assessed quantitatively using a pre- and post-test questionnaire. Moreover, students' reflection papers were analysed to get a better understanding of their perspectives on the teaching and learning framework. We show that it is possible to train students in reflexive skills, but it requires a well-designed learning setting.

Introduction: In this paper, Spanish future primary teachers' pedagogical knowledge of numbers and operation, as revealed through their results in the TEDS-M ("Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics"), is compared with that of two other groups. The first group are the future primary teachers of other OECD countries that also participated in the study: Norway, Germany, Chile and Poland. The second group are the future primary teachers of participating countries where preservice teachers receive training similar to Spain's teacher training, namely, China-Taipei, Singapore, United States, Philippines and Switzerland. Method: To meet this objective, data was analyzed and parameters were calculated based on categories that characterize the pedagogical knowledge required to correctly answer the questions in this conceptual domain, using response assessment criteria. Results: We found that Spanish prospective teachers have lower results, in general, than those of the other OECD countries and of countries in the group with similar training programs. The Spanish scores are lower than Norwegian, Swiss and Singaporean scores in all aspects considered. For most categories, Spain obtained higher scores than Philippines and Chile, and similar scores to the U.S.A. Discussion: When comparing the results from the OECD countries that participated in the two international studies, TEDS-M and TIMSS 2011 (Spain, Poland, USA, Norway, Germany and Chile), we find that their relative positions are maintained in the ranking of assessed mathematical knowledge of numbers and operations, whether in preservice teachers or in primary students. Spanish results in the TIMSS are just above Poland and Chile and below the rest. The results obtained in this study may be useful in the current syllabus design process for subjects in the Elementary Teacher Education degree.

In this paper an analysis is carried out whether objective tests and subjective self-assessments in international large-scale studies yield similar results when looking at cross-national differences in the effects of skills on earnings, and skills patterns across countries, fields of study and gender. The findings indicate that subjective skills measures do not correlate well with objective measures of similar constructs when looking at cross-national differences. Countrywise associations between subjective skills measures and earnings do not correlate well with those found using objective skills measures. Moreover, cross-national differences in the level of subjective skills measures do not correlate well with cross-national differences in skill levels based on objective tests. Nor do gender differences found using subjective skills measures correlate with those found using objective skills measures. This does not mean that self-assessments cannot be used, but they need to be restricted to analysing within-country differences. Within countries, self-assessments do a good job in predicting skills differences across fields of study and also in predicting the effect of skills on earnings. When comparing gender differences in skills levels within countries, however, one needs to be aware that females tend to overestimate their skills levels in typical "female" domains like literacy.

Purpose: This paper aims to research about the effect of mind-body training on the development of emotional competencies of managers. Design/methodology/approach: Quasi-experimental design, i.e. before and after (test-retest). Findings: Results showed that the experimental group, after training, achieved around 15 per cent higher scores compared to results before training on all three subscales of an emotional skills and competence questionnaire (ESCQ-45), a statistically significant improvement in scores. The control group (no training) scores showed no significant difference. This result indicates support for the view that emotional intelligence may be treated as a competency and is responsive to training programmes. Research limitations/implications: Emotional competencies are still a contested concept. The participants may provide socially desirable responses because of the self-assessment questionnaires. The sample is not a representative sample of European managers; hence, there is a limited generalisability of the results. Practical implications: These research findings indicate Mind-body training is a practical method for people to improve the management of their emotions, and hence impact positively on core organisational activities. Originality/value: This is the first research on this mind-body training (emotional relief technique) in an eight-week programme in a management context. The findings indicate the positive impact that can be achieved on emotional competencies scores from this method of self-development.

This paper explores teacher-reported prevalence of rough-and-tumble play (R&T) in preschool and investigates how their restriction to such play varies in different play environments (indoor and outdoor). An electronic questionnaire exploring preschool teachers' beliefs and practices regarding children's dramatic play themes was conducted by 138 female Norwegian preschool teachers. The results show that the teacher-reported prevalence of nurture/care and house/family types of dramatic play is higher among girls than among boys, while superhero play, pretend fighting, chase games and protect/rescue play is more prevalent among boys than girls. The results also show that play-fighting and chase games are the dramatic play types most restricted by the preschool teachers, and that R&T play is significantly less restricted in outdoor environments compared to indoors. The results are discussed within a Norwegian early childhood education and care (ECEC) context and implications for ECEC practice are suggested.

Having been the scene of language planning for more than a century in relation to the two competing written standards of Norwegian, Norwegian language planners are now facing a new challenge: how to deal with what has been termed "domain loss" where Norwegian is perceived as losing out to English in important sectors of society, including higher education. Despite being widely used in public debate, in policy documents and in survey research, the concept of "domain loss" is currently under-theorised. As the present study of linguistic practices in an English-medium MSc programme shows, practice is complex and multilingual and includes code-switching in a way that the term "domain loss" or language planning policies do not fully capture. The paper thus attempts to bridge the gap between research on code-switching in the tradition of Peter Auer on the one hand and research on domain loss and language planning on the other.

It can be difficult for students to relate theoretical knowledge and practical skills when making the transition from the classroom to professional practice. The concept of coherence has been suggested as an appropriate way to address how the relationships involved (i.e. between theoretical knowledge and practical skills and between classroom teaching and professional practice) affect the development of professional knowledge and skills. Three types of coherence are addressed in this paper: (1) biographical coherence: pre-enrolment experience; (2) programme coherence: the extent to which the theoretical and practical parts of the curriculum are integrated in teaching and placement, respectively and (3) transitional coherence: the relationship between learning outcomes in education and the first few years as newly qualified professionals. Four professional groups are examined: primary school teachers, preschool teachers, nurses and social workers. Data are drawn from a longitudinal survey in which students answered a questionnaire at the end of their studies and at three years after graduation. Results indicate that all three types of coherence have a significant impact on students' and newly qualified professionals' outcomes in terms of theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Moreover, programme coherence is an important factor not only in classroom teaching but also in placement.

The significant increase of entrepreneurship education (EE) is a trend in Europe. Entrepreneurship education is supposed to promote general and specific entrepreneurial abilities and improve academic performance. This paper evaluates whether EE influences academic performance, measured by Grade Point Average. The main indicator used for EE is the Company Program (CP), a program taught in upper-secondary school in 40 European countries. The data derive from surveys conducted in Norway in 2008 (1,400 pupils) and 2011 (1,100 post-graduates). Results from econometric analyses show that there is no difference in the GPA between participants in CP and other forms of EE and non-participants. This indicates that EE is neither good, nor bad as a teaching method for improvement of academic performance.

Introduction: Radiotherapy is the main treatment modality in cancer. There is sparse knowledge on how patients with cancer experience their radiotherapy trajectory, and which factors might be associated with patients' experiences. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to explore how adults with cancer receiving radiotherapy evaluate the quality of their care, utilizing a patient-reported experience measure, and how patient- and service-related characteristics are associated with their evaluation. Methods: An explorative cross-sectional study using a self-completed questionnaire to assess patients' radiotherapy experiences was performed. Participants were recruited consecutively, within their last week of treatment, from two different hospitals in Norway from January 2021 to January 2022. Four hundred and eighty paper questionnaires were distributed to recruited patients, 240 at each hospital. Questionnaires were self-completed at home and returned by mail. The instrument person-centered coordinated care experience questionnaire (P3CEQ) was used. In addition to this, participants completed the European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and The Sense of Coherence 13 scale (SOC-13). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, parametric tests, and unadjusted/adjusted linear regression models were estimated. Results: The study included 373 patients. Patients evaluated quality of care in terms of P3CEQ scores, with a mean score of 19.5 (standard deviation = 5.4). Lowest scores were identified in areas concerning person-centeredness and service coordination. There were no significant differences in P3CEQ scores between the younger and older groups. Having a partner and better SOC-13 scores were independently associated with the overall patient-reported experience score, whereas age was not. Conclusion: Patient-reported experience scores indicate that improvements are needed in some areas, such as informing and involving patients in the planning and coordination of their care. Findings suggest paying special attention to patients without a partner to offer patients the best possible care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of problem-solving tasks on mentoring received, peer mentoring and mentoring provided. Design/methodology/approach: This cross-sectional survey was based on a questionnaire that was sent to a total of 435 employees from 29 pre-schools in Norway. A total of 284 responses were returned, a response rate of 65.3 per cent. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to assess the validity and reliability of measurement scales. Research questions were formulated. Stepwise regression analysis was recommended to assess the magnitude and direction of the independent variable on the three dependent variables, when controlled for by demographic and career variables. Findings: The results revealed that problem-solving tasks have a positive and significant influence on mentoring received, peer mentoring and mentoring provided. This means that performing unfamiliar tasks increases the occurrence of the three mentoring roles. Research limitations/implications: The independent variables only explained 14 per cent, 30 per cent and 38 per cent of mentoring received, peer-mentoring and mentoring provided, respectively. Thus, other job characteristics, for example specialization, need further investigation to uncover the influence of job characteristics on mentoring. Practical implications: Problem-solving tasks will be a challenge for educational leadership to coordinate the mentoring roles according to the changing nature of work in pre-schools. Originality/value: There is no previous research that investigates how job characteristics in general and problem-solving tasks in particular influence the occurrence of mentoring relationships. (Contains 3 tables.)

To gain a deeper understanding of mentor preparation, which is still an underdeveloped area, the current paper focuses on a formal mentor education programme offered to teachers in secondary school at a university in Norway. The research questions in this qualitative study examine why teachers participate in the programme, how they perceive the education and which parts of the programme they value. The underlying question is whether mentor education matters. The findings show that the mentor students in the programme moved from a practical towards a more conceptual understanding of mentoring. They developed "a mentor language, a mentor network and a mentor attitude". There is, however, a limited understanding of mentor education in schools, and being a mentor is not recognised as a profession.

Relations between socio-economic differences and health have previously been well documented, but women's education level and relative attitudes towards children's health development has been seldom found in studies. This paper examines the relation between women's education level and their attitudes in understanding kindergarten children's health and its positive development in practice. Kindergartens in Norway offer preschool children of ages one to six years not only care, but also an educational environment that benefits each child. Mothers of children in kindergarten and kindergarten employees were asked to fill out a questionnaire. Twelve kindergartens were included in this research, totalling 310 adults. Overall 196 mothers and 114 kindergarten employees answered questions about their attitudes concerning children's health. Results indicated that highly educated mothers seem to lay more emphasis on different aspects of positive health development in children than mothers with a lower-education level. However, kindergarten employees' responses were unaffected by education level. Instead, there seemed to be a more homogeneous understanding of the factors promoting positive health for children. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of adults' understanding, knowledge and attitudes towards health-related issues and their impacts on kindergarten children's positive health development. (Contains 6 tables.)

The aim of this paper is to describe the classroom participation of primary school children with disabilities who attend regular schools in Norway; to explore how relations between children with disabilities and their environment change, and further to chart how schools act in response to such change. The analyses are based on a life course study with data gathered from interviews and questionnaires given to the parents of children with disabilities born in the period between 1993 and 1995. The results show an increasing marginalisation of children with disabilities who receive their primary school education at regular schools. Despite the fact that public policies in Norway are based on a relational understanding of disability, thus suggesting that educators would make considerable efforts to accommodate children with disabilities in regular schools, the reality is that schools take an individual approach to children with disabilities which reflects a medical understanding of disability. (Contains 2 tables.)