Zoekresultaten

Fostering students’ reflection

This study investigates the knowledge that experienced teachers draw on when fostering students’ reflections. Reflective skills are crucial for advancing students’ learning. In order to promote students’ reflection productively, extensive support and scaffolding from teachers is indispensible. However, teachers are in need of more guidance in this area. To inspire pedagogies for teacher training, this study provides insight into the knowledge that teachers employ when they are engaged with promoting their students to reflect. Video vignette interviews were administered to 36 teachers in secondary vocational education for nursing to elicit their knowledge. Interview transcripts were coded using categories for assessing teachers’ curricular, pedagogical and instructional knowledge. To investigate relations between the elements of teachers’ knowledge, we performed a lag-sequential analysis that enables statistical testing of observed sequences of categorised events. Four salient relations between elements of teacher knowledge emerged: (1) instructional knowledge as instrumental to construing pedagogical knowledge; (2) instructional knowledge contingent on pedagogical knowledge; (3) instructional knowledge and curricular knowledge related to fostering critical reflection; and (4) instructional knowledge and curricular knowledge related to fostering planning. Implications for teacher training are discussed. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2016.1225790

Teachers' knowledge about language in mathematics professional development courses

Explicit language objectives are included in the Swedish national curriculum for mathematics. The curriculum states that students should be given opportunities to develop the ability to formulate problems, use and analyse mathematical concepts and relationships between concepts, show and follow mathematical reasoning, and use mathematical expressions in discussions. Teachers’ competence forms a crucial link to bring an intended curriculum to a curriculum in action. This article investigates a professional development program, ‘Language in Mathematics’, within a national program for mathematics teachers in Sweden that aims at implementing the national curriculum into practice. Two specific aspects are examined: the selection of theoretical notions on language and mathematics and the choice of activities to relate selected theory to practice. From this examination, research on teacher learning in connection to professional development is proposed, which can contribute to a better understanding of teachers’ interpretation of integrated approaches to language and mathematics across national contexts.

Using epistemic synchronization index (ESI) to measure students’ knowledge elaboration process in CSCL

Researchers in CSCL have used a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods to track students' cognitive involvement during collaboration. However, neither individual method suffices the need to capture the dynamic evolvement of students' epistemic engagement in CSCL. We developed Epistemic Synchronization Index (ESI) to quantify students' epistemic engagement and evolvement. ESI reveals the knowledge elaboration process of groups, and it helps researchers as well as teachers to distinguish epistemic involvement between members within one group.

How to overcome overcome the barriers when producing Mooc's or knowledge clips.

Learning with Interactive Knowledge Representations

Computers are promising tools for providing educational experiences that meet individual learning needs. However, delivering this promise in practice is challenging, particularly when automated feedback is essential and the learning extends beyond using traditional methods such as writing and solving mathematics problems. We hypothesize that interactive knowledge representations can be deployed to address this challenge. Knowledge representations differ markedly from concept maps. Where the latter uses nodes (concepts) and arcs (links between concepts), a knowledge representation is based on an ontology that facilitates automated reasoning. By adjusting this reasoning towards interacting with learners for the benefit of learning, a new class of educational instruments emerges. In this contribution, we present three projects that use an interactive knowledge representation as their foundation. DynaLearn supports learners in acquiring system thinking skills. Minds-On helps learners to deepen their understanding of phenomena while performing experiments. Interactive Concept Cartoons engage learners in a science-based discussion about controversial topics. Each of these approaches has been developed iteratively in collaboration with teachers and tested in real classrooms, resulting in a suite of lessons available online. Evaluation studies involving pre-/post-tests and action-log data show that learners are easily capable of working with these educational instruments and that the instruments thus enable a semi-automated approach to constructive learning.

The effect of a combined lifestyle intervention with and without protein drink on inflammation in older adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes

Background: Chronic low-grade inflammatory profile (CLIP) is one of the pathways involved in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Currently, there is limited evidence for ameliorating effects of combined lifestyle interventions on CLIP in type 2 diabetes. We investigated whether a 13-week combined lifestyle intervention, using hypocaloric diet and resistance exercise plus high-intensity interval training with or without consumption of a protein drink, affected CLIP in older adults with T2D. Methods: In this post-hoc analysis of the PROBE study 114 adults (≥55 years) with obesity and type 2 (pre-)diabetes had measurements of C-reactive protein (CRP), pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6, tumor-necrosis-factor (TNF)-α, and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10, IL-1 receptor antagonist (RA), and soluble tumor-necrosis-factor receptor (sTNFR)1, adipokines leptin and adiponectin, and glycation biomarkers carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) and soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) from fasting blood samples. A linear mixed model was used to evaluate change in inflammatory biomarkers after lifestyle intervention and effect of the protein drink. Linear regression analysis was performed with parameters of body composition (by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and parameters of insulin resistance (by oral glucose tolerance test). Results: There were no significant differences in CLIP responses between the protein and the control groups. For all participants combined, IL-1RA, leptin and adiponectin decreased after 13 weeks (p = 0.002, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001), while ratios TNF-α/IL-10 and TNF-α/IL-1RA increased (p = 0.003 and p = 0.035). CRP increased by 12 % in participants with low to average CLIP (pre 1.91 ± 0.39 mg/L, post 2.13 ± 1.16 mg/L, p = 0.006) and decreased by 36 % in those with high CLIP (pre 5.14 mg/L ± 1.20, post 3.30 ± 2.29 mg/L, p < 0.001). Change in leptin and IL-1RA was positively associated with change in fat mass (β = 0.133, p < 0.001; β = 0.017, p < 0.001) and insulin resistance (β = 0.095, p = 0.024; β = 0.020, p = 0.001). Change in lean mass was not associated with any of the biomarkers. Conclusion: 13 weeks of combined lifestyle intervention, either with or without protein drink, reduced circulating adipokines and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-1RA, and increased inflammatory ratios TNF-α/IL-10 and TNF-α/IL-1RA in older adults with obesity and T2D. Effect on CLIP was inversely related to baseline inflammatory status.