Bringing Real Life into the Classroom: Learning in Nearness & Distance

This article details and reflects on how student learning was elevated to a new level through inviting real life into the classroom of a course in cultural understanding, aimed at engineering students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. In preceding years, the learning was organized as two group assignments where students authored a make-believe narrative, wherein a technical project was accomplished in collaboration with a foreign party. This year, the students’ second project was a collaboration with social science students from the West University in Timișoara. The students not only learned facts about Romanian culture, but, more importantly, they became immersed in culture as an experience and a process, observing a turn from culture understood as a reified scientific entity, to culture as an environment or lifeworld. Rather than trying to approach culture at a distance, distance itself became the students’ environment. Only as the students came to accept a state of unknowing, with associated feelings of frustration and anxiety, were they able to dwell in a nearness to Romanian culture quite unlike that in which a “native” dwells. The students’ project solutions evocate this nearness. In previous projects, cultural challenges were hurdles for the technical product that needed solving much like any technical hurdle. This relationship was flipped upside down in the real collaboration, putting technical products in the service of culture rather than the other way around. We show and discuss how our open-ended pedagogical philosophy was critical in unlocking this new level of learning.Bringing Real Life into the Classroom: Learning in Nearness & DistancepublishedVersio

Gaming motivation and well-being among Norwegian adult gamers: the role of gender and disability

Introduction: Digital gaming is a popular and often social activity, also among adults. However, we need more knowledge of the social dynamics of gaming and its potential benefits for one's well-being. The current study aimed to examine gaming motivation, time spent gaming, and gaming performed together with friends, family, or romantic partner and how these aspects relate to expanded social network and well-being among men and women with and without disability. Methods: Regular players of the popular game Fortnite Battle Royale (FBR; N = 278, 48.5% women, Mage = 32.38) completed an online questionnaire assessing their motivations for playing FBR (social motivation, achievement motivation, novelty motivation), time spent gaming, whom they usually play with, their psychological well-being, and FBR's impact on their life and social network. Differentiated statistical analyses on gender and disability were performed. Results and discussion: The results showed that time spent gaming and social motivation to play were associated with larger social networks for all participants (strongest for women). More time spent gaming FBR was also associated with a positive impact on life for those with a disability. Social motivation to play was positively associated with a positive impact on life for men and those without a disability and increased well-being for women. Novelty motivation, which concerns experiencing new features in the game, was associated with a positive impact on life for women and with a decrease in well-being for those with a disability. This study demonstrated that gaming can be an essential social arena associated with positive outcomes for men, women and disabled people, who—when socially motivated—may expand their social networks through gaming.publishedVersio

Årlig rapportering om utviklingshemmetes bosituasjon : Utvidet undersøkelse om informasjon i Kommunalt pasient-og brukerregister

Denne rapporten har som mål å undersøke om det er hensiktsmessig å koble Kommunalt pasient og bruker register (KPR) med en allerede identifisert populasjon av utviklingshemmete. Denne populasjonen er identifisert gjennom NAVs register av personer som mottar helserelaterte ytelser basert på en primærdiagnose assosiert med utviklingshemming. Formålet med denne koblingen er å se om vi får et bedre grunnlag for å beskrive bosituasjonen til utviklingshemmete i Norge.Årlig rapportering om utviklingshemmetes bosituasjon : Utvidet undersøkelse om informasjon i Kommunalt pasient-og brukerregisterpublishedVersio

Helsehjelp til barn i barnevernet - Behov, barrierer og helsetjenestebruk

Hovedmålet med rapporten er å undersøke om barn og unge som enten er i barnevernsinstitusjon, i fosterhjem eller som får tiltak i hjemmet, får den helsehjelpen de trenger. Dette undersøkes i tre delprosjekter. I rapportens del 1 undersøker vi behov for, tilgang til, og erfaringer med helsehjelp - slik det oppleves av barn og unge samt foreldre og fosterforeldre. Datagrunnlaget er kvalitative intervjuer og en survey. I del 2 undersøkes barrierer for helsehjelp, og hva som bidrar til helsehjelp. Datagrunnlaget er en studie av saksmapper i fire kommuner og fire institusjoner, og intervjuer med saksbehandlere og ledere i barnevern, helseansvarlige i barnevernsinstitusjoner og fagpersoner i samarbeidende tjenester utenfor barnevern. Del 3 undersøker helsetjenestebruk hos barn i barnevern sammenlignet med barne- og ungdomsbefolkningen generelt ved hjelp av en kobling av data fra ulike registre. I del 4 gis en oppsummerende diskusjon av samtlige problemstillinger, og anbefalinger for veien videre.Helsehjelp til barn i barnevernet - Behov, barrierer og helsetjenestebrukpublishedVersio

Evaluering av utviklingsprosjekter i NTNU Toppundervisning

Denne rapporten er resultatet av en evaluering bestilt av NTNU i tilknytning til utviklingsprosjekter ved NTNU Toppundervisning.Evaluering av utviklingsprosjekter i NTNU ToppundervisningpublishedVersio

Oppfølgingsstudie av nytt integrert institusjonstilbud mellom barnevern og helse

Denne rapporten sammenfatter funnene i prosjektet «Oppfølgingsstudie av nytt integrert institusjonstilbud mellom barnevern og helse».». Prosjektet har vært gjennomført i perioden mars 2021 til april 2024, og er et samarbeid mellom NTNU Samfunnsforskning og Regionalt kunnskapssenter for barn og unge, psykisk helse og barnevern (RKBU) i Midt-Norge ved Institutt for psykisk helse, NTNU. Oppdragsgiver er Barne-, ungdoms- og familiedirektoratet (Bufdir).Oppfølgingsstudie av nytt integrert institusjonstilbud mellom barnevern og helsepublishedVersio

From Trivial to Critical. Emergent Interagency Collaboration Through Co-Location of Emergency Call Centrals

This paper studies the role of day-to-day social interaction among emergency call central operators and its effect on interagency collaboration in emergencies. In 2017 the police, fire and health emergency call centrals in a region in Norway were co-located. This was done largely retaining their formal structures and responsibilities, which follows strict sectorial boundaries. However, the proximity afforded by co-location −placing the centrals in the same building− led to the emergence of informal interactional patterns among the operators. Much of this interaction is seemingly trivial and only loosely connected to resolution of critical tasks. Our study, however, shows that it formed a basis for improved collaboration and development within the centrals. Through an ethnographically oriented normal operations study, our focus is not primarily on the outcomes of spatial proximity during emergencies, rather on the processes leading up to the outcomes: How the foundations emerge for quality in critical moments, how trust was established in the first place, how the involved actors could learn to know what others know, and how a learning-oriented community of practice was developed over time. In interviews, our informants were surprisingly uniform in their positive assessment of the co-location. The main question of the paper is thus not whether the operators were satisfied with the change, but more why, and whether this perceived improvement affected the outcome of their work in terms of emergency response capabilities. The paper thus argues for the importance of the social “undercurrents” evolving over time—the informal, trivial and often organizationally “invisible,” day-to-day interaction that provides the collaborative basis for dealing with critical situations.publishedVersio

"When you are alone you have a narrow mind, but when you are with others you think broader into the other aspects". A qualitative study on the role of sense of belonging and mattering in attempted suicide in Uganda

Introduction: Suicide is globally a severe problem with an estimated 700.000 deaths annually.Six of the 10 countries with the highest suicide rates worldwide are in Africa, though, reliablestatistics are scarce.Method: In this qualitative interview study in Uganda, we analysed the stories of 16 peopleadmitted to hospital following a serious suicide attempt. We focussed especially on eachperson’s decision process towards their resolution to attempt suicide.Findings: Despite the huge heterogeneity of the narratives, we could identify problemsregarding the sense of belonging and mattering in all the stories. Both the sense of belongingand mattering have been related to suicidal behaviour in earlier theories, but they were neverstudied together or under consideration of the influence of this specific cultural context. Wefound that the participants’ sense of belonging and mattering to a large degree wasinfluenced by their traditional communalistic context with a worldview where the linebetween the natural and spiritual world was blurry.Conclusion: This kind of knowledge could be a valuable source for health professionals intheir treatment of suicidal persons; it could direct their approach to the core of each person’srelational problems and meaning-making, which is crucial for their decisions with regard tosuicide.publishedVersio

“Breaking a vicious cycle”: the reproduction of ableism in higher education and its impact on students with disabilities

Introduction: Despite the widespread promotion of inclusive learning environments, students with disabilities have to exert time and effort in gaining accommodations and proving themselves as competent individuals. In following up a factorial survey experiment that found that students with disabilities are considered less likely to achieve their educational goals compared to students without, this study explored how understandings of inclusive education and disability are constructed within Norwegian higher education institutions. Method: Nineteen employees across 10 universities participated in focus group interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were generated: (1) determining the role of the educator, (2) knowing how, when, and why to grant accommodations, (3) calling for action from the university. Discussion: Overall, the findings suggest that understandings of inclusion are ambiguous and characterized by juxtaposing ideals. The participants’ accounts illustrate how they are tasked with promoting inclusion while simultaneously protecting their respective professions. Thus, despite being considered a resource based on their diversity, students with disabilities are still expected to fit into an environment designed for mainstream learners. In discussing these findings in light of ableist theory, we argue that more action is needed on a systemic level to restructure how inclusive education is understood and practiced.publishedVersio

Final Research Evaluation Report of Project Employment : Vocational pathways for high school students with disabilities in Perth

People with disabilities are less likely to be in the labour force and more likely to be unemployed than their non-disabled peers. This is the case in Australia, as elsewhere in the developed world. As employment is the main source of income for most people, it is not surprising that people with disabilities therefore are at greater risk of poverty than their non-disabled peers. Transition opportunities from school have been identified as important for positive vocational outcomes for young adults with disabilities. Vocational education and training (VET), particularly apprenticeships and traineeships (A&T) that incorporates work-based learning, is one strategy EDGE Employment Solutions (EDGE) has drawn upon over the past several decades to support persons with disabilities obtaining and maintaining meaningful work. EDGE has also developed and delivered other programs to support young adults with disabilities obtaining and maintaining meaningful work and Project Employment can be viewed as a continuation of EDGE’s commitment to supporting young people with disabilities have positive vocational transitions into meaningful work.Final Research Evaluation Report of Project Employment : Vocational pathways for high school students with disabilities in PerthpublishedVersio