Programutbildningar på distans - Erfarenhetsutbyte och utvärdering

The aim of this project has been to survey the advantages and problems that arise when a programme is transformed from being a campus education to a distance education. The paper is based on experiences gained during discussions in the project group and on the results from two surveys answered by programme coordinators from more than 20 universities in Sweden. By sharing experiences the members of the project group have been more successful in their work to improve distance education and support other teachers during planning and realization. The experiences from distance education have a positive effect on campus education. The project group found that it is very important to share experiences and discuss how to realize a successful distance education; forums for discussion must be created. The paper ends with recommendations and matters to consider when starting a distance programme. Examination process must be adapted to distance education (i.e. net based examination, virtual oral examination). Increase the use of synchronous communication to enhance collaborative learning. Develop a common policy for how distance education should be carried out and disseminate it among all teachers and students (i.e. response time, handling of examination, compulsory meetings). Facilitate possibilities for students to change from a distance program to a campus based program and vice versa. Facilitate planed flexibilities to make it easier for students that want to combine studies with work (life long learning)

Role of the dopamine system in motor skill learning : implications for neurodevelopmental disorders

Dopamine (DA), released by midbrain neurons, is critical for motor performance, motor skill learning, and corticostriatal synaptic plasticity. Dysregulation of DAergic signaling in corticostriatal circuitry has also been implicated in several highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention/deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which are often associated with deficits in fine motor skills. However, the cellular and molecular pathways mediating the effects of DA are still poorly understood. In the present thesis, we used a skilled reaching task to investigate potential DAergic mechanisms contributing to the acquisition and performance of fine motor skills (i.e., skilled reaching and grasping). To explore the influence of natural genetic variation in the DA system in motor skill learning, we took advantage of two inbred strains of mice (i.e., BALB/c and C57BL/6) that differ markedly in the number of midbrain DA neurons. We demonstrate significant variation in skilled reaching behavior in these two strains. Specifically, variations in the rate of motor learning correlated with divergent DA-related gene expression (e.g., DA D1 receptors and DARPP-32) in frontal cortex and striatum. These results implicate genetically driven variation in frontostriatal DAergic neurotransmission as a key contributor to individual differences in fine motor skill. To identify brain activity patterns associated with different phases of motor skill learning, we studied the induction of the plasticity-related gene Arc (also known as Arg3.1), and also investigated learning-induced changes in the DA system. In the early phase of motor skill learning, Arc mRNA was significantly induced in the corticostriatal circuitry, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), cingulate cortex, primary motor cortex, and striatum. In the late phase, however, a shift in the expression pattern of Arc was evident–with a significant decrease in Arc mRNA in most regions examined (except in the mPFC and striatum). There were also significant changes in the expression of DA D1 receptors and their intracellular target DARPP-32 in the striatum (but not cortical regions) during the early, but not late, phase of motor skill learning. Analysis of the phosphorylation state of dopamine- and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein, Mr 32 kDa (DARPP-32) and its downstream target cAMP response element- binding protein (CREB) in the striatum indicated increased levels of phospho-Thr34-DARPP- 32 and phospho-Ser133-CREB during the early, but not late, phase of motor skill learning. These findings implicate the cAMP/PKA/DARPP-32 signaling pathway in the acquisition of novel motor skills, and also demonstrate a dynamic shift in the contribution of corticostriatal circuitry during different phases of motor skill learning. Finally, we explored whether spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), the most commonly used genetic animal model of ADHD, is valid for investigating fine motor skill problems displayed by the majority of children with ADHD. Although SHRs could learn the skilled reaching task, their performance is significantly poorer than that of control rats in the most sensitive measure of skilled performance (i.e., success on the first attempt). However, gross motor coordination appears to be normal in SHRs, suggesting that the SHR strain displays specific deficits only in fine motor skills. Moreover, DARPP-32 was significantly higher expressed in corticostriatal circuitry of SHR compared to controls. Our results support the notion that the SHR strain is a useful animal model system to investigate potential molecular mechanisms underlying fine motor skill problems in ADHD. The present thesis gives evidence supporting the notion that normal genetic variation in the DAergic system might contribute substantially to variability in the acquisition of motor skills in humans. More specifically, the results suggest the involvement of the D1R/cAMP/DARPP- 32 signaling pathway in those neurodevelopmental disorders that are associated with fine motor skill deficits

Technology in education, necessary but not sufficient : understanding learning with virtual patients

With the rapid technological development and the broadening access to computers over recent decades, several technological innovations have emerged in medical education, including virtual patients. Students’ use of virtual patients is proposed to fill gaps in clinical exposure, and train clinical reasoning. However, higher education faculties have been slow to adopt new technology as a regular part of curricula. Virtual patients and similar technologies have either been implemented by enthusiastic teachers or by university policy directives. A possible reason for the low uptake of virtual patients in curricula is a lack of a clear understanding of how their use contributes to student learning. The four studies described in this thesis address learning with virtual patients from three perspectives: the student perspective on learning with virtual patients; the course integration perspective; and the individual study strategy perspective. A mixed methods approach was used given the overarching interest to seek understanding and clarification of student learning with virtual patients. Data were gathered by research interviews with medical students during clerkship, and by questionnaires in clerkship preparatory courses. Interview data was analysed by a phenomenological approach, and scales were formed from questionnaire responses which were analysed cross-sectionally for the four teaching hospitals affiliated with the medical programme at Karolinska Institutet. Use frequency, students’ perceived benefit of virtual patients, their wish for more guidance on using virtual patients and, wish for more assessment and feedback on virtual patient work were targeted in the questionnaires. Furthermore, the students’ preferences of study strategies were analysed in relation to the virtual patient activity using regulation strategy scales from the Inventory of Learning Styles devised by Jan Vermunt. The findings suggested that virtual patient learning activities offer possibilities of applying biomedical knowledge to clinical cases in a way that was engaging and supported decisionmaking. Furthermore, the virtual patient learning activities were perceived as having an intermediate function between textbook learning and learning with actual patients. The consequences of integration strategies in the course context were influential for how students perceived the benefit of learning with virtual patients. Intensity of processing of virtual patient cases, and presenting cases for other students were associated with high perceived benefit of virtual patient learning activities. Students’ self-regulation abilities were also associated with perceived benefit of the virtual patient learning activities, although to a lesser extent than the influence of the course context. The technology of virtual patients provides possibilities that enhance student learning, and should thus be a necessary part of education. However, this research show that an educational integration strategy is needed that supports students’ active processing of virtual patient cases

Plagiat i samband med programmering – problem, detektering och förebyggande pedagogiska strategier

I denna artikel behandlar vi frågeställningar rörande plagiat i samband med programmering. Problematiken är relevant även för andra ämnen där man använder programmering som problemlösningsmetod eller där man använder ett begränsat formellt språk för redovisningar som t.ex. inom matematik. Vi diskuterar skillnader mellan program¬pla¬giering och uppsatsplagiering samt vilka system som finns för detektering. Utgående från relevant pedagogisk litteratur och några fallstudier från vår egen institution ger vi också förslag på ett antal pedagogiska strategier för att förebygga fusk i form av plagiat

Digital tentamen som kunskapskontroll - Studentperspektivet

Digital tentamen som kunskapskontroll\ua0Under de senaste \ue5ren har fenomenet ”digital tentamen”[1]introducerats inom h\uf6gre utbildning i Sverige. Enstaka l\ue4ros\ue4ten har p\ue5b\uf6rjat tester och partiell implementation av system f\uf6r digital tentamen, men m\ue5nga fler har visat intresse f\uf6r att inkorporera digitala examinationssystem bland befintliga examinationsmetoder.Under 2014-2015 p\ue5gick ett projekt inom SUNET Inkubator som bl a utmynnade en webinarserie d\ue4r l\ue4ros\ue4ten delade erfarenheter kring digital tentamen, samt ett omfattande underlag f\uf6r upphandling och implementation av digitala salstentamenssystem (Brenner och Sandstr\uf6m, 2015). Ut\uf6ver detta referensarbete har \ue5tta studier presenterats p\ue5 svenska avseende digital tentamen enligt Google Scholar. Av dessa studier fokuserar tre p\ue5 tekniska aspekter (Larsson & Matsson, 2015; Krupalija, 2016; Wilhelmsson, 2017), tv\ue5 p\ue5 l\ue4rares syn p\ue5 digitala verktyg (Erenrot Bl\ufccher & Danieli, 2014; Stareborn, 2014), en p\ue5 f\uf6rberedelser och genomf\uf6rande av digital tentamen (Palm & Fahlgren, 2015), och tv\ue5 p\ue5 studenternas upplevda nytta (Nolte och Niklasson, 2016; Palm & Fahlgren, 2016). Fenomenet anses d\ue4rf\uf6r vara understuderat i svensk kontext, och det finns ett behov av att utveckla den pedagogiska diskussionen inom omr\ue5det.\ua0I denna artikel presenteras erfarenheter fr\ue5n inf\uf6randet av digital tentamen p\ue5 Chalmers tekniska h\uf6gskola i G\uf6teborg under perioden 2015-2017 med s\ue4rskilt fokus p\ue5 studenternas upplevelser.\ua0Fr\ue5gest\ue4llningen som behandlas \ue4r: Hur upplever studenterna att deras m\uf6jligheter att uttrycka inh\ue4mtad kunskap f\uf6r\ue4ndras n\ue4r digital tentamen anv\ue4nds, ist\ue4llet f\uf6r traditionell skriftlig tentamen?\ua0F\uf6r att belysa fr\ue5gest\ue4llningen har empiriskt underlag inh\ue4mtats med hj\ue4lp av studentenk\ue4ter kopplade till sex olika kurstillf\ue4llen (totalt antal registrerade studenter: 240), samt en workshop d\ue4r studenters erfarenheter av digital tentamen samlades in.\ua0Resultaten analyseras med utg\ue5ngspunkt fr\ue5n tidigare studier avseende summativ bed\uf6mning med hj\ue4lp av tekniska hj\ue4lpmedel (bl a Hillier och Fluck, 2015), och faktorer som p\ue5verkar kunskapsdelning (bl a Paulin och Winroth, 2013; Paulin, 2013).\ua0Slutsatser:-\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0 M\uf6jligheterna att uttrycka svar p\ue5 ess\ue4fr\ue5gor p\ue5 ett klart och koncist s\ue4tt upplevs som st\uf6rre, framf\uf6r allt eftersom tr\uf6skeln att redigera ett p\ue5b\uf6rjat svar upplevs som betydligt l\ue4gre.-\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0 Flera av studenterna uttrycker att d\ue5 de \ue4r snabbare d\ue5 de skriver p\ue5 dator, \ue4n n\ue4r de skriver f\uf6r hand, \ue4r skrivandet mer i fas med t\ue4nkandet vilket leder till de inte gl\uf6mmer bort en del av svarsresonemangen p g a tiden det tar att skriva svaren.-\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0 Ett f\ue5tal studenter n\ue4mner \ue4ven den skrivna textens b\ue4ttre utseende som n\ue5got positivt f\uf6r den f\uf6rv\ue4ntade bed\uf6mningen av svaret. De ans\ue5g att de hade en b\ue4ttre chans att bli r\ue4ttvist bed\uf6mda d\ue5 texten s\ue5g b\ue4ttre ut.\ua0Resultat fr\ue5n de inledande delarna av den aktuella studien har presenterats p\ue5 ICTHE ’16 (Paulin, 2016; Paulin & Suneson, 2016), och tidigare studier relaterat till digital tentamen har presenterats p\ue5 KUL2014 (Paulin, 2014). Referenser\ua0Brenner, M. & Sandstr\uf6m, H. (2015). Datoriserad tentamen: SUNET-inkubator slutrapport, SUNET Inkubator. Stockholm.\ua0Erenrot Bl\ufccher, N. & Danieli, A. (2014). En analog spelare i en digital v\ue4rld?: En studie om anv\ue4ndningen av digitala verktyg p\ue5 S\uf6dert\uf6rns h\uf6gskola. Kandidatuppsats, Institutionen f\uf6r naturvetenskap, milj\uf6 och teknik, S\uf6dert\uf6rns h\uf6gskola, Huddinge.\ua0Hillier, M. & Fluck, A. (2015). A pedagogical end game for exams: a look 10 years into the future of high stakes assessment, In T. Reiners, B. R. von Konsky, D. Gibson, V. Chang, L. Irving, & Clarke, K. (Eds.), Globally connected, digitally enabled. In proceedings ASCILITE, Perth, Australia, 29 Nov – 2 Dec, pp. 463-470.\ua0Krupalija, A. (2016). DigiExam Cross Platform-Klient: Cross platform-klient f\uf6r att g\uf6ra digitala prov. Kandidatuppsats, Institutionen f\uf6r matematik och datavetenskap, Karlstads universitet, Karlstad.\ua0Larsson, A. & Matsson, C. P. (2015). Digital tentamen p\ue5 l\ue4splattor. Kandidatuppsats, Institutionen f\uf6r matematik och datavetenskap, Karlstads universitet, Karlstad.\ua0Nolte, M. & Niklasson, T. (2016). Digital salstentamen – Ett IT-st\uf6d i den h\uf6gre utbildningen, Kandidatuppsats, Institutionen f\uf6r informatik, Lunds universitet, Lund.\ua0Palm, T. & Fahlgren, J. (2015). F\uf6rs\uf6k med E-tentamen – Digitalisering av skriftlig examination, Rapport, Institutionen f\uf6r informatik och media, Uppsala universitet, Uppsala.\ua0Palm, T. & Fahlgren, J. (2016). Akademisk kunskapskontroll med E-tentamen och reflexioner kring Ebbinghaus gl\uf6mskekurva, Rapport, Institutionen f\uf6r informatik och media, Uppsala universitet, Uppsala.\ua0Paulin, D. (2013). Knowledge Dissemination in Multinational Corporations. Doktorsavhandling, Chalmers tekniska h\uf6gskola, G\uf6teborg.\ua0Paulin, D. (2014). Teaching Project Management over the Web. Presenterad p\ue5 KUL2014 (Konferens f\uf6r Utbildning och L\ue4rande), 15 jan 2014, Chalmers tekniska h\uf6gskola, G\uf6teborg, Sverige.\ua0Paulin, D. (2016). Global Technology Challenges - Swedish Perspective. Presenterad p\ue5 2ndInternational Conference on Technology in Higher Education. 1-4 jun 2016, Marrakech, Marocko.\ua0Paulin, D. & Suneson, K. (2016). The Introduction of Digital Exams – Experiences from a pilot study. Presenterad p\ue5 2ndInternational Conference on Technology in Higher Education. 1-4 jun 2016, Marrakech, Marocko.\ua0Paulin, D. & Winroth, M. (2013). Facilitators, Inhibitors, and Obstacles – A Refined Categorization Regarding Barriers for Knowledge Transfer, Sharing, and Flow. In proceedings from 10thInternational Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management, and Organizational Learning (ICICKM 2013), 24-25 Okt 2013, Washington DC, USA.\ua0Stareborn, O. (2014). Datorbaserad examination: En studie om anv\ue4ndarhinder och systemacceptans bland l\ue4rare. Masteruppsats, F\uf6retagsekonomiska institutionen, Uppsala universitet, Uppsala.\ua0Wilhelmsson, J. (2017). esTracer App: En digital l\uf6sning f\uf6r att genomf\uf6ra tentamen med koppling mot ett webbaserat e-learningsystem. Examensarbete, H\uf6gskolan i Halmstad, Halmstad.[1]Med begreppet digital tentamen avses h\ue4r ett skriftligt prov av studentens inh\ue4mtade kunskap (summativ bed\uf6mning) efter avslutad kurs. Begreppsapparaten \ue4r \ue4nnu inte entydig och andra uttryck som anv\ue4nds f\uf6r samma begrepp \ue4r t ex ”datoriserad tentamen” (Brenner och Sandstr\uf6m, 2015)”digital salstentamen” (Nolte och Niklasson, 2016), och ”e-tentamen” (Palm och Fahlgren, 2016), ”high stakes e-assessment” (Hillier och Fluck, 2015)

Vad är en trädgårdsfest

Sammanfattning I mitt examensarbete ligger fokusen att illustrera vår förmåga att se de olika elementen i trädgården. En trädgårdsfest är inte bara en fest för gäster, utan en helhet av många olika delar. Arbetes syfte är att utreda, vad som fysiskt och mentalt hör till en trädgårdsfest. Materialet kommer från en enkät som gjordes 2009 på trädgårdsmässan VIHERTEK i Helsingfors med trettioåtta personer samt OmaPiha 2010. Av resultaten kan man läsa att det hör många grundämnen till festen. Det däremot är inte skillnad på om de är en stor gård eller en liten, mycket folk eller bara en.Summary: In this thesis I describe our natural instinct to see different elements in the garden. The purpose of this work is to establish the physical and mental items we include in a garden party. Which are these items? From this work you can see that the elements which create the atmosphere in the garden are the same no matter if it is a big garden or a small one. If you like to create a nice atmosphere you need only four basic effects. The work is based on responses to a questionnaire that was arranged in autumn 2009 at the Helsinki VIHERTEK fair. As of the answer you can read that we need the nice atmosphere round us whenever we are together. When you integrate the mental and physical aspects collectively you are closer to making a perfect social gathering to your friends for your friends only or for yourself

How ICT can contribute to the use of impression-management strategies in a public organization

This paper describes how the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can be an important factor in impression-management strategies in a public organization. It is often easier to obtain information with the help of ICT than by using other ways of collecting knowledge about an activity. The anonymous output, often at high aggregated levels, is in focus, not the quality of the input and the unique situation behind the information. This paper shows that there are good opportunities to use ICT for impression-management, which can be described as a process divided into four steps. The first step is about how data is generated and/or collected. The next step is linked to how data is registered. The third step is about output generated from ICT and the fourth step how output from ICT and ICT itself is used to produce presentations which create a good impression