Redesigning distance courses to support social and teaching presence in adult and upper secondary education

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Juice from silage in green bio refineries - a potential feed ingredient in liquid diets to weaned pigs

The objective of this study was to evaluate silage juice from green bio refineries in liquid diets to pigs and its' effect on growth, cleanliness and health. Ninety-six (L x Y) x H organically raised pigs were fed either a control diet (C-diet) or a silage feed juice diet (SFJ-diet). The C-diet consisted of a commercial feed mixed with water prior to feeding. The SFJ-diet consisted of a lower ration of commercial feed mixed with silage feed juice (SFJ) instead of water, theoretically replacing 10% of the dietary crude protein content. All pigs consumed the juice and grew similarly, on average 0.48 kg/day. SFJ pigs were significantly dirtier on their back and head than C pigs (P < 0.001 for all), but cleanliness in the rectum area and in the pen did not differ. Silage juice had only minor effects on hygienic measures and could be a potential local feed ingredient to pigs

Designs for Learning: A Research Approach

In this article, we present some core ideas underpinning research that takes a Designs for Learning (DFL) approach guided by theoretical considerations and choices, as well as by practitioners&rsquo; challenges and inquiries. These choices shape, and are shaped by, DFL&rsquo;s research goals and motives, theoretical orientation, research objectives, questions, and practitioners&rsquo; participation and ethical considerations. Further, we present and discuss how DFL as a research approach compares to other design-oriented research strategies. Even if a DFL research approach shares several similarities with other approaches of inquiry, we argue that it remains primarily oriented towards knowledge areas that relate to understanding and developing learning and teaching &ndash; both in formal education and in informal settings such as museums

Assessment in Transformation

Using data from focus group interviews, this study aims to analyze the perceived opportunities and challenges encountered by groups of secondary school teachers regarding the assessment of multimodal texts. Previous research has shown that digital technologies introduce new kinds of texts in the classroom. The possibility of combining verbal text with image, sound, and movement has an impact on students’ text production. However, the changing role of writing on the screen has left teachers uncertain of how to assess these new forms of texts. Apart from attending to digital competence, assessing multimodal texts may involve following writing conventions and organizing text using different resources and components. Quality in multimodal texts may concern using multimodal components to communicate complex ideas effectively, which may or may not be noticed by teachers. The data is based on group interviews with 11 secondary school teachers at two different schools. The study conducted a thematic content analysis using the analytical concepts of transformation, recognition, design, and form and meaning. Findings show that teachers find it challenging to acknowledge certain qualities in students’ multimodal texts without support from the steering documents. On the other hand, they notice opportunities to follow students’ learning processes. In addition, they stress an increased opportunity and need for shared assessment across school subjects. The article concludes with a discussion of tensions regarding opportunities and challenges when assessing students’ multimodal texts in relation to the different subject syllabuses

The complexity of kidney disease and diagnosing it – cystatin C, selective glomerular hypofiltration syndromes and proteome regulation

Estimation of kidney function is often part of daily clinical practice, mostly done by using the endogenous glomerular filtration rate (GFR)-markers creatinine or cystatin C. A recommendation to use both markers in parallel in 2010 has resulted in new knowledge concerning the pathophysiology of kidney disorders by the identification of a new set of kidney disorders, selective glomerular hypofiltration syndromes. These syndromes, connected to strong increases in mortality and morbidity, are characterized by a selective reduction in the glomerular filtration of 5–30 kDa molecules, such as cystatin C, compared to the filtration of small molecules <1 kDa dominating the glomerular filtrate, for example water, urea and creatinine. At least two types of such disorders, shrunken or elongated pore syndrome, are possible according to the pore model for glomerular filtration. Selective glomerular hypofiltration syndromes are prevalent in investigated populations, and patients with these syndromes often display normal measured GFR or creatinine-based GFR-estimates. The syndromes are characterized by proteomic changes promoting the development of atherosclerosis, indicating antibodies and specific receptor-blocking substances as possible new treatment modalities. Presently, the KDIGO guidelines for diagnosing kidney disorders do not recommend cystatin C as a general marker of kidney function and will therefore not allow the identification of a considerable number of patients with selective glomerular hypofiltration syndromes. Furthermore, as cystatin C is uninfluenced by muscle mass, diet or variations in tubular secretion and cystatin C-based GFR-estimation equations do not require controversial race or sex terms, it is obvious that cystatin C should be a part of future KDIGO guidelines.publishedVersio

Didactic design with digital resources : A study of representations of knowledge in a digitalised school

In digital-classroom practices, pupils design their learning processes in collaboration with their peers, employing different semiotic resources when representing signs of learning in a constant flow. There still remain differences, however, between learning practices and the way pupils are formally tested. During tests, knowledge is regularly represented individually and often by delimited resources in contrast to digital learning practices where technologies enable redesign with a broader mix of written text, images, colours, graphs etc. In this thesis I investigate the increased access to and the frequent use of digital resources in schools and how these challenges contribute to tensions between and among school practices. In addition I discuss how digitalised learning environments can be studied in educational research. The aim of my thesis is to add to the existing knowledge about how the use of digital resources shapes knowledge representations and also the pupils’ possibilities to represent their knowledge. Knowledge representations are seen partly as an expression of the pupils’ knowledge in school and partly as an expression of products that are designed to be used in education such as digital educational games, two of which I will study in this thesis. My theoretical understanding draws on a design-oriented multimodal perspective on learning. Findings are discussed in relation to didactic design and Learning Design Sequence model (LDS). A developed LDS model is presented that summarises and highlights my findings. In the thesis I also discuss some of the challenges for a researcher when studying learning in a digitalised school with a focus on interaction and communication and how multimodal data can be transcribed, analysed and presented in a publication.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Accepted. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p

Re-shaping of Writing in the Digital Age - a Study of Pupils’ Writing with Different Resources

Abstract This article explores how resources used in test situations shape pupils’ writing and to some extent their possibilities to represent their knowledge. Two conditions (pen-and-paper and digital) are investigated in two subjects. The theoretical underpinnings stem from a design-oriented and multimodal perspective on learning (Jewitt, 2009; Kress, 2010; Selander & Kress, 2010). Findings presented in this article are in line with previous research, which has shown that digital writing technologies have an impact on pupils’ writing process (Haas, 1996; Stapleton, 2012; Genlott & Grönlund, 2013) and that the modes and media used for learning shape communication and to some extent delimit what is possible to represent as knowledge in a given situation (Kress, 2003; Jewitt, 2009; Selander & Kress, 2010)

Delredovsining av regeringsuppdrag N2018/04483/TS

För att kunna nå de transportpolitiska målen om tillgänglighet för medborgare och näringsliv i hela landet samtidigt som klimatmålen ska kunna nås krävs att varje transportslag effektiviseras. Då järnvägen har lägre klimatpåverkan än vägtransporter är det viktigt att järnvägen nyttjas så effektivt som möjligt, både för personresor och godstrafik, för att transportsystemet i sin helhet ska bli så effektivt som möjligt. Det är därför angeläget att järnvägen kan ta så stor andel av godstransporterna som möjligt inom de begränsningar som ges av den befintliga järnvägsanläggningen. Varje trafikslag måste effektiviseras vart och ett för sig, men även tillsammans för att transportsystemet som helhet ska vara effektivt och hållbart. Viljan att flytta över transporter från väg till intermodala järnvägstransporter är stor, både hos varuägare och tågoperatörer. Hindren för en ökad överflyttning till järnväg, som framkommer i dialogen med branschföreträdare, är främst järnvägens bristande tillförlitlighet samt järnvägens högre kostnader jämfört med vägtransporter. För att en öka överflyttningen av gods krävs fler insatser hos branschens aktörer för att göra järnvägstransporter mer attraktiva. Till detta behövs även insatser från samhällets aktörer för att stimulera utveckling och innovation. Även åtgärder för robusta logistikupplägg som är konkurrenskraftiga över tid behövs

Redesigning distance courses to support social and teaching presence in adult and upper secondary education

This paper investigates how teachers in adult and upper secondary education promote social and teaching presence by redesigning their distance courses. Social and teaching presence is analysed through the Community of Inquiry model. The implications stem from an ongoing project in Sweden and Finland (2019–2021) called Digital learning environments - equal education through remote and distance teaching (DL). Three schools from the project are used as cases to answer the questions: What do teachers perceive as challenging when designing for presence in distance education? How do teachers work with these challenges to develop presence in distance education? A design-based research approach is used to address the problems teachers identified in their practices. The empirical material includes group discussions, written plans, and presentations. The teacher groups critically examined how and when communication and interactions with students took place in the digital environment. Parallel, they also read research on the topics. The study suggests the teachers promoted social and teaching presence in different ways depending on their school context. In adult education, the courses were flexible regarding time and space, making frequent teacher-student interactions (e.g., chat, email, feedback) important to establish teaching presence. The upper secondary teachers included student-student interactions (e.g., mind maps, quizzes, discussions, peer-feedback) to promote social presence in their course

Educational technology (EdTech) : Unbounded opportunities or just another brick in the wall?

From the run-of-the-mill use of calculators and tablets to the utilization of artificial intelligence to test students’ ability to read, educational technology (EdTech) plays a ubiquitous and important role in preschools and compulsory and secondary schools, as well as in higher education in the Swedish context today. Sweden is among the European countries with the best access to bandwidth and connectivity and has a high student-to-computer ratio, making the Nordic countries well placed to avail themselves of new and emerging educational technologies. EdTech is an emerging concern in the broader European context, too, demonstrated not least by the establishment of the European Institute of Innovation &amp; Technology (EIT) in 2008. In this chapter, we consider to what extent educational technology has a disruptive or transformative influence on the educational environment today. For the purpose of this chapter, EdTech is used as an umbrella concept to define and identify a wide range of technologies that have been designed and developed with a stated purpose to be used for teaching and learning