Cascading effect of upper secondary education policy reform : the experiences and perspectives of university teachers

In 2014 the Icelandic government implemented a reform that reduced the time of all academic programs of upper secondary education from an average of four years in duration to three, aiming to increase efficiency in the education system. Drawing on critical policy analysis, this study explores wider consequences of the reform’s enactment for higher education, with reference to the strong connection between the two school levels. Teachers at the University of Iceland were interviewed about perceived changes, if any, in students’ preparation for university studies in the wake of the reform and whether any measures were needed to adapt to such changes. The findings highlight the importance of policy makers considering the interconnectedness of different school levels and the wide-reaching effects of education reforms. They indicate that the policy reform has had consequences in higher education that vary between different academic subjects and disciplines and that there is considerable tension within the University in how to adapt to them. The findings call for further exploration into the content of the academic programs in upper secondary education which may provide valuable information on the interplay between policies that aim for decentralised curriculum-making and efficiency in education systems.Peer reviewe

"I do not want my girls to become police officers" : An interview study on how Icelandic female officers are feeling regarding to stress and stress related issues

This study aims to describe how female police officers in Iceland manage stress, how they perceive stress both work related and in their private life. Eight Icelandic female police officers were interviewed. All the interviews took place in March 2020 and where conducted by the same researcher. A semi structured questionnaire was filled out during a telephone interview, assessing feelings of stress and the effects of stress both at work and in the private life. In the qualitative study the interviews were analysed using content data analysis. The gender perspective was used to gain deeper understanding of the participant’s feelings regarding their stress levels. Even with only 8 participants it was easy to recognize patterns of shared views and experiences regarding stress between these police officers. Therefore the study is probably large enough to give a good representation of Icelandic female police officers views on stress. According to this it is possible to say that the transferability is great. Doing a larger study of a similar kind would be interesting to obtain an even better understanding of the subject. Almost all of the participants were feeling stressed both at work and at home. Many of them thought that they had to do more than their male co-workers to feel equal to them. Most of them did not think that they would receive any help dealing with stress from their supervisors at work unless they would ask specifically for it themselves. Previous studies have shown that police officers work under very stressful circumstances and often say themselves that they feel stressed. There can be many harmful effects from stress on both health and wellbeing of individuals

Varanleiki eignarnáms

Í þessari ritgerð verður leitast við að svara því hvort eignarnám feli undir öllum kringumstæðum í sér varanlega og endanlega yfirfærslu eignarréttinda til eignarnema. Nánar tiltekið verður reynt að varpa ljósi á hvort í einhverjum tilvikum sé um að ræða ,,endurheimtarétt“ eignarnámsþola á hinni eignarnumdu eign og við hvers konar aðstæður slíkur réttur verði virkur, sé hann viðurkenndur. Hérlendis er réttarstaðan að þessu leyti mjög óljós, en hvorki er minnst einu orði á endurheimtarétt eignarnámsþola í almennum lögum né í stjórnarskrá

Reglur sem lúta að vernd og nýtingu vatns með áherslu á innleiðingu rammatilskipunar Evrópusambandsins um stjórn vatnamála í íslenskan rétt

Markmið ritgerðarinnar er umfjöllun um reglur sem varða vernd og nýtingu vatns. Leitast verður við að lýsa núgildandi lagaumgjörð vatnsmála, með áherslu á reglur sem gilda um vatnsvernd, þ.e. vatnsgæði og vatnsmagn annars vegar, og eigna- og nýtingarrétt á vatni hins vegar. Þá verður fjallað um tilskipun Evrópuþingsins og ráðsins nr. 2000/60/EB frá 23. október, um aðgerðarramma bandalagsins um stefnu í vatnamálum (vatnatilskipunina), sem leggur víðtækar skyldur á aðildarríki hvað varðar vatnsvernd. Því næst verður fjallað um innleiðingu vatnatilskipunarinnar í íslenskan rétt. Tilskipunin var innleidd með lögum nr. 36/2011 um stjórn vatnamála, en gerð verður grein fyrir útfærslu reglna tilskipunarinnar í lögunum. Leitast verður við að lýsa þeim atriðum tilskipunarinnar sem valdið hafa óvissu hvað varðar réttaráhrif, þ.e. umhverfismarkmið og umhverfismörk. Skoðað verður, til samanburðar, hvernig þessi atriði hafa verið útfærð í íslenskum lögum

Samgöngur á sunnanverðum Vestfjörðum, viðhorfskönnum á meðal íbúa

Markmið þessarar rannsóknar er að greina afstöðu íbúa á sunnanverðum Vestfjörðum til vegasamgangna á svæðinu. Einnig er leitast til að kanna áhrif samgangna á ferðavenjur, öryggi og búsetu. Í ritgerðinni er fjallað um helstu kenningar og niðurstöður fyrri rannsókna innlendra og erlendra um samgöngur og byggðaþróun. Íbúum hefur fækkað töluvert á Vestfjörðum og ekkert bendir til annars en að sú þróun haldi áfram. Vestfirðingar búa við lakari samgöngur en íbúar í öðrum landshlutum og telja að sér standi ógn af ástandi vega, ófærð og ofanflóðahættu. Rannsóknin var gerð með hentugleikaúrtaki og lagður var fyrir spurningalisti. Alls var 196 íbúum á sunnanverðum Vestfjörðum boðin þátttaka og 168 tóku þátt eða um fimmtungur íbúa svæðisins sem náð hefur 18 ára aldri. Þessi rannsókn sýnir að u.þ.b. 80% íbúa sunnanverðra Vestfjarða stendur ógn af ástandi vega á svæðinu. Það kemur fram að íbúarnir sækja frekar þjónustu til höfuðborgarinnar en til Ísafjarðar og norðurhluta Vestfjarða. Ekki er ólíklegt að ein aðalástæða þess sé ótryggar samgöngur og margföldun vegalengdarinnar yfir vetrarmánuðina þegar heiðarvegir sem tengja svæðin lokast og aka þarf um Ísafjarðardjúp.The aim of this study is to examine the residents of the Westfjords perspective of the public roads and communications in their region. As well as the impact of the condition of the public roads on travel pattern, savety and population development. This paper reviews earlier Icelandic studies relevant to this matter and theories regarding transportations and population development. There has been a large and steady decrease in population in the Westfjords and it has been predicted that it will continue to decrease in the years to come. The public roads are worse than in other parts of the country. Studies have shown that inhabitants of the Westfjords perceive that their savety is threatened by the general condition of the public roads in their region as well as by the risk of avalanches, landslides and rapidly changing weather and road conditions. This study uses accidental sampling where people were asked to answer a questionnaire. A total of 196 inhabitants of the southern part of the Westfjords were approached and 168 took part which is about one in five of the population over 18 years of age. This study shows that about 80% of the population of the southern part of the Westfjords feel threatened by the condition of the public roads in their region. It also concludes that the people of the region rather travel to Reykjavik than to Isafjordur or the northern part of the Westfjords to seek services and entertainment. It is likely that the condition of the roads that conjoin the southern and northern part of the Westfjords plays a big part in this trend. These roads are mostly impassable during the winter months because of heavy snow. Because of that, people have to drive a much longer distance through the Isafjardardjup.Ekki er heimilt að prenta eða afrita verkefnið

Áhrif samfélagsmiðla á sjálfsmat stúlkna á aldrinum 9-18 ára

Notkun samfélagsmiðla hefur vaxið ört síðustu ár og hefur umræðan í samfélaginu um aukna notkun slíkra miðla vakið athygli margra. Uppi eru misjafnar skoðanir um áhrif af notkun samfélagsmiðla og hvort slík áhrif séu jákvæð eða neikvæð. Umræða um neikvæð áhrif samfélagsmiðlanotkunar hefur verið áberandi þegar sjálfsmat unglinga er annars vegar og mikilvægt að rannsaka nánar samspil þessara þátta nánar svo finna megi leiðir til að fyrirbyggja hugsanleg neikvæð áhrif til framtíðar. Í þessari rannsókn voru áhrif samfélagsmiðla á sjálfsmat stúlkna á aldrinum 9-18 ára skoðuð. Við framkvæmd rannsóknarinnar var notast við gögn úr úrtaksrannsókn sem framkvæmd var í Noregi árið 2018 og ber heitið „Evrópsk ungmenni á netinu“. Við úrvinnslu gagna var notast við svör frá einstaklingum sem svöruðu fullyrðingarspurningu um sjálfsmat sem orðuð var með þesum hætti: „ég hef á tilfinningunni að annað fólk telji sig vera betra en ég er“. Aðrar spurningar sem komu inná sjálfsmat og netnotkun voru í framhaldinu bornar saman við fylgibreytuna til frekari úrvinnslu. Rannsóknin leiddi í ljós að stúlkur virðast móttækilegri en drengir fyrir áhrifum sem samfélagsmiðlar kunna að hafa á sjálfsmat þeirra. Áhrif samfélagsmiðla virtust jafnframt aukast með hverju aldursári. Miðað við niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar, má sjá að greinileg þörf er á frekari rannsóknum og fræðslu um viðfangsefnið. Lykilhugtök: sjálfsmat, samfélagsmiðlar, unglingarThe use of social media has been growing fast in the recent years and the increase in general discussion about it has caught the attention of many. There are different views on what the use of social media is and if its effects are positive or negative. Negative effects of social media usage have been noticeable regarding teenagers self-esteem and we consider it an important subject for research to prevent poor mental health development. In this research we looked at the effects of social media on self-esteem with young females from the age of 9-18 years old. We used data from the “EU Kids Online” study that was conducted in Norway 2018. For data analysis we used the answers from individuals that responded positively to our dependent variable “People seem to think they’re better than me”. The variables that corresponded to self-esteem and internet use were compared to our dependent variable. Our research concluded that young females seem to be more receptive to influence that social media may have on their self-esteem. The effect of social media can have also seemed to increase with every age span that passes. According to our research findings it is clear that further research and enlightenment on the subject is due. Key words: Self-esteem, social media, teenager