Kulturlandskapet i Bossbulega, Sveling og Håhelleren i Valle vesthei. Kartlegging av kulturminner og biomangfold innen verne-området Setesdal Vesthei, Ryfylke- og Frafjordheiane (SVR)

-På oppdrag for Fylkesmannen i Aust-Agder er det gjennomført kartlegging av kulturminner og botaniske verdier i stølslandskapet i Valle vesthei innen nasjonalparkområdet til Setesdal Vesthei, Ryfylke- og Frafjordheiene, SVR. Historiker Leonhard Jansen har registrert kulturminne og Ellen Svalheim (NIBIO) har kartlagt vegetasjon i de tre lege- og stølsområdene Bossbulega, Sveling og Håhelleren. Denne rapporten oppsummerer kartleggingene som ble utført sommeren 2015, samt gir konkrete råd for oppfølging av verdiene

Who succeeds at university?: factors predicting academic achievement of first-year Dutch students

Literature distinguishes three complexes of factors that affect university achievement. Firstly, factors related to characteristics of the education system and study financing. Secondly, Factors related to how institutions organise their education. Finally, these concern student characteristics. The effects on achievement were examined. Dutch first-year university students filled in a self-report questionnaire on motivation and deep information processing. Further, student ratings provided information on quality of courses. Finally, information on quantity of courses, in terms of number of contact hours was obtained through study guides. Multilevel analyses showed that ability, motivation, quality of assessment and the numbers of self-study hours, active hours and passive hours, affected achievement

Connecting Students and Researchers:The Secondary School Student’s Voice in Foreign Language Education Research

The inclusion of student voice in foreign language research often relies mainly on a perspective that includes their voice as a data source, in spite of claims that the perspectives that include students as initiators should be at the fore. In this paper, the authors address the incongruity of this situation, arguing for a revision of current views. They discuss different conceptualisations of student voice in educational research, and argue that combinations of different perspectives on student voice provide unique insights that are necessary to develop our knowledge base. They then provide a detailed account of an empirical study in which an English as a foreign language (EFL) literature teaching and learning model was validated through collaboration and co-construction with secondary school students. They demonstrate the ways in which two different perspectives were combined within the project, resulting in a dialogical process, which then lends multidimensional support to the findings.</p

Does the group matter? Effects of trust, cultural diversity, and group formation on engagement in group work in higher education

Group work is a common active learning strategy in higher education when the goal is to enhance deep learning and develop teamwork skills. Culturally diverse learning groups are particularly valuable in preparing university students to participate in a globalized world. Student engagement in group work is critical in realizing these benefits. Therefore, more insight into what factors promote engagement is necessary. This study investigates the extent to which trust in the group, cultural diversity in the group, and group formation contribute to behavioral and cognitive engagement in group work. A questionnaire was filled out by 1025 bachelor’s students from six universities in the Netherlands and Canada. Structural equation modeling analyses identified students’ trust in the group as the strongest positive predictor of both behavioral and cognitive engagement. Greater perceived cultural diversity was found to promote behavioral and cognitive engagement, but compared with trust, the impacts were relatively small. Whether students could choose their group members did not affect behavioral or cognitive engagement significantly. Contrary to what was expected, trust did not act as a mediator. That is, cultural diversity and group formation did not indirectly affect engagement through trust. These findings prompt some suggestions for how to enhance student engagement in group work

The effects of prior education and engagement on success in engineering studies: do women and men differ?

Background In Dutch engineering education, female students outperform male students. Using an interactionalist framework, this study explores factors that contribute to this gender-based difference. Purpose This study aims to answer two questions: Do female and male students differ in background characteristics, engagement factors, and academic success? Are differences in the relationships among background characteristics, engagement factors, and academic success gender-specific? Design/method Data on male and female engineering undergraduate students from five Dutch universities were subjected to linear structural modeling to compare potential gender differences in the relationships among the focal variables. Two structural models were considered. Results Female students spent more time on independent study, reported more social inte- gration, completed more credits, and were more likely to stay in engineering than were male students. Academic integration and intention to persist were important for comple- tion of credits for both genders. Social integration was only important for men’s academic success. Females seemed to benefit less from good preparation through active learning during secondary education, and the effect of a high grade point average on math was neg- ative for females but positive for males. Conclusions Interactionalist concepts can explain academic success, but the relationships among concepts vary by gender. Males’ intentions to persist in engineering are an outcome of engagement processes during the first year, whereas females’ intentions to persist in engineering are manifest at the start of the first year

Een algemene benadering werkt niet:disciplinaire verschillen als verklaring van studievoortgang in het hoger beroepsonderwijs

In dit artikel combineren we concepten uit Tinto’s interactionele theorie over de oorzaken van studie-uitval en Becher’s theorie over wetenschapsgebieden ter verklaring van studievoortgang van eerstejaarsstudenten in het hoger beroepsonderwijs. De data zijn verzameld via een online-vragenlijst, afgenomen bij ruim 8.000 eerstejaarsstudenten van vijf ho- gescholen (respons 30%). Eerst is voor een selectie van de totale responsgroep (N = 1.876) een lineair structureel model getoetst waarin voorbereiding, ervaringen en studiegedrag in het eerste jaar studievoortgang verklaren. Vervolgens zijn modellen voor de sectoren Economie (N = 920), Techniek (N = 313), Gezondheidszorg (N = 284), en Gedrag & Maatschappij (N = 359) ontwikkeld en vergeleken. De ‘intentie om te blijven’, gemeten na drie maanden in het eerste jaar, blijkt in alle sectoren de belangrijkste voorspeller van studievoortgang. Goede voorbereiding op actief leren en academische kennis en vaardigheden in de vooropleiding beïnvloeden tevredenheid over aansluiting en studievoortgang. De factoren geslacht, vooropleiding, voorbereiding op actief leren in de vooropleiding, contacturen en zelfstudie laten per sector belangrijke verschillen zien in effecten op eerstejaarservaringen en studievoortgang. De resultaten impliceren dat een generieke benadering voor het verklaren van studievoortgang, rendementsanalyses, kwaliteitszorg en verbetering van de aansluiting onvoldoende is. Meer aandacht is gewenst voor verschillen tussen sectoren