Comparison of co-operation, interaction and school development in team teaching schools and schools where teachers teach alone

Tilgangur þessarar rannsóknar var að skoða hvort munur væri á samvinnu, samskiptum og skólaþróun í bekkjarkennsluskólum og teymiskennsluskólum á grunnskólastigi. Með bekkjarkennslu er átt við starfshætti þar sem hver kennari er með sinn bekk, námsgrein eða námsgreinar og undirbýr kennslu einn og kennir einn. Í teymiskennsluskólum eru tveir eða fleiri kennarar samábyrgir fyrir bekk eða námshópi að einhverju eða öllu leyti og undirbúa kennslu og kenna saman. Rannsóknin byggðist á gögnum úr spurningakönnunum meðal nemenda og starfsfólks í sex bekkjarkennsluskólum og níu teymiskennsluskólum úr rannsókn á starfsháttum í grunnskólum sem gerð var 2009– 2013 (Gerður G. Óskarsdóttir, 2014). Rafrænir spurningalistar voru sendir starfsfólki skólanna í fjórum áföngum skólaárið 2009–2010, en könnun meðal nemenda var gerð í skólunum haustið 2010. Niðurstöður sýndu, eins og vænta mátti, að mun meiri áhersla var lögð á samvinnu í teymiskennsluskólunum og hún var umfangsmeiri og nánari, en í bekkjarkennsluskólunum. Fleiri kennarar í teymiskennsluskólunum áttu daglegt samstarf og fleiri unnu saman hlið við hlið; kenndu með öðrum kennara eða kennurum í sama kennslurými. Jafnframt voru fagleg tengsl teymiskennslukennara betri og þeir töldu sig fá betri stuðning skólastjórnenda. Samskipti nemenda í teymiskennsluskólunum mældust betri en samskipti nemenda í bekkjarkennsluskólunum, og átti það hvort tveggja við um samskipti þeirra innbyrðis og við starfsfólk. Þá gáfu nemendur teymiskennsluskólanna kennurum sínum betri einkunnir þegar þeir mátu viðhorf þeirra og viðmót í sinn garð, til dæmis hvort kennarar sýndu skoðunum þeirra áhuga, leiðbeindu þeim og hvöttu þá. Þróunarstarf var talsvert meira í teymiskennsluskólum en bekkjarkennsluskólum og þar gekk betur að innleiða breytingar. Þá virtust starfshættir í teymiskennsluskólunum lýðræðislegri en í bekkjarkennsluskólunum; kennarar fyrrnefndu skólanna komu meira að ákvörðunum um starfsþróun og breytingastarf. Áríðandi virðist vera að halda áfram rannsóknum á starfsháttum í teymiskennsluskólum og árangri þeirra.The purpose of this research was to compare cooperation, communication and school development in team teaching schools versus schools in which teachers teach alone. In team teaching schools two or more teachers are responsible for planning and operating teaching to a larger group of students. The data for this research comes from a multi method research project conducted in twenty Icelandic compulsory schools in 2009–2013 (Gerður G. Óskarsdóttir, 2014). Four electronic questionnaires were emailed to teachers and other academic school staff in the school year 2009–2010 with a response rate of 80–92%. The analysis presented in this article is based on answers from 15 of the schools, omitting responses from schools in which both team teaching and teaching where teachers taught alone was found. The findings reported here are based on responses from 590 teachers and other academic staff; 324 from the team teaching schools and 266 from schools in which teachers teach alone. An electronic questionnaire was administered to a sample of 2,119 students in grades 7–10 in 14 of the participating schools; that is, all of the 20 schools offering instruction in these grades. The sample was randomly selected if there were three or more class divisions in each year. However, all students participated in smaller schools. The response rate was 86%. Three of the team teaching schools offered instruction in grades 7–10, whereas all the schools where teachers teach alone offered teaching in these grades. Answers were received from 402 students in the team teaching schools and 694 students in the schools where teachers teach alone. As could be expected, more emphasis was placed on cooperation in the team teaching schools where it was both more extensive and closer. Furthermore, teachers in the team teaching schools considered their professional collaboration better and staff discussions more open and critical; thus they found it easier to express themselves to colleagues compared to the teachers in schools where teachers worked alone. The staff in team teaching schools also felt they received better support from the principals. Relations between students and teachers can be considered good in the schools overall, but were significantly better with principals and other staff in the team teaching schools. Also of interest is the fact that the team teachers showed greater interest towards students’ opinions; they gave more praise and were better at helping students understand how they could improve their work and learn more. Finally, school development projects were more common in the team teaching schools and the implementation of change was considered much smoother, as well as being more often teacher-initiated. In contrast to teachers who teach alone, a higher number of teachers in the team teaching schools claim that professional development is an effective part of school work, that it is organized in cooperation with the staff, and that members of staff are more actively engaged in decisions that have to do with changes within the school. Teamteaching teachers also more commonly believe that both internal and external evaluation measures are important for school development and improvement. The authors discuss the implications of this research for school development and teacher education in Iceland. For example, they point out that the findings are so conclusively in favour of the team teaching approach that the focus is bound to shift toward making team teaching the general rule, instead of the model in which each teacher faces a class alonePeer Reviewe

[Erythemogenic UV rays].

The UV-index is an international standard measurement of the strength of erythemogenic ultraviolet radiation. It is often published in the media and then refers to the highest expected UV radiation for that day. The highest UV-index value measured in Iceland is seven. Although this is similar to the maximum values from southern Scandinavia, the average UV-index is lower in Iceland compared to other Nordic countries. Around solar noon the UV index is roughly equivalent to the Standard Erythema Dose (SED). During a bright summer day in Iceland the number of Standard Erythema doses can go as high as 32, but is on average in June around twenty. The typical Icelander gets red after 4-6 SED and it is obvious that during solar noon it is easy to sunburn in Iceland if you stay outside without sun protection.Útfjólublár stuðull er alþjóðleg skilgreining sem segir til um styrk útfjólublárra geisla. Gildi hans er oft birt í fjölmiðlum og segir þá til um hæsta gildi sem búist er við þann daginn. Hæsta gildi sem mælst hefur á Íslandi er rúmlega sjö. Þrátt fyrir að þetta sé svipað og í Danmörku er útfjólublár stuðull þó að jafnaði lægri á Íslandi. Um hádegisbil er útfjólublár stuðull nánast jafn fjölda staðlaðra roðaskammta á klukkustund. Á heiðskírum íslenskum sumardegi hafa mælst allt að 32 staðlaðir roðaskammtar, en í júní er meðalgildið 20 á dag. Húð flestra Íslendinga roðnar við fjóra til sex staðlaða roðaskammta þannig að mjög stuttan tíma þarf til þess að húðin roðni ef verið er úti án þess að nota sólvörn, sérstaklega í kringum hádegið

A model for preferential concentration

The preferential concentration of inertial particles in a turbulent velocity field occurs when the particle and fluid time constants are commensurate. We propose a straightforward mathematical model for this phenomenon and use the model to study various scaling limits of interest and to study numerically the effect of interparticle collisions. The model comprises Stokes’ law for the particle motions, and a Gaussian random field for the velocity. The primary advantages of the model are its amenability to mathematical analysis in various interesting scaling limits and the speed at which numerical simulations can be performed. The scaling limits corroborate experimental evidence about the lack of preferential concentration for a large and small Stokes number and make new predictions about the possibility of preferential concentration at large times and lead to stochastic differential equations governing this phenomenon. The effect of collisions is found to be negligible for the most part, although in some cases they have an interesting antidiffusive effect

Þinghald að fornu : fornleifarannsóknir 2003

No abstract available

Periodic Homogenization for Inertial Particles

We study the problem of homogenization for inertial particles moving in a periodic velocity field, and subject to molecular diffusion. We show that, under appropriate assumptions on the velocity field, the large scale, long time behavior of the inertial particles is governed by an effective diffusion equation for the position variable alone. To achieve this we use a formal multiple scale expansion in the scale parameter. This expansion relies on the hypo-ellipticity of the underlying diffusion. An expression for the diffusivity tensor is found and various of its properties studied. In particular, an expansion in terms of the non-dimensional particle relaxation time $\tau$ (the Stokes number) is shown to co-incide with the known result for passive (non-inertial) tracers in the singular limit $\tau \to 0$. This requires the solution of a singular perturbation problem, achieved by means of a formal multiple scales expansion in $\tau.$ Incompressible and potential fields are studied, as well as fields which are neither, and theoretical findings are supported by numerical simulations.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Physica D. Typos corrected. One reference adde

Are the playoffs different from the regular season? A comparison of in-game statistics in Icelandic elite handball

There are many axioms in sport that are taken at face value. One of them is that the playoffs are somehow totally different from the regular season. The aim of this study was to test that axiom by comparing in-game statistics during the regular season and the playoffs in the semi-professional Icelandic elite men’s handball league. Data from 724 games (648 regular season games and 76 playoff games; 1448 data points) across five seasons were analysed using a two-level logistic regression analysis. The variables of interest were pace, fast breaks, legal stops, penalty throws given, 2-minute suspensions, and saves. The results indicated no meaningful differences in fast breaks, penalty throws given or number of saves, but did find signs of added intensity during the playoffs with a higher pace, more legal stops and more 2-minute suspensions. While the differences were not particularly large, they have the possibility of being practically meaningful and were in line with the axiom. Possible explanations were discussed but more research is needed to determine whether these findings are context- or sport-specific.publishedVersio

Impacts of Nile tilapia cage culture on water and bottom sediment quality: The ability of an eutrophic lake to absorb and dilute perturbations

Environmentally sustainable aquaculture depends on accurate understanding of the impacts of aquaculture-derived organic matter (AOM) and the ability of aquaculture systems to absorb and dilute perturbations. To this end, the present study assessed the impacts of AOM from cage culture of Nile tilapia on the ecology of Lake Victoria, Kenya, using fish cages near Anyanga Beach in Siaya County from December 2018 to October 2019. Four locations were surveyed for organic loadings from cage cultures, located 0, 50, 150 and 500 m (as a control site) away from the cages. The cage aquaculture produced increased P and N concentrations near the cages and a decreased N:P molar ratio. These changes stimulated algal growth which, in turn, affected the water quality. The organic material accumulated on the bottom under the cages, increasing the benthic BOD (BOD, >10 mg/g), a sensitive indicator of the ecological footprint of the cage aquaculture. Further, the negative ORP observed in the benthic layer suggested anoxic bacterial metabolism, possibly causing build-up of sulphides and methane. These changes altered the abundance and composition of both limnetic and benthic communities. At the beginning of the study, 22 zoobenthic taxa existed around the cages and 18 at the reference sites. Only 3 saprophilous taxa, chiefly gastropods (Physella spp.), bivalves (Sphaerium spp.) and oligochaetes (Tubifex spp.) were present at the cage site and 17 at the reference site at the end of the culture period. The Shannon diversity index exhibited a declining tendency with the length of culture period at the cage site, signifying a negative impact of aquaculture on biodiversity. The water quality recovery after cage disturbance is rapid (<4 months), noting there was no significant difference in the water quality recorded at the cage site and the other sampling sites after a fallow period of 4 months. However, the recovery of the sediment and meiofauna was far from complete at the end of this period. Moving the cages slightly (50–100 m) away from the former location may allow the benthic communities to recover and alleviate the problem. Further, the fallowing period, particularly for the Anyanga Beach site, should be extended from four to at least 5 months to allow for the environment to recover. With the rapid increase of cage fish farming in the African Great Lakes Region and with the potential for its occurrence in other lakes, there is a need to develop regulations to guide the industry, as well as the need for continuous monitoring of the environment, in order to provide information to guide investments and ensure sustainable cage farming