Search results for "Qualitative property"

The Making of the Ordinary Child in Preschool

2011

The article examines parent-teacher conferences in Finnish and Swedish preschools. Previous research has shown that the conferences are mostly about the evaluation of the child. Based on qualitative data, the article studies how this evaluation is done. It asks how the institutional order regarding children is constructed in parent-teacher conferences and what the ordinary child is like that this order presumes. The theoretical framework is adopted from social constructionist research on childhood and institutions. The analysis applies a discourse analytic framework. The results suggest that being and becoming social is the key expectation for a child in Finnish and Swedish preschools; form…

Qualities of mathematical discourses in kindergartens

2020

AbstractIn this study we investigated qualities of the mathematical discourse in four kindergarten classes in which kindergarten teachers and 5-year-old children engaged in mathematical learning activities. We analysed differences in the mathematical discourses in two experimental kindergarten classes and two control kindergarten classes, in a research and development project. The overarching research question guiding our study was as follows: what characterises the mathematical discourse unfolding in kindergarten classes? In our study we drew on the theoretical framework Mathematical Discourse in Instruction coined by Adler and Ronda, as we quantified the collected qualitative data. Our an…

A coordinated preventive care approach for healthy ageing in five European cities: A mixed methods study of process evaluation components

2019

To evaluate specific process components of the Urban Health Centres Europe (UHCE) approach; a coordinated preventive care approach aimed at healthy ageing by decreasing falls, polypharmacy, loneliness and frailty among older persons in community settings of five cities in the United Kingdom, Greece, Croatia, the Netherlands and Spain.Mixed methods evaluation of specific process components of the UHCE approach: reach of the target population, dose of the intervention actually delivered and received by participants and satisfaction and experience of main stakeholders involved in the approach.The UHCE approach intervention consisted of a preventive assessment, shared decision-making on a care …

2021

In many countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to strong restrictions and changed the everyday lives of older people. In Finland, people aged 70 and over were instructed to stay at home under quarantine-like conditions. Existing studies from other countries have reported increases in negative experiences and symptoms as a result of such restrictions, including psychosocial stress. However, little focus has been given to older people’s experiences of meaningfulness during the pandemic. Using survey and interview data, we ask to what extent have community-dwelling oldest old (80+) experienced meaningfulness during the pandemic, what background factors are associated with meaningfulness and …

Integrating the Analysis of Mental Operations Into Multilevel Models to Validate an Assessment of Higher Education Students’ Competency in Business a…

2016

The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing indicate that validation of assessments should include analyses of participants’ response processes. However, such analyses typically are conducted only to supplement quantitative field studies with qualitative data, and seldom are such data connected to quantitative data on student or item performance. This paper presents an example of how data from an analysis of mental operations collected using a sociocognitive approach can be quantitatively integrated with other data on student and item performance to validate in part an assessment of higher education students’ competency in business and economics. Evidence of forward reasoning an…

Student teachers’ ways of experiencing the teaching of health education

2010

The aim of this phenomenographic study was to identify student teachers’ ways of experiencing the teaching of health education, and to determine the aspects that are educationally critical in gaining a deeper understanding of the teaching. Qualitative data (written essays, semi‐structured interviews) were gathered twice during health education teacher training. Teaching was seen as transferring knowledge and skills, supporting the active processing of knowledge, supporting transformation of conceptions, supporting holistic personal growth and building a learning community with the students. The teaching was reflected through five themes: the nature of the knowledge, the source of the knowle…

Gendered Life-Course Patterns in Post-Socialist Romania: An Illustration from Households Situated in Precarious Prosperity

2017

AbstractThis paper documents the gendered aspects of changes affecting the life course of Romanians post-socialism, and the meanings men and women—with ages spanning across various age cohorts—employ to make sense of their experiences. Based on qualitative data collected during research on precarious prosperity among Romanian households conducted in 2013, the findings show that major shifts occurred in the timing of life events. Romanians’ life courses and their work trajectories have been unevenly affected depending on their intersectional belonging to gender, area of residence and life stage at the moment of the political transition. The analysis of work trajectories unravels increasing g…

How Did I Become a Good Teacher? Implications for Teacher Education

2017

Abstract The professional standards for teachers provide the competences needed for this occupation, in function of the level of education and of the career stages. This study aims to discover the most important training factors which contribute to the acquisition of teacher competences and to establish the implications for teacher education. We have used a mixed-method design as the procedure for collecting, analyzing, and combining both quantitative and qualitative data. To detect the main agents in the teacher competences’ achievement, we applied a questionnaire and we asked the personal opinion of the teachers regarding their evolution in the career. The findings indicated that the prin…

Positive Psychology Perspectives on Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

2016

The process of internationalisation of education in Australia and globally is frequently viewed from the deficit perspective of difficulties and challenges international students face while studying in another country. This paper examines a different perspective of the international educational experience. It explores the positive aspects of the international students’ view on their life in Australia and studying at an Australian university. The paper examines possible interpretations of data from student surveys using dimensions from educational positive psychology for the analysis. First, it outlines the concepts of negative and positive emotions and their role in learning. Then, it intro…

A VR/AR Environment for Multi-User Liver Anatomy Education

2021

We present a Virtual and Augmented Reality multi-user prototype of a learning environment for liver anatomy education. Our system supports various training scenarios ranging from small learning groups to classroom-size education, where students and teachers can participate in virtual reality, augmented reality, or via desktop PCs. In an iterative development process with surgeons and teachers, a virtual organ library was created. Nineteen liver data sets were used comprising 3D surface models, 2D image data, pathology information, diagnosis and treatment decisions. These data sets can interactively be sorted and investigated individually regarding their volumetric and meta information. The …