Science has been and is an important tool in the construction of theworld view of modern man. There are also others, such as differentreligions. Although the Christian church has had to yield in manydisputes about world-views and philosophies of life, science doesnot seem to have superseded religion. The same also applies to themagic-occult tradition which is supported by numerous occultistmovements and sometimes even the media. From the viewpoint ofscience education, it is interesting to examine to what extent, if at all,the future educators of our children believe in claims presented inscientific, religious and magic-occult connections. Do we find anydifferences between the credibility estimates? Are there any differencesbetween primary teacher students raised in different societies andeducated in different school systems? How do the credibility estimatesrelate to each other? To answer these questions, data was collected bya questionnaire from Finnish, Estonian and Michigan primary teacherstudents. The paper presents the most important results and discussesshortly their significance from the viewpoint of science education.
To promote students’ value-based agency, responsible science and sustainability, science education must address how students think about their personal and collective futures. However, research has shown that young people find it difficult to fully relate to the future and its possibilities, and few studies have focused on the potential of science education to foster futures thinking and agency. We report on a project that further explored this potential by developing future-oriented science courses drawing on the field of futures studies. Phenomenographic analysis was used on interview data to see what changes upper-secondary school students saw in their futures perceptions and agentic orientations after attending a course which adapted futures thinking skills in the context of quantum computing and technological approaches to global problems. The results show students perceiving the future and technological development as more positive but also more unpredictable, seeing their possibilities for agency as clearer and more promising (especially by identifying with their peers or aspired career paths), and feeling a deeper connection to the otherwise vague idea of futures. Students also felt they had learned to question deterministic thinking and to think more creatively about their own lives as well as technological and non-technological solutions to global problems. Both quantum physics and futures thinking opened new perspectives on uncertainty and probabilistic thinking. Our results provide further validation for a future-oriented approach to science education, and highlight essential synergies between futures thinking skills, agency, and authentic socio-scientific issues in developing science education for the current age.
This study aims at investigating the profiles of teacher educators in order to explore their ability to prepare preservice teachers for technology integration in education. Specifically, the current study examines whether teacher educators can be grouped on the basis of their attitudes toward ICT (in education), their ICT self-efficacy to design ICT-rich learning environments, their competencies to use ICT in their teaching practice and the strategies they use to prepare preservice teachers for technology integration. These strategies are included in the SQD (Synthesis of Qualitative Data) model and comprise: (1) teacher educators as role models, (2) reflecting on the role of technology in education, (3) learning how to use technology by design, (4) collaboration with peers, (5) scaffolding authentic technology experiences and (6) providing continuous feedback. Data were collected from a sample of 284 teacher educators in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and submitted to latent profile analysis. The added value of the current study lies in the account of how SQD strategies and a typical set of determinants of ICT integration can be associated within teacher educators’ profile. Based on the profiles emerging from this study, teacher training institutions should consider their teacher educators to be gatekeepers when preparing future generations of teachers for the learning environments of the twenty-first century. In the discussion section, the implications for practice and future research are discussed. 相似文献
This paper analyses the roles and impacts of new, technology-based firms (NTBFs) in a small open economy, with empirical data from Finland. It is suggested that in small open economies, NTBFs may fall into a resource trap, which might result in their being relatively less growth oriented than NTBFs in countries where the domestic market is larger. Consequently, in small open economies, the systemic impact of NTBFs could be emphasised rather than their organic growth in terms of the employment that they create. 相似文献
AbstractThis study analysed the first stance phase joint kinetics of three elite sprinters to improve the understanding of technique and investigate how individual differences in technique could influence the resulting levels of performance. Force (1000 Hz) and video (200 Hz) data were collected and resultant moments, power and work at the stance leg metatarsal-phalangeal (MTP), ankle, knee and hip joints were calculated. The MTP and ankle joints both exhibited resultant plantarflexor moments throughout stance. Whilst the ankle joint generated up to four times more energy than it absorbed, the MTP joint was primarily an energy absorber. Knee extensor resultant moments and power were produced throughout the majority of stance, and the best-performing sprinter generated double and four times the amount of knee joint energy compared to the other two sprinters. The hip joint extended throughout stance. Positive hip extensor energy was generated during early stance before energy was absorbed at the hip as the resultant moment became flexor-dominant towards toe-off. The generation of energy at the ankle appears to be of greater importance than in later phases of a sprint, whilst knee joint energy generation may be vital for early acceleration and is potentially facilitated by favourable kinematics at touchdown. 相似文献
When rating scales are used in different countries, thorough investigation of the psychometric properties is needed. We examined the internal structure of the Finnish translated Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2) using Rasch and confirmatory factor analysis approaches with a sample of youth, parents, and teachers. The results suggested that the Finnish translated BERS-2 has acceptable measurement properties and is suitable for use in Finnish schools. Results highlighted the issue that there is a need to consider cross-cultural aspects when introducing new measures in another culture. Directions for future research are also discussed in light of present findings. 相似文献
This article discusses rural schoolteachers’ relationships with local village communities in mid-twentieth-century Finland. At the time, Finnish rural teachers were typically very public figures in their local community. To deal with the pressures of their position, teachers resorted to coping strategies which the authors name ‘local’ and ‘cosmopolitan’ after Robert K. Merton’s well-known categories. The local strategy required that teachers adapt themselves to the social demands of community life, whereas the cosmopolitan strategy was manifested in the teachers’ efforts to distance themselves from the local community, reflecting the increasing professionalisation of Finnish schoolteachers as well as a general social transition in which traditional community ties were gradually replaced by modern individualism. 相似文献
We employed the grounded theory method to construct a framework describing the distinctive mechanisms through which big-science centers generate industrial knowledge spillovers in the economy. Our focus is on large-scale big-science installations typically associated with experimental physics. We draw on social network, social capital, and inter-organizational learning theories to examine knowledge spillovers accruing to industrial partner companies in big-science-industry dyads. The context for the study is provided by CERN’s new particle accelerator project, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In addition to building a grounded theory framework for the study of industrial knowledge spillovers, our study demonstrates the distinctive potential that big-science centers offer as a source of knowledge spillovers in national innovation systems. 相似文献
In this work, changes in the cross-country ski base properties resulting from stone grinding, skiing, waxing and re-stone grinding have been investigated. The surface topography, crystallinity, wettability and sliding properties of cross-country ski bases were recorded using a selection of measurement techniques: non-contact chromatic confocal microscopy, contact-type surface roughness analyser and scanning electron microscopy (topography), Raman spectroscopy (crystallinity), contact angle measurement (wettability) and a ski tester (sliding properties). The tested skis were used for 150 km and waxed 35 times. The ski base surface became smoother and the orientation and crystallisation of the base material increased. Wear decreased the hydrophobicity and increased the sliding friction. Even though re-grinding did not restore all of the ski base properties, re-grinding improved the wettability and sliding properties. The results help to optimise stone grinding interval to maintain the performance of the skis. 相似文献
