Tapping into Floor Staff: Using the knowledge of floor staff to conduct formative evaluations of exhibits in a Canadian science centre

Most science centres in Canada employ science-educated floor staff to motivate visitorsto have fun while enhancing the educational reach of the exhibits. Although bright andsensitive to visitors’ needs, floor staff are rarely consulted in the planning,implementation, and modification phases of an exhibit. Instead, many developmentteams rely on costly third-party evaluations or skip the front-end and formativeevaluations all together, leading to costly errors that could have been avoided. This studywill seek to reveal a correlation between floor staff’s perception of visitors’ interactionswith an exhibit and visitors’ actual experiences. If a correlation exists, a recommendationcould be made to encourage planning teams to include floor staff in the formative andsummative evaluations of an exhibit. This is especially relevant to science centres withlimited budgets and for whom a divide exists between floor staff and management.In this study, a formative evaluation of one exhibit was conducted, measuring both floorstaff’s perceptions of the visitor experience and visitors’ own perceptions of the exhibit.Floor staff were then trained on visitor evaluation methods. A week later, floor staff andvisitors were surveyed a second time on a different exhibit to determine whether anincrease in accuracy existed.The training session increased the specificity of the motivation and comprehensionresponses and the enthusiasm of the staff, but not their ability to predict observedbehaviours with respect to ergonomics, learning indicators, holding power, and successrates. The results revealed that although floor staff underestimated visitors’ success ratesat the exhibits, staff accurately predicted visitors’ behaviours with respect to holdingpower, ergonomics, learning indicators, motivation and comprehension, both before andafter the staff training.

We did it together : Fathers´ experiences of planned home birth in the Nordic countries

Sammanfattning: Bakgrund: för många pappor kan det vara en av livets största och bästa stund att närvara vid när deras barn föds. Det finns studier som beskriver pappors upplevelse av sjukhusförlossning, däremot finns det få studier som beskriver pappors upplevelse av planerad hemförlossning. Syftet med den här studien är att beskriva pappans upplevelser och erfarenheter av planerad hemförlossning. Metod: i denna studie medverkar 105 pappor från de nordiska länderna som har deltagit i planerad hemförlossning mellan 2009-2011. Materialet från en öppen enkätfråga analyserades med hjälp av deduktiv ansats. Den öppna frågan löd ”beskriv gärna förlossningen med egna ord”. Resultat: papporna upplevde den planerade hemförlossningen som lugn och säker, mycket tack vare den professionella barnmorskan och den välbekanta miljön. Att få vara hemma med sin partner och om så önskades, sin familj var högt skattat. Födelseprocessen hemma beskrevs av papporna som att ”vi gjorde det tillsammans” och ”det var vår egen förlossning”. Papporna uttryckte delaktighet i förlossningsflödet. De kände också att de fick ett barn och var en del av en vacker förlossning full av kärlek. Konklusion: att välkomna ett barn hemma i en lugn miljö där paret känner sig trygga och ostörda, kan underlätta en positiv och meningsfull förlossningsupplevelse.

Translation, Communication and 'Learning' : Experiences from teaching a master program in Viet Nam

In Vietnam, as in other Asian countries, co-operation with foreign universities plays an important role for the development of higher education. This paper is based on personal experiences from teaching a Swedish Master Programme in Education Science at Vietnam National University in Hanoi. Using theories developed by Lev Vygotsky and Donald Schon, the programme is explored as an inter-cultural learning process. Three aspects are focused upon. Firstly, the fact that communication between students and teachers is conducted with the help of translators who support both teachers and students in their attempt to understand and make themselves understood. Secondly, the expressed need to connect the ideas and techniques which are studied in the programme to the students´ professional worlds. Thirdly, the need to construct a framework wherein the students can inquire into their own situations and to encourage them to try new and more productive ways to deal with problems they are confronted with.

Development of a Real-time Formative Feedback Student Response System

This paper is focusing IT-supported real-time formative feedback in a classroom context. The development of a Student and Teacher Response System (STRS) is described. Since there are a number of obstacles for effective interaction in large classes, IT can be used to support the teachers aim to find out if students understand the lecture and accordingly adjust the content and design of the lecture. The system can be used for formative assessment before, during, and after a lecture. It is also possible for students to initiate interaction during lectures by posing questions anonymously. The main contributions of the paper are a) the description of the interactive real-time system and b) the development process behind it.

Existential issues in surgical care : Nurses’ experiences and attitudes in caring for patients with cancer

The overall aim of this thesis was to explore surgical nurses’ experiences of being confronted with patients’ existential issues when caring for patients with cancer, and to examine whether an educational intervention may support nurses in addressing existential needs when caring for patients with cancer. Previously recorded discussions from supervision sessions with eight healthcare professionals were analysed (I), written descriptions of critical incidents were collected from 10 nurses, and interviews with open questions were conducted (II). An educational intervention on existential issues was pilot tested and is presented in Studies III and IV. The intervention was the basis of a pilot study with the purpose of testing whether the whole design of the educational intervention, including measurements instruments, is appropriate. In Study III and IV interviews with 11 nurses were conducted and 42 nurses were included in the quantitative measurements of four questionnaires, which were distributed and collected. Data was analysed using qualitative secondary analysis (I), hermeneutical analysis (II), and mixed methods using qualitative content analysis and statistical analyses (III-IV). Results in all studies show that existential issues are part of caring at surgical wards. However, although the nurses were aware of them, they found it difficult to acknowledge these issues owing to for example insecurity (I-III), a strict medical focus (II) and/or lacking strategies (I-III) for communicating on these issues. Modest results from the pilot study are reported and suggest beneficial influences of a support in communication on existential issues (III). The results indicate that the educational intervention may enhance nurses’ understanding for the patient’s situation (IV), help them deal with own insecurity and powerlessness in communication (III), and increase the value of caring for severely ill and dying patients (III) in addition to reducing work-related stress (IV). An outcome of all the studies in this thesis was that surgical nurses consider it crucial to have time and opportunity to reflect on caring situations together with colleagues. In addition, descriptions in Studies III and IV show the value of relating reflection to a theory or philosophy in order for attitudes to be brought to awareness and for new strategies to be developed.

Reading That Matters : A Literature Review on Meaningful Reading Experiences in the EFL Classroom

This thesis is a literature review on literature reading in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom, of mainly upper secondary schools. The underlying objective for this work is that meaningful reading experiences can have a positive impact on a developing young individual on his or her way into adulthood. The aim of this thesis is to explore what theories and methods are used when trying to create prerequisites for meaningful reading experiences, and how these experiences actually are realized. Qualitative methods are mainly used, except for a small section of the methodology of finding the sources, which is quantitative in nature. Since very little previous research has been done in the field, the six sources used in this review are internationally spread over five continents. They are mainly analyzed from a theoretical background of reader response and critical literacy perspectives. The main findings show that a number of theoretical approaches and methodologies can be useful in creating meaningful reading experiences. What may have proven most effective was addressing actual problems in the students’ everyday lives through applied critical literacy.

Systematic work environment management : experiences from implementation in Swedish small-scale enterprises

Small-scale enterprises face difficulties in fulfilling the regulations for organising Systematic Work Environment Management. This study compared three groups of small-scale manufacturing enterprises with and without support for implementing the provision. Two implementation methods, supervised and network method, were used. The third group worked according to their own ideas. Twenty-three enterprises participated. The effects of the implementation were evaluated after one year by semi-structured dialogue with the manager and safety representative. Each enterprise was classified on compliance with ten demands concerning the provision. The work environment was estimated by the WEST-method. Impact of the implementation on daily work was also studied. At the follow-up, the enterprises in the supervised method reported slightly more improvements in the fulfilment of the demands in the provision than the enterprises in the network method and the enterprises working on their own did. The effect of the project reached the employees faster in the enterprises with the supervised method. In general, the work environment improved to some extent in all enterprises. Extensive support to small-scale enterprises in terms of advise and networking aimed to fulfil the regulations of Systematic Work Environment Management had limited effect especially considering the cost of applying these methods.

MLCMS actual use, perceived use, and experiences of use

Mobile learning involves use of mobile devices to participate in learning activities. Most elearning activities are available to participants through learning systems such as learning content management systems (LCMS). Due to certain challenges, LCMS are not equally accessible on all mobile devices. This study investigates actual use, perceived usefulness and user experiences of LCMS use on mobile phones at Makerere University in Uganda. The study identifies challenges pertaining to use and discusses how to improve LCMS use on mobile phones. Such solutions are a cornerstone in enabling and improving mobile learning. Data was collected by means of focus group discussions, an online survey designed based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and LCMS log files of user activities. Data was collected from two courses where Moodle was used as a learning platform. The results indicate positive attitudes towards use of LCMS on phones but also huge challenges whichare content related and technical in nature.

Understanding older people’s experiences of home care through the capability approach

The core concepts of CA In the theoretical framework of CA, well-being is constituted by a person’s unique way of functioning and capabilities. This means that a person's well-being is personal and involves freedom of choice which in turn means they have a number of options. Although many people may have the same resources, it is of importance to study how these resources are converted into how they function. Thus, wellbeing is about the person's freedom to achieve in general and the capabilities to function in particular (Sen, 1995). Strength of the capability approach The capability approach is a useful tool for matching objective evaluations with subjective metrics. Furthermore, although one’s individual abilities are in focus, contextual factors, and subjective perceptions and experiences, are taken into consideration. Critiques against the CA The capability approach has been criticized for being too individual-centered and not taking sufficient account to social structures in society. It is difficult to know what a person would choose to do if other options were available. Therefore, to operationalize abilities involves uncertainties.

E-learning opens the door to the global community. Novice users experiences of e-learning in a Somali University

E-learning has become one of the primary ways of delivering education around the globe. In Somalia, which is a country torn within and from the global community by a prolonged civil war, University of Hargeisa has in collaboration with Dalarna University in Sweden adopted, for the first time, e-learning. This study explores barriers and facilitators to e-learning usage, experienced by students in Somalia’s higher education, using the University of Hargeisa as case study. Interviews were conducted with students to explore how University of Hargeisa’s novice users perceived elearning, and what factors positively and negatively affected their e-learning experiences. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model was used as a framework for interpreting the results. The findings show that, in general, the students have a very positive attitude towards e-learning, and they perceived that e-learning enhanced their educational experience. The communication aspect was found to be especially important for Somali students, as it facilitated a feeling of belonging to the global community of students and scholars and alleviated the war-torn country’s isolation. However, some socio-cultural aspects of students’ communities negatively affected their e-learning experience. This study ends with recommendations based on the empirical findings to promote the use and enhance the experience of e-learning in post conflict Somali educational institutions

Parent’s experiences of feeding their preterm infant in Neonatal Units in Sweden. : Ethnographic design

Introduction: Studies have shown that having a preterm infant may cause stress and powerlessness for parents. It is important to support parents around the feeding situation, and that the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has appropriate space and place to help the family to bond to each other. For the healthcare professionals it is important to promote skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding; particularly for preterm infants. There are many studies on parent’s experiences of NICUs and a few studies on parent’s experiences of feeding their infant in the NICU. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore parents experiences of feeding their infant in the NICU. Design: The study was conducted using an ethnographic design. Results: A global theme of ‘The journey in feeding’ was developed from four organising themes: ‘Ways of infant feeding’; ‘Environmental influences’; ‘Relationships’ and ‘Emotional factors’. These themes illustrate the challenges mothers reported with different methods of feeding. The environment had a big impact on parent’s experiences of infant feeding. Some mothers felt that breastfeeding seemed unnatural because their infant was so tiny but breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact helped them to bond to their infant. The mothers thought it was difficult to keep up with the milk production by only pumping. Routines were not inviting parents to find their own rhythm. They also felt stressed about the weighing. Healthcare professionals had positive and negative influences on the parents. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that while all parents expressed the wish to breastfeed, their ‘journey in feeding’ was highly influenced by method of feeding, environmental, relational and emotional factors. The general focus upon routines and assessing milk intake generated anxiety and reduced relationality. Midwives and neonatal nurses need to ensure that they emphasise and support the relational aspects of parenting and avoid over-emphasising milk intake and associated progress of the infant