| 51. |
- Johansson, Evelina, 1986
(författare)
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The Assessment of Higher-order Thinking Skills in Online EFL Courses: A Quantitative Content Analysis
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of English Studies. - : University of Gothenburg - Department of Languages and Literatures. - 1654-6970. ; 19:1, s. 224-256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies within second language learning indicate that higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) are important for the process of learning a new language. At the same time, previous literature indicates that assessment tasks in online courses often focus on lower- order thinking skills. Little is still known about if and how thinking skills are assessed in online EFL courses. Hence, the purpose of this study is to create a more comprehensive understanding of if and how online EFL students at Swedish universities are given opportunities to both develop and being assessed on such skills. According to the sociocultural perspective, collaboration is beneficial to students’ learning. Thus, the present study will also look into the correspondence between HOTS e-assessment tasks and collaborative e-assessment tasks. E-assessment tasks used in four online EFL courses given at Swedish universities have been classified according to the revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy. This has been done through a quantitative content analysis of used e- assessment tasks. The study found that the majority of courses included more e- assessment tasks focusing on higher-order thinking than on lower-order thinking. However, a significant difference was detected between literature and linguistics modules in the sense that literature modules include more HOTS e-assessment tasks. Moreover, the results suggest that collaborative e-assessment tasks are slightly more common in e- assessment tasks that focus on HOTS than on LOTS. The present study provides insight into how thinking skills are assessed and developed in online language courses.
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| 52. |
- Johansson, Evelina, 1986
(författare)
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Towards Critical Thinking Skills in Higher Education - The Case of English Courses at Swedish Universities
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present thesis investigates higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and critical thinking in English courses at Swedish universities. The rationale for investigating this topic is based on policy documents which state that students’ development of these skills is a goal in both Swedish and international higher education. Previous research indicates a connection between critical thinking and L2 proficiency, which points to a potential importance of HOTS and critical thinking in English courses. Hence, the present study seeks to explore students’ opportunities to develop thinking skills in English intermediate courses in Swedish universities. This topic was investigated through three studies. The first study was inspired by the theory of constructive alignment and analyzed assessment tasks and intended learning outcomes in English courses. The second study investigated English teachers’ views on and experiences of critical thinking and HOTS through interviews and a questionnaire. The data from both the first and the second studies was analyzed with the distinction between linguistics and literature in English courses in mind. Finally, the third study explored students’ development of both critical thinking and EFL proficiency in English intermediate courses. Critical thinking was measured through the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and EFL proficiency was measured through a vocabulary size test. The results show that critical thinking and HOTS were present in both intended learning outcomes and assessment tasks in English intermediate courses. However, there was a higher frequency of HOTS learning outcomes and assessment tasks in literature modules than in linguistics modules. While few differences between how teachers in linguistics and literature experienced and understood HOTS and critical thinking were detected, literature was often talked about as being more suitable for developing these skills. Although the teachers did not express a unified understanding of these concepts, they seemed to be aware of the importance of developing students’ HOTS and critical thinking. The study revealed that students did not develop critical thinking nor EFL proficiency, or that these were correlated. The results are discussed in relation to the short time frame of the study and students’ already high levels of critical thinking and EFL proficiency.
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| 57. |
- Johansson, Maria E, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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High-salt diet combined with elevated angiotensin II accelerates atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of hypertension. - 0263-6352 .- 0263-6352. ; 27:1, s. 41-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: High-salt diet likely elevates blood pressure (BP), thus increasing the risk of cardiovascular events. We hypothesized that a high-salt diet plays a critical role in subjects whose renin-angiotensin systems cannot adjust to variable salt intake, rendering them more susceptible to atherosclerosis. METHODS: Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE-/-) mice received standard or high-salt diet (8%) alone or in combination with fixed angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion (0.5 microg/kg per min). BP was measured using telemetry, and plaque burden was assessed in the thoracic aorta and innominate artery. We used urinary isoprostane as a marker for oxidative stress. RESULTS: Although high-salt diet per se did not affect plaque extension, high salt combined with Ang II increased plaque area significantly in both the aorta and the innominate artery as compared with Ang II or salt alone (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). High-salt diet did not affect BP or isoprostane levels, whereas Ang II infusion increased both BP and isoprostane levels (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). Although high-salt diet combined with Ang II did not amplify BP, salt in combination with Ang II increased isoprostane levels further (P < 0.001 vs. Ang II alone). Ang II increases macrophage content in lesions (P < 0.05), whereas salt likely increases collagen content. CONCLUSION: High-salt diet per se does not influence BP in ApoE-/- mice and is only moderately atherogenic. Possibly mediated via increased oxidative stress, a high-salt diet combined with fixed high Ang II levels accelerates atherogenesis synergistically, beyond the effect of BP.
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| 58. |
- Johansson, Vida, et al.
(författare)
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Automatic Extraction of Synonyms from an Easy-to-Read Corpus
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Sixth Swedish Language Technology Conference.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents two novel methods aimed at extracting comprehensible synonyms to regular words, as a step towards automatic text simplification. The methods are inspired by previous work on synonym extraction and make use of bilingual dictionaries, as well as distributional semantic similarity between words. Human layman knowledge was used to evaluate the synonym candidates extracted by the methods, which proved to be perceived as synonymous to a high degree. Both methods showed promising results and qualities, and have potential to be used to further improve automatic text simplification.
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