| 1. |
- Knutsson, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Modernizing the public sector : The Scandinavian way
- 2017
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Ingår i: Modernizing the public sector : Scandinavian perspectives - Scandinavian perspectives. - Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, [2017] | : Routledge. - 9781138675940 - 9781315560328 ; , s. 241-254
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Looking at the Swedish public sector from a Scandinavian perspective, this chapter argues for a challenged but resilient (although not uniform) Scandi- navian public sector. Sweden is a nation with a long tradition of decentral- ized decision-making, semi-autonomous government agencies and independent local governments. This is considered a receptive context for continuous and incremental modernization. It has fostered a high degree of experimentation in terms of modes of production and distribution, albeit without the risks associated with purely market-driven social reforms based on privatization of both production and financing. The variations on the Swedish modernization theme are many, involving various forms of mar- ketization initiatives, boundary-spanning cooperative efforts and an open attitude and willingness towards trying and sharing experiences. High levels of transparency and trust are two initial traits signifying the Scandinavian public sector, which have been both amplified and challenged by the NPM agenda. The inherent strive of NPM for compartmentalization, quantifica- tion and performance measurement challenges some of the institutional glue of the welfare state, which has kept the parts together in a solid unity. Simultaneously, many NPM reforms – with their emphasis on performance measurement and reporting for increasing transparency and improving the outcomes of public polices and services – contribute both to sustained trust and welfare. The chapter concludes that Sweden keeps defending the Scan- dinavian model and values of universalism, solidarity and market independ- ence, a defence in which developments in society and future public management reforms may prove wanting.
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| 2. |
- Knutsson, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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New Public Management in a Scandinavian context
- 2017
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Ingår i: Modernizing the public sector : Scandinavian Perspectives - Scandinavian Perspectives. - Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, [2017] | : Routledge. - 9781315560328 - 9781138675940 ; , s. 18-34
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter gives an overview of the main NPM reforms and trends in the Nordic countries. The idea of a uniform Scandinavian model of NPM is discussed - the chapter presents the different countries as members of a shared public administration tradition, albeit with different traits and particular reforms. The Swedish constitution and the organization of the public sector in a centralized and a two-part local government structure are presented, both as a backdrop to the subsequent chapters and for a reflection about whether there is a uniqueness to be found in the Swedish NPM initiatives. The long history of decentralized public decision-making and its ramifications on the structure of the Swedish public-sector organization is given special attention. From a Scandinavian perspective, the public-sector structures and characteristics in Norway, Denmark and Finland are presented, by which the idea of a single Scandinavian model for all is discussed and contested.
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| 3. |
- Bergdahl, Nina, et al.
(författare)
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Designing for Engagement in TEL – a Teacher-Researcher Collaboration
- 2018
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Ingår i: Designs for Learning. - : Stockholm University Press. - 1654-7608 .- 2001-7480. ; 10:1, s. 100-111
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hence, teachers need to consider how their practices affect student engagement. Applying design-based research (DBR), the purpose of this study was to approach influencers of student engagement and explore how teachers and researchers collaboratively could develop learning activities with learning technologies (LTs) to facilitate this. The intervention included an online assessment application, a virtual learning environment (VLE) and an additional tablet for the teacher. The teacher constantly carried the tablet around and used it to access the students’ shared workspace. The intervention was implemented in two classes in an upper secondary school. The study focuses on teachers’ experience and instruction. Three observations of the implementation of learning design and intervention evaluations were analysed. The results indicate that the teachers and researchers could design learning activities that facilitate student engagement. Engagement was facilitated as hindrances to engagement were identified and approached. The suggested solutions shaped the design of the learning activity and included LTs which provided insights into the students’ learning processes and thereby increased the teacher’s ability to scaffold learning and provide timely feedback. The LTs used opened up for additional ways for students to engage with the content, peers and contributions which motivated students to direct their energy toward task. When conditions for learning changed as a result of implementing LTs, both student interaction and teacher practices were affected. However, it was not observed that the teacher would sustain the design without support. This emphasises the need for educational goals and visions to be consistent and communicated to practitioners; otherwise, teachers will not have the guidance needed to advance or evaluate their professional development.
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| 4. |
- Bergdahl, Nina, et al.
(författare)
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Engagement, disengagement and performance when learning with technologies in upper secondary school
- 2020
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Ingår i: Computers and education. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-1315 .- 1873-782X. ; 149
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Students need to engage in order to learn. As digitalisation changes the conditions for learning, it is essential to consider how student engagement might be affected. This study explores the relationship between students' level of engagement in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) and academic outcomes. More specifically, we developed and validated an instrument LET (Learner–Technology–Engagement) using principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, and distributed this to second and third year upper secondary school students. We then matched student responses (n = 410) with their school grades. Using a bivariate correlation test, a one-way ANOVA test, and a post hoc test, we analysed the associations between low-, average-, and high-performance students and their reported engagement and disengagement when learning with technologies. The analysis reveals that high-performance students find it easier to concentrate when working with learning technologies than do average and low performers. We also found significant correlations between low grades and reported time spent on social media and streaming media for other purposes than learning (e.g., YouTube). There were also significant correlations between a decrease in students’ performance and the occurrence of unauthorised multi-tasking via learning technologies while in class: the lower the grades, the more frequently students reported using digital technologies to escape when lessons were boring. Conclusively: high-performance students seem to develop strategies to use digital technologies in supportive and productive ways. Thus, in order for schools to use digital technologies to ensure that disadvantaged students do not remain disadvantaged when learning with technologies and to not replicate problems in analogue classroom interactions, insights how different performance groups engage and disengage in TEL is critical for learning.
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| 5. |
- Bergdahl, Nina, et al.
(författare)
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‘So, You Think It’s Good’ - Reasons Students Engage When Learning with Technologies – a Student Perspective
- 2018
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Ingår i: EDULEARN18. - : The International Academy of Technology, Education and Development. - 9788409027095 ; , s. 9556-9563
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Student engagement is significantly related to school success. With the increasing digitalisation of education, it is essential to explore if student engagement is affected by the uptake of learning technologies (LTs). The aim of this study was to approach what factors students perceive to influence their engagement when learning with technologies. This was done by asking students to report their level of engagement and fill in a questionnaire to evaluate a classroom intervention designed to facilitate engagement. The intervention included a learner assessment application, a virtual learning environment (VLE) And a separate tablet the teacher used to access the shared workspace. These LTs facilitated instant feedback between the teacher and the students and enabled multiple simultaneous dialogues which allowed all students to engage with both content and peers. Results show that students’ invested effort in learning activities were related to their reported levels of engagement. Surprisingly, in this intervention, control and stress showed no correlation with engagement. Some aspects of peer modelling and feedback showed weak correlations, albeit these were non-significant. Instead, students reported that feeling ‘content with one’s outcomes’ and ‘engaging in learner-centred dialogues’ were their main reasons to engage. Moreover, students’ reasons to engage in short tasks were not the same as their reasons to engage with long-term goals, such as completing their assignment. The results show that conditions for learning changed when implementing LTs. As conditions for learning changed, so did students’ reasons to engage. Moreover, insights into students’ reasons to engage and reported levels of engagement to suggest that obtaining this information can be useful to identify students in at-risk zones and offer them the support needed. Orchestration of inclusive engagement and implications for future designs are discussed.
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| 6. |
- Bergdahl, Nina, et al.
(författare)
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The Use of Learning Technologies and Student Engagement in Learning Activities
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1891-943X .- 0809-6724. ; 13:2, s. 113-130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As digitalisation spreads in education, it is vital to understand its relation to student engagement. We used student diaries and observation data to approach student engagement and explore the use of learning technologies on a lesson-to-lesson basis. Results show that a less thought-through use of technologies might lead to unconsidered effects. Positive indicators of the facilitation of student engagement included making the learning process accessible and visible to teachers.
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| 7. |
- Bergdahl, Nina, 1971-
(författare)
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Upper Secondary School Student Engagement and Disengagement : in Blended Learning
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present research approaches Swedish upper secondary school students’ engagement and disengagement in Technology-enhanced Learning (TEL). To date, research on engagement in TEL have mainly focused on university-level students and have overlooked the dimension of disengagement. The aim of the thesis is to explore how to facilitate students’ academic engagement in TEL by considering both student engagement and disengagement when students learn with digital technologies. While a mixed-methods approach was adopted across all sub-studies, sub-studies I-III emphasised qualitative methods, and sub-studies IV-V were more quantitatively orientated.Results revealed that teachers’ orchestration of digital technologies for learning varied more between the individual teachers than the subjects taught, and that the orchestration of digital technologies and the design of learning activities covaried with the observed and self-reported levels of student engagement. A Design-Based Research intervention showed that teachers could orchestrate digital technologies and design learning activities that increase student engagement in TEL, but may find it challenging to sustain the practice without support. A student evaluation showed that only the students with the highest engagement levels reported interest as their reason to engage. Instead, the most common reasons to engage were related to the social dimension of engagement. Building on the results of this intervention, design principles that facilitate student engagement when designing for engagement in TEL were identified.After the intervention, the focus was expanded to include student disengagement along with engagement and The Learner-Engagement-Technology (LET) instrument was developed using interviews and theory. The LET instrument was tested and validated to reflect multi-dimensional aspects of upper secondary school student engagement and disengagement in TEL. The LET-instrument revealed that low-, average- and high-performance students engage and disengage differently in TEL; that students’ IT skills played a role for engagement in TEL, but are not sufficient to redeem disengagement and that a majority of students use digital technologies to escape when the lesson is perceived to be boring. The results also showed that indicators of disengagement in TEL do not have a natural opposite in the engagement scale; that is; disengagement in TEL is more than the mere absence of, or lower levels of, engagement in TEL. Overlooking disengagement, when students learn with technologies, might fail to uncover critical insights that hinder student engagement.The main contributions of this thesis are: (i) derived design principles and practical insights on conditions related to student engagement and disengagement in TEL that may inform designs of learning activities to facilitate engagement (ii) a methodological contribution that reflects an attempt to combine critical realism and Design-Based Research, and (iii) a theoretical contribution that suggests how engagement and disengagement may be understood and conceptualised in TEL. Future research should explore engagement and disengagement in TEL, relating to the uptake of digital technologies in earlier school years, and other school forms. The thesis is relevant for teachers, decision makers, researchers and others interested in understanding the challenges and possibilities that may affect students in a digitalised school.
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| 8. |
- Bigert, Johnny, et al.
(författare)
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Automatic Evaluation of Robustness and Degradation in Tagging and Parsing
- 2003
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Conference Recent Advances in Natural Language Processing 2003. - Borovets, Bulgaria.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We address the topic of automatic evaluationof robustness and performance degradation inparsing systems. We focus on one aspect of robustness, namely ill-formed sentences and the impact of spelling errors on the different componentsof a parsing system. We propose anautomated framework to evaluate robustness, where ill-formed and noisy data is introducedusing an automatic tool and fed to the parsingsystem. With increasing levels of noise, the performanceof a system will inevitably degrade, and the question is to what extent? The experiments show a graceful degradation in performancefor both state-of-the-art taggers usedand a Swedish shallow parser. The automatednature of the evaluation allows easy and reproducibleevaluation of the individual componentsof a parsing system.
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| 9. |
- Bigert, Johnny, et al.
(författare)
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Grammar checking for Swedish second language learners
- 2004
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Ingår i: CALL for the Nordic Languages. - Copenhagen Business School : Samfundslitteratur. - 8759311762 ; , s. 33-47
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Grammar errors and context-sensitive spelling errors in texts written by second language learners are hard to detect automatically. We have used three different approaches for grammar checking: manually constructed error detection rules, statistical differences between correct and incorrect texts, and machine learning of specific error types. The three approaches have been evaluated using a corpus of second language learner Swedish. We found that the three methods detect different errors and therefore complement each other.
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| 10. |
- Bigert, Johnny, et al.
(författare)
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Unsupervised evaluation of parser robustness
- 2005
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Ingår i: COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS AND INTELLIGENT TEXT PROCESSING. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin Heidelberg. - 3540245235 ; , s. 142-154
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article describes an automatic evaluation procedure for NLP system robustness under the strain of noisy and ill-formed input. The procedure requires no manual work or annotated resources. It is language and annotation scheme independent and produces reliable estimates on the robustness of NLP systems. The only requirement is an estimate on the NLP system accuracy. The procedure was applied to five parsers, and one part-of-speech tagger on Swedish text. To establish the reliability of the procedure, a comparative evaluation involving annotated resources was carried out on the tagger and three of the parsers.
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