Arild Raaheim

Learning physiotherapy in clinical practice: Student interaction in a professional context

A situated perspective on learning implies looking at learning as a process of social interaction. Learning is linked to participation and engagement in situations and activities that make up the community of practice. The aim of this study was to explore how important students perceive interaction in the community of practice to be for their learning. We chose a qualitative approach using semistructured interviews. The informants were five interns and five third-year students. The interviews were analysed by using a phenomenographic framework. Four descriptive categories were identified: 1) feeling welcome and included; 2) having enough time and space; 3) the importance of a fellow student; and 4) the patient as my teacher. In environments in which students feel welcome and included, they are allowed to test their ability to gain and develop experience, and they become active participants of a community. As active participants, students have access to a variety of learning situations. If learning is understood as a dynamic process during which all participants develop, there will be mutual interaction between students and the professional community. When learning becomes integrated into practice and has consequences for development of the community, responsibility for the learning of others becomes important.

Why This Inertia in the Development of Better Assessment Methods

Assessment has not been a major concern over recent decades in Norwegian higher education, either as a topic in educational literature, or as an area of practical development. This paper argues that it is essential to introduce alternatives to the traditional assessment approaches. When the issue of assessment is dealt with as a choice between methods, traditional modes of thinking turn out to be a hindrance. The inertia may, at least to some extent, be regarded as a consequence of the fatigue that arises from an unsuccessful search for alternatives within the logic of examinations. In this article, the suggestion is made that the focus should be on the basis for selecting assessment methods, rather than on the methods themselves.

Can Students be Taught to Study? An Evaluation of a Study‐Skill Programme Directed at First Year Students at the University of Bergen

Abstract Raaheim, A. 1984. Can Students be Taught to Study? An Evaluation of a Study‐Skill Programme Directed at First Year Students at the University of Bergen. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 28, 9‐15. An account is given of an experiment where twenty‐one first year students were trained in using certain study techniques and followed through their first examination at the university. When their results were compared with those of a group of students who did not take part in this training, statistically significant differences were found. This is taken to indicate that the training has been successful, and the author argues that elaborate study‐skills can be learned and that these skills may facilitate learning and understanding.

Learning to Learn at University

Abstract: Raaheim, A. 1987. Learning to Learn at University. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 31, 191‐197. In this article, two studies are taken into account. Study 1 describes how a group of mature adults with a minimum of formal education are ‘smuggled’ into the official Examen Philosophicum and pass the psychology part of the exam, after receiving one year of systematic training. The second study illustrates how a group of Asian students are taken care of and given systematic training, and how they perform at the exam following a one‐year introductory course in psychology. The author argues that both studies can be taken to illustrate that successful studying is very much a question of the availability and use of some appropriate skills. As is demonstrated, such skills can be learned.

The Relative Effect of Team-Based Learning on Motivation and Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

A quasi-experimental study tested the effect of lecture-based courses and team-based courses on students’ motivation and learning. The results show that students in general were more autonomously motivated and competent in the team-based courses, relative to the lecture-based courses, but also less amotivated and more externally regulated.

A prospective investigation of students’ academic achievement and dropout in higher education: a Self-Determination Theory approach

Abstract We investigate a model based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to predict academic achievement and dropout intentions among biology students in higher education in Norway. Students (n = 754) from a representative national sample participated in this cross-sectional study. The results align with our hypotheses and SDT assumptions. The model explains a substantial amount of the variance in academic achievement and dropout intentions. Specifically, autonomous motivation and perceived competence positively predict academic achievement and negatively predict dropout intentions. Controlled motivation is unrelated to academic achievement and is a positive predictor of dropout intentions. Furthermore, significant indirect effects show that need-supportive teachers and students’ intrinsic aspirations positively predict academic achievement and negatively predict dropout intentions, via autonomous motivation and perceived competence. We recommend teachers to support students’ need for autonomy, competence and relatedness, by providing choice and volition to facilitate autonomous motivation, and give students effectance-relevant feedback and optimal challenges to increase perceived competence.