Tor Söderström

When Performance Is the Product: Problems in the Analysis of Online Distance Education

This article examines two ideologies that have been prominent in recent, if not current, education thinking. The first is that means can be separated from ends (or processes from products); the sec ...

Distance, Online and Campus Higher Education: Reflections on Learning Outcomes

Purpose - This paper discusses performance in postgraduate education in Sweden and Scotland. Drawing on two cases, we consider three themes: differences in students´ performance by study mode, diff ...

Premises, promises : connection, community, and communion in online education

This paper is an essay on the discursive politics of education. Data from a small study, combined with a review of the related literature, suggest that the overarching concept “community” lacks coherence when used in online education. At least three contrasting forms of connection can be discerned: communion among participants, exchange between participants, and attachment to an ideal. In turn, we believe that this incoherence is not a trivial semantic problem, but rather a central concern in current efforts to remodel, reform and globalize distance education.

Collaborative learning with screen-based simulation in health care education: an empirical study of collaborative patterns and proficiency development

This article is about collaborative learning with educational computer-assisted simulation(ECAS) in health care education. Previous research on training with a radiological virtual reality simulato ...

The impact of preparation: conditions for developing professional knowledge through simulations

This article examines simulations of critical incidents in police education by investigating how activities in the preparation phase influence participants’ actions and thus the conditions for learning professional knowledge. The study is based on interviews in two stages (traditional and stimulated recall interviews) with six selected students and video analysis of one student police patrol’s short-term preparation. The results showed that simulation and associated activities informed the students of their responsibilities and pre-determined tasks without effectively helping them to cope with the situation. The analysis suggests that an understanding of the social and interactional requirements for producing the kind of situation that the students were to be trained for and learn from were not mediated. Thus our conclusion is that good conditions for learning in and through simulations require a simulation competence among the participants and that it is a responsibility of the instructors to consider how this competence is to be developed.

A framework for the design of computer-assisted simulation training for complex police situations

The article reports progress concerning the design of a computer-assisted simulation training (CAST) platform for developing decision-making skills in police students. The overarching aim is to out ...

Firefighting training at a distance – a longitudinal study

Abstract This article presents an analysis of a five-year study on the implementation of a technology-supported distance programme in Swedish firefighter training. Based on activity theory and four interview studies, the attention is directed to firefighter instructors’ perceptions and use of digital technologies with a focus on challenges, contradictions and changes. Two phases are identified, viz an implementation phase and a dissemination phase. During the implementation phase a clear contradiction emerges regarding how the object of the training should be interpreted, which results in the instructors responsible for the implementation reconsidering previous beliefs and, with the support of digital technologies, developing more theoretical and process-oriented approaches and improving the course design. However, during the dissemination phase, when all instructors are involved, a number of conflicts and dilemmas emerge, resulting in the changes achieved in the distance programme to some extent being normalised in the direction of the instructor-centred and exercise-oriented approaches of the campus programme. The article concludes with a discussion about contradictions as well as opportunities that may emerge during the implementation process of a vocational technology-supported distance programme.

Athletic ability in childhood and adolescence as a predictor of participation in non-elite sports in young adulthood

Abstract In this article, we contribute to the discussion on factors affecting adult participation in organized sport. To this end, we examine whether explanations regarding sport expertise can also add to the understanding of non-elite-level sport participation in young adulthood. Results from questionnaires (n = 572) revealed that date of birth and early sport debut positively correlated to strong sport performance during childhood, which, in turn, were correlated to strong sport performance and being selected for talent groups during adolescence. Finally, strong sport performance during adolescence was positively correlated to sports club membership as young adults. As relative age effects seem to remain throughout childhood and adolescence, we conclude that the underlying variable that affects the selection process and sport participation in young adulthood is date of birth. The results indicate that being active in sport as young adults is contingent on sport-specific variables previously not investigated in research on sport participation.

Firefighter learning at a distance : a longitudinal study

This article presents a summary analysis of a 5-year study on the implementation of a technology-supported distance firefighter training programme in Sweden, focused on the firefighter students’ learni ...

Developing police students’ professional knowing through scenario training : The impact of preparation, implementation and debriefing

When educating new police officers, using scenario training is an integral part of the educational program including a variety of practical exercises where students´ should act as police officers. ...