Saxion University of Applied Sciences

About: Saxion University of Applied Sciences is a education organization based out in Enschede, Netherlands. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Health care & Context (language use). The organization has 390 authors who have published 653 publications receiving 8859 citations. The organization is also known as: Saxion University of Applied Sciences.

Professional learning networks: From teacher learning to school improvement?

Abstract: Professional learning communities are promising for teacher learning and improving the quality of education. In the past decade, there has been a shift in focus from within-school to cross-school PLCs: Professional Learning Networks. Knowledge of the underlying working processes of teacher learning in PLNs is scarce. This is even more complicated for PLNs, because of organizational, geographic and professional boundaries. The purpose of this study is to explore how PLNs can function to meet their objectives and what challenges they face in their aim of achieving sustainable teacher learning and school improvement. We applied a qualitative case study design. Data were collected by means of interviews with PLN participants and external coaches, logs by external coaches, and yearly observations by the researchers. Results show how the PLN context influences the outcomes in terms of teacher learning, PLN products and application in their schools. Findings show how leadership, the perception of a shared goal, structured activities, collaboration, and facilitation and support especially appear to influence outcomes. PLNs face additional challenges in relation to within-school PLCs, in terms of knowledge transfer from the PLN back to participants’ own schools and the network as a whole. This should be acknowledged and acted upon before PLNs are even established.

A combined approach to strengthen children’s scientific thinking : direct instruction on scientific reasoning and training of teacher’s verbal support

Abstract: Inquiry-based lessons have been demonstrated to improve children’s scientific thinking (i.e. reasoning abilities and domain-specific knowledge). Although empirical evidence shows that inquiry-based...

The Influence of Prior Expectations of a Robot’s Lifelikeness on Users’ Intentions to Treat a Zoomorphic Robot as a Companion

Abstract: We are, at our roots, social creatures who are designed to bond with others. Given that robots are expected to increasingly serve humans in social roles, insight into the psychological aspects of our relationships with robots is becoming more relevant. Earlier findings indicate a strong role of a robot’s perceived lifelikeness and gender for human–robot companionships. In an experimental study, we tested whether an individual’s gender (male vs. female) and prior expectation of a robot’s lifelikeness (high vs. low) influence the effect of preconditions originally identified for human friendship formation (i.e., proximity, physical attraction, similarity, reciprocal liking, intimacy) on the individual’s intention to treat a zoomorphic robot as a companion. Our results show that when people have high prior expectations of a robot’s lifelikeness, similar variables that explain why people establish relationships with each other are better able to explain their intentions to treat such a zoomorphic robot as a companion. Thus, companion robots should have a lifelike appearance, which does not necessarily mean a humanlike appearance. Moreover, men and women focus on different preconditions for human friendship formation when they evaluate their intentions to treat zoomorphic robots as companions. This means that developers of companion robots should be aware of these gender differences in bonding, and men and women may even prefer different designs, in terms of either appearance or behavior, for their companion robots.

Experiences of using a memory aid to structure and support daily activities in a small-scale group accommodation for people with dementia

Abstract: BackgroundUse of technology to structure and support the daily activities of the residents in a small-scale group accommodation (SSGA) for dementia is a new innovation in the Netherlands. This pape...