The purpose of this study is to examine step‐wise admission to two medical programs with regard to selection effects. By using data from a large‐scale longitudinal project, the influence of background variables on regular and step‐wise admission is estimated. Characteristics of both applicants and those admitted are investigated using descriptive statistics and the probabilities of admission and application are examined using logistic regression analysis. The results indicate that self‐selections were generally greater for the step‐wise groups compared to the regular groups. However, the selections resulting from the procedure were generally lower for the step‐wise groups. The results vary between different step‐wise designs, indicating self‐selections to be dependent upon the type of instrument used in the first step, and selections resulting from the procedure to be dependent on the number of steps and/or, more probably, the type of instruments used and the number of those selected in each step.

The purpose of this study is to examine effects of the admission system to higher education on background diversity of students and study efficiency. By using data from a longitudinal project, the students admitted to medical education on different admission grounds are compared. The results indicate that admissions based on upper secondary grades best promote the goal of diversity. In addition, those students perform nearly as well as those admitted via step-wise procedures. The step-wise procedures promote study efficiency, but tend to favour applicants with upper-middle-class and Swedish backgrounds compared to those admitted via grades. Those admitted on the basis of SweSAT scores perform more poorly than those admitted via grades and step-wise procedures. Furthermore, the results indicate that admission via SweSAT scores contradict rather than promote the goals of increasing social, educational, and national diversity in higher education. © 2006 Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research.

There is a rising tendency for students in higher education not to attend lectures. Therefore, the aim of the study was to describe the reasoning behind nursing students’ decisions on whether or not to attend lectures. This qualitative study was performed in a nursing education programme at a Swedish University. One hundred and thirty-one students participated. Data were collected through a questionnaire comprising open-ended questions. Qualitative content analysis was performed. The results are presented in eight categories: four concerning reasons for attending lectures and four concerning reasons for not attending lectures. Decisions, both to attend and to not attend lectures, were based on conscious choices guided by the students’ self-governing of their own personal needs for learning. © 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The aim of this study is to explore conditioning factors influencing learning opportunities in food-related education taught from a perspective of sustainable development. Over the course of the eighth-grade school year, data were derived from field studies of two classes taught in Home and Consumer Studies with an exploratory case-study design. Data were analyzed using thematic and ideal-type analysis, resulting in four ideal-type portrayals: the Convinced, the Easygoing, the Unable, and the Skeptical, which characterize how pupils participate in and respond to sustainable food education in different ways. The characteristics of each of the four ideal types imply contextual frames that condition unequal learning opportunities in sustainable food education. By identifying, scrutinizing, and accommodating to existing conflicts and related structures, educational policy makers and practicing teachers can increase opportunities for pupils to develop informed reasoning, regardless of their ideal type characteristics. © 2018 Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research

In Swedish compulsory school, individual development plans (IDPs) are mandatory for all students up to 6th grade. The purpose is to summarize and facilitate pupils' learning and tune instruction to national standards. In this study, 233 IDPs drawn up for 5th grade pupils were analyzed with focus on qualities that have been found to impact students' learning and learner identities. The results show that the IDPs rarely display the qualities that would make them effective as tools for enhancing students' learning, and that there is a gender difference in the quality of the documents, as well as differences regarding the pupils' academic background.

Dyslexia is a well-known phenomenon and help and assistance are offered to pupils and students who experience literacy difficulties on a regular basis. But what help do they need and want? In this article the responses people with reading and writing difficulties/dyslexia give to this question are discussed. What, if we take the student's own viewpoint, is the most important thing the teacher can do? The students never mention any particular teaching methods. What appears as important to them is that the teacher sees them as individuals, not just as dyslectics, understands the special difficulties with which each individual must grapple, and provides the students with suitable tools for their learning as well as necessary time and space.

This study directs attention to the ways in which pre-service teachers'€™ knowledge base are constructed in and through the examination practice in the various subjects of the Primary teacher education programme in Sweden. The empirical material consists of policy material (course plans, study guides and examination tasks). The results show differences between the pedagogic discourses, in the various subjects, concerning examination forms, what is examined in terms of content, and which generic competencies are given importance in and through the examinations. Finally, the result shows that pedagogic discourse primarily shape the primary teacher students into a horizontal discourse, which can make it difficult for them to handle complex teaching situations in their future professional lives. © 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Irrespective of the grading system, grades are the most valid instrument for predicting educational success. Previous studies have shown that criterion-referenced compulsory school grades are multidimensional, reflecting subject-specific dimensions and a common grade dimension, both of which contribute to the predictive validity of grades. This suggests that in addition to knowledge and skills, grades reflect other aspects which might have importance for the prediction of educational success. The purpose of this study was to investigate, using structured equation modeling, whether norm-referenced compulsory school grades display similar patterns of dimensionality and predictive validity to criterion-referenced grades. Possible differences due to gender and parents’ education were considered. Participants were 3855 students born in 1972. The results showed that norm-referenced grades are multidimensional, and that both the subject-specific and common grade dimensions contribute to predicting educational success. In the common grade dimension, girls and students with higher educational backgrounds were favored.