Information and knowledge about science communication through educational journals and search engines are needed to reach higher quality in educational science. In this study two different databases, one representing open access and one not, indexing peer reviewed articles are scrutinized according to publishers, volumes, frequency of numbers per year, access and language? The result contributes to the information literacy field and science reflexivity. In a prolonged sense it is a contribution to quality in science. Questions are raised about educational journals as arenas for research communications, construction of the educational field, dominating discourses, responsibility of the intellectuals, power and democracy.

Higher Education is expected to build on a scientific ground and the link between teaching and research is meant to be strong. This is an old assertion strongly connected in a historical perspective to an extensive amount of research about the theory and practice nexus. Albeit more than three and a half decenniums of reforms and efforts in Sweden, since teacher education became a part of the university and higher education system 1977, teacher education in Sweden is still criticized in this matter. In this project the ambition is to map research on research-based teacher education and complementary. The aim is to analyse questions raised and research result outcomes in this research genre. The result indicates that research on a research-based teacher education foremost focuses and discusses organizational, institutional and administrative factors; treatment of content in teacher education is rare. The result is analysed in a broad perspective of sociological theories of knowledge. Using information science research, a model linking teaching to research is suggested in the aim to enhance teacher education and teacher student qualifications emphasizing the critical ones.  Keywords: theory practice nexus, research-based education (research-led education, research-oriented education), teacher education, research content, information science, sociology of knowledge.

I detta bidrag tas utgångspunkt i hur framtagningen av några policydokument för kursvärderingsarbete kännetecknats av ett gränsöverskridande samarbete, samlade erfarenheter och aktiva studenter. En översyn av hur ,genomförandet lyckats och i vilken utsträckning kursvärderingar ligger till grund för kvalitetsutvecklingsarbetet har undersökts. Exemplet kommer från Högskolan Kristianstad.

In the last two decades, distance education has grown worldwide and is now established as a reliable educational method. Accompanying this development, questions about low rates of student persistence have come to interest governments, institutions, and university management. This article is based on an original local study at a university in Sweden investigating what it takes to get students to continue their enrolment in courses or programs. Teachers' views were captured in interviews and focus groups. These views were analyzed in the context of research in the field catalogued under the keywords "retention" and "persistence" in "distance education" and "distance learning." The results indicate that the teachers would like to see a shift in focus from students to the organization and its technical and administrative teacher and learner support. Staff attitudes, institutional structure, and the management views towards distance education seem to be critical factors.

Unauthorized absence from school, commonly labelled truancy, absenteeism, and dropout, is a problem that has been increasingly noted in recent years by the National Agency for Education, county councils, communities, and media in Sweden. It is also a prioritized issue in Europe and worldwide. Many students leave school without credentials or a compulsory-school leaving certificate; this is believed to have consequences for the individual as well as for society. Elementary education is regarded of importance for the welfare of the individual, his or her future, potential employment opportunities, and as a measure against criminality, drug misuse, and social exclusion. From a societal perspective, elementary education is perceived to be crucial for future work and development in society, as well as a prerequisite for democracy. What encourages school attendance and prevents unauthorized school absence? This article presents a review of the results and recommendations of 155 research reports focusing on absence prevention and school attendance. The review points to the need for an outspoken and elaborate shift in perspective from a focus on individual characteristics and individually related factors to the responsibility of the school and the community. Forces that draw students to school are a feeling of school success reached by strengthening core competencies, the possibility of bonding with adults, and a school climate that students deem positive.

Granskar man lärarutbildningen i Sverige när det gäller mångkul-turalism, kan man notera betydande brister vad gäller kursplaner och formulerade mål. Lärarutbildningen tycks enligt ett större antal undersökningar inte heller förbereda framtida lärare när det gäller att undervisa i ett samhälle präglat av mångfald. I ett samhälle som konstant förändras och diversifieras måste emellertid varje lärare vara utrustad med en pluralistisk grundsyn, kunskap och kompetens att möta demokratiska värderingar. Ett bidrag till utvecklingen av deliberativ kommu-nikation i lärarutbildningen skulle kunna vara en allmänt spridd medvetenhet om möjligheterna att greppa områdets komplexitet. Mot denna bakgrund och i pragmatisk anda frågade vi oss: Hur och i vilken utsträckning bearbetas mångkulturalism i lärarutbildningarna? Vilka frågor reses och diskuteras? Vilka perspektiv kommuniceras? Föreskriven litteratur i två olika lärarutbildningar, en erkänd för att integrera mångkulturalism och en som troligtvis inte behandlar området i sin utbildning, har granskats i denna studie. Undersökningen syftar till att få en bild av vilka diskurser eller perspektiv avseende mångkulturalism, som tas upp i svensk lärarutbildning. En kritisk analys och diskussion relateras till internationell forskning på området. I artikeln skrivs möjligheter fram till hur övergripande globala synsätt och konfronterande kritiska perspektiv kan lyftas i lärarutbildning.

Sedan länge

Studying a sample of what has been written about the concepts Bildung and lifelong learning, we find little connection between the two. The term Bildung, mostly used in the hermeneutic tradition, is understood as an individual’s way of interpreting the world. The skills of interpretation create individual freedom and a potential to achieve communicative capacity, which is essential in developing a deliberative democracy. In contrast, with the term lifelong learning, which is mostly found in a political context, the perspective of individual freedom in the above-mentioned sense is put to one side infavour of individual adjustment to economic needs. This essay raises questions about the importance of understanding the concept of Bildung in aknowledge-based community.

The Fourth Nordic Conference on Scholarly Communication hölls nyligen i Lund. Cirka en tredjedel av över 150 deltagare vid denna nordiska konferens, kom från Australien, Belgien, Egypten, Grekland, Island, Italien, Litauen, Nederländerna, Schweiz, Tyskland, UK and US. Världen krymper. Konferensen öppnades av Göran Bexell och programmet var späckat med talare över två och en halv dag.