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A concern that has been raised with the transition from pen and paper examinations to electronic examinations is whether this will make cheating easier. This article investigates how teachers and students perceive the differences in ease of cheating during three types of written examination: paper exams, bring your own device e-exams and e-exams using university-owned devices. It also investigates perceptions about the effectiveness of some typical countermeasures towards cheating across these examination types. A mixed-method approach was used, combining questionnaires and interviews with students and teachers in the authors' own university. A total of 212 students and 162 teachers participated in the questionnaire survey, and then, a more limited number were interviewed to get a deeper understanding of the results. Six-different cheating practices were considered – impersonation, forbidden aids, peeking, peer collaboration, outside assistance and student–staff collusion and seven different countermeasures were considered – proctors, biometry, mingling, shuffling, random drawing, sequencing and broadcasting. Both students and teachers perceived cheating as easier with e-exams, and especially with bring your own device. They also thought some countermeasures would be easier to implement with e-exams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents a bibliometric network analysis of the two most recent schools reforms in Norway. Two research questions have been pursued: First, do the government-appointed expert commission use (in Green Papers) the same type of knowledge as 'evidence' for their reviews and recommendations as the Ministry of Education and Research (as reflected in the White Papers)? How has the use of 'evidence' changed over the two reform periods? Second, which body of knowledge amassed by the expert commission has the Ministry of Education and Science actually used for policy formulation? The network analysis shows (i) distinct changes in reference patterns over the two reform periods (e.g., average number of references more than doubled and references to international texts increased significantly), and (ii) an unexpectedly low usage of the 'evidence' presented by the expert commissions. The Ministry of Education and Research only draws on 9.5 percent of the references presented by the expert commissions. Strikingly, almost all of the adopted references are from a commissioned report that locally adapted and translated OECD's Definitions and Selections of Competencies project. The authors suggest 'studying up' and paying more attention to how scientific 'evidence' is actually used, translated, and edited at the political level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the reference societies of Norway and Sweden embedded in their education policy documents. We examined 4,260 bibliographic references in 19 white papers and green papers prepared for the 2016/2020 renewal of the Knowledge Promotion Reform in Norway and the 2015/2018 Knowledge Achievement Reform in Sweden. In addition, we interviewed 10 policy experts who participated in the preparation of the analyzed policy documents. The results show that the reference societies overall reflect the existing knowledge production and dissemination mechanisms in education policy; however, they significantly differed between Norway and Sweden regarding whether and to what extent they reference knowledge produced in other Nordic countries. Specifically, while Norway drew extensively on knowledge from its neighbors, particularly Sweden, Sweden seldom referenced knowledge produced in other Nordic countries. Policy actors identified similarity, relevance, accessibility, reform contexts, and institutional arrangements as reasons for (not) referencing neighbors. This study calls for further consideration of the political, social, and cultural embeddedness of the 'socio-logic' to understand implicit reference societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyses of policy documents and interviews with three Norwegian politicians revealed differences in how school leaders were described, positioned and ascribed responsibility in Norwegian education policy between 1990 and 2017. While how politicians positioned school leaders changed substantially during the period, a stable trait was vague descriptions of school leaders' responsibility. In 1990, school leaders were envisioned in a managerial position, above teachers, as employers. A more recent White Paper, from 2017, positioned school leaders closer to the teaching profession. The interviews showed that after the PISA-shock in 2001, politicians united across party lines in a 'new regime of understanding', downplaying traditional conflicts between Norwegian politicians. While Parliamentary politicians rhetorically disagreed, there was, underneath the policy discourse, a growing realpolitik consensus in questions of education policy. The study investigates policy descriptions of school leaders after 1990, when Management by Objectives was introduced in education. To position Norway in the international policy context, we draw on Stephen Ball's concepts fabrication, managerialism, magical solutions and neoliberal performativity. Three periods, with simultaneously appearing residual and emerging tendencies were identified. In conclusion, we question an apparent lack of ambitions for school leadership in Norwegian education policy. The article contributes with new insights into education policy fluctations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how superintendents and school principals enact national policy reform expectations and what characterises their local organisational arrangements. Furthermore, the paper investigates how superintendents and school principals deal with tensions as entrepreneurs. The study builds on qualitative interview data from two municipalities in Norway. Analytically, the study draws on institutional theory, more specifically, on entrepreneurship, which to a limited degree has been applied in educational and empirical studies. The superintendents and principals interviewed referred to various local arrangements and resources that were partly adapted and changed through reform work to better fit local needs. Such arrangements included intra and interorganisational dependency and cooperation with several actors and organisational resources. Superintendents and principals seemed to partly break away from existing patterns of interaction. The entrepreneurial work entailed dealing with several tensions emerging within and across institutional boundaries in the process of enacting national reform policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:The aim of the present paper was to study preferences for web based self-administered questionnaires (web SAQs) vs. paper-based self-administered questionnaires (paper SAQs) and to evaluate the feasibility of using web SAQs in patients referred to cardiac, lung, occupational and cancer rehabilitation programs. Methods:The patients were approached by mail and given the choice to answer the compulsory SAQs either on paper or on a web-based platform. Results:Hundred and twenty seven out of 183 eligible patients (69.3%) were willing to participate and 126 completed the study. Web SAQs were preferred by 77.7%, and these patients were significantly younger, more often cohabiting and tended to have higher level of education than paper SAQ users. Mean number of data missing per patient was less among the web SAQ users than the paper SAQ users (0.55 vs. 2.15,p < 0.001). Costs related to human resources were estimated to be 60% lower with web SAQs compared to paper SAQs. Conclusions:Web SAQs were well accepted among the patients scheduled for rehabilitation, led to less missing data and considerable cost savings related to human resources. Patients referred to rehabilitation should be offered the choice to complete self-administered questionnaires on internet platforms when internet access is common and available.Implications for RehabilitationThe high acceptability of web-based self-administered questionnaires among rehabilitation patients suggests that internet platforms are suitable tools to collect patient information for rehabilitation units.Web-based modes of patient data collection demonstrate low number of missing data and can therefore improve the quality of data collection from rehabilitation patients.Use of web-based questionnaires considerably reduces administrative costs of data collection in rehabilitation settings compared to traditional pen and paper methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The main purpose of this article is to explore and develop a basic understanding of a new formulation of children's learning within ECEC policies in Norway. In the Nordic Countries, one question of importance is the shift in ECEC policy from a social-pedagogical approach and a holistic perspective on children's learning towards a heavier emphasis on school readiness, mathematics, and linguistic skills. And it is this latter approach which is our topic here. The research question is as follows: What transformations can be identified in learning discourses in the Norwegian government's White papers? Analysing political reports will help us identify discourses, including the power and resistance of the ECEC professionals. For this purpose, Fairclough's three-dimensional analysis model is an appropriate way to analyse dynamic processes of recontextualization and reconceptualization. His analysis includes three levels: social structure, social practices and social events, with the aim being to discover how the existing order of discourse is being reproduced or reconstructed. Further, the concept of interdiscursivity describes how texts draw on previous and existing discourses. The article identifies movements and complexity both in policies and among professionals. The learning discourses are strongly influenced by New Public Management in the way of individualization, assessment and accountability. There are signs of silence and acceptance, but resistance and countermovements are also present in the field of ECEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies polarization of attitudes toward immigration in Norway from 2001 to 2019. The paper studies polarization along five dimensions: dispersion, bimodality, consolidation, constraint, and sorting. Empirical analyses were based on two Norwegian longitudinal, cross-sectional surveys. The findings suggested that, first, overall attitudes toward immigration did not become more polarized in terms of dispersion and bimodality. There was, however, a tendency toward increased polarization of attitudes toward Islam and a decreased polarization of attitudes toward refugees. Second, there was an increasing generational gap in attitudes toward immigration, especially with respect to Islam. Third, attitudes toward immigration were more closely linked to attitudes toward other political issues and to party preference. Although these changes should not be overestimated, finding increased tendencies of consolidation, constraint, and sorting in a consensus-based democracy like Norway indicates the wider existence of polarizing trends similar to those in the UK and US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The salmon lice-induced mortality of wild salmon stocks that result from aquaculture production can be considered a nonpoint pollution problem. In Norway, this externality is managed using a traffic light system (TLS), and the purpose of this system is to regulate the estimated aggregated salmon lice-induced mortality of wild salmon stocks in a number of production areas. This paper evaluates the TLS and in doing so, we depart from the literature on the regulation of nonpoint pollution problems. We argue that limited perceived influence of individual actions on the mortality of wild salmon stocks, difficulties in obtaining a reliable measure for the aggregated salmon lice-induced mortality and collective punishment of individual actions constitute the major problems of the TLS. As alternatives to the TLS, we discuss a subsidy to reduce the amount of salmon lice and a tax on salmon lice at farm site level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how domestic trade policies are adapted to new international framework conditions through strategies of politicization and depoliticization. Empirically, the focus is on how the interests of a globalized seafood industry are assessed in conjunction with the interests of agriculture – an industry traditionally treated as exceptional in policy making. The findings, which are based on a study of how trade policy issues have been handled in five white papers from Norway, show that different (de)politicization strategies can contribute to change in both policy goals and policy instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this thesis Silje Aurora Andresen explores the political in discourses of disasters and disaster management as a window to "the inner workings of society" (p. 1). Andresen addresses the following research questions (p. 3): Which concepts can help analyze and explain current discourses and practices of disasters and disaster management? The thesis examines how disasters, such as the fire in Lærdal in 2014, become a site and occasion for struggles over governmentality, which Andresen claims are characterized by a "disastermentality." Besides the substantial foundation and good conclusion, the four papers form the analytical core of the thesis and take forward the thesis topic in different ways and thus provide different aspects of doing disaster research: Paper I. Andresen, S.A. 2019. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper addresses peace education focusing on how place-based experiences and collective memories stimulate local mobilisation for refugees fleeing from war. The Arctic Migration Route, located above 69th degree north, became an alternative to dangerous boat trips on the Mediterranean Sea, for people seeking safety and protection in the fall of 2015. During a few months, over 5,500 people from 35 nations, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran came to a municipality in north Norway with 10,000 inhabitants. The paper demonstrates how global conflicts far away, have important local consequences across borders and huge distances. Interviews with local authorities, teachers, voluntary workers constitute the main empirical material. By combining theories of place-based experiences and collective memories with phenomenology of practice, geographical location, collective and cultural memories across generations, are analysed as important driving forces for the local mobilization to help refugees. This approach opens for a wider perspective on learning, showing how climate, culture and history have important role as material and sociocultural education in this arctic border region in the north of Norway. Based on empirical data from a small local school, the paper will document how a local community can find solutions to globally produced problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Teaching and learning of nature of science (NOS) is an explicit goal in the core science curriculum in Norway. Yet there is little understanding of how the content of the current textbooks in certain educational pathways such as vocational training addresses NOS. Purpose: The aim of this study is to contribute to research on NOS in VET through exploring how the cognitive and epistemic aspects of NOS are addressed in end-of-chapter tasks in Norwegian science textbooks for vocational studies. Design and Methods: In this paper, we use a particular characterisation of NOS based on the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) to investigate the cognitive-epistemic aspects of NOS in the science textbooks aimed at vocational education in Norway. The cognitive-epistemic aspects are about the aims and values, methods, practices, and knowledge in science. Three key textbooks have been selected and analysed with a focus on end-of-chapter tasks. Results: The results illustrate that NOS were almost absent in the tasks in all textbooks. Patterns across the coverage of NOS in the textbooks are discussed along with some implications for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will investigate how specific narratives on the inclusion of minority language students (MLSs) are constructed in Norwegian and Italian educational policy documents. We will employ the Narrative Policy Framework's (NPF) analytical categories with an interpretative narrative approach to reconstruct the two national policy narratives and compare their salient features. In response to international trends of inclusive education, Norway and Italy have developed two different educational policy models for the inclusion of MLSs. Norway operationalised inclusion through 'adapted education' for all students, while Italian policy defined an 'Italian path towards the intercultural school'. The results will show that the Norwegian approach to inclusive education is sustained by what we define as a technocratic (efficiency-oriented) narrative, while the Italian intercultural education employs a normative (ideologically-based) narrative. Despite the differences, the two policy narratives share an unresolved tension between a universalistic and particularistic stance. In the policy documents, the inclusive/intercultural education for all students is ambiguously complemented by integration measures designed explicitly for MLSs. The study will illustrate the travelling nature of inclusive and intercultural education in the policy domain and show that the policy shift towards inclusion needs to be understood as an ongoing and non-linear process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban freight transport is central to urban societies, and yet urban authorities have traditionally left it to private actors to resolve freight challenges. Urban authorities rely on different governance strategies to address freight that result in fragmented freight governance, as many solutions are fixed in time, sector, or place. Drawing on Bulkeley and Kern’s typology of four modes of governance – self-governing, governing through enabling, governing by provision, and governing by authority – this paper asks: in what ways do urban authorities use different modes of governance in the case of urban logistics? Empirically, the paper looks at the modes of freight governance through an explorative workshop, document analysis, and interviews from Norway’s four largest cities – Bergen, Stavanger, Oslo and Trondheim. It finds that these cities are limiting themselves to ‘less confrontational’ modes based on accommodating freight activities, which hinders institutionalisation of knowledge and prevents public governance from serving as a coordinating factor for urban logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norwegian production of salmon is highly export oriented, making access to efficient supply chains an important success criterion for exporters of salmon. The role of the buyers in the supply chain has so far received limited attention in the empirical literature on seafood trade. In this paper, I utilize customs data for the period 2016–2019 to investigate structure and trade margins for buyers of salmon products from Norway and potential differences in exporter-buyer links between producers and intermediaries. Several insights about buyers in the salmon supply chain are provided. There is large heterogeneity in the number of buyers within as well as between different destination markets, and the main buyers in the largest markets source their products from both producers and intermediaries. The buyer margin of exports is important in overall Norwegian salmon exports and highly sensitive to standard gravity variables. Finally, vertically integrated buyers on average trade in larger values and volumes, ship more frequently and obtain lower prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Original timber stairwell doors in historic masonry apartment buildings of architectural heritage value can be found in the larger cities of Norway. In Oslo, there are around 4000 such buildings, of which many still hold preserved original stairwell doors. The doors often have glass with decorative patterns in the upper parts, and timber panels on the lower part. Old residential buildings are vulnerable to fire due to the building construction and need fire protection upgrades. The stairwell doors are critical elements to prevent fire spread and to keep evacuation routes safe, so their function and condition are important to the level of fire protection in the building. The research work in this paper aims to find retrofit methods for upgrading the fire resistance of these types of doors so they maintain their integrity and insulating properties for up to 30 minutes, at the same time as they maintain their architectural expression. The upgrades must be as little intrusive and destructive as possible. Intermediate scale tests were carried out in a fire resistance test furnace, using different door configurations. The tests lasted between 30 minutes and 42 minutes, with a thermal exposure from the standard time/temperature curve described in EN 1363–1. The results from the tests showed that 40 mm thick laminated wood could withstand up to 30 minutes of fire exposure, thin timber panels could be upgraded using stone wool and robust gypsum boards type R, and that fire-resistant glass could be mounted on the inside of the original glass in different ways. Visual observations indicate that adding smoke seals inside the door leaf are effective for stopping cold and hot smoke. The solutions presented enables the preservation of the original doors' architectural design, their historical values and aesthetic character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2021 Stavå bridge, a main bridge on E6 in Norway, was abruptly closed for traffic. A structural defect had seriously compromised the bridge's structural integrity. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) closed it, made a temporary solution and reopened with severe traffic restrictions. The incident was alerted through what constitutes the bridge's Digital Twin processing data from Internet of Things sensors. The solution was crucial in online and offline diagnostics, the case demonstrating the value of technologies to tackle emerging dangerous situations as well as acting preventively. A critical and rapidly developing damage was detected in time to stop the development, but not in time to avoid the incident altogether. The paper puts risk in a broader perspective for an organization responsible for highway infrastructure. It positions online monitoring and Digital Twins in the context of Risk- and Condition-Based Maintenance. The situation that arose at Stavå bridge, and how it was detected, analysed, and diagnosed during virtual inspection, is described. The case demonstrates how combining physics-based methods with Machine Learning can facilitate damage detection and diagnostics. A summary of lessons learnt, both from technical and organisational perspectives, as well as plans of future work, is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has demonstrated that immediate effects of language interventions tend to fade, but has also suggested that differentiating language skill types may be essential for understanding fade-out processes. This paper examines the longer-term effects of participating in a shared-reading intervention. The study included 464 dual-language learners (DLLs) (49.6% girls) in Norway with a mean age of 52.60 months when the intervention started. They were randomly assigned to an intervention condition receiving a shared-reading program in preschool and at home or a business-as-usual control condition. The children spoke a number of first languages and were second-language speakers of Norwegian. Children's second-language skills were assessed seven months following the completion of the intervention. We asked whether the developmental advantages induced during the intervention faded or remained when the intervention conditions were no longer present, using autoregressive structural modelling and second-order latent growth modelling to answer the question. While some immediate intervention effects disappeared (grammar) or showed tendencies to fade (vocabulary and perspective taking), second-order latent growth modelling suggested that narrative skills emerged. The results demonstrate the need to consider skill type in future research on fade-out and offer a longer-term perspective on how DLLs respond to shared-reading interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that state capitalism is not just a developing world phenomenon; a number of high-income economies in Europe and Asia have experienced a notable expansion of state capitalism over the past two decades. By using data on equity and investment fund shares from government balance sheets, this paper compares the strength of state capitalism across more than 30 high-income economies since 2000. This dataset enables the analysis of government ownership of economic entities in totality and over time. By analysing the diverse cases of the United States, Britain, and Norway in depth, this paper also emphasises the importance of the historical, political, and socio-economic contexts in understanding the persistence of and government influence in state capitalism through corporate ownership. Based on these analyses, this paper challenges the analytical value of 'geographical imaginaries' that categorise high-income economies as liberal capitalists and developing economies as statist capitalists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The salmon farming industry has since its infancy witnessed immense growth due to innovations increasing productivity. A significant part of the innovations causing the productivity growth has by many observers been attributed to collaborative and open R&D-efforts. Salmon farming in Norway is very research intensive, with a large share of R&D being publicly financed, and with results widely shared and innovations widely adopted. However, in recent years there has been a shift toward an increasing share of R&D becoming privately financed, leading to more closed innovation processes. This paper explores the importance of open innovation in salmon farming and the possible consequences of more closed innovation. The paper shows that openness of the innovations depends on the type of challenge and stakeholder. Innovation is at its most open when common challenges are addressed, like finding solutions for parasites and diseases. Innovation in salmon farming tends to become more closed as the industry consolidates, the larger the firm is and the closer to the market innovation takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased levels of digitalisation present major opportunities for efficiency in the oil and gas industry but can also contribute to new risks and vulnerabilities. Based on developments in the industry, the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (HAVTIL) has in recent years pursued targeted knowledge development and follow-up of company's digitalisation initiatives. This paper explores data collected through HAVTIL's audits of the development and use of automated systems within well operations. The analysis of the data resulted in the identification of five main topics related to the implementation of digital technologies. The five main topics were organisational complexity, follow-up and implementation of technology, analysis and documentation, user-interface and alarms and competence and training. Overall, the results support research findings within human factors and technology development, pointing out that there is a lack of focus on human factors in both development projects and in operations. In addition, this paper provides insight into how digitalisation initiatives are followed-up and explores the results from the analysis in light of the current developments in the industry. To investigate automated operations and human performance, three audits were performed by the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (HAVTIL). These audits have been used as case studies and the basis for this paper. Results from the analysis support research findings within the field of human factors and technology development, pointing out that there is a lack of focus on human factors in both development projects and in operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a critical perspective on the use of conversational agents (CAs) with children at home. Drawing on interviews with eleven parents of pre-school children living in Norway, we illustrate the ways in which parents resisted the values epitomised by CAs. We problematise CAs' attributes in light of parents' ontological perceptions of what it means to be human and outline how their attitudes correspond to Bourdieu's [1998a. Acts of Resistance. New York: New Press] concept of acts of resistance. For example, parents saw artificial conversation designed for profit as a potential threat to users' autonomy and the instant gratification of CAs as a threat to children's development. Parents' antecedent beliefs map onto the ontological tensions between human and non-human attributes and challenge the neoliberal discourse by demanding freedom and equality for users rather than productivity and economic gain. Parents' comments reflect the belief that artificial conversation with a machine inappropriately and ineffectively mimics a nuanced and intimate human-to-human experience in service of profit motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, youth researchers have reported increased inequalities between young people, but the social processes that drive these changes are not well understood. In this paper, we draw on rich longitudinal interview data following the same participants from a year before and into the midst of national lockdown during the pandemic in Norway to explore the unfolding of classed and gendered responses that were triggered in young people across the class spectrum. We find that advantaged, ambitious youths engaged in self-resourcing practices with support from their family that could make them even better positioned after the crisis. Youths that were socially vulnerable before the pandemic dealt with the situation alone and in highly gendered ways that seemed to amplify their insecure position in the peer group and community. Thriving youths from working-class communities engaged in lockdown practices that connected them deeper to the family and resourced them for gender traditional, local lives. Illuminating how a crisis prompts practices that increased emerging differences along classed and gendered lines, the paper shows that to grasp inequalities in the making, researchers must consider the importance and changing nature of resources – including relational resources in the family – over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore how 15-16-year-old Norwegians experience social and cultural norms that shape their relationship with health and physical activity (PA) in a country where participation in PA is normative, in the sense that it is not only a widely shared practice but, in having significant cultural traction, is commonly understood as a 'normal' part of Norwegian daily life. The study draws upon qualitative data generated from 31 focus groups involving 148 10th graders (15-16-year-olds) in eight secondary schools in Norway. A key finding was that health was primarily viewed as synonymous with physical health and physical health as closely related to PA. A symbolic marker for physical condition - and, by extension, physical health - was physical appearance and 'looks' (in other words, physical attractiveness), revolving around gender normative bodily 'shape'. In this vein, the youngsters tended towards individualistic views of health - seeing health as a responsibility that lay largely in their hands. We argue that the significance of growing up and living in a wealthy, social democratic nation-state, with high living standards and high social and cultural expectations, can have profound implications for youngsters' perceptions of health and PA, the impact of neoliberalism notwithstanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliance on the use of virtual learning environments, particularly computer-supported collaborative learning environments, is increasing in higher education institutions. This paper explores the perceived sociability of a virtual learning environment after it was implemented in an interdisciplinary project-based course in a higher education institute in Norway due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes the validation of a sociability scale in a sample of 1,611 students. The paper also reports on differences in perceived sociability according to gender, field of study and personality and the extent to which perceptions of sociability relate to the experience of a sudden change from a real-life learning environment to a virtual one. The results of this large-scale study suggest that the Norwegian version of the sociability scale can be used as a valid and reliable instrument to measure the perceived sociability of a virtual learning environment in the context of self-organized student project teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry 4.0 has become a key concept and buzzword in the global manufacturing industry. This paper argues that the concept has created an Industry 4.0 narrative that is having a decisive impact on the industry. The paper combines the literatures on the sociology of expectations and regional path development to develop an analytical framework which is employed in an analysis of the Raufoss region in Norway. We find that the expectations created by the global Industry 4.0 narrative have trickled down into national industry and innovation policies. This has resulted in the anchoring of innovation schemes, development of new educational provisions and generated technological capability building among manufacturers in the Raufoss region. In turn, we argue that these actions have enabled regional path extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The innovation literature increasingly addresses grand challenges and transformative change. However, the issue of to what extent transformative change can build upon the resources, actors and institutions of existing innovation systems has not received sufficient attention. Against this background this paper aims to advance our understanding of the geographies and continuities of transformative change, by exploring the role of regional innovation systems in mission-oriented innovation. Based on an in-depth case study of electrification of ferries in Western Norway, the paper finds that the accomplishment of the mission was in large part due to the fact that it created new regional economic opportunities and built upon and mobilized existing regional resources, actors and structures. This mission re-orientation of an existing regional innovation system was characterized by (a) limited contestation, low complexity and low uncertainty about the technological battery-driven solutions pointed at, (b) multi-actor and multi-scalar agency and finally (c) asset modification of strong and pre-existing RIS structures, institutions and regulatory context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is one sector under pressure when it comes to mitigation of climate change. To overcome the economic barriers preventing greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures from being implemented, this paper explores whether crowdfunding could be a feasible solution to this problem. The paper theoretically and empirically explores sociocultural barriers and enablers for crowdfunding aimed at agricultural GHG mitigation measures in Norway. The empirical analysis is based on focus-group interviews with farmers as potential fund-seekers and citizens as potential backers. The data are analysed in light of certain cultural characteristics previously identified as typical for Norway. Our findings indicate that, while these cultural characteristics manifest themselves in a crowdfunding context, they are not all-embracing. Our analysis points to opportunities for successful crowdfunding for GHG mitigation measures in agriculture given the right premises and including the right motivated people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The documents are then analysed in order to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the roles of committees, market players and the Government in Norway's failed attempt to adopt IFRS for SMEs? At the same time, Norwegian GAAP have developed through a Norwegian standard-setter that has never been formally recognised by the government and parliament, but nonetheless there are government representatives in the committee from the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Supervisory Authorities acting as observers. IFRS and national accounting standards coexist in many countries, and in those countries there will likely be ongoing discussions about the extent to which IFRS should influence the local GAAP or even replace it. [Extracted from the article]

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are important to the economy but vulnerable to changes in their environment. A current example of an exogenous shock threatening SMEs globally is the COVID-19 pandemic, and the firms' responses to the crisis are essential to the prosperity of national economies in the future. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate how different antecedent factors may explain SMEs' responses to COVID-19. This is done through an empirical study of 247 SMEs in Norway and the application of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), which enables a nuanced evaluation of how complex combinations of several co-existing factors can explain SMEs' responses to crises. The results demonstrate how three types of crisis responses can be explained by combinations of SMEs' participation in formal and informal networks, firm characteristics, such as firm size and firm age, and the negative impact of the crisis on the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary educational literature assessment is viewed as a key element of pedagogy, and student self- and peer-assessment is viewed as a vital component of the assessment processes occurring within pedagogical practice. This notion is also present within physical education (PE) literature. Within this body of work however, there has been little attention on how students participate in their own assessment. The focus has rather been towards the teacher's assessment practices. The aim of this paper is therefore to explore how students themselves participate in the assessment processes that occur in PE. By drawing on assessment theory presented by Black and Wiliam (2009. Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-008-9068-5) and the educational perspective of American pragmatist John Dewey, the paper presents a theoretical reconceptualization of assessment that can occur within learning situations. By utilizing this conceptualization to analyse empirical material gathered within the Norwegian PE context, the paper presents findings under three main headings. These are participating in establishing; (1) where the students are in their learning, (2) where the students are going in their learning and (3) how to get where they are going. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results and general implications of the findings for both practitioners and researchers interested in the phenomenon of assessment in PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To handle the risks related to coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease, governments worldwide have adopted different policies and strategies. These policies and strategies build on various approaches and methods to assess and convey the risks. This paper looks more closely into these approaches and methods. We review and discuss practices in four countries (Norway, the UK, the US and Sweden), focusing on the approaches, methods and models used to assess and describe the risks related to COVID-19. The main aims are to present some current thinking, reveal differences and suggest areas for improvement. The paper concludes that current practices can be enhanced by incorporating ideas and approaches from contemporary risk science, particularly in relation to how to treat uncertainties and reflect degrees of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1st International Symposium on Mucosal Health and Aquaculture (MHA2019) was held on 11–13 September 2019 in Oslo, Norway. This was the first platform of its kind that gathered people from academia, R&D institutes, and industry to discuss the state-of-the-art and future directions of mucosal health research in aquaculture. The symposium was divided into four scientific sessions: Session 1, Mucosal structures and functions; Session 2, Mucosal health and nutrition; Session 3, Mucosal health and microbiome; and Session 4, Mucosal health and the changing environment. A plenary talk from a prominent authority in the field opened each session. The papers presented at MHA2019 exemplified the dynamic evolution of the field of mucosal health in aquaculture – from an area solely explored from an immunological aspect about 20 years ago, to the multidisciplinary field it is today. Moreover, papers presented highlighted the complementary application of both classical (e.g., histology) and modern platforms (e.g., omics, artificial intelligence) to characterize mucosal health. The interactive discussion during the meeting underscored the importance of mucosal health research in modern aquaculture and collectively emphasized the role of both fundamental and applied approaches in advancing this timely and highly relevant field. The symposium was organized by Nofima, The Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Research, with support from the Research Council of Norway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of research in teacher education is a widely discussed topic by policymakers as well as by researchers and practitioners. At the policy level, there seems to be a general claim that teacher education shall be research based (OECD, 2005; European Commission, 2013; Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, 2021; Norwegian Ministry of Knowledge, 2020). The claims are strong, however, the interpretation and the operationalisation of the role of research in teacher education is, to say it mildly, vague. In this paper, I will briefly present voices of some international researchers with the purpose of illuminating the complex roles research plays in teacher education. A major part of this paper will present an example of how Norway has attempted to operationalise the complexity of balancing between teacher educators' researcherly and pedagogical dispositions by funding the National Research School in Teacher Education (NAFOL). The overall goal of the research school is to develop "researching teacher educators" with equal value of all the three words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy documents relating to teacher education in Ireland and Norway from 2008 to 2016, representing periods of change in teacher education in both jurisdictions, were analysed to explore the discursive construction of reflective practice. Employing a discourse analysis, the study found that, while reflective practice was seen as important in both countries, they differed in terms of why it should be used. Overall, reflective practice was presented as primarily a competency required by teachers to evaluate and improve their practice, however the rationale for this improvement appeared to differ in the two contexts. In Ireland reflective practice was presented primarily as a tool for self-improvement. A similar focus was evident in the Norwegian documents however they also emphasised the teachers' contribution to the school community. The paper discusses the encroachment of performativity discourses on conceptualisations of reflective practice and discusses implications of this narrowing policy discourse on teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how agents such as agricultural migrants, agricultural employers and local community representatives apply the dual frame of reference (DFR) to naturalize, rationalize and justify the presence of exploitative labor practices for agricultural migrants. The paper gives a qualitative account of social dynamics in two agricultural-dependent communities located in Northern California and South-Eastern Norway. Qualitative one-on-one interviews with agricultural migrant workers (n = 11), employers (n = 10) and community representatives (n = 12) were conducted in English and Spanish. Our findings demonstrate how DFR is utilized by employers to justify labor strategies that rely on migrant workers, employees to rationalize their participation in exploitive work, and by local community representatives to naturalize the exploitative labor practices of migrant workers in their community. Our research findings further add to the analysis by suggesting that the frames of reference are dynamic based on changes of material conditions in the home country. Lastly, we find a third frame of reference focused on the future of the agricultural worker and the hopes for future generations. Combined, these perspectives add to the understanding of the disempowerment of workers, lack of successful changes and overall, upkeeping of exploitative migrant labor systems in the agricultural industries and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to investigate structural aspects of inclusion of immigrant students in Norwegian multicultural schools and, more specifically, their experiences of introductory classes and other segregated efforts. Due to their need for Norwegian language education, newly arrived immigrant students are not necessarily physically integrated into mainstream classes during their first two years of schooling, and they are also often taken out of their classes after they have been assigned to mainstream classes. This study had a qualitative design, and semi structured interviews are used to gather the data. The sample consisted of six immigrant boys, six native Norwegian boys and six teachers in secondary schools. The immigrant students had lived in Norway for two to four years. The results showed that introductory classes seemed not to be sufficiently adjusted to the students' need for inclusion but operated more as a fixed structural measure for second language learning. As the introductory classes and other segregated efforts often diverged from ordinary subjects and class times, it is possible that introductory and segregated efforts contribute to maintaining segregation more than they result in inclusion experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing attention is being paid towards the influence of regional contexts on innovation activities within regional development studies. Some of the literature in economic geography tends to consider the various peripheral areas as being homogenous and partly characterized by their remote location, weak innovation inputs and lack of knowledge exchange. This paper questions this approach by examining the role of innovation activities in peripheral regions. We offer a detailed and multifaceted taxonomy of the Norwegian economic regions. From an empirical viewpoint, the adoption of cluster analysis and a broad set of innovation, economic and territorial indicators allowed us to provide a nuanced picture of the current fabric of Norwegian innovation and economic-production. With the benefit of insights from relevant strands of literature (e.g. regional development, innovation systems and multi-scalar innovation networks), the case of Norway presented in our paper contributes to the scholarly debate on the role of structural preconditions for the innovation of firms in diverse peripheral areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scholarly literature on Russia's influence in Europe has so far mainly focused on Russia's influence activities, discussed either as 'disinformation' or 'soft power'. Less attention has been paid to understanding the agency of European audiences receptive to Russian narratives. Through discourse analysis of Norwegian media texts (February 2014 – December 2020) where authors or interviewees accepted or were prone to accept Crimea as part of Russia, this paper investigates into the arguments put forward by these constituencies. Why were commentators, representing various political affiliations, willing to accept Crimea as part of Russia, contrary to Norway's official position? The paper shows that the Norwegian commentators used many arguments coinciding with the official Russian ones put forward to legitimize the annexation, arguments informed by political realism, pragmatism, sovereignism and in some cases anti-Americanism. However, they also used arguments structured by the socio-political and historical Norwegian context. Constituencies abroad sharing opinions with official Russia may provide Russia with a certain soft power. In this case, the fact that these dissenting discourses in Norway represent fringes of the debate on the annexation rather than a strong united opposition to Norway's official stand, speaks quite clearly of the limited scope of this soft power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a 'participatory turn' has emerged as a remedy to counter top-down and techno-centric smart city development approaches. While this shift in smart city policies and strategies offers promise, it also presents challenges. This paper scrutinizes the participatory shift within smart city policies and initiatives in Stavanger, Norway, a pioneer and driving force for smart city development in Northern Europe. Using a qualitative case study of the Lervig Smart Park project, with a particular focus on the inclusion of children and youth, we investigate the methods of participation employed and the stages at which children are integrated into the planning process. Our findings underscore the beneficial outcomes of including children and youth in the Lervig Park design process, yet also reveal significant limitations, especially in the perception of children as capable political subjects and the absence of suitable methodological tools for their engagement across planning phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores how industrial development can occur in a peripheral region through the gradual development of strategic coherence between organisations, materiality, and agency. In a longitudinal case study of how the mechatronics industry became a main area for regional development spanning 50 years in the region of Agder in Norway, the authors have followed how national and regional innmovation policies, individual actors, and organisational strategies eventually flow together and influence organisations and firms to collaborate towards new and shared aims. In the paper, the authors perform field theory analysis, with emphasis on the significance of the development of reciprocal relations between institutions, understood as authorities, businesses, and universities, and strategic agency within and between strategic action fields. They question how industrial development in a peripheral region can be understood through a strategic action fields framework. The findings reveal that development of the industry spanned the evolution from small-scale entrepreneurial engineering activities in the 1960s to a regional innovation system and National Centre of Excellence with global knowledge hub ambitions in the 2010s. In conclusion, the analysis shows how mechatronics achieved a central role in regional development through common action between previously decoupled academic and industrial strategic action fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some might fear that the local flavours of education will evaporate when encountering the hegemony of global, cognitive standards of the knowledge economy. This paper, however, shows that the evolution of curriculum can emerge in surprising directions, creating hybrid forms of education. We will investigate forms of meaning that emerge in Norwegian curriculum in the timespan 1988-2020, and show how systems theory can contribute to studying curriculum changes in a temporal perspective. The empirical case for investigation, is a diverse range of material, documenting curriculum changes in the mentioned period. Concepts from the late Luhmann's 'theory of distinctions' will thus be used to give meaning to the emergence of school reforms in Norway. The paper shows that Norwegian policy makers use increasingly complex deparadoxification strategies to deal with an uncertain future, conceptualized as externalization, oscillation, asymmetrisation, and internalization (re-entry). This is most pertinently demonstrated in the latest Norwegian reform LK20, in which a new, hybrid, 'temporal' construct of education, called "new-old-curriculum" or 'competence-Bildung' emerges. We thus contribute to the field of curriculum studies by observing how changing observations of the past and future fuel and legitimize the evolution of new reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how young non-paying news users experience digital news subscriptions in Norway. As news organizations face declining advertising revenues, digital subscriptions are considered the sustainable financial strategy of the future, with young people a particularly challenging group to convert. We analyze the experiences of young adults who do not pay for news and identify three key dimensions to why they do not subscribe: lack of exclusivity, subscriptions as too time-consuming, and unattractive payment models. We also detail how the informants maneuver around paywalls, and we highlight "multi-perspectivism" as an overarching concern guiding the informants' preferences. Empirically, the paper furthers our understanding of the challenges facing business models for journalism, especially problems with long-term, provider-specific subscriptions. Methodologically, we demonstrate how a combination of recurring interviews and a media diary matching a subscription test period yields a deeper analysis of motivations for, and experiences with, news use. Theoretically, the paper shows how approaching news through users' experiences can provide insights not just into what users appreciate from news but also into where they consider there is a lack of value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a case study on changing food practices from traditional cold sandwich meals to hot meals in a Norwegian kindergarten. Data were sourced from interviews, complemented by non-participatory video observation and observational notes. Building on Fullan's model for understanding a change process, this paper presents the initiation, implementation, continuation and results of such a change, and identifies three key factors that contributed to the successful change in practices in the case kindergarten. These factors are: (1) shared leadership in the change process; (2) the support for change from the parents; and (3) children's (as change partners) involvement and participation. The conclusion section of the paper discusses the implications of the findings for kindergartens and educators in terms of how to facilitate a locally relevant and context-specific change. In addition, this paper illuminates children's agency and their indispensable roles in the change implementation in particular, and sheds light on the importance of their involvement to increase the likelihood of a successful change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategies to densify urban fabric for both environmental and market purposes, place built heritage under increasing pressure. Over the last decade, a shift can be noted in the discourse on built heritage in Norway, where the requirements for 'dynamic management' that recognises these pressures is emphasised. There is also an increasing awareness of the connection between cultural heritage and sense of place. This paper examines the row of wooden warehouses in the historic core of Trondheim, how cultural heritage values are interpreted by different actors. The paper concludes that despite unanimous agreement about the need to preserve the warehouses, reasoning and solutions vary depending on differences and positions in the cultural heritage discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While ground slate technology is a trademark of maritime hunter-gatherers across the circumpolar region, we lack robust understanding of 1) the organization of slate tool production and 2) its initial production stages – maintained by the absence of formally investigated slate sourcing sites and the loss of diagnostic production features inherent to grinding techniques. This paper contributes along both dimensions, presenting the first investigated prehistoric slate raw material source in Arctic Europe (Djupvik, Norway). Technological analyses of the assemblage rich in initial production stages are related to the material properties of the geological slate formation, supplemented by experimental research. The paper discusses the role of slate technological organization within the broader context of mid-Holocene adaptations in Arctic Norway. The results from Djupvik help establish the production stages and techniques distinct to slate tool technologies and demonstrate organizational principles diverging from cryptocrystalline lithic resources of the contemporary lithic technocomplex. Finally, potential secondary (non-tool) uses of Djupvik materials are discussed, referencing the intriguing possibility of ochre and red pigment production both at Djupvik and a nearby site, suggesting a relation to rock art paintings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approaches to countering violent extremism (CVE) increasingly call upon ordinary citizens to report concerns regarding radicalization to authorities. However, knowledge about the factors determining their willingness to report remains limited. This paper addresses this void by asking under what circumstances members of the public are willing to report concerns of radicalization to authorities. The paper reports findings from a large-scale, comparative survey experiment fielded to nationally representative samples in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland (n = 7,389) as well as eight city representative samples (two in each country, n = 6,603). We investigate how perceptions of the appropriateness, inclusiveness, implementation and outcome of CVE policies combine in forming perceptions of the legitimacy of CVE policy, and how manipulations of perceived legitimacy shape willingness to collaborate with authorities. Both cross-country and cross-city differences in willingness to report concerns of radicalization are explored. The results show that the more legitimate citizens perceive CVE policies to be, the more willing they are to contact authorities to report concerns of radicalization, while perceptions of CVE policies as illegitimate lead to a preference for reactions involving "intimates" of the individual in question and short of reporting to authorities. The implications of the findings for CVE practices are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]