Research in Educational and Vocational Guidance in the Nordic Countries: Current Trends

The Nordic countries have followed slightly different, yet complementary paths in terms of research in guidance. The balance between studies in guidance based on sociology, psychology, and even ethnology varies according to the research focus and tradition in each of the Nordic countries. This article covers main Nordic guidance research issues with characteristic examples from the various countries under the headings of Structures, Contents, and Values. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The role of practitioners in helping persons make effective use of information and communication technology in career interventions

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - We examine the role of counselors and other practitioners in delivering career interventions using Information and Communication...     

Evaluation of Guidance Services in Higher Education in Finland

The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council (FINHEEC) implemented an evaluation of guidance services in higher education in 2000–2001. Altogether 25 higher education institutions participated in the evaluation. This article describes the evaluation process, findings and recommendations. The aim is to show how an evaluation process can serve the development of guidance policies and practices at the institutional and national levels. Additionally, the article demonstrates the use of evaluation methodology as a means of enhancing communication between staff and students. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Preschool–home cooperation in change

The purpose of this study is to bring forth preschool teachers' and parents' views on both established and future forms of cooperation between the preschool and home. The empirical sample is based on both individual and focus‐group interviews. Results show that cooperation mainly revolves around the individual child. The form of cooperation that is the least established among both preschool teachers and parents tends to be the parent council. It is concluded that it is important for preschool teachers to provide varied and rich forms of cooperation, as different forms of cooperation appeal to different parents. With a wide range, there is a possibility to reach all parents.     

Wafer-level SLID bonding for MEMS encapsulation

Hermetic packaging is often an essential requirement to enable proper functionality throughout the device＇s lifetime and ensure the optimal performance of a micro electronic mechanical system （MEMS） device. Solid-liquid interdiffusion （SLID） bonding is a novel and attractive way to encapsulate MEMS devices at a wafer level. SLID bonding utilizes a low-melting-point metal to reduce the bonding process temperature; and metallic seal rings take out less of the valuable surface area and have a lower gas permeability compared to polymer or glass- based sealing materials. In addition, ductile metals can adopt mechanical and thermo-mechanical stresses during their service lifetime, which improves their reliability. In this study, the principles of Au-Sn and Cu-Sn SLID bonding are presented, which are meant to be used for wafer-level hermetic sealing of MEMS resonators. Seal rings in 15.24 cm silicon wafers were bonded at a width of 60 gin, electroplated, and used with Au-Sn and Cu-Sn layer structures. The wafer bonding temperature varied between 300 ℃ and 350 ℃, and the bonding force was 3.5 kN under the ambient pressure, that is, it was less than 0.1 Pa. A shear test was used to compare the mechanical properties of the interconnections between both material systems, in addition, important factors pertaining to bond ring design are discussed according to their effects on the failure mechanisms. The results show that the design ofmetal structures can significantly affect the reliability of bond rings.     

Sleep of professional athletes: Underexploited potential to improve health and performance

Sleep disorders have become increasingly prevalent affecting health and working ability. Restorative sleep may be considered important for athletes’ successful recovery and performance. However, some athletes seem to experience major problems in sleeping. Thus far, there is limited scientific information about their sleep. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of sleep and the prevalence of sleep disorders as well as the impact of a structured sleep counselling protocol in professional athletes. A total of 107 professional ice hockey players participated in the study. The exploratory observational 1-year follow-up study consisted of questionnaire-based sleep assessment followed by general sleep counselling and, when needed, polysomnography and an individual treatment plan. One in every four players was found to have a significant problem in sleeping. All athletes considered sleep essential for their health and three in every four players considered that counselling would improve their performance. Counselling and individual treatment were found to improve significantly the quality of sleep with the mean alteration of 0.6 (95% CI 0.2–1.0, P = 0.004) in a scale from 0 to 10. Our results support that sleep problems are common in professional athletes. However, systematic examination, counselling and individual treatment planning can improve the quality of their sleep.     

Ethical codes in the digital world: comparisons of the proprietary,the open/free and the cracker system

The digital world provides various ethical frames for individuals to become ethical subjects. In this paper I examine – in a Foucauldian and Luhmannian way – the differences between three systems of communication: the proprietary, the open/free and the cracker system. It is argued that all three systems provide a different set of ethical codes which one can be subjected to. The language of each system is restricted and they cannot understand each other, they merely consider each other as the environment. The systems generate a diversity of ethical codes as they give different shapes to digital objects. To proprietary software companies digital objects are an instrument of financial profit. The free software/open source movement emphasises transparency; the end user must be able to view and alter the source code. The cracker scene sees digital objects in a different way. For this particular system, only copy-protected digital objects are appealing. Copy protection binds its target to the world of matter. Breaking the protection is the ultimate challenge and a way to gain honour and status inside the cracker scene. A copy-protected digital object is simultaneously an utmost example of the hidden source code (the open/free system), a perfect artefact that can be owned and sold (the proprietary system) and a challenge to be cracked (the cracker system).     

European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network representatives’ conceptions of the role of information and communication technologies related to national guidance policies

This article reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network representatives’ conceptions of the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) related to national lifelong guidance policies. The role of ICT in relation to national lifelong guidance policies was conceived as (1) unexploited, (2) emerging, (3) acknowledged but fragmented, and (4) strategic. The hierarchical structure of the findings may serve as a tool to enable policy makers and other stakeholders to deepen their understanding of critical aspects that may have an important role in relation to further developments and the successful implementation of existing and emerging technologies in the guidance service sector.