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In this article, we combine the extensive literature on the analysis of life-course trajectories as sequences with the literature on causal inference and propose a new matching approach to investigate the causal effect of the timing of life-course events on subsequent outcomes. Our matching approach takes into account pre-event confounders that are both time-independent and time-dependent as well as life-course trajectories. After matching, treated and control individuals can be compared using standard statistical tests or regression models. We apply our approach to the study of the consequences of the age at retirement on subsequent health outcomes, using a unique data set from Swedish administrative registers. Once selectivity in the timing of retirement is taken into account, effects on hospitalization are small, while early retirement has negative effects on survival. Our approach also allows for heterogeneous treatment effects. We show that the effects of early retirement differ according to preretirement income, with higher income individuals tending to benefit from early retirement, while the opposite is true for individuals with lower income.

Syftet med denna presentation är att redovisa och diskutera resultat från ett pågående PUNKTUM-projekt med syfte att utveckla och utvärdera rollspel som metod för undervisning i högre matematik och statistik.

In recent years local pedagogical qualification models have developed at several Swedish Universities. This trend is also evident in an international perspective (Myers & Myers, 2015; Chalmers, 2011).

Appointment and promotion of academic teachers in Sweden is regulated on national level, but in the pedagogical qualification models local definitions of pedagogical excellence and specific assessment criteria are used. External experts are used regularly in the assessment procedure.

At Umea University, the pedagogical qualification model has been running for 3 years and approximately 150 applications have been reviewed by two external experts each. Many of the applications have been from outside the external expert’s own specific subject area. The quality of the assessment reports is generally high, although the conclusions by the experts don’t always agree.

Most of the external experts have participated in a course for assessors of pedagogical qualifications (presented at ICED 2014 and ICED 2012). According to the course evaluation the course raised the participants’ ability to assess pedagogical qualifications and gave them functioning assessment methods and models to structure their reports. However, one topic that was not explicitly addressed in the course is the risk of bias in regard to subject area or gender.

Based on the assessment reports produced for the pedagogical qualification model at Umea University, I have looked for possible biases in the experts’ conclusions related to subject area or gender of the assessor and applicant. The results will be presented and discussed with the participants in this session.

Chalmers, Denise. 2011. Progress and challenges to the recognition and reward of the Scholarship of Teaching in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 30:1, pages 25-38.

Myers, Carrie B. & Myers, Scott M. 2015. The use of learner-centered assessment practices in the United States: the influence of individual and institutional contexts. Studies in Higher Education 40:10, pages 1904-1918.

Based on longitudinal data from national Swedish registers, family life courses dynamics for all women born 1935 in Sweden are explored for the period 1990-2006. Focusing primarily on the existence and geographical proximity to parents, children and grandchildren, assuming that the family life courses affect the life situation as well as strategic decisions, this longitudinal study uses a holistic approach, analysing how different types of family life courses are associated with socio-economic conditions as well as with the timing of retirement. The primary task was not to identify the causal determinants of work life exit, but rather to unfold how retirement transition is entwined into the different types of family life courses, whereby retirement and family ageing are different sides of a multifaceted transition period. By using sequence analysis, the family life courses were structured into sequences and durations of states and different family life course categories were identified.

The sequence analyses reveal a complex relation between retirement decisions and having family members around. Early retirement was associated with a category with few relatives but also with a category with two younger generations present, while we found no strong association with early retirement for categories in which the old generation was around for a longer period. Late retirement was associated with belonging to categories characterized by late family formation and having children at home. These differences in retirement behaviour were also significant when controlling for education level, marital status and type of region in a Cox regression.

Weak consistency and asymptotic normality is shown for a stochastic EM algorithm for censored data from a mixture of distributions under lognormal assumptions. The asymptotic properties hold for all parameters of the distributions, including the mixing parameter. In order to make parameter estimation meaningful it is necessary to know that the censored mixture distribution is identifiable. General conditions under which this is the case are given. The stochastic EM algorithm addressed in this paper is used for estimation of wood fibre length distributions based on optically measured data from cylindric wood samples (increment cores).

Sedan höstterminen 2006 ges en integrerad kurs i kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod på socionomprogrammet vid Umeå universitet. Tidigare ansvarade institutionen för Socialt arbete för en kvalitativ metodkurs och Statistiska institutionen för en kvantitativ metodkurs. Under hösten 2005 kom direktiv från Ledningsgruppen för socionomprogrammet att en integrerad metodkurs skulle startas med början höstterminen 2006. Med integrering som ledord lämnades de kursansvariga från respektive institution med uppdraget att utveckla och genomföra denna nya form av metodkurs - en integrerad metodkurs som saknade motsvarighet vid såväl Umeå universitet som andra lärosäten i Sverige. Kursens pedagogiska upplägg utgår från teorier kring experimentellt lärande vilket tydliggörs genom att kursen är uppbyggd kring en processövning som löper under hela kursen och som integrerar praktiska moment med teori. Arbetet med processövningen sker i grupper om 5-7 studenter. Under de fem terminer som kursen getts har ett intensivt förändrings- och utvecklingsarbete utförts av lärarna på Statistiska institutionen och Institutionen för Socialt arbete. Både studenter och undervisande lärare uttrycker att de är nöjda med det pedagogiska upplägget av den integrerade metodkursen. Genom integreringen har förutsättningar skapats för en fördjupad reflektion hos studenterna kring fördelarna med att använda båda de vetenskapliga angreppssätten kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod.

För sjunde året i rad genomförs vid Teknisk-naturvetenskapliga fakulteten, Umeå universitet ett rekryteringsprojekt i form av mentorskap. En viktig del i projektet är att överbrygga gapet mellan universitet och gymnasieskola samt att väcka intresse för naturvetenskap och teknik. Målet med projektet är att elever som går tredje året på gymnasieskolans naturvetenskapliga och tekniska program ska få vägledning i valet av studier och en inblick i studentlivet. Programstudenter vid fakulteten erbjuds en kurs i mentorskap (3p) och får praktik genom att själva vara mentorer åt en gymnasieelev. I kursen behandlas ämnen såsom utformning, ledning och genomförande av ett mentorskapsprojekt, samt även utvärdering och samtalsmetodik. En heldag med populärvetenskapliga föreläsningar och studentsittning är också det en omtyckt del av projektet. Avsikten med denna presentation är att berätta om ett lyckat rekryteringsprojekt som initierats av en student och som leds av anställda och studenter tillsammans. Projektet bygger på mötet mellan människor och vår förhoppning är att kunna vara en inspirationskälla i det viktiga arbete som rekrytering av nya studenter utgör.