La présente étude fait le point sur la théorie cérébrale d’Aristote. Contre une tradition philosophique (Platon) et médicale (Hippocrate) qui considérait le cerveau comme l’organe central du corps et le lieu privilégié des activités psychiques, Aristote ne reconnaît pratiquement aucune fonction au cerveau dans sa conception de la sensation, du mouvement volontaire et de l’intelligence. Pour le philosophe, l’encéphale est un organe froid, humide, entièrement dépourvu de sang et chargé de refroidir la chaleur cardiaque et de susciter le sommeil. Autant dire tout de suite que la théorie aristotélicienne du cerveau est truffée de faussetés. Or, ces erreurs ne sont pas dépourvues d'intérêt. Aussi, notre étude tente-t-elle d’en retracer l’origine, et accorde, pour ce faire, une attention particulière à la méthode ainsi qu’aux différents types de données dont Aristote se sert en sciences de la vie. L’exercice met notamment en lumière l’influence d’une littérature livresque et médicale préexistante et invite, en conséquence, à réévaluer la place réservée à l’observation empirique dans la biologie aristotélicienne. / This study clarifies Aristotle’s brain theory. Going against a philosophical (Plato) and medical (Hippocrates) tradition that regarded the brain as the central organ of the body and the locus of psychic activities, Aristotle assigns virtually no function to the brain in his conception of sensation, voluntary movement, and intelligence. According to the philosopher, the brain is cold, moist, entirely deprived of blood and is in charge of cooling the heat produced by the heart and of inducing sleep. In other words, Aristotle’s brain theory is deeply flawed. Yet, Aristote’s mistakes are not devoid of interest. Thus, our study tries to understand the causes of these errors, and, in doing so, pays special attention to the method and to the different kinds of data that Aristotle uses in the field of life sciences. This approach sheds light on the influence of a preexisting medical literature and, as a result, invites to reevaluate the place of empirical observation in Aristotle’s biology.

Diese Forschungsarbeit beschreibt und bewertet beobachtbare Experimentierprozesse hinsichtlich der grundlegenden naturwissenschaftlichen Arbeitsweise „Umgang mit Variablen“, die Gymnasiasten am Ende der Sekundarstufe I bei der Bearbeitung einer offenen Experimentieraufgabe im Physikunterricht zeigen. Dargelegt wird zudem der Nutzen einer differenzierten Begriffsbestimmung für eine zielorientierte und strukturierte Entwicklung von offenen Experimentieraufgaben. In einer empirisch-quantitativen Exploration mit 82 Schülern wird eine offene Aufgabenstellung zum Thema Windenergie eingesetzt, die den Experimentierenden bezüglich der naturwissenschaftlichen Arbeitsweise einen hohen Grad an Entscheidungsmöglichkeiten erlaubt. Die Studie möchte für den Umgang mit Variablen die Wirksamkeit der offenen Experimentieraufgabe aufzeigen und zwar unter der Bedingung, dass Schüler vor der Bearbeitung der offenen Experimentieraufgabe eine vorbereitende bzw. keine vorbereitende Instruktion erhalten. Das Hauptinteresse der vergleichenden Studie liegt bei einem Kontexttransfer, den die Schüler von der vorbereitenden Instruktion auf die offene Experimentieraufgabe leisten müssen, wenn sie a) keinen Wechsel der Experimentierbedingungen und b) einen Wechsel der Experimentierbedingungen vorfinden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Fähigkeit der Probanden mit Variablen umzugehen, durch den Einfluss einer vorbereitenden Instruktion erheblich gesteigert wird. Eine Abhängigkeit vom Grad der Kontextunterschiede zwischen der vorbereitenden Instruktion und der offenen Experimentieraufgabe wird nur gefunden, wenn die Probanden neben den veränderten Kontexten auch veränderte Experimentierbedingungen vorfinden. Die Ergebnisse verleiten für die Vermittlung der naturwissenschaftlichen Arbeitsweise „Umgang mit Variablen“ zu der forschungsbezogenen Aussage: Mehr Offenheit beim Experimentieren wagen! / This research paper describes and rates observable experimental processes secondary school students’ (aged 16) reveal concerning the fundamental scientific method of using variables in open-ended experimental tasks in the physics classroom. In addition, the benefit of a corresponding sophisticated definition will be shown in order to enable a goal-oriented and structured development of open-ended experimental tasks. In an empirical quantitative exploration with 82 school students, an open-ended problem on the topic “wind power” is utilized, allowing a high degree of autonomy in decision-making concerning the scientific method of using variables. The study aims at demonstrating the effectiveness of open-ended experimental tasks depending on whether the students received preparing instruction beforehand. The main interest of the comparative study lies in a transfer of context that students need to perform between the preparing instruction and the open-ended experimental task with or without a shift of experimental conditions. The results show that the students’ ability to use variables is highly enhanced by receiving preparing instructions. Dependence on the degree of context-shift between preparing instruction and open-ended experimental task is only the case when students find beyond shifted contexts altered experimental conditions. Concerning the teaching of the scientific method of using variables, the results lead to a research-related statement: dare to employ more open-ended experiments!

Natural resource managers are facing increasing challenges as environmental degradation accelerates and the need to integrate a broad spectrum of community experiences into management decisions is increasingly recognised. To help meet these novel challenges, this study explores how professional researchers and communities can combine their skills and learn to work in partnerships to achieve shared management goals. Community-based research involves people as citizen scientists, whereby citizens actively participate in research on local issues. The inclusive nature of community-based research has the ability to produce auxiliary benefits uncommon in conventional research. These include the development of social capital and social learning as the practice of citizen science empowers communities with new skills, knowledge and social networks, thus building capacity within communities to take an effective role in natural resource management. Community-based research also has the potential to enrich the range of management options available by increasing the breadth of accessible knowledge. However, despite much rhetoric about democratising science, little is known about the practice, value and problems of involving citizens as collaborators in natural resource management research projects. This thesis presents the findings from a comparative survey of the attitudes to community-based research held by 'citizen' scientists, on the one hand, and 'expert' scientists and natural resource managers, on the other. It also draws upon a multi-site case study, set in a diverse urban-rural catchment, where an integrated research program was established for different natural resource management agencies to work with each other and community groups to develop research protocols so that community groups could participate in assessing the health of catchment areas. This involved scientists, natural resource managers and community education/extension officers working with established community groups to develop and trial modified scientific methods for the environmental monitoring of catchment and estuarine areas. This inter-agency/community project was continued as a case study site into the second and third years of research and was augmented in the second and third years by focusing on two of the initial community groups as second and third case study sites in their own right. Synthesis of both survey and case study analysis reveals that, despite resource and attitudinal barriers, community-based research can ensure access to local knowledge and increased relevance of research. In addition, many participants most valued the increased feeling of connection towards their local environment and community. I argue that citizen/expert collaboration is key to successful community-based research and best achieved in an atmosphere of mutual respect where all participants are seen as co-researchers. However, participatory intentions are unlikely to be acted upon without sufficient opportunity. Thus, the process of research must be re-defined from that associated with positivist science to include a greater range of participants and activities in an adaptive manner. This more inclusive and reflective approach seems most likely to ensure the quality and utility of research data, the knowledge sharing and social learning, and the enjoyable atmosphere that underpin successful citizen/expert interactions. Certainly, the ability to draw upon and create social capital is vital. The integration of these findings enabled the development of guidelines for effective collaboration between citizens and experts when addressing catchment management issues and undertaking participatory research.

The aim of this study is to define and describe a scientific problem solving capability to be used by the Institute for Maritime Technology (IMT) in its Decision Support Domain in order to provide a scientific support service to decision makers in the South African Navy. Cognisance is given to the fact that the context within which this scientific service functions is of a complex nature, and so are some of the problems which the Decision Support Domain are required to study. For this reason a methodology developed by the proponents of complexity modelling for management and organisational science, namely to approach the problem through “Perspective Filters” is used. The aim is therefore to identify emergent patterns in the development of various disciplines commonly utilised for problem solving. Their respective developments during the twentieth century are studied with this stated aim in mind. Scientific method is seen to be a dominant perspective in this pursuit. The outcome of the study is a proposed generic, pluralist scientific problem solving process which provides a stable definition of such a service despite its constantly changing environment. This greatly enhances the robustness of the service, which makes it cost-effective to develop. The definition of pluralism which is used in this study, and which underpins the definition of the capability, differs from other current dominant views of pluralism in that it upholds the realist aim of science. Although this process is developed in the specific context of IMT, its generic nature makes it a general knowledge technology for any such a service with the aim of providing a scientific service, not limited to the context within which it is developed. / Dissertation (MSc (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

Aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, les historiens des sciences associaient généralement Francis Bacon et Galilée pour leur rôle dans l’émergence de la science moderne, mais, à la fin du XIXe et au début du XXe siècle, la Révolution scientifique fut identifiée de manière stricte à la construction de la physique mathématique, ce qui eut souvent pour conséquence de rejeter Bacon hors de l’histoire des sciences. Nous reprenons l’étude conjointe de ces deux auteurs pour mesurer quelle est exactement la nature de leur divergence. Dans la première partie de notre travail, nous abordons les questions cosmologiques. Sur quels arguments Galilée fonde-t-il sa défense publique du copernicianisme entre 1610 et 1616, jusqu’à la première condamnation de l’opinion copernicienne par l’Eglise Catholique ? Pour quelles raisons Bacon, qui suit cette campagne copernicienne, rejette-t-il la plupart des découvertes astronomiques de Galilée ? Pourquoi Bacon, tout en réussissant à percevoir le caractère (trop peu) systématique du géocentrisme, refuse-t-il l’héliocentrisme ? Dans la deuxième partie de notre travail, nous abordons les questions relatives à la méthode, ainsi que les théories de la matière et du mouvement. Quel est le rôle de la perception sensible et la fonction des mathématiques dans les théories de Bacon ? Quelle est la signification de sa théorie du mouvement, qui multiplie les objets d’étude en proposant une typologie des différents mouvements concrets, alors que la physique mathématique tend à réduire tout déplacement au seul mouvement linéaire inertiel ? Quelle est la fonction de l’atomisme mathématique de Galilée ? Dans quelle mesure sa science du mouvement se distingue-t-elle de l’approche baconienne ? La différence fondamentale entre la science galiléenne et la démarche de Bacon consiste, selon nous, dans la nature des expériences et des observations qui sont convoquées, ainsi que dans le type d’abstraction que ces deux auteurs veulent conférer à la philosophie naturelle. / During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, historians of science usually considered that Francis Bacon and Galileo had respectively played their role in the merging of modern science, but, at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, Scientific Revolution has been strictly reduced to the elaboration of mathematical physics, which had for consequence to exclude Bacon from the history of science. Our aim is to underline the exact nature of the difference between those two authors. In the first part, we deal with the cosmological problems. What arguments did Galileo produce to sustain his public commitment for the Copernican system, from 1610 to 1616, until the first condemnation of copernicanism by the Roman Church ? For what reasons did Bacon reject most of Galileo’s astronomical discoveries ? Why Bacon, who clearly perceived the fact that the geocentric theory lacked systematic character, refused heliocentrism ? In the second part, we deal with the methodological questions, we analyse matter theories and the science of motion. What is the role of sense perception and what is the fonction of mathematics in Bacon’s theories ? What is the significance of his theory of motion, which multiplies the objects of study, proposing a typology of concrete movements, while mathematical physics aims at reducing any motion to the rectilinear inertial movement ? What is the fonction of the mathematical atomism proposed by Galileo ? In what measure does his science of motion distinguish from the baconian approach ? We think that the fondamental difference between the science of Galileo and the theories of Bacon consists in the nature of the experiments and observations used, and in the type of abstraction they are looking for in natural philosophy.

The thesis consists of an introduction and two papers. In the introduction a brief historical survey of empirical investigations into the effectiveness of medicinal interventions is given. Also, the main ideas of the EBM (evidence-based medicine) movement are presented. Both included papers can be viewed as investigations into the reasonableness of EBM and its hierarchies of evidence. Paper I: Typically, in a clinical trial patients with specified symptoms are given either of two or more predetermined treatments. Health endpoints in these groups are then compared using statistical methods. Concerns have been raised, not least from adherents of so-called alternative medicine, that clinical trials do not offer reliable evidence for some types of treatment, in particular for highly individualized treatments, for example traditional homeopathy. It is argued that such concerns are unfounded. There are two minimal conditions related to the nature of the treatments that must be fulfilled for evaluability in a clinical trial, namely (1) the proper distinction of the two treatment groups and (2) the elimination of confounding variables or variations. These are delineated, and a few misunderstandings are corrected. It is concluded that the conditions do not preclude the testing of alternative medicine, whether individualized or not. Paper II: Traditionally, mechanistic reasoning has been assigned a negligible role in standard EBM literature, although some recent authors have argued for an upgrading. Even so, mechanistic reasoning that has received attention has almost exclusively been positive -- both in an epistemic sense of claiming that there is a mechanistic chain and in a health-related sense of there being claimed benefits for the patient. Negative mechanistic reasoning has been neglected, both in the epistemic and in the health-related sense. I distinguish three main types of negative mechanistic reasoning and subsume them under a new definition of mechanistic reasoning in the context of assessing medical interventions. Although this definition is wider than a previous suggestion in the literature, there are still other instances of reasoning that concern mechanisms but do not (and should not) count as mechanistic reasoning. One of the three distinguished types, which is negative only in the health-related sense, has a corresponding positive counterpart, whereas the other two, which are epistemically negative, do not have such counterparts, at least not that are particularly interesting as evidence. Accounting for negative mechanistic reasoning in EBM is therefore partly different from accounting for positive mechanistic reasoning. Each negative type corresponds to a range of evidential strengths, and it is argued that there are differences with respect to the typical strengths. The variety of negative mechanistic reasoning should be acknowledged in EBM, and presents a serious challenge to proponents of so-called medical hierarchies of evidence. / <p>QC 20150413</p>

Software testing is an essential part of any development, ensuring the validity and verification of projects. As the usage and footprint of JavaScript expand, new testing frameworks in its community have made statements about being the best overall solution using minimal intervention from developers. The statements from these frameworks about being the greatest can make it difficult for JavaScript beginners to pick a framework that could affect current and future projects. By comparing different types of frameworks and establishing a guideline for others to do the same, it becomes easier for beginners and others to choose a framework according to their own required needs. The overall method uses Mario Bunge’s scientific method via stages, which helps validate the thesis as scientific. Research, empirical data from a qualitative, and objective data from a survey decide the criteria, their priority (to determine their impact and hierarchy), what frameworks to include, and how to compare them. The frameworks Jest, AVA, and Node TAP are compared based on the main criteria of simplicity, documentation, features, and their sub-criteria. Evaluating the frameworks and ranking their performance in each criterion was done through an experiment conducted on a pre-made website without any testing included. The analytic hierarchy process is the primary method used to combine the information gathered and output a result. It makes it possible to create a priority hierarchy for each criterion and subsequently makes it possible to evaluate the choices available on their fulfillment of those criteria. One of these choices will eventually be an overall more suitable fit as the optimal framework for the research question. Combining the survey and experiment data into the analytic hierarchy process revealed that Jest fit the previous criteria better than AVA and Node TAP because of Jest’s better learning curve and Stack overflow presence. AVA was just behind in those areas, while Node TAP had a poor fit for all sub-criteria compared to the other two. AVA’s almost similar evaluation to Jest shows how the open-source community and small development teams can keep up with solutions from big corporations. / Programvarutestning är en viktig del av all utveckling, för att säkerställa giltigheten och verifieringen av projekt. Tack vare JavaScripts expandering och användning, så har nya testramverk dykt upp som anser sig vara den bästa lösningen för utvecklare. Dessa påståenden kan göra det svårt för nybörjare inom JavaScript-utveckling att bestämma sig för vilket ramverk de borde använda, vilket kan påverka deras arbete och framtida projekt. Genom att jämföra dessa ramverk och etablera riktlinjer för andra nybörjare, blir det simpelt för olika demografiska grupper att välja rätt testramverk enligt deras egna åsikter. Den övergripande metoden använder Mario Bunges vetenskapliga metod, vilken använder flera steg för att omvandla hypotesen inom arbetet till en vetenskaplig rapport. Forskning och empirisk information från kvalitativa undersökningar, samt objektiva insamlingar från undersökningar, har använts för att bestämma enligt vilka kriterier dessa ramverk ska jämföras, vilken prioritering dessa kriterier har för nybörjare, vilka testramverk som ska användas och hur ramverken ska jämföras. Testramverken Jest, AVA och Node TAP har jämförts baserat på huvudkriterierna enkelhet, dokumentation och funktionalitet, dessa kriterier innehåller även underkriterier. Evalueringen av dessa ramverk och deras grad av prestanda inom dessa kriterier gjordes genom experimentellt utförande och användning inom en förhandsgjord hemsida utan någon form av testning inkluderad. Den analytiska hierarkiska processen var den primära metoden som användes för att kombinera den insamlade informationen till ett slutgiltigt resultat. Detta för att en prioriteringshierarki kan skapas för all kriterier, och gör det även möjligt att evaluera all ramverk inom dessa kriterier. Ett av dessa ramverk kommer eventuellt beräknas som det bästa alternativet, och på så sätt hjälpa besvara huvudfrågan. Kombinationen av resultaten från undersökningen och experimenten gav att Jest passar bäst till nybörjare, baserat på kriterierna och deras prioriteringsrang, detta tack vare att Jest har bättre inlärningskurva och Stack Overflow-närvaro jämfört med AVA och Node TAP. AVA ligger precis efter inom dessa kriterier, medan Node TAP har betydligt sämre prestanda inom alla kriterier. AVA:s närliggande kapacitet till Jest bevisar att mindre grupper av utvecklare kan komma upp med bra lösningar precis som större företag.

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John Deweys teori “learning by doing” synliggörs i svenska läroplaner, exempelvis för Naturvetenskapsprogrammet, där samspelet mellan teori och praktiskt arbete betonas i examensmålen. Laborationer och experiment bör utgöra en central del i kemiundervisningen. När eleverna får möjlighet att utföra laborationer går dessa oftast ut på att eleverna ska följa detaljerade instruktioner som både talar om vad och hur de ska göra samt vilket resultat de ska erhålla. Sådana slutna laborationer anses i mindre utsträckning utveckla elevernas förmåga att arbeta naturvetenskapligt. I syfte att utveckla det naturvetenskapliga arbetssättet kan laborationer öppnas upp med avseende på de olika parametrarna; problem, metod och resultat. Arbetet med öppna laborationer speglar i högre grad hur forskare arbetar jämfört med slutna vilket ger eleverna en inblick och förbereder dem inför arbete i forskningsmiljö. Examensarbetet ämnade utveckla en lärarhandledning för en laborationssekvens som inkluderar en förberelselektion, den öppna laborationen Mer äppeljuice och en efterföljande lektion, med det övergripande målet att bidra med ett exempel på hur en lärare kan arbeta med öppna laborationer i undervisningen. I syfte att utveckla en lärarhandledning för laborationssekvensen följde och utvärderade författarna hur en kemilärare på gymnasiet planerade och genomförde laborationssekvensen med sin klass i kursen Kemi 2. Detta utfördes genom att samla in data från intervjuer och observationer vilket skapade underlag för den tematiska analysen. Ur den erhållna datan framkom fem aspekter som var relevanta för att eleverna skulle erhålla de bästa förutsättningarna för en väl fungerande laborationssekvens; tid, upplägg, teoretiskt innehåll, gruppindelningar och kommunikation. De slutsatser som dras är att läraren planerade och anpassade upplägget utifrån de syften och mål som hen ville uppnå samt förutsättningarna i klassen. Det övergripande målet med laborationssekvensen Mer äppeljuice, som genomfördes av läraren, var att eleverna skulle utveckla sitt naturvetenskapliga arbetssätt och läraren utformade därmed ett upplägg som stimulerade och uppmuntrade eleverna att ta större eget ansvar. Det framkom bland annat att tiden var en viktig aspekt för att eleverna skulle hinna bearbeta och reflektera under arbetets gång. Dessutom hade kommunikationen mellan elever samt mellan lärare och elever en avgörande roll för att utveckla elevers tänkande. Utifrån den tematiska analysen utvecklades en lärarhandledning för laborationssekvensen Mer äppeljuice som därefter utvärderades i samtal med flera kemilärare. Lärarhandledningen innehöll utöver anpassningsbara riktlinjer och instruktioner för laborationssekvensens tre pass, bland annat information om vad som behöver göras och tänkas på inför respektive tillfälle samt gav lärarna en djupgående teorigenomgång. / John Dewey's theory “learning by doing” is made visible in Swedish curricula, for instance in the Natural Science programme, where the interaction between theory and practical work is emphasized in the degree objectives. Laborations and experiments should form a central part of chemistry teaching. When the students are given the opportunity to carry out laboration work, they are usually required to follow detailed instructions that explain both what and how they should work and also what results should be obtained. Such closed laborations are considered to have a lesser extent of developing the students' ability to work scientifically. In order to develop the natural science way of working, laborations can be opened up with respect to the various parameters; problem, method and result. The work with inquiry-based laborations, in comparison to closed laborations, better reflects how scientists work, which gives the students an insight and prepares them for work in a research environment. The thesis intended to develop a teacher's guide for a laboration sequence that includes a- preparatory lesson, the inquiry-based laboration More apple juice and a subsequent lesson. The goal of the teacher's guide was to contribute with an example of how teachers can work with inquiry-based laborations in teaching. In order to develop a teacher’s guide for th elaboration sequence, the authors followed and evaluated how a high school chemistry teacher carried out the laboration sequence with a class in the course Chemistry 2. This was done by collecting data from interviews and observations, which created a basis for the thematic analysis. From the data obtained, five aspects emerged that were relevant for the students to obtain the best conditions for a well-functioning laboration sequence; time, structure, theoretical content, groupings and communication. The conclusions that could be drawn were that the teacher planned and adapted the arrangement based on the aims, objectives and conditions in the class that the teacher wanted to achieve. The overarching goal of the laboration sequence More apple juice, that was conducted by the teacher, was for the students to develop their way of working according to the scientific method, thus the teacher designed an arrangement that stimulated and encouraged the students to take greater personal responsibility. Among other things, it emerged that the time was an important aspect for the students to have time to process and reflect during the course of the work. In addition, communication between the students and communication between teachers and students had a decisive role in developing students' thinking. Based on the thematic analysis conducted, a teacher's guide was developed for the laboration sequence More apple juice, which was then evaluated in conversations with several chemistry teachers. In addition to customizable guidelines and instructions for the three sessions of the laboration sequence, the teacher's guide contained, among other things, information about what needs to be done and thought about before each occasion and gave the teachers an in-depth theory review.

Aim: This study explores what type of information patients and nurses share with, or provide to, each other, and whether or not the information received was relevant and sufficient for their needs. Background: Information exchange, as part of shared decision-making, is advocated in policy and practice throughout the healthcare sector. Much of the literature on information exchange relates to one-to-one consultations with consultants or GPs. To date, no studies have explored information exchange between patients and nurses in ward settings. Nursing literature on patients’ information needs focuses on one-way information provision from nurses to patients, rather than on two-way information exchange between patients and nurses. Methods: Interactions between patients and nurses were observed and audio-recorded using a remotely controlled audio-recording system. Semi-structured individual face-to-face interviews were then conducted to clarify and add to the observation data. A multiple case study design was used for this study: each case comprised one patient, the nurses caring for that patient, and the interactions between them. A pilot study was undertaken to inform the methods for recruitment and data collection for the main study. Results: The pilot study comprised five cases (patients n=5, nurses n=3). Changes to the recruitment strategy for the main study included surgical patients being invited to participate in the same way as medical patients. There were no difficulties with the data collection methods. The main study comprised nineteen cases (patients n=19, nurses n=22). Information exchange seemed unfamiliar to ward-based nurses. The findings show that information exchange may not be a one-off event but a complex series of interactions. Patients did not distinguish between clinical and non-clinical information in the same way as nurses. Primary reasons for patients’ hospital admission were not discussed and nurses did not share information about nursing interventions. The relevance for patients and nurses differed; patients generally wanted information for reducing anxiety and socialization; nurses wanted information for assessment and care planning. In terms of sufficiency, observation sessions highlighted that insufficient information was provided, often due to lost opportunities and paternalistic practice. However, the majority of patients and nurses perceived that they had exchanged sufficient information. Conclusion: This multiple case study provides insights into the type, relevance and sufficiency of information for patients and nurses in ward settings. In ward settings, information exchange as conceptualised by Charles et al. (1997 and 1999) may be difficult to achieve due to the complexity of patient/nurse interactions. Therefore, there are implications for policy makers as policies are not context specific. However, information exchange may be helpful for reducing patients’ anxieties. The concepts of shared decision-making and information exchange are not part of ward-based cultures and philosophies, which suggests implications for patient and nurse education. Research on information exchange between patients and nurses in other ward contexts may contribute to further understanding of information exchange in ward settings.