Multimedia: Differences in cognitive processes observed with EEG

This study investigated the cognitive processes involved in learning information presented in multimedia and text format using electroencephalographic (EEG) measures. Thirty-eight students (19 gifted, and 19 average) learned material presented with text (text); text, sound, and picture (picture); and text, sound and video (video), while their EEG was recorded. Alpha power, which is inversely related to mental effort, was analyzed. For thetext presentation, the alpha power measures showed higher amplitudes (less mental activity) over the occipital and temporal lobes, and less alpha power (higher mental activity) over the frontal lobes. The results support the assumption that thevideo andpicture presentations induced visualization strategies, whereas thetext presentation mainly generated processes related to verbal processing. The results further showed that gifted students displayed less mental activity during all three formats of presentation. These differences were especially pronounced for thevideo format. No gender-related differences in EEG patterns related to the format of presentation were observed.     

Qualitative Methoden der Bildinterpretation

Zusammenfassung Die erheblichen Fortschritte der qualitativen Methoden in den vergangenen zwanzig Jahren sind eng mit dem „linguistic turn“ verbunden. Dessen Konsequenzen ebenso wie die für die empirische Sozialforschung ganz allgemein gültige Pr?misse, dass Protokolls?tze, also Texte, die nicht mehr hintergehbaren Grunddaten der (sozial-)wissenschaftlichen Analyse darstellen, haben zu einer Dominanz textinterpretativer Verfahren und zu einer ‘Textfixierung’ qualitativer Methodologien geführt. Insbesondere — und dies ist gerade für die Erziehungswissenschaft besonders folgenschwer — wurde in der qualitativen Forschung nicht unterschieden zwischen einer (textf?rmigen) Verst?ndigung über das Bild und einer (textunabh?ngigen) Verst?ndigung durch das Bild, d.h. im Medium des Bildes. Den methodischen Zugang zur letzteren Ebene, derjenigen einer vorbegrifflichen oder ‘atheoretischen’ Verst?ndigung im Medium des Bildes, haben in den 1920er-Jahren bereits Erwin Panofsky mit seiner Ikonologie und sein Zeitgenosse Karl Mannheim mit der dokumentarischen Methode er?ffnet. Zwischen diesen Methodologien und denjenigen der Semiotik zeigen sich wesentliche Korrespondenzen. Aus der Einsicht, dass die lkonizit?t in ihrer Eigenlogik der Sprache nicht in ad?quater Weise zug?nglich ist, l?sst sich mit Bezug auf die genannten Autoren sowie u.a. Barthes, Foucault und Imdahl die methodologische Konsequenz ziehen, dass wir unsere Konnotationen, unser sprachvermitteltes ikonographisches Vorwissen, soweit wie m?glich ‘einklammern’, also suspendieren müssen, wenn wir der Eigenart des Bildes gerecht werden wollen. Dabei führt der methodische Weg zur Rekonstruktion der Eigensinnigkeit des Bildes über dessen Formalstruktur — insbesondere über die planimetrische Struktur.

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Summary Qualitative methods of interpreting pictures The considerable progress in qualitative methods during the last twenty years is essentially connected with the „linguistic turn“. Its consequences as well as the presumption that textual records are the basic data of all scientific research are responsible for the predominance of methods of text-interpretation and for the particular ‘fixation’ on texts in qualitative methodologies. Especially, there is a lack of differentiation between a communication about pictures and a communication through pictures, i.e. a text-independent understanding via the medium of pictures. The methodical access to a pre-conceptual or ‘atheoretic’ understanding was opened up by Erwin Panofsky in the 1920s with his iconology and by his contemporary Karl Mannheim with his documentary method. Important correspondences between these methodologies and those in the field of semiotics can be demonstrated. From the insight that the iconic character in its obstinacy is not accessible to language in an adequate way, we can — with reference to the mentioned authors as well as to Barthes, Foucault and Imdahl — draw the conclusion that to approach the peculiarities of a picture means to suspend our connotations of language-mediated iconographic (pre-)knowledge as far as possible, to put them „in brackets“. Methodologically, the iconic character can only be reconstructed by describing the formal, especially the planimetric, structure of a picture.

     

The Present and Future of ID Practice

To further examine what designers actually do as compared to what they should do, a study of designer practice based on the “Layers of Necessity” model was conducted. The data were surprisingly homogeneous given the heterogeneous composition of the group, all members of a local NSPI chapter. Results contribute to validation of the underlying ID model and confirm previous findings that designers do not systematically perform all the steps in any ID model. Certain trends were noted; namely, an increase in the perceived importance and frequency of pilot testing, the continuing importance of “Decision Already Made” as a reason for not performing a given step, and the parallel between the steps perceived as most necessary and those performed most often. Based on these data and other studies of ID practice, the future of ID practice appears to be moving toward design of learner-centered learning environments and increased use of prototyping in the design process.     

The contribution of epistemology to curriculum construction in the sciences

Summary The paper focuses upon curriculum planning in the scientific disciplines at university level, although it is claimed the argument may be of wider applicability. Drawing upon the writings of philosophers of education from several decades ago (notably Schwab and Scheffler) whose work is too often overlooked in contemporary debates about the curriculum, and using illustrative examples from the author’s own experience, it is argued that too often the focus of science curriculum planning is the “rhetoric of conclusions” or the “substantive structure” — the current state of knowledge at the forefront of the respective disciplines — to the neglect of what Schwab called the “syntactical structure” of the sciences (which roughly approximates their epistemology). This aspect of these disciplines is essential for the general student trying to become familiar with the nature of science as a broad field of knowledge, for prospective teachers, and — contra Scheffler’s view — for students who aim at careers as researchers.

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Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag der Epistemologie zur Curriuculumkonstruktion in den Naturwissenschaften Der Aufsatz fokussiert auf die Curriculumplanung für den naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht in der universit?ren Lehrerausbildung, wenngleich behauptet wird, dass dieses Argument weitreichendere Anwendbarkeit besitzt. Der Text knüpft an erziehungswissenschaftlichen Schriften (insbesondere von Schwab und Scheffler) an, deren Ver?ffentlichung zwar einige Dekaden zurückliegt, deren Beitrag in den aktuellen Debatten aber oft übersehen wird. Darüber hinaus werden einige illustrative Beispiele aus dem Erfahrungsschatz des Autors genutzt, um zu zeigen, dass der Fokus der Curriculumplanung für die Naturwissenschaften — dem augenblicklichen Wissensstand der zu berücksichtigenden Disziplinen zufolge — zu oft in einer „Rhetorik der Schlussfolgerung“ oder „substantivischen Struktur“ besteht, was dazu führt, dass das, was Schwab die „syntaktische Struktur“ der Naturwissenschaften nennt (und ihrer Epistemologie ziemlich nahe kommt), vernachl?ssigt wird. Dieser Aspekt jener Disziplinen ist besonders wichtig für Studierende, die allgemeinbildend vertraut werden m?chten mit den Naturwissenschaften, für angehende Lehrer und — entgegen Schefflers Ansicht — für Studenten, die eine Karriere als Forscher anstreben.

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“When walking in quicksand country, carry a stout pole — it will help you get out should you need to. As soon as you start to sink, lay the pole on the surface of the quicksand. Flop onto your back on top of the pole. Work the pole to a new position: under your hips and at right angles to your spine. Take the shortest route to firmer ground, moving slowly.” Piven/Borgenicht 1999, p. 18

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This paper was presented at the conference Silence Between the Disciplines, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Berlin, October 2002.     

Globale Trends weltweiter Schulentwicklung: Empirische Befunde und theoretische Erklärungen

Zusammenfassung Gegenstand des Aufsatzes sind die weltweiten Bildungsentwicklungen etwa der letzten 200 Jahre. Im ersten Teil wird die Entstehung moderner Bildungssysteme in ihrer Empirie und Typik anhand von Studien vor allem der sog. Stanfordgruppe um J. W. Meyer u.a. angesprochen und mit neueren Daten zu einem Bündel von Indikatoren verdichtet, welches die These nahe legt, dass mit den weltweiten Schulentwicklungen — abgekürzt gesagt — ein neues Weltmodell Schule entstanden ist. Anschlie?end werden die neo-institutionalistischen Erkl?rungen dieses historischen Prozesses vorgestellt. Als Alternative zu diesen wird sodann der Weltsystem-Ansatz im Anschluss an Wallerstein in seiner Relevanz für die historisch vergleichende Bildungsforschung befragt. W?hrend der neo-institutionalistische Ansatz die dominante Logik der kapitalistischen Welt?konomie unterschl?gt, besteht bei unkritischer Anwendung des Weltsystem-Ansatzes die Gefahr, Schulgeschichte ?konomistisch zu verkürzen. Als vermittelnde Theorien werden deshalb die Bourdieusche Kapitaltheorie und das Theorem der relativen Autonomie des Bildungswesens sowie die Piagetschen Vorstellungen vom lernenden und sich entwickelnden Subjekt vorgeschlagen, da diese im Anschluss an Habermas auch auf Lern-und Entwicklungsprozesse von Gesellschaften anwendbar sind.

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Summary Global trends in world-wide education: Empirical evidence and theoretical explanations The paper discusses word-wide developments in education over the last 200 years. The first section introduces empirical and typological studies, in particular those of the so-called Stanford group around J.W. Meyer and others, on the development of modern education systems. These studies will be supplemented with new data to present a set of indicators, which appear to show that world-wide developments in schooling have lead — put succinctly — to a new global model of education. Neo-institutionalistic explanations for the historical process will be presented. Alternatively, the world-system approach following Wallerstein will be discussed in regard of its relevance for historical-comparative educational research. Whilst the neo-institutionalistic approach underestimates the dominant logic of the capitalist world economy, an uncritical reference to the world-system approach entails the danger to curtail the history of schooling in an economistic way. In order to bridge the gap between culturalistic neo-institutionalism and economistic world-system theory, the author suggests to take into account Bourdieu’s capital theory and the relative autonomy of education, and Piaget’s concept of learning and the development of the individual, which has also been applied to societies as learning and developing systems by Habermas.

     

Exploring teachers’ perceptions on physical activity engagement for children and young people with intellectual disabilities

Aim: To explore teacher’s perceptions of barriers and facilitators to physical activity (PA), including enabling, reinforcing and predisposing factors amongst children and young people (CYP) with intellectual disabilities (ID). Method and procedures: The Youth Physical Activity Promotion (YPAP) Model was used to inform semi-structured focus groups to explore PA of CYP with ID. Participants were 23 (9 male) teachers and teaching assistants, from three special educational needs (SEN) schools (1?=?Primary, 2?=?Secondary) within North West England. Three focus groups were held with between six and eight participants, audio and video recorded and data transcribed. Data were inductively and deductively analysed using Nvivo and represented through pen profiles. Results: Three pen profiles were developed and structured around YPAP Model to display themes within the data. Enabling factors (facilities (n?=?23) and activity type (n?=?39)); reinforcing factors (influences of peers (n?=?23), family (n?=?10) and teachers (n?=?19) to PA engagement); and predisposing factors (healthy lifestyle (n?=?15), enjoyment of PA (n?=?14), adaptations for PA (n?=?10), structured play (n?=?10), effects of disability on PA (n?=?8) and the CYPs attitudes towards PA (n?=?8)). Conclusion: CYP with ID enjoy engaging in PA, particularly activities that are of a fun and unstructured nature which allow for progression of skills and promote independence. Participants recognised that they, as teachers, had an influence on the CYP’s PA engagement, however suggested that parents have the most influential role. Similar to previous research, participants noted that CYP with ID had a lack of understanding as regards the importance of PA engagement and its benefits to health. It is suggested a strong home–school link for CYP within SEN schools could prove to be a key facilitator for active and healthy lifestyles education and choices.     

Headsprout® Early Reading for children with severe intellectual disabilities: a single blind randomised controlled trial

Research evaluating phonics reading programs for children with severe intellectual disabilities (ID) is limited. The current study investigated whether using an online reading program (Headsprout^® Early Reading; HER) as supplementary reading instruction for children with a severe ID leads to improvements in reading skills as compared to children not receiving this additional instruction. Fifty-five children from a special school were randomly allocated into the HER group or a waiting list control group. For six months, children in the intervention group received HER as supplementary instruction, whereas children in the control group received only ‘reading as usual’ teaching. Pre- and post-intervention tests on standardised reading measures were conducted. Analysis of data from outcome measures indicated that the HER group made improvements at post-intervention in comparison with the control group, with medium effect sizes on two domains from the main outcome measure. These results support the case for a larger research trial of HER for children with severe ID.     

RESILIENCY PROFILES OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY AND THEIR TYPICALLY DEVELOPING PEERS

Intellectual disability (ID) is associated with a range of risk factors that make children more vulnerable to adverse developmental outcomes, including mental health problems. Nevertheless, some children with ID do much better than others, presumably because of the presence of protective factors that increase their resilience. The current study compared resiliency profiles of children with ID (n = 115; mean age, 11.9 years) and their typically developing peers (n = 106; mean age, 11.8 years) using the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents and the Healthy Kids Resilience Assessment. In many respects, children with ID and their typically developing peers reported similar levels of the protective factors that are associated with resilience. However, the children with ID reported higher levels of emotional sensitivity and lower tolerance, as well as fewer future goals. Compared with typically developing children, those with ID reported more support at school and less support within their communities. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to promote positive developmental outcomes and to prevent the adverse sequelae that have been associated with low intelligence.     

Beyond Stimulus Deprivation: Iron Deficiency and Cognitive Deficits in Postinstitutionalized Children

Children adopted from institutions have been studied as models of the impact of stimulus deprivation on cognitive development (Nelson, Bos, Gunnar, & Sonuga‐Barke, 2011), but these children may also suffer from micronutrient deficiencies (Fuglestad et al., 2008). The contributions of iron deficiency (ID) and duration of deprivation on cognitive functioning in children adopted from institutions between 17 and 36 months of age were examined. ID was assessed in 55 children soon after adoption, and cognitive functioning was evaluated 11–14.6 months postadoption when the children averaged 37.4 months old (SD = 4.9). ID at adoption and longer duration of institutional care independently predicted lower IQ scores and executive function (EF) performance. IQ did not mediate the association between ID and EF.     

Adolescent Internalizing,Externalizing, and Social Problems Following Iron Deficiency at 12–18 Months: The Role of Maternal Responsiveness

This study tested whether maternal responsiveness moderated or mediated pathways from iron deficiency (ID) at 12–18 months to adolescent behavior problems. Participants were part of a large Chilean cohort (N = 933). Iron status was assessed at 12 and 18 months. Maternal responsiveness was assessed at 9 months and 5 years. Parents reported their child’s symptomology at 5 years, 10 years, and adolescence (11–17 years; M = 14.4). Structural equation modeling identified a previously unrecognized pathway by which child externalizing problems and negative maternal responsiveness at 5 years mediated associations between ID at 12–18 months and adolescent internalizing, externalizing, and social problems. Positive maternal responsiveness in infancy did not buffer those with ID anemia from developing 5-year internalizing problems.     

Rethinking classroom-oriented instructional development models to mediate instructional planning in technology-enhanced learning environments

Although classroom-oriented instructional development (ID) models have the potential to help teachers think and plan for effective instruction with technology, research studies have shown that they are not widely employed. Many of these models have not factored in the complexities that teachers faced when planning for instruction in technology-enhanced learning environments (TELE). They also fail to facilitate teachers’ critical re-examination of their existing practices and exploration of other practices to take up the affordances of technologies for effective instruction. Adopting an activity theoretical perspective towards instructional planning in the TELE, this paper examines two existing ID models: Reiser and Dick [1996. Instructional planning: A guide for teachers. Boston: Allen and Bacon] and Morrison, Ross, and Kemp [2004. Designing effective instruction (4th ed.) New York: Wiley]. It then constructs a classroom-oriented expansive and reflective ID model that: (1) facilitates the teacher's re-examination of their existing practices to identify contradictions in his/her instructional planning process in the TELE; (2) treats the ID elements in a nonlinear and non-sequential way; (3) accounts for the decisions made by other participants in the TELE, especially students and other teachers; (4) supports teachers’ formulation of solutions to the contradictions and transforms practices to take up the affordances of technology in the TELE; and (5) recognizes the need for teachers to move beyond the current activity by reflecting upon it so as to enable the emergence of new norms of practice.     

Study of factors influencing research productivity of agriculture faculty members in Iran

The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between individual, institutional and demographic characteristics on one hand and the research productivity of agriculture faculty members on the other. The statistical population of the research comprises 280 academic staff in agricultural faculties all over Tehran Province. The data regarding research productivity and demographic characteristics were extracted from the faculty members’ profiles. Questionnaires were utilized to collect information concerning individual and institutional variables. The reliably of the questionnaire was calculated to be between 0.74 and 0.97 using the Cronbach’s Alpha. The regression analysis revealed that from among demographic characteristics two variables, namely, academic rank and age ( \textR_\textAD ² {\text{R}}_{\text{AD}}^{ 2}  = 0.265), among individual characteristics, three variables, namely, working habits, creativity as well as autonomy and commitment ( \textR_\textAD ² {\text{R}}_{\text{AD}}^{ 2}  = 0.097), and among institutional characteristics four variables namely, network of communication with colleagues, resources of facilities, corporate management and clear research objectives ( \textR_\textAD ² {\text{R}}_{\text{AD}}^{ 2}  = 0.151) were significant predictors for agricultural faculty members’ research productivity.     

Red pigment production by Penicillium purpurogenum GH2 is influenced by pH and temperature

The combined effects of pH and temperature on red pigment production and fungal morphology were evaluated in a submerged culture of Penicillium purpurogenum GH2, using Czapek-Dox media with d-xylose as a carbon source. An experimental design with a factorial fix was used: three pH values (5, 7, and 9) and two temperature levels (24 and 34 °C) were evaluated. The highest production of red pigment (2.46 g/L) was reached with a pH value of 5 and a temperature of 24 °C. Biomass and red pigment production were not directly associated. This study demonstrates that P. purpurogenum GH2 produces a pigment of potential interest to the food industry. It also shows the feasibility of producing and obtaining natural water-soluble pigments for potential use in food industries. A strong combined effect (p<0.05) of pH and temperature was associated with maximal red pigment production (2.46 g/L).     

Hannah Arendt über die Krise in der Erziehung — Wiedergelesen

In dem vorliegenden Text wird Hannah Arendts Aufsatz über die Krise in der Erziehung vor dem Hintergrund ihres Werks Vita activa oder Vom t?tigen Leben re-interpretiert. Im Ausgang von ihrem Begriff der Natalit?t wird zun?chst Arendts kritische Auseinandersetzung mit der „progressive education“ skizziert. Es zeigt sich, dass ihre Typologie der menschlichen T?tigkeiten, die sie in Vita activa entwickelt, für ihre Kritik der Erziehung ebenso ma?geblich ist wie ihre Dichotomie des Privaten und ?ffentlichen. Eine Folge dieser Bestimmungen ist einerseits ihre Beziehung des Neuen, das mit jedem Kind in die Welt kommt, auf die politische Praxis in Freiheit; andererseits verortet sie das Aufwachsen der Kinder ausschlie?lich in der Sph?re des Privaten und Pr?-Politischen. Insbesondere Arendts aristotelisch inspirierte Konzeption des Handelns, aber auch ihr r?misch bestimmter Begriff der Tradition führen zu Unstimmigkeiten im Rahmen ihrer eigenen Theorie. Es stellt sich die Frage, ob die Kategorie der Natalit?t nicht eher eine politische Kategorie ist als eine p?dagogische.     

Protection of mobile location privacy by using blind signature

INTRODUCTION Improvements in sensor and wireless commu-nication technology enable accurate, automated de-termination and dissemination of a user or object’sposition. There is great interest in exploiting thispositional data through location-based services (LBS)Because of the widespread use of relatively cheapcellular phones or other mobile devices, many loca-tion services will be based on tracking technology toreveal the mobile user’s “personal” location at anygiven time (Einar, 200…     

“儿童中心”论在美国的兴起

在19世纪末、20世纪初的美国,儿童观的转变、儿童研究运动的兴起、新的儿童教育理念的传播以及改革学校呼声的不断高涨,为"儿童中心"论在美国的兴起准备了条件本文旨在通过对历史文献的梳理,考察这一时期美国教育界的相关思潮,分析"儿童中心"论的兴起和在早期阶段的主要含义。19世纪末20世纪初,在公立学校课程改革的论争中,帕克运用赫尔巴特学派"集中"的概念较早明确提出了儿童是学校中心的观点,儿童研究运动的代表人物霍尔提出了"儿童中心的"学校理想,而杜威则通过比较新旧教育的差异,将"儿童中心"作为新教育的基本特征。在同样使用"儿童中心"概念的教育家的思想中,这个观念所指陈的问题不同,其含义也存在明显差异。对"儿童中心"论兴起背景与过程的探讨,有助于更合理、更充分地把握这个观念的准确含义及其历史价值。 更多还原     

Graphical means for inspecting qualitative models of system behaviour

This article presents the design and evaluation of a tool for inspecting conceptual models of system behaviour. The basis for this research is the Garp framework for qualitative simulation. This framework includes modelling primitives, such as entities, quantities and causal dependencies, which are combined into model fragments and scenarios. Given a library of model fragments and a scenario describing an initial situation, the qualitative simulation engine generates predictions in the form of a state–transition graph. This rich knowledge representation has potential for educational purposes. However, communicating the contents of simulation models effectively to learners is not trivial. The predicate logic format used by Garp is not easy for non-experts to understand, and a simulation often contains so much information that it is difficult to get an overview while still having access to detailed information. To address these problems, a tool has been developed that generates graphical representations of the information contained in a qualitative simulation. This tool, named VisiGarp, incorporates a vocabulary of graphical elements for model ingredients and relationships, and combines these into interactive diagrams. VisiGarp has been evaluated by thirty students, with promising results, using a setup which included simulation results and exercises about Brazilian Cerrado ecology.     

Application of the Levenshtein Distance Metric for the Construction of Longitudinal Data Files

The analysis of longitudinal data in education is becoming more prevalent given the nature of testing systems constructed for No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). However, constructing the longitudinal data files remains a significant challenge. Students move into new schools, but in many cases the unique identifiers (ID) that should remain constant for each student change. As a result, different students frequently share the same ID, and merging records for an ID that is erroneously assigned to different students clearly becomes problematic. In small data sets, quality assurance of the merge can proceed through human reviews of the data to ensure all merged records are properly joined. However, in data sets with hundreds of thousands of cases, quality assurance via human review is impossible. While the record linkage literature has many applications in other disciplines, the educational measurement literature lacks details of formal protocols that can be used for quality assurance procedures for longitudinal data files. This article presents an empirical quality assurance procedure that may be used to verify the integrity of the merges performed for longitudinal analysis. We also discuss possible extensions that would permit merges to occur even when unique identifiers are not available.