Identification and evaluation of technology trends in K-12 education from 2011 to 2021

Education and Information Technologies - Educational technologies have captured the attention of researchers, policy makers, and parents. Each year, considerable effort and money are invested into...     

Von der Lehrerausbildung in den Beruf – Fachbezogenes Wissen als Voraussetzung für Wahrnehmung,Interpretation und Handeln im Unterricht

The transition from teacher training into the teaching profession is seen to be key in the biography of a teacher. Yet there is a lack of enquiry into the development of the content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) held by teachers at the end of their education, and into the significance of this knowledge for situational and behavioural cognition. On the basis of data from the international comparative study TEDS-M 2008 and the Germany-based 2012 follow-up, this contribution investigates the knowledge and skills development of teachers during the transition from teacher training to the teaching profession in a four-year longitudinal study with n = 171 mathematics teachers. Three test formats (paper-and-pencil, video-vignettes and speed tests) are used to examine various indicators for teacher expertise. In addition to the analysis of changes in mathematical CK and PCK levels, path analysis is used to determine the extent to which this knowledge functions as a predictor for the perception and interpretation of classroom situations, the decision-making in these situations, and the quick identification of student mistakes. The results show only small changes in the group mean (for MCK there is a small loss, whereas MPCK remains constant), but high fluctuation (i. e. weak correlation) in the MPCK ranking between the two measurement occasions, pointing to differential learning effects gained from teaching practice. There are also significant differences in predictability: MCK is important for the speed indicators of teacher expertise; MCK and MPCK for the perception and interpretation of situations, and for the generation of action strategies. These findings can on the one hand help to facilitate the evaluation of beginning teachers’ need for support and, on the other hand, they indicate the necessity for the early integration of practice-based elements into teacher training programmes with the aim of developing PCK and related skills.     

Mathe mit der Matte – Verkörperlichtes Training basisnumerischer Kompetenzen

Basic numerical representations are seen as the building block for the successful development of more complex numerical and arithmetic competencies. Extending previous studies focusing on improving basic numerical representations by means of embodied training schemes, the current study focused on an embodied training of children’s place-value understanding. In this vein, 49 secondgraders were trained on solving a number line estimation task by stepping on different fields of a dance mat allowing for separate estimations of tens and units with more effort needed to step on the tens. In a partially randomized cross-over design, two control conditions were used to controll for training effects caused exclusively by the numerical content trained or the use of the dance mat. Interestingly, results revealed specific training effects after both the embodied and the control conditions. However, training effects were significantly more pronounced after the embodied training, thereby providing further evidence for the benefit of an embodied training of the place-value structure of the Arabic number system.     

Analyse und Förderung effektiver Lehr-Lernprozesse unter dem Anspruch evidenzbasierter Bildungsreform

The performance of education systems is significantly influenced by the quality of teaching/learning processes. On the basis of empirical research, the programme for evidence-based educational research also contributes to improving the quality of teaching/learning processes. Hereby, new requirements for the insight of educational research as well as for the accelerated transfer of research findings into politics and practice have been formulated. Currently, the programme is strongly criticised by political and scientific stakeholders with regard to both its desirability and its feasibility. This report traces the debate on evidence-based educational reforms, systematically outlines the central topics of discussion, and views the current state of research on the contribution of empirical educational research to political and practical reforms. Particular attention is paid to the effects on teaching/learning processes.     

Stichwort: Entwicklung sprachlicher Fähigkeiten von Kindern und Jugendlichen im Bildungskontext

This article contains a review of recent research on the topic of language development in an educational research perspective. The contribution is focussed on research which was carried out in the German education system. The starting point of such research was the insight that mastery of a language is of core importance for educational success as well as for participation in a society. The research which is presented in this review article strives to identify factors that are relevant for the development of different language abilities during an education biography. The article starts with an overview of international and national research traditions which build the ground for the investigation of language development in an educational research perspective. A second part of the article deals with research projects that aimed to unveil factors which are influential for differential language development during a school career. In the third part of the article, an outlook on recent research is presented which deals with the question how language development can be fostered and supported by educational institutions. In Germany, such projects are just beginning. They mainly derive from the evaluation of model projects or other practical experiments; only very few experimental intervention studies have been carried out.     

Effektivität schulischer Sprachförderung bei Erstklässlern mit Sprachentwicklungsstörungen

The present study examines the language development of N = 48 children with specific language impairments. All pupils were primary students in their first year. They all were tested with the standardized test (SET 5-10). N = 24 children received special tuition. All other children participated in the common tutoring structures of teaching in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The results of this study show a moderate but significant progress in language development for both groups.     

Wirkungen zentraler Abschlussprüfungen im Mehrebenensystem Schule. Eine Zwischenbilanz internationaler und nationaler Befunde und Forschungsdesiderata

Statewide exit exams have become a central governance instrument at the end of secondary schooling in Germany. In the article, the current state of research in Germany is systematized from an international comparative perspective in relation to intended and unintended effects. Findings regarding state exam policies and effects at the school and instructional level are presented as an interim report on a comparably young field of research. The findings show differences by states, subjects and courses which suggest that there is no general effect of statewide exams. In this context, future research should account for the heterogeneity of exam procedures to a greater degree.     

Qualifizierungsstrategien deutscher Unternehmen in Japan,Indien und China – Deutsche Vorbilder oder einheimische Verfahrensweisen?

For many years the possible introduction of the German dual vocational education programme into other countries has been discussed. The transferability of the German vocational education and training system into other countries has been controversially discussed in the work of development assistance and in international comparative vocational education research for a long time, even though the empirical basis is quite narrow. The present study focuses on the vocational and training behaviours of German corporations in their subsidiaries in Japan, China and India. Even though all three nations are important countries for the German corporations the culture, the vocational education and employment systems are very different. Based upon the theory of the EPRG model in international management, this study analyses the vocational education and training activities and in terms of the EPRG model by interviews with experts. The findings indicate that a polycentric approach is used exclusively in India and to a significant extent in China. In Japan, in addition to the prevalent polycentric approach, there is also a strong influence of geocentric training styles. The similarities can be partly explained by the stronger focus on theoretical training institutions and a more academic attitude in society as a whole, which means that purely vocational training plays a marginal role with low esteem. In this context, it would be difficult to implement the German style of vocational education and training.     

Blocking between landmarks during 2-D (touchscreen) and 3-D (ARENA) search tasks with pigeons

Many studies investigating cue competition have focused on the blocking effect. We investigated the blocking effect with pigeons using a landmark-based spatial search task in both a touchscreen preparation (Exp. 1a) and an automated remote environmental navigation apparatus (Exp. 1b). In Phase 1, two landmarks (LMs: A and Z) appeared on separate trials as colored circles among a row of eight (touchscreen) or six (ARENA) identical response units. Subjects were rewarded for pecking at a target response unit to the right of LM A and to the left of an extraneous LM, Z. During the blocking trials in Phase 2, LM X was presented in compound with a second LM (A) that had been previously trained. On control trials, LM Y was presented in compound with LM B and a target in the same manner as in the trials of AX, except that neither landmark had previously been trained with the target. All subjects were then tested with separate trials of A, X, B, and Y. Testing revealed poor spatial control by X relative to A and Y. We report the first evidence for a spatial-blocking effect in pigeons and additional support for associative effects (e.g., blocking) occurring under similar conditions (e.g., training sessions, spatial relationships, etc.) in 3-D and 2-D search tasks.     

English in classrooms: only write down what you need to know: annotation for what?

The annotation of texts in the school English classroom is central to the curriculum, examination and the history of English as a school subject. In this paper we explore ‘the way it is done’ across two different classrooms. We focus on the relationship between official definitions of annotation offered by national policies and examination syllabuses and its actualization in particular classrooms. The article takes a multimodal approach: attending to all modes of representation and communication in the teaching of English including image, gesture, gaze and the spatial organization of the classroom.