Lesen Mädchen anders?

Zusammenfassung Die Gender bezogene Forschung der letzten Jahre setzte sich insbesondere mit Differenzen in mathematischen und naturwissenschaftlichen Kompetenzen auseinander, w?hrend die Unterschiede im Leseverst?ndnis weniger Beachtung fanden. Dabei sind national wie auch international die Befunde von gro? angelegten Schulvergleichsstudien konsistent: M?dchen lernen schneller und besser lesen, und auch wenn die Jungen in der Sekundarstufe aufholen, so erreichen sie den Stand der M?dchen auch im Jugendalter noch nicht. Anhand der 2001 durchgeführten Internationalen Grundschul-Lese-Untersuchung (IGLU) wird untersucht, ob der Vorsprung der M?dchen im Leseverst?ndnis schon in der Grundschule angelegt ist. Anhand differenzieller Item Analysen wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob sich auch bei einzelnen Fragen systematische Unterschiede zwischen M?dchen und Jungen nachweisen lassen. Anhand der Analysen kann gezeigt werden, dass geringe Geschlechtsdifferenzen bezüglich des Frageformats (offenes Antwortformat vs. Multiple Choice) und den Leseleistungen bei literarischen und Informationstexten bestehen. Bei Betrachtung der in IGLU getesteten Verstehensaspekte ergeben sich keine Differenzen zwischen Jungen und M?dchen. Hingegen ist bezüglich der Aufgabenschwierigkeiten ein Zusammenhang mit geschlechtsspezifischen L?sungsh?ufigkeiten festzustellen, was ?ltere Befunde stützt, die gezeigt haben, dass M?dchen routinierter lesen. Als m?gliche Konsequenz dieser Untersuchung k?nnte die Anregung gegeben werden, im Unterricht vermehrt Leseanreize zu geben, welche Jungen eher ansprechen, um sie so zum vermehrten Lesen zu führen. In sp?teren Untersuchungen w?re dann zu kl?ren, ob die Jungen so mehr Sicherheit bei routinierten Leseaufgaben erreichen k?nnten und ggf. zu dem von M?dchen gezeigten Niveau des Leseverst?ndnisses aufschlie?en k?nnten.

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Summary Over the last few years research has particularly concerned itself with gender differences between competencies in mathematics and natural sciences, whilst differences in reading comprehension have had little attention. At the same time, national and international evidence from large-scale school comparisons has shown consistently that girls learn to read faster and better. Even when boys catch up at secondary level, they do not reach the girl’ standard in their teens. On the basis of the international reading study IGLU carried out in 2001, this contribution will ask whether the girl’ head-start can already be observed at primary school level. Using differential item-analysis, the question of whether answers to individual questions show systematic differences will be investigated. The analysis shows only small gender differences regarding question format (open questions vs. multiple choice) and reading performance for literary and informational texts. Also, no differences between boys and girls can be found in the aspects of comprehension tested for in the IGLU-study. However, there is a connection between the level of task difficulty and the frequency of solving tasks by gender, which supports previous evidence that girls read more proficiently. A possible consequence of this study could be the using of reading incentives in class, which are particularly aimed at boys, to encourage their reading. Further studies would have to investigate whether boys achieve an improved confidence in tasks calling for reading proficiency and are therefore able to reach the standards of reading comprehension set by the girls.

     

Investigating the Intertwinement of Knowledge,Value, and Experience of Upper Secondary Students’ Argumentation Concerning Socioscientific Issues

This study aims to explore students’ argumentation and decision-making relating to an authentic socioscientific issue (SSI)—the problem of environmental toxins in fish from the Baltic Sea. A multi-disciplinary instructional module, designed in order to develop students’ skills to argue about complex SSI, was successfully tested. Seven science majors in the final year of their upper secondary studies participated in this study. Their argumentation and decision-making processes were followed closely, and data were collected during multiple stages of the instructional module: group discussions were audio recorded, the participants wrote reports on their decision making, and postexercise interviews were conducted with individual students. The analysis focused on the skill of evaluation demonstrated by the students during the exercise and the relationships between the knowledge, values, and experiences that they used in their argumentation. Even though all of the students had access to the same information and agreed on the factual aspects of the issue, they came to different decisions. All of the students took counter-arguments and the limitations of their claims into account and were able to extend their claims where appropriate. However, their decisions differed depending on their background knowledge, values, and experiences (i.e., their intellectual baggage). The implication to SSI teaching and learning is discussed.     

Ein Modell zur Erfassung naturwissenschaftlicher Kompetenz im Kindergarten

Preschool education, including scientific literacy, has recently been receiving increased attention in Germany??s educational system. However, only a few studies have investigated scientific literacy in the preschool age so far. In this paper a test instrument to assess scientific literacy in five year old children is presented. The topic of the test is water, its physical states (solid, liquid and gaseous), changes of state and solutions in water. The test was administered as a structured interview and high reliability and internal validity were obtained. The children investigated show a great variance in their competencies which can be ascribed to four different levels of competence.     

Testing method for objective evaluation of cross-country ski poles

The aim of the study was to develop an objective classification method for cross-country ski poles. A test device was designed to expose different pole models to maximal loading and impact tests. A load cell measured the axial forces in the pole shafts, and a laser distance meter measured shaft deflection when a load was applied via the wrist strap. In the loading tests, each shaft reached a plateau where no more force could be transferred. This maximal force transfer (MFT) value was a characteristic measure for flexural rigidity and thereby also strength. The developed test method enables a loading that is more similar to real-life skiing than a standard three-point bending test. Results show that the introduction of shaft indices for buckling strength is beneficial for comparison purposes. The MFT is a relevant parameter used in the characterization of poles.     

Unpacking challenges of data commentary writing in master’s thesis projects: an insider perspective from chemical engineering

Background Data commentary, in-text comments on the visual presentation of data, is acknowledged as a central aspect of academic writing in many engineering disciplines. At the same time, it is a feature that has been shown to be challenging for students. One of the genres in which data commentary plays a significant role in many engineering disciplines is the master’s thesis. Comparatively little research has been done on the process of master thesis supervision, and combining the study of data commentary and master’s thesis supervision is therefore particularly interesting.

Purpose This study explores the challenges of data commentary writing through interviews with master’s students and thesis supervisors of chemical engineering.

Sample and method Master’s students at a Swedish university were invited to participate in a workshop about the writing of data commentary. Nine master’s students and five supervisors were interviewed about what is difficult and important about writing data commentaries in their discipline as well as about decisions made in data commentaries written by the students. The interviews were divided into a semi-structured and a discourse-based part.

Results Our results indicate that data commentary comes with a variety of challenges. Among the most difficult and important aspects are selection of content and clarity. The study also indicates a close connection between data commentary and disciplinary learning in chemical engineering, suggesting that highlighting data commentary in the teaching of master’s thesis writing will be time well spent.

Conclusions In order to make the teaching and learning of data commentary effective in the context investigated, we propose that important measures are: the development of a shared metalanguage among students and supervisors, a genre approach, and collaboration between engineering and communication faculty.     

Reflink: A microcomputer information retrieval and evaluation system

Reflink is a system based on sophisticated information retrieval techniques which is housed in a small, inexpensive microcomputer. The paper describes the system, along with its predecessor, REFLES. Such systems are then placed in a conceptual framework involving stable and dynamic information, and several illustrations of multiple uses are presented.