Spielen Studienschwerpunkte wirklich eine Rolle?

Due to a comparatively weak curricular structure in education faculties, student teachers may determine their study experiences and learning processes largely by themselves, by selecting their own priorities within educational foundation studies. This paper focused on the relationship between individually-chosen educational specializations, self-perceived competence in these chosen fields, and the measured educational knowledge. The study among teacher education graduates in the German state North Rhine-Westphalia showed that the individually chosen priorities within educational courses varied greatly; however, a focus on topics like classroom teaching, learning and development, and creating school environments was discernable. Results revealed that graduates with certain courses of specializations showed a significant higher level of knowledge in self-report in according areas. However, there were only small significant correlations between the self-reported competencies and the educational knowledge measured by the test. The results of the standardized test of educational knowledge indicated that the graduates in fact achieved better test results in their prioritized fields of studies. This suggests that individual course selection in educational foundations does have an effect on subsequent educational knowledge.     

Biomechanics of elite recumbent handcycling: a case study

In the presented research, a kinematic and electromyographic study was performed on one world-class male elite handbiker (UCI class H3.2). Activity of 14 muscles of the upper body were measured with surface electromyography (EMG), and a motion analysis of the athlete’s movement was performed concurrently for different backrest positions, crank lengths, and crank heights at three power levels (130, 160 and 190 W). Kinematics in terms of elbow and wrist angle, muscular on-off timing, EMG amplitudes, and integrated EMG were calculated. Results showed that little changes occurred for kinematic parameters and changes in position led to a shift in muscular timing. However, no indication for immediate improvement to the athlete’s preferred original position could be observed.     

Der Zusammenhang von Schulleitungshandeln,Unterrichtsgestaltung und Lernerfolg

Indicators and instruments for determining and measuring school quality within inspection systems are usually based on frameworks for inspection. These frameworks rely heavily upon school and teacher effectiveness research. Thus, a central assumption is that the effectiveness and improvement-oriented school conditions, as measured within an inspection, are related to student achievement. It is unclear if this assumption really holds true, as empirical evidence is still lacking. This study uses data from a random sampling of schools (n = 37) and teachers (n = 1663) and the achievement data from students (n = 23,943) to validate the interpretations and uses of school inspection results regarding the factor school leadership. The study follows Kane’s argument-based approach for validation. Results reveal that principals of schools with recurrent high student achievement very often demonstrate instructional leadership. It is evident that these principals are also leading in a fundamentally different way from principals in schools with lower achievement in that they lead with the specific school context in mind. The study demonstrates that it is possible to make inferences from scores provided by school inspections and to generalize from them. However, this generalizability does not extend to making extrapolations or decisions based on these scores. The analyses make it clear that providing feedback solely on the strengths and weakness of a school is insufficient when it comes to stimulating school improvement through inspection.     

Value orientations and action conflicts in students’ everyday life: An interview study

The assumption that today’s German students are able to successfully combine synthesis achievement values and well-being values appears to be overly optimistic when regarded from the perspective of motivational psychology. The results of a qualitative-quantitative interview study with 25 students indicate that achievement and well-being values may come into conflict in everyday life. Incentives for achievement and well-being rarely co-occur in the same action domains. Whereas the school context is dominated by achievement incentives, leisure time is dominated by well-being incentives. Since both achievement and well-being are appreciated by most students, they should be prone to experience frequent everyday action conflicts. The motivational characteristics of postdecisional action conflicts are described on the phenomenal level and their possible impairing effects for learning processes are pointed out. Finally, alternative forms of value synthesis, which might be realized more successfully, are discussed.     

Quantitative Reasoning in Environmental Science: A learning progression

The ability of middle and high school students to reason quantitatively within the context of environmental science was investigated. A quantitative reasoning (QR) learning progression was created with three progress variables: quantification act, quantitative interpretation, and quantitative modeling. An iterative research design was used as it is the standard method for the development of learning progressions. The learning progression was informed by interviews of 39 middle and high school students from 5 schools in the Western USA using QR assessments. To inform the lower anchor, intermediate levels, and upper anchor of achievement for the QR learning progression, an extensive review of the literature on QR was conducted. A learning progression framework was then hypothesized. To confirm the framework, three QR assessments within the context of environmental literacy were constructed. The interviews were conducted using these QR assessments. The results indicated that students do not actively engage in quantitative discourse without prompting and display a low level of QR ability. There were no consistent increases on the QR learning progression either across grade levels or across scales of micro/atomic, macro, and landscape.     

Seriously Entertained: Antecedents and Consequences of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Entertainment Experiences With Political Talk Shows on TV

This study's purpose is twofold: to introduce a new format into existing political entertainment research (“serious” political talk shows) and to establish a more specific definition of entertainment in a political context. To do so, the authors rely on a two-process-model of entertainment experiences. A telephone survey (N = 230) was conducted to analyze the antecedents and consequences of eudaimonic and hedonic entertainment experiences and to look into politically relevant variables and their distribution among viewers and nonviewers of such talk shows. The results highlight the importance of introducing new entertainment concepts and their relations to other relevant political and motivational variables into the research of political entertainment. More specifically, the findings demonstrate how entertainment experiences contribute to viewers' feeling of being informed and point out several differences between viewers and nonviewers concerning their internal political efficacy and political interest. Finally, looking at political talk shows from an audience perspective extends previous content-based taxonomies.     

Age and gender interactions in short distance triathlon performance

Abstract

This study investigated the participation and performance trends as well as the age and gender interaction at the Olympic distance ‘Zürich Triathlon’ (1.5?km swim, 40?km cycle and 10?km run) from 2000 to 2010 in 7,939 total finishers (1,666 females and 6,273 males). Female triathletes aged from 40 to 54 years significantly (P?<?0.05) increased their participation while the participation of younger females and males remained stable. Males of 50–54 years of age and females of 45–49 years of age improved their total race time. For elite top five overall triathletes, mean gender differences in swimming, cycling, running and overall race time were 15.2?±?4.6%, 13.4?±?2.3%, 17.1?±?2.5%, and 14.8?±?1.8%, respectively. For both elite and age group athletes, the gender difference in cycling time was significantly (P?<0.001) lower than for swimming and running. The gender difference in overall Olympic distance triathlon performance increased after the age of 35 years, which appeared earlier compared to long distance triathlon as suggested by previous studies. Future investigations should compare gender difference in performance for different endurance events across age to confirm a possible effect of exercise duration on gender difference with advancing age.     

Is it possible to improve mathematical achievement by means of self-regulation strategies? Evaluation of an intervention in regular math classes

After the effectiveness of self-regulation training outside school was demonstrated, a self-regulation intervention was developed to foster the learning achievement in regular math classes. Based on the theoretical framework of self-regulated learning, self-regulation training was integrated into a math class unit. The evaluation of the intervention concerning 53 sixth-grade students took place in a pretest/posttest-control-group design. One teacher taught one class (control group) merely mathematical topics and another class (experimental group) in the same subject combined with self-regulative strategies. The results revealed that it is possible to support self-regulation competencies and mathematical achievement by self-regulation interventin within regular mathematics lessons of 6th-grade students.     

Videos as learning objects in MOOCs: A study of specialist and non-specialist participants' video activity in MOOCs

Despite the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs) and the field of MOOC research, we have a limited understanding of the specific needs of different learner groups and how MOOCs can successfully address those needs. Video lectures and demonstrations are a central learning component of MOOCs. This paper contributes to the research community by examining the use of MOOC videos for two groups of learners. In particular, we explore whether there is an observable difference between specialists' and non-specialists' video-watching activity. We analyse data collected from three MOOCs on the edX platform. Our findings indicate that while age and educational background impacts the level of video activity, there is no significant difference between specialists and non-specialists. We conclude that the MOOC format may be suited to non-specialist groups, allowing them to self-direct their learning and utilise videos as educational resources.