The Role of Students’ Personality Characteristics, Self-Perceived Competence and Learning Conceptions in the Acquisition and Development of Social Communicative Competence: A Longitudinal Study

An important purpose of higher social work education is to guide students to acquire and develop social-communicative competencies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role students’ personality characteristics, self-perceived communicative competence and learning conceptions play in the acquisition and development of social-communicative competencies. We designed and tested a hypothetical model on the student-related variables – self-perceived communicative competence, learning conceptions and reported learning activities regarding communication – in relation to performance scores. We were interested in developmental trends in the above mentioned variables. We also wanted to gain insight into the relationships among the variables. The study was set up according to a longitudinal, within-subjects design in order to study intra-individual changes. One-hundred and twenty-three first-year social-work students participated in this study. Many changes were found in students characteristics, reported deployed learning activities and study results during their first academic year. Except for confidence in “showing sympathy”, which was already relatively high at the beginning of the study, all scores on aspects of students’ self-perceived social-communicative competence increased. Assessment scores on comparable communication tests also increased significantly. Extraversion and emotional stability were the only two personality characteristics, which seemed rather stable. Agreeableness decreased while autonomy increased continuously during the first academic year. It seemed to be possible to set up a model, which may serve as a starting point for further research into the development of social-communicative competence.     

A tale of Wootz steel

The extraordinary romance and thrilling adventure associated with the tale of wootz steel shows how Indian metallurgists were the world leaders in antiquity in the manufacture of this legendary high-grade steel. In many ways this material was brought to global attention by the writings of Cyril Stanley Smith. Modern metallurgy and materials science rest on the foundation built by the study of this steel during the past three centuries.     

高校体育场馆托管模式的理论探析

高校体育场馆对外开放的管理模式多种多样,本文以"托管"为视角,从托管和高校体育场馆托管的基本理论入手,分析高校体育场馆对外开放的托管模式的现实意义以及实现高校体育场馆托管的有效路径,以期为"托管"这一公共服务供给方式的不断完善做有益的探索,并为高校体育场馆对外开放提供参考范式。     

On the effects of motivation on reading performance growth in secondary school

This research aimed at identifying unique effects of reading motivation on reading performance when controlling for cognitive skills, familial, and demographic background. We drew upon a longitudinal sample of N = 1508 secondary school students from 5th to 8th grade. Two types of intrinsic reading motivation (reading enjoyment, reading for interest), one type of extrinsic reading motivation (competition), and reading self-concept were measured by self-report questionnaires. Cognitive skills (reasoning, decoding speed) and reading performance were assessed using standardized tests and background variables were collected using student and parent questionnaires. Applying latent growth curve modeling, positive unique effects of reading enjoyment and reading self-concept and a negative unique effect of competition on the initial level of reading performance were recorded. Moreover, a positive unique effect of reading for interest on reading performance growth was recorded. One may conclude that enhancing students’ interest might be fruitful in terms of nurturing reading performance.     

Bilingual teaching for multilingual students? Innovative dual-medium models in Slovene-German schools in Austria

Traditional bilingual education programmes in regional linguistic minority contexts face major challenges within the recent paradigm of linguistic diversity against a background of increasing migration, mobility and trans-locality. Based on three case studies, the authors of this paper focus on how particular dual-medium models are applied in Slovene-German schools in Carinthia, Austria. They examine not only how these schools provide for a balanced bilingual teaching and learning environment, but also how they deal with their students?? multilingual realities and support their identification with bi- and multilingualism. The authors regard schools as institutional sites where linguistic dispositions are subject to discursive power relations and where language policies and educational goals are negotiated by teachers, parents and students alike. Drawing on speaker-centred and ethnographic approaches in sociolinguistic research, the authors seek to document experiences of all actors involved as well as spatial and discursive practices. Through this the authors show how these dual-medium schools achieve particular profiles in multilingual education which are potentially regarded as innovative examples of best-practice and as being of interest for students and families with heterogeneous linguistic backgrounds.     

Understanding the influence of teachers’ cognitive and affective responses upon school inspection feedback acceptance

Despite the developmental perspective of school inspections, teachers in inspected schools are not always willing to accept the school inspection’s feedback for their further improvement of teaching and learning processes. Literature distinguishes several aspects of feedback that stimulate or hinder the acceptance of feedback, such as recipient’s cognitive and affective responses to feedback. This study investigates teachers’ cognitive and affective responses to school inspection feedback in relation to feedback acceptance. It draws on data from 21 in-depth interviews with teachers in eight primary schools. We found that positive perceptions of the inspectors’ credibility enhance teachers’ feedback acceptance. This is also the case for positive, clear feedback. Under these circumstances, emotions of joy, happiness and relief are expressed. Conversely, respondents tend to reject feedback when inspectors are perceived to be inadequately informed, arrogant or disrespectful. When negative feedback is rated as unfair, negative emotions, such as anger and sadness, interfere with feedback acceptance. In essence, we conclude that both feedback content and feedback source characteristics are decisive in the acceptance of process. From a practical perspective, the findings suggest there is a need to build on supportive relationships between teachers and school inspectors.     

Changes in the Multi‐Level Effects of Socio‐Economic Status on Reading Achievement in Sweden in 1991 and 2001

This study examines the changes in educational inequality at the school‐ and individual‐levels in 1991 and 2001. Comparisons are made between the IEA Reading Literacy Study 1991 and the so called 10‐Year Trend Study in PIRLS 2001. The between‐school differences in reading achievement variance and the size of the relationship between SES and reading achievement at school‐level are the two main focuses. Applying a two‐level structural equation modeling technique, it was found that the between‐school differences in reading achievement were greater in RLS 2001 than in RLS 1991, and the school SES effect has been strengthened over time. These changes indicate that educational inequality in Sweden has increased over time. Some possible explanations to these changes are discussed with reference to school reforms and demographic changes.