CREATIVE WRITING: FOSTERING VERBAL GIFTS IN YOUNG PEOPLE

In the context of German educational projects for gifted youth, an interdisciplinary model of identification and fostering of verbally gifted adolescents in an out of school course ("creative writing") was developed and carried out at Hamburg University from 1984 to 1990. The present paper offers an introduction to its main objectives and to the identification and selection process, the curriculum and the results of an evaluation, with concluding remarks on redefining the concept of giftedness.

     

Faculty Awareness and Perception of Streaming Video for Teaching

Streaming is an increasingly popular delivery method for audiovisual content in higher education and has been embraced by many libraries, sometimes without sufficient communication with faculty. The authors developed a survey with the primary purpose of determining whether faculty on their campus were aware of the library's streaming video services and what barriers might be preventing wider use. The study sought to gather contextual information on faculty preferences, interests, and awareness regarding library media collections, audiovisual delivery formats, and the use of streaming video for instruction. This information will inform actions and decisions about collections and outreach.     

对部分企业人力资源需求的调查与评估报告

本文为教育部职业技术教育中心研究所教学研究室与德国凯泽斯劳藤技术大学（TU Kaisenlaucem）社会学学院合作进行的关于中国企业人力资源需求和招聘政策的实证调查研究报告，其实证性主要体现在以下几方面：①采用通信方式和E-mail方式，对145家企业进行标准化问卷调查；②对13家不同行业、规模和所有制形式企业详细的实录性访谈；③对在华工作的德国职业教育专家的访谈；④在北京举办由企业代表和职业教育研究人员参加的“明确问题”研讨会；⑤在沈阳举办参与者广泛的、为期两天的课题结束研讨会。     

DIMENSIONS OF SATISFACTION WITH COLLEGIATE EDUCATION

A sample of 2072 respondents In 176 courses from four different departments In a community college completed a questionnaire concerning their attitudes towards various aspects of their studies. Results showed that the factor structure of the responses from the different departments was almost Identical, In spite of differences In students' demographic background and the purpose of studies. A regression analysis on the general satisfaction with courses revealed the teacher as the major contributor and the Interpersonal relations between students as an additional factor. When the willingness to continue studying in the same college was analysed, the Interpersonal relations between students were the major factor when the analysis was based on individual scores, but not when it was based on class‐averages. In both cases the difficulty of the course and the general evaluation of its quality were significant additional contributors. It was concluded that in order to evaluate higher education courses accurately, a generally applicable tool can be devised, but that this tool should cover social aspects of the study‐situation not yet Included in currently used evaluation questionnaires.     

Zum Einfluss von Migration und Schulklassenzugeh?rigkeit auf die übergangsempfehlung für die Sekundarstufe I

Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist die Kl?rung der Frage, inwieweit sachfremde ethnische Kriterien die übergangsempfehlung für weiterführende Schulen beeinflussen. Bei einer Stichprobe von 620 Schülerinnen und Schülern der vierten Klassenstufe wurden Schulleistungstest- und Fragebogendaten erhoben und diese in Beziehung zu den übergangsempfehlungen gesetzt. Wenn individuelle Schülervoraussetzungen unter Einschluss kognitiver F?higkeiten kontrolliert werden, gibt es keine Best?tigung der Auffassung, dass Kinder mit Migrationshintergrund bei der übergangsempfehlung benachteiligt werden. Auch ein hoher Anteil an Kindern mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache in der Schulklasse übt keine ungünstigen Effekte auf die Empfehlung der Schulform aus. Hingegen ist ein sachfremder Referenzgruppeneffekt (Big-fish-little-pond-Effekt) nachweisbar: Mit einem h?heren Anteil an Schülerinnen und Schülern in der Klasse, deren Schultestleistungen und kognitive Grundf?higkeiten hoch sind und deren Eltern eine h?here Bildungsorientierung aufweisen, sinkt die relative Chance, statt an eine Hauptschule an eine Realschule oder ein Gymnasium zu wechseln.     

Jugendliche Identität zwischen Nation,Region und Religion

Gegenstand des Beitrags ist die soziale Identit?tsentwicklung Jugendlicher im Spannungsfeld zwischen supranationalen, nationalen/ethnischen, regionalen, lokalen und religi?sen Konzepten. Hierfür wurde eine repr?sentative Querschnittstudie reanalysiert, wobei die Analysestichprobe 2.187 deutsche und türke Jugendliche zwischen 14 und 19 Jahren umfasst. Es konnte für die deutschen Jugendlichen eine dreidimensionale Identit?tsstruktur mit einer national-subnationalen, einer supranationalen und einer religi?sen Identit?tsdimension bestimmt werden. Hingegen wird die ebenfalls dreidimensionale Identit?tsstruktur der türkischen Jugendlichen durch eine ethnischreligi?se, eine sozial-r?umliche und eine r?umlichadministrative Dimension charakterisiert. Trotz dieser differenten Strukturen weisen beide Gruppen in Hinsicht auf einzelne Identit?tsaspekte ?hnliche Alters-, Geschlechts-, Bildungs- und Wohndauerunterschiede auf.     

The place of structured experience in early cognitive development

This paper examines the role of structured or programmed experience in early cognitive learning, as embodied in prevalent approaches to the acceleration of such learning and to preschool education. Starting from a brief overview of research on the effects of training on the acquisition of conservation, the argument is presented that this concept is normally acquired as a by-product of the child's activities forming part of his normal, unstructured experience. A research project predicated on this view, and designed to reveal the link between changes in spontaneous measuring and ordering activities and the onset of conservation, is described. In the second part of the paper a pyramidal model of cognitive development is suggested, contrasting the effects of programmed learning, emphasizing vertical transfer at the expense of horizontal, to the opposite effects of unstructured experience. Finally, young children's differential response to structured versus unstructured situations is related to the development of creative behavior, leading to a reinterpretation of the basis for their relatively poor performance on standard measures of such behavior.

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Résumé Cette communication examine le rôle de l'expérience structurée ou programmée sur le premier développement cognitif, incarné dans les approches prédominantes à l'accélération de ce dévelopement et à l'éducation pré-scolaire. A partir d'un récit bref des effects de l'instruction sur l'acquisition de la conservation, on affirme que ce concept est acquis normalement comme dérivé des activités de l'enfant et qu'il fait partie de son expérience normale qui n'est pas structurée. On décrit une enquête basée sur ce point de vue, destinée à révéler le lien entre les changements dans les activités spontanées de la mesure et de la sériation, et la commencement de la conservation. Dans la seconde partie de cet article, on suggère un modèle pyramidal du développement cognitif, en faisantl'opposition entre les effects de l'apprentissage programmé, favorisant le transfer vertical aux dépens du transfer horizontal, et les effets de l'expérience nonstructurée. Enfin, on lie la réponse différentielle de l'enfant aux situations structurées par rapport aux situations non-structurées, au développement du comportement créateur, ce qui mène à une réinterprétation de la base de leur performance relativement pauvre sur les mesures classiques de ce type de comportement.

     

The knowledge base and text recall: Evidence from a short-term longitudinal study

In a short-term longitudinal study, we investigated how domain-specific knowledge in soccer influences the amount of text recall and comprehension in elementary school and junior high school children of high and low overall aptitudes. Both level of soccer knowledge and overall aptitude were varied in a factorial design. Third, fifth, and seventh grade children were given several measures of text recall and comprehension and were retested on these measures about 1 year later. Performance was more a function of soccer knowledge than of aptitude level.     

Location-based smartphone games in the context of environmental education and education for sustainable development: fostering connectedness to nature with Geogames

Abstract

Geogames are complex location-based games for smartphones and they are part of a critical discussion within the community of environmental education. The aim of the study is to asses if smartphone games are suitable to foster connectedness to nature and if there are differences between a complex Geogame and a less-demanding treasure hunt. For this purpose, two established scales are used in a pre-post-test-design: the inclusion of nature in self (INS) and the disposition to connect to nature (DCN). Furthermore, the game-related enjoyment was controlled. The results reveal a significant increase of the INS for both game formats, with the strongest effect for the former more nature distant subjects. The DCN-scale shows a similar tendency but not a significant gain. Between the game formats, no significant difference is detectable. So, the main effect seems to be the location-based activity in nature guided by smartphones, not the complexity of a Geogame.     

Die Bedeutung des pädagogisch-psychologischen Wissens für die Qualität der Klassenführung und den Lernzuwachs der Schüler/innen im Physikunterricht

In the present study it was investigated whether the pedagogical knowledge of teachers has an influence on the process quality of physics instruction and on the learning achievement of students as well. Pedagogical knowledge, conceptualized as knowledge about strategies in classroom instruction that is domain-general and relevant for teaching behaviors, was measured using a paper-and-pencil test with two scales: one scale on declarative knowledge, the other on conditional-procedural knowledge (Lenske et al. 2015). As a basic aspect of the process quality of classroom instruction, classroom management was assessed using video ratings of two lessons from each participating teacher. Students’ learning achievement was assessed using standardized domain-specific knowledge tests in a pretest-posttest design. The sample included 34 teachers from higher-track secondary schools and their students (N?=?993). A complex bootstrapping mediation model shows that teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, mediated by their classroom management, has a positive effect on their students’ learning achievement.