The Scientific Value of Cognitive Load Theory: A Research Agenda Based on the Structuralist View of Theories

In this paper, two methodological perspectives are used to elaborate on the value of cognitive load theory (CLT) as a scientific theory. According to the more traditional critical rationalism of Karl Popper, CLT cannot be considered a scientific theory because some of its fundamental assumptions cannot be tested empirically and are thus not falsifiable. According to the structuralist view of theories introduced by Joseph D. Sneed, a theory may be considered scientific even if it comprises nontestable fundamental assumptions. Rather, the scientific value of a theory results from the holistic empirical content of the overall theory net built around fundamental assumptions and from the successful applications of this theory net to explain and predict empirical findings. This latter view is helpful to explicate some implicit methodological assumptions of CLT research and to avoid the potential circularity of CLT’s fundamental assumptions. Additionally, the structuralist view of theories can be directly used to derive a research agenda for the future development of CLT.     

The association of socio-economic factors with physical fitness and activity behaviours,spinal posture and retinal vessel parameters in first graders in urban Switzerland

Socio-economic status during childhood has been shown to be a strong predictor of adult health outcome. Therefore, we examined associations of parental educational level, household income and migrant background with physical fitness, spinal flexibility, spinal posture as well as retinal vessel diameters in children of an urban Swiss region. A total of 358 first graders of the Swiss canton Basel-Stadt (age: 7.3, SD: 0.4) were examined. Physical fitness (20 m shuttle run test, 20 m sprint, jumping sidewards and balancing backwards), spinal flexibility and spinal posture (MediMouse^®, Idiag, Fehraltdorf, Switzerland) and retinal microcirculation (Static Retinal Vessel Analyzer, Imedos Systems UG, Jena, Germany) were assessed. Parental education, household income, migrant background and activity behaviour were evaluated with a questionnaire. Parental education was associated with child aerobic fitness (P = 0.03) and screen time (P < 0.001). Household income was associated with jumping sidewards (P = 0.009), balancing backwards (P = 0.03) and sports club participation (P = 0.02). Migrant background was associated with BMI (P = 0.001), body fat (P = 0.03), aerobic fitness (P = 0.007), time spent playing outdoors (P < 0.001) and screen time (P < 0.001). For spinal flexibility and retinal vessel diameter, no associations were found (0.06 < P < 0.8). Low parental education, low household income and a migrant background are associated with poor physical fitness, higher BMI and body fat percentage and low-activity behaviour.     

Support for School-to-school Networks: How Networking Teachers Perceive Support Activities of a Local Coordinating Agency

External support by a local coordinating agency facilitates the work of school-to-school networks. This study provides an innovative theoretical framework to analyse how support provided by local education offices for school-to-school networks is perceived by the participating teachers. Based on a quantitative survey and qualitative interview data from a networking project in eight German districts, we argue that in order to enable networks to work independently on innovative reforms, local coordinating agencies should focus on autonomy support, such as training on network management, and on support aimed at establishing significance, i.e. through vision and goal setting.     

Fostering scientific reasoning in education – meta-analytic evidence from intervention studies

Scientific reasoning skills are not just for researchers, they are also increasingly relevant for making informed decisions in our everyday lives. How can these skills be facilitated? The current state of research on supporting scientific reasoning includes intervention studies but lacks an integrated analysis of the approaches to foster scientific reasoning in primary through secondary education. This meta-analysis evaluates effect sizes taken from 30 interventions in experimental and quasi-experimental studies and shows a medium mean effect of interventions on scientific reasoning. Interventions successfully facilitate scientific discovery, scientific argumentation, or nature of science in all age groups. Moderator analyses show that interventions set in constructive and interactive learning activities yield positive effects but do not differ substantially. Although the meta-analysis is limited by the number of studies included, we can conclude that scientific reasoning can successfully be facilitated and we show which characteristics are beneficial in educational interventions.     

Lernkompetenzen als Bildungsstandards — eine Diskussion der Umsetzungsmöglichkeiten

In Deutschland liegt seit 2003 ein Konzept zur Entwicklung nationaler Bildungsstandards vor. Bildungsstandards beziehen sich auf einen bestimmten Lernbereich. Innerhalb der Standards dieser Lernbereiche sollen zudem f?cherübergreifende Bildungsziele als Standards berücksichtigt werden. Lernkompetenzen, die in diesem Artikel fokussiert werden. stehen in einer Zusammenstellung m?glicher f?cherübergreifender Bildungsziele an erster Stelle. Im Gegensatz zur Umsetzung von fachlichen Kompetenzen als Bildungsstandards liegen bislang allerdings keine Vorschl?ge vor, wie Lernkompetenzen innerhalb der Standards der einzelnen Lernbereiche umgesetzt werden k?nnen. Der vorliegende Artikel soll einen Beitrag zur Kl?rung der Frage leisten, inwiefern dies auf der Basis des vorliegenden Konzepts nationaler Bildungsstandards realisierbar ist. Die Diskussion zwei der zentralsten Punkte des Bildungsstandardskonzepts zeigt. dass sich Lernkompetenzen ohne eine Reformulierung des Referenzrahmens von Bildungsstandards nur partiell als Standards umsetzen lassen. Im letzten Kapitel werden in der Folge Umsetzungsm?glichkeiten zur Etablierung von Lernkompetenzen als Bildungsstandards diskutiert.     

Qualitätssicherung in Kindertageseinrichtungen

Obwohl heute ein weitgehender Konsens darüber vorliegt, dass der Qualit?tssicherung bei Humandienstleistungen ein ganz besonderer Stellenwert zukommt, fehlt eine systematische Auseinandersetzung mit den Gründen und M?glichkeiten einer solchen Qualit?tssicherung. Am Beispiel der Bildung, Erziehung und Betreuung von Kindern in Kindertageseinrichtungen sollen deshalb in diesem Beitrag systematische überlegungen zu einer Qualit?tssicherung zusammengetragen und diskutiert werden. In einem ersten Teil des Beitrags werden prim?r aus ?konomischer, jedoch auch aus p?dagogischer Perspektive die unterschiedlichen Gründe für eine Qualit?tssicherung au?erhalb des Marktes dargelegt. Eine solche Qualit?tssicherung muss jedoch nicht vom Staat selbst übernommen werden, vielmehr hat dieser lediglich die Rahmenbedingungen für ein funktionierendes Qualit?tssicherungssystem zu setzen. Der Beitrag stellt dar, welche Anforderungen ein solches Qualit?tssicherungssystem prinzipiell erfüllen muss, im Anschluss daran wird überprüft, inwiefern diese Anforderungen im deutschen Kindertageseinrichtungsbereich erfüllt sind. Als Ergebnis kann festgehalten werden, dass das deutsche Qualit?tssicherungssystem zu keinen ausreichenden Ergebnissen führt und daher reformbedürftig ist. Als Ansatzpunkt für solche Reformüberlegungen schlagen wir ein Gütesiegelsystem vor, das — in Kombination mit einer Subjektf?rderung über Kinderbetreuungsgutscheine — wettbewerbliche Elemente nicht nur bei der Zuteilung von Finanzmitteln, sondern auch bei der Qualit?tssicherung nutzbar macht. Damit verspricht das Gütesiegelsystem im Vergleich zum bisherigen System effizienter und effektiver zu sein.     

Curricular quality and day‐to‐day learning activities in pre‐school

The purpose of this paper is to show how curricular quality is related to the day‐to‐day activities experienced by children and the pedagogical activities of staff, both coded through systematic target‐child observations. Data were drawn from the Effective Provision of Pre‐School Education (EPPE) and the Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY) studies. Curricular quality was measured by coding the ECERS‐E, an English curricular extension to the well‐known ECERS‐R. In centres scoring high on the ECERS‐E, staff engaged in pedagogical practices that included more ‘sustained shared thinking’ and more ‘direct teaching’ such as questioning or modelling. In high‐scoring centres, children were also observed participating in more activities associated with early reading, emergent writing and active listening. Children in centres assessed as ‘adequate’ spent more time in activities associated with the ‘Physical Development’ and ‘Creative’ curriculum. Thus the ECERS‐E gives higher scores to pedagogical practices and activities where staff take a more active role in children’s learning, including scaffolding young children’s play, especially in the communication and literacy domains of the curriculum.     

Implementation Intentions for Improving Self-Regulation in Multimedia Learning: Why Don’t They Work?

Abstract

Learners face several self-regulatory challenges during multimedia learning: choosing adequate cognitive strategies (cognitive self-regulation), relying on their own learning abilities (motivational self-regulation), and investing sufficient effort (behavioral self-regulation). Implementation intentions (plans that help transform intentions into action) can support self-regulation. We expected that cognitive, motivational, or behavioral implementation intentions improved learning, compared to a control group. In a first experiment, we found weak evidence that cognitive and behavioral implementation intentions improved learning, whereas motivational implementation intentions reduced learning. However, replication failed in two follow-up experiments. Our findings contradict previous research and suggest that implementation intentions are not suitable to support multimedia learning. Future research should focus on possible boundary conditions that could account for the unexpected and unstable findings.