Experiencing churches as spiritual and religious places: a study on children’s emotions in church buildings during scholastic field trips

Going on a field trip to the church, pupils can experience lived religion. But how do they feel during such a church visit? In this paper, we analyse statements of 516 German third graders (about 8 years old) made after they had visited their local church on a field trip. Using affective schema theory, we develop a conceptual model of emotions in churches that serves as theoretical framework for our quantitative content analysis. All in all, the vast majority of the participants report about positive feelings during their church visit. Moreover, it is one-third of the children who show spiritual or religious references in their statements. They talk about personal peace and comfort during the visit, or describe the church as a place to pray and experience the presence of God. Regression analysis identifies that it is the religiously educated children who express such references. Furthermore, children with high centrality of religiosity tend to choose traditional religious concepts, symbols and practices to express reference. These results are mostly in line with relevant theory from sociology of religion and primarily support the concept of subjective turn in religion.     

Narratives boost entrepreneurial attitudes: Making an entrepreneurial career attractive?

This article analyses the impact of narratives on entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. To this end, a quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate web-based entrepreneurial narratives. The paired-sample tests and regression analysis use a sample of 466 people from Austria, Finland, and Greece and indicate that individuals’ perceptions of the desirability of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention are significantly different before and after exposure to entrepreneurial narratives. Furthermore, the findings indicate that perceptions of the feasibility of entrepreneurship are more strongly affected by videos than by cases. From a policy perspective, this study raises awareness that entrepreneurship is an attractive career path.     

Contrasting executive function development among primary school children from Hong Kong and Germany

Previous research findings indicate that young children from East Asia outperform their counterparts from Europe and North America on executive function (EF) tasks. However, very few cross-national studies have focused on EF development during middle childhood. The current study assessed the EF performance of 170 children in grades 2 and 4 from Hong Kong (n = 80) and Germany (n = 90) in a cross-sectional design. Children completed tasks assessing the main components of EF, namely inhibition (child-friendly Stroop task), updating (Object Span task), and shifting (Contingency Naming task). Results of multilevel models showed that all three EF measures differentiated well between younger and older children across the full sample. However, contrary to our hypothesis and previous research, we did not find any significant differences in EF performance between children from Hong Kong and Germany at primary school age. Our findings highlight the possibility that issues related to the measurement of EF and features specific to Hong Kong and Germany underlie our results.

     

Confocal XRF depth profiling non-destructively reveals the original blue pigments in a Renaissance painting by Caroto

Recent restoration of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Giovanni Francesco Caroto, from the Louvre collections, included a technical examination of the Virgin's blue robe that aimed to characterize the original materials and later additions. The painting was examined using light microscopy and ultraviolet and infrared imaging, and one cross section was taken. None of these methods showed a clear distinction between the layers that were artist applied or modifications made by another hand. To gain information about the paint stratigraphy without taking additional samples, non-invasive confocal X-ray fluorescence (CXRF) analysis was carried out to examine several areas of the Virgin's robe. Using this technique, it was possible to identify the pigments and order of application of paint by the artist. All the pigments identified were considered to be artist applied, and on this basis no further cleaning was carried out and conservation proceeded with retouching of minor areas of loss or damage. This study highlights the advantages of CXRF analysis for the technical study of paintings, used in combination with classical methods for making informed conservation treatment decisions.     

What is in the eye of preservice teachers while instructing? An eye-tracking study about attention processes in different teaching situations

Professional vision research lacks behind regarding the investigation of attention processes in teaching action. In this study, eye movements of preservice teachers were assessed by mobile eye-tracking technology (MET). Eye movements of N = 7 preservice teachers while teaching in standardized instructional situations (M-Teach) and while teaching in classroom were recorded and analyzed with regard to fixation frequency and fixation duration. According to assumptions of expertise research, the results show that preservice teachers strongly differ in their focus of attention. Furthermore, they show that preservice teachers distribute their attention only over a few pupils while teaching. The findings provide important implications with regard to the question how to support attentional processes even at an early stage of professional development, for example by observing own MET videos.     

Exploring the lack of a disfluency effect: evidence from eye movements

An eye-tracking study with 60 native Swedish speakers (18–30 years) was conducted to investigate the positive effects on learning outcomes predicted by the disfluency effect. Subtle low-pass filtering was used as a disfluency manipulation and compared with a control condition using regular text. The text was presented on four separate text presentation screens (TPSs), and eye movements were recorded. A free recall task was given 25 min later, and working memory capacity (WMC) was assessed to test if it would moderate learning outcomes. The disfluency manipulation had no effect on learning outcomes, total reading times on words or lines, first- or second-pass reading on lines, or average fixation durations. Moreover, the disfluency effect was not moderated by students’ WMC or self-reported prior knowledge of the topic. However, an adaptation to the disfluency manipulation was found. Total reading times on both words and lines were shorter in TPS 1 and 2 in the disfluency condition compared with the control condition, whereas reading times were longer in TPS 3 and 4. It is discussed if failures to replicate the disfluency effect arise from material features, with positive adaptations to disfluency (i.e., higher effort investment) possibly requiring more comprehensive materials.     

The acquisition of problem-solving skills in mathematics: How animations can aid understanding of structural problem features and solution procedures

In this paper the augmentation of worked examples with animations for teaching problem-solving skills in mathematics is advocated as an effective instructional method. First, in a cognitive task analysis different knowledge prerequisites are identified for solving mathematical word problems. Second, it is argued that so called hybrid animations would be most effective for acquiring these prerequisites, because they show the continuous transition from a concrete, but superficial problem representation to a more abstract, mathematical problem model that forms a basis for solving a problem. An experiment was conducted, where N = 32 pupils from a German high school studied either only text-based worked examples explaining different problem categories from the domain of algebra or worked examples augmented with hybrid animations. Learners with hybrid animations showed superior problem-solving performance for problems of different transfer distance relative to those in the text-only condition.     

Navigating with inner knowing and awakened presence: an approach to leading in a complex world

What are our options if we have to let go of the idea of controllability in our ever more complex world? What tools do we have to navigate in a territory that we can’t ‘manage’ anymore, where the old instruments of command and control have lost their grip? What makes us ‘know’ when intellectual knowing capitulates in the face of complexity? This paper presents an action learning approach in four phases that explores how intuition or other forms of inner knowing can be used as a resource in leadership and organisational change. It looks at what helps us access ways of inner knowing in complex situations and how a learning process could take place in the corporate context. The endeavour aims at exploring and actualising dormant potential to navigate the volatility, uncertainty and complexity of our business environment whilst embodying and radiating our purpose and vision.     

Pädagogisch-psychologisches Wissen von Lehrkräften aus Schule und Erwachsenenbildung: Entwicklung und Erprobung eines Testinstruments

Teachers’ pedagogical/psychological knowledge (PPK) is an important aspect of teacher competence. All conceptualisations developed so far assume that PPK is general and not specific for subjects or educational contexts. The authors take up this assumption and examine empirically whether PPK of school teachers and adult education teachers is general, i.?e. generic for subjects and educational contexts. Based on a conceptualisation validated through an expert survey (N = 44) the development of a digital test instrument with text- and videobased items is described. The article reports on the results of the structure, reliability, and DIF analyses of two PPK-facets on a total of N = 212 school and adult education teachers; analyses showed that both facets can be measured reliably with only small DIF-effects. The results point to the fact that – largely in line with the results of a literature content analysis and the expert survey – PPK is general over educational contexts. Finally, results are discussed with regard to the potentials of videobased instruments to measure teachers’ professional competence.