"... a certain amount of engineering involved": constructing the public in participatory governance arrangements

This paper argues that it is time for public understanding of science to develop a critical inventory of the forms, formats and methods of public participation and their respective implications and ambiguities. It highlights the need for analysing not only the limitations and deficiencies of participatory arrangements but also their constructive dimension, in particular the construction of the subject of participation. Looking into participatory governance arrangements in the issue area of genetic testing in Germany and the UK the paper presents a typology of formats according to the way the respective public is constructed and identifies four major constructions of publics: the general public, the pure public, the affected public and the partisan public. Each of these enables certain speaking positions while foreclosing others. The study shows that the main purposes of participatory arrangements in this issue area are knowledge production and education rather than political deliberation and decision-making.     

The quotidianisation of the war in everyday life at German schools during the First World War

Abstract

The outbreak of the First World War had a powerful impact on German schools. Undoubtedly, schools were institutions of socialisation that did offer support to the war. Indeed, research has shown that a specific “war pedagogy” made an aggressive propaganda possible in the classroom. This research usually emphasises the enthusiasm for war that swept up teachers and students in schools, as in the rest of the population, in the first few months of the war. However, this emphasis on the war frenzy obscures the fact that schools were not easily transformed into war institutions. Even if schools made a great effort to align themselves with the war effort, they remained independent associations, and soon after 1914, a quotidianisation (akin to routinisation) arose within the schools. To date, source materials that show this lack of influence of wartime propaganda on schools have only been analysed in terms of what they reveal about the deprivations and hardships of schools during the war. However, records from the schools also shed light on the everyday routines that continued during the war, and such evidence calls on scholars to reconsider the conditions in schools in the First World War. This article analyses selected records including school chronicles and exam protocols from the war years and shows that school life was often distinct from war enthusiasm. A more complex view is therefore advocated of the relationship between the First World War and the German school.     

State and trait goals of achievement and well-being: structure,validity, and stability

Both school achievement goals (mastery, performance approach, performance avoidance goals) and well-being goals (work avoidance, affiliation goals) are important predictors of learning and achievement related outcomes. However, disagreement exists regarding the definition of goals as relatively stable traits versus situational states that react sensitive to contexts. This paper presents the development of an inventory for the assessment of students’ multiple state and trait goals. In Study 1, students (N?=?196) answered the trait items. The results of an exploratory factor analysis indicated the construct validity of the goals. In Study 2, students completed trait and state scales in different weeks (N?=?542) and repeatedly after 12 weeks each. Confirmatory factor analyses as well as correlations with state and trait reference constructs confirmed the convergent and differential validity of both the trait and the state goal factors. The instrument offers a brief, reliable, and valid measure of multiple state and trait goals. Latent state trait analyses revealed that some state goals are surprisingly robust against situational influences and equally stable across time as corresponding trait goals, whereas other goals are more dependent on the learning situation.     

Teaching students how to study: a workshop on information processing and self-testing helps students learn

We implemented a "how to study" workshop for small groups of students (6-12) for N = 93 consenting students, randomly assigned from a large introductory biology class. The goal of this workshop was to teach students self-regulating techniques with visualization-based exercises as a foundation for learning and critical thinking in two areas: information processing and self-testing. During the workshop, students worked individually or in groups and received immediate feedback on their progress. Here, we describe two individual workshop exercises, report their immediate results, describe students' reactions (based on the workshop instructors' experience and student feedback), and report student performance on workshop-related questions on the final exam. Students rated the workshop activities highly and performed significantly better on workshop-related final exam questions than the control groups. This was the case for both lower- and higher-order thinking questions. Student achievement (i.e., grade point average) was significantly correlated with overall final exam performance but not with workshop outcomes. This long-term (10 wk) retention of a self-testing effect across question levels and student achievement is a promising endorsement for future large-scale implementation and further evaluation of this "how to study" workshop as a study support for introductory biology (and other science) students.     

Lerngemeinschaften in der Lehrerfortbildung

Zusammenfassung Unsere Interviewstudie vergleicht zwei Gruppen von Lehrkr?ften: (1) Lehrkr?fte, die seit mindestens zwei Jahren an einer schulübergreifenden „Lerngemeinschaft“ des Projektes „Chemie im Kontext“ teilgenommen haben. Lerngemeinschaften basieren auf den Annahmen der Theorien des situierten Lernens. Kennzeichnend für sie sind die langfristige Zusammenarbeit und der intensive Austausch von Lehrkr?ften in Bezug auf die Optimierung des eigenen Unterrichtshandelns. (2) Lehrkr?fte, die an einer Fortbildung zu „Chemie im Kontext“ teilgenommen haben, die eher traditionell gestaltet war und aus zwei Workshops bestand. Diese Gruppen wurden in Hinblick auf ihre Kooperationserfahrungen nach Rückkehr an ihre eigenen Schulen und hinsichtlich ihrer überzeugungen zur Kooperation miteinander verglichen. Die insgesamt 69 Leitfadeninterviews wurden mit Hilfe der Inhaltsanalyse (nach Mayring) ausgewertet. Diese Auswertung kommt zu folgenden Ergebnissen: Insgesamt sind die Lehrer/-innen der Lerngemeinschaftsgruppe in vielf?ltigere Kooperationsbeziehungen eingebunden. Ihre überzeugungen zur Kooperation sind differenzierter; sie sehen deutlich st?rker den Nutzen einer arbeitsteiligen Kooperation und ?u?ern deutlicher den Wunsch nach einer Intensivierung der fachlichen Zusammenarbeit an ihrer Schule. Diese Ergebnisse der Studie weisen darauf hin, dass das Anbieten einer gut funktionierenden schulübergreifenden Kooperationsstruktur positive Effekte auf die Intensivierung der fachlichen Zusammenarbeit an den Schulen haben kann.      

Mapping inclusion of a child with autism in a mainstream kindergarten: how can we move towards more inclusive practices?

ABSTRACT

This study identify and reflect on barriers to inclusion that children with autism can meet in kindergarten. We use a single case study with participant- and video observation to map inclusion for a single 5-year-old boy with autism, in a mainstream kindergarten in Norway. Analysis identified three modes of inclusion; distance-keeping, maintaining proximity and interacting. The mapping procedure demonstrated that barriers to inclusion continue to operate. The extent of the child's participation seemed to relate to what he was doing and who he was with; overall, limited social inclusion amongst peers being achieved. Results indicated that predictable frameworks and teacher support increased participation. We discuss how participation for children with autism can be promoted. Our study points toward the need to extend current adaptations and support to children with autism within the educational settings, to enable a more inclusive practice.     

Social Dominance in Adolescence: The Moderating Role of the Classroom Context and Behavioral Heterogeneity

This study investigates socially dominant adolescents: students who are actively involved in establishing peer norms, influence their classmates' opinions, and are often the center of attention. Data from 5,468 seventh graders ( M age = 13.3; 53% girls) in 266 classrooms were used to examine how social dominance relates to achievement, peer acceptance and rejection, self-perception, and deviance and to investigate contextual moderators of these associations. Multilevel analyses confirmed social dominance to be associated with both positive and negative adjustment. Moreover, the associations with achievement and disruptive behavior were moderated by the normativeness of these behaviors within the classroom. Finally, latent profile analyses revealed 4 distinct types of highly dominant students, 2 well adjusted and 2 poorly adjusted.