Developmental changes in item and source memory: evidence from an ERP recognition memory study with children, adolescents, and adults

Event-related potential (ERP) correlates of item and source memory were assessed in 18 children (7-8 years), 20 adolescents (13-14 years), and 20 adults (20-29 years) performing a continuous recognition memory task with object and nonobject stimuli. Memory performance increased with age and was particularly low for source memory in children. The ERP difference between first presentations of objects and nonobjects, reflecting generic novelty processing, showed only small developmental changes. Regarding item memory, adults showed the putative ERP correlates of familiarity and recollection, whereas ERP effects in children and adolescents suggested a strong reliance on recollection. ERP correlates of source memory refined with age, suggesting maturation of strategic recollection between childhood and adolescence and the development of postretrieval control until adulthood.     

The OECD PISA Study as a Soft Power in Education? Lessons from Switzerland and the US

Although originally created for economic purposes, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) has increasingly gained weight in education policy in recent years and is now regarded as an international authority in the field, particularly through its ‘Programme for International Student Assessment’ (PISA), which was highly esteemed in many countries and enabled diverse domestic education reforms. OECD derived a variety of policy recommendations from the PISA results. However, which of these were implemented at the national level and how OECD was able to achieve an impact on its member states have not yet been analysed in sufficient depth. To answer these questions, we analyse which OECD recommendations were reflected in Switzerland and the US. As their reception differs across countries, we assess under which conditions policy convergence towards the OECD ‘model’ took place. Then we elaborate on the governance mechanisms that caused policy convergence. We show that in Switzerland PISA's platform for transnational communication enabled policy learning at the expert level, thus leading to a rather high degree of policy convergence. This was not the case in the US, where PISA was regarded only as one of many studies assessing the performance of education systems.     

Adolescents' motivation to select an academic science-related career: the role of school factors,individual interest,and science self-concept

Many researchers consider a lacking interest in science and the students' belief that science is too demanding as major reasons why young people do not strive for science-related careers. In this article, we first delineated a theoretical framework to investigate the importance of interest, self-concept, and school factors regarding students' career preferences. Then, we tested the expected effects on a sample of German 9th-grade students (N = 7,813). We focused on two school factors: the amount of (additional) science activities and the real-life applications in science classes. The multi-level analysis showed that school factors were highly relevant for the students' interest in science and science self-concept. In turn, interest in science and science self-concept affect the students' interest in science-related careers. We conclude that focusing on the link between individual and school characteristics is important for the understanding of students' interest in science-related careers.     

Erfassung und Struktur berufswahlrelevanter Faktoren für die Lehrerausbildung und den Lehrerberuf in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz

The career choice motivations of potential teachers, their interests and other factors relevant to their choice of career are studied in order to achieve the best possible recruitment of new entrants to the teaching profession. However, the research and findings which are already available in this field are inadequate. The article is the first study which aims to analyse the structure and applicability of the internationally accessible FIT-Choice instrument to detect the relevant factors for teaching as a career choice in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the basis of representative samples (n = 6,601) in order to create a data basis which will enable the previously unconnected research initiatives in German-speaking countries to be combined. In addition, teaching experience is taken into account and used to check how valid the career choice motives stated by the students are. The overall objective is to explore the extent to which measurements of career choice motives and teaching experience and analysis of two areas can be generalised across different institutions and countries and can go beyond the limited significance of the previously available findings, and eventually to formulate generalisable assumptions about the ideas which influence teaching as a career choice, and especially the motivation which leads to this career choice.     

What knowledge appears as valid in the subject of Physical Education and Health? A study of the subject on three levels in year 9 in Sweden

Background: Many studies have found that Physical Education and Health (PEH) is a popular subject among the majority of pupils. Still, there is an on-going discussion concerning the aim of PEH and what legitimises it as a school subject. It is difficult to identify what knowledge appears as legitimate within PEH, and this creates conflicts within the field.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to contribute to the on-going debate regarding the knowledge content and the identity problems described in PEH. The conceptual framework used is curriculum theory, inspired by Bernstein's and Lundgren's theoretical work on the social construction of knowledge and the relationship between the production and reproduction of curricular knowledge, further developed by Linde. The specific research questions are the following: (1) What knowledge appears as legitimate in the subject in Sweden on these three levels: In the syllabus, as viewed by teachers, and during the realisation of lessons? (2) What are the similarities and differences between these levels with regard to legitimate subject knowledge? (3) Can we understand the described identity problem in the subject with the help of what knowledge appears legitimate?

Research design and data collection: The data used originate from three empirical materials obtained in Sweden from 2003 to 2005: the syllabus valid for compulsory school (i.e. Lpo 94) at the time the interviews and observations took place, material from semi-structured interviews with six PEH teachers who teach year 9 in four different secondary schools, and information from 20 videotaped PEH lessons taught by the interviewed teachers.

Findings: The results indicate that one can distinguish two largely dissimilar objects of learning which differ most markedly between the field of formulation and the field of transformation and realisation. The content knowledge of the field of formulation is largely reformulated in the field of transformation, but no major change takes place from the field of transformation to the field of realisation. The ‘formulated object of learning’ primarily comprises functional physical exercise, conceptual development, and the understanding of health and lifestyles. The ‘realised object of learning’ consists of formalised sport and physical exercise, with a minor focus on conceptual development.

Conclusions: Since two largely different objects of learning emerge in the subject, consensus is low regarding what knowledge is considered legitimate; the knowledge domain on the primary field most likely differs between the two arenas. A main problem for PEH in trying to gain legitimacy is that there are many different actors in the primary field who are related to and have interest in the subject and the knowledge basis of the subject derives from several different academic disciplines and from non-academic ones.     

Why teachers cooperate: an expectancy-value model of teacher cooperation

European Journal of Psychology of Education - While cooperation among teachers is considered an important indicator of school quality, the empirical evidence on the efficacy of teacher cooperation...     

Potenziale schulstatistischer Individualdaten für die Bildungsforschung und Bildungspolitik – Das Beispiel Bremen

Education policy and educational practitioners have increased their demand for evidence-based knowledge. In 2003, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) decided to establish a core dataset for individual-level administrative school statistics, the ?Kerndatensatz für schulstatistische Individualdaten“, to close the gaps in education statistics and to support evidence-based policy. In the federal state of Bremen, individual-level student data has been collected since 1997/98. These data are of great value for educational planning and policy, educational reporting, as well as educational research, as the analysis of individual educational trajectories depends on the availability of individual-level longitudinal data. Using the Bremen data, this paper demonstrates that highly relevant issues regarding the education system can indeed be analyzed with individual-level student data. Examples include: the effects of age at school entry, educational trajectories and graduation certificates. The results show that demographic information and critical events during early years of education are good predictors for educational success. These findings highlight the potential for student-level data in establishing education policy.     

‘Discover,Understand, Implement,and Transfer’: Effectiveness of an intervention programme to motivate students for science

Considerable research has focused on how best to satisfy modern societies’ needs for skilled labour in the field of science. The present study evaluated an intervention programme designed to increase secondary school students’ motivation to pursue a science career. Students from 3 schools of the highest educational track participated for up to 2 years in the intervention programme, which was implemented as an elective in the school curriculum. Our longitudinal study design for evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention programme included all students at the grade levels involved in the programme with students who did not participate serving as a control group. Mixed-model analyses of variance showed none of the intended effects of the intervention programme on science motivation; latent growth models corroborated these results. When the programme began, students who enrolled in the science elective (n?=?92) were already substantially more motivated than their classmates (n?=?228). Offering such an intervention programme as an elective did not further increase the participating students’ science motivation. It seems worthwhile to carry out intervention programmes with talented students who show (comparatively) little interest in science at the outset rather than with highly motivated students who self-select into the programme.     

Analyzing effective communication in mathematics group work: The role of visual mediators and technical terms

Analyzing and designing productive group work and effective communication constitute ongoing research interests in mathematics education. In this article we contribute to this research by using and developing a newly introduced analytical approach for examining effective communication within group work in mathematics education. By using data from 12 to 13-year old students playing a dice game as well as from a group of university students working with a proof by induction, the article shows how the link between visual mediators and technical terms is crucial in students’ attempts to communicate effectively. The critical evaluation of visual mediators and technical terms, and of links between them, is useful for researchers interested in analyzing effective communication and designing environments providing opportunities for students to learn mathematics.