Private Higher Education and Economic Development

In Western Europe, especially in Germany, private higher education is generally perceived as an alternative to public higher education for students from relatively affluent families; more broadly, there is a general perception that attending a private higher education institution is correlated to wealth. This perception is influenced by private higher education in the US, which is the world's most visible private system, but also probably the most atypical. In this article, we will analyse the relationship between private higher education attainment and the wealth of nations as reflected by their per capita GDP. We will try to relate the indicators in models that use cross-sectional transnational data as well as time series analysis for four contrasting countries (Chile, Germany, Romania, and the US). We will address two questions: (1) do wealthier nations have a higher percentage of enrolment in private higher education? and (2) does enrolment in private higher education grow with economic growth? Our analysis shows that a simple general relationship between enrolment in private higher education and the wealth of nations does not exist.     

Discourse and the new didactics of scientific literacy

This study examines ways in which students’ experiences of a culturally‐sensitive curriculum may contribute to their developing sense of ethnic identity. It uses a narrative‐inquiry approach to explore students’ experiences of the interaction of culture and curriculum in a Canadian inner‐city, middle‐school context. It considers ways in which the curriculum may be interpreted as the intersection of the students’ home and school cultures. Teachers, administrators, and other members of the school community made efforts to be accepting of the diverse ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds that students brought to the school. However, examination of students’ experiences of school curriculum events and activities revealed ways in which balancing affiliation to their home cultures while at the same time abiding by expectations of their teachers and peers in their school context could be difficult. The stories highlight ways in which curriculum activities and events may contribute to shaping the ethnic identity of students in ways not anticipated by teachers, administrators, and policy‐makers.     

University vs. Research Institute? The Dual Pillars of German Science Production, 1950–2010

The world’s third largest producer of scientific research, Germany, is the origin of the research university and the independent, extra-university research institute. Its dual-pillar research policy differentiates these organizational forms functionally: universities specialize in advanced research-based teaching; institutes specialize intensely on research. Over the past decades this policy affected each sector differently: while universities suffered a lingering “legitimation crisis,” institutes enjoyed deepening “favored sponsorship”—financial and reputational advantages. Universities led the nation’s reestablishment of scientific prominence among the highly competitive European and global science systems after WWII. But sectoral analysis of contributions to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical and health journal publications (1950–2010) finds that Germany’s small to medium-sized independent research institutes have made significant, growing contributions, particularly in publishing in higher impact journals proportionally more than their size. Simultaneously—despite dual-pillar policy implications—the university sector continues to be absolutely and relatively successful; not eclipsed by the institutes. Universities have consistently produced two-thirds of the nation’s publications in the highest quality journals since at least 1980 and have increased publications at a logarithmic rate; higher than the international mean. Indeed, they led Germany into the global mega-science style of production. Contrary to assumed benefits of functional differentiation, our results indicate that relative to their size, each sector has produced approximately similar publication records. While institutes have succeeded, the larger university sector, despite much less funding growth, has remained fundamental to German science production. Considering these findings, we discuss the future utility of the dual-pillar policy.

     

Christian pedagogy? A research report on the Christian profile of an educational institution in Germany

The article reports about an empirical study among the educational staff of one of Germany’s biggest Christian educational institutions, the ‘Christliche Jugenddorfwerk Deutschlands e.V.’ (Christian Youth Work of Germany, CJD). It tried to find out what ideas and attitudes the respondents had concerning the Christian profile of the institution and their own educational work. To this end, a questionnaire with mainly closed-ended and some open-ended questions was administered to the 6000 educational staff. The 934 responses are not representative but still give illuminating insights into the chances and problems of a ‘Christian pedagogy’ as proclaimed by the CJD. They show that a Christian profile of education is approved of by most of the CJD staff, even by many of those who do not believe in God. The results are interpreted and discussed in the context of current developments in Germany’s denominational private school sector, but imply perspectives for an international context as well.     

Classification of obesity varies between body mass index and direct measures of body fat in boys and girls of Asian and European ancestry

Body mass index is a common proxy for proportion of body fat. However, body mass index may not classify youth similarly across ages and ethnicities. We used sex- and ethnic-specific receiver operating characteristic curves to determine how obesity classifications compared between body mass index and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry-based body fat percent. Male and female participants 9- to 18-years-old (n = 944; 487 female) were measured 1 to 13 times (1999–2012; 4,411 observations). Body mass index identified < 50% of those classified as obese from body fat percent. Specificity was 99.7%, and sensitivity was 35.8%. Using area under the curve and standard error values, body mass index performed significantly better for: Male versus female at 10 years, Asian versus European female except at 13-, 15-, and 16-years-old, Asian female versus male except at 10- and 15-years-old, and for European male versus female, 9- to 11-years-old (p < .05). Our findings provide evidence that users of body mass index should use caution when comparing body mass index across age, sex, and ethnicity.     

A 30-Minute Physical Education Program Improves Students' Executive Attention

Physical activity is not only beneficial to physical health but also to cognitive functions. In particular, executive functions that are closely related to learning achievement can be improved by acute and recurring physical activity. We examined the effects of a single 30-min physical education program in contrast to a 5-min movement break on working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition of attention and behavioral tendencies of eighty-one 13- to 14-year-old students in grade 7 in Germany. Results indicate that the maintenance of on-task attention in the face of distraction was improved by an aerobic endurance exercise-based physical education program but not by a short aerobic movement break. This suggests that the duration of a school sports program is decisive for improving students' executive attention.     

Value orientations and studying in school–leisure conflict: A study with samples from five countries

The relations between students' value orientations and experiences of motivational interference during studying following conflicts between learning and leisure activities were investigated in a self-report study. Overall, 1075 adolescents, mostly from Catholic schools, in Bosnia–Herzegovina (n = 203), India (n = 200), Paraguay (n = 96), Spain (n = 442), and the US (n = 134), participated. The samples varied substantially in terms of modern and postmodern value orientations, experience of motivational interference during studying, and time invested in studying. By controlling for age, gender, and economic capital, postmodern value orientation was positively related to conflict frequency and experience of motivational interference during learning, and negatively related to time investment. For modern value orientation, the relations were almost reversed. Despite the considerable differences between the sample means, the study revealed some consistency in the relations between the variables across the samples, which indicates that most of the relations can be generalized.     

Testing Measurement Equivalence of Eudaimonic and Hedonic Entertainment Motivations in a Cross-cultural Comparison

Within Hofstede’s framework of individualistic and collectivistic cultures, this contribution examines measurement equivalence of hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment motivations in two different cultures, namely Germany representing a more individualistic culture (N = 180) and Turkey representing a more collectivistic culture (N = 97). By means of a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, we could secure configural invariance for both hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment motivations across the German and Turkish sample. Metric invariance, however, could only be obtained for hedonic, but not for eudaimonic motivations. Scalar invariance was obtained for neither of the two entertainment motivations. The study points to the importance of equivalence testing when conducting cross-cultural research.     

Integration Von Allgemeiner Und Beruflicher Bildung In Westlichen Industrienationen

Zusammenfassung Bisher besteht in vielen Ländern eine Ungleichheit in den beruflichen Abschlüssen des beruflichen Schulwesens und des Allgemeinbildenden Schulwesens. Inzwischen kann man in einigen Industrieländern Entwicklungen beobachten, allgemeine und berufliche Bildung zu verbinden. Es erscheint günstig, am Anfang der Ausbildung eine breite berufliche Grundlagenausbildung in Verbindung mit Allgemeinbildung zu vermitteln, und erst danach eine Spezialisierung vorzunehmen. In diesem Zusammenhang werden Beispiele aus Schweden, den USA (Career Education), der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Dänemark und der Republik Irland dargestellt.

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Up to now in many countries there exists no equality between vocational education and general education in the educational system. In the meantime in some industrial countries a development can be observed to integrate vocational and general education in schools. It seems favourable to offer a broad vocational education in connection with general education at the beginning, and to specialize afterwards. In order to demonstrate this development examples are presented from Sweden, the USA (Career Education), the Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland.

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Résumé Dans de nombreux pays l'égalité entre enseignement professionnel et enseignement général n'est pas encore un fait accompli. Par ailleurs, dans certains pays industrialisés, on a pu observer une tendance à intégrer dans les écoles ces deux types d'enseignement. Il paraît avantageux, au début, de dispenser un enseignement professionnel sommaire en rapport avec l'enseignement général, et de passer à la spécialisation plus tard. L'auteur appuie son exposé d'exemples empruntés à la Suède, aux USA (Career Education), à la République Fédérale d'Allemagne, au Danemark et à la République d'Irlande.