How can history of science matter to scientists?

History of science has developed into a methodologically diverse discipline, adding greatly to our understanding of the interplay between science, society, and culture. Along the way, one original impetus for the then newly emerging discipline--what George Sarton called the perspective "from the point of view of the scientist"--dropped out of fashion. This essay shows, by means of several examples, that reclaiming this interaction between science and history of science yields interesting perspectives and new insights for both science and history of science. The authors consequently suggest that historians of science also adopt this perspective as part of their methodological repertoire.     

The relationship of value orientations,self-control,frequency of school–leisure conflicts,and life-balance in adolescence

The aim of this self-report study is to analyze proposed interrelations between value orientations, self-control, frequency of school–leisure conflicts, and life-balance in adolescence. Life-balance is defined as satisfying time investment in different life areas. The tested model posits that self-control is negatively related to conflict frequency and that the latter is negatively related to life-balance. Achievement and well-being value orientations, in turn, should be connected to the degree of self-control and the frequency of goal conflicts. In the study, 817 German 8th-graders with a mean age of 13.4 years participated. Results from structural equation modeling supported the proposed model. The results suggest that fostering self-control can be a promising approach to decrease the frequency of goal conflicts, and thus increase students' experience of life-balance.     

Rechtsfragen zur Studienbeitragspflicht an Universitäten

Die Neuregelung der Studienbeitragspflicht durch die Novelle zum Universitätsgesetz 2002 aus 2008 und die aus dem Jahr 2009 stammende Änderung der Studienbeitragsverordnung 2004 wirft eine Reihe offener Rechtsfragen auf. Die auf eine Begünstigung gegenüber der bisherigen Rechtslage angelegten Regelungen lassen in mehrfacher Hinsicht die erforderliche Eindeutigkeit vermissen und entbehren in ihrem Zusammenspiel unter sich und mit anderen diesbezüglich belangvollen Regelungen einer entsprechenden Regelungsharmonie. Sie machen dadurch mitunter diffizile interpretative Erwägungen erforderlich. Diese Umstände erschweren die Anwendung und damit die praktische Umsetzung der vom Gesetzgeber intendierten finanziellen Erleichterung gegenüber den Studierenden.     

Skills development for poverty reduction (SDPR): The case of Tajikistan

Vocational education and training (VET) can contribute to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. A key to economic and social progress is the training of better-qualified individuals and skilled enterprise staff who will be more productive, improving goods, increasing incomes and adapting to changing markets. Experts from international cooperation agencies see VET projects as suitable instruments for poverty alleviation in target groups working in the informal sector and rural economy. The recent shortages and high prices of rural products in many developing countries support this position. For the past two years a skills development for poverty reduction (SDPR) project has been running in rural areas of Central Asia to address rural poverty. The approach and findings of the project are discussed against the background of the international debate on VET in the context of poverty alleviation. It is hoped that the conclusions will contribute to optimising the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of similar VET projects.     

A visual aid for teaching the Mann–Whitney U formula

A visual aid for teaching the formula for the Mann–Whitney U statistic is proposed, inspired by ‘proof without words’, a didactic exercise from the mathematics literature that uses a visual approach to justify mathematical statements, including formulas and theorems.     

Dealing with forward and backward jumps in workflow management systems

Workflow management systems (WfMS) offer a promising technology for the realization of process-centered application systems. A deficiency of existing WfMS is their inadequate support for dealing with exceptional deviations from the standard procedure. In the ADEPT project, therefore, we have developed advanced concepts for workflow modeling and execution, which aim at the increase of flexibility in WfMS. On the one hand we allow workflow designers to model exceptional execution paths already at buildtime provided that these deviations are known in advance. On the other hand authorized users may dynamically deviate from the pre-modeled workflow at runtime as well in order to deal with unforeseen events. In this paper, we focus on forward and backward jumps needed in this context. We describe sophisticated modeling concepts for capturing deviations in workflow models already at buildtime, and we show how forward and backward jumps (of different semantics) can be correctly applied in an ad-hoc manner during runtime as well. We work out basic requirements, facilities, and limitations arising in this context. Our experiences with applications from different domains have shown that the developed concepts will form a key part of process flexibility in process-centered information systems.     

Das AutoMoDe-Projekt Modellbasierte Entwicklung softwareintensiver Systeme im Automobil

Die Entwicklung eingebetteter Software für Automobile ist inh?rent komplex und vereint verschiedene Entwicklungsphasen, mehrere fachliche Disziplinen, sowie verschiedene Akteure in beteiligten Unternehmen. Der AutoMoDe-Ansatz zur Entwicklung automotiver Software beschreibt Systeme auf verschiedenen Abstraktionsebenen und definiert schrittweise überg?nge zwischen diesen Ebenen. Neben der Definition geeigneter Ebenen werden zur Modellierung von Echtzeitsystemen ein einheitliches Berechnungsmodell sowie dom?nenspezifische Beschreibungstechniken verwendet. Automatisierte Anbindungen für Analyse und Synthese komplexer Softwaresysteme mit dem Ziel eines konsistenzbetonten Entwicklungsprozesses wurden realisiert. Die beschriebenen Techniken wurden in den Werkzeugprototypen AutoFocus integriert und im Zusammenspiel mit einer Werkzeugkette demonstriert.