Übereinstimmung,Variabilität und Reliabilität von Schülerurteilen zur Unterrichtsqualität auf Schulebene

Using student ratings to assess instructional quality of schools should fulfill three requirements: (1) an appropriate level of inter-rater agreement within schools, (2) systematic variance of student ratings between schools, (3) an adequate reliability level of aggregated student ratings. Using international PISA-data (2000–2012; 81 countries, over 55,300 schools, over 1.3 million 15-year olds) this study investigated how these requirements were met regarding indicators of instructional quality (classroom management, cognitive activation, individual learning support). We computed the interrater agreement index r_WG(J), as well as the intraclass correlations ICC(1) and ICC(2). Our results showed that (1) student ratings demonstrated a moderate or strong level of agreement for most indicators of instructional quality and (2) instructional quality assessed by students varied systematically between schools. Yet, (3) reliability of aggregated student ratings was not sufficient in many countries. We discuss these results regarding conventions to evaluate agreement, variability, and reliability of student ratings at the school level.     

Spectrum Approach to Mentoring: an evidence-based approach to mentoring for academics working in higher education

Anecdotal and empirical evidence indicates that mentoring can be a successful strategy for supporting professional learning, yet limited literature exists on approaches to mentoring designed specifically for academics working in higher education. The aim of this study was to create an approach to mentoring tailored to the needs of academics and underpinned by evidence from the literature. Participatory action research was chosen as the methodology for the project as this enabled a process of inquiry to be embedded within academic practice. The outcome was the development of the Spectrum Approach to Mentoring (SAM). This three-step approach is goal orientated, and encompasses mentoring relationships that may be ongoing and sustained over time through to those that are short-term and aligned with a particular task or focus. SAM provides a suite of resources that can be used by academics to promote valuable opportunities for professional learning through the initiation of mentoring relationships.     

Stimulus nonequivalences in go/no-go avoidance discriminations: Sensory,drive, and response factors

Previous work with rats showed slower active avoidance (AA) and passive avoidance (PA) learning in a light-go/noise-light no-go task (L⁺NL^?) than in a noise-go/light-noise no-go task (N⁺LN^?), independently of noise intensity and of presence or absence of AA pretraining. Experiment I compared these two tasks and the corresponding discriminations with a compound AA and a simple PA signal. The latter were learned at a faster rate, with only negligible differences between the two types of stimulus arrangements (NL⁺L^? vs LN⁺N^?). Experiment II investigated the acquisition and reversal of four go/no-go tasks with a simple AA signal, with either a simple or a compound no-go signal and asymmetrical reinforcement, i.e., with an extinction instead of a PA contingency during the presentation of no-go signals. As in previous experiments with symmetrical reinforcement, the groups with a simple no-go signal (L⁺N^?, N⁺L^?) acquired AA with little or no generalization to the other stimulus. In reversal, however, the L⁺N^? group (formerly N⁺L^?) responded to the no-go signal much more frequently than the other (N⁺L^?, formerly L⁺N^?). Both the L⁺NL^? and the N⁺LN^? groups gave a large number of responses to the extinction signal, but the differences between the two groups were at least as large as in previous work with a PA contingency. These data show that perceptual or attentional phenomena cannot explain stimulus nonequivalences in situations with a compound no-go signal. Furthermore, the similar nonequivalences found in situations with and without differential fear conditioning (AA-extinction tests vs AA-PA tests) leads to complex, highly speculative models concerning possible interactions between response and drive-modulating properties of various stimuli.     

Discussing the Greenhouse Effect: children's collaborative discourse reasoning and conceptual change

In environmental education the construction of appropriate knowledge is not enough, but is undoubtedly a fundamental component of individual and collective environmental responsiveness. The aim of this study was to investigate fifth graders' changes of conceptions about the greenhouse effect and global warming, due to socio‐cognitive interaction developed in small and large group discussions in an authentic classroom context during the implementation of an environmental education curriculum unit. We hypothesized that a classroom transformed into a community of discoursei.e. a learning environment which stimidates and supports giving verbal explanations, comparing and critically evaluating different points of view on the examined environmental phenomenon, would be a fruitful breeding ground for knowledge revision. The results show that classroom discussions, the core of the proposed learning activity, led the children, although at different levels, to the integration of new scientific knowledge into their conceptual ecology, based on the personal revision of pre‐instructional conceptions. As hypothesized, a high positive correlation was found between conceptual change and metaconceptual awareness of the changes in pre‐existing representations of the examined phenomenon. Some implications are drawn from the standpoint of environmental education.     

Adolescents' and Parents' Evaluations of Helping Versus Fulfilling Personal Desires in Family Situations

A sample of 118 predominantly European American families with early and middle adolescents ( M _ages= 12.32 and 15.18 years) and 1 parent evaluated hypothetical conflicts between adolescents' and parents' requests for assistance versus the other's personal desires. Evaluations differed by level of need, but in low-need situations, adolescents viewed teens as more obligated to help parents than did parents, whereas parents rated it as more permissible for teens to satisfy personal desires than did teenagers. Justifications for helping focused on concern for others, role responsibilities, and among parents, psychological reasons. Middle adolescents reasoned about role responsibilities more and viewed satisfying personal desires as less selfish than did early adolescents, but satisfying personal desires was seen as more selfish by parents of middle than early adolescents. Implications for adolescent–parent relationships are discussed.     

Effects of an unsupervised pedometer-based physical activity program on daily steps of adults with moderate to severe asthma: a randomized controlled trial

Supervised exercise has shown benefits for subjects with asthma, but little is known about the effectiveness of unsupervised physical activity on this population. We investigated the effects of a 12-week unsupervised pedometer-based physical activity program on daily steps and on clinical and psychological parameters of adults with asthma. Clinically stable adults with moderate to severe asthma were encouraged to take daily 30-minute walks and were randomized to pedometer and control groups. The pedometer group received pedometers and individualized daily step targets. Changes in daily steps (average of steps taken during six consecutive days), six-minute walk test (6MWT), health-related quality of life, asthma control and anxiety and depression levels were assessed 12 weeks after intervention and 24–28 weeks after randomization. Thirty-seven participants were recruited and 30 completed the intervention. At 12 weeks, the groups differed significantly in daily steps (adjusted average difference, 2488 steps; 95% confidence interval [CI], 803 to 4172; p = 0.005) and in the 6MWT (adjusted average difference, 21.9 m; 95% CI, 6.6 to 37.3; p = 0.006). These differences were not significant 24–28 weeks after randomization. The program was effective in increasing daily steps of adults with moderate to severe asthma 12 weeks after intervention.     

Influence of hydrodynamics on the growth kinetics of glass-adhering Pseudomonas putida cells through a parallel plate flow chamber

The objective of this work was to investigate the influence of hydrodynamics on the growth kinetics of surface-adhering Pseudomonas putida cells. The results showed in particular that under non substrate-limiting conditions, the early step of bacterial apparent growth rate is lower than those measured with suspended cells. Contrary to previously cited authors which explain this behavior to the different adhesive properties of the “daughter”-cells (which makes more probable the detachment of these daughter-cells), in our experimental conditions, that explanation does not hold and we show a clear dependence of growth kinetics with flow conditions, due to the formation of boundary layer concentration at low Reynolds number. These results revealed that using Monod law in the modeling of biofilm growth in fixed-biomass processes should be performed with care.     

The effect of the surface functionalization and the electrolyte concentration on the electrical conductance of silica nanochannels

It is known that the conductance of nanochannels as a function of electrolyte concentration deviates from a linearly proportional relationship and approaches a value independent of the concentration as the electrolyte concentration is lowered. Most of the proposed models account for this behavior by considering a constant surface charge density and an ideal electrolyte solution. However, at low electrolyte concentrations, the ideal electrolyte approximation is no longer valid because the ions that result from the atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolution in water dominate the ionic concentration. In this paper, arrays of silica nanochannels were electrically characterized via conductance measurements. The conductance at low salt concentrations is modeled by a variable surface charge model that accounts for all ionic species in solution. This model was used to determine the variable surface charge of the bare silica nanochannels as well as of chemically modified nanochannels. The model correctly predicted the variation of the nanochannel conductance observed after silane (aminopropyldimethylethoxysilane) functionalization and single-strand DNA immobilization. Finally, pH modification of bulk KCl solutions was employed as an alternative method of changing the surface charge of silica nanochannels. Surface charge calculated from conductance measurements performed at different bulk pH values confirmed that the surface charge of the silica nanochannel walls is sensitive to the H⁺ concentration.     

Redefinition of gestational diabetes mellitus: implications for laboratory practice in Croatia

An increasing prevalence of gestational diabetes has become a very challenging task in prenatal care worldwide. International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) has recently issued recommendations on the diagnosis and classification of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. These recommendations, the first to provide harmonised, evidence-based criteria for the diagnosis and classification of diabetes in pregnancy, are currently being discussed and accepted worldwide by the relevant authorities. As the acceptance of the proposed criteria has major implications for both clinical and laboratory settings, a concerted action towards necessary changes in practice has to be carefully planned and adjusted to national health-care specificities.IADPSG criteria have been strongly advocated by the Croatian Perinatology Society, resulting in a new strategy for the detection and diagnosis of hyperglycaemic disorders in pregnancy.To address the respective laboratory requirements, in April 2012, the Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists appointed a Working Group to provide a standardised procedure for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes, applicable to all laboratories involved in prenatal care, in both primary and specialised health-care facilities.In this paper we discuss key laboratory-related issues regarding succesful implementation of the IADPSG criteria in Croatia.     

The role of parents and peers in understanding female adolescent sexuality – testing perceived peer norms as mediators between some parental variables and sexuality

Previous research has confirmed peers and parents as significant agents of socialisation with respect to young people’s sexuality. The aim of this cross-sectional cohort study was to examine how parental and peer variables predict young women’s sexual behaviour and sexuality-related thoughts and emotions, and whether perceived peer influences mediate the relationship between parental variables and young person sexuality. A total of 560 female high school students of 1st (mean age 15.56 years) and 3rd grade (mean age 17.55 years), selected by means of two-stage stratified probability sampling participated in the research. Results confirmed that peer variables explained considerably more variance in participant sexuality than parental variables. Indirect parental communication about sexuality was a significant positive predictor of sexual behaviour and sexuality-related thoughts and emotions in both subsamples. The strength of direct and indirect influences of parents and peers on young people’s sexuality is determined by the age of the young person and specific aspects of adolescent sexuality. Perceived percentage of sexually active peers was the only mediator in older participants, while in the younger subsample, additional peer variables mediated the association between some parental and sexuality variables. In the discussion, special attention is given to implications of these results for planning future forms of comprehensive sexual education.