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.     

Setting Reliable National Curriculum Standards: a guide to the Angoff procedure

The Northern Ireland Curriculum, like the English National Curriculum, records pupil achievement on a 10‐level scale. The level to which a pupil is ‘assigned’ at the end of a Key Stage is based upon two sources of assessment information: classroom‐based measures provided by the teacher and summative information from Common Assessment Instruments (CAIs), which are pen‐and‐paper tests taken at the end of the Key Stage. CAIs play a central role in confirming the accuracy with which teachers judge the level at which a pupil is working. While the teacher might judge a pupil to have mastered level 7 in Algebra, for example, based upon observation in class, test data and homeworks, the CAI will only confirm this level if the pupil scores above the level 7 cutscore on the CAI. If this cutscore does not accord with a reliable measure of what constitutes level 7 performance in Algebra in the classroom, there is likely to be misclassification of pupils with attendant difficulties for the efficient planning of teaching and learning. Misclassifications can be minimised when examiners and teachers interpret level 7 achievement in Algebra similarly. The Angoff standard‐setting procedure was used to establish level 5 cutscores in the Number and Handling Data tests of the mathematics CAI so that comparisons might be made between the published level 5 cutscores and those which result from a judgemental standard‐setting procedure. The 21 teachers involved in the procedure were offered the opportunity to recommend a level 5 ‘standard’ using the Angoff methodology, and to review their recommendations in the light of test data from the February 1993 CAI administration. A further opportunity was offered following a discussion during which individual teachers articulated their reasons for the standards they recommended. The results confirm that the reliability of recommended standards increases both as a consequence of receiving normative data and of discussion. All statistical measures reported in this article indicate that the procedure could command the confidence of examiners, teachers and the public. While the recommended cutscore for Number is in close accord with that published by the examiners, the extent of the mismatch in the Handling Data test is such as might give rise to some misclassification of pupils. It is important to stress that this mismatch had no real consequences since 1993 was a pilot year and no test outcomes were reported. The article concludes with an outline of the contribution which the Angoff methodology can make to the resolution of some of the difficulties faced by English national assessment, as identified in Sir Ron Dealing's interim report “The National Curriculum and its Assessment”.     

Supporting Students’ Learning and Socioscientific Reasoning About Climate Change—the Effect of Computer-Based Concept Mapping Scaffolds

Climate change is one of the most challenging problems facing today’s global society (e.g., IPCC 2013). While climate change is a widely covered topic in the media, and abundant information is made available through the internet, the causes and consequences of climate change in its full complexity are difficult for individuals, especially non-scientists, to grasp. Science education is a field which can play a crucial role in fostering meaningful education of students to become climate literate citizens (e.g., NOAA 2009; Schreiner et al., 41, 3–50, 2005). If students are, at some point, to participate in societal discussions about the sustainable development of our planet, their learning with respect to such issues needs to be supported. This includes the ability to think critically, to cope with complex scientific evidence, which is often subject to ongoing inquiry, and to reach informed decisions on the basis of factual information as well as values-based considerations. The study presented in this paper focused on efforts to advance students in (1) their conceptual understanding about climate change and (2) their socioscientific reasoning and decision making regarding socioscientific issues in general. Although there is evidence that “knowledge” does not guarantee pro-environmental behavior (e.g. Schreiner et al., 41, 3–50, 2005; Skamp et al., 97(2), 191–217, 2013), conceptual, interdisciplinary understanding of climate change is an important prerequisite to change individuals’ attitudes towards climate change and thus to eventually foster climate literate citizens (e.g., Clark et al. 2013). In order to foster conceptual understanding and socioscientific reasoning, a computer-based learning environment with an embedded concept mapping tool was utilized to support senior high school students’ learning about climate change and possible solution strategies. The evaluation of the effect of different concept mapping scaffolds focused on the quality of student-generated concept maps, as well as on students’ test performance with respect to conceptual knowledge as well as socioscientific reasoning and socioscientific decision making.     

How Movies Can Ease the Fear of Death: The Survival or Death of the Protagonists in Meaningful Movies

Many media entertainment products address the fragility of life by portraying the severe illness or death of the protagonist. According to terror management theory, people need to create meaning in their lives when they are reminded of their own mortality, for instance, by engaging in close relationships with others. Meaningful films may provide recipients with an anxiety buffer that helps them to cope with existential fear. The results of an experimental study (N = 130) demonstrated that participants who had been reminded of their mortality appreciated a meaningful movie more and liked the protagonist better when he survived than when he died. Further, participants who viewed the movie in which the protagonist survived did not activate their self-esteem-based anxiety buffer. The results point toward the potential of entertainment to provide internal anxiety buffers and thereby help in coping with self-threatening situations. The findings are discussed in terms of the connections between meaningful media entertainment, coping mechanisms, and viewers’ terror management.     

Fallstudie: Parallele Realisierung geophysikalischer Basisalgorithmen in Java

Zusammenfassung.   Der Programmiersprache Java wird oft nachgesagt, da? sie zu langsam für ernsthafte Softwareentwicklung sei, besonders im Bereich des wissenschaftlichen Rechnens. Das Ergebnis dieser Fallstudie zeigt jedoch, da? bei parallelen geophysikalischen Anwendungen eine Verlangsamung von weniger als Faktor 4 im Vergleich zu einer ?quivalenten Realisierung in Fortran90 bzw. High Performance Fortran (HPF) erreicht werden kann. Dieses Resultat wurde sowohl auf einer parallelen Maschine mit gemeinsamem Speicher (SGI Origin2000) als auch auf einer Maschine mit verteiltem Speicher (IBM SP/2) erreicht. Der Geschwindigkeitseinbu?e stehen sprachspezifische Vorteile von Java gegenüber Fortran90/HPF gegenüber: Objekt-orientierter Java-Code ist leichter zu warten und wiederzuverwenden als Fortran-Code und darüberhinaus vollst?ndig portabel, sogar zwischen Parallelrechnern mit unterschiedlichen Speicherkonzepten. Ferner ist zu erwarten, da? bessere übersetzertechnologien den Leistungsunterschied zwischen Java und Fortran weiter verkleinern werden. Eingegangen am 24. Dezember 1997 / Angenommen am 2. April 1998     

The complex route to success: complex problem-solving skills in the prediction of university success

Successful completion of a university degree is a complex matter. Based on considerations regarding the demands of acquiring a university degree, the aim of this paper was to investigate the utility of complex problem-solving (CPS) skills in the prediction of objective and subjective university success (SUS). The key finding of this study was that CPS was not only strongly correlated to objective university success but also explained university grade point averages (GPA) of N?=?78 German business students even after intelligence and high-school GPA were controlled for. In addition, priority setting while working on a complex problem explained self-rated SUS. Given this incremental validity over the most established predictors of objective university success and its versatility, we argue that CPS may be a valuable addition to existing predictors in university applicant selection.     

A randomised trial comparing the efficacy and safety of topical ketoprofen in Transfersome® gel (IDEA-033) with oral ketoprofen and drug-free ultra-deformable Sequessome™ vesicles (TDT 064) for the treatment of muscle soreness following exercise

We compared the effectiveness of topical ketoprofen in Transfersome^® gel (IDEA-033) with oral ketoprofen and drug-free Sequessome? vesicles (FLEXISEQ^® Sport; TDT 064) in reducing calf muscle soreness. One hundred and sixty eight healthy individuals with a pain score ≥3 (10-point scale) 12–16 h post-exercise (walking down stairs with an altitude of 300–400 m) were randomised to receive IDEA-033 plus oral placebo (two dose groups), oral ketoprofen plus TDT 064, or TDT 064 plus oral placebo. The primary endpoint was muscle soreness reduction from pre-dosing to Day 7. Higher pain scores were recorded with oral ketoprofen plus TDT 064 (mean ± s 462.4 ± 160.4) versus IDEA-033 plus oral placebo (434.7 ± 190.8; P = 0.2931) or TDT 064 plus oral placebo (376.2 ± 159.1; P = 0.0240) in the 7 days post-exercise. Recovery from muscle soreness was longer with oral ketoprofen plus TDT 064 (mean 91.0 ± 19.5 h) versus IDEA-033 plus placebo (mean 81.4 ± 22.9 h; P = 0.5964) or TDT 064 plus placebo (mean 78.9 ± 22.8 h; P = 0.0262). In conclusion, ultradeformable phospholipid vesicles ± ketoprofen did not retard recovery from muscle soreness. TDT 064 improves osteoarthritis-related pain and could be of interest as a treatment for joint pain during and post-exercise.     

Täuschungshandlungen im Sport

Experimental studies on the head fake in basketball showed that participant’s responses in a pass direction identification task were delayed for incongruent compared to congruent directions of the players gaze and pass (so-called head fake effect). In these studies on the head fake effect, static pictures were presented and responses on the pass direction were given with a simple key press. The present study examines whether an increase in the response complexity affects the head fake effect and whether it can also be transferred to the presentation of dynamic stimuli. In experiment 1, participants were presented with static pictures of a basketball player who passes a ball to the left or to the right. The player’s gaze direction was either oriented in the direction of the intended pass or in the opposite direction (i.?e., a head fake). The participants were asked to respond as quickly as possible to the pass direction and to ignore the gaze direction. Participants gave responses by pressing a key (simple response) or by executing a quasirealistic defense movement (complex response). Response complexity was blocked. In experiment 2, videos replaced the static stimuli. The responses were only given with the complex, full body movement. Results show that the head fake effect is independent of response complexity and that it can also be found when presenting dynamic stimuli.