Soziale Ungleichheiten in der Kompetenzentwicklung in der Grundschule und der Sekundarstufe I

The article focuses on the question how competencies of students with different social backgrounds develop during elementary and secondary school. In particular, it addresses if achievement disparities which exist before school entrance increase, remain stable, or even diminish during schooling. The article draws on both national and international studies with longitudinal designs examining the achievement development of students of different social backgrounds during primary or secondary school. Although the results are mixed to some extent, a large part indicates that differences in achievement increase during the time of schooling. The evidence seems more consistent for achievement development during elementary school. Additionally, there is some indication that schools and features of the educational system contribute to increasing achievement disparities between students of different social backgrounds.     

Persisting in Physics and the Physics Olympiad — Impact of Gender Identification and Sense of Belonging on Expectancy-Value Outcomes

The German Physics Olympiad is an extracurricular science contest for students. Here, they have the opportunity to compete against other talented students, can do physics outside of school, and take a first step to more engagement in the domain. Yet, female students participate in the competition in fewer numbers and are disproportionally more likely to drop out of the contest earlier than the male students.

The present study hence explored the question to which extent the German Physics Olympiad provides a threatening environment for female contestants’ intentions of persisting in physics. A total of 298 participants (28% female) were surveyed with respect to stereotype and social identity threat, as well as gender identification and sense of belonging as predictors of success expectations for and value of choosing to study physics. Success expectations and value of choosing to study physics were used as a measure for career intentions within the expectancy-value model.

The results support the conclusion that the contest presents an equally supporting environment for female and male participants. We found no gender differences in success expectations for and value of studying physics. Sense of belonging and gender identification significantly predicted success expectations but not value of choosing to study physics. Female participants in the German Physics Olympiad were also neither affected by stereotype threat nor by social identity threat in their sense of belonging or gender identification.

     

Geschlechtsspezifische Leistungsunterschiede in Abhängigkeit der sozialen Herkunft. Eine Untersuchung zur Interaktion zweier sozialer Kategorien

Gender differences in educational outcomes are often reported. However, some evidence suggests that these differences are not consistent but vary with social background. In quantitative research, however, the interaction between gender and social background has been underinvestigated. The present study investigates whether the effect of gender on achievement is moderated by socio-economic status (SES). The sample consists of N = 3935 primary school-children in Berlin (6th grade). The results show that the effect of gender on achievement varies with SES, with a stronger correlation between the achievement of boys and their SES. Taken together, the results of the study suggest a differentiated consideration of the achievement of boys and girls and the importance of considering multiple group identities.     

English Language Problems and University Students from a Non‐English Speaking Background

Many universities now run language classes for students from a non‐English speaking background (NESB). This is a clear indication that the universities believe that some of their students have difficulties with the English language. However, despite the existence of these courses and a steady enrolment in them, little is known about the extent of the problem or its nature.     

Schulformen als differenzielle Lernmilieus Institutionelle und kompositionelle Effekte auf die Leistungsentwicklung im Fach Franz?sisch

Auf der Basis von zwei repr?sentativen Schülerstichproben der Schweizer Kantone Wallis (N = 926) und Fribourg (N = 778), die w?hrend der 8. Jahrgangsstufe im Fach Franz?sisch als Fremdsprache unterrichtet wurden, geht der vorliegende Beitrag der Frage nach, ob Schülerinnen und Schüler je nach besuchtem Bildungsgang unterschiedliche Fortschritte in der Entwicklung ihrer Fachleistungen machen. Von besonderem Interesse ist dabei, ob und in welchem Ausma? die Zusammensetzung der Schülerschaft (Kompositions-effekte) und m?glicherweise auch institutionell differierende didaktische und curriculare Angebote zwischen den Bildungsg?ngen (Institutionseffekte) als lernmilieupr?gende Faktoren von Bedeutung für die Entwicklung der Fachleistungen sind. In Mehrebenenanalysen zeigten sich auch nach Kontrolle der individuellen Eingangsvoraussetzungen (einschlie?lich des Vorwissens) bedeutsame Unterschiede in den Lernzuw?chsen an den verschiedenen Bildungsg?ngen. Die weiteren Analysen lassen darauf schlie?en, dass sowohl von kompositionellen als auch institutionellen Effekten auf die Leistungsentwicklung auszugehen ist.     

Do Belonging and Social Exclusion at School Affect Structural Brain Development During Adolescence?

Students’ sense of belonging presents an essential resource for academic and health outcomes, whereas social exclusion at school negatively impacts students’ well-being and academic performance. Aiming to understand how feelings of school-related belonging and exclusion shape the structural brain development, this study applied longitudinal questionnaire-based data and MRI data from 71 adolescent students (37 females, M_age at t1 = 15.0; t2 = 16.1 years). All were white participants from Germany. Voxel-based morphometry revealed only an association of social exclusion (and not of belonging) and gray matter volume in the left anterior insula: From t1 to t2, there was less gray matter decrease, the more social exclusion students perceived. School-related social exclusion and disturbed neurodevelopment are thus significantly associated.     

An international collaborative investigation of beginning seventh grade students' understandings of scientific inquiry: Establishing a baseline

Although understandings of scientific inquiry (as opposed to conducting inquiry) are included in science education reform documents around the world, little is known about what students have learned about inquiry during their elementary school years. This is partially due to the lack of any assessment instrument to measure understandings about scientific inquiry. However, a valid and reliable assessment has recently been developed and published, Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI; Lederman et al. [2014], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65–83). The purpose of this large-scale international project was to collect the first baseline data on what beginning middle school students have learned about scientific inquiry during their elementary school years. Eighteen countries/regions spanning six continents including 2,634 students participated in the study. The participating countries/regions were: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mainland China, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States. In many countries, science is not formally taught until middle school, which is the rationale for choosing seventh grade students for this investigation. This baseline data will simultaneously provide information on what, if anything, students learn about inquiry in elementary school, as well as their beginning knowledge as they enter secondary school. It is important to note that collecting data from all of the approximately 200 countries globally was not humanly possible, and it was also not possible to collect data from every region of each country. The results overwhelmingly show that students around the world at the beginning of grade seven have very little understandings about scientific inquiry. Some countries do show reasonable understandings in certain aspects but the overall picture of understandings of scientific inquiry is not what is hoped for after completing 6 years of elementary education in any country.     

Investigating Gender Differences in Mathematics and Science: Results from the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Survey

Research in Science Education - The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related fields remains a concern for educators and the scientific...     

Research and scholarship: Perceptions of senior academic administrators

This paper reports selected findings from the first stage of a study on the research role within academic work in Australian universities. These findings come from the interview component of the study and discuss the perceptions that senior academic administrators hold on research and scholarship. The analysis of the interviews indicates that research covers a wide and varied range of activities across the disciplines found in a university and therefore needs to be defined broadly. However, research has three major attributes: new knowledge, enquiry and publication of results and views. Scholarship was perceived to be part of the research process, providing the context for good research by adding the element of breadth to the depth of research. In addition, scholarship describes the manner of pursuing a serious, sustained line of enquiry as well as the dissemination process.