Vorzug Ganztagsschule? Zusammenhänge mit der Kompetenzentwicklung im Bereich Lesen und Mathematik

Politicians and scientists are pinning their hopes on the expansion of the provision of all-day school, assuming that these programs provide particularly favorable conditions for supporting students’ cognitive skills. Against this background, this paper examines whether and under what conditions participation in all-day schooling is connected with the development of competencies in the domains of reading and mathematics. Using data from Starting Cohort 3 of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), our research considers different forms of all-day schools, the usage of extracurricular learning activities, as well as student ratings of the attractiveness of extracurricular activities. Furthermore, selective access to different school types and usage of extracurricular activities is carefully controlled for. The results show a positive association between student-rated attractiveness of extracurricular activities and competence development. Neither the organization of schooling nor participation in learning activities show significant independent main effects on competence development from grade five to seven.     

From apprentice to colleague: The metamorphosis of Early Career Researchers

While the studies of Early Career Researchers (ECRs) have contributed politically important insights into factors hindering ECRs, they have not yet achieved a theoretical understanding of the causal mechanisms that are at work in the transition from dependent to independent research. This paper positions the early career phase in a theoretical framework that combines approaches from the sociology of science and organisational sociology and emphasises the transitional process. In this framework, the early career phase is considered as containing a status passage from the apprentice to the colleague state of their career in their scientific communities. In order to capture the mechanisms underlying this transition, it is important to analyse the interactions of these careers as they unfold over time. The usefulness of this approach is demonstrated with a pilot study of Australian ECRs. We show (a) that misalignments of the three careers stretch the transition phase; (b) that the two major factors affecting the transition are a successful PhD and a research-intensive phase prior to normal academic employment; and (c) that the most important condition hindering the transition is the lack of time for research. It can be concluded that as a result of a ‘market failure’ of the university system, the transition from dependent to independent research is currently being relocated to a phase between the PhD and the first academic position.     

Upper secondary and vocational level teachers at social software

This study focuses on upper secondary and vocational level teachers as users of social software i.e. what software they use during their leisure and work and for what purposes they use software in teaching. The study is theorised within a technological pedagogical content knowledge framework, the emphasis is especially on technological knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge. Four hundred thirty seven teachers were surveyed using an online questionnaire with Likert scaled statements and open-ended questions. Results suggest that the number of different types of social software actively used for teaching is small and that the potential of social software as a tool for supporting collaborative learning has not yet been realised. Discussion of the results is framed in the context of teachers’ developing technological pedagogical content knowledge.     

Prerequisites for the successful group mentoring of first-year university students: a case study

In this article we present a case study on a group mentoring practice proven successful in earlier studies in terms of student self-regulation and collaboration. The purpose of our study was to uncover the factors behind the success by interviewing the mentor teachers. The findings showed that the group mentoring focused on four main themes: (a) promoting social relationships, (b) providing personal support, (c) providing study guidance, and (d) strengthening the agency of students. The findings suggest that the leading ethos of group mentoring was related to a humanistic approach to mentoring. However, successful mentoring also seemed to require both situated apprentice and critical constructivist perspectives in addition to the humanistic approach. It is concluded that the combination of multiple goals and contents in group mentoring is the main contributing factor behind the success of the mentoring model examined. Additionally, the teachers reported a variety of positive impacts of group mentoring on teachers’ work.     

A derived grid-based model for simulation of pedestrian flow

We present a derived grid-based model for the simulation of pedestrian flow. Interactions among pedestrians are considered as the result of forces within a certain neighbourhood. Unlike the social force model, the forces here, as in Newtonian physics, are proportional to the inverse of the square of the distance. Despite the notion ofneighbourhood and the underlying grid, this model differs from the existing cellular automaton （CA） models in that the pedestrians are treated as individuals. Bresenham＇s algorithm for line rastering is applied in the step calculation.     

Prospective Teachers' Conceptions of the Knowledge Base for Teaching Chemistry at the German Gymnasium

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Keystroke-level analysis to estimate time to process pages in online learning environments

It is challenging for students to plan their work sessions in online environments, as it is very difficult to make estimates on how much material there is to cover. In order to simplify this estimation, we have extended the Keystroke-level analysis model with individual reading speed of text, figures, and questions. This was used to estimate how long students might take to work through pages in an online learning environment. The estimates from the model were compared to data collected from 902 volunteer students. Despite the huge differences in reported reading speeds between students, the presented model performs reasonably well and could be used to give learners feedback on how long it takes to work through pages in online learning environments. This feedback could be used to support students’ motivation and effort regulation as they work through online course components. Although the model performs reasonably well, we propose giving feedback in the form of intervals to indicate the uncertainty of the estimates.     

Agentic perspective on fostering work-related learning

Despite the increased recognition of the role that professional agency plays in work-related learning, little is known about what supports it. Based on current theoretical notions, the first purpose of this paper is to show that professional agency is closely intertwined with work-related learning. The second purpose is to introduce some main principles that promote professional agency and describe three work-related training settings that are aimed at fostering learning by taking into account agentic perspectives. These complementary settings include an identity coaching programme, a leadership coaching programme, and a work conference. Based on the qualitative meta-synthesis, the paper further provides an empirical overview of professional agency and learning in these settings. The paper contributes to the understanding of the potential of professional agency at the heart of work-related learning. To foster learning, it is necessary to create social events for the enactment and activation of agency so that social and individual resources (e.g. experiences) are utilised. Overall, the paper emphasises that individuals and communities are active crafters of their professional identities and practices, and it provides viewpoints to support their agency in work and training settings.     

Modeling Prosocial Behavior Increases Helping in 16-Month-Olds

In two experiments, the imitation of helping behavior in 16-month-olds was investigated. In Study 1 (N = 31), infants either observed an adult model helping or not helping another individual before they had the opportunity to assist an unfamiliar experimenter. In one of two tasks, more children helped in the prosocial model condition than in the no model control condition. In Study 2 (N = 60), a second control condition was included to test whether infants imitated the prosocial intention (no neediness control). Children in the prosocial model condition helped more readily than children in the no model condition, with the second control condition falling in between. These findings propose that modeling provides a critical learning mechanism in early prosocial development.