A University Model for Multiple Problem Areas

The author argues strongly for a model of university organization that is based upon problem areas rather than upon the traditional departmental structure that is itself based upon strict disciplinary delimitation. The required shift is made difficult by the bookkeeper mentality of university administrators who find the spontaneous development of problem-based and problem-driven work groups difficult to track and to fit into traditional administrative structures. The shift, however, must be made in order for the university to retain its position on the cutting edge of creativity. University administration must adapt itself to the new realities of knowledge production.     

Creative Thinking in Five and Six‐Year‐Old Kindergarten Children

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of age and sex on the creativity of 5 to 6‐year‐old kindergarten children. The total points scored by the 6‐year‐old boys and girls included in this study were found to be higher than those scored by the 5‐y ear‐olds. No significant difference was found between the points scored by the girls and boys. However, the girls did better in flexibility, originality and elaboration and the boys in fluency criterion of creativity.

Children should be helped at home and school to develop their creative power. To achieve this, art, story‐telling, music and drama activities should be an integral part of the school curriculums. During such activities children should be allowed to take their time, and any despotic attitude on the part of the teacher should be avoided. In addition, children should be given a chance with unstructured play materials. Activities should be followed by a discussion with children, who should be taught that things can be done in more ways than one.     

Educational technology as a key to educational innovation:

Instructional technology, especially the use of computers and the Internet has been lagging behind in the German educational system in comparison to other European countries. When this lack was realized in the second half of the 1990s it had quite a “shock-effect” but one of the healthy kind: Since then numerous public and private initiatives have been started to advance the use of technology in schools, higher education, and in vocational training. At the college and university level, there is a trend towards connecting online and offline courses. Also, it was understood that it is not enough to just provide schools and universities with the technology needed but that the introduction of technology has to be accompanied by profound systemic and structural changes. Thus, there is great hope that the use of technology in education will fuel educational innovations at all levels needed for educating and training pupils and students to act as responsible and media-literate citizens in a modern world.     

Developing and refining mental models in open-ended learning environments: A case study

This qualitative case study focused on the nature of science learning through open-ended problem solving. Twelve eighth graders were asked to find, frame, and resolve subproblems associated with structural failures resulting from earthquakes. Coded interviews, artifacts, and observations from the four-week study suggested students only partially derived accurate mental models about earthquake engineering problems. Recommendations for improving student problem understanding in open-ended environments include the explication of student hypotheses related to problems, and the continual testing of belief via analogical reasoning, research, communication, and tool use.     

在“成人”与“教育”之间——成人教育学科发展的回顾与展望

反思成人教育学科发展的思想历程,可以发现其关注焦点从“成人”走向了“教育”。进而,在“成人”与“教育”之间,生成了当代成人教育学科发展的困厄,同时也孕育着学科发展的潜力与未来。成人教育学科未来发展的核心课题是重建学科的研究范式,关键所在是重廓学科的研究边界,而回归成人的生活世界是成人教育学科未来发展的方法论选择。     

When Does Self-Affirmation Reduce Negative Responses to Antismoking Messages?

Previous research has shown that self-affirmation can reduce individuals’ defensive processing of threatening health messages. In this study, we examine two audience characteristics—smoking experience and trait reactance—that might regulate the effects of self-affirmation on negative message responses within the context of college smoking. Results of a controlled experiment indicate that self-affirmation worked to reduce negative message responses among smokers who were low in trait reactance. For smokers high in trait reactance and nonsmokers, the effect of self-affirmation was either unclear or went in a direction that led to even greater defensive processing.