Die Transferproblematik im Kontext von Modellversuchen und Modellversuchsprogrammen

In this article the results of transfer research, which were acquired in the context of pilot programs, will be presented. The problem of transfer gained special attention in relation to pilot projects during the late 1980s and was one of the major reasons for a change of focus from financing pilot projects to financing pilot programs. However, in research the transfer problem has not as yet gained the attention it deserves. Reliable conclusions on the effects of the great variety of available transfer concepts are rare. The selected results of the transfer program “Transfer 21” that are presented in this article, however, exemplify some positive effects.     

Measuring Mathematical Competences of Engineering Students at the Beginning of Their Studies

This article reports about our efforts to determine engineering students' competence in mathematics. Our research is embedded in a larger project, KoM@ING–Modeling and developing competence: Integrated IRT based and qualitative studies with a focus on mathematics and its usage in engineering studies, within the program Modeling and Measuring Competencies in Higher Education (KoKoHS). KoKoHS provides the umbrella organization of several research projects addressing the modeling and measuring of competences at the college level. KoM@ING aims to model the role of engineering students' mathematical competences for their studies from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective.

Here, we report the development of a large-scale instrument assessing engineering freshmen's competence in mathematics by applying Rasch analysis to determine measures for item difficulties and student abilities. Several analyses were performed to provide insights into the measures' reliability and validity. In particular, to examine cognitive validity, we scrutinized students' think-aloud protocols when solving the items to investigate their problem solving abilities as a proxy for item difficulty. Overall, we found first evidence that our instrument is suitable to assess engineering freshmen's competence in mathematics. This instrument may be helpful to conduct further research and to inform those concerned with college organization and policy.     

Professional knowledge affects action-related skills: The development of preservice physics teachers' explaining skills during a field experience

Professional knowledge is an important source of science teachers' actions in the classroom (e.g., personal professional content knowledge [pedagogical content knowledge, PCK] is the source of enacted PCK in the refined consensus model [RCM] for PCK). However, the evidence for this claim is ambiguous at best. This study applied a cross-lagged panel design to examine the relationship between professional knowledge and actions in one particular instructional situation: explaining physics. Pre- and post a field experience (one semester), 47 preservice physics teachers from four different universities were tested for their content knowledge (CK), PCK, pedagogical knowledge (PK), and action-related skills in explaining physics. The study showed that joint professional knowledge (the weighted sum of CK, PCK, and PK scores) at the beginning of the field experience impacted the development of explaining skills during the field experience (β = .38**). We interpret this as a particular relationship between professional knowledge and science teachers' action-related skills (enacted PCK): professional knowledge is necessary for the development of explaining skills. That is evidence that personal PCK affects enacted PCK. In addition, field experiences are often supposed to bridge the theory-practice gap by transforming professional knowledge into instructional practice. Our results suggest that for field experiences to be effective, preservice teachers should start with profound professional knowledge.     

Damper circuits and rotor leakage in the transient performance of saturated synchronous machines

The sudden development of short-circuit currents, and of recovery voltages at interruption of currents, depends on the effects of stator and rotor leakages as well as of saturation in the generating synchronous machines.The non-linear problem of the interaction of these features with the performance of the main windings and auxiliary damper circuits is solved analytically.This leads to a simple graphical representation which is numerically determined by the well-known magnetic and electric characteristics of machine and network and by two time constants of very different magnitudes which are derived from the ordinary data of the machines. Hence the variation with time, of short-circuit currents and of recovery voltages, can easily and rigorously be computed for every given example.The deviations of actual damper circuits from the ideal form and the effects of eddy currents in solid steel parts of the rotor are discussed so far that numerical results can be derived readily.A new transient test for synchronous machines is suggested by which rotor and stator leakage voltages can be measured separately, avoiding the uncertainties of the usual steady state leakage tests.     

Education after and about Auschwitz in Germany: Towards a theory of remembrance in the European context

This article provides an overview of education after and about Auschwitz (Holocaust education)* in Germany in both theory and practice, with particular attention to three critical areas. The first is the status of research in, as Adorno famously phrased it, “education after Auschwitz” within the context of contemporary Germany. German society is pluralistic, and is built on the third and fourth generations of young Germans since the National Socialist Era. These Germans cannot and do not want to be identified as perpetrators, but they must deal with a strong and growing right-wing extremist movement. The second area, given these challenges, is the fact that Holocaust education can fail. And finally, the European dimension of Holocaust remembrance means teaching about Auschwitz in the context of a general effort to resist inhumanity, as well as attempts to identify the connections between learning after and about Auschwitz, on the one hand, and learning and understanding human rights as a European and global vision on the other.     

RE-READING MARTIN BUBER AND JANUSZ KORCZAK: FRESH IMPULSES TOWARD A RELATIONAL APPROACH TO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 1

With the help of a relational approach to education in general, this article works out the possibilities and chances of a relational approach to religious education in particular. It argues that such an approach can make an important contribution to religious education in a pluralistic world. In education theory, the relational approach is associated above all with the work of Martin Buber (1878–1965). Whereas Buber comes from a philosophical background, another Jewish author begins his educational reflections with detailed observations of children and young people themselves: Janusz Korczak (1875–1942). The works of both Buber and Korczak give major impulses toward a relational understanding of religious education.     

PBL from the teachers' perspective

The background of the project Problem Based Learning in Environmental Sciences' was a dissatisfaction with the lack of inspiring connections between current research and undergraduate education. The PBL approach was adopted in order to raise the level of activity in undergraduate learning. Another reason was the emphasis on problem orientation in PBL which includes an important proportion of interdisciplinarity in finding appropriate solutions to environmental problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of PBL in environmental education from the teachers' perspective. Seven teachers were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and subject to a qualitative analysis. The teachers were in general positive to continue to work with the PBL program. They appreciated the closer contact with the students. Difficulties experienced comprise a lack of consensus amongst the teachers and lack of time for discussion and planning during the project. The teachers conceived of the essence of PBL either from a learning perspective or a teaching perspective. Characteristic of the learning perspective is a focus on the students' learning process, while in the teaching perspective focus is on the methodological teaching aspects of PBL. There were also two different perspectives on the teacher's role as a tutor in PBL, that are categorised either as a supportive role or a directive role. Characteristic of the supportive role is an integrated view of the tutors' role. The students' activity, responsibility and influence on the education was emphasised. The supportive tutor's role was mainly focusing the group process. The directive tutor's role were characterised by a restricted view or uncertainty of the teacher's role in PBL. The different ways of conceiving PBL may explain some of the experienced difficulties amongst the teachers.     

Encouraging a career in science: a research review of secondary schools’ effects on students’ STEM orientation

Previous studies have pointed out that schools play a central role in students’ orientation towards science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, studies use a variety of theoretical foundations in order to define variables and hypothesise relationships between schools and STEM orientation. In order to facilitate the interpretation and comparison of the studies’ findings, we conducted a systematic literature review, which theoretically integrates the variables, summarises the findings, and derives further research suggestions. In accordance with our inclusion criteria, we selected 28 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have investigated the effects of schools on students’ STEM orientation via quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Analyses show that the studies were quite diverse regarding investigated STEM orientation variables, but overall positive with regard to the effects of school. Based on the theoretical integration and comparison of findings, we point out methodological and theoretical challenges for future research on the effects of school and STEM orientation.