An organizational behavior model of students' evaluation of instruction

The present study develops and tests an organizational behavior model of students' evaluation of instruction outlining the causal relationships among levels of instruction, feedback, goal-setting, student's accomplishment, and student's instructional evaluation.The major findings of this study are: (a) The organizational behavior model is one of the strongest predictors of student's overall instructional evaluation. (b) Student's accomplishment, while controlling for the effects of other independent variables, does not contribute to predicting overall evaluation of instruction. (c) Feedback and goal-setting are the most powerful predictors of overall evaluation of instruction. (d) The means, standard deviations and reliability coefficients of the various variables and the interrelationships among the various variables are similar at two points of time (mid-semester and end-semester). The implications of these findings are discussed and elaborated.     

The perception of power in university departments: A comparison between chairpersons and faculty members

This study analyzes differences in power perception across hierarchical levels in university departments and their consequences on studying the power structure of universities. The study's major variables include the holder of power and the nature of decisions involved, controlling for the field and the prestige of the department. Two perceivers were the subjects of the study, chairpersons and faculty members. Comparison between the two perceivers yields considerable differences. The different patterns of power observed by faculty members and chairpersons and the various areas of agreement and disagreement between the perceivers are discussed and analyzed.     

Alle alles lehren – Schulleistungen in Englisch,Mathematik und den Naturwissenschaften vor und nach der Neuordnung der gymnasialen Oberstufe in Sachsen

Over the last few years, German federal states have increasingly emphasized and strengthened the subjects regarded as core domains of the Gymnasium (the academic school track), including German, mathematics, foreign languages and, to some extent, science subjects (biology, chemistry, physics) by reducing the number of course and examination options through specific educational reforms. The present study investigates consequences of the reform of upper secondary schooling in the federal state of Saxony on the learning time allocated to subjects and on achievement in the domains of mathematics, English and natural sciences. As expected, the mandatory course selection of science subjects introduced through the reform led to substantially higher achievement levels in physics and chemistry. Moreover, disparities in achievement in the subjects of chemistry and biology were reduced. The reform effects on average achievement levels were strongly associated with course level choices (basic course, advanced course, drop out). Achievement rates relating to course level were, however, largely independent of the amount of allocated learning time. No changes were observed with regard to achievement levels and disparities in mathematics and English.     

Prenatal Maternal Stress and Child IQ

The evidence for negative influences of maternal stress during pregnancy on child cognition remains inconclusive. This study tested the association between maternal prenatal stress and child intelligence in 4,251 mother–child dyads from a multiethnic population-based cohort in the Netherlands. A latent factor of prenatal stress was constructed, and child IQ was tested at age 6 years. In Dutch and Caribbean participants, prenatal stress was not associated with child IQ after adjustment for maternal IQ and socioeconomic status. In other ethnicities no association was found; only in the Moroccan/Turkish group a small negative association between prenatal stress and child IQ was observed. These results suggest that prenatal stress does not predict child IQ, except in children from less acculturated minority groups.     

Vergleichbarkeit von Abiturleistungen

This article examines differences in the mathematics and English proficiency of academic-track students in Baden-Württemberg (N?=?3526) and Hamburg (N?=?3734), investigating whether and to what extent these differences are reflected in the Abitur grades the students are awarded. The article also examines the extent to which scores in centrally conducted examinations provide better comparability than do coursework grades. Multilevel analyses predicting coursework grades in mathematics revealed clear between-state differences, with students in Hamburg being awarded higher mathematics grades than comparably able students in Baden-Württemberg. These differences are partly attributable to frame of reference effects and their impact on teachers’ grading practices. No corresponding between-state differences were found for English. Mathematics examination scores provided a much better measure of student achievement than mathematics coursework grades. The findings are discussed in terms of meritocratic access to sought-after university and training places.     

Pedagogic strategies supporting the use of Synchronous Audiographic Conferencing: A review of the literature

Synchronous audiographic conferencing (SAC) refers to a combination of technologies for real-time communication and interaction using multiple media and modes. With an increasing institutional uptake of SAC, users require an understanding of the complex interrelations of multiple media in learning scenarios in order to support pedagogic-driven planning and effective use of the tool. This paper provides a review of recent literature that explores the pedagogic strategies used to underpin practical uses of SAC for the benefit of learners especially in non-standard contexts such as distance education. The paper reports on approaches from practitioner-oriented perspectives as well as approaches based on educational theory, notably the community of inquiry model, task design and multimodal models of cognition, meaning and interaction. The main features of these models were extracted to provide both a synthesis for future work on dedicated pedagogic models for SAC and a resource for practitioners wanting to link SAC with educational theory.     

Kieferchirurgische Operationsplanung mit Hilfe von Techniken der virtuellen Realit?t

Für ein vollst?ndig computergestütztes Planungssystem zum Zwecke der kieferchirurgischen Operationsplanung ist die Bereitstellung von virtuellen Werkzeugen für den Chirurgen eine grundlegende Voraussetzung. Ausgehend von den Volumendaten mit Sch?del- und Kieferknochen des Patienten erm?glicht ein einfaches Interface unter Verwendung einer geeigneten Visualisierung und haptischer Eingabeger?te die interaktive Definition und Manipulation einzelner virtueller Knochensegmente. Wir haben moderne kraftrückgekoppelte Ger?te aus dem Niedrigpreisbereich eingebunden und auf ihre F?higkeit untersucht, das dreidimensionale Verst?ndnis im Planungsproze?durch Anlehnung an die Vorg?nge bei der chirurgischen Prozedur zu erh?hen. Durch diese Eingabeger?te ist es m?glich, die Knochensegmentierung für eine Osteotomie des Unterkiefers intuitiver und schneller durchzuführen. Die definierten Teilvolumina ergeben zusammen mit ihrer r?umlichen Neuanordnung auf Grundlage einer kephalometrischen Analyse einen Operationsplan. Nach erfolgter Planung werden die Planungsergebnisse in den Operationssaal übertragen. Die intraoperativen Techniken beinhalten die Visualisierung der Planungsergebnisse, die Steuerung der Anwendung über Sprache und die Bestimmung der Patientenposition mittels eines elektromagnetischen 3D-Trackingsystems.