Was bedingt die Wahl eines nicht empfohlenen höheren Bildungsgangs?

According to PIRLS 17 % of German parents choose a non-recommended secondary school-type for their child. Only few empirical studies try to identify parental characteristics related to their rejection of a school-type recommendation from their child’s teacher. Based on the sociological rational choice theory, research primarily focuses on characteristics of social background and on cost-benefit considerations. In addition to this, the present study analyzes to what extent parental evaluation and attribution of the child’s achievement and the appraisal of the primary school’s advice influence the probability of parents’ rejection of the recommendation. The focus of this investigation is on parents whose educational aspirations and choices of school are higher than the teachers’ recommendations. By means of logistic regression we analyze, how well parental decision-making – i. e. adopting the teacher’s recommendation vs. insisting on own, non-compliant opinion – can be predicted by theory-based independent variables. Avoidance of a loss in educational status, parental knowledge of the school system and the perceived quality of a primary school’s advice are revealed to be significant predictors of this rejection.     

Teachers’ Perceptions of Teacher–Child Relationships: Links With Children’s Observed Interactions

Research Findings: The present study examined associations between children’s classroom interactions and teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationships during 1 year of preschool. Teachers (n = 223) reported their perceptions of closeness and conflict in their teacher–child relationships in the fall and spring. Children’s (n = 895) positive classroom interactions with teachers, peers, and learning activities and their negative interactions were observed midyear. Children’s positive interactions with teachers and learning activities predicted teachers’ perceptions of more closeness in the spring when we accounted for fall closeness. Children’s negative interactions predicted teachers’ perceptions of more relational conflict in the spring when we accounted for fall conflict. Children’s positive peer interactions did not predict spring closeness or conflict. Implications regarding teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationships and children’s independently observed classroom interactions are discussed. Practice or Policy: Findings provide empirical evidence for an aspect of Pianta, Hamre, and Stuhlman’s (2003) conceptual model of teacher–child relationships. Results indicate that children’s classroom interactions may be a factor related to how teachers report on their relationships with children across 1 year of preschool. Findings point to links between a range of children’s positive and negative interactions during typical instruction and teachers’ relationship perceptions.     

The introduction and refinement of the assessment of digitally recorded audio presentations

Abstract

This case study critically evaluates benefits and challenges of a form of assessment included in a final year undergraduate Religious Studies Open University module, which combines a written essay task with a digital audio recording of a short oral presentation. Based on the analysis of student and tutor feedback and sample assignments, this study critically examines how teaching and learning practices linked to this novel form of assessment have been iteratively developed in light of the project findings over a period of two years. It concludes that while this form of assessment poses a number of challenges, it can create valuable opportunities for the development of transferable twenty-first-century graduate employability skills as well as deep, effective learning experiences, particularly – though not exclusively – in distance learning settings.     

Spatial task solving on tablets: analysing mental and physical rotation processes of 12–13-year olds

Educational technology research and development - Spatial skill assessment and training are promising fields of application for tablets, as touch-based interaction can prime and support mental...     

Racial Identity and Psychological Symptoms Among African Americans Attending a Historically Black University

Previous research found racial identity predictive of psychological distress among African American students at predominantly White colleges. This study examined these relationships among 154 African American undergraduates attending a historically Black university. Racial identity was independent of psychological distress, suggesting that African American students' racial identity predicts psychological distress only in settings in which they are the minority.     

Polyelectrolyte multilayer surface functionalization of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) for reduction of yeast cell adhesion in microfluidic devices

Polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) based on the combinations poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)∕poly(acrylic acid) (PDADMAC∕PAA) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride)∕PAA (PAH∕PAA) were adsorbed on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and tested for nonspecific surface attachment of hydrophobic yeast cells using a parallel plate flow chamber. A custom-made graft copolymer containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) side chains (PAA-g-PEG) was additionally adsorbed on the PEMs as a terminal layer. A suitable PEM modification effectively decreased the adhesion strength of Saccharomyces cerevisiae DSM 2155 to the channel walls. However, a further decrease in initial cell attachment and adhesion strength was observed after adsorption of PAA-g-PEG copolymer onto PEMs from aqueous solution. The results demonstrate that a facile layer-by-layer surface functionalization from aqueous solutions can be successfully applied to reduce cell adhesion strength of S. cerevisiae by at least two orders of magnitude compared to bare PDMS. Therefore, this method is potentially suitable to promote planktonic growth inside capped PDMS-based microfluidic devices if the PEM deposition is completed by a dynamic flow-through process.     

The development of visual categorization based on high-level cues

This study investigated the development of rapid visual object categorization. N = 20 adults (Experiment 1), N = 21 five to six-year-old children (Experiment 2), and N = 140 four-, seven-, and eleven-month-old infants (Experiment 3; all predominantly White, 81 females, data collected in 2013–2020) participated in a fast periodic visual stimulation electroencephalographic task. Similar categorization of animal and furniture stimuli emerged in children and adults, with responses much reduced by phase-scrambling (R² = .34–.73). Categorization was observed from 4 months, but only at 11 months, high-level cues enhanced performance (R² = .11). Thus, first signs of rapid categorization were evident from 4 months, but similar categorization patterns as in adults were recorded only from 11 months on.     

Effective Early Literacy Skill Development for Young Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners: An Experimental Study of Two Methods

Ninety-four Spanish-speaking preschoolers ( M age = 54.51 months, SD  = 4.72; 43 girls) were randomly assigned to receive the High/Scope Curriculum (control n =  32) or the Literacy Express Preschool Curriculum in English-only ( n =  31) or initially in Spanish transitioning to English ( n =  31). Children's emergent literacy skills were assessed before and after the intervention in Spanish and English. Children in the English-only and transitional groups made significant gains in their emergent literacy skills in both Spanish and English compared to the control group, The English-only and transitional models were equally effective for English language outcomes, but for Spanish-language outcomes, only the transitional model was effective. The results suggest that a targeted early literacy intervention can improve Spanish-speaking preschoolers' preliteracy skills.     

Dynamic assessment and its potential for the assessment of reading competence

This article describes the approach of dynamic assessment, focusing on general approaches as well as specific constraints for the assessment of reading competence. Starting with an overview of the literature on dynamic assessments within educational research, the framework of dynamic assessment in which the current level of competence and (domain-specific) learning ability are assessed, is discussed with regards to its methodological and diagnostic implications.Reading competence is introduced as a domain in which interventions prove successful, and as a domain principally suitable for the assessment of learning ability. Furthermore, it is discussed whether elaborated feedback given within the procedure of reading competence assessment does uncover a learning ability which is specific to the domain of reading competence or not.