Higher Education Supported by New Technologies at the Technical University of Dresden—Problems and Initiatives

This article summarizes the technical efforts and scientific experience that have been recognized as essential for the introduction of multimedia technologies for innovative teaching and learning at the Technical University of Dresden. Beginning with conventional standards, the most important media types are discussed. Important criteria for the development of multimedia tools are investigated. Finally, the first results of a pilot project of teleteaching are reported. This article emphasizes that new didactic and psychological studies are of the same level of importance for learning success as is technological development. Therefore, the strategy envisaged does not aim at developing the virtual university in its purest form but at the enrichment of the contemporary university by innovative elements that preserve the living contact between teachers and students.     

Supporting collaboration with technology: does shared cognition lead to co-regulation in medicine?

The theoretical distinctions between metacognition, self-regulation and self-regulated learning are often blurred which makes the definition of co-regulation in group learning situations even more difficult. We have started to explore co-regulation in the context of decision making in simulated emergencies where medical teams work together to manage patient cases. Our earlier work has described the relationship between collaborative decision-making in this context as well as discourse patterns that emerge in a simulated medical emergency (Lu & Lajoie, 2008). This paper examines the interactions that occur during this simulation that reflect the relationship between co-regulation and medical decision-making. There are two collaborative learning conditions, a traditional situation where the instructor facilitates collaboration by using a whiteboard to document the group’s construction of a medical argument (the traditional whiteboard condition, TW). The second condition uses technology to facilitate the collaboration, where individuals use laptops and an interactive whiteboard (IW) where they can interact with the problem list as it is being created. Our assumption was that the IW would facilitate communication beyond the teacher–student, to include student–student both within and between the various subgroups. The IW group could document their medical arguments by using a structured template for constructing, annotating and sharing arguments. We found that participants in the IW condition differed from the TW condition in that they engaged in more adaptive decision-making behavior early on in the intervention. Similar overall levels of metacognitive activity were found in both conditions but the pattern and timing of metacognitive categories varied. Specifically, the IW group engaged in more planning and orienting than the TW group at the outset of the problem. Early engagement and co-regulation occurred in the IW group which led to shared understandings and subsequently to effective patient management in latter sessions (11.5% vs. 3.6% in TW). Technology supported greater metacognitive activity overall (44% vs 29% in the non supported group). Furthermore, technology facilitated greater planning (23% vs. 10%) and orienting (10% vs 1%) early in the medical problem solving activity. We refer to specific indicators in the discourse that help operationalize the concept of co-regulation.     

The Structure of Preschoolers’ Emotion Knowledge: Model Equivalence and Validity Using a Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Research Findings: A theory-based 2-factor structure of preschoolers’ emotion knowledge (i.e., recognition of emotional expression and understanding of emotion-eliciting situations) was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Compared to 1- and 3-factor models, the 2-factor model showed a better fit to the data. The model was found to be equivalent for gender, race, age, and socioeconomic risk. Theory and the high correlation between the 2 latent factors suggested a hierarchical nature of development, in which a higher level of emotion knowledge is built upon a lower level. In our validity model, we found significant paths from the recognition to the situation factor and from the situation factor to teachers’ reports of preschoolers’ learning behaviors and social competence. Results provide further evidence of the significant role emotion plays in preschoolers’ school readiness. Practice or Policy: Early childhood educators can benefit from knowing that recognition of expressions and understanding of emotion-eliciting situations are appropriately teachable in this age range and can focus such teaching upon negative emotions and those that may vary across individuals. Furthermore, relations between these aspects of emotion knowledge and school readiness add to accumulating evidence that early childhood programming focusing upon emotion knowledge has multiple benefits.     

Neue Reitsportmotive jenseits des klassischen Turniersports

While the traditional equestrian disciplines of dressage and show jumping are losing members, other equestrian sports have become established in Germany and are enjoying increasing popularity. This empirical study examines the background behind this trend. A total of 1,814 horse riders were asked about their motives for riding. By applying factor and cluster analysis, a typology of riders was developed in order to reveal differences in motives between these groups. The performance-orientated riders are more represented in the classic equestrian disciplines, while the newer equestrian disciplines are mostly dominated by motives of pleasure. Overall, there is a clear trend towards more relaxation, recreation and self-fulfillment in equestrian sports. The desire to achieve success and to compete with others in one’s leisure time only remains important for a small proportion of riders. Therefore, riding clubs must try to balance the demands of performance-oriented and leisure riders and apply target group marketing to expand and to secure their member base.     

Jugend und Kultur – Zwischen Eminem,Picasso und Xavier Naidoo …

The Youth Culture Barometer provides recent data on cultural participation of the 14- to 24-year-olds in Germany. The focus is on cultural and artistic interests, the visit of cultural events, attitudes and desires for cultural visits, as well as cultural biography profiles in this age group. Thereby, culture is conceptualized as an active engagement in the “arts”.With the 2nd Youth Culture Barometer, that is now available, it is possible to have a look at comparisons over time, which reveal that age specific role models break up increasingly and that youthful interests can be classified as rather generation-specific influenced by current social underlying circumstances, like an alternated media- and leisure praxis. In addition, the milieu-specific factor—and in this case education—appears to be particularly imprinting.     

Examining the Construct Validity of Enacted Support: A Multitrait–Multimethod Analysis of Three Perspectives for Judging Immediacy and Listening Behaviors

Scholars of supportive communication are primarily concerned with how variations in the quality of enacted support affect individual and relational health and well-being. But who gets to determine what counts as enacted support? There is a large degree of operational heterogeneity for what gets called enacted support, but little attention has been afforded to the issue of whether these assessments are substitutable. In two studies we use self-reports, conversational partner-reports, and third-party ratings of two quintessential behavioral support indicators, namely, listening and immediacy. Using a multitrait–multimethod (MTMM) design, Study 1 found (1) little association between the enacted support assessments and (2) a high degree of common method variance. A second study found moderate-to-high degrees of effective reliability (i.e., consistency of judgments within a set of judgments, or mean judgments) for enacted support evaluations from the perspective of unacquainted and untrained third-party judges. In general, our data provide cautionary evidence that when scholars examine evaluations of enacted support, perspective matters and might ultimately contribute differently to well-being and health.     

Student Preschool Teachers’ Experiences of Science and Its Role in Preschool

This article reports on student preschool teachers’ views of science and its role in preschool. Three cohorts of students have been given a written questionnaire with open-ended questions before and after a one-semester course including science (specifically Chemistry and Physics) in a 3.5-year preschool teacher programme in Sweden. The science content in the course is integrated with other subjects and lecturers with different subject backgrounds work together in forming an integrated and meaningful context. A phenomenographic qualitative analysis of responses to the questionnaires before and after the course is presented. The analysis indicated that many students equate science with biology (nature studies), and several did not adjust this view even though chemistry and physics were explicitly taught. Surprisingly few students were negative towards science, none after the course. However, several remain hesitantly positive. Most students described ‘what’ and ‘how’ perspectives of science, but few developed a synthesised view of science activities. However, there was a shift towards a more integrated perspective after the course. Also the quality and eloquence of the students’ responses were noticeably improved in responses given after the course. Prior expectations and implications of the results for preschool teacher education are discussed.