Culture and Technological Innovation: Impact of Institutional Trust and Appreciation of Nature on Attitudes towards Food Biotechnology in the USA and Germany

Using ‘general trust in institutions’ and ‘conceptsof nature’ as examples, the article analyzes the influenceof cultural factors on sense-making of food biotechnology andthe resulting public attitudes in the USA and Germany. Accordingto the hypotheses investigated, different levels of trust andappreciation of nature explain part of the well-known differencesin attitudes between both countries. The analysis of a cross-culturalsurvey of the general population shows that appreciation ofnature is a predictor of attitudes in both countries. The higherappreciation of nature in Germany partly explains why attitudestowards food biotechnology are more negative in Germany thanin the USA. The relationship between trust and attitudes ismore complex than expected, however. Institutional trust isa moderate predictor of attitudes towards food biotechnologyin the USA but not in Germany. To explain the varying effectivenessof trust in resolving innovation-related uncertainty we referto differences in issue framing in both countries and to thehigher degree of universalism and individualism in the USA.We conclude that the higher relevance of trust and the lowerappreciation of nature make the U.S. culture more apt to assimilatetechnical innovations than the German culture.     

Intelligence and Neurophysiological Markers of Error Monitoring Relate to Children's Intellectual Humility

This study explored developmental and individual differences in intellectual humility (IH) among 127 children ages 6–8. IH was operationalized as children's assessment of their knowledge and willingness to delegate scientific questions to experts. Children completed measures of IH, theory of mind, motivational framework, and intelligence, and neurophysiological measures indexing early (error-related negativity [ERN]) and later (error positivity [Pe]) error-monitoring processes related to cognitive control. Children's knowledge self-assessment correlated with question delegation, and older children showed greater IH than younger children. Greater IH was associated with higher intelligence but not with social cognition or motivational framework. ERN related to self-assessment, whereas Pe related to question delegation. Thus, children show separable epistemic and social components of IH that may differentially contribute to metacognition and learning.     

Error Orientation and Reflection at Work

Reflection on events at work, including errors is often as a means to learn effectively through work. In a cross-sectional field study in the banking sector, we investigated attitudes towards workplace errors (i.e. error orientation) as predictors of reflective activity. We assumed the organisational climate for psychological safety to have a mediating effect. The study participants were 84 client advisors from the retail banking departments in branches of a German bank. The client advisors’ were being affected by a range of changes in their workplaces at the time of the data collection. This situation afforded these workers opportunity for learning but also involved the risk of error by these staff. Regression analyses identified that error competence and learning from errors were significant predictors of reflection. The results confirmed the mediating role of psychological safety on the association between attitudes towards errors and reflective working behaviour.     

Characterizing the mechanical parameters of forward and backward falls as experienced in snowboarding

Wrist injuries are frequently observed after falls in snowboarding. In this study, laboratory experiments mimicking forward and backward falls were analysed. In six different falling scenarios, participants self-initiated falls from a static initial position. Eighteen volunteers conducted a total of 741 trials. Measurements were taken for basic parameters describing the kinematics as well as the biomechanical loading during impact, such as impact force, impact acceleration, and velocity. The effective mass affecting the wrist in a fall also was determined. The elbow angle at impact showed a more extended arm in backward falls compared to forward falls, whereas the wrist angle at impact remained similar in forward and backward falls. The study results suggest a new performance standard for wrist guards, indicating the following parameters to characterize an impact: an effective mass acting on one wrist of 3–5 kg, an impact angle of 75° of the forearm relative to the ground, and an impact velocity of 3 m/s.     

Predicting teachers’ use of digital learning materials: combining self-determination theory and the integrative model of behaviour prediction

In this article, we report on a study that investigated the motivational (e.g. intrinsic motivation) and dispositional variables (e.g. attitudes) that determine teachers’ intention to use or not to use digital learning materials (DLMs). To understand the direct and indirect relationships between these variables, we replicated a study in which self-determination theory (SDT) and the theory of planned behaviour/integrated model of behaviour prediction (IMBP) are combined and a distinction was made between global level psychological needs, and contextual level as well as situational level motivational constructs. Using a sample of 1273 teachers, our preliminary findings support the findings of the previous study. The combined model potentially provides us with a more comprehensive explanation of teachers’ volitional behaviour regarding their use of DLMs in their pedagogical practices than would be possible on the basis of SDT or IMBP alone.     

Factors promoting and hindering data-based decision making in schools

Although data-based decision making can lead to improved student achievement, data are often not used effectively in schools. This paper therefore focuses on conditions for effective data use. We studied the extent to which school organizational characteristics, data characteristics, user characteristics, and collaboration influenced data use for (1) accountability, (2) school development, and (3) instruction. The results of our hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis from this large-scale quantitative study (N = 1073) show that, on average, teachers appear to score relatively high on data use for accountability and school development. Regarding instruction, however, several data sources are used only on a yearly basis. Among the factors investigated, school organizational characteristics and collaboration have the greatest influence on teachers’ data use in schools.     

Zwischen Berufstreue und Berufswechsel

In einer retrospektiven Befragung von vier Kohorten (Patentierung 1963–65, 1973–75, 1983–85 und 1993–95) ehemaliger Absolventinnen und Absolventen der seminaristischen Primarlehrerausbildung im Kanton Bern (Schweiz) wurden Daten zur beruflichen Mobilit?t und aktuellen Berufst?tigkeit erhoben. Auf der Basis von Besch?ftigungsgrad und T?tigkeitschronologie konnten fünf Karrieretypen gebildet werden — Nicht-Einstieg, Verbleib, Reduktion, Ausstieg und Wiedereinstieg —, die bezüglich beruflicher Beanspruchung, motivationaler Haltung und Berufszufriedenheit beschrieben wurden. Mehr als die H?lfte der Befragten arbeitet aktuell nicht mehr als Primarlehrer, jedoch haben nur wenige das Berufsfeld Bildung und Schule verlassen. Die Ergebnisse zeichnen ein weit günstigeres Bild der beruflichen Karriere von Lehrkr?ften als die bisherige Forschung, die zumeist auf „überlebende“ im Lehrerberuf beschr?nkt ist. Auff?llig ist die starke Determination der Karriere von weiblichen Lehrkr?ften durch die traditionelle Geschlechtsrollenteilung, und zwar in allen untersuchten Kohorten.