Measurement invariance and validity of a brief questionnaire on reading motivation in elementary students

In order to initiate more research on the role of reading motivation during the initial stages of learning to comprehend texts, we developed the Reading Motivation Questionnaire for Elementary Students (RMQ‐E). The sample comprised 1497 elementary students in Grades 1–3. By means of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, three factors were determined: Curiosity, involvement and competition. The three‐factor structure of the RMQ‐E was found to be invariant across grade levels (scalar invariance) and across female and male students (strict invariance). As was anticipated, students in higher grades and male students were lower in curiosity and involvement than students in lower grades and female students. Whereas competitive reading motivation did not differ across grade levels, it was higher for boys than for girls. Moreover, the contributions of involvement and competition to reading amount and reading competence were in accordance with the hypotheses. The predictive validity of curiosity, however, was not confirmed.     

Irritation und Phantasie

In processes of experience, we become intensely involved in a situation or–what is particularly important for academic learning–in the examination of a learning object. In this article we show in which ways meaningful, ubiquitous learning processes that embrace the individual can be understood against the background of a theory of learning based on experience. Experience constitutes itself within a process of crisis management which must not be misunderstood as a negativistic perspective. For we will demonstrate how crises and irritation can be transformed into constructive learning processes and how they function as “fruitful elements in educational processes.” However, key processual and structural elements of the process of experience, such as resistance, intuition, imagination, and fantasy, have in effect not yet been developed in learning theory, at least with respect to the academic learning process. It is precisely this gap that this essay acts on. Particularly in the case of fantasy inspired by irritation, its potential of being the focus and dynamic medium of intercommunication between the inner and outer world, and of the corresponding transitions between self and object, becomes evident. This assumption will be thematized with respect to its empirical-psychological and didactic relevance. Finally, using the concept of everyday fantasies it will be demonstrated that and how irritation and fantasy can be fruitfully combined with reflective processes.     

Technological innovations and sectoral change: Transformative capacity, adaptability, patterns of change: An analytical framework

Following up on recent debates about sectoral systems of innovation and production, the paper introduces a heuristic framework for analyzing and explaining distinct patterns of technology-based sectoral change. The concept is based on two interrelated influencing factors. The first is the sectoral-specific transformative capacity of new technologies themselves, that is, their substantial or incremental impact on socioeconomic and institutional change in a given sectoral system. The second is the sectoral adaptability of socioeconomic structures, institutions, and actors confronted with the opportunities presented by new technologies. The first factor—the sectoral transformative capacity of new technologies—enables us to identify the technology-based pressure to change and adjust the structural, institutional, and organizational architectures of the sectoral system. The second, complementary factor—sectoral adaptability—helps us to discern the distinct social patterns of anticipating and adopting this technology-based pressure. The specific interplay between the two influencing factors creates distinguishable modes of sectoral transformation, ranging from anticipative and smooth adjustments to reactive and crisis-ridden patterns of change. Even processes of radical sectoral change continue over longer periods of mismatch and are characterized by numerous and mostly gradual organizational, structural and institutional transformations.     

System competence modelling: Theoretical foundation and empirical validation of a model involving natural,social and human‐environment systems

Constituting a metacognitive strategy, system competence or systems thinking can only assume its assigned key function as a basic concept for the school subject of geography in Germany after a theoretical and empirical foundation has been established. A measurement instrument is required which is suitable both for supporting students and for the evaluation of methodical‐didactic measures. Such a tool is theoretically anchored in an empirically validated geography‐didactic and cognition‐psychological competence model, providing a differentiated representation of both the internal structure of a competency and the proficiency levels. The starting point of this foundation was the development of a normative‐theoretically derived model of geographic system competence. Its empirical validation was performed in different phases aimed at operationalising the competence model by means of test problems. In order to analyse the factor structure of the theoretical model, various item response models were estimated. The item levels of difficulty expected in the competence model were related to the empirical levels of difficulty and predicted by means of ordinary least squares regression to verify the model for proficiency levels. The two‐dimensional competence model – with the two dimensions ‘system organisation and behaviour’ and ‘system‐adequate intention to act’ – exhibits a better fit in reference to the model fit criteria than the one‐dimensional and three‐dimensional models. The correlations between the expected and empirical item difficulties are positive. Items that should be more difficult according to the competence model are actually shown to be more difficult. These findings suggest the reliability and validity of this new measurement instrument for diagnosing and promoting geographical system competence. It has to be implemented in practice as the next step.     

Equality and excellence. Hegemonic discourses of economisation within the German education system

Looking to conflicting constitutions of education systems through the terms equality and excellence, this paper examines the discursive formation of two political rationalities in the contemporary German education system. While early childhood and primary education discourses are dominated by a terminology of equality, tertiary education institutions such as universities are described using a terminology of excellence that has become a reference point for political interventions and institutional reform processes. Drawing from hegemony theory, governmentality studies and systems theory, this paper analyses the rules of justification referred to by such hegemonic discourses. It presents a policy discourse analysis of strategic, conceptional and institutional texts produced between 2003 and 2010. Through this analysis, the paper suggests that ‘mobilising’ and ‘optimising’ represent the common principles of equality and excellence as economic rationalities.     

Self-managed leadership: An alternative school governance structure

This paper explores how the current governance structure of American schools detracts from their ability to solve the educational problems that confront them. The paper argues that the current structure restricts the problem-solving capabilities of teachers. Teacher empowerment is a step in the right direction, but is frequently too narrowly defined and thus falls short of maximizing the utilization of potential. An alternative structure, self-managed leadership, is proposed. Implications for principal and teacher roles and behavior are examined. Implementation and potential issues and problems are discussed.     

Integration of Scientific Competence into Gross Anatomy Teaching Using Poster Presentations: Feasibility and Perception among Medical Students

Scientific competencies, as defined in the German competency framework, describe the ability to think independently and act scientifically which is a central component of medical education. This report describes integration of scientific competencies into anatomical teaching. Based on findings seen in two consecutive years of dissection courses, students worked on either a case report (n = 70) or an original research study (n = 6) in the format of a scientific poster while learning to use primary literature. Posters were evaluated by juror teams using standardized evaluation criteria. Student perception of the project was assessed by quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the faculty's course evaluation and an online-survey. Overall, students worked collaboratively and invested extra-time (median 3.0 hours) in poster creation. Primary literature was integrated in 90.8% of the posters. Overall poster quality was satisfactory (46.3 ± 8.5 [mean ± standard deviation] out of 72 points), but several insufficiencies were identified. Students integrated information gained from the donor's death certificate, post-mortem full-body computed tomography (CT) scan (22.4%), and histopathological workup (31.6%) in their case reports. Students responded positively about learning new scientific skills (median 4.0 on a six-point Likert scale), but free-text answers revealed that some students experienced the project as an extra burden in a demanding gross anatomy course. In summary, it was feasible to introduce students to scientific skills during the dissection course and to increase interest in science in approximately a third of the survey respondents. Further adjustments to ensure the posters' scientific quality might be necessary for the future.     

DNA, Inference, and Information

This paper assesses Sarkar's ([2003]) deflationary account ofgenetic information. On Sarkar's account, genes carry informationabout proteins because protein synthesis exemplifies what Sarkarcalls a ‘formal information system’. Furthermore,genes are informationally privileged over non-genetic factorsof development because only genes enter into arbitrary relationsto their products (in virtue of the alleged arbitrariness ofthe genetic code). I argue that the deflationary theory doesnot capture four essential features of the ordinary conceptof genetic information: intentionality, exclusiveness, asymmetry,and causal relevance. It is therefore further removed from whatis customarily meant by genetic information than Sarkar admits.Moreover, I argue that it is questionable whether the accountsucceeds in demonstrating that information is theoreticallyuseful in molecular genetics.

1. Introduction
2. Sarkar's InformationSystem
3. The Pre-theoretic Features of Genetic Information

   3.1Intentionality

   3.2 Exclusiveness

   3.3 Asymmetry

   3.4 Causalrelevance

4. Theoretical Usefulness
5. Conclusion

     

What characterizes children nominated as gifted by teachers? A closer consideration of working memory and intelligence

Teacher nominations are often used in school settings to identify gifted children. However, although high intelligence is part of almost all definitions of giftedness, prior research has consistently shown that not all children nominated as gifted by teachers have high intelligence. In order to further understand the characteristics of these students, we herein explore the role of another cognitive construct, namely working memory (WM). In a sample comprising N = 81 fourth graders, both WM and intelligence showed the same predictive value for characterizing teacher-nominated gifted children, pointing to the importance of the thus-far-unattended WM for characterizing these students.