Archives,libraries, museums and the spell of ubiquitous knowledge

This paper describes the convergence of libraries, archives, and museums in Germany from traditional brick-and-mortar institutions to a digital memory institution on the Internet. An implementation of such a digital memory institution is BAM—the joint portal of archives, libraries, and museums in Germany. BAM has the potential to serve as a single point of access to existing, but separate offerings of the several branches of cultural heritage, e.g. union catalogs, and a great number of separate digitization projects offering their content on the German Web. BAM can make an important contribution to the efforts of both the German governments (federal and states) and the European Union, which are in the process of establishing portals to cultural content on the Internet. The article gives an outline of the current undertakings and illustrates how the striving for ubiquitous knowledge delivered by Internet portals relates to the scientific tradition of documentation in Europe.     

Algorithmically generated subject categories based on citation relations: An empirical micro study using papers on overall water splitting

One important reason for the use of field categorization in bibliometrics is the necessity to make citation impact of papers published in different scientific fields comparable with each other. Raw citations are normalized by using field-categorization schemes to achieve comparable citation scores. There are different approaches to field categorization available. They can be broadly classified as intellectual and algorithmic approaches. A paper-based algorithmically constructed classification system (ACCS) was proposed which is based on citation relations. Using a few ACCS field-specific clusters, we investigate the discriminatory power of the ACCS. The micro study focusses on the topic ‘overall water splitting’ and related topics. The first part of the study investigates intellectually whether the ACCS is able to identify papers on overall water splitting reliably and validly. Next, we compare the ACCS with (1) a paper-based intellectual (INSPEC) classification and (2) a journal-based intellectual classification (Web of Science, WoS, subject categories). In the last part of our case study, we compare the average number of citations in selected ACCS clusters (on overall water splitting and related topics) with the average citation count of publications in WoS subject categories related to these clusters. The results of this micro study question the discriminatory power of the ACCS. We recommend larger follow-up studies on broad datasets.     

A Role for Epistemic Insight in Attitude and Belief Change? Lessons from a Cross-curricular Course on Evolution and Creation

This paper presents findings from a quasi-experimental study evaluating future teachers’ attitudes and beliefs in response to a cross-curricular university course on evolution and creation bridging biological and Christian theological perspectives. Based on previous findings, we hypothesized that a course providing learning opportunities for epistemic insight within this multidisciplinary arena might have effects on attitudes and beliefs relevant to the field. Hence, the main research question was the following: To what extent do student teachers’ attitudes and beliefs change by attending a cross-curricular course on evolution and creation intended to develop student teachers’ epistemic insight into the nature of science and into the relationship between science and theology? The answer from this quasi-experimental evaluation study (pre–post-design; test group n =?26, control group n =?24) is as follows: It depends upon the variable investigated! Pre–post-analysis using a repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the cross-curricular course integrating epistemic insight induced changes in creationist beliefs, in students’ perception of conflict, and in acceptance of evolution. In contrast, there was no effect on attitudes toward evolutionary theory, on attitudes toward the Biblical accounts of creation, or on scientistic beliefs. However, when student responses were analyzed individually, case-based evidence for belief change in students with scientistic positions emerged. Among the reasons for those different effects, we discuss conceptual differences between attitude and acceptance, features of the student teacher sample, and the particular content of the course explicitly addressing creationism but not scientism. In conclusion, the paper corroborates the role of epistemic insight in the multidisciplinary field of evolution and creation and provides initial evidence that epistemic insight possesses a particular potential concerning positions at both ends of the spectrum.     

Bachelor/Master in der Lehrerbildung — Potential für Innovation oder ihre Verhinderung?

Zusammenfassung Inzwischen liegen verschiedene aktuelle Modelle zu Bachelor/Master in der Lehrerbildung vor. Um vergleichend ihr Innovationspotential abzusch?tzen, lassen sich historische und berufssoziologische Vergewisserungen heranziehen, und es ist fruchtbar, eingangs professionstheoretische Kriterien für eine Reform der Lehrerbildung zu benennen. Befragt werden die Modelle anschlie?end nach ihrem Beitrag zur St?rkung des p?dagogischen Professionsbezuges, zur St?rkung reflexiver Verwissenschaftlichung und zur Restrukturierung des Curriculums. Die Sichtung der Modelle macht deutlich, dass die mit einer Restrukturierung der Lehrerbildung verbundenen Chancen durch die bis jetzt vorgelegten Konzepte noch unzureichend genutzt werden.

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Summary Bachelor and Master Qualifications in Teacher Training — Potential or hindrance for innovation? Over the past few years a series of different models for two-phased teacher training programs leading to the qualifications Bachelor and Master have developed in German higher education. Historical considerations and sociological concepts on work can be drawn on to analyze the comparative advantages of the different models. This paper also refers to theories of professionalism for criteria by which to evaluate a reform of teacher training. Finally, the models’ contribution to the strengthening of pedagogic relevance to the professional needs of students, to the strengthening of their reflexivity and to the restructuring of the training curriculum will be assessed. A look at the models shows clear enough that the chances for innovation, which emerge from restructuring efforts, have not been exploited sufficiently in the current concepts.

     

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