Kulturelle und künstlerische Aktivitäten Studierender

What are the fields of cultural or artistic activities of higher education students in Germany? To what extent are they related to the studies? Do the parents have some influence on those cultural activities? Due to a lack of data, questions of this type could not be answered yet. Now this is possible based on a survey conducted for the national education report “Education in Germany 2012” whose specific thematic focus was arts education. A high share of nearly two thirds of all students report own cultural or arts acitvities. The rate of active students varies by field of studies and gender. Differences with respect to kind of degree or study period are rather low. While studying 25?% of students give up former cultural activities. Remarkably high is the effect of parental cultural activities that exceeds the impact of the parent’s level of education. The parent’s example also has an influence on the field of the student’s activities.     

Empathy and critical thinking: primary students solving local environmental problems through outdoor learning

The present study explores the outcomes of teaching empathy and critical thinking to solve environmental problems. This investigation was done throughout the duration of an environmental education course within a primary school located in central Chile. A community-based research methodology was used to understand the formation of empathy and critical thinking. The findings reveal a significant benefit in using empathy strategies to engage students regarding the thinking processes involved with solving environmental problems. Using these elements as teaching techniques for environmental education courses can be very helpful in reaching the aims of creating a sustainable citizenry.     

An unexpected large continental source of reactive bromine and chlorine with significant impact on wintertime air quality

Halogen atoms affect the budget of ozone and the fate of pollutants such as hydrocarbons and mercury. Yet their sources and significances in polluted continental regions are poorly understood. Here we report the observation of unprecedented levels (averaging at 60 parts per trillion) of bromine chloride (BrCl) at a mid-latitude site in North China during winter. Widespread coal burning in rural households and a photo-assisted process were the primary source of BrCl and other bromine gases. BrCl contributed about 55% of both bromine and chlorine atoms. The halogen atoms increased the abundance of ‘conventional’ tropospheric oxidants (OH, HO₂ and RO₂) by 26%–73%, and enhanced oxidation of hydrocarbon by nearly a factor of two and the net ozone production by 55%. Our study reveals the significant role of reactive halogen in winter atmospheric chemistry and the deterioration of air quality in continental regions where uncontrolled coal combustion is prevalent.     

The LINDSAY Virtual Human Project: An immersive approach to anatomy and physiology

The increasing number of digital anatomy teaching software packages challenges anatomy educators on how to best integrate these tools for teaching and learning. Realistically, there exists a complex interplay of design, implementation, politics, and learning needs in the development and integration of software for education, each of which may be further amplified by the somewhat siloed roles of programmers, faculty, and students. LINDSAY Presenter is newly designed software that permits faculty and students to model and manipulate three‐dimensional anatomy presentations and images, while including embedded quizzes, links, and text‐based content. A validated tool measuring impact across pedagogy, resources, interactivity, freedom, granularity, and factors outside the immediate learning event was used in conjunction with observation, field notes, and focus groups to critically examine the impact of attitudes and perceptions of all stakeholders in the early implementation of LINDSAY Presenter before and after a three‐week trial period with the software. Results demonstrate that external, personal media usage, along with students' awareness of the need to apply anatomy to clinical professional situations drove expectations of LINDSAY Presenter. A focus on the software over learning, which can be expected during initial orientation, surprisingly remained after three weeks of use. The time‐intensive investment required to create learning content is a detractor from user‐generated content and may reflect the consumption nature of other forms of digital learning. Early excitement over new technologies needs to be tempered with clear understanding of what learning is afforded, and how these constructively support future application and integration into professional practice. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

The early prevention of mathematics difficulty: its power and limitations

In this article, the authors consider the power and limitations of responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) for reducing the need for ongoing and intensive services for the segment of the school population traditionally identified as having a learning disability in mathematics. To assess the robustness of RTI, the authors describe four studies with strong demonstrations of efficacy, as they considered the percentage of students who failed to respond, the post-tutoring achievement gap between tutored and not-at-risk students, and the extent of transfer across components of the mathematics curriculum. The authors then discuss implications and additional research questions pertaining to mathematics intervention generally and within the context of RTI. They conclude with a proposal for an expanded conceptualization of RTI.     

On the potential for using immersive virtual environments to support laboratory experiment contextualisation

This paper explores the hypothesis that embedding a laboratory activity into a virtual environment can provide a richer experimental context and hence improve the understanding of the relationship between a theoretical model and the real world, particularly in terms of the model's strengths and weaknesses. While an identified learning objective of laboratories is to support the understanding of the relationship between models and reality, the paper illustrates that this understanding is hindered by inherently limited experiments and that there is scope for improvement. Despite the contextualisation of learning activities having been shown to support learning objectives in many fields, there is traditionally little contextual information presented during laboratory experimentation. The paper argues that the enhancing laboratory activity with contextual information affords an opportunity to improve students’ understanding of the relationship between the theoretical model and the experiment (which is effectively a proxy for the complex real world), thereby improving their understanding of the relationship between the model and reality. The authors propose that these improvements can be achieved by setting remote laboratories within context-rich virtual worlds.     

Contextual e-learning evaluation: A preliminary framework

The evaluation of solutions is a major unresolved issue for all those involved in e-learning. In this paper we illustrate the importance of context by means of a qualitative comparison of two e-learning prototype implementations--an action research case undertaken in conjunction with a major German insurance company; and a more experimental approach undertaken during an undergraduate university course, where a variety of learning strategies were tested. Despite the apparent difference of the two prototypes, we believe that evaluators from both sides can learn from one another's experiences--and that the differences lie in the ranking of the evaluation categories, rather than in their in/exclusion. We conclude that we can learn from other evaluation projects--not in terms of operational evaluation criteria, but in terms of understanding evaluation categories and their integrated nature within the e-learning organisation.     

The Performance of German Motion Pictures,Profits and Subsidies: Some Empirical Evidence

This paper pursues three objectives. First, it seeks to identify the determinants of performance of German motion pictures in terms of cinema admissions and producers’ rates of return. Second, against the background of heavy subsidization of the German film industry, it discusses two types of subsidy allocation: committee principle allocation and reference principle allocation. Third, the profitability of the industry is considered as the presumed economic non-viability of the industry constantly recurs in the public debate as an argument for subsidies.