Evaluating instructional software: A review and critique of current methods

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the key features of various methods that software evaluation organizations employ to evaluate instructional software. Who conducts the evaluations, the processes they use for doing so, and the software features they evaluate are among the topics that are discussed. Some of the problems associated with many of the evaluation methods are also described, as is an alternate method designed to overcome some of the identified problems. Special emphasis is placed on the role of students as participants in the evaluation process, and the benefits that may be derived from placing students in that role.     

Overshadowing of environmental cues by an odor in toxicosis-based conditioning in rats

It was demonstrated that an odor presented to rats in a distinctive environment can interfere with toxicosis-based conditioning to the environmental cues. Rats poisoned when they drank unflavored water in a black compartment odorized with oil of eucalyptus exhibited no suppression of water intake when they were subsequently tested in the same compartment minus the odor. In contrast, rats poisoned in the same compartment minus the odor later exhibited reduced water consumption in that environment. Oil of eucalyptus proved to be as effective an overshadowing stimulus as a taste cue (a 1.5% NaCl solution).     

Motorische Basiskompetenzen in der Grundschule

For the establishment of empirical educational research in sport, valid survey instruments are necessary for assessing the disposition to motor performance. One approach is the assessment of basic motor competence, which is theoretically justified for competence as a central educational target of physical education and defines the scope of motor abilities and skills.     

Problem solving in the rat: Stay vs. shift solutions on the three-table task

Two experiments were conducted to determine the conditions under which a shift problem vs. a stay problem would be easier for animals tested on Maier’s three-table task. When animals were given a prior exploratory experience and a partial feeding during the feeding experience, the stay problem was easier. With a prior exploratory experience and a complete feeding experience, the shift solution was easier. In the absence of prior exploration, rats cannot solve either the stay or shift problem, regardless of the amount of feeding during the feeding experience.     

Film als Medium religiöser Bildung

Zusammenfassung Die Praktische Theologie protestantischer Pr?gung beginnt, den Film als Medium religi?ser Bildung zu entdecken. Diese Entwicklung steht im Kontext einer generellen kulturhermeneutischen Orientierung der Praktischen Theologie, die die Auseinandersetzung mit religi?sen Ph?nomenen auch au?erhalb des traditionellen Christentums vorantreibt. In diesem Zusammenhang ist deutlich geworden, dass die Erz?hlungen der audiovisuellen Medienkultur und insbesondere der Kinofilm wichtige Sinndeutungsfunktionen von der traditionellen Religionskultur des Christentums übernommen haben und damit auch für die Prozesse religi?ser Bildung relevant geworden sind. Der Film ist dabei besonders im Jugendalter von Bedeutung, insbesondere der Spielfilm fungiert als wichtige Ressource für die Sinn- und Wertorientierung Jugendlicher. Dass und wie religi?se Sinnmuster in Filmen von den Rezipienten auch aufgegriffen werden, zeigen erste Ergebnisse eines Forschungsprojektes am Berliner Seminar für Praktische Theologie am Beispiel des Films „Cast Away — Verschollen“ (USA 2001). Vor diesem Hintergrund und auf der Basis eines an überlegungen von Volker Ladenthin anknüpfenden Verst?ndnisses von Bildung als Selbstbildung wird die Auseinandersetzung mit Kinofilmen als wichtige Aufgabe eines Religionsunterrichtes eingefordert, der auf der H?he seiner Zeit sein will.

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Summary Film as a Medium of Religious Education Protestant Practical Theology has begun to discover films as a medium of religious education. This development emerges within the context of a general cultural hermeneutic orientation of Practical Theology which encourages the treatment of religious phenomena outside of Christianity’s traditional fora. It is now recognized that stories in the audio-visual media culture and particularly cinematic films have acquired a significant function for making-sense of the world — traditionally the role of religious culture — and have, therefore, become relevant for processes of religious education. Films are particularly important for youth culture and especially movies act as significant resources for young people’s understanding and value-orientation. First results of a research project at the Berlin Institute for Practical Theology demonstrate, using the example of “Cast Away” (USA 2001), that religious patterns of meaning in films are adopted by recipients and how this occurs. Based on this research and a concept of education as self-education pace Volker Ladenthin, a critical treatment of movies is argued to be an important task for religious courses, which strive to be contemporary.

     

Two factors of expertise? Excellence and professionalism of environmental experts

The aim of this article is to empirically clarify factors and conditions of expertise. In addition to the core concept of expertise as excellence, a second factor needs to be taken into account: professionalism, or professional engagement. This hypothesis was tested and confirmed using data obtained from a survey on Swiss environmental professionals (n = 3514). The empirical test was based on factor analyses (Study 1) and a structural equation model (Study 2). The expertise scale consisted of nine items for self‐assessed perceived expertise amongst professional peers (α = .78). Excellence turned out to be a logarithmic function of years of practice (Study 3). Professionalism prevailed in domains where standards for best practices still needed to be established (Study 4).     

Disaster,civil society and education in China: A case study of an independent non-government organization working in the aftermath of the Wenchuan earthquake

In May 2008 nearly 90,000 people died in the most powerful earthquake in modern Chinese history. Many were students killed in substandard schools, creating a sensitive disaster zone inside a nation whose civil society organizations are beginning to flourish. This paper examines the education earthquake relief program of an international NGO, and the institutional environment the organization worked in. We argue that the restricted environment prevented implementation of high-impact programs in the most deprived places, but that the NGO needed to use the institutional opening created by the earthquake to establish a presence as an agent in China's development.     

Ascent into darkness: German Himalaya expeditions and the National Socialist quest for high-altitude flight

This paper, via a detailed investigation of the lives and careers of scientists Dr Hans Hartmann, Dr Ulrich Cameron Luft, and Dr Bruno Balke, explores the relationship between high-altitude physiology research conducted on several 1930s German Himalaya expeditions and the efforts of the (National Socialist) German Luftwaffe at achieving high-altitude flight.