Effectiveness of a “Grass Roots” Statewide Enrichment Program for Gifted Elementary School Children

Enrichment programs provide learning opportunities for a broader or deeper examination of curricular or extracurricular topics and are popular in gifted education. Herein, we investigated the effectiveness of a statewide extracurricular enrichment program for gifted elementary school children in Germany. The program implemented a ”grass roots“ strategy by which local units developed and offered the enrichment courses, which spanned a broad array of topics. The courses targeted different outcomes, including students' cognitive abilities, school achievement, interests, creativity, self-control, self-concept, and social competencies. We compared third-grade students attending the enrichment program (N =423) with nonattending third-grade students (N = 2,328) by means of a propensity score analysis. Specifically, we controlled for potential selection effects and estimated the average causal effect of the enrichment program for children attending the program. The findings revealed positive program effects on academic achievement but not on the other targeted outcomes.     

Towards Eco-reflexive Science Education

The modern world can be described as a globalized risk society. It is characterized by increasing complexity, unpredictable consequences of techno-scientific innovations and production, and its environmental consequences. Therefore, chemistry, just like many other knowledge areas, is in an ongoing process of environmentalization. For example, green chemistry has emerged as a new chemical metadiscipline and movement. The philosophy of green chemistry was originally based on a suggestion of twelve principles for environment-friendly chemistry research and production. The present article problematizes limitations in green chemistry when it comes to education. It argues that the philosophy of green chemistry in the context of education needs to be extended with socio-critical perspectives to form educated professionals and citizens who are able to understand the complexity of the world, to make value-based decisions, and to become able to engage more thoroughly in democratic decision-making on sustainability issues. Different versions of sustainability-oriented science/chemistry education are discussed to sharpen a focus on the most complex type, which is Bildung-oriented, focusing emancipation and leading to eco-reflexive education. The term eco-reflexive is used for a problematizing stance towards the modern risk society, an understanding of the complexity of life and society and their interactions, and a responsibility for individual and collective actions towards socio-ecojustice and global sustainability. The philosophical foundation and characteristics of eco-reflexive science education are sketched on in the article.     

A case study of beginning science teachers’ subject matter (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teaching chemical reaction in Turkey

This paper describes a case study focusing on the subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and beliefs about science teaching of student teachers in Turkey at the start of their university education. The topic of interest was that of teaching chemical reactions in secondary chemistry education. A written test was developed which used the research literature on potential student misconceptions with regard to different aspects of chemical reactions. Thirty beginning science student teachers were tested, with an additional eight interviews from the student teachers in the same sample. The interviews focused on student teachers’ views about how to best teach chemical reactions in lower secondary chemistry classes. The results revealed deficits in the subject matter knowledge of the student teachers. It also became obvious that the teachers in this sample held very traditional and teacher-centred beliefs when it came to chemistry teaching at the secondary level. Their teaching attitudes were geared mainly towards the acquisition of facts by pupils, and often ignored the development of process-oriented skills. Implications for science teacher education are discussed.     

Peer assessment as collaborative learning: A cognitive perspective

Peer assessment is an important component of a more participatory culture of learning. The articles collected in this special issue constitute a representative kaleidoscope of current research on peer assessment. In this commentary, we argue that research on peer assessment is currently in a stage of adolescence, grappling with the developmental tasks of identity formation and affiliation. Identity formation may be achieved by efforts towards a shared terminology and joint theory building, whereas affiliation may be reached by a more systematic consideration of research in related fields. To reach identity formation and affiliation, preliminary ideas for a cognitively toned, process-related model of peer assessment and links to related research fields, especially to research on collaborative learning, are presented.     

European youth policy in multicultural societies

Summary Even though the EC-Treaty gives the impression of being unaware of multicultural societies, its regulations can still be interpreted in such a way as to facilitate and even literally call for a European policy giving due consideration to the phase of adolescence in multicultural societies. Original language: English Ingo Richter (Germany) Graduated from universities in Hamburg and Paris. First employed at the Max Planck Institute for Educational Research, then as professor of political and administrative law at the Free University of Berlin, and as professor of public law at Hamburg University. Teaching assignments in France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Editor of the journalRecht der Jugend und des Bildungswesens [Rights of youth and education] since 1977. Became director of the German Youth Institute in Munich in 1993. Since 1966, honorary professor at University of Tübingen. His most recent publications co-authored with Gunnar Folke-Schuppert are:Casebook Verwaltungsrecht [Administrative law casebook] (1995);Casebook Verfassungsrecht [Constitutional law casebook] (1996).     

Ein Fuzzy-Rechercheassistent für bibliographische Datenbanken

Dadurch, dass Literaturnachweise und Publikationen zunehmend in elektronischer und auch vernetzter Form angeboten werden, haben Anzahl und Größe der von wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken angebotenen Datenbanken erheblich zugenommen. In den verbreiteten Metasuchen über mehrere Datenbanken sind Suchen mit natürlichsprachlichen Suchbegriffen heute der kleinste gemeinsame Nenner. Sie führen aber wegen der bekannten Mängel des booleschen Retrievals häufig zu Treffermengen, die entweder zu speziell oder zu lang und zu unspezifisch sind. Die Technische Fakultät der Universität Bielefeld und die Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld haben einen auf Fuzzy- Suchlogik basierenden Rechercheassistenten entwickelt, der die Suchanfragen der Benutzer in Teilsuchfragen an die externen Datenbanken zerlegt und die erhaltenen Teilsuchergebnisse in einer nach Relevanz sortierten Liste kumuliert. Es ist möglich, Suchbegriffe zu gewichten und durch Fuzzy- Aggregationsoperatoren zu verknüpfen, die auf der Benutzeroberfläche durch natürlichsprachliche Fuzzy-Quantoren wie möglichst viele, einige u.a. repräsentiert werden. Die Suchparameter werden in der intuitiv bedienbaren einfachen Suche automatisch nach heuristischen Regeln ermittelt, können in einer erweiterten Suche aber auch explizit eingestellt werden. Die Suchmöglichkeiten werden durch Suchen nach ähnlichen Dokumenten und Vorschlagslisten für weitere Suchbegriffe ergänzt. Wir beschreiben die Ausgangssituation, den theoretischen Ansatz, die Benutzeroberfläche und berichten über eine Evalution zur Benutzung und einen Vergleichstest betreffend die Effizienz der Retrievalmethodik.     

Causes,prevention, and interventions regarding classroom disruptions in digital teaching: A systematic review

Education and Information Technologies - Digitization and the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic are accelerating the use of digital tools in teaching. Therefore, this systematic literature review offers an...     

A Comparative Analysis of Higher Education Ranking Systems in Europe

Tertiary Education and Management - According to Altbach in 2004, “everyone wants a world-class university”. Corresponding developmental efforts undertaken by higher education...