What really matters: Regional versus individual determinants of the digital divide in Germany

This paper analyses the regional dimension of the German digital divide. It studies the determinants of home Internet use in Germany on the level of counties as well as on the level of individuals. Based on two large data sets, the analyses show that population density itself cannot explain regional differences in Internet use rates. The results rather indicate that it is the different composition of individual characteristics between rural and urban populations that accounts for the regional digital divide. At individual level, the findings underline the importance of network effects.     

WOMEN IN SWISS UNIVERSITIES

The following article is an abstract of the booklet “Frauen an der Hochschule” (Women in Higher Education), published by Mrs. Wiederkehr‐Benz in August 1980, Zurich.>

The article, sent to us by Mrs. Wiederkehr‐Benz, is meant to provide the reader with some complementary information concerning the situation of women in higher education in Switzerland, The article stresses the consequences of early socialization, and later role‐conflicts in performance oriented system of higher education. Similar lines of thought have also been expressed in the articles on the Netherlands and FRG.

Mrs. Wiederkehr‐Benz is a psychologist attached to the"Psyahologische Studentenberatungsstelle” (Centre for Student Counselling), of Zürich's institutions of higher education.     

The effects of feedback on achievement,interest and self-evaluation: the role of feedback’s perceived usefulness

The impact of two types of written feedback (process-oriented, grade-oriented) on changes in mathematics achievement, interest and self-evaluation was compared – with a particular focus on the mediating role of feedback’s perceived usefulness. Participants, 146 ninth graders (aged 14 to 17?years), were assigned to either a process-oriented or a grade-oriented experimental feedback condition. They worked on mathematics tests, received feedback on their test results and completed surveys measuring feedback’s perceived usefulness, interest and self-evaluation. Results of path analysis showed that process-oriented feedback was perceived as more useful than grade-oriented feedback and that feedback’s perceived usefulness had a positive effect on changes in achievement and interest. Consistent with this, process-oriented feedback had a greater positive indirect effect than grade-oriented feedback on changes in mathematics achievement and interest via its perceived usefulness. There were no such effects on changes in self-evaluation. Potential explanations for these findings, educational implications and possible directions for future research are discussed.