Bewegungsberatung durch Experten aus der Sportwissenschaft. Eine Public Health Strategie zur Erhöhung körperlicher Aktivität bei speziellen Zielgruppen

Although sports clubs, associations and health insurance companies offer a wide range of exercise programs, several target groups, such as groups with low socioeconomic status struggle to overcome barriers for participation. The aim of this paper is to show the need for, as well as the prospects of structured physical activity counselling for specific target groups provided by exercise specialists. This successful approach to promote physical activity is described detailed in the group of long-term unemployed persons over 50 years in a job centre setting. A close cooperation with established local exercise programs is intended. Deficits and requirements of physical activity counselling in primary health care settings are adopted and transferred into the theory-based public health strategy. This approach has the potential to create a new field of work for exercise and health professionals in the field of primary prevention.     

Developing an approach for teaching and learning about Lewis structures

ABSTRACT

This study explores first-year university students’ reasoning as they learn to draw Lewis structures. We also present a theoretical account of the formal procedure commonly taught for drawing these structures. Students’ discussions during problem-solving activities were video recorded and detailed analyses of the discussions were made through the use of practical epistemology analysis (PEA). Our results show that the formal procedure was central for drawing Lewis structures, but its use varied depending on situational aspects. Commonly, the use of individual steps of the formal procedure was contingent on experiences of chemical structures, and other information such as the characteristics of the problem given. The analysis revealed a number of patterns in how students constructed, checked and modified the structure in relation to the formal procedure and the situational aspects. We suggest that explicitly teaching the formal procedure as a process of constructing, checking and modifying might be helpful for students learning to draw Lewis structures. By doing so, the students may learn to check the accuracy of the generated structure not only in relation to the octet rule and formal charge, but also to other experiences that are not explicitly included in the formal procedure.     

Pedagogical content beliefs about reading instruction and their relation to gains in student achievement

Teachers’ pedagogical content beliefs about reading instruction are likely to predict progress in student achievement. Thus, in this study, 15 pre-service teachers gave reading promotion to low-performing sixth- and seventh-graders over a time period of 6 months. The pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content beliefs were then related to their students’ reading achievement gains. In contradiction to previous findings, the results demonstrate direct-transmissive beliefs to be positively related with student achievement. Finally, whether there is an influence of practical teaching experiences on the development of pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content beliefs was examined. For that reason, the belief development during the 6-month period was compared between pre-service teachers with and without teaching experience. Results show teaching pre-service teachers’ beliefs to have developed away from constructivistic positions and toward a direct-transmissive direction. The beliefs of student teachers without teaching experience, on the contrary, tended to slightly develop in diametrically opposed directions. Implications of the results are discussed.     

A new device for measuring ski running surface force and pressure profiles

The pressure/force acting between the running surface of a ski and the snow may indirectly change glide friction. Thus, measuring the pressure/force distribution may be important for a deeper understanding of glide in skiing. The present aim was to construct a device that allowed the pressure/force underneath the ski running surface (SRS) to be recorded. Pressure sensors were attached on top of a platform. Sheets of different materials were used to improve the interaction between the SRS and the sensors. Possible functions of the device are demonstrated in three applications that emphasized comparison of force distribution underneath skis selected for similarity, force distribution under both skis and a single ski as well as backward weight distribution. The results show that the device with the pressure sensors mapped pressure/force distribution underneath the skis in the applications presented, and the system can thus be a useful tool for further optimizing e.g., ski designs.     

On the Educative Reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit

This paper tries to make sense of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit in terms of a dialectical concept of education. The Phenomenology may be read not only as a philosophical work but also as a literary work which brings the German idealist idea of Bildung, or formation, to its apotheosis. The interpretation is limited to the Preface of the book. By way of literary theory I try to make good the claim that the Phenomenology naturally gives itself to an educative interpretation. After having pointed to some of Hegel's possible literary inspirations, I go on to suggest that contradictory experiences of Bildung are resolved within a background of communicative knowledge. The roles of the different dramatis personae in the Phenomenology are determined in the setting of philosophy as the way of presentation.     

The Uses of Example in Moral Education

This article raises the problem of how to bridge the gap between moral thinking and moral life. As mediating terms between the two realms it picks out rules, skills and examples. After an introductory critique of rationalism and contextualism in ethics, the article makes a case for the uses of example in moral education in a wide sense, suggesting a poetics of ethics.     

Transferable competences of young people with a high dropout risk in vocational training in Germany

This paper examines whether the subjective beliefs on their competences of 409 trainees in machinery, sales, and logistics constitute a reliable and valid way to measure transferable competences. The analysis of results attributes satisfactory to good reliability values to the assessment procedure. Furthermore, it could be shown that young people with a higher dropout risk evaluated their methodological and social competences lower than those trainees with a lower dropout risk. Therefore it may be possible to prevent early dropout from vocational training through specific strengthening of these competences as well as through individual competence-based counselling during training.     

To be or not to be a technical university: organisational categories as reference points in higher education

Higher Education - Classifications of higher education institutions into categories that are more or less clearly differentiated through prestige and status are legion in the world of higher...     

Evaluating the Madrasa preschool programme in East Africa: a quasi‐experimental study

This study investigated the effect of preschool experience (two types of preschool: Madrasa and non‐Madrasa) on the cognitive development of children in East Africa. In the three countries studied (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania/Zanzibar) preschool education is burgeoning and government standards are being set. This quasi experimental evaluation used four subscales (block building, verbal comprehension, early number concept, picture similarities) adapted from the British Ability Scale II (BAS II; discussed by Elliot, Smith and McCulloch in 1996 Elliot, C.D., Smith, P. and McCulloch, K. 1996. British Ability Scale (BAS), Berkshire, , UK: NFER‐NELSON.  [Google Scholar]), and three (verbal meaning, exclusion, closure) from the African Child Intelligence Test (ACIT; discussed by Drenth and colleagues in 1980 Drenth, P.J.D., Van der Vlier, H., Muinde, N.P., Otaala, B., Omari, I.M. and Opolot, J.A. 1980. Jaribio akili mtoto Afrika. [African child intelligence test.] [in Kiswahili], Amsterdam: Free University of Amsterdam.  [Google Scholar]). The development of 423 children was studied at pre‐test (entry to preschool) and at post‐test 18 months later. Hierarchical regression showed that children with both types of preschool experience performed better than the home (comparison) group; however, children attending Madrasa Resource Centre preschools achieved significantly higher scores overall.     

Specific managerial human capital,firm age,and venture capital financing of biopharmaceutical ventures: A contingency approach

In this article we investigate how specific human capital in biopharmaceutical ventures' management teams impacts the financial commitment of venture capital investors. Further, we explore how this impact changes with the venture's age. We draw on data from 138 VC financing rounds in the US and Europe to show that biopharmaceutical ventures with greater portions of specific managerial human capital in the fields of management, law, medicine, and biosciences acquire more money in venture capital financing rounds, but this effect is contingent on the age of the venture. We discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on VC financing of high technology ventures.