Self‐concept and science achievement: Investigating a reciprocal relation model across the gender classification in a crosscultural context

Science achievement and self‐concept are articulated in this study to examine a model of reciprocal relationship during a crosscultural transition. Trend data have been gathered to assess changes of the perceived English importance before and after Hong Kong's sovereignty handover from Britain to China. The data analyses were conducted four times across dimensions of gender and timing over which the political transition took place. Besides small gender differences in the statistical results, weak but significant reciprocal relationships have been found between science achievement and self‐concept. In line with a policy of switching the medium of instruction from English to Chinese in most secondary schools, interpretation of different path coefficients obliges incorporation of cross‐cultural understanding in science education. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 711–725, 2008     

Portable X-ray fluorescence analysis of pesticides in the textile collection at the German Historical Museum,Berlin

The majority of the objects found in the textiles collection at the German Historical Museum in Berlin have been treated with different biocides at various points in the past. Prior to this study, the presence of organochlorinated pesticides in rooms and storage cabinets had already been proven in an analysis of air samples that employed gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. To estimate the risks these toxins pose to both collections and museum staff, we conducted a field study with the help of a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. In this study, we present an attempt at a reliable quantitative analysis. In addition to chlorine, other potentially hazardous elements such as lead, arsenic, and mercury were found in the majority of the objects. In some cases, however, it has to be taken into account that the detected elements might have originated from manufacturing processes rather than biocide treatments. Such knowledge is a crucial prerequisite to proper risk prediction.     

Stellen Hochschultypen differenzielle Entwicklungsmilieus dar?

The German higher education system has three different types of universities. This study aims to investigate the effect of choosing one particular university type on central personality traits (vocational interests, vocational motives and the Big Five). Existing results clearly show that the individual types of universities recruit students with different backgrounds. Whether differential development during and after studies is determined by university type (i.e. socialization effects in a broader sense) or whether it denotes a consequence of pre-existing differences among students of the university types will, for the first time, be examined using propensity-score matching. To do this, data of a large longitudinal study in Baden-Wuerttemberg were used in order to compare 1568 students at traditional universities (Universit?ten), universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen), and universities of cooperative education (Berufsakademien) in their second, fourth and sixth year after university entrance examination. Socialisation effects were tested in propensity-score based parallelised sub-samples (N?=?622). Results show that differences between university types can mainly be explained with selection effects and that the effects of attendance at the university types itself were hardly differential.     

Relative age effects in Swiss talent development – a nationwide analysis of all sports

Relative age effects (RAE) generate consistent participation inequalities and selection biases in sports. The study aimed to investigate RAE across all sports of the national Swiss talent development programme (STDP). In this study, 18 859 youth athletes (female N = 5353; mean age: 14.8 ± 2.5 y and male N = 13 506; mean age: 14.4 ± 2.4 y) in 70 sports who participated in the 2014 competitive season were evaluated. The sample was subdivided by sex and the national level selection (NLS, N = 2464). Odds ratios (ORs) of relative age quarters (Q1-Q4) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. In STDP, small RAE were evident for females (OR 1.35 (95%-CI 1.24, 1.47)) and males (OR 1.84 (95%-CI 1.74, 1.95)). RAE were similar in female NLS athletes (OR 1.30 (95%-CI 1.08, 1.57)) and larger in male NLS athletes (OR 2.40 (95%-CI 1.42, 1.97)) compared to athletes in the lower selection level. In STDP, RAE are evident for both sexes in several sports with popular sports showing higher RAE. RAE were larger in males than females. A higher selection level showed higher RAE only for males. In Switzerland, talent identification and development should be considered as a long-term process.     

Lessons from lockdown: Autistic students,parents and mainstream schools

This paper reports on the findings of a BERA-funded small-scale project that explores the impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on the educational experiences of autistic children and young people who attend mainstream schools and their parents/carers in England. We observe that, unsurprisingly, lockdown resulted in associated stresses for families. However, our main argument is that for the participants, the pandemic has not been experienced to the same extent as is popularly understood; that is, causing major disruption to children's schooling experiences and/or unusual levels of social isolation. Using the concept of stigma as a theoretical resource, we argue that this is because the families with whom we spoke were already experiencing, pre-COVID-19, disrupted schooling and degrees of social isolation. Indeed, for many of the young people, the break from school occasioned by lockdown allowed them a release from the more negative and stigmatising aspects of their routine experiences within school. We therefore argue that the disruption of the pandemic sheds light on how stigma shapes students' daily school experiences.