Has John Hattie really found the holy grail of research on teaching? An extended review of Visible Learning

In this article the author reviews and discusses John Hattie’s book Visible Learning. In this book Hattie presents the results of a meta‐meta‐analysis on the conditions of successful teaching and learning in schools. Hattie’s work is based on more than 800 meta‐analyses, and these meta‐analyses are substantiated by more than 50 000 empirical research studies. Among the six groups of factors influencing successful learning in schools—student, home, school, teacher, curricula, teaching—the factor ‘teacher’ seems to have the strongest effect. Hattie not only evaluates empirical research but also places the results in a theoretical context of a theory of teaching and a certain concept of teacher professionalism. The author discusses Hattie’s approach to combine empirical research and conceptual work on teaching and on teachers’ work. The limits of meta‐analyses and future meta‐meta‐analyses are pointed out.     

Empirische Bildungsforschung und ihre Disziplinen – Wandlungsprozesse und Konfliktlinien in instabilen Expertenkulturen.

At the beginning problems of reconstructing the recent development of empirical educational research are discussed, especially problems resulting from its interdisciplinary character, its divergent institutional contexts and its multimethod approach. The next parts deal with the position of and relation between various disciplines involved in educational research in Germany. Compared to previous times currently important shifts concerning the relation between involved disciplines can be observed. It is a quarrel about responsibility, about the right do define success criteria and about resources. Neither from practical nor theoretical contexts, however, an indisputable Archimedean point can be obtained – where such a point would lie is precisely debatable.     

Relationships among cooperation-competition and locus of control in social and academic situations among children in traditional and open classrooms

The relationships among cooperation-competition, perceptions of locus of control in social situations, and perceptions of locus of control in intellectual-academic situations was compared among 89 fourth- and fifth-grade students in traditional and open classrooms. Children from the open education setting displayed substantially more cooperative behavior on Madsen's marble-pull game than children from the traditional school. They also made significant gains in cooperative behavior from the first to the second trial, while the difference between trials was not significant for the traditional students. Traditional students displayed significantly higher internality for locus of control in academic settings, while perceptions of locus of control in social settings did not differ for the two groups. Academic and social locus of control judgments were significantly correlated for the open education students, but not for the students from traditional classrooms.     

Spielen Studienschwerpunkte wirklich eine Rolle?

Due to a comparatively weak curricular structure in education faculties, student teachers may determine their study experiences and learning processes largely by themselves, by selecting their own priorities within educational foundation studies. This paper focused on the relationship between individually-chosen educational specializations, self-perceived competence in these chosen fields, and the measured educational knowledge. The study among teacher education graduates in the German state North Rhine-Westphalia showed that the individually chosen priorities within educational courses varied greatly; however, a focus on topics like classroom teaching, learning and development, and creating school environments was discernable. Results revealed that graduates with certain courses of specializations showed a significant higher level of knowledge in self-report in according areas. However, there were only small significant correlations between the self-reported competencies and the educational knowledge measured by the test. The results of the standardized test of educational knowledge indicated that the graduates in fact achieved better test results in their prioritized fields of studies. This suggests that individual course selection in educational foundations does have an effect on subsequent educational knowledge.     

The influence of cadence and power output on force application and in-shoe pressure distribution during cycling by competitive and recreational cyclists

The aim of this study was to determine the response of cyclists to manipulations of cadence and power output in terms of force application and plantar pressure distribution. Two groups of cyclists, 17 recreational and 12 competitive, rode at three nominal cadences (60, 80, 100 rev min -1 ) and four power outputs (100, 200, 300, 400 W) while simultaneous force and in-shoe pressure data were collected. Two piezoelectric triaxial force transducers mounted in the right pedal measured components of the pedal force and orientation, and a discrete transducer system with 12 transducers recorded the in-shoe pressures. Force application was characterized by calculating peak resultant and peak effective pedal forces and positive and negative impulses. In-shoe pressures were analysed as peak pressures and as the percent relative load. The force data showed no significant group effect but there was a cadence and power main effect. The impulse data showed a significant three-way interaction. Increased cadence resulted in a decreased positive impulse, while increased power output resulted in an increased impulse. The competitive group produced less positive impulse but the difference became less at higher cadences. Few between-group differences were found in pressure, notable only in the pressure under the first metatarsal region. This showed a consistent pattern of in-shoe pressure distribution, where the primary loading structures were the first metatarsal and hallux. There was no indication that pressure at specific sites influenced the pedal force application. The absence of group differences indicated that pressure distribution was not the result of training, but reflected the intrinsic relationship between the foot, the shoe and the pedal.     

The influence of cadence and power output on force application and in-shoe pressure distribution during cycling by competitive and recreational cyclists

The aim of this study was to determine the response of cyclists to manipulations of cadence and power output in terms of force application and plantar pressure distribution. Two groups of cyclists, 17 recreational and 12 competitive, rode at three nominal cadences (60, 80, 100 rev x min(-1)) and four power outputs (100, 200, 300, 400 W) while simultaneous force and in-shoe pressure data were collected. Two piezoelectric triaxial force transducers mounted in the right pedal measured components of the pedal force and orientation, and a discrete transducer system with 12 transducers recorded the in-shoe pressures. Force application was characterized by calculating peak resultant and peak effective pedal forces and positive and negative impulses. In-shoe pressures were analysed as peak pressures and as the percent relative load. The force data showed no significant group effect but there was a cadence and power main effect. The impulse data showed a significant three-way interaction. Increased cadence resulted in a decreased positive impulse, while increased power output resulted in an increased impulse. The competitive group produced less positive impulse but the difference became less at higher cadences. Few between-group differences were found in pressure, notable only in the pressure under the first metatarsal region. This showed a consistent pattern of in-shoe pressure distribution, where the primary loading structures were the first metatarsal and hallux. There was no indication that pressure at specific sites influenced the pedal force application. The absence of group differences indicated that pressure distribution was not the result of training, but reflected the intrinsic relationship between the foot, the shoe and the pedal.     

The pedagogic signature of special needs education

The goal of the following study is to identify a pedagogic signature, according to LS Shulman, for working with students who have special educational needs. Special educational needs are defined as significant limitations in personal development and learning which require particular educational measures beyond regular education. The development of a pedagogic signature should create an identity and provide guidance, particularly for teachers who are working in the context of inclusive schools with no prior knowledge or training in this regard. The study is carried out against the background of the structural uncertainty of the teaching profession and takes into consideration existing normative, theoretical and empirical approaches in education. Existing research regarding demands is largely theoretical, while empirical research is rudimentary. The present study used a multi-method approach to identify demands for working with students with special educational needs. Experts in the areas of learning disabilities and emotional/behavioural disorders completed an instrument from the field of industrial and organisational psychology, quantifying and weighting professional demands on teachers according to their importance. The results were added and validated through group discussions, creating a demand profile. By combining the results with the dimensions of a signature pedagogy, according to Shulman, it is apparent that surface structure and deep structure play a minor role in the perceptions of special needs teachers. The central importance of the implicit structure is characteristic of the pedagogic signature. This importance is represented by the target group’s emphasis on demands such as having an appreciative leadership or authenticity. An even greater emphasis is placed on the aspect of attitude – this is having a humanistic ethos. The demand profile and the resulting consequences for the practice of teaching will be considered with a view towards current problems and questions in research and practice, and particularly with regard to inclusion.     

层次图(混合Horn)公式的部分极大可满足性

本文为解决一类混合Horn公式([13,14]),又称为层次图公式([15])的MAXSAT问题进行了基于随机局部搜索过程的经验研究.具体地,我们首先在随机CNF公式的MAX2SAT及MAX3SAT问题上进行WalkSAT和Tabu-Sat(及其变种)的比较,其次,我们在层次图公式上比较了上述过程的改进版本,这些公式编码了随机生成层次图的最小化跨边问题.本文所引入的Tabu-Sat过程,当在搜索空间中检测到一个圈的时候,动态地改变Tabu长度参数.另一个被称为Vector-Tabu-Sat的过程,对所有的布尔变元进行独立的Tabu长度参数管理.一些数值实验的结果显示,我们改进的Tabu-Sat变种在子句个数增长的时候优于Walksat.