Dynamics of mental model construction from text and graphics

When students read for learning, they frequently are required to integrate text and graphics information into coherent knowledge structures. The following study aimed at analyzing how students deal with texts and how they deal with graphics when they try to integrate the two sources of information. Furthermore, the study investigated differences between students from different school types and grades. Forty students from grades 5 and 8 from higher track and lower track of the German school system were asked to process and integrate texts and graphics in order to answer items from different levels of a text–picture integration taxonomy. Students’ eye movements were recorded and analyzed. Results suggest fundamentally different functions of text and graphics, which are associated with different processing strategies. Texts are more likely to be used according to a coherence-formation strategy, whereas graphics are more likely to be used on demand as visual cognitive tools according to an information-selection strategy. Students from different tracks of schooling revealed different adaptivity with regard to the requirements of combining text and graphic information.     

Direct regional economic impact of Germany’s 1. FC Kaiserslautern through participation in the 1. Bundesliga

In discussions about the use of public money for popular sports such as clubs in Germany’s 1. Bundesliga, it is often argued that the funds are well invested due to the cash flows generated by these organizations for their home regions. However, others claim the opposite. They argue that actually no positive impact is generated and, even worse, that money is leaving the region due to the clubs. The study presented here analyses the financial flows generated by the 1. FC Kaiserslautern for its home city (Kaiserslautern) and home state (Rhineland-Palatinate) during the 2010/11 season when the club participated in the 1. Bundesliga. Based on a 3-step model, the economic impact is calculated by considering spectator spending and cash flows generated by the business activities of the club. It turns out that additional cash flows of approximately €16.5 million and €25.8 million were generated for the state and the city, respectively.     

The Effects of Collaborative Care of Living Animals in Biology Lessons on Students’ Relatedness Toward Their Teacher Across Gender

Research in Science Education - The transition from elementary school to the upper grades can lead to ambiguous feelings toward the new, male teachers. This study investigated whether collaborative...     

Would you Bribe your Lecturer? A Quasi-experimental Study on Burnout and Bribery in Higher Education

Research in Higher Education - Bribery is a complex and critical issue in higher education (HE), causing severe economic and societal harm. Traditionally, most scholarship on HE corruption has...     

Dreamings beyond ‘opportunity’: the collaborative economics of an aboriginal heritage trail

This article presents the Lurujarri Heritage Trail, an Indigenous tourism experience in Northwest Australia as exemplary for a world different from the teleological-minded futurism of neoliberal market economics. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork undertaken between 2011 and 2015, it first outlines how in 1987 the Trail was established at the very margins of the Australian economy. Through its emphasis on the here and now that is grounded in a collaboration of people and land and acknowledges diverse worldviews and ontological differences, the Trail today offers its participants a means to experience Indigenous culture as different from Western politics and development policies. As a result, its allegedly marginal Dreaming (Bugarrigarra) leads beyond the pursuit of economic opportunity and in doing so enabled the defeat of large-scale industrialisation in the region.     

Dynamics of coordination within elite rowing crews: evidence from force pattern analysis.

For a rowing crew to be successful, the movements of the rowers need to be well coordinated. Because rowers show individual force patterns, they have to adapt their movements when rowing as a crew. In this exploratory study, these hypothesized changes in movement pattern were examined. The force graphs of six elite coxless fours crews were recorded over 11 training runs using strain gauges attached to the oars. A detailed force analysis showed that form differences, but not area differences, between force patterns decreased when force output increased as a result of two different processes. First, increasing force output reduced form differences instantaneously by reducing the individual variation in force patterns. Secondly, the kinaesthetic perception of form differences is easier than that of area differences. This better perception facilitates the adaptation of movement patterns, especially when force output is high.     

“… And Please Visit Our Facebook Page,Too!” How Radio Presenter Personalities Influence Listeners’ Interactions With Radio Stations

Radio personalities or presenters are important to music radio stations, as their individual personalities influence if, how, and to what extent listeners want to interact with radio stations and presenters during programs. Both parasocial interaction with the presenter and flow experiences are believed to mediate the listener–presenter relationship. With this in mind, we conducted an experiment in which 236 German radio listeners aged 14 to 49 were asked to listen to the same radio show, but with varying presenters. Mediation analysis revealed notable effects of presenters’ personalities on listeners’ behavioral intentions. Both parasocial interaction and flow were found to be important mediators of the discovered effects.