Conceptions of Knowledge and Institutional Realities: reflections on the creation of a new university in eastern Germany

This article has to do with a particularly persistent and intriguing problem in the politics of higher education, namely, the fault lines between ideas and reality, between a concept of a university and its implementation. The case in point is the creation of a new university at Frankfurt (Oder)—the European University ‘Viadrina‘—in the state of Brandenburg, on the eastern edge of what used to be the (East) German Democratic Republic. The case study traces the politics of creating and designing the new institution under the special conditions of post‐unification Germany and focuses on the challenges of implementing the twin elements of its founding concept: a particularly intensive international orientation, especially in its relationship with neighbouring Poland, and an attempt to transcend the boundaries of discipline‐based scholarship in teaching and research. Substantial problems with the implementation of the concept notwithstanding, the Viadrina stands a reasonable chance of becoming one of the few exceptions to the rule that unification has produced little innovation in German higher education.     

Information processing deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, inattentive type, and children with reading disability

We examined the information processing capabilities of children diagnosed with the inattentive subtype of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who had been characterized as having a sluggish cognitive tempo. Children referred for school-related problems (n = 81) and nonreferred community controls (n = 149) participated. Of the referred children, 24 met criteria for ADHD, 42 met criteria for reading disability (RD), and 9 of these were comorbid for RD and ADHD. Children with ADHD differed from those without ADHD on a visual search task but not on an auditory processing task; the reverse was true for children with RD. Decomposition of the visual search task into component operations demonstrated that children in the ADHD group had a slow processing rate that was not attributable to inattention. The children with ADHD were not globally poor at information processing or inattentive, but they demonstrated diminished speed of visual processing.     

Speed of information processing in children referred for learning problems: performance on a visual filtering test

Children referred for evaluation of learning impairment (LI, N =100) and a comparison group of nonreferred (NLI, N = 243) children were evaluated on a visual filtering task. The task was designed hierarchically to provide for evaluation of component operations-serial search, parallel search, decision, and response. With each additional processing demand, response times increased disproportionately for the LI group relative to the NLI group. Overall response time reliably predicted academic skills and cognitive ability, but was more strongly related to group membership. Thus, this nonverbal visual task is sensitive to a characteristic of children with learning problems over and above discrete academic and cognitive skills. Children with problems adapting to the demands of schooling may be distinguished by a disproportionate vulnerability to processing load.     

The role of school health instruction in preventing interpersonal violence

The social and human costs of youth violence are staggering. Reducing violence among youth will require a multifaced approach, including educational strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence of high risk behaviors associated with youth violence. This article examines the role of school health instruction in preventing interpersonal violence. Specifically, this article provides an overview of comprehensive school health education; suggests instructional content for violence prevention education; explores options for administering violence prevention education; discusses theoretical frameworks supporting education strategies; provides criteria for selecting violence prevention curricula and mateirals; examines possible limitations and barriers to violence prevention education; and provides recommendations for implementing programs. Though classroom health instruction should not be expected to solve problems associated with youth violence, prevention education needs to be delivered within the context of comprehensive school health education.