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...     

Tools of the Trade: UK Research Intermediaries and the Politics of Impacts

In recent years questions concerning the impact of public research funding have become the preeminent site at which struggles over the meanings and value of science are played out. In this paper we explore the ‘politics of impact’ in contemporary UK science and research policy and, in particular, detail the ways in which UK research councils have responded to and reframed recent calls for the quantitative measurement of research impacts. Operating as ‘boundary organisations’ research councils are embroiled in what might be characterised as the ‘politics of demarcation’ in which competing understandings of the cultural values of science are traded, exchanged and contested. In this paper we focus on the way the UK’s ‘Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’ (EPSRC) has responded to contemporary policy discourses concerning the impacts of public research expenditure. We argue that, in response to the shifting terms of contemporary science policy, the EPSRC has adopted three distinct strategies. Firstly, in collaboration with other research councils the EPSRC have emphasised the intellectual and metrological challenge presented by attempts to quantify the economic impact of public research expenditure, emphasising instead the cumulative impacts of a broad portfolio of ‘basic science’. Secondly, the EPSRC has sought to widen the discursive meaning of research impacts – specifically to include societal and policy impacts in addition to economic ones. Thirdly, the EPSRC has introduced a new framing into the ‘impact agenda’, preferring to talk about ‘pathways to impact’ rather than research impacts per se. In responding to government priority setting, we argue that the EPSRC has sought to exploit both the technical fragility of auditing techniques and the discursive ambiguity of notions of impact.     

Kein Heimvorteil in der 1. Tischtennisbundesliga der Herren

A home field advantage is given when the home team wins more than half of the games under home conditions. For team sports, this advantage has been well-established in many studies. The present study examines the home field advantage for individual sports on the example of table tennis. Therefore, all games of the men’s first German National League of table tennis (n?=?406) were analyzed for the seasons 2008/2009 to 2012/2013. There was a home field advantage of 51.48?%. A more specific measure for the home field advantage is to look at single games (“best-of-five” modus), where the home teams won more games (2.01 per competition) than the away teams (1.95 per competition). Both results were statistically not significant. A statistically significant correlation between the size of the home field advantage and the number of spectators was found, as well as an advantage by competition rules of the home team in the opening game, whereas the travel distances of the away teams did not affect the results. Accordingly, the home field advantage is less pronounced in individual sports than in team sports. The player’s performance, however, is positively influenced by the social support of home spectators and the specific competition rules.     

Zwischen Wollen, aber nicht k?nnen und K?nnen, aber nicht wollen: übergangsprobleme von Jugendlichen in Japan am Beispiel der ?Freeter“ und ?NEETs“

Die Untersuchung von übergangsprozessen vom Bildungs- in das Besch?ftigungssystem ist vor dem Hintergrund der Jugendarbeitslosigkeit von besonderer Bedeutung. In Japan wird der übergang vielfach als gelungen tituliert. In den letzten Jahren mehren sich allerdings Zeichen, die auf eine ver?nderte Sachlage hindeuten. Der vorliegende Aufsatz analysiert diese Problematik am Beispiel der beiden japanischen Personengruppen „Freeter“ und „NEET“. Dabei handelt es sich um Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene, die nicht (direkt) in ein regul?res Besch?ftigungsverh?ltnis eintreten. Zun?chst werden hier die Ursachen analysiert, dann werden bildungspolitische Ma?nahmen zur Beseitigung der Probleme kommentiert. Durch die Heranziehung von wissenschaftlich fundierten Erkl?rungsans?tzen wird gezeigt, dass sich die beiden genannten Personengruppen durch eine geringe formale Schulqualifikation auszeichnen. Die soziale Herkunft ist hingegen nicht von entscheidender Relevanz, allerdings deutet sich an, dass die finanziellen M?glichkeiten der Eltern hinsichtlich des Besuchs von hochrangigen Bildungsinstitutionen zunehmend an Bedeutung gewinnen. Die in der japanischen ?ffentlichkeit vielfach konstatierten abweichenden Werte und Einstellungen dieser jüngeren Personengruppen lassen sich auf Basis der existenten empirischen Befunde gleichfalls nicht eindeutig fundieren. In der Konsequenz sind Gründe für die übergangsprobleme eher in Zusammenhang mit einer durch die lang anhaltende Wirtschaftskrise angespannten Arbeitsmarktlage auszumachen. Neben einigen Initiativen der Bildungspolitik wird es für Japan daher in Zukunft darauf ankommen, die Integration der schrumpfenden Schul- und Hochschulabg?ngerkohorten effizient zu regulieren.     

A computational fluid dynamics model for wind simulation: model implementation and experimental validation

To provide physically based wind modelling for wind erosion research at regional scale, a 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) wind model was developed. The model was programmed in C language based on the Navier-Stokes equations, and it is freely available as open source. Integrated with the spatial analysis and modelling tool (SAMT), the wind model has convenient input preparation and powerful output visualization. To validate the wind model, a series of experiments was conducted in a wind tunnel. A blocking inflow experiment was designed to test the performance of the model on simulation of basic fluid processes. A round obstacle experiment was designed to check if the model could simulate the influences of the obstacle on wind field. Results show that measured and simulated wind fields have high correlations, and the wind model can simulate both the basic processes of the wind and the influences of the obstacle on the wind field. These results show the high reliability of the wind model. A digital elevation model (DEM) of an area (3800 m long and 1700 m wide) in the Xilingele grassland in Inner Mongolia (autonomous region, China) was applied to the model, and a 3D wind field has been successfully generated. The clear implementation of the model and the adequate validation by wind tunnel experiments laid a solid foundation for the prediction and assessment of wind erosion at regional scale.     

Light damage to selected organic materials in display cases: A study of different light sources

The protection of works of art and cultural assets against light-induced aging is vital when planning exhibitions. Newly developed lighting systems render the selection of suitable light sources more difficult, not least in the context of energy–economical systems. This study accordingly examines different lighting systems (fluorescent tubes, halogen lamps, low-voltage metal halide lamps, and LED lamps) in terms of the damage potential they hold for the materials concerned. The changes in color were evaluated using the CIEDE2000 color-difference formula. This study focuses on selected organic materials and shows that changes in color already occur after only a brief exposure time. The color changes induced by the fluorescent tubes were consistently more intense than those induced by the other light sources. The results obtained with the remaining lamps show that the color changes depend more on the material under investigation than on the source used. The changes determined after a relatively short exposure period (five months) vividly demonstrate that exposing sensitive materials to light for longer terms (as is the case during a permanent exhibition) is most definitely a non-viable option.