The student,the private and the professional role: Students’ social media use

Research has shown that students perceive a distinct divide between educational and private use of social media. The present study explores this divide by focusing on master students’ perception of roles when using social media in a higher education context. A qualitative method has been used, mainly comprising of analyses of home exams and interviews, which were conducted with students enrolled in the master’s course “Social media technologies”. Results support previous research stating that students perceived a distinct divide between educational and private use of social media, and furthermore provide a more detailed understanding of this divide. The results from the study also indicate that there is yet another type of use: social media as a tool for career-building purposes, or what is labeled as professional use. Implications of social media for use in higher education are described through the analysis of three roles as performed by the individual: the student role in educational settings, the professional role for career-building, and the private role.     

A black technician and blue babies

In this paper, I discuss the many contributions of a versatile black technician, Vivien Thomas, to surgical animal research between 1930 and 1979 at Vanderbilt University and Johns Hopkins University. Thomas' experimental work led to a surgical solution for a life-threatening heart defect, called tetralogy of Fallot. Children with this condition lack sufficient oxygenation and were referred to as 'blue babies'. Following Thomas' research trajectory and his relationship with surgeon Dr Alfred Blalock, I review the conditions under which differing expectations towards race and occupation clashed, creating a status dilemma for Thomas. While the torsion originated in the laboratory where technical skills are valued, the research locale also facilitated a temporary, fragile solution for the status dilemma, because it separated Thomas from public view. Yet, Thomas' dexterity as a laboratory researcher enhanced his dilemma, because credit kept eluding him. In order to track the dynamics of race and occupational subordination as lived experience in the laboratory, I argue for an analysis of the process of crediting people for their scientific accomplishments.     

Motivational interference in learning: The impact of leisure alternatives on subsequent self-regulation

Students are often obliged to fulfill home assignments for school. While being engaged into such compulsory schooling, learners may be tempted to switch to a leisure alternative. Whenever students pursue the learning task although attractive leisure alternatives are present, thoughts about the missed activity can lead to motivational interference. Thus, self-regulation in learning does not only depend on the learning task itself but also on the dismissed alternatives. In a questionnaire study 704 students (mean age: 13.5) were confronted with hypothetical conflicts between a school activity and a leisure activity. The students envisioned themselves in the course of both activities after the decision. As predicted, self-reported self-regulation depended on the valences of both activities. High valence of the performed activity was related to better self-regulation, whereas high valence of the alternative activity resulted in worse self-regulation.     

Impact of teacher competencies on student emotions: A multi-method approach

As a consequence of international educational studies like TIMSS and PISA, quality of instruction has become a central topic in the discussion between educators, researchers, and policymakers. Teacher competencies are preconditions for instructional quality.This study focuses on the impact of perceived teacher competencies on student well-being and anxiety in physics instruction. Student emotions are one important aspect of the educational process and supposed preconditions of sustainable learning processes. In the study, we combine both qualitative and quantitative methods using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. In total, 431 students from 16 classes participated in this study: 24 students and eight physics teachers were participants of the qualitative study. Each teacher taught two classes, and therefore a comparison of the ratings of each teacher by students of two different classes was possible.The results of our study confirm the assumption that perceived teacher competencies have an impact on student emotions. Analysis of the qualitative data supports the quantitative results and demonstrates the importance of teacher competencies for student emotions. By comparing qualitative and quantitative results, we demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Consequently, we suggest a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.     

Longitudinal twin study of early literacy development: Preschool through Grade 1

Grade 1 literacy skills of twin children in Australia (New South Wales) and the United States (Colorado) were explored in a genetically sensitive design (N = 319 pairs). Analyses indicated strong genetic influence on word and nonword identification, reading comprehension, and spelling. Rapid naming showed more modest, though reliable, genetic influence. Phonological awareness was subject to high nonshared environment and no reliable genetic effects, and individual measures of memory and learning were also less affected by genes than nonshared environment. Multivariate analyses showed that the same genes affected word identification, reading comprehension, and spelling. Country comparisons indicated that the patterns of genetic influence on reading and spelling in Grade 1 were similar, though for the U.S. but not the Australian children new genes came on stream in the move from kindergarten to Grade 1. We suggest that this is because the more intensive kindergarten literacy curriculum in New South Wales compared with Colorado, consistent with the mean differences between the two countries, means that more of the genes are “online” sooner in Australia because of accelerated overall reading development.     

Predictors of Behavior Problems in Three-Year-Old Sons of Alcoholics: Early Evidence for the Onset of Risk

We investigated risk factors in a population-based sample of alcoholic (father) and comparison families with 3-year-old sons. Alcoholic and comparison parents did not differ in socioeconomic status (SES), education, years married, family size, or cognitive functioning. Anti-social behavior and depression were significantly greater in alcoholic parents. High risk children were more impulsive than comparison children, but there were no differences in developmental age, IQ, or behavior problems. A higher percentage of high-risk children were rated in the extreme clinical range for behavior problems than were comparison children. For alcoholic families, mothers' ratings of their children's total behavior problems, externalizing behavior problems, and internalizing behavior problems were predicted by mothers' lifetime alcohol problems, current depression, and family SES. Father variables failed to predict children's behavior problems. Maternal variables were stronger predictors of their 3-year-old sons' problem behaviors than were paternal variables.     

The teacher leadership process: Attempting change within embedded systems

This embedded case study examines the leadership practices of eleven teacher leaders in three urban schools to identify how these teacher leaders attempt to change the teaching practice of their colleagues while working as professional learning community leaders and as mentors for new teachers. Using a theoretical framework integrating complex systems theory with Kotter’s (Leading change. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1996) eight steps for leading organizational change, we analyze the work and perspectives of individual teacher leaders, and we examine how teams of teacher leaders and principals function collectively in their efforts to lead instructional change. Our findings have implications for schools seeking to utilize teacher leadership as a reform strategy for authentic instructional improvement.     

Implementation of a project-based molecular biology laboratory emphasizing protein structure-function relationships in a large introductory biology laboratory course

In introductory laboratory courses, many universities are turning from traditional laboratories with predictable outcomes to inquiry-inspired, project-based laboratory curricula. In these labs, students are allowed to design at least some portion of their own experiment and interpret new, undiscovered data. We have redesigned the introductory biology laboratory course at Brandeis University into a semester-long project-based laboratory that emphasizes concepts and contains an element of scientific inquiry. In this laboratory, students perform a site-directed mutagenesis experiment on the gene encoding human γD crystallin, a human eye lens protein implicated in cataracts, and assess the stability of their newly created protein with respect to wild-type crystallin. This laboratory utilizes basic techniques in molecular biology to emphasize the importance of connections between DNA and protein. This project lab has helped engage students in their own learning, has improved students' skills in critical thinking and analysis, and has promoted interest in basic research in biology.     

Internationaler Policy Transfer in der Berufsbildung

The international practice of transferring educational structures, curricula and best practice, shortly summarized under the term ??policies??, from Germany to many other countries has taken place since more than 40 years. In this article we will first explain the theoretical framework for the analysis of policy transfer. In the second part the model of work culture as a developmental approach and extended theoretical framework that can be used for the analysis of context factors in the policy transfer process will be introduced. This model is applied to the analysis of policy transfer in vocational education and training in China and Turkey and used to explain context, actors and goals as well as transfer attainments.     

Stigma Hauptschulabschluss?

Graduates of vocational training with or without an exit qualification from the German lower secondary school called ??Hauptschule?? have an above-average chance of being unemployed at the next level. Using a data set which includes both school exit qualifications and the marks from vocational training, we show that this increased probability of unemployment can be explained by the enduring stigmatization of graduating school with a low qualification level and by weaker performance in the final examination from vocational training. This leads to additive disadvantages at the next stage in a young person??s career. The attainment of a vocational qualification is, therefore, an insufficient basis for successful entry into the labor market. At a stage, when their integration into the labor market appears to have been secured??despite a problematic start?Cthese youths are, in fact, confronted with an increased risk of unemployment and a precarious start in their working career.