Value orientations and action conflicts in students’ everyday life: An interview study

The assumption that today’s German students are able to successfully combine synthesis achievement values and well-being values appears to be overly optimistic when regarded from the perspective of motivational psychology. The results of a qualitative-quantitative interview study with 25 students indicate that achievement and well-being values may come into conflict in everyday life. Incentives for achievement and well-being rarely co-occur in the same action domains. Whereas the school context is dominated by achievement incentives, leisure time is dominated by well-being incentives. Since both achievement and well-being are appreciated by most students, they should be prone to experience frequent everyday action conflicts. The motivational characteristics of postdecisional action conflicts are described on the phenomenal level and their possible impairing effects for learning processes are pointed out. Finally, alternative forms of value synthesis, which might be realized more successfully, are discussed.     

Amateurism and the Nature of Sport

The question of the relationship between amateurism and the essential nature of sport has long been the focus of significant debate within the sports studies literature. This commentary paper reflects critically upon the contributions to be found within four scholarly studies concerned with this issue—one historical, one largely journalistic, and two philosophical. Particular attention is paid to differentiations between those who participate in sports activities largely for the love of the game or other internal reasons and those who engage predominantly for external rewards. Following an extended analysis of points of both agreement and discord among the various authors, an exposition is presented of some important questions remaining to be addressed before the issue can be said to be resolved.     

Entscheidungsverhalten im Gesundheitssport

In search of determinants of decision- making, cognitive aspects for years have been predominating in scientific discussions for years, whereas recently emotional aspects have increasingly became the focus of scientific consideration. In view of the frequently occurring, and not only philosophically relevant, discussion about the free will and the architecture of our spirit, the question arises whether these approaches reach far enough. In the decision-making process different, more deeply lying and unconsciously working structures appear to be decisive, whose modes of function we can neither comprehend introspectively nor can be easily approached on a scientific basis. As a consequence, to knowledge of these parameters is of great importance for any discussion about possible influences on determinants of decision -making, which on the other hand are generally considered to be the fundamental principles in the promotion of healthy sports.     

Using more than 10% of our brains: Examining belief in science-related myths from an individual differences perspective

There currently exists a dearth of research on the transmission and assimilation of myths. To overcome this limitation, we developed a novel scale that measures belief in science-related myths. A total of 363 participants completed this new scale along with measures of personality (the Big Five factors), anti-scientific attitudes, and New Age orientation. Exploratory factor analysis showed that the items of the belief in myths scale could be reduced to two factors concerning human-related and non-human-related myths. Both factors were internally reliable, were moderately inter-correlated, and were not rated significantly differently by women and men (although human-related myths were rated as significantly more believable than non-human-related myths). Further analysis showed that only human myths were significantly predicted by anti-scientific attitudes and the Big Five factor of Extraversion. These results are discussed in relation to the promotion of scientific literacy.     

How are campus students using social media to support their studies? An explorative interview study

Social media hype has created a lot of speculation among educators on how these media can be used to support learning, but there have been rather few studies so far. Our explorative interview study contributes by critically exploring how campus students perceive using social media to support their studies and the perceived benefits and limitations compared with other means. Although the vast majority of the respondents use social media frequently, a “digital dissonance” can be noted, because few of them feel that they use such media to support their studies. The interviewees mainly put forth e-mail and instant messaging, which are used among students to ask questions, coordinate group work and share files. Some of them mention using Wikipedia and YouTube for retrieving content and Facebook to initiate contact with course peers. Students regard social media as one of three key means of the educational experience, alongside face-to-face meetings and using the learning management systems, and are mainly used for brief questions and answers, and to coordinate group work. In conclusion, we argue that teaching strategy plays a key role in supporting students in moving from using social media to support coordination and information retrieval to also using such media for collaborative learning, when appropriate.     

Zweiwegintegration durch zweisprachige Bildung? Ergebnisse aus der Staatlichen Europa-Schule Berlin

Es gibt kein Rezept, wie mit der an Schulen in Europa h?ufig vorkommenden Sprachenvielfalt umgegangen werden sollte. Dieser Artikel pr?sentiert eine vielversprechende Alternative zum einsprachigen Unterricht. Die Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin (SESB) ist ein Modell der Zweiwegimmersion (ZWI), das Kinder mit deutscher Muttersprache und Kinder mit einer anderen vor Ort gesprochenen Muttersprache in der gleichen Schulklasse vereint, und sie in zwei Sprachen gemeinsam unterrichtet. In diesem Modell, das in Berlin an 17 Grundschulen und 13 weiterführenden Schulen angeboten wird, lernen Kinder und Jugendliche in zwei Sprachen voneinander und miteinander. Auf der Grundlage einer haupts?chlich quantitativen, quasi-experimentellen Studie mit 603 Jugendlichen wird bewiesen, dass es eine Anzahl von friedenslinguistischen Vorteilen gibt, die neben pers?nlicher und gesellschaftlicher Mehrsprachigkeit soziale Zweiwegintegration f?rdern k?nnen. Dies führt zu dem Schluss, dass ZWI-Erziehung, so wie sie in Berlin praktiziert wird, als Bildungsmodell für andere mehrsprachige Regionen Europas dienen k?nnte.     

Validation of portable 2D force binding systems for cross-country skiing

The aim of the present study was to design, construct and scientifically validate a two-dimensional force measurement binding system for cross-country skiing. The system consists of two force measurement bindings. One binding was designed for analysing classic skiing (vertical and anterior–posterior [along the ski] force components) and the other one for skate (freestyle) skiing (vertical and medio-lateral [transverse to the ski] force components). Validation was accomplished using a three-step process: (1) accuracy tests for the sensors in two temperatures, (2) sport-specific imitation jump test on standard force plates in a laboratory and (3) comparing the system against force measurement reference systems that are currently used when skiing on snow. During sport-specific imitation jumps, differences in peak forces and impulses between the classic binding and the reference systems ranged from 8.0 to 19.9 % and were two to three times greater compared to differences between the skate binding and the reference systems (range ?5.9 to 5.5 %). However, high similarity coefficients were observed with both bindings (classic binding 0.990–0.996, skate binding 0.996–0.999) compared to the reference systems. Based on these results, the skate binding was shown to be fully valid for use in field measurements of skate skiing, whereas some improvements have to be performed in the construction and sensor placements for the classic binding (vertical as well as anterior–posterior force component).     

Researching the impact of teacher professional development programmes based on action research,constructivism, and systems theory

This paper deals with the topic of professional development programmes’ impact. Concepts and ideas of action research, constructivism, and systems theory are used as a theoretical framework and are combined to describe and analyse an exemplary professional development programme in Austria. Empirical findings from both quantitative and qualitative studies regarding the programme’s impact are provided and discussed. Moreover, implications for future programmes’ planning and implementation are provided.