Soziale Disparit?ten und die ?ffnung des Sekundarschulsystems

Efforts to break the link between the school type attended and the qualification awarded are seen an important step in the modernization of Germany??s tracked secondary school system. However, it remains disputed whether these efforts have reduced social disparities or in fact increased them. This study examined the transition from lower secondary education in academic- and intermediate-track schools to upper secondary education in general and vocational gymnasium schools in the state of Baden-Württemberg. When indicators of parental social background and school-leaving qualifications were controlled, the opening of upper secondary education was found to be associated with a decrease in the social selectivity of upper secondary education for intermediate-track students. At the same time, for those intermediate-track students who were entitled to enter upper secondary education, social background had predictive effects on the transition decision; however, the overall size of these effects was low.     

高校扩招背景下欧洲高等教育与劳动力市场关系的变化趋势

在高等教育规模扩张的进程中,深入理解高等教育与劳动力市场之间的关系势在必然。自20世纪90年代中期以来,欧洲就从比较的视角迈出了开展毕业生综合调查的第一步。本研究的目的是探讨随着近年来欧洲大学毕业生的增加,毕业生比较调查的结果是否在学业、胜任力、就业等方面呈现出明显的变化趋势。研究结果表明,欧洲高等教育规模在十年间扩张了近一半,这并未对大学毕业生就业造成显著影响。但是,由于调查问卷的较大变化,无法分析高等教育和劳动力市场关系的变化趋势。只有研究者确保收据收集手段的一致性,对毕业生就业状况进行时序比较,才能得到有价值的结论。     

Mechanismen der Elitebildung im deutschen Bildungssystem

The German education system is currently experiencing two contrasting trends: On the one hand, social opening, e.g. through the introduction of a partially-integrated secondary school system, compensatory all-day-schooling. On the other hand, an increasing vertical hierarchy in certain educational phases, e.g. through the explicitly encouraged introduction of private kindergartens and primary schools and the establishment of prime (academic track) Gymnasien and elite universities. In line with these structural changes, next to equality, the principle of excellence is gaining an increasing significance as a justification argument. This contribution will present the situation from an education-policy perspective, discuss theoretical discourses, and the national and international state of research on the topic of elitism and education. It will close with future research challenges.     

Reduction of mental distress in the dissection course by introducing the body donor experience through anatomical demonstrations of organ systems

The practice of dissection teaches students not only the foundations of anatomical knowledge but also encourages the development of professional competencies. Yet, the dissection of cadavers in the gross anatomy course can be a stress factor for medical students. There are a minor proportion of students who demonstrate strong emotional reactions in anticipation of being confronted with a cadaver. Therefore, in 2008, the authors implemented a voluntary course entitled, “Anatomical demonstrations of organ systems” (AD‐OS) in advance of the dissection course to ease this psychological burden. The question of whether attendees of AD‐OS showed less mental distress at the start of the dissection course compared with those that had not or only infrequently visited AD‐OS was addressed. AD‐OS attendees assessed their expected mental distress using a five‐point Likert scale before starting the dissection course and a second time at the end of their first day, after they had been confronted with a cadaver. AD‐OS was evaluated as excellent and the majority of students participated actively during teaching sessions. Overall, female students showed higher levels of mental distress. AD‐OS attendees assessed themselves as being less burdened by mental distress than members of the control group. Longitudinal analysis revealed that students who visited AD‐OS showed a marked decrease of their mental distress level, comparing prospective and retrospective ratings. This was significantly (P < 0.001; Z = ?6.061) different from nonattendees or those who visited AD‐OS only infrequently. AD‐OS satisfied its intended teaching goals and proved that a step‐by‐step introduction of dissection through anatomical demonstrations helped to reduce the mental distress of students. Future studies are planned to measure mental distress with objective instruments. Anat Sci Educ © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

A Comparison of Different Psychometric Approaches to Modeling Testlet Structures: An Example with C‐Tests

C‐tests are a specific variant of cloze tests that are considered time‐efficient, valid indicators of general language proficiency. They are commonly analyzed with models of item response theory assuming local item independence. In this article we estimated local interdependencies for 12 C‐tests and compared the changes in item difficulties, reliability estimates, and person parameter estimates for different modeling approaches: (a) Rasch, (b) testlet, (c) partial credit, and (d) copula models. The results are complemented with findings of a simulation study in which sample size, number of testlets, and strength of residual correlations between items were systematically manipulated. Results are discussed with regard to the pivotal question whether residual dependencies between items are an artifact or part of the construct.     

Opportunities and problems of comparative higher education research: the daily life of research

Higher education had a predominant national and institutional focus for a long time. In Europe, supra-national political activities played a major role for increasing the interest in comparative research. Comparative perspectives are important in order to deconstruct the often national perspective of causal reasoning, for proving benchmarks, for theory-testing, for opening up the horizon for potential reforms, and for the analysis of the growing internationality of higher education. However, many practical factors make comparative research on higher education vulnerable: decentralized funding, coincidental compositions of participating countries, difficulties of reaching a conceptual and methodological consensus in multicountry research teams. Often, comparative research projects take quite a long time, before the major findings are published eventually. Moreover, often data are presented across countries without sufficient explanations of the respective context. Comparative research on higher education, thus, often does not fulfil the initial hopes, but obviously is such an important approach that efforts are indispensible to cope with the challenging conditions.     

Spontaneous Leg Movements of Infants with Down Syndrome and Nondisabled Infants

Infants with Down syndrome (DS) represent a population in which new behaviors are acquired significantly more slowly than in nondisabled infants. We propose that infants' spontaneous movements hold a key to understanding the process of development—of integrating intrinsic dynamics and function. In this investigation, we compared the spontaneous leg movements of 10 infants with DS and 2 groups of nondisabled (ND) infants matched for chronological age and motor age. In contrast to common perceptions, we did not observe a significant difference in the frequency of movements between infants with DS and ND infants. But, infants with DS demonstrated significantly fewer of the most complex patterned leg movements, that is, kicking patterns. Further, the frequency with which both DS and ND infants kicked was significantly correlated with the age at which they began to walk. Biomechanical variables were identified, as well, that related to their emergent movement patterns. These data are consistent with Edelman's proposal that spontaneous movements that occur repeatedly in regions of the organism's functional work space facilitate the development of stable behavioral patterns and emphasize the role of the interaction of multiple subsystems in the emergence of new behaviors.     

Incarnation,Now: Five Brief Thoughts and a Non-Conclusive Ending

This article problematizes the renewed appeal of incarnation, a signifier that points to a vague desire in our present and perhaps, altogether, to an unclear future promise, rather than to the complex history of elaborate theological meanings with which the word had long been related. Incarnation is one among a number of concepts and topics that had become almost unspeakable since the eighteenth century—and that have recently returned to intellectual legitimacy. We propose to explain what could be the conditions of this rehabilitation.     

静水皮艇500 m供能特征

目的:研究静水皮艇500 m能量供应特征.方法:选取8名青少年女子皮艇运动员(年龄15士1岁,身高172±4 cm,体重65±5kg,训练年限15±10年)在Dansprint皮艇测功仪上进行多级测试和120 s的最大测试,结合测功仪和气体代谢数据,运用累积氧亏法(AOD)进行能量供应比例的计算.结果:静水皮艇500 m有氧供能的比例为59.6％±11.4％,最大心率为179±8 bpm,最高血乳酸为11.3±1.5 mM/L.全力运动的前5～10 s以磷酸原供能为主,第10～40 s期间糖酵解供能占据重要地位,40 s之后影响运动能力的主要为有氧供能.结论:静水皮艇500 m是一个以有氧供能为主的运动项目,国内对此项目供能特征的认识低估了有氧供能的作用;静水皮艇500 m能量供应的时序特征可以作为安排训练、发展不同供能系统的重要生物学基础.