德国应用科学大学新学位制的实施及案例分析

在欧洲高等教育改革行动“博洛尼亚进程”的影响下,德国应用科学大学建立并实施了新的“学士/硕士”两级学位体系,新的学位体系拥有了与综合性大学相同并等值的学位体系,实施板块化课程设置,引入欧洲学分体系和相对成绩等级体系,对应用科学大学的发展具有重要意义,表现在规范了目前的学位体系,增加了学生的选择机会和流动性等,但在培养质量和社会认可等方面还面临一些问题。     

The Effect of Subconscious Performance Goals on Academic Performance

We investigated the impact of subconscious goals on academic performance in two field experiments. We show that unobtrusive priming of goals with regard to achievement motivation by means of a photograph improves performance in different educational contexts. High-school students who were exposed to an achievement-related photograph achieved higher grades than students in two control conditions. This effect was not affected by students’ prior performance. University students exposed to a photograph representing a specific, difficult goal reached even higher performance than students taking the exam with a general achievement photograph. For practice, subconscious goals may form a powerful, cost-effective tool to enhance academic performance. However, varying results across the experiments also prompt the need for further investigations of such effects.     

Linking theory and practice: teacher research in history and geography classrooms

The impact of scholarly research in education on the educational practice in secondary school is low. Academics examine problems that teachers in school perceive as irrelevant, want to publish in peer-reviewed journals instead of disseminate their work, and aim at generalizing insights rather than improving school practice. Teacher research might be a way to link educational academic research and teaching practice aiming at furthering professionalism in teaching, improving teaching practice and extending the knowledge base on teaching and learning. Four experienced secondary school teachers systematically investigated their classes, guided by a supervisor. Their materials as well as formal and informal communication with their supervisor and with each other were analysed. Related to their research projects, these teachers reported significant changes in their understanding of student learning and their teaching. They took different perspectives on teaching, looked at alternative solutions for problems, and reflected more deeply on their own teaching as well as teaching of their colleagues. Although each of them published an article in a peer-reviewed journal, they reported difficulties with extending the knowledge base on teaching and learning. Not only did they rarely share results with their colleagues in school because they were perceived as external researchers, they also struggled with writing journal articles and coping with peer reviews. We discuss the value of situated generalization as one of the implications and discuss how teacher research could lead to a new in-between research practice, linking theory and practice, and researchers and teachers.     

Assessment of teacher competence using video portfolios: Reliability, construct validity, and consequential validity

The richness and complexity of video portfolios endanger both the reliability and validity of the assessment of teacher competencies. In a post-graduate teacher education program, the assessment of video portfolios was evaluated for its reliability, construct validity, and consequential validity. Although video portfolio facilitated a reliable and valid assessment of teacher competencies, procedures to improve assessment quality were also revealed and are therefore discussed: more explicit grounding of assessment results in the data, peer debriefing, prolonged engagement with the assessment data, cross-checking to find confirmatory or counter examples.     

Effects of naturally existing peer groups on changes in academic engagement in a cohort of sixth graders

This study examined the effects of peer groups on changes in academic engagement in 11- to 13-year-old children. From the entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a town, 87% participated at the beginning and end of the school year. Peer groups were assessed using socio-cognitive mapping; as an indicator of motivation, teachers reported on students' classroom engagement. Peer groups were homogeneous in terms of engagement, and despite considerable member turnover across time, their motivational composition remained fairly intact. Peer group engagement levels in the fall predicted changes in children's motivation across time. Although the magnitude of effects was relatively small, evidence for group influences persisted when controlling for peer selection and the influence of teacher and parent involvement.     

大规模学生评估的影响力与重要性:德国视角

二十年来,大规模学生评估对教育研究、学校体系和教育政策产生了深远影响."国际中学生评估项目"(PISA)、"国际学生数学与科学能力动态项目"(TIMSS)和"国际学生阅读能力进步研究项目"(PIRLS)使各个国家学生成绩值具有一定可比性,由此,人们能更细致地从学校内部来观察不同国家学校工作的差异度.大规模学生评估还为学校发展、教育领导以及学生成绩的改进提供必要数据.本文以PIRLS为例,旨在从德国视角为中国今后开展大规模国际学生评估提供借鉴.     

Analysekompetenz von Lehrpersonen – Modellierung und Messung

This article reports on a project in which the analytical competence of teachers and trainee teachers is measured. The term analytical competence refers to the ability to assess and evaluate the quality of lessons which are observed. The sample consists of 800 teaching staff (200 students, 200 probationary teachers, 200 qualified teachers, 200 teacher training personnel). They are shown a video of a school lesson (in Physics) and then given a test in the form of a questionnaire in which they are asked to analyse the lesson. In the evaluation, the item scale of the test is checked for Rasch homogeneity. In the medium term, the results of this study should lead to consequences for the development of analytical competence in the various phases of teacher training.     

Meaningful learning from practice: web-based video in professional preparation programmes in university

Web-based video is one of the technologies which can support meaningful learning from practice – in addition to practical benefits such as accessibility of practices, flexibility in updating information, and incorporating video into multimedia resources. A multiple case study was set up on the use of a web-based video learning environment in two post-graduate teacher education programmes and two university Bachelor programmes. The later analysis of practice was reported by students to be the most valuable aspect. Teacher feedback was perceived as more helpful than peer feedback, characterising most peer feedback as pep-talk. Direct video observation is suggested to be insufficient for students’ reflection on conceptual questions and on a more general level of practical experience. Implications for the preparation for professional practice in the university context are indicated.     

Neurotrophic factors

Unlike many other growth factors, neurotrophic factors do not stimulate the general proliferation of nerve cells but rather differentiation, both morphologically and biochemically. Recent research, including nerve cell cultures, has done much to reveal the nature and mode of actions of these factors and suggests ways in which they might be used in clinical medicine.     

Pedagogical content knowledge of experts and novices—what knowledge do they activate when analyzing science lessons?

In the current debate on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), the term is used to refer to the context‐specific knowledge that teachers activate when reflecting on practice. Against the background of this debate, we conducted an empirical study and sought to answer the question of which knowledge experts and novices activated in assessing a videotaped lesson in relation to its effectiveness for learning. Our assumption was that the participants activate their PCK as a blending of content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK) as suggested by Shulman's amalgam thesis. The participants (9 experts and 9 novices) were shown a lesson on optics, in which the law of refraction (Snell's law) was being studied. In a subsequent interview, the participants were asked to analyze the observed lesson. A qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the interviews showed that experts activated both CK and PK intensively and in this respect they differed significantly from novices. Further analysis of the expert statements also proved that they do not activate their CK and PK in isolation, but instead combine both kinds of knowledge together, in line with Shulman's amalgam thesis. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 44–67, 2018