Students' Views of Science and Technology When Entering University

We conducted a survey of first year French University students for the purpose of discovering their views and opinions on the subject of Science and Technology. These views provide valuable information on that which is considered to be essential by the students, while having the advantage of a certain amount of detachment in relationship to the academic course content. Certain implications may be deduced concerning University teaching as well. Content analysis was used to study scientific titles and texts produced by the students; the resulting classification system made it possible to deduce the main ideas on themes such as scientific discovery and conquest, man's need to understand his environment, the future, etc.     

PISA: Und was nun?

Die Ergebnisse des internationalen Vergleichs von Schülerleistungen im Rahmen des OECD-Projekts PISA haben für Deutschland dringende p?dagogische und bildungspolitische Handlungsnotwendigkeiten aufgezeigt. Die Leistungen deutscher Schülerinnen und Schüler in den Bereichen Lesen, mathematische Grundbildung und naturwissenschaftliche Grundbildung liegen unterhalb des Durchschnitts der OECD-L?nder. Dabei ist die Leistungsstreuung in Deutschland besonders gro?, es gibt eine gro?e Risikogruppe (Schülerinnen und Schüler, deren Leistungen das Niveau der Kompetenzstufe I nicht überschreiten und zum Teil sogar deutlich darunter liegen), der Zusammenhang zwischen sozialer Herkunft und Leistung ist stark ausgepr?gt und das Leistungsniveau bestimmter Schülergruppen aus zugewanderten Familien ist unbefriedigend. Er?rtert werden die Felder bildungspolitischen Handelns im Anschluss an PISA und die Schwierigkeiten, den notwendigen Ver?nderungsprozess im Rahmen des f?derativen Systems der Bundesrepublik Deutschland zu organisieren.     

A mediation meta-analysis of the role of maternal responsivity in the association between socioeconomic risk and children’s language

This meta-analysis tested maternal responsivity as a mediator of the association between socioeconomic risk and children's preschool language abilities. The search included studies up to 2017 and meta-analytic structural equation modeling, allowed us to examine the magnitude of the indirect effect across 17 studies (k = 19). The meta-analysis included 6433 predominantly White, English speaking children (M_age = 36 months; 50% female) from Western, industrialized countries. All paths in the model were statistically significant, notably, the indirect effect was significant (b = −.052), showing that maternal responsivity may be a proximal intervening variable between socioeconomic risk and children's language development. Moderator analyses found that the indirect effect was stronger for sensitive parenting than warmth and when parenting was assessed in the family home.     

Effect of biological maturation on maximal oxygen uptake and ventilatory thresholds in soccer players: an allometric approach

In this study, we investigated the effect of biological maturation on maximal oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O(2max)) and ventilatory thresholds (VT(1) and VT(2)) in 110 young soccer players separated into pubescent and post-pubescent groups.. Maximal oxygen uptake and [Vdot]O(2) corresponding to VT(1) and VT(2) were expressed as absolute values, ratio standards, theoretical exponents, and experimentally observed exponents. Absolute [Vdot]O(2) (ml · min(-1)) was different between groups for VT(1), VT(2), and [Vdot]O(2max). Ratio standards (ml · kg(-1) · min(-1)) were not significantly different between groups for VT(1), VT(2), and [Vdot]O(2max). Theoretical exponents (ml · kg(-0.67) · min(-1) and ml · kg(-0.75) · min(-1)) were not properly adjusted for the body mass effects on VT(1), VT(2), and [Vdot]O(2max). When the data were correctly adjusted using experimentally observed exponents, VT(1) (ml · kg(-0.94) · min(-1)) and VT(2) (ml · kg(-0.95) · min(-1)) were not different between groups. The experimentally observed exponent for [Vdot]O(2max) (ml · kg(-0.90) · min(-1)) was different between groups (P = 0.048); however, this difference could not be attributed to biological maturation. In conclusion, biological maturation had no effect on VT(1), VT(2) or [Vdot]O(2max) when the effect of body mass was adjusted by experimentally observed exponents. Thus, when evaluating the physiological performance of young soccer players, allometric scaling needs to be taken into account instead of using theoretical approaches.