Ressourcen und Anreize im Bildungswesen

Zusammenfassung  ?konomen haben viel Vertrauen in M?rkte und individuelle Entscheidungen. Jeder Staatseingriff bedarf der Begründung. Das gilt auch dann, wenn dies einen für die Wohlfahrt eines Landes so wichtigen Bereich wie die Bildung betrifft. Es muss zun?chst geprüft werden, ob und wo Marktversagen bei individuellen Entscheidungen über Bildungsinvestitionen vorliegt. Weiter bleibt zu diskutieren, wie der Staat geeignete Rahmenbedingungen für ein Bildungssystem setzen kann. Sollen mehr ?ffentliche Mittel in den Bildungssektor flie?en? Oder sind vielmehr im Bildungssystem Anreize zu setzen, damit sich sowohl die Lernenden als auch die Lehrenden intensiver im Bildungsprozess engagieren? Zur Gestaltung von Anreizen gibt es in der bildungs?konomischen Literatur eine Vielzahl von Ansatzpunkten, von denen in diesem Beitrag exemplarisch (und für Deutschland m?glicherweise besonders interessant) die Einführung zentraler Abschlussprüfungen und leistungsabh?ngiger Bezahlung von Lehrkr?ften diskutiert werden.

Lessons learnt from applying action research to support strategy formation processes in long-term care networks

This study demonstrates how action research (AR) that is aimed at scaling-up experiments can be applied to support a strategy formation process (SFP) in a subsidized long-term care network. Previous research has developed numerous AR frameworks to support experiments in various domains, but has failed to explain how to apply AR and action learning (AL) on the strategic level of organizational networks. Given this situation, we used a generic AR framework to explore its usefulness in supporting SFPs. The framework consists of four steps: (1) identifying the problem situation, (2) planning a solution, (3) taking action, and (4) reflecting on the action. The results show that utilizing AL in AR helps actors to reflect on and understand the challenges in forming a joint strategy in a network. We demonstrate that it can help to visualize the process and to create a common ground for discussion, to create a shared vision as well as commitment to scaling-up experiments. These insights should be used in future SFPs in networks. However, the results also show that the key barrier, the lack of executive commitment, was only identified at a late stage. This paper constitutes a first step toward a more sophisticated AR framework for strategy research. The mistakes highlighted here should help others avoid them in the future.     

Some extensions of elementary plasticity theory

A detailed investigation is presented of yield or loading criteria, for work hardening materials, which lead to constant strain ratios under increasing stress when stress ratios are maintained constant. The experimenter is given a choice of incremental stress-strain theories with which results of simple or complicated combined loading tests may be correlated. These theories are dealt with in order of increasing complexity and, at the same time, increasing capacity to represent experimentally established phenomena.The objective is the use of the mathematically simplest theory which will provide the desired flexibility in the analysis of experimental data.Loading functions of isotropic as well as anisotropic types are examined, among them those depending explicitly on stress alone and those depending on both stress and plastic strain. In the latter cases only those functions are investigated in which plastic strain appears to the first order. The predicted results of some basic tests are examined for several loading criteria.     

Development of a spatially uniform low-temperature hydrogen combustor

Examples of the use of additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping in a range of applications are of great interest in order to emphasize their role in development and production technology. In this study, a catalytic low temperature burner for H₂ on a lab scale with an integrated flow distributor was designed, manufactured, and tested for functionality. Based on a theoretical approach, a flow distributor for the burner was designed and a prototype was built using fused deposition modeling (FDM). Based on test results, an optimized version of the burner was then designed and manufactured using selective laser melting (SLM). The functionality of the designed catalytic burner was proven. Several advantages were found in comparison to conventional non-catalytic burners. In particular, flameless uniform low temperature heat generation with temperatures of about 200 °C could be realized. This contribution highlights the potential of additive manufacturing in chemical engineering. Not only was the final product built using SLM, but also during the development process, FDM was used for rapid prototyping.     

Human vs. Computer Diagnosis of Students’ Natural Selection Knowledge: Testing the Efficacy of Text Analytic Software

Our study examines the efficacy of Computer Assisted Scoring (CAS) of open-response text relative to expert human scoring within the complex domain of evolutionary biology. Specifically, we explored whether CAS can diagnose the explanatory elements (or Key Concepts) that comprise undergraduate students’ explanatory models of natural selection with equal fidelity as expert human scorers in a sample of >1,000 essays. We used SPSS Text Analysis 3.0 to perform our CAS and measure Kappa values (inter-rater reliability) of KC detection (i.e., computer–human rating correspondence). Our first analysis indicated that the text analysis functions (or extraction rules) developed and deployed in SPSSTA to extract individual Key Concepts (KCs) from three different items differing in several surface features (e.g., taxon, trait, type of evolutionary change) produced “substantial” (Kappa 0.61–0.80) or “almost perfect” (0.81–1.00) agreement. The second analysis explored the measurement of human–computer correspondence for KC diversity (the number of different accurate knowledge elements) in the combined sample of all 827 essays. Here we found outstanding correspondence; extraction rules generated using one prompt type are broadly applicable to other evolutionary scenarios (e.g., bacterial resistance, cheetah running speed, etc.). This result is encouraging, as it suggests that the development of new item sets may not necessitate the development of new text analysis rules. Overall, our findings suggest that CAS tools such as SPSS Text Analysis may compensate for some of the intrinsic limitations of currently used multiple-choice Concept Inventories designed to measure student knowledge of natural selection.     

Fairness constraints on profit-seeking: evidence from the German club concert industry

Unlike Kahneman et al. (Am Econ Rev 76(4):728–741, 1986) iconic snow shovel, live music is a performance good that fans attach a particular value to. Hence, an artist’s pricing decision might differ from standard rent-seeking behavior. In this paper, I propose a model that incorporates fairness concerns into the pricing decision for concert tickets. The hypotheses derived from this model are tested on data from the German club concert industry. The results are consistent with the model: Although (1) price dispersion is the dominant pricing strategy in the club concert industry and artists prefer to perform on a Friday or Saturday night, (2) artists do not set higher prices on the weekend. These results are consistent with fairness constraints, but are difficult to explain within a standard profit maximization framework. As a third result, (3) the data reveal that ticket prices are positively correlated with a city’s number of inhabitants .     

‘An Outrage,Not Athletics’: Apartheid and South African–United States Rugby Relations, 1976–1990

Abstract

In the period from1976 to1990 during the international campaign against apartheid, some affiliate members of the USA Rugby Football Union, went out of their way to establish and maintain a strong relationship with the South African Rugby Football Board and its successor, the South African Rugby Board. Over the course of six reciprocal tours, they ignored the campaigns of the worldwide anti-apartheid movement and the British Commonwealth. In their dogged pursuit of a sporting relationship with a key South African cultural institution that buttressed apartheid in a sport that, at best, enjoyed minority status in the United States, they defied both their own national federation and the American Olympic Committee. By 1990 as the international campaign against apartheid became a truly worldwide affair, US–South Africa rugby relations were suspended in line with larger political developments both within and outside of the country. This essay, beyond mapping the trials and tribulations of that relationship, also foregrounds a largely hidden history in order to fill the existing gap in the official sporting histories of both the United States and South Africa.