Volume Contents

Volume Contents

Volume Contents     

Entwicklung gro?er Systeme mit generischen Methoden – Eine übersicht über den Sonderforschungsbereich 501

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

IFE goes international

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Discrimination of Biomechanically Possible and Impossible Hand Movements at Birth

The development of human body perception has long been investigated, but little is known about its early origins. This study focused on how a body part highly relevant to the human species, namely the hand, is perceived a few days after birth. Using a preferential‐looking paradigm, 24‐ to 48‐hr‐old newborns watched biomechanically possible and impossible dynamic hand gestures (Experiment 1, N = 15) and static hand postures (Experiment 2, N = 15). In Experiment 1, newborns looked longer at the impossible, compared to the possible, hand movement, whereas in Experiment 2 no visual preference emerged. These findings suggest that early in life the representation of the human body may be shaped by sensory‐motor experience.     

Just do it! Study time increases mathematical achievement scores for grade 4-10 students in a large longitudinal cross-country study

Decades of research produced inconsistent findings on whether study time can lead to achievement gains in mathematics. Data generated by more than six thousand students from three different countries who solved more than 1.1 million problem sets using a dedicated mathematics software are analyzed regarding the effect of study time on students’ achievements in mathematics. Results showed that more study time led to higher performance scores in mathematics. Further analyses revealed that low-performing students in the first school year (2017-2018) who increased their study time in the following year (2018-2019) revealed greatest gains in performance in the same school year (2018-2019) and even in the year after (2019-2020). Finally, results replicated previous observations of robust performance scores within students over the three school years, with performance scores in 2017-2018 predicting those of 2018-2019 which predicted those of 2019-2020. These results support the idea that students, in particular low-performing students, can boost their academic abilities to upper levels when increasing their study time.

     

Integration of Scientific Competence into Gross Anatomy Teaching Using Poster Presentations: Feasibility and Perception among Medical Students

Scientific competencies, as defined in the German competency framework, describe the ability to think independently and act scientifically which is a central component of medical education. This report describes integration of scientific competencies into anatomical teaching. Based on findings seen in two consecutive years of dissection courses, students worked on either a case report (n = 70) or an original research study (n = 6) in the format of a scientific poster while learning to use primary literature. Posters were evaluated by juror teams using standardized evaluation criteria. Student perception of the project was assessed by quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the faculty's course evaluation and an online-survey. Overall, students worked collaboratively and invested extra-time (median 3.0 hours) in poster creation. Primary literature was integrated in 90.8% of the posters. Overall poster quality was satisfactory (46.3 ± 8.5 [mean ± standard deviation] out of 72 points), but several insufficiencies were identified. Students integrated information gained from the donor's death certificate, post-mortem full-body computed tomography (CT) scan (22.4%), and histopathological workup (31.6%) in their case reports. Students responded positively about learning new scientific skills (median 4.0 on a six-point Likert scale), but free-text answers revealed that some students experienced the project as an extra burden in a demanding gross anatomy course. In summary, it was feasible to introduce students to scientific skills during the dissection course and to increase interest in science in approximately a third of the survey respondents. Further adjustments to ensure the posters' scientific quality might be necessary for the future.