RE-ENGAGING STUDENTS IN SCIENCE: ISSUES OF ASSESSMENT, FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE AND SITES FOR LEARNING

International assessment data paints a complex picture of the engagement and achievement of New Zealand students in science. New Zealand was second only to Finland in the top achievers group in PISA 2006, but it also has one of the widest spreads in student achievement, particularly in relation to Mori and Pasifika students. Thus, the challenges faced by New Zealand students, teachers, schools and policy makers resonate with those from elsewhere. New Zealand has a strong research and development tradition around student ideas in science education, but recently, there has been increased recognition at the policy and practice level of the importance of both engagement and participation linked to student identity. A sociocultural orientation to identity has the potential to generate new ways of thinking about and responding to the challenge of engaging students in science. This orientation involves considering classrooms as sites for students working through the development and performance of science-related identities, or not. In this paper, three suggestions from long-term research studies are made for ways forward in addressing the challenge of increasing student engagement and participation through an expansion of the possibilities for students to express and develop science-related identities. These are reconceptualising assessment, the inclusion of student funds of knowledge and strategies for breaching the classroom walls.     

School improvement through inspections? First empirical insights from Germany

Since the late 1990s, broad discussions on education and educational quality have given impetus to the implementation of many new measures aimed at the improvement of schools in Germany. In this context, school inspections have been introduced in all 16 German federal states during the last 6 years. In the meantime, scientific research into the functioning of this steering instrument has begun. In this article, first empirical findings on the effects of school inspections in Germany are presented by drawing on a survey study with 468 principals of schools in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia that were externally evaluated during the years 2005 to 2008. Findings indicate that school inspection results are considered by a large group of stakeholders within schools and that they are discussed in different settings. In many schools, development measures have already been planned and implemented. Moreover, first effects are perceived in different fields. On the whole, findings agree with the results of two thematically related German studies but draw a less heterogeneous picture than the international research context.     

Subaltern Thinking in Religious Education? Postcolonial Readings of (German) Schoolbooks

ABSTRACT

This paper deals with the disclosure of subaltern thinking in current German-language textbooks for religious education. For the hermeneutical framing of this analysis, the approach of a postcolonial reading is particularly profitable. Obvious hierarchical relationships from clearly up and down can consequently be made visible and their presumed self-evidence unmasked. Even hidden hegemonic forms of expression can be uncovered in this way. With regard to current theology and religious education racism and misogyny, environmental degradation and sexual exploitation are attitudes that have already and almost as amatter of course been taken up critically. They are pedagogically reflected and attempted to overcome by using counter-models such as cultural diversity, equal rights, sustainability and sexual self-determination.In exciting contrast to this there are still nowadays textbooks used with remnants of exactly such formats of colonial thoughts. We argue that decolonising schoolbooks can be a useful part of decolonising the religious education curriculum. The schoolbook analysis carried out for this purpose is structured by four leading categories: Anthropological assumptions (1), religious classifications and interpretations (2), conceptions of culture and its hybridity (3) and finally the relationship to creation and environment (4). Textbooks from primary, secondary and vocational schools were examined.     

Assessment of metacognitive knowledge in students with special educational needs

This study investigated whether and, if so, how metacognitive knowledge can be assessed validly in students with special educational needs in a large-scale assessment like the German National Educational Panel Study. In total, 804 sixth-grade students including both regular school students attending the lowest track of secondary education (Hauptschule) and students with special educational needs in learning participated in the study. A scenario-based test of metacognitive knowledge focusing primarily on different aspects of strategy knowledge was implemented. In order to investigate optimal testing conditions, two conditions that varied in terms of administration mode were compared: autonomous reading as in regular test settings and a read-aloud condition. Reading speed and reasoning abilities were assessed as control variables. As expected, regular school students outperformed students with special educational needs in the metacognitive knowledge test. In addition, higher correlations between metacognitive knowledge and reading speed emerged in the autonomous reading condition compared to the read-aloud condition. Contrary to our expectations, a differential boost due to the testing accommodation of reading aloud was, however, only observed in regular students but not in students with special educational needs. The results are discussed with regard to educational and assessment-relevant approaches.     

Metacognitive knowledge in children at early elementary school

In metacognition research, many studies focused on metacognitive knowledge of preschoolers or children at the end of elementary school or secondary school, but investigations of children starting elementary school are quite limited. The present study, thus, took a closer look at children’s knowledge about mental processes and strategies in early elementary school aiming to extend findings on the respective age period. Therefore, at first, a new test that can be administered in group settings and that assesses a broad concept of children’s metacognitive knowledge in early elementary school was evaluated. Furthermore, analyses on the structure of metacognitive knowledge were carried out in cross-sectional as well as longitudinal analyses. In a longitudinal design, the new test instrument was administered to 870 children at the end of first grade and again one year later (N?=?720). Item Response models were used to evaluate the construct validity of the test. Test characteristics were checked based on different fit statistics, test fairness, and discriminant validity. In summary, the test exhibited good psychometric properties. Analyses on the dimensionality of the assessed metacognitive knowledge revealed that different strategies seemed to form rather distinct dimensions of metacognitive knowledge. However, these dimensions showed a rather homogeneous development from first to second grade. Impacts of the findings on theoretical considerations and on the theoretical understanding of metacognitive knowledge and further analyses with metacognitive competence data are discussed.     

How and Why to Measure Personal and Historical Nostalgic Responses Through Entertainment Media

Nostalgia is increasingly and successfully used as a means to attract media recipients. But what are the effects of different types of nostalgic responses through movies, songs, and video games, and how and why should they be measured? To clarify this, the personal and historical nostalgia scales questions were validated in a media context by conducting exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and both regression and correlation analyses (studies 1 and 2). Thus, media researchers can now measure personal and historical nostalgia as a response to and across three different entertainment media: films, music, and video games. The author finds positive effects of personal nostalgia on entertainment media buying and word-of-mouth intentions, contrary to historical nostalgia.     

Further Education of Higher Education Graduates — the More,the Better?

In times of rapid technological and organisational change, it is argued that lifelong further education becomes more and more important for labour market success. Especially in labour market segments for the highly qualified, it is essential to constantly update one's qualifications. This is reflected in the finding that graduates with tertiary education are closely involved in further training measures at the beginning of their life courses. Almost all take part in at least one further training measure in the first five years after graduation. The further education strategies of higher education graduates, however, vary greatly in terms of frequency of participation, duration of measures, financing of the measure and the type of skills acquired. Using a German graduate panel which traces a sample of graduates up to five years after they obtained their degree in 1997 (HIS Absolventenpanel), we analyse which of these strategies are most successful in terms of wages. Using random effect panel models, we find — controlling for a variety of other factors — that the frequency of participation in further education only has a significant positive influence on male graduates' wages. Moreover, it is mainly measures paid exclusively by the employer and courses directed at personality development, i.e. management skills, which have substantial wage premiums.     

Amateur Photographs as Visual Quotes

The participation of amateurs in the production of news has been widely noted as a growing phenomenon. Recent research demonstrates that amateur photographs are understood as raw, additional or potential elements of news content making and are subject to a translation process. In this paper, I introduce the concept of the visual quote to show how news media workers both accommodate and distance themselves from amateur content. In making the connection between amateur photographs and quotes, I aim to shift the understanding of amateur photographs away from the perception that they represent a new form of journalism. Instead I use the concept of the visual quote to identify how news media workers maintain their professional authority over amateur photographs in much the same way as quotes from bystanders are used in written journalism. The concept of the visual quote also acknowledges the role of the camera as a note-taking device in contemporary media use. I argue that the sourcing of amateur photographs is not explicitly disruptive; rather it blends with the existing processes of professional news media practice. It questions claims that the rise of the amateur would lead to fundamental changes in media and society. The research was conducted in 2010/2011 using interview evidence and observations collected at the Australian Leader Community Newspapers chain. Interviews were also conducted with representatives from a further 14 media institutions in Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom. In addition, secondary sources were used to provide further insights and suggest general tendencies in the field.