Ground level ozone exposure and distribution over the historical Peninsula of Istanbul

In this study, passive samplers were used to measure ozone exposure distribution maps over the historical peninsula of Istanbul, Turkey. The study area is partially important due to the presence of cultural and historical buildings and structures distributed all over the peninsula. Unesco's World Heritage list covers four zones located in this historical peninsula in Istanbul. It is necessary to evaluate the pollution distribution in high resolution to construct effective risk management strategies. For this purpose, 50 sampling stations were installed within the study area. Three sampling campaigns within different seasons (summer, winter and fall) showing different ozone distribution characteristics were carried out. Seasonal measurements of ozone exposure values were used to obtain a yearly exposure level, which is an important part of risk characterization. Seasonal ozone exposure maps over the historical peninsula were obtained using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) based interpolation models with high resolution. Risk maps including five regions, based on ozone exposure levels were created. Structures and historical regions located within these risk zones were identified. Based on the defined exposure regions, we found that the Archaeological Park, one of the items on UNESCO's list, is located within the most risky region.     

A twin-study of sleep difficulties in school-aged children

This study examines frequency, overlap, and genetic and environmental influences on sleep difficulties, which are understudied in school-aged children. The Sleep Self Report and the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire were completed by 300 twin pairs (aged 8 years) and their parents. Child report suggested more frequent sleep problems than parent report (e.g., regular sleep onset delay was reported by 45% of children and 17% of parents). Associations between most of the sleep difficulties were small but significant (e.g., r(s)=.16 for parent report of bedtime resistance and sleep onset delay). Twin correlations based on parent reports suggest greater genetic influence (M=50%) than those based on child self-report (M=18%). Possible rater effects should be considered when evaluating children's sleep problems.     

An investigation on industry-sponsored design projects' effectiveness at the first-year level: potential issues and preliminary results

This paper presents the preliminary work for developing guidelines to ensure that industry-sponsored projects in first-year courses aid, not hamper, retention of students. Specifically, the overall research plan includes the following steps: (1) investigating the appropriateness of industry projects in a required introduction to engineering design course (approximately 1000 students per year), (2) assessing the impact of industry-sponsored projects on first-year students' learning and retention, and (3) promoting an awareness of issues involved in successfully introducing industry projects in the first year. It is expected that the outcomes of this work will result in guidelines widely applicable by other institutions looking into or currently using industry projects in the first year, thereby addressing the recognized national need of increasing retention rates, especially amongst women and minorities.

This paper covers a review of potential factors affecting industry-sponsored projects' appropriateness at the first year, and related preliminary data.     

Who is the expert? Construct and criteria validity of student and teacher ratings of instruction

In this article, we examine the construct and criteria validity of student and teacher ratings as indicators of instructional features. As parsimonious measures, student and teacher reports are frequently used to assess aspects of the learning environment. From a methodological perspective, however, both approaches have been questioned. Whereas student ratings are occasionally criticised as being undifferentiated and easily influenced by personal preferences, teacher reports are sometimes considered to be biased by self-serving strategies or teaching ideals. Instead of pitting one method against the other, our study aimed at establishing the specific value of each approach. The analyses draw on data from a German extension to the 2003 PISA assessment, in which 288 mathematics teachers and their students completed questionnaires using identical items to tap various aspects of instruction. Mean student ratings were computed for each class. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed specific conceptual structures for student and teacher ratings, with teachers elaborating on the use of tasks and methods, and students focusing on their teacher’s support in personal and learning matters. Three shared dimensions were also established: occurrence of classroom management problems, degree of cognitive autonomy during lessons, and tempo of interaction. Teacher/student agreement on these dimensions varied across constructs, with considerable agreement on classroom management, low agreement on cognitive autonomy, and no significant agreement on whether or not the interaction tempo was appropriate. Accordingly, correlations with external criteria (student motivation, teacher motivation, mathematical achievement scores, and characteristics of the tasks set in class) also varied across constructs. We conclude that student and teacher ratings are best suited to tapping different aspects of the learning environment, and recommend that care be taken in choosing a data source appropriate for the construct to be measured.

The h index research output measurement: Two approaches to enhance its accuracy

The h index is a widely used indicator to quantify an individual's scientific research output. But it has been criticized for its insufficient accuracy—the ability to discriminate reliably between meaningful amounts of research output. As a single measure it cannot capture the complete information on the citation distribution over a scientist's publication list. An extensive data set with bibliometric data on scientists working in the field of molecular biology is taken as an example to introduce two approaches providing additional information to the h index: (1) h² lower, h² center, and h² upper are proposed, which allow quantification of three areas within a scientist's citation distribution: the low impact area (h² lower), the area captured by the h index (h² center), and the area of publications with the highest visibility (h² upper). (2) Given the existence of different areas in the citation distribution, the segmented regression model (sRM) is proposed as a method to statistically estimate the number of papers in a scientist's publication list with the highest visibility. However, such sRM values should be compared across individuals with great care.     

Making Sense of Academic Development

One aim of student evaluation of instruction is the improvement of teaching quality, but there is little evidence that student assessment of instruction alone improves teaching. This study tried to improve the effects of evaluation by combining evaluation with individual counselling in an institutional development approach. Evaluation was conducted in a private school for speech therapy (logopedia) in 35 classes (N = 16 teachers, N = 592 students). Evaluation was done twice within a period of three to twelve months using a standardized questionnaire (HILVE‐II) developed for evaluation of university courses. The intervention effect on teaching quality was more than half a standard deviation on the teacher scales. Despite the fact that the counsellor had no pedagogical training, the quality of teaching not only improved quantitatively and qualitatively but also became more homogeneous although the relative rank listing of teachers did not change.

Ein Ziel der studentischen Lehrevaluation ist die Verbesserung von Lehrqualität. Es gibt aber wenig empirische Evidenz dafür, dass studentische Lehrevaluation allein Lehre verbessern kann. Diese Studie versuchte, die Effekte von Veranstaltungskritik in einem Ansatz, der Lehrevaluation mit Beratung verbindet, zu erhöhen. Lehrveranstaltungsevaluation wurde in einem privaten Ausbildungsinstitut für Logopädie in 35 Kursen von 16 Dozenten mit 592 Studierenden durchgeführt. Veranstaltungskritik wurde zweimal praktiziert binnen eines Zeitabschnitts von drei bis zwölf Monaten anhand eines Fragebogens (HILVE‐II), der für die Evaluation von Hochschulveranstaltungen entwickelt wurde. Der Verbesserungseffekt auf Lehrqualität war in den dozentenbezogenen Skalen größer als eine halbe Standardabweichung. Obwohl der Berater keine pädagogische Ausbildung hatte, verbesserte sich die Lehrqualität nicht nur in den quantitativen und qualitativen Maßen, sondern wurde auch homogener. Die relative Rangreihung innerhalb der Dozenten blieb aber stabil.

Un des objectifs de l’évaluation, par les étudiants, de l’enseignement est l’amélioration de la qualité de ce dernier. Pourtant, les preuves que l’évaluation de l’enseignement par les étudiants améliore celui‐ci sont limitées. Cette étude a tenté d’améliorer les effets de l’évaluation en combinant l’évaluation avec du conseil individuel au sein d’une approche de développement institutionnel. L’évaluation a été effectuée dans 35 classes (N = 16 enseignants, N = 592 étudiants) d’une école privée d’orthophonie (logopédie). L’évaluation a été effectuée deux fois sur une période variant de trois à seize mois en employant un questionnaire standard (HILVE‐II) développé pour l’évaluation des cours universitaires. L’effet relatif à la qualité de l’enseignement associé à l’intervention représentait plus d’un demi écart‐type sur l’échelle des enseignants. En dépit du fait que le conseiller n’avait pas de formation pédagogique, la qualité de l’enseignement s’est améliorée à la fois au plan quantitatif et au plan qualitatif, en plus de devenir davantage homogène, bien que le positionnement relatif des enseignants n’ait pas changé.     

An investigation of student teachers' study strategies with respect to certain variables

This study aimed to determine the study strategies of student teachers attending vocational education faculties and whether these habits are affected by certain variables (department, year of study, positive perception of university and lecturer, time spent studying). The study sample consisted of a total of 746 student teachers from 5 departments, 380 of whom were freshman students and 366 of whom were senior students. The results revealed that student teachers' study strategies were at a moderate level. Additionally, it was observed that study strategies scores were higher for freshman students than for senior students, for students with a positive perception of university than for those with a negative perception, and for students who studied more than 5 hr weekly than for those who studied 3 hr or less.     

ARE NON‐OBSERVANT ISRAELI JEWS HEBREW SPEAKING “GOYIM”? Constructivist Cultural Perspectives

In order to continue being an authentic Jew, the secular Israeli Jew must be knowledgeable of the Jewish religious heritage. If he is an ignoramus regarding Jewish sources, unattuned to their substance, he approaches the condition of being an Hebrew speaking Goy (Hertzberg, 1995; 7).