The Relationship between Different Criteria for Admission to Medical School and Student Success

The relevance of admission policy for educational outcome in medical schools is demonstrated by means of longitudinal data on the total population of several cohorts of students admitted to the German medical schools on the basis of a variety of criteria (n = 28,000 students). The correlations between the quantitative criteria for admission and performance on the First Medical Examination (which takes place after 2–3 years of study) were calculated. Secondly, the mean total scores on this examination that have been achieved at first attempt by groups of students admitted according to different selection criteria were compared. Thirdly, the rates of success on the medical examination at first attempt after two years of study were compared for the above‐mentioned groups of students. The most striking result is the large difference between the groups under comparison in terms of their success rates in the First Medical Examination. The highest pass rates (80%) are achieved by students selected on the basis of a combination of the average mark in the secondary school leaving certificate and the total score on the ‘Test for Medical Studies’, an aptitude test. Had the students been admitted at random, they would only have attained a pass rate of 48% (base rate). For those admitted on the basis of the result of an interview or on the basis of ‘waiting‐time’ (i.e. the number of semesters they had spent queuing) the pass rates are 49 and 45%. The results are interpreted in the light of different political and educational goals that are or can be envisaged when decisions on admission strategies are made.     

The Relationship Between Homework and Achievement—Still Much of a Mystery

Despite the long history of homework and homework research, the role that homework plays in enhancing student achievement is, at best, only partly understood. In this review, we give an overview of twentieth-century homework research and discuss the reasons why the relationship between homework and achievement remains unclear. We identify the operationalization of homework and achievement and the problematic handling of hierarchically ordered data as two important factors affecting the validity of many of the studies performed over the last century. We then describe a new generation of homework studies using multilevel modeling to deal with hierarchically nested data. Finally, we argue that homework research should be more closely connected to well-founded psychological theories of learning and instruction, and we offer three potential links (theories of instruction time, self-regulation theory and expectancy-value theory, and teaching behavior).     

Higher education in Japan: A view from outside

Higher education in Japan is often characterized in comparativestudies as considerably expanded, highly stratified, overshadowed bycompetition for admission, not very demanding for the masses ofundergraduate students, important in awarding credentials, but without closelinks between the subjects of study and subsequent professional tasks. Thesecharacteristics have been pointed out so frequently in the past that thequestion has to be raised whether this picture is too old-fashioned and toomuch of a stereotype. This article echoes the previous articles of thisspecial issue. The themes addressed by Japanese authors are partlysummarized, partly supplemented and partly challenged by a foreign observer.Developments and notably changes in the early 1990s are analyzed in respectto the quantitative-structural pattern of the Japanese higher educationssystem; governance and financing; access and admissions; learning, teachingand research; links between educational attainment, credentials and career;curricula, competences and graduate employment, and finally graduateeducation. The author draws the conclusion that efforts directed towardsreforming higher education have been spread over many issues, among themmany academic issues such as new curricular approaches, rather thanfocussing on single major issues such as steering, governance and evaluationas one could observe in Europe during the last ten years or so. Changingsocietal conditions, for example growing employment problems, the increaseof specialists' career and internationalization currently stimulate areconsideration of higher education policies in various respects.     

Leistungstest, Offenheit von Bildungsgängen und obligatorische Beratung der Eltern

Zusammenfassung Dieser Beitrag untersucht das übertrittsverfahren von der Grundschule in die Sekundarschule I der deutschsprachigen Schulen des Kantons Freiburg (Schweiz). Das Deutschfreiburger übergangsmodell mit seinen verschiedenen Komponenten wird vorgestellt und evaluiert. Ein besonderes Augenmerk liegt dabei auf der Frage, ob unerwünschte Effekte des famili?ren Hintergrunds durch dieses Modell reduziert bzw. eliminiert werden k?nnen. Untersucht wird im Weiteren die übereinstimmung der übertrittsempfehlung von Eltern und Lehrkr?ften sowie der Prüfungsleistung. Die Autoren kommen zum Schluss, dass das untersuchte übergangsmodell die Effekte des famili?ren Hintergrunds beim übertritt von der Primarschule in die Sekundarschule relativ gering h?lt. Der sozio?konomische Hintergrund wirkt sich über die übertrittsempfehlung von Lehrkr?ften und Eltern auch auf den tats?chlichen übertritt aus; die absoluten Effekte des famili?ren Hintergrunds fallen jedoch — nach Kontrolle der Schulleistung — insgesamt vergleichsweise schwach aus. Der eingesetzte Bewertungsbogen, den Lehrkr?fte und Eltern zus?tzlich zu den Noten als Basis für die übergangsempfehlung einsetzen, scheint resistent gegenüber Effekten des famili?ren Hintergrunds zu sein.      

Assessing the impact of learning environments: How to use student ratings of classroom or school characteristics in multilevel modeling

In educational research, characteristics of the learning environment (e.g., social climate, instructional quality, goal orientation) are often assessed via student reports, and their associations with outcome variables such as school achievement or student motivation then tested. However, studying the effects of the learning environment presents a series of methodological challenges. This article discusses three crucial elements in research that uses student reports to gauge the impact of the learning environment on student outcomes. First, from a conceptual point of view, it is argued that ratings aggregated at the relevant level (e.g., class or school level), and not individual student ratings, are of primary interest in these studies. Second, the reliability of aggregated student ratings must be routinely assessed before these perceptions are related to outcome variables. Third, researchers conducting multilevel analyses need to make very clear which centering option was chosen for the predictor variables. This article shows that conclusions about the impact of learning environments can be substantially affected by the choice of a specific centering option for the individual student ratings.     

The cross-cultural generalizability of a new structural model of academic self-concepts

Prior research on the structure of academic self-concepts has demonstrated academic self-concepts to be domain-specific and hierarchically organized, but has largely failed to support the hypothesis that general academic self-concept is at the apex of the hierarchy. The present study investigates a new multidimensional nested-factor model of academic self-concepts that incorporates both domain-specific and general academic self-concepts, and the position of general academic self-concept at the apex of the self-concept hierarchy. Data were obtained from representative samples of 15-year-old students in 26 countries (total N = 106,680). Results showed that the nested-factor model provided a good fit to the data in each of the 26 countries, and that general and domain-specific academic self-concepts were meaningfully related to gender as well as to student achievement. Moreover, it emerged that the relationships between academic self-concepts and these student characteristics may differ substantially depending on whether the model applied does or does not account for the influence of general academic self-concept on domain-specific measures of academic self-concepts.     

Personality traits moderate the Big-Fish–Little-Pond Effect of academic self-concept

Equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in high-achieving classrooms than in low-achieving classrooms. This highly general and robust frame of reference effect is widely known as the Big-Fish–Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE; Marsh, 1987). This study contributes to research aiming to identify moderators of the BFLPE by investigating the effects of students' personality (i.e. Big Five traits and narcissism). Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to test the moderator hypotheses, drawing on data from a large sample of N = 4973 upper secondary track students (M age = 19.57). Consistent with a priori predictions, the negative effect of school-average achievement (the BFLPE) interacted significantly with narcissism. Students high in narcissism experienced smaller BFLPEs than did students with low or average levels of narcissism. The statistically significant effect for neuroticism acted in the opposite direction. The study illustrates how personality moderates frame of reference effects that are central to self-concept formation.     

Standardizing characterization of membrane active peptides with microfluidics

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as important players in the fight against antibiotic resistance. In parallel, the field of microfluidics has matured and its benefits are being exploited in applications of biomimetics and standardized testing. Membrane models are essential tools extensively utilized in studying the activity and modes of action of AMPs. Here, we describe how the utilization of microfluidic platforms in characterizing membrane active peptides can develop a reliable colorful image that classical techniques have rendered black and white.