Investigations regarding the behaviour of historic glass and its surface layers towards different wavelengths applied for laser cleaning

The application of lasers for the removal of superficial deposits from historic stained glass is a comparatively new field of scientific interest. Experimental studies concerning the behaviour of glass substrates and the corresponding superficial deposits towards different laser wavelengths were carried out. The experiments were performed using wavelengths of λ = 193 nm (ArF-Excimer), 308 nm (XeCl-Excimer), 355 nm (Nd:YAG third harmonic) and 1 064 nm (Nd:YAG fundamental) in comparison to λ = 248 nm (KrF-Excimer). This comparison is due to the fact that the present knowledge is based on the 248 nm wavelength. Specially prepared model glass samples representing the original fragments and samples of organic polymers (formerly used as a protective material for historic stained glasses) were used to study the effects of laser radiation and were subsequently characterised by optical microscopy.     

Google Scholar and Web of Science: Examining gender differences in citation coverage across five scientific disciplines

Many studies demonstrate differences in the coverage of citing publications in Google Scholar (GS) and Web of Science (WoS). Here, we examine to what extent citation data from the two databases reflect the scholarly impact of women and men differently. Our conjecture is that WoS carries an indirect gender bias in its selection criteria for citation sources that GS avoids due to criteria that are more inclusive. Using a sample of 1250 U.S. researchers in Sociology, Political Science, Economics, Cardiology and Chemistry, we examine gender differences in the average citation coverage of the two databases. We also calculate database-specific h-indices for all authors in the sample. In repeated simulations of hiring scenarios, we use these indices to examine whether women's appointment rates increase if hiring decisions rely on data from GS in lieu of WoS. We find no systematic gender differences in the citation coverage of the two databases. Further, our results indicate marginal to non-existing effects of database selection on women's success-rates in the simulations. In line with the existing literature, we find the citation coverage in WoS to be largest in Cardiology and Chemistry and smallest in Political Science and Sociology. The concordance between author-based h-indices measured by GS and WoS is largest for Chemistry followed by Cardiology, Political Science, Sociology and Economics.     

Physics in upper secondary schools in Denmark

This article is the third in a series reporting on the changes in attitudes and interests‐‐mainly with respect to physics‐of several hundred students as they proceed through the Danish upper secondary school (Gymnasium). It concentrates on the results of the final investigation which took place shortly before the students leave the school.     

Television: The performance of nonresident students in the “economics U$A” telecourse

Abstract

Correspondence study represents the first and most persistent distance education format in American universities. Later called independent study, it enabled universities to disseminate instruction far beyond their campuses. Yet, national‐level leadership provided by the National University Continuing Education Association (NUEA) and its divisions has been relatively restrained. In contrast, leadership in the private correspondence school sector has been assertive, and sometimes even aggressive. The NUEA and its members shunned this approach, choosing instead to lead by persuasion and example. The NUEA developed standards of practice concerned primarily with replicating on‐campus teaching styles and values, rather than the promotion of distance education. With the abolition of its division structure, the NUEA's successor, the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA), has opted out of a leadership role in independent study. This paper concludes that the NUEA's initial attempt at leadership in distance education— while reasoned and principled—contained flaws that made failure inevitable.     

Organismic integration as a dynamic process: a systematic review of empirical studies on change in behavioral regulations in exercise in adults

In facilitating the adoption of exercise behavior, attention should be directed towards the dynamic nature of behavioral regulations. Organismic integration theory presents a suitable framework for investigating fluctuations in behavioral regulations. However, current results pertaining to this issue revealed mixed findings. The aim of this review is to examine the empirical literature on the dynamic nature of organismic integration theory in exercise settings over time in adults. A systematic review of English articles using PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, ScienceDirect, and SPORTDiscus was conducted including keywords of organismic integration theory, longitudinal designs, change in behavioral regulations, and exercise. Findings are summarized through quantitative analysis of the evidence. Regarding autonomous regulations, steady increases in regulations are observable that originate within the first weeks and persist for up to one year. Most studies reported no changes in controlled regulations, although in a few cases changes were observed six weeks after baseline or later. The review adds to the theoretical understanding of how behavioral regulations are internalized. However, whether changes in regulation occur depends on both the type of regulation and on contextual characteristics. Future research of longitudinal design is warranted to identify optimal periods in which individuals seek for increased support during exercise adoption.     

The endless spiral

A Danish textbook on the history of technology,Skruen uden ende — Den vestlige teknologis historie (The Endless Spiral: A History of Western Technology), was published in 1990. In the present article, one of the authors presents some of the background to this event and puts the work into historical perspective by describing a number of different traditions for writing textbooks on the history of technology. Next follows a discussion of why history of technology ought to be an important ingredient in upper secondary education and why only the contextualist tradition — inspired by the rapidly developing school of research centered around the journalTechnology & Culture — offers any real hope for providing meaningful teaching materials on history of technology. The paper ends with a brief outline of the textbook's contents, with special emphasis on one of its several case studies describing the development of certain mainstream technologies in the context of the scientific, economic, social and cultural developments existing when the particular technology came into being.     

The importance of morphemic awareness to reading achievement and the potential of signing morphemes to supporting reading development

The ability to access and understand the meaning of multi-morphemic words is essential for age-appropriate literacy growth as well as for achievement in other participants, such as science and social studies, which are so print-dependent. This paper provides a theoretical basis for focusing on the morphology of English when teaching students who are deaf or hard of hearing to read through a review of the literature on the role of morphology in reading for both hearing students and those with a hearing loss. In addition, the authors review the empirical literature on Signing Exact English (SEE), a system of signing English constructed in which the morphology of words is made visible to children who might not be able to hear them. The authors propose that students' use of SEE can provide a bridge to developing the morphemic awareness so necessary for age-appropriate reading development and achievement.     

Spannungsfeld Polyvalenz in der Lehrerbildung

The Bologna Process of higher education reform has led to a vast array of different programs of study in German teacher training. In this article, we firstly analyze the implementation of Bachelor programs in teacher training, comparing profession-oriented programs (i.e. those aiming to train students for the teaching profession from the beginning of studies) to polyvalent programs (i.e. those aiming at broad qualifications and including a late decision to become a teacher). Secondly, we investigate whether students enrolled in these study programs differ systematically in their subjective certainty about their career choice. To answer these questions, we analyze portfolios of documents related to teacher training programs from nine German universities that prepare students for teaching in the academic track. Additionally, we analyze data from N?=?2585 Bachelor and N?=?928 Master degree students. We found that most programs, even when they espouse polyvalence, require an early decision to become a teacher. Moreover, our data confirm findings from earlier studies indicating that student teachers are highly certain about their career choice from the very beginning, with students in polyvalent programs being slightly less certain than those in profession-oriented programs (d?=?0.32).     

The effectiveness of an adaptive digital educational game for the training of early numerical abilities in terms of cognitive,noncognitive and efficiency outcomes

Adaptive educational games provide new opportunities to train early numerical skills. However, empirical evidence for the effectiveness of adaptive educational games is scarce. This study investigated the effectiveness of an adaptive game compared to a nonadaptive game in terms of cognitive, noncognitive and efficiency outcomes. In total, 84 children were randomly assigned to a condition in which children trained early numerical skills with an adaptive version of the Number Sense Game (NSG), or to a condition in which they trained with a nonadaptive version. Early numeracy was evaluated before the training, immediately after the training and 3 weeks after the training. Math anxiety (MA) was assessed before and 3 weeks after the training. The time children practiced with the NSG was used to assess efficiency. Results revealed that children in both conditions improved on early numerical ability, with sustained effects 3 weeks after the training. In both conditions, children’s MA scores were lower after the training. Children in the adaptive condition learned more efficiently compared to the nonadaptive condition, and the interaction between prior knowledge and condition has shown that children with low prior knowledge benefited more from a nonadaptive training while children with high prior knowledge benefited more from an adaptive training in terms of learning efficiency. These results confirm that adaptive educational games can offer solace in terms of the need for differentiation.     

Students’ educational use of Facebook groups

The aim of the article is to explore educational use of student-managed Facebook groups in upper secondary education (in Denmark). Much research on educational potentials of Facebook has studied groups managed by teachers. However, there is a lack of in-depth research on Facebook groups managed by students and without participation from teachers. As this study shows, students’ use of student-managed groups differs from their use of teacher-managed tools such as learning management systems (LMSs). The article presents an empirical study based partly on a content analysis of 3139 posts and 15,018 replies within five Facebook groups, and partly on a questionnaire answered by 1463 students and 148 teachers. The results of the study show that whereas LMSs were seen by students primarily as institutional systems of the teacher, Facebook groups have an educational potential to be used by students for peer-to-peer learning.