Educational Research Expenditure in Switzerland: Overview and Analysis

Switzerland spends about 6% of its GDP on education. In the past few years, there have been carrying out important reforms in the educational field, for example introducing a vocational high school diploma and creating specialized higher vocational institution (hautes écoles). What is the extent of educational research in this context? There are very little data on this subject. To meet the need of information, we carried out a study examining expenditure on Swiss educational research from 1998 to 2000 and the link between sources of funding and research centres. The results of the above-mentioned study show that expenditure on educational research is modest compared with the overall cost of the educational system. It also reveals a distinct distribution of tasks amongst the institutions directly dependent on state educational administrations and universities. Although there are also other sources of funds, educational research relies mainly on public funding. This is disconcerting, as public budgets have been facing cuts in recent years, and new requirements for research needs will arise (future research is likely to involve such activities as evaluating reforms and participating in international survey). We conclude new funding strategies have to be found and researchers need to communicate their results more effectively.     

Die Aufgaben der Allgemeinen Pädagogik

Seit einigen Jahren gibt es eine lebhafte Auseinandersetzung über die Allgemeine P?dagogik und über die Aufgaben, die die Allgemeinen P?dagogen erfüllen sollen. In diesem Aufsatz werden die unterschiedlichen Ansichten über diese Frage zusammengetragen, analysiert und in einen systematischen Zusammenhang gebracht. Dabei werden moralphilosophische und fachbezogene Aufgaben unterschieden. Bei den fachbezogenen Aufgaben gibt es zwei Gruppen: kritische und konstruktive Aufgaben. Zur zweiten Gruppe geh?ren insbesondere (a) die Bestimmung des Forschungsgegenstands der P?dagogik, (b) die Lenkung der Forschungsbemühungen, (c) die Bestimmung der Grundbegriffe und (d) die Darlegung des p?dagogischen Grundgedankens. Bei allen diesen Aufgaben werden die Voraussetzungen für ihre Erfüllung und die Schwierigkeiten diskutiert, mit denen dabei zu rechnen ist.     

2. Roland Reichenbach: Demokratisches Selbst und dilettantisches Subjekt. Demokratische Bildung und Erziehung in der Spätmoderne

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The development of attitudes and social characteristics of students attending predominantly black colleges: A longitudinal study

The study was designed to assess the development of Family Independence (FI), Peer Independence (PI), Liberalism (L), Social Conscience (SC), and Cultural Sophistication (CS) among students attending three predominantly black colleges. Responses to the Attitudes section of the College Student Questionnaires were obtained from 334 students when they were entering freshmen, end-of-year freshmen, and graduating seniors. The data were analyzed with a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance design. College, Sex, and Time were the independent variables, and the five attitude scales were the dependent variables. The tests for the main effects of time revealed overall gains on all five scales. A significant Sex × Time interaction indicated that PI scores for males increased, while females' PI scores decreased, during the freshman year; the females' PI scores increased during the subsequent three year period. Significant College × Time interactions were found for FI and CS. College × Sex × Time interactions were significant for L and CS. The results indicated that students who attended these predominantly black colleges developed greater self-reliance and autonomy and broadened interests in political, social, and cultural affairs. The extent of change in these attitudes varied, however, according to the college attended and/or sex of the student.     

Testing Criterion Correlations With Scale Component Measurement Errors Using Latent Variable Modeling

A latent variable modeling method for testing criterion correlations with measurement error terms in multicomponent measuring instruments is outlined. The approach is based on an application of the Benjamini–Hochberg multiple testing procedure and can be used when assumptions of validity estimation related procedures need to be examined. The method also allows studying the extent to which criterion validity coefficients might be due to the relationship between a presumed underlying latent construct evaluated by a psychometric scale and a criterion variable, or could be a consequence of the relation between measurement error in the overall scale score and the criterion. The discussed procedure is widely applicable with popular latent variable modeling software, and is illustrated using a numerical example.     

A fluorescence based method for the quantification of surface functional groups in closed micro- and nanofluidic channels

Surface analysis is critical for the validation of microfluidic surface modifications for biology, chemistry, and physics applications. However, until now quantitative analytical methods have mostly been focused on open surfaces. Here, we present a new fluorescence imaging method to directly measure the surface coverage of functional groups inside assembled microchannels over a wide dynamic range. A key advance of our work is the elimination of self-quenching to obtain a linear signal even with a high density of functional groups. This method is applied to image the density and monitor the stability of vapor deposited silane layers in bonded silicon/glass micro- and nanochannels.     

Maximal Criterion Validity and Scale Criterion Validity: A Latent Variable Modeling Approach for Examining Their Difference

This article studies the difference between the criterion validity coefficient of the widely used overall scale score for a unidimensional multicomponent measuring instrument and the maximal criterion validity coefficient that is achievable with a linear combination of its components. A necessary and sufficient condition of their identity is presented in the case of measurement errors being uncorrelated among themselves and with a used criterion. An upper bound of the difference in these validity coefficients is provided, indicating that it cannot exceed the discrepancy between the maximal reliability and composite reliability indexes. A readily applicable latent variable modeling procedure is discussed that can be used for point and interval estimation of the difference between the maximal and scale criterion validity coefficients. The outlined method is illustrated with a numerical example.