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The present study investigated how student teachers and mentor teachers in a one-school-year teacher practicum in Germany interacted in an 'egalitarian' way despite their experience-based gap in expertise, status and power. Our study is embedded in a participatory research context to involve the agents of change. The sample consisted of 57 student teachers and 98 mentor teachers in primary and lower secondary education. We used the critical incidents technique; critical incidents were collected through focus group discussions and analysed by qualitative content analysis. Egalitarian interaction was achieved through the participants flexibly changing roles in providing and receiving feedback and the use of an 'experimental room' where both student teachers and mentor teachers could reflect on and develop their teaching practice (through co-constructive knowledge creation while working together on teaching-related activities). For student teachers, being assigned the status of a 'colleague' demonstrated egalitarian interaction. Implications for developing participatory-involved mentoring concepts were discussed.

The importance of family-school relations and their positive effects on children's developments is well documented. They can be shaped predominantly by one-way (schools informing parents) or two-way (a partnership approach) communication. When fostering these relationships, schools and families engage on individual and collective levels, using a variety of tools such as text messages, emails, phone calls or personal contacts. A growing body of literature suggests that digital technologies are changing the way families and schools communicate and digital media contacts are often considered to be more immediate and convenient. In this contribution, we present findings from a Swiss project focusing on school websites. Using data from interviews with 33 families and personnel in eight schools (principals, teachers and other staff), we explore how family-school communication is embedded in specific contexts, including rural contexts, and takes place through diverse channels. While parents make use of and appreciate diverse communication channels, schools' choices of communication channels are often related to specific functions. Overall, we found that one-way information rather than dialogue still dominates family-school relations.

During their practical training, feedback for preservice teachers should address the demands of diverse classrooms. Using the critical incident technique within a participatory research framework, this study investigated whether and how mentors adjust their feedback in this regard. Based on a sample of 33 preservice teachers and 46 mentor teachers in German primary and lower secondary education, the results indicate that although pupils' differing prerequisites clearly presented challenges for preservice teachers, only part of the mentors referred in their feedback to these demands. Mentors who adapted their feedback referred to well-known methods for addressing differences in pupil performance and background and suggested specific novel strategies by specifying what is possible and expedient (or not) when pupils' prerequisites and backgrounds differ. These methods were found to enhance preservice teachers' self-efficacy and competencies in teaching diverse classes, and mutual diversity-oriented feedback also benefited mentors. In conclusion, the study identifies implications for feedback development.

Citation tracking (CT) collects references with citation relationships to pertinent references that are already known. This scoping review maps the benefit of and the tools and terminology used for CT in health-related systematic literature searching. We included methodological studies on evidence retrieval by CT in health-related literature searching without restrictions on study design, language, or publication date. We searched MEDLINE/Ovid, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL/EBSCOhost, LLISFT/EBSCOhost, LISTA/EBSCOhost, conducted web searching via Google Scholar, backward/forward CT of included studies and pertinent reviews, and contacting of experts. Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility. Data extraction and analysis were performed by one reviewer and checked by another. We screened 11,861 references and included 47 studies published between 1985 and 2021. Most studies (96%) assessed the benefit of CT either as supplementary or primary/stand-alone search method. Added value of CT for evidence retrieval was found by 96% of them. Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index were the most common citation indexes used. Application of multiple citation indexes in parallel, co-citing or co-cited references, CT iterations, or software tools was rare. CT terminology was heterogeneous and frequently ambiguous. The use of CT showed an added value in most of the identified studies; however, the benefit of CT in health-related systematic literature searching likely depends on multiple factors that could not be assessed with certainty. Application, terminology, and reporting are heterogeneous. Based on our results, we plan a Delphi study to develop recommendations for the use and reporting of CT.

This study explores the important communicative roles carried out by road signs both directly and indirectly. The qualitative analysis is based on a corpus of 150 road signs collected from signage on state and local highways and roadways in seven U.S. states. Road signs were identified as either full, grammatical sentences or as block language. They were further analyzed as speech acts and their performativity was briefly explored in three areas: agency, lexis, and emplacement. Road sign ambiguity in regard to punctuation and syntactic ambiguity was also identified. The findings pointed to several areas for future research including drivers' behavioral reactions, road safety and wayfinding potential.

Research on the accuracy of Brain Fingerprinting (BFP) has produced mixed outcomes: some report 99.9% and others report lower. Furthermore, no studies have measured the susceptibility of BFP to countermeasures. In Experiment-1, we report the accurate classification of 15 of the 16 subjects, tested on their own real-life autobiographical incidents; and 14 of the 15 other subjects, tested on another subject's real-life autobiographical incidents. In Experiment-2, 16 subjects of Experiment-1, who were tested on their own real-life incidents, participated in the BFP test again, but this time employing either direct-suppression or thought-substitution (n = 8 each) countermeasures. We report that neither direct-suppression nor thought-substitution was effective at concealing information that BFP was designed to reveal. We assert that BFP is a highly accurate, albeit not perfect, concealed-knowledge detection technology and that it is resistant to memory suppression and thought substitution countermeasures in the context of autobiographical incidents.

The present study investigated critical incidents in multilingual classrooms from teachers' perspectives to identify resources to make multilingual classrooms succeed. Our study is embedded in identity theories such as Mead's symbolic interactionism, translanguaging, and global language theory. The incidents referred to the language of instruction; a discrepancy between age, developmental stage and grade; an overlap between language skills in the language of instruction and disability; and parent contact. Traumas and frustration due to failure were reported by the teachers as playing a crucial role. The incidents showed two different paths. The first path presented incidents coming together with positive conditions, such as students' willingness to perform well, classmates' willingness to help, and consideration of students' language biographies; thus, the events turned to positive consequences for students. The negative path showed teachers' perceptions that students in monolingual classrooms were frustrated, excluded, and did not perform well when no positive conditions existed. Implications for different actors were outlined.

In this study, critical situations relating to students with emotional and behavioral problems in inclusive German secondary schools were analyzed. The objective was to identify behaviors and behavioral patterns that impede or even terminate the inclusive education of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Critical situations, their antecedent conditions, and consequences were collected using Flanagan's critical incident technique in group discussions with teachers (N = 77). The situations were categorized using qualitative content analysis. Students' behaviors in the critical incidents were disruptive behaviors, displays of aggression toward classmates, and behaviors perceived as unusual. A distinctive category involved situations on students enjoying special treatment because more favorable conditions for examinations were provided and misbehaviors were handled in lenient ways. This elicited feelings of unfair advantage from other students and had an adverse impact on class dynamics. A strong influential factor was parents prohibiting disclosure of information about their children's disorder(s). Therefore, measures especially on class level are expedient, such as sensitizing processes making students understand that misbehavior and disorders lead to disadvantages and that special treatment is to compensate for these disadvantages. Moreover, individual agreements between schools and parents may be arrived at to negotiate the modalities of an information disclosure.

Science and Engineering (S&E) fairs are a valuable educational activity and are believed to increase students' engagement and learning in science and engineering. However, due to differences in resources, many schools do not implement fairs to achieve these benefits for their students. This study reports the findings of a program intended to increase the participation of students from low-achieving and under-resourced schools in a regional fair program that feeds into the international fair competition. We found that the number of schools and projects participating in our regional fair increased dramatically since the start of the program. Teachers had mostly positive expectations for the project and expressed buy-in for the effort the project would take. They recruited a diverse pool of students to participate in the school fairs. Quasi-experimental methods allowed us to explore the impact of completing S&E fairs on student gains on science self-efficacy, interest and value perceptions. Controlling for pre-existing differences in these attitudes, we found that students not completing projects showed declines in their science attitudes during the year. Students who completed projects maintained similar attitudes, while those whose projects advanced to the regional fair had substantial gains on all three variables. It is unknown whether this gain can be attributed to the experience of engaging with a quality project, from being the kind of student who completes a quality project, or some other factor. Future research with greater experimental control could address these questions.

The present study contributes to the often heated discourse and the diverse research findings towards the demands of inclusion and teachers' perceived stress. We used a questionnaire to interview n = 471 teachers in 49 inclusive schools. The study used cluster analysis to identify four distinct teacher-groups who differed in their appraisals of the implementation of specific dimensions of inclusion such as adaptive instruction, using individual education plans, school concept development, in-school and extra-curricular cooperation. The groups were compared regarding the perceived stress teachers reported. Many studies reported in the extant literature have investigated teachers not working in inclusive contexts asking them to speculate about how that might be; these studies only deal with expectations and beliefs. Our study relies on the experiences of teachers working in inclusion contexts. Among these teachers, those who appraise the implementation of inclusion to the greatest extent reported the lowest stress experience. In contrast, teachers reporting inclusion being implemented only to a limited extent perceived the highest stress. Clusters mirror in-school teamwork as a significant dimension preventing from stress. Implications for improved practice focus on micro-contextual measures for individual schools, such as improving in-school teamwork and strengthening both school development processes and school leadership.

The School Climate Measure (SCM) is a comprehensive measure of school climate that has demonstrated significant psychometric support and available free of charge. The goal of this research-informed commentary is to provide readers with necessary knowledge to make an informed decision of the appropriateness of the SCM for use in their school or district. First, we review the development of the SCM with supporting peer-reviewed research. Second, we discuss the advantages of the SCM and ease in interpretation of scores. Finally, SCM applications are reviewed along with promising future steps. We conclude that the SCM can provide a comprehensive "and" nuanced look at students' school environment perceptions, yielding valuable hypotheses about their school behavior, subjective wellbeing, and academic success.

Lee S. Shulman deplores that the field of education as a profession does not have a pedagogic signature, which he characterizes as a synthesis of cognitive, practical and moral apprenticeship. In this context, the following study has three goals: 1) In the first theoretical part, the basic problems of constructing a pedagogic signature are depicted. 2) In the empirical part, based on a multi-method approach, teachers' and teacher educators' beliefs and attitudes about a pedagogic signature are identified and ranked. It is argued that beliefs are of particular importance because they have a filter effect on how teachers deal with scientific knowledge. 3) The third part, the discussion, explains the findings, particularly the fact that moral aspects and aspects referring to a particular attitude play an overwhelming role. The explanation leads to some basic considerations on how to construct a pedagogic signature and on how such a signature can be turned into a viable concept for teacher education.

The present study investigated stress-inducing cognitions of teacher trainees from different types of schools in Germany in order to identify a particular body of future teachers who lack appropriate coping strategies. Using cluster analysis, teacher trainees were classified by their dysfunctional thoughts, and, additionally, compared to their levels of self-efficacy and school type. In particular, the stress-inducing cognitions 'internalisation of failure' and 'depreciation' distinguished among the clusters. One cluster which was characterised by equally low levels of stress-inducing thoughts comprised many teacher trainees of special needs education. Another cluster showed consistently high levels of dysfunctional cognitions; therein, future teachers of primary education were overrepresented. Higher stress-inducing thoughts were linked to lower self-efficacy -- with the exception of perfectionism which seemed to have adaptive or maladaptive effects. Based on the findings, preventive measures were derived to support teacher trainees in handling occupational stress as early as possible in the professional lives.

The present study compares student teachers' career choice motives and their relationship with stress-inducing thoughts across five European countries. A previously established factorial structure for career choice motives embedded within self-determination theory was supported. The factors consist of intrinsic motives, such as interest in educational work with children, and extrinsic motives, such as financial security. Furthermore, differences in the importance of these factors in choosing the teaching profession across countries were found. Results further revealed evidence for a link between extrinsic motives and stress-inducing cognitions. Conclusions and implications for teaching practice are discussed.

The present study considered different teacher groups in German inclusive primary and secondary schools (n = 471 teachers in 49 schools) regarding their self-efficacy in the implementation of inclusive education. Through hierarchical cluster analysis, four teacher groups were identified using a multidimensional measuring instrument with the self-efficacy dimensions of inclusive curriculum development, inclusive classroom management and inclusive cooperation. The groups were compared to determine the extent to which teachers appraised the implementation of inclusive education. Teachers with the most positive self-efficacy appraised the implementation of inclusion to the greatest extent. Teachers with lower self-efficacy contributed less to the implementation of inclusion. Moreover, teachers estimated different subscales of self-efficacy differently; one teacher group showed concurrently a higher self-efficacy regarding inclusive curriculum development and a lower self-efficacy regarding inclusive collaboration. In addition, the appraisal of the subscales of self-efficacy and the implemented demands of inclusion do not 'run in parallel' as the cluster with the highest self-efficacy in inclusive collaboration estimated the implementation of collaboration to the lowest extent. Therefore, implications should consider teachers' differentiated appraisal of the dimensions of both self-efficacy and inclusive work. Tailor-made implications are expedient. Future research must focus on the gap between estimated self-efficacy and the actual performance.

The fact that benefits related to teacher collaboration are associated with characteristics of successful schools makes collaboration particularly relevant for school development processes. The goal of the present study was to identify patterns in perceptions of collaboration and compare them with regard to its perceived benefits, such as professional development, reduced workload, and improved student focus. Results based on cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, and analyses of variance revealed four collaboration patterns that also differed with regard to the benefits of collaboration perceived by teachers. Findings indicate that teachers apply forms of collaboration that are connected to a relatively small decrease in their own autonomy. Teachers who collaborate also perceive benefits, and teachers who feel pressurised by the principal to collaborate neither collaborate more nor perceive more benefits to collaboration. All findings are reviewed with a focus on school development processes, and recommendations for practice are offered.

Technology acceptance models presuppose that technology users have clearly defined attitudes toward technology, which is not necessarily true. Complementary, social-psychological research proposes attitude strength (AS), a construct that has been so far insufficiently examined in the context of technology acceptance. Attitudes toward technology might become weaker after frequent changes in the used technology. This study examines the relationships between AS and educational technology acceptance predictors. In the case of N = 225 German undergraduate students of Educational Sciences, "millennials" using the learning management system Moodle, and based on structural equations modeling (SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we found significant relationships between AS and acceptance predictors. Further results suggest two situations leading to technology acceptance, one in which students are performance-oriented and comply with faculty recommendations; the other in which students are technically experienced and will accept any technology, but avoid technical problems and effort. While the latter situation is only vaguely suggested by SEM, it is much clearly indicated by fsQCA. For acceptance research, we conclude that current acceptance models should be extended by AS, and employ fsQCA. For educational practice, we recommend using fsQCA to assess acceptance predictors when educational technology is implemented in higher education.

This investigation was motivated by frustration that language teachers report over some students' failure to participate in class. Research (Delaney, 2012) suggests that students' level of involvement often does not reach teachers' expectations. Grounded in previous work that emphasizes the importance of understanding the student voice, this study reports the views of 439 university language students about class participation. Though many claimed to participate in their various language classes, their questionnaire responses provided numerous reasons to explain moments when they do not: language learning anxiety, lack of second language (L2) understanding, feelings of inferiority as language learners,, and prohibition of the use of the first language (L1). Their responses also offered teachers thoughtful suggestions to encourage students to participate more in class. This investigation points to several pedagogical implications, notably the necessity of teachers explicitly addressing issues of class participation with their own students.

In the course of the European Bologna process, the notion of employability becomes increasingly important for universities. Graduates are in particular employable, if they exactly possess those abilities and skills, which are required by employers. Studies show that in the context of recruiting university graduates, employers do not only pay attention to expertise and soft skills, but also care about knowledge referring to products, markets, customers and competitors of their relevant industry. Employers increasingly expect economic knowledge as well as its application which is also expected by graduates, who have not completed a course of studies in economics or business administration. At this point, business skills take on greater significance. Whereas the expertise normally is achieved by completing a course of studies at university and soft skills are incorporated in a cross-section of universities, business skills are not. The article discusses, in what way, cooperative and competitive skills are predestined for enhancing the employability of graduates. With regard to business education and ethics, particular attention should be paid to the concept of competency as well as the self-determined taking on of one's own position. An inclusion of economic educational modules as a part of extracurricular studies can, by means of its practical with use-oriented focus, not only improve employability, but also form the basis of a reflexive professional life. (Contains 2 figures and 2 footnotes.)

The large number of newly arrived people from other countries, particularly children and youth, represents a major challenge for schools and school systems in the EU-28. The present study, conducted in Germany, investigated this situation using the critical incident technique. Critical incidents were collected in group discussions with teachers and principals about challenging events in the context of growing migration. The incidents, including their perceived causes and consequences, were categorised using qualitative content analysis. Events that were frequently present in teachers' everyday work included various types of conflicts concerning pupils, difficult cooperation between teachers and parents and parents banning their children from taking part in particular school activities. The identified causes for such events were diverse, including misunderstandings, diverging cultural and religious concepts, language barriers, structural constraints and some pupils' traumatic experiences influencing the school community. The described incidents had far-reaching consequences, especially for parent-school cooperation and for pupils' integration in the classroom community and academic and personal development. The final part of this article discusses and illustrates how the results can contribute to developing ideas and measures to deal with the identified challenges.

One key function necessary to successfully teach a heterogeneous student population is to individually adapt instruction to students' needs and prerequisites. Using structural equation modelling, the present study investigated whether or to what extent different factors, teachers' personal characteristics, their joint professional activities, and school-related framework conditions contribute to the implementation of teachers' self-reported adaptive instruction. For this purpose, teachers working in inclusive German schools (N = 471) were questioned. The instrument used to cover inclusive work was based on a multilevel concept oriented towards internationally well-established dimensions of inclusion. Moreover, personal characteristics and school-related parameters were covered. The key result revealed that the extent to which self-reported adaptive instruction is implemented by teachers depends, above all, on the teachers themselves, their characteristics, and their participation in joint activities. The structural framework, for example, school size or school type, did not play a considerable role. The contributing factors were discussed and implications derived.

The present study compares career choice motives of future early childhood educators studying for a tertiary qualification. Suitable analyses of this kind are still missing. Diverging training systems, traditions and professional images in the different countries are related to certain motives. These motives are categorised according to a theory that is used as a theoretical framework. The study takes into account 468 student teachers from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Romania and is methodologically based on variance analyses. Overall, intrinsic motives were found to be of greater significance. This applies equally to all countries. Furthermore, addressee-related motives are more pronounced among Swiss and German prospective early childhood educators than among those from Sweden or Romania. On the contrary, extrinsic motives have a stronger presence among Romanian student teachers. Income and prestige, as the only exceptions, are important for students from Sweden and Switzerland. The results are discussed referring to country-specific working conditions and the current status of professionalisation processes existing in problem areas.

The present study investigated the requirements for teaching students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities in inclusive and special education settings, emphasising the skills, knowledge and attitudes that teachers need. Drawing on investigative group discussions with teachers and principals, qualitative content analysis was used to categorise these skills, knowledge and attitudes. Key requirements in teaching this student population include skills to implement individualised and differentiated teaching, as well as creating individually adapted learning materials. Leadership and counselling abilities are also required in order to ensure successful collaboration between different actors by clarifying roles and hierarchies and negotiating work distribution and expectations. The teacher-student relationship should be characterised by an attitude of appreciation, openness and, in particular, a focus on the positive, regardless of the student's behaviour, requiring a balance between closeness to the student and an appropriate distance. Finally, it is important when teaching this student population to care for one's own mental and physical health over the longer term. The article concludes by discussing target-oriented strategies and measures for teachers' work practices and further education to strengthen the requisite skills, knowledge and attitudes, particularly with a view to inclusion.

The authors argue that leadership networks when comprised of regional stakeholders including university faculty, school system administrators, and teacher leaders can begin to work together towards common reform goals. (Contains 1 figure.)

The present study is aimed at identifying demands and tasks that are considered important by experts in the field of interculturalism for the successful development of schools. Although different theoretical models about intercultural school development, incorporating various conditions and dimensions, have already been suggested, gaps in research on the specific content of various administrative levels of school as an educational institution can still be identified. In order to fill those gaps, we conducted group discussions with small groups of experts in the field of interculturalism. Experts were matched into three groups so that each represents a high level of diversity regarding their particular expertise. Results from the discussions were investigated by applying content analysis. Based on the revealed findings, five fields of action can be established that are essential for the process of intercultural school development. The revealed areas covered a variety of factors, ranging from individual reflection to developmental processes of a school as an organization. In the present study, those facets are interpreted as conditions under which successful intercultural school development processes can be established. While most content areas can be mapped to the existing theoretical models, they add further information with regard to the content of the theoretical dimensions. This is particularly the case at the individual level. Resulting practical implications are explained and further discussed on the basis of inevitable future research.

This article discusses problems of reconstructing the recent development in the field of empirical research on education ("empirische Bildungsforschung"), especially problems resulting from its interdisciplinary character, its divergent institutional contexts and its multimethod approach. The article looks at the position of various disciplines--in particular, science of education ("Erziehungswissenschaft") and educational psychology--involved in research on education as an interdisciplinary field of study. Compared to previous times, important shifts concerning the relation between these two disciplines can currently be observed. The argument is about the notion of competence, about the right to define success criteria and about resources. Finally, this discussion focusing on Germany is then placed in the wider context of different cognitive and institutional forms of doing and organizing education studies and research in different countries.

This study investigated the direct and indirect effects of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors in predicting disordered eating behaviors in girls with overweight/obesity. A total of 135 Hispanic and African American girls ([x-bar][subscript age] = 11.13 ± 1.54 years) completed surveys assessing the desire to be thinner, peer weight-related teasing, disordered eating behaviors, and demographic characteristics. Percent body fat was assessed. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the influence of the desire to be thinner and peer weight-related teasing on percent body fat and disordered eating behaviors. Results indicated that percent body fat was directly related to the desire to be thinner (p < 0.01) and peer weight-related teasing (p < 0.01), and was indirectly related to disordered eating through its relationship with peer teasing (p < 0.05). These findings may be useful in guiding the design of interventions preventing the development of disordered eating behaviors in minority girls.

Research suggests that the safer students feel at school, the more likely they are to feel connected and able to focus on learning. Thus, measuring students' experiences with a school safety officer (SSO) is essential to understand the connection between officer engagement and students' safety. This study's purpose was to evaluate a SSO scale among 1,065 adolescents. Results suggest the SSO scale displayed excellent internal consistency estimates, construct validity via factor analysis, convergent validity with the School Climate Measure, discriminant validity with key demographic variables, and known-groups validity among students who reported fighting at school. Positive perceptions of SSOs also significantly increased with frequency of contact. The SSO scale is a preliminarily valid measure, potentially useful in research, screenings, and/or evaluation efforts to improve student engagement with SSOs.

The large number of newly arrived individuals from other countries, particularly of young people, has had an enormous impact on the school system in Germany. The present study investigated requirements for successful intercultural school development. The study used investigative group discussions, where the groups were composed of teachers and teacher education experts, to identify the structures, measures, attitudes and cooperation required for intercultural school development process. Conditions for success were derived from the qualitative content analysis of these discussions. These conditions address different school levels (e.g. structural, personal or social levels). It was found that intercultural school development cannot be successful without additional resources, as well as further training over the longer term. Solutions for existing language barriers that affect teachers, pupils and parents require structural measures.

The goal of the present study is to identify prospective special education teachers (SETs) who may have difficulties in coping with occupational stresses and burdens. International comparative studies show that SETs have a higher level of stress than their colleagues who work in the general school system. Compared with teachers in regular schools, SETs leave their profession at a higher rate. For this reason, the study focuses on so-called dysfunctional cognitions, which might increase stress in strenuous occupational situations and which have long-term harmful effects on health. The construct of dysfunctional cognitions is supposed to be a basis for developing supportive measures for teacher students with low stress tolerance. In the framework of the present study located in the German educational system, teacher students (N = 333) from the special needs areas, including learning disability, mental disability, emotional/social disorders and sensory disabilities (hearing impairment, or speech or language disorders), are taken into account. A hierarchical cluster analysis and a discriminant analysis were used to identify four different clusters: Cluster 1 shows the lowest attitude level of equally all dysfunctional cognitions. Clusters 2 and 3 are characterised by higher degrees, especially of "dependency," "internalisation of failure" and "personal standards (perfectionism)." The fourth profile indicates the highest degree of the dysfunctional cognitions. Lower levels of dysfunctional cognitions (with the exception of perfectionism) occur together with a higher expectation of self-efficacy. No cluster applies for all teacher students of one specific special needs area. Prospective teachers in the area of mental disability are overrepresented in cluster 3, with a high level of internalisation of failure and dependency. Teacher students in the area of emotional/social disorders belong, to a considerable degree, to the "risk" cluster. The profiles are used to develop measures for those teacher students who may experience difficulties in stressful occupational situations. Therefore, these student teachers need to be closely supported through additional intensive training elements and balanced career counselling.

Research has found that, during speaking activities, instances of students' collaborative repair are most often lexicon-focused. Collaborative writing tasks have been credited with the potential to force students to confront broad issues, such as content and register, along with more narrow lexical and morphological choices. The present study explores interactions among 20 learners in an intermediate, university level Spanish course, as they collaborated on a small group quiz. The study reports the frequency of students' error correction types, both self- and other-initiated, and analyzes the focus of their negotiations. Moreover, the investigation highlights this type of classroom assessment as an opportunity for learners to determine where linguistic difficulties lie and address them.

To familiarize first-year students with the important ingredients of a physics experiment, we offer them a project close to their daily life: measuring the effect of air resistance on a bicycle. Experiments are done with a bicycle freewheeling on a downhill slope. The data are compared with equations of motions corresponding to different models for the air resistance on a moving object. The relevant parameters are extracted from the data and the validity of the different models is be discussed. Finally findings are presented in a poster session.

The question of the domain-specificity of creativity represents one of the key questions in creativity research. This article contributes to the discussion by applying insights from "new phenomenology," which is a phenomenological movement from Germany initiated by philosopher Hermann Schmitz. The findings of new phenomenology suggest that creativity is a domain-specific ability with three domains differentiated on the uppermost level: first, the domain of corporeal creativity, which has the task of presenting atmospheres; second, the domain of hermeneutic creativity, which is characterized by dealing with situations; and third, the domain of analytical creativity, which refers to dealing with constellations. These domains can be differentiated further still such that a high consistency of phenomenological approaches with other findings with regard to the question of the domain-specificity of creativity emerges.

The goal of the following study is to identify a pedagogic signature, according to LS Shulman, for working with students who have special educational needs. Special educational needs are defined as significant limitations in personal development and learning which require particular educational measures beyond regular education. The development of a pedagogic signature should create an identity and provide guidance, particularly for teachers who are working in the context of inclusive schools with no prior knowledge or training in this regard. The study is carried out against the background of the structural uncertainty of the teaching profession and takes into consideration existing normative, theoretical and empirical approaches in education. Existing research regarding demands is largely theoretical, while empirical research is rudimentary. The present study used a multi-method approach to identify demands for working with students with special educational needs. Experts in the areas of learning disabilities and emotional/behavioural disorders completed an instrument from the field of industrial and organisational psychology, quantifying and weighting professional demands on teachers according to their importance. The results were added and validated through group discussions, creating a demand profile. By combining the results with the dimensions of a signature pedagogy, according to Shulman, it is apparent that surface structure and deep structure play a minor role in the perceptions of special needs teachers. The central importance of the implicit structure is characteristic of the pedagogic signature. This importance is represented by the target group's emphasis on demands such as having an appreciative leadership or authenticity. An even greater emphasis is placed on the aspect of attitude--this is having a humanistic ethos. The demand profile and the resulting consequences for the practice of teaching will be considered with a view towards current problems and questions in research and practice, and particularly with regard to inclusion.

Transitioning away from the comforts of home to the independent nature of the college environment can be stressful for students and thus is and has been a major focus of student affairs personnel. Perceived loneliness in college student populations has been found to be related to myriad mental health constructs. Thus, much attention has been given to its measurement. The 20-item Revised UCLA Loneliness (R-UCLA) Scale created by Russell and colleagues (1980) is widely used and considered the "gold standard" in assessing perceived loneliness. A shortcoming of this scale is its relative length. For this reason, a short loneliness scale (Three-Item Loneliness Scale [TILS]) was developed and compared against the R-UCLA to assess its performance in a sample of older adults. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the TILS among randomly selected college students. It was expected that the TILS would (a) show acceptable internal consistency and reliability, (b) demonstrate acceptable evidence for construct, known groups, and criterion-related validity, and (c) would be unrelated to demographic variables (gender, race, age, socioeconomic status). (Contains 1 table.)

This study investigates who chooses primary teaching and how prospective primary school teachers differ from future teachers in other types of schools. Using variance analysis, future student-teachers of different types of schools are compared with regard to their motives for the choice of studies and profession. As a main result, prospective primary school teachers display a particular pedagogical motivational structure, idealism, and the wish for compatibility between family and professional life. In regard to their self-image, students of primary education have lower expectations of self-efficacy, but a higher awareness of responsibility. Conclusions as well as practical implications can be drawn for both the professionalisation of the teaching profession and teacher training, for example concerning the stabilisation or destabilisation of decisions on the choice of profession, realistic ideas about the professional field, and the strengthening of self-reflection.

In this article, the contexts, forms and consequences of teacher resistance against school reforms based on quality assurance policies are discussed. The problems are demonstrated by recurring on research devoted to the acceptance and/or resistance of (German) teachers against standards-based accountability policies. These results demonstrate that the majority in the teacher force ignores, misinterprets or misuses the feedback information from standards-based performance tests aiming at a data-driven development of classroom teaching. Only a small part shows an adequate usage of feedback information, especially those schools that already have developed a culture of internal evaluation. In general, the success or failure of educational innovations is difficult to estimate, because it is a matter of interpretation and post hoc reconstruction.

In this article the author reviews and discusses John Hattie's book "Visible Learning". In this book Hattie presents the results of a meta-meta-analysis on the conditions of successful teaching and learning in schools. Hattie's work is based on more than 800 meta-analyses, and these meta-analyses are substantiated by more than 50 000 empirical research studies. Among the six groups of factors influencing successful learning in schools--student, home, school, teacher, curricula, teaching--the factor "teacher" seems to have the strongest effect. Hattie not only evaluates empirical research but also places the results in a theoretical context of a theory of teaching and a certain concept of teacher professionalism. The author discusses Hattie's approach to combine empirical research and conceptual work on teaching and on teachers' work. The limits of meta-analyses and future meta-meta-analyses are pointed out. (Contains 6 notes, 3 tables, and 2 figures.)

Many empirical investigations concerning the use of computer algebra systems (CAS) and symbolic calculators (SC) are restricted to a period of only a few weeks. They do not show long-term effects on students understanding. Therefore, a long term project (2003-2012) was started to test the use of symbolic calculators in Bavarian "Gymnasien" (grammar schools) in Germany. The project started with an evaluation in grade 10 (see Weigand, 2008). During the 2006/07 and the following school years the project was implemented in the 11th grade. The content taught was calculus: basic properties of functions, limits, continuity, derivatives, and applications of calculus. The evaluation of the project was intended to give answers to the following questions: How did basic mathematical skills (algebraic transformations, solving equations) change? How did students use the SC? How did they evaluate the use of the new tool? The results show that it takes a long time (one year) to get students acquainted with the technology. Moreover, hopes have not been fulfilled that students of these project classes would improve to a greater degree (especially in abilities which might typically be supported by the use of the SC, e.g. interpreting graphs) than students in the control classes. In addition, a relationship between the mathematical abilities of students and their ability in using the SC in problem-solving processes was made. The results of this study raise questions concerning the adequate way to support and foster the--theoretically quite often emphasised--new possibilities of CAS and SC in the class room. (Contains 1 table and 9 figures.)

Despite being ignored, visual distractors often produce traceable negative priming (NP) effects that can be used to investigate inhibitory processes. Robust NP effects are typically found with young adults, but not with children. Using 2 different NP tasks, the authors compared NP in 5 different age groups spanning 5 to 25 years of age. The 1st task revealed comparable NP between all age groups, but a linear decrease in NP through childhood to early adulthood. In the 2nd task, NP decreased linearly into adulthood, with children actually showing larger NP than adults. This Age Group x NP interaction was eliminated, however, when reaction time data were log transformed to control for age differences in overall processing speed. When appropriately transformed data were used, both experiments showed that NP was intact and comparable between children, adolescents, and adults, and suggested that an inhibitory process is fully developed by early childhood. The results highlight how potential pitfalls might be avoided when comparing NP in children and adults. (Contains 2 tables, 3 figures, and 5 footnotes.)