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The Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework describes success factors for collaborative online-based learning. The CoI Survey is a validated instrument to measure these factors from the perspective of course participants. Until now, no validated translation of this Survey to German was available. The aim of this work was to translate the original English Survey to German and to validate the translated Survey instrument. After a systematic translation process, we validated the German translation in two higher education settings in two countries (entire data set of n=433 Surveys). By conducting item analysis, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis, we were able to confirm the reliability and validity of the German CoI Survey. Only one item (CP6) shows cross-loadings on two factors, a finding that was already discussed for the original CoI Survey. To conclude, the validated German version of the CoI Survey is now available.

The cognitive advantage (CA) hypothesis claims that multilingualism promotes the development of several basic cognitive capacities. A large number of empirical findings support this hypothesis, but recently there have also been numerous contradictory findings and methodological objections. The present paper extends the investigation of possible cognitive advantages from basic cognitive (executive) functions to broader cognitive competencies such as cognitive flexibility. A promising candidate for this is 'flexibility of goal adjustment' (FGA), a capacity of developmental regulation that solves problems through flexible adaptation processes. In a study with N = 119 monolingual and multilingual adults we found the predicted positive correlation between multilingualism and FGA. However, the mediator function of executive capacities entailed in the CA hypothesis operationalised as Stroop and flanker tasks could not be demonstrated.

Background & Aims: Cognitive load theory assumes that the higher the learner's prior knowledge (i.e., the more expert the learner), the lower the intrinsic cognitive load (complexity) experienced for a given problem. While this is the case in many scenarios, there can be cases in which the converse is also true, resulting in more expert learners reporting higher intrinsic cognitive load than novices for the same problem. This can occur in relation to problems involving complex systems (e.g., ecological systems), for which novices' problem representations may underestimate problem complexity and therefore report lower intrinsic load than experts. This finding is borne out in the current paper. Samples, Methods & Results: In Study 1 with 118 participants from the Black Forest area in Germany, participants with higher levels of forestry and ecological expertise evaluated a problem relating to the restructuring of the Black Forest to adapt to climate change as more complex than did novices. In Study 2 (within-subjects design, n = 66 primary-school students), we conceptually replicated this finding in a domain more typical of cognitive load theory studies, mathematics. We found that higher prior knowledge also reduced the underestimation of the complexity of 'tricky', but frequently used, mathematics word problems. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that cognitive load theory's assumptions about intrinsic load and prior knowledge should be refined, as there seems to exist a sub-set of problem-solving tasks for which the traditional relationship between prior knowledge and reported ICL is reversed.

Background: Understanding the operant function of self-injurious behavior in autistic individuals is imperative to understanding its etiology and designing effective prevention strategies. Methods: We conducted a postal survey of residential care facilities including two functional assessment tools: QABF and IfES. Questionnaires for N = 178 residents were returned. Results: For 21.2% a single, and for 62.9% multiple functions were identified by the QABF, with the most frequent function being "escape" (51.8%). The IfES identified "unable to cope with a situation" as primary antecedent for 39.8% of the residents. Non-vocal individuals presented a higher number of functions and had overall higher subscale scores. Conclusion: The study was the first to investigate single and multiple functions of SIB within a large sample of autistic adults. Results suggest that multiple functions of SIB are common with negative reinforcement contingencies being most important. Results have to be interpreted with caution due to psychometric limitations of the instruments used.

Economic inequality has been consistently rising in recent decades in many Western countries including Germany. This is a pressing issue as greater economic inequality within a society has detrimental consequences for well-being, social stability, productivity, and even life expectancy. However, little is known about how individuals of different ages experience and respond to social inequality across adulthood. Because status differences are perceived as more malleable in young adulthood (i.e., young adults can expect to move up the social ladder) and only manifest across adulthood, we predicted that negative emotional reactions to the perceived standing in the social hierarchy should become increasingly pronounced with age. Consistently, a first study based on a national representative sample in Germany (N = 2,542; 18-91 years) confirmed that subjective social status had a much stronger effect on the acceptance of social inequality among middle-aged and older, as compared with younger, adults. In a second experimental study (N = 387; 18-89 years), participants of any age responded with negative emotional reactions when rising inequality was made salient. However, subjective social status moderated this effect only in middle-aged and older, but not younger, adults. Finally, a third experimental study (N = 605; 18-82 years) showed that, compared with middle-aged and older adults, younger adults maintained stronger upward mobility beliefs that accounted for the age-differential effects of subjective social status on negative emotional reactivity to rising inequality. We discuss the central role of upward mobility beliefs for individuals' responses to social inequality across the adult life span.

Background: Limited real-world evidence is available for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who received an autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in Germany. Objectives: This study aims to describe the real-world survival outcomes of patients with DLBCL who received ASCT in Germany after diagnosis. Design: This study is a retrospective database analysis covering the period between 2010 and 2019. Methods: Unadjusted overall survival (OS) was plotted using the Kaplan-Meier estimator for the overall population and stratified by relapse status. A Cox regression was run to identify factors that influence OS. Results: A total of 112 patients received an ASCT, with the average time from first-line treatment to ASCT being 11.7 months. The median OS estimated by Kaplan-Meier was 83.4 months for the entire cohort. The only variable that significantly reduced the OS was the presence of subsequent treatment after ASCT in a time-dependent model Conclusion: OS after ASCT for DLBCL patients in Germany is higher than previously reported and may still be considered a valid option for carefully selected patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have indicated that youth in care may represent a high-risk group for bullying victimization. So far, research has focused primarily on problem behavior rather than on potential personal or social resources of youth in care, particularly in the context of bullying victimization. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine whether youth in care are more likely to experience bullying victimization. Furthermore, it was analyzed if personal and social resources were protective of bullying victimization and whether these associations were moderated by family placement while controlling for lifetime poly-victimization. An online survey was completed by n = 119 youth in care and n = 110 youth in biological families in Germany - with or without a social/biological caregiver. Overall, the results showed that youth in care were 7.41 times more likely to experience bullying victimization than youth in biological families. Personal and social resources did add to the explained variance of current bullying victimization beyond lifetime poly-victimization in the child's report. In particular, low levels of child-reported parental support and school integration were associated with more bullying victimization. These associations were not moderated by family placement, indicating similar effects for both, youth in care and youth in biological families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of complex, dynamic and animate systems has a special standing in education for sustainable development and biology. Thus one important role of science teacher education is to promote student teachers' Content Related Knowledge (CRK) for teaching systems thinking, consisting of extensive Content Knowledge (CK) and well formed Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). But the effective development of this knowledge is empirically uncertain. This article reports the effects of three different interventions (technical course, didactic course, mixed course) in promoting student teachers' reflective Content Related Knowledge for teaching systems thinking. Participants analyzed a videotaped lesson of 6th graders learning about the ecosystem lake and identified weak aspects in the teacher's CK and PCK. The results revealed that student teachers' reflective Content Related Knowledge for teaching systems thinking can be promoted in teacher education. The conclusion to be drawn from our findings is that a mixed course with equal technical and didactical input seems to be most effective in fostering student teachers' reflective Content Related Knowledge for teaching systems thinking.

Previous research documented positive associations between cognitively stimulating work and levels of cognitive performance, while longitudinal associations are less clear. We used 20-year longitudinal data from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development and Aging (ILSE) to examine the role of perceived work environment (autonomy, innovation, social integration, and stress) and work activities derived from an occupational database (related to information, to people, and manual activities) for trajectories of cognitive abilities (processing speed, fluid and crystallized intelligence). We used data from 374 participants in the ILSE midlife cohort (born 1950-52) who were working at baseline and had valid observations on work characteristics and control variables including education, gender, region (former East vs. West Germany), and personal income (mean age at baseline = 44 years, SD = 1, 44% women). Cognitively stimulating perceived work environments (higher levels of autonomy and innovation), higher levels of work activities related to information and people, and lower levels of manual activity at baseline were related to higher initial levels of cognitive ability. Higher work stress was related to higher baseline fluid ability. These associations were largely not independent of control variables. Higher social integration at work was related to less steep increase in crystallized intelligence and higher work stress was related to less decline in processing speed. In sum, our findings were more in line with selection rather than with enrichment effects, with the caveat that our findings rely on work variables taken at baseline. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these findings.

The German National Education Standards (NES) for biology were introduced in 2005. The content part of the NES emphasizes fostering conceptual knowledge. However, there are hardly any indications of what such an instructional implementation could look like. We introduce a theoretical framework of an instructional approach to foster students' conceptual knowledge as demanded in the NES (Fostering Conceptual Knowledge) including instructional practices derived from research on single core ideas, general psychological theories, and biology-specific features of instructional quality. First, we aimed to develop a rating manual, which is based on this theoretical framework. Second, we wanted to describe current German biology instruction according to this approach and to quantitatively analyze its effectiveness. And third, we aimed to provide qualitative examples of this approach to triangulate our findings. In a first step, we developed a theoretically devised rating manual to measure Fostering Conceptual Knowledge in videotaped lessons. Data for quantitative analysis included 81 videotaped biology lessons of 28 biology teachers from different German secondary schools. Six hundred forty students completed a questionnaire on their situational interest after each lesson and an achievement test. Results from multilevel modeling showed significant positive effects of Fostering Conceptual Knowledge on students' achievement and situational interest. For qualitative analysis, we contrasted instruction of four teachers, two with high and two with low student achievement and situational interest using the qualitative method of thematic analysis. Qualitative analysis revealed five main characteristics describing Fostering Conceptual Knowledge. Therefore, implementing Fostering Conceptual Knowledge in biology instruction seems promising. Examples of how to implement Fostering Conceptual Knowledge in instruction are shown and discussed.

Developing students' systems thinking is an often-posed demand in education for sustainable development (ESD) and science literacy. Several studies have shown that systems thinking can be fostered in students of different education levels. Therefore, science teachers who are required to teach ESD-relevant topics should be proficient in systems thinking and be able to transfer that knowledge effectively to their students. The research project SysThema (Systems Thinking in Ecological and Multidimensional Areas) investigated the effect of three courses designed to foster systems thinking in student teachers of biology and geography. Courses varied in their proportions of technical fundamentals of system science and didactical content for teaching systems thinking. To conceptualise systems thinking, a heuristic structural competence model for systems thinking was developed. This model served as the basis for a test in evaluating the courses in a quasi-experimental intervention study that employed a pre-, post- and follow-up test control group design. After the completion of the courses, a high effect of fostering systems thinking was found in all treatment groups compared to the control group.

The professional behavior of future doctors is increasingly important in medical education. One of the first subjects in the curriculum to address this issue is gross anatomy. The Tuebingen Medical Faculty implemented a learning portfolio and a seminar on medical professionalism during the dissection course. The aims of this research project are to get an overview of how students form a professional identity in the dissection course and to compare the content of both their oral and written reflections on the course. A qualitative analysis was conducted of the oral and written reflections on the dissection laboratory experience. This study was conducted during winter term 2013/2014 with a cohort of 163 participants in the regular dissection course. Written reflection texts (from n = 96 students) and audio recordings from four oral reflection seminar discussions (with n = 11 students) were transcribed and deductively categorized with Mayring's qualitative content analysis method. Both qualitative analyses show that students reflected on many topics relevant to professional development, including empathy, respect, altruism, compassion, teamwork, and self-regulation. Quantitative analysis reveals that students who attended the oral reflection wrote significantly more in their written reflection than students who did not. There is, however, no difference in the reflection categories. Reflection content from students corresponds with categories derived from existing competency frameworks. Both the seminar (oral reflections) and the learning portfolio (written reflections) present excellent opportunities to foster professional development during anatomy education; the key is using them in conjunction with the dissection course.

Purpose: This article presents a conceptual synthesis of the international literature on inclusive education while expanding upon, and incorporating, the articles in this special issue. The authors present their 3P model (philosophy, policy and praxis) and relate each paper in this special issue to different aspects of their model. Design/methodology/approach: This article serves as an epilogue to this special issue of the "Journal of Educational Administration" as well as a discussion of historical and conceptual distinctions between mainstreaming and inclusion while examining global trends in understanding the move toward inclusive education. Findings: The authors examined the detrimental effects of ableism and a medical model of disability and their effects on the educational system. They conducted an analysis based on examining the philosophy, policy and practice of the inclusive movement, specifically by examining conceptual models and inclusive decisions, conceptual frameworks for describing inclusive policy and a focus of the application to educational administration. The authors examined the global movement from segregation/exclusion to integration and then to inclusionary praxis. Research limitations/implications: The authors maintain that the inclusion literature lacks a sound positivistic empirical base, and so they present throughout the article possible avenues for such research as well as future directions for comparative research. Practical implications: Understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the inclusive movement is central to developing viable inclusive educational settings. The authors distinguish between inclusive schools and local educational authorities where stakeholders have moved toward an inclusionary system (the minority) versus locales who are reluctant to move systems to actual change. Originality/value: This article takes a wider view of inclusionary practices, from one focusing on children with disabilities to one focusing on historical and traditional exclusionary practices. By widening the scope of the inclusion discussion, to one of exclusion, the authors present a viably wider lens to educational administration.

Teacher professional development (TPD) courses can support teachers in building up pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and in improving the quality of teaching. Therefore, having teachers participate in TPD is of special interest for educational policy. Unfortunately, knowledge about the relation between teachers' PCK and teachers' attendance in TPD is unclear. That's why the current study empirically contrasts teachers (N = 67, German middle-school classes) which do and do not take part in TPD courses exemplarily dealing with formative assessment (FA) in mathematics. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify four clusters of teachers (based on prior personal characteristics concerning formative assessment). Describing these clusters, it can be stated that there exists a cluster of teachers with critical values on all personal characteristics. These teachers mainly do not take part in TPD dealing with FA although they have little PCK concerning FA. Implications for further research and TPD are discussed.

To obtain a general understanding of science, model use as part of National Education Standards is important for instruction. Model use can be characterized by three aspects: (1) the characteristics of the model, (2) the integration of the model into instruction, and (3) the use of models to foster scientific reasoning. However, there were no empirical results describing the implementation of National Education Standards in science instruction concerning the use of models. Therefore, the present study investigated the implementation of different aspects of model use in German biology instruction. Two biology lessons on the topic neurobiology in grade nine of 32 biology teachers were videotaped (N = 64 videos). These lessons were analysed using an event-based coding manual according to three aspects of model described above. Rasch analysis of the coded categories was conducted and showed reliable measurement. In the first analysis, we identified 68 lessons where a total of 112 different models were used. The in-depth analysis showed that special aspects of an elaborate model use according to several categories of scientific reasoning were rarely implemented in biology instruction. A critical reflection of the used model (N = 25 models; 22.3%) and models to demonstrate scientific reasoning (N = 26 models; 23.2%) were seldom observed. Our findings suggest that pre-service biology teacher education and professional development initiatives in Germany have to focus on both aspects.

Purpose: The concepts of creativity and intuition have been well studied in isolation, but less is known about their distinctive contributions to option generation in decision making. Method: We examined the relation between creative and intuitive decision making in two studies--one involving coaches and one involving soccer players--using video footage of real soccer matches. Additionally, we analyzed whether this relation is culture generic or culture specific by conducting matched cross-cultural studies in a European and a South American country. Results: In Study 1, results indicate a conceptual overlap of creativity and intuition for Brazilian and German soccer coaches. Furthermore, coaches did not differ in their evaluation of creative and intuitive actions of players of both cultures. In Study 2, we found that for both subsamples the total number of generated options was positively correlated with the quality of the first and the final option and that the quality of players' first (intuitive) option was higher than that of options generated later. Moreover, results indicate a positive correlation between a player's creativity score and the quality of the first generated option for the whole sample. Conclusion: Overall, our findings provide meaningful information regarding athletes' and coaches' option-generation processes in decision making in complex team sports.

Background and Objectives This study examined the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the 10-item Awareness of Age-Related Change Short Form (AARC-SF) questionnaire in a Chinese-speaking sample of older adults in Taiwan. Research Design and Methods Data from 292 participants (M age = 77.64 years) in the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan cohort were used for Study 1, whereas data from young-old adult samples in Germany were used for Study 2. Results Study 1 showed that the AARC-SF had satisfactory reliability and validity for assessing adults' AARC in Taiwan. Analyses confirmed the 2-factor structure of AARC-gains and AARC-losses. Study 2 demonstrated strong measurement invariance across men and women, whereas direct comparisons of the item scores between young-old adults and old-old adults need to be made with caution. Noninvariance of loadings indicated that certain items were more closely linked to AARC-gains and AARC-losses in Taiwan than in Germany. Noninvariance of intercepts suggested potential biases in comparing item scores between Taiwanese and German older adults. Discussion and Implications The AARC-SF emerged as a reliable and valid instrument for capturing positive and negative subjective aging experiences among Taiwanese older adults. However, it is noteworthy that some items on the AARC-SF may solicit different responses from individuals of different ages and different countries of origin, requiring caution with age group and cross-cultural comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do citizens support holding a referendum? In this article, we argue that citizens are instrumental by using heuristics and cues from parties, independent experts, and the population to decide whether to hold a referendum. We further expect that populist and non-populist citizens differ in how they respond to these cues. Using pre-registered survey experiments in Austria and Germany, we find that citizens' support depends mainly on their attitudes towards the respective policy and the opinion of their preferred party, while the views of experts and the public play only a subordinate role. Crucially, we find no systematic differences between populist and non-populist citizens, suggesting that even populists' support for holding a referendum depends mainly on instrumental rather than normative considerations. This study provides comprehensive insights into the causal mechanisms of support for direct democracy and their implications for liberal and representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public opinion polls have become vital and increasingly visible parts of election campaigns. Previous research has frequently demonstrated that polls can influence both citizens' voting intentions and political parties' campaign strategies. However, they are also fraught with uncertainty. Margins of error can reflect (parts of) this uncertainty. This paper investigates how citizens' voting intentions change due to whether polling estimates are presented with or without margins of error. Using a vignette experiment (N=3224), we examine this question based on a real‐world example in which different election polls were shown to nationally representative respondents ahead of the 2021 federal election in Germany. We manipulated the display of the margins of error, the interpretation of polls and the closeness of the electoral race. The results indicate that margins of error can influence citizens' voting intentions. This effect is dependent on the actual closeness of the race and additional interpretative guidance provided to voters. More concretely, the results consistently show that margins of error increase citizens' inclination to vote for one of the two largest contesting parties if the polling gap between these parties is small, and an interpretation underlines this closeness. The findings of this study are important for three reasons. First, they help to determine whether margins of error can assist citizens in making more informed (strategic) vote decisions. They shed light on whether depicting opinion‐poll uncertainty affects the key features of representative democracy, such as democratic accountability. Second, the results stress the responsibility of the media. The way polls are interpreted and contextualized influences the effect of margins of error on voting behaviour. Third, the findings of this paper underscore the significance of including methodological details when communicating scientific research findings to the broader public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aims to explore the reciprocal associations between personality traits (conscientiousness and openness to experience) and academic achievement in adolescents, using the Personality Achievement Saturation Hypothesis (PASH). Background: Personality traits, especially conscientiousness, and openness, have been identified as strong predictors of academic achievement. The PASH provides a framework for understanding these relationships but has mainly been studied from a unidirectional perspective. This study extends the PASH to examine reciprocal associations and how they vary with different achievement indicators. Methods: Using large‐scale panel data (N = 6482) of secondary school students in Germany, we applied cross‐lagged panel models and latent change score models to examine the differential reciprocal associations between personality traits (conscientiousness/openness) and academic achievement (school grades/achievement test scores) in language and math over two years from grades 7 to 9. Results: In line with the PASH, initial levels of conscientiousness were more strongly associated with school grades than with achievement test scores over two years. Simultaneously, prior school grades were more strongly associated with conscientiousness over two years. However, initial levels of openness did not show differential associations with either school grades or achievement test scores over two years. Similarly, prior school grades and achievement test scores were also not differentially associated with openness over two years. Conclusions: Our findings introduce an innovative lens through which we observe how the PASH can be leveraged to explain the differential reciprocal associations between conscientiousness and academic achievement. Further research is needed to examine if PASH could be similarly extended to disentangle the associations between openness and academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The handbook "Teaching and Learning Sustainable Consumption" addresses the topic of sustainable consumption and the importance of teaching and learning in this area. It emphasizes that unsustainable consumption habits are a major cause of environmental destruction and damage. The handbook provides approaches for teaching and learning sustainable consumption in higher education and discusses learning theories and pedagogical concepts. It also introduces key competencies in the field of sustainability and explains the evaluation of learning in education for sustainable consumption. The handbook "Teaching and Learning Sustainable Consumption: A Guidebook" offers numerous practical examples and serves as a guide for educators who are interested in sustainability and consumption. It systematizes the topics, goals, and theories that characterize the field of sustainable consumption as an educational area. The handbook can help educators navigate this scientific field and make teaching and learning more professional and creative. It also presents other publications on higher education for sustainable development in Germany, including a guide to ESD in higher education and a guide to curriculum integration of ESD. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: This study aimed to assess subjective and objective parameters of stress among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the recovery effect of a day off. Methods: In this prospective observational trial, we measured heart rate variability (using a wearable device) and perceived stress levels on 3 working days and 1 day off. We obtained the following data using an online questionnaire: working conditions, COVID-19-related problems, depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), effort-reward imbalance, and work-family conflict in a sample of German nurses (N = 41). Results: When comparing working days with a day off, we observed a significant difference for physical load (Cohen's d = 0.798, P <.001), mental load (Cohen's d = 0.660, P =.001), emotional exhaustion (Cohen's d = 0.945, P <.001), and overburdening (Cohen's d = 0.585, P =.002) with higher scores on working days. Regarding heart rate variability, we did not find a difference. Correlational analyses revealed a significant association between being afraid to get infected with COVID-19 and lower heart rate variability (r = −0.336, P =.045) and between being afraid to infect relatives and lower heart rate variability (r = −0.442, P =.007). Furthermore, a higher total sum score of work-family conflict was significantly associated with lower heart rate variability (r = −0.424, P =.01). Conclusion: As heart rate variability observations were different from those regarding subjectively perceived stress, further studies are needed to evaluate and differentiate the influence of work stress and other types of stress on heart rate variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that industrial relations (IR) in the German public sector are not just a replica of private sector IR. It suggests that neither the structures, nor the outcomes can be sufficiently explained by derivation from private sector IR processes. Primarily, the specifics and developments of the public sector explain public sector IR. It is of fundamental importance whether trade unions operate in a profit‐driven market environment or a publicly financed environment that is under public control. Differences between the public and the private sector result not least in the distinct relevance and meanings of trade union power resources. This influences the ways in which industrial action in the private and the public sector works and is relevant for trade union strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies comparing Chinese and German samples by using work-related verbal creativity tasks examined the role of culture in creative expression thereby also exploring culture's potential influence on creativity judgements. In Study 1, German participants (N = 60) scored higher than Chinese respondents (N = 60) in a work-related unusual uses test on all objective creativity measures. Study 2 (Chinese: N = 59, German: N = 52) replicated these findings by applying an occupational creative problem-solving task evaluated by using the Consensual Assessment Technique with judges from China as well as Germany. We observed high consensus among judges of each country as well as between the two cultures. Both German and Chinese judges rated the German respondents' outcomes higher on most creativity dimensions (e.g., originality). Overall, German judges provided lower ratings. Our research extends previous intercultural findings solely based on art-based creative performance to the occupational domain and indicates that higher creativity ascriptions toward the performance of Western people cannot be explained by assessments from Western raters.

Argumentative thinking requires not only the "skill" to apply argumentative strategies such as supporting theories with evidence but also the "will" to apply these strategies by considering argumentative thinking to be both reasonable and worthwhile. Focusing on direct instruction for the initial acquisition of both skill and will, we developed a new short-term computer-based training intervention. We tested its effects on learning processes and learning outcomes in an experimental study with 147 German high school students. Our intervention fostered facets of both skill (i.e. a declarative knowledge about argumentation) and will (i.e., epistemic orientation, intellectual values, and epistemic knowledge). We gained additional insights into learning mechanisms, such as the mediating effects of the learners' self-explanation activities and the advantage of addressing will before skill.

Background: Education Standards highlight the importance of conceptual knowledge. Instructional tasks play a key role in biology instruction and offer learning opportunities for students. Tasks contain of a content and a demands part. Therefore, complexity and cognitive level are adequate variables to describe tasks and are assumed effective for students' learning. Purpose: This study aimed to analyse the use of high-complexity and high-cognitive-level tasks in biology instruction and effects on students' factual and conceptual knowledge. Sample: Twenty-eight German secondary school biology teachers were videotaped for three lessons in grade six on the topic botany. The student sample was 701. Design and methods: Instructional tasks were identified and categorised according complexity and cognitive level. Students' factual and conceptual knowledge was tested after the videotaped lessons. Multilevel analyses were used to estimate effects on students' knowledge. Results: Biology instruction is dominated by low-complexity and low-cognitive-level tasks. Multilevel analyses showed a positive significant effect of high-cognitive-level tasks on students' conceptual knowledge. High-complexity tasks did not significantly effect students' conceptual knowledge. Conclusions: Establishing Education Standards did hardly change the type of tasks. The potential of high-cognitive-level tasks to foster students' learning is highlighted. Introducing these results in pre-service and in-service teacher education seems necessary.

The study refers to the unfavourable reputation and status of general didactics as well as its decreasing importance in teacher education. This is a result of poor performance achieved in international tests by students. They score low on knowledge and arguments, and empirical studies indicate that didactic models are useless. In view of the above problem, the aim of this article is to examine the validity of the argument that didactic models are useless. It is necessary to examine if general didactics are being in an unfavourable position along with its possible successors in the international context. In order to achieve that, we conducted an empirical study into the usability of didactic models for lesson planning in Croatia and compared it with the results obtained in previous research in Germany. The term "usability" means the advantages of theory in practice. On the basis of the results of the empirical study, we concluded that didactic models are not generally unusable. Additionally, they are different according to their usability. These results open a path for further research on this topic in the international context.

Given the high rate of student drop-out and withdrawal from courses and programs using an online learning format, it is important to consider innovative ways to foster and encourage student success in online environments. One such way is to incorporate aspects of student future orientation into the design of online instruction. This paper presents an overview of a program of research examining whether perceptions of student motivation, self-regulation, and future time perspective can be positively influenced through future oriented instruction in a blended learning (semi-virtual) environment at a German university. Individual differences in student future time orientation can provide insight into this interesting connection between the influence of attitude toward time on motivational and self-regulatory processes in learning. In conclusion, the practical implications of this topic for the design of online learning environments must be considered: Increased effort needs to be taken for developing methods for online instruction to tap into and encourage the future orientation of students, and for providing meaningful connections to the content and possible future outcomes. This paper intends to provide insight into and examples of how an online course or semi-virtual programs can benefit from a future oriented design.

This study evaluated an emotion-focused and a problem-focused intervention designed for patients with age-related macular degeneration. It found a limited decrease in depression in the emotion-focused group and an increase in active problem orientation and in adaptation to vision loss in the problem-focused group.

Public, religious and private schools have been coexisting in continental Europe since the 19th century. Scientific interest in differences between the educational outcomes of public and religious schools has grown recently, as a result of international debates on parental choice and school autonomy especially in the USA. Clear differences have been found between the educational outcomes of public and religious schools in the Netherlands. In this paper we analyze whether comparable differences exist in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, which borders on the Netherlands and has much in common with Dutch history and culture. Pupils from Protestant and Catholic secondary schools in Nordrhein-Westfalen attain higher educational outcomes than those from public schools, after controlling for other characteristics. However, pupils from Protestant and Catholic schools in Nordrhein-Westfalen attain success at university and occupational levels equal to those of pupils from public schools, after controlling for unequal educational outcomes and other characteristics. These comparable differences between the effects of religious and public schools in Nordrhein-Westfalen and the Netherlands show that the Dutch educational system is not an exception, but an example of a broader European development, in which the old religious differences in education are being transformed into competition for pupils on the basis of educational quality. (Contains 13 tables, 1 figure, and 10 notes.)

Background/Objectives: Recent studies provide the first indications of the impact of climate factors on human health, especially with individuals already grappling with internal and neurological conditions being particularly vulnerable. In the face of escalating climate change, our research delves into the specific influence of a spectrum of climatic factors and seasonal variations on the hospital admissions of patients receiving treatment for epileptic seizures at our clinic in Kaiserslautern. Methods: Our study encompassed data from 9366 epilepsy patients who were admitted to hospital due to epileptic seizures. We considered seven climate parameters that Germany's National Meteorological Service made available. We employed the Kruskal–Wallis test to examine the correlation between the frequency of admittance to our hospital in the mentioned patient group and seasons. Furthermore, we used conditional Poisson regression and distributed lag linear models (DLMs) to scrutinize the coherence of the frequency of patient admittance and the investigated climate parameters. The mentioned parameters were also analyzed in a subgroup analysis regarding the gender and age of patients and the classification of seizures according to ILAE 2017. Results: Our results demonstrate that climatic factors, such as precipitation and air pressure, can increase the frequency of hospital admissions for seizures in patients with general-onset epilepsy. In contrast, patients with focal seizures are less prone to climatic changes. Consequently, admittance to the hospital for seizures is less affected by climatic factors in the latter patient group. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that climatic factors are possible trigger factors for the provocation of seizures, particularly in patients with generalized seizures. This was determined indirectly by analyzing the frequency of seizure-related emergency admissions and their relation to prevailing climate factors. Our study is consistent with other studies showing that climate factors, such as cerebral infarcts or cerebral hemorrhages, influence patients' health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In the present study, the intraoperative fluorescence of brain metastases after the administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is investigated in 80 cases. Brain metastases fluoresced in 57.5% of cases, with no significant correlation between fluorescence and primary tumor or histological subtype. Complete resection of brain metastases was detected in 82.5%, of which 56.1% were fluorescence positive, compared to 43.9% which were non-fluorescent. Thus, prior administration of 5-ALA tended to improve the resectability rate by 12.1%. Fluorescence-positive and -negative metastases showed significantly different overall survival in this study. Therefore, administration of 5-ALA as a surgical adjuvant may be beneficial in resecting brain metastases and may potentially optimize the surgical procedure. (1) Background: In this study, the intraoperative fluorescence behavior of brain metastases after the administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) was analyzed. The aim was to investigate whether the resection of brain metastases using 5-ALA fluorescence also leads to a more complete resections and thus to a prolongation of survival; (2) Methods: The following variables have been considered: age, sex, number of metastases, localization, involvement of eloquent area, correlation between fluorescence and primary tumor/subtype, resection, and survival time. The influence on the degree of resection was determined with a control MRI within the first three postoperative days; (3) Results: Brain metastases fluoresced in 57.5% of cases. The highest fluorescence rates of 73.3% were found in breast carcinoma metastases and the histologic subtype adenocarcinoma (68.1%). No correlation between fluorescence behavior and localization, primary tumor, or histological subtype was found. Complete resection was detected in 82.5%, of which 56.1% were fluorescence positive. There was a trend towards improved resectability (increase of 12.1%) and a significantly longer survival time (p = 0.009) in the fluorescence-positive group; (4) Conclusions: 5-ALA-assisted extirpation leads to a more complete resection and longer survival and can therefore represent a low-risk addition to modern surgery for brain metastases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platinum group metals (PGM) and cerium as one of the rare-earth elements are considered as critical raw materials, thus their recycling and re-use is of utmost importance. Among the PGMs, platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), and rhodium (Rh) are the basic and most valuable metals used in catalytic converters. Due to the high price of PGMs, there are already recycling routes in Europe and especially in Germany. For PGM and rare-earth elements, research is focusing on greener, plain recovery techniques, which utilize milder reagents, offer better energy efficiency, and replace the existing recycling routes. In this work, a hydrometallurgical process is proposed to add a hydrometallurgy method to the mostly pyrometallurgical industrial recycling routes, resulting in recovery rates for cerium and PGMs of 63.21% and only 1.03% with sulfuric acid, respectively. With hydrochloric acid, the leaching efficiency for cerium is even lower, and for PGM it is comparable. In the method proposed in the present paper, the main PGMs remain in monoliths and can be recycled in existing recycling routes like pyrometallurgical recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The choice of a hospital should be based on individual need and accessibility. For maternity hospitals, this includes known or expected risk factors, the geographic accessibility and level of care provided by the hospital. This study aims to identify factors influencing hospital choice with the aim to analyze if and how many deliveries are conducted in a risk-appropriate and accessible setting in Bavaria, Germany. Methods: This is a cross-sectional secondary data analysis based on all first births in Bavaria (2015-18) provided by the Bavarian Quality Assurance Institute for Medical Care. Information on the mother and on the hospital were included. The Bavarian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010 was used to account for area-level socioeconomic differences. Multiple logistic regression models were used to estimate the strength of association of the predicting factors and to adjust for confounding. Results: We included 195,087 births. Distances to perinatal centers were longer than to other hospitals (16 km vs. 12 km). 10% of women with documented risk pregnancies did not deliver in a perinatal center. Regressions showed that higher age (OR 1.03; 1.02–1.03 95%-CI) and risk pregnancy (OR 1.44; 1.41–1.47 95%-CI) were associated with choosing a perinatal center. The distances travelled show high regional variation with a strong urban-rural divide. Conclusion: In a health system with free choice of hospitals, many women chose a hospital close to home and/or according to their risks. However, this is not the case for 10% of mothers, a group that would benefit from more coordinated care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) records geriatric syndromes in a standardized manner, allowing individualized treatment tailored to the patient's needs and resources. Its use has shown a beneficial effect on the functional outcome and survival of geriatric patients. A recently published German S1 guideline for level 2 CGA provides recommendations for the use of a broad variety of different assessment instruments for each geriatric syndrome. However, the actual use of assessment instruments in routine geriatric clinical practice and its consistency with the guideline and the current state of literature has not been investigated to date. Methods: An online survey was developed by an expert group of geriatricians and sent to all licenced geriatricians (n = 569) within Germany. The survey included the following geriatric syndromes: motor function and self-help capability, cognition, depression, pain, dysphagia and nutrition, social status and comorbidity, pressure ulcers, language and speech, delirium, and frailty. Respondents were asked to report which geriatric assessment instruments are used to assess the respective syndromes. Results: A total of 122 clinicians participated in the survey (response rate: 21%); after data cleaning, 76 data sets remained for analysis. All participants regularly used assessment instruments in the following categories: motor function, self-help capability, cognition, depression, and pain. The most frequently used instruments in these categories were the Timed Up and Go (TUG), the Barthel Index (BI), the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Limited or heterogenous assessments are used in the following categories: delirium, frailty and social status. Conclusions: Our results show that the assessment of motor function, self-help capability, cognition, depression, pain, and dysphagia and nutrition is consistent with the recommendations of the S1 guideline for level 2 CGA. Instruments recommended for more frequent use include the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and the WHO-5 (depression). There is a particular need for standardized assessment of delirium, frailty and social status. The harmonization of assessment instruments throughout geriatric departments shall enable more effective treatment and prevention of age-related diseases and syndromes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Primary therapy of localized myxofibrosarcoma (MFS) remains controversial. Primary resection is complicated by a high rate of local recurrence, and the refractoriness to non-surgical treatment results in a higher risk of metastasis. The aim of the present study was to contribute the findings of a single sarcoma-specialized center and encourage investigating new treatment options. Patients and Methods We analyzed 134 patients treated with localized MFS in our center regarding prognostic factors defining overall survival, local recurrence, and metastasis. We focused on multimodal treatment of localized MFS: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hyperthermia, and isolated limb perfusion. Results The 5-year OS was 74.9%. From a total of 134 patients: 74 (55.2%) stayed disease free, 48 (35.8%) had a local recurrence (LR), and 23 (17.2%) developed a distant metastasis (DM). The 5-year LR-free survival (LRFS) and DM-free survival (DMFS) were 66.1% and 80.8%, respectively. Older age, tumor size (cT) cT ≥ 2, non-extremity localization, and distant metastasis were adverse predictive factors for OS. Performing an incision biopsy, surgery in a sarcoma-center, wide local excision or compartment-oriented excision, negative margins, and radiotherapy were positive predictive factors for LR. Tumor size cT ≥ 3 was a negative predictive factor for DM. Grading was a negative predictive factor for LR (G ≥ 2) and for DM (G3) in the multivariable analysis. Conclusion Adjuvant radiation had a positive impact on LRFS in all localized tumor stages, even in cT1 tumors. Chemotherapy did not have a significant impact on DMFS, regardless of tumor stage. Our findings indicate that myxofibrosarcoma may be a chemotherapy-resistant entity and a much closer monitoring is required, in case of neoadjuvant treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of Bourdieu's reproduction theory, the choice of field of study was addressed above all as topic of social inequality in tertiary education. It was supposed that "title inflation" led to a relocation of the distinctive advantage of the upper classes from the vertical to the horizontal dimension of inequality in the choice of field of study. Previous studies only showed a weak effect of social background on the choice of medical and legal studies. However, what had not before been analysed was the continuation of family traditions in academic and non-academic fields, which operate as mediator between social origin and the choice of field of study. The present study analyses this connection with a newly developed instrument from the German Student Survey, which is conducted by the Research Group on Higher Education at the University of Konstanz. As a result, it can be shown that the father's education has only a weak effect on the student's choice of field of study. However, the probability of a similar choice of field of study increases between 10% and 20% if the familial training traditions are considered.

Systems' thinking has become increasingly relevant not only in education for sustainable development but also in everyday life. Even if teachers know the dynamics and complexity of living systems in biology and geography, they might not be able to effectively explain it to students. Teachers need an understanding of systems and their behaviour ("content knowledge"), and they also need to know how systems thinking can be fostered in students ("pedagogical content knowledge" (PCK)). But the effective development of teachers' professional knowledge in teaching systems thinking is empirically uncertain. From a larger study (SysThema) that investigated teaching systems thinking, this article reports the effects of the three different interventions (technical course, didactic course and mixed course) in student teachers' PCK for teaching systems thinking. The results show that student teachers' PCK for teaching systems thinking can be promoted in teacher education. The conclusion to be drawn from our findings is that a technically orientated course without didactical aspects seems to be less effective in fostering student teachers' PCK for teaching systems thinking. The results inform educators in enhancing curricula of future academic track and non-academic track teacher education.