The quality of pedagogical diagnostics in the teaching profession - annotations to the special issue "Teachers\u27 diagnostic competences and their practical relevance"

Die Autoren analysieren den Begriff „Pädagogische Diagnostik“ und reflektieren die diagnostische Kompetenz von Lehrkräften in den Studien des Themenhefts. „Die vorliegenden Studien thematisieren die Rolle pädagogischen Wissens und diagnostikbezogener Einstellungen/Überzeugungen für qualitativ hochwertiges, diagnostisches Handeln.“ (DIPF/Orig.

The Halo Effect as a Teaching Tool for Fostering Research-Based Learning

Teachers’ use of everyday cognitive heuristics can lead to biases in information processing and, thus, to unfair assessments of student characteristics. This problem can be addressed by a core aspect of research-based learning, i.e., by making use of principles and methods of empirical research in order to systematically collect information. However, pre-service teachers’ attitude towards the use of empirical research methods is usually rather low. To foster their attitudes, a total of 444 student teachers were confronted with their own biased perception during a methodology course. Biased perception was triggered by a halo effect inducing experiment. In a subsequent semester, n = 113 of these students participated in an online survey. They answered questions about their cognitive activity and affective reaction following the presentation of the results of the experiment. Moreover, they reported about perceived attitude changes towards systematic thinking and research methods. The results demonstrate the successful implementation of the halo effect, which affected the students cognitively and emotionally. Structural equation modelling showed, that attitude change was dependent on both cognitive and affective reactions. The findings indicate that the halo effect is not only easy to implement in university courses but also appears to have substantial impact on students’ attitudes towards research-based learning

South Atlantic opening: A plume-induced breakup?

Upwelling hot mantle plumes are thought to disintegrate continental lithosphere and are considered to be drivers of active continental breakup. The formation of the Walvis Ridge during the opening of the South Atlantic is related to a putative plume-induced breakup. We investigated the crustal structure of the Walvis Ridge (southeast Atlantic Ocean) at its intersection with the continental margin and searched for anomalies related to the possible plume head. The overall structure we identify suggests that no broad plume head existed during opening of the South Atlantic and anomalous mantle melting occurred only locally. We therefore question the importance of a plume head as a driver of continental breakup and further speculate that the hotspot was present before the rifting, leaving a track of kimberlites in the African craton

Signal transduction, receptors, mediators and genes: younger than ever - the 13th meeting of the Signal Transduction Society focused on aging and immunology

The 13th meeting of the Signal Transduction Society was held in Weimar, from October 28 to 30, 2009. Special focus of the 2009 conference was "Aging and Senescence", which was co-organized by the SFB 728 "Environmentally-Induced Aging Processes" of the University of Düsseldorf and the study group 'Signal Transduction' of the German Society for Cell Biology (DGZ). In addition, several other areas of signal transduction research were covered and supported by different consortia associated with the Signal Transduction Society including the long-term associated study groups of the German Society for Immunology and the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and for instance the SFB/Transregio 52 "Transcriptional Programming of Individual T Cell Subsets" located in Würzburg, Mainz and Berlin. The different research areas that were introduced by outstanding keynote speakers attracted more than 250 scientists, showing the timeliness and relevance of the interdisciplinary concept and exchange of knowledge during the three days of the scientific program. This report gives an overview of the presentations of the conference

3-D Magnetotelluric Image of Offshore Magmatism at the Walvis Ridge and Rift Basin

Highlights • We report on marine 3D Magnetotelluric study on Walvis Ridge • Derived 3D electrical resistivity model shows a large scale resistive zone, which we link to crustal extension due to local uplift. It might indicate the location where the hot-spot impinged on the crust prior to rifting • Smaller scale resistive region is attributed to magma ascent during rifting • Rift basin is identified by low resistivity region The Namibian continental margin marks the starting point of the Tristan da Cunha hotspot trail, the Walvis Ridge. This section of the volcanic southwestern African margin is therefore ideal to study the interaction of hotspot volcanism and rifting, which occurred in the late Jurassic/early Cretaceous. Offshore magnetotelluric data image electromagnetically the landfall of Walvis Ridge. Two large-scale high resistivity anomalies in the 3-D resistivity model indicate old magmatic intrusions related to hot-spot volcanism and rifting. The large-scale resistivity anomalies correlate with seismically identified lower crustal high velocity anomalies attributed to magmatic underplating along 2-D offshore seismic profiles. One of the high resistivity anomalies (above 500 Ωm) has three arms of approximately 100 km width and 300 km to 400 km length at 120 degree angles in the lower crust. One of the arms stretches underneath Walvis Ridge. The shape is suggestive of crustal extension due to local uplift. It might indicate the location where the hot-spot impinged on the crust prior to rifting. A second, smaller anomaly of 50 km width underneath the continent ocean boundary may be attributed to magma ascent during rifting. We attribute a low resistivity anomaly east of the continent ocean boundary and south of Walvis Ridge to the presence of a rift basin that formed prior to the rifting

Face Inversion Reduces the Persistence of Global Form and Its Neural Correlates

Face inversion produces a detrimental effect on face recognition. The extent to which the inversion of faces and other kinds of objects influences the perceptual binding of visual information into global forms is not known. We used a behavioral method and functional MRI (fMRI) to measure the effect of face inversion on visual persistence, a type of perceptual memory that reflects sustained awareness of global form. We found that upright faces persisted longer than inverted versions of the same images; we observed a similar effect of inversion on the persistence of animal stimuli. This effect of inversion on persistence was evident in sustained fMRI activity throughout the ventral visual hierarchy, including the lateral occipital area (LO), two face-selective visual areas—the fusiform face area (FFA) and the occipital face area (OFA)—and several early visual areas. V1 showed the same initial fMRI activation to upright and inverted forms but this activation lasted longer for upright stimuli. The inversion effect on persistence-related fMRI activity in V1 and other retinotopic visual areas demonstrates that higher-tier visual areas influence early visual processing via feedback. This feedback effect on figure-ground processing is sensitive to the orientation of the figure

Academic preparation of teachers-to-be for research-based learning in everyday professional work

Im Rahmen einer stärkeren Praxisorientierung in der universitären Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung wird von Studierenden gefordert, forschend zu lernen. Dabei wird der Begriff Forschendes Lernen mit vielfältigen Bedeutungen verbunden und eine begründete Konzeption des Lernprozesses und seines Bezugs zur empirischen Forschung steht noch aus. Wir erläutern, inwiefern die Orientierung an wissenschaftlichen, empirischen Methoden das Lernen aus individuellen, beruflichen Erfahrungen unterstützen kann. Entsprechend definieren wir Forschendes Lernen als einen Lernprozess, in dem bestimmte Elemente empirischen wissenschaftlichen Handelns in Kombination mit theoretischem Wissen und individuellen Erfahrungen zur Beantwortung beruflich relevanter Fragen genutzt werden. Dieser Lernprozess dient dem individuellen Erkenntnisgewinn und damit letztlich der Optimierung professionellen Handelns. Aufbauend auf diesem Begriffsverständnis stellen wir ein universitäres Lehrkonzept vor, das der Vorbereitung und Einübung Forschenden Lernens im Praxissemester dient. Erste Evaluationsergebnisse aus Veranstaltungen mit n = 89 bzw. n = 60 Studierenden zeigen gewünschte Veränderungen von forschungsbezogenem Wissen und selbsteingeschätzten Fähigkeiten, nicht aber hinsichtlich des erwarteten Nutzens des Forschenden Lernens. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Blick auf die Implementationsbedingungen des Lehrkonzepts an der Hochschule diskutiert und Ansatzpunkte für weitere Forschung werden präsentiert. (DIPF/Orig.)As a result of a stronger focus on practical elements in academic teacher education, students are expected to engage in research-based learning. However, the meaning of this term is manifold. A well-founded conception of this learning process and also a critical discussion of its relation to empirical research are missing yet. We explicate why the use of empirical research methods can support the gain of insight from individual professional experiences. Accordingly we define research-based learning as a cyclical learning process in which certain elements of scientific, empirical research are applied in combination with theoretical knowledge and individual experiences in order to find answers on questions and problems of everyday school life. Taken all together, research-based learning is expected to foster the development of professional competence. Based on this definition we introduce a concept for academic teacher education, which serves to prepare pre-service teachers to practice research-based learning during the Praxissemester. First results from the evaluation of corresponding lectures with n = 89 and n = 60 students reveal an increase in knowledge about research methods and self-rated abilities, but not in expected benefits of conducting research-based learning. We discuss the results focusing on the conditions of the implementation of our learning concept at the university. Ideas for further research in this area are presented. (DIPF/Orig.