Comparison of two small group learning methods in 12th grade physics classes focusing on intrinsic motivation and academic performance

Twelfth grade physics classes with 344 students participated in a quasi-experimental study comparing two small-group learning settings. In the jigsaw classroom, in contrast to the cyclical rotation method, teaching expectancy as well as resource interdependence is established. The study is based on the Self-Determination Theory of motivation which states that the satisfaction of the ‘basic needs’ for experiencing autonomy, competence, and social relatedness is essential to promote intrinsic motivation. Regarding the experience of competence, a small effect in favour of the jigsaw classroom was found, whereas students in the cyclical rotation setting showed medium-sized benefits in experiencing autonomy. A path analysis revealed that these opposing effects balanced each other, that is, no effect from small-group method to intrinsic motivation was found. In contrary to the motivational variables, achievement effects depended on the underlying study topic: based on scanning electron microscopy, the cyclical rotation setting outperformed jigsaw classroom, whereas an opposed trend is observed with regard to the microwave oven learning unit. The higher interestingness of the latter learning unit was revealed as a week mediator from study topic to academic achievement

Effektivität kooperativen Lernens:Wer lernt wieviel – und was?

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The effectiveness of study skills courses: Do they increase general study competences?

The present longitudinal study aims to assess the effectiveness of study skills courses in improving students' general study competences. In a pre-study, an online questionnaire was developed which measured the learning process organization, motivation, planning, and stress management on four reliable scales. The participants in the main study were 45 students from five different German universities who attended such a course and a control group of 87 students who did not. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA's indicate an increase in general study competences for students in the intervention group. The change in competences between a pre-test and post-test differ significantly between the groups. 16.12.2015 | Verena Schmied & Martin Hänze (Kassel

Generating Causal Relations in Scientific Texts: The Long-Term Advantages of Successful Generation

A high level of text comprehension can be achieved by engaging learners in processes of organization and integration while reading a cohesive text. In the present study, we investigated the impact of an innovative generative technique on learning with scientific texts. The cohesion generation was implemented by means of explicit cohesion gaps. High school students (n = 199) were randomly assigned to either receive a fully cohesive scientific text (control condition) or a scientific text that required the selection of causal connectives, such as because, although, therefore, or however (generation condition). Learners in the generation condition were required to reflect on causal relations to complete the text. All students were tested immediately (T1) and 2 weeks after the learning phase (T2). Cognitive load was measured by a dual task and self-report measure. Contrary to our expectations, no differences were found in performance on inference questions (situation model). Learners in the generation condition performed worse on text-based questions at T1 but showed less forgetting from T1 to T2. The impact of condition on the situation model was moderated by reading skills. Remarkably, the generation success was highly predictive for learning outcomes even when controlling for learners’ proficiencies. Consequently, learners who succeeded to employ effortful processes to overcome the difficulty showed a superior performance on both the text-base and situation-model questions compared to students reading the cohesive text. Moreover, in these learners, generative activity led to a sustainable learning performance 2 weeks later. Poor readers especially took advantage of generative activity, despite struggling to perform the cohesion task as indicated by the cognitive load measures. The results suggest that the activity of generating causal relations can augment inferential processing in learners who are not involved in inferential processing spontaneously. To successfully apply this generative learning technique, students require considerable instructional support

Förderung schriftsprachlicher Kompetenzen durch semesterbegleitendes Feedback zu Studienbeginn

Im Rahmen von Seminaren mit insgesamt 197 Studierenden wurde versucht, die Entwicklung schriftsprachlicher Fähigkeiten mit Hilfe von wiederholtem Feedback zu kurzen Texten zu fördern. Dabei wurden zwei Feedbackformen experimentell verglichen. Gegenüber Rückmeldungen in Form von Punkten (Kontrollbedingung) wies ein ausführliches Feedback (Experimentalbedingung) Vorteile auf: Es wurde z. B. als hilfreicher und lernförderlicher empfunden. Auch eine Verbesserung der studentischen Texte im Laufe des Semesters ließ sich nur für die Experimentalgruppe zeigen. 09.05.2016 | Elisabeth Fischer & Martin Hänze (Kassel

Human RELMβ is a mitogenic factor in lung cells and induced in hypoxia

AbstractRELMβ (resistin-like molecule) represents the most related human homologue of mouse RELMα, also known as hypoxic-induced mitogenic factor (HIMF). In this study, we isolated RELMβ cDNA from human lung tissue and performed regulatory and functional expression studies. RELMβ mRNA was upregulated in hypoxia in human lung A549 cell line as well as primary cultured adventitial fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells (SMC) of pulmonary arteries. Upon transfection of a RELMβ encoding expression plasmid into these cells, we observed significant induction of proliferation particularly in SMC and A549 cells, which could be blocked by phosphatidyl-inositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors LY294002 and wortmannin. The results suggest that human RELMβ may contribute to hypoxic-induced pulmonary vascular remodeling processes or hypoxia related fibrotic lung disease

Ein Beitrag zur klinischen Diagnostik des ektopischen ACTH-Syndroms

Es wird über einen Fall von ektopischem ACTH-Syndrom mit Hypercortizismus und hypokaliämischer Alkalose bei einem metastasierten Pankreas-Carcinom berichtet. Das Fehlen einer Differenz zwischen den ACTH-Spiegeln im Plasma aus dem Bulbus cranialis venae jugularis und aus der Vena femoralis unterstützte die Annahme einer nicht hypophysären Herkunft der erhöhten ACTH-Spiegel.A case of ectopic ACTH syndrome is reported presenting with hypercorticism and pronounced hypokalemic alkalosis in a woman aged 55 y. with metastatic cancer of the pancreas. The failure to show a significant difference of plasma ACTH-levels from bulbus superior venae jugularis resp. femoral vein supported the clinical assumption of non pituitary origin of elevated plasma ACTH