The Development of Interest in School Science Activities: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyzes of the course and influencing factors of the development of interests in chemistry lessons at secondary levels I and II

Promoting and maintaining students’ interest in chemistry, as well as its content, language and the characteristic ways in which knowledge is acquired, is a central goal of chemistry education. The prominent role of interest in education, e.g. in standards and curricula, can be justified by the positive effects of interest on learning processes, achievements and achievement related choices. In addition, interest plays a crucial role in the development of students’ self-concept, which, in the case of chemistry education, ideally manifests itself in students’ identification with chemistry. Interest does not only influence students’ educational trajectory, but also influence their vocational vita. However, Empirical findings repeatedly indicate a decline of students’ interest in science subjects across grade levels. Furthermore, students predominantly decide against taking up classes as well as subsequent studies or a vocation in some form of science. A determining factor to attract more students to scientific professions is the promotion of interest even during schooling. The need for purposefully fostering students’ interest was stated by Dierks et al. (2014b) and Blankenburg, Höffler, and Parchmann (2016), on the assumption that for a significant and sustainable increase of students’ interest sophisticated insights into their interest profile are indispensable. In such way, existing interests could be targeted and new interests triggered by teachers. To gain a more precise picture of students’ interest, the RIASEC+N model of interest was developed, which discriminates between interest in contexts, contents and students’ school science activities. The present research takes up existing findings and addresses open questions concerning (a) the development of students’ interest in chemistry across lower and upper secondary school, (b) the relation between students’ interest and their understanding of fundamental concepts (conceptual understanding) and (c) the relation between interest and enjoyment as well as interest and utility values. The main focus of this research lies on the analysis of the relation between interest and conceptual understanding. Based on the generic model of interest development by Hidi and Renninger (2006) and Eccles et al.’s Expectancy-Value Theory (Eccles et al., 2015) bidirectional, positive (i.e., reciprocal) relations between interest and conceptual understanding where hypothesized. In order to answer the research questions, data of the research project Development of Learning in Science was utilized for cross and longitudinal analysis. The results indicated a decrease in chemistry interest with increasing grade level across all seven interest dimensions of the RIASEC+N model whereby initial interest levels and corresponding subsequent decreases varied significantly between interest dimensions. Results of latent cross-lagged models suggested no reciprocal effects between interest and conceptual understanding for lower secondary students. However, for upper secondary students the findings suggested that interests in activities associated with cognitive activation or the communication of knowledge may be reciprocally related. Furthermore, positive effects of students’ prior enjoyment on subsequent interest as well as positive effects of interest on utility vales were shown. In summary, the results support the need of fine-grained analysis of students’ interest to reveal specific impacts of interest on learning and to design fitting student enrichment programs. At the same time the results underline the importance of interest for students’ knowledge acquisition and the development of utility values, i.e., the perceived usefulness for society and oneself. Interest can be considered as an important factor for the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of one’s self-concept and should therefore be considered an important factor in any academic situation. Future research can build on our results to create a better and more complete picture for understanding the development of interest in school science activities depending on the quantity and quality of corresponding learning opportunities.Die Etablierung eines Interesses an der Chemie, ihren Inhalten, ihrer Sprache sowie ihren spezifischen Denk- und Arbeitsweisen ist ein zentrales Ziel des Chemieunterrichts. Diese pointierte Stellung des Interesses aufgrund normativer Zielsetzungen ist durch positive Effekte des Interesses auf Lernprozesse und -erfolge sowie Wahlentscheidungen bedingt. Zudem ist das Interesse ein wichtiger Faktor der Entwicklung des Selbstkonzepts, das sich hinsichtlich des Chemieunterrichts idealiter in der Identifikation von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit der Domäne der Chemie äußert. Das Interesse beeinflusst somit nicht nur die schulische Laufbahn, sondern gleichfalls bspw. über Karriereaspirationen die berufliche Vita. Empirische Forschungsartikel zeigen jedoch wiederholt, dass das Interesse der Schülerinnen und Schüler an den Naturwissenschaften mit steigender Jahrgangsstufe fällt. Hinzu kommt, das die Schülerinnen und Schüler sich überwiegend gegen den Unterricht sowie ein subsequentes Studium bzw. einen Beruf mit naturwissenschaftlichem Schwerpunkt entscheiden. Eine entscheidende Stellschraube, um Schülerinnen und Schüler für das langfristige, professionelle Engagement in naturwissenschaftlichen Bereichen zu gewinnen, ist die Förderung des Interesses schon während der Schulzeit. Den Bedarf an einer gezielten Interessenförderung griffen Dierks, Höffler und Parchmann (2014b) und Blankenburg, Höffler und Parchmann (2016) in ihren Forschungsarbeiten unter der Prämisse auf, dass für eine erfolgreiche Steigerung des Interesses differenzierte Kenntnisse über die Interessenprofile der Schülerinnen und Schüler vorliegen müssen. So könnten gezielt vorhandene Interessen angesprochen bzw. neue Interessen hervorgerufen werden. Um die notwendigen differenzierten Einblicke in die Interessenstrukturen der Schülerinnen und Schüler erzielen zu können, wurde das RIASEC+N Interessenmodell entwickelt, das zwischen dem Interesse an Kontexten, Inhalten und naturwissenschaftlichen Tätigkeiten diskriminiert. Die vorliegende Arbeit knüpft hieran an und widmet sich offen gebliebenen Fragestellungen nach (a) der Interessenentwicklung im Chemieunterricht der Sekundarstufe I und II, (b) den Zusammenhängen zum Verständnis fundamentaler chemischer Konzepte (Konzeptverständnis) sowie (c) den Zusammenhängen zur Lernfreude und der wahrgenommenen Nützlichkeit. Der Fokus der Forschungsarbeit lag auf der Analyse des Zusammenhangs zwischen dem Interesse und dem Konzeptverständnis, wobei ausgehend von dem generischen Interessenmodell sensu Hidi und Renninger (2006) und dem Erwartungs-Wert-Modell sensu Eccles, Fredricks und Epstein (2015) von beidseitigen, positiven (i.e., reziproken) Effekten zwischen Interesse und Konzeptverständnis ausgegangen wurde. Zur Beantwortung der Forschungsfragen wurde auf Daten des Forschungsprojekts Development of Learning in Science rekurriert und quer- und längsschnittliche Analysen vorgenommen. Die Ergebnisse indizieren, unabhängig von der fokussierten naturwissenschaftlichen Tätigkeit, eine Abnahme des chemiebezogenen Interesses mit steigender Jahrgangsstufe, wobei sowohl die Ausprägungen des initial gemessenen Interesses als auch der nachfolgenden Interessenabfälle tätigkeitsspezifisch waren. In Hinblick auf die Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Interesse und dem Konzeptverständnis indizieren die Befunde, dass in der Sekundarstufe I keine reziproken Effekte zwischen den Konstrukten vorliegen, in der Oberstufe jedoch das Interesse an Tätigkeiten, die mit kognitiv aktivierenden Prozessen und der Wissenskommunikation assoziiert sind, reziprok mit dem Konzeptverständnis zusammenhängen. Weiterhin konnten, bei Kontrolle des Konzeptverständnisses, positive Effekte der Lernfreude auf das subsequente Interesse sowie des Interesses auf die wahrgenommene Nützlichkeit gezeigt werden. Diese Befundlage stützt die Notwendigkeit differenzierter Analysen des Interesses, um seine spezifischen Wirkmechanismen aufzudecken und passende Fördermaßnahmen zu konzipieren. Zeitgleich betonen die Ergebnisse die Bedeutung des Interesses für den Wissenserwerb und die wahrgenommenen Nützlichkeit für die Gesellschaft und das Individuum. Das Interesse kann als wichtiger Faktor für die Vermittlung von Kenntnissen und für die Entwicklung des Selbstkonzepts angesehen werden und sollte entsprechend bei der Unterrichtsgestaltung miteinbezogen werden. Auf der anderen Seite zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass noch weitere Forschung notwendig ist, um die Entwicklung des Interesses an naturwissenschaftlichen Tätigkeiten in Abhängigkeit der Quantität und Qualität korrespondierender Lernangebote besser zu verstehen

MEMS magnetic field source for frequency conversion approaches for ME sensors

Some magnetoelectric sensors require predefined external magnetic fields to satisfy optimal operation depending on their resonance frequency. While coils commonly generate this external magnetic field, a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonator integrated with permanent magnets could be a possible replacement. In this proof-of-concept study, the interaction of a MEMS resonator and the ME sensor is investigated and compared with the standard approach to achieve the best possible sensor operation in terms of sensitivity. The achievable sensor sensitivity was evaluated experimentally by generating the magnetic excitation signal by a coil or a small-sized MEMS resonator. Moreover, the possibility of using both approaches simultaneously was also analysed. The MEMS resonator operated with 20 Vpp at 1.377 kHz has achieved a sensor sensitivity of 221.21 mV/T. This sensitivity is comparable with the standard approach, where only a coil for sensor excitation is used. The enhanced sensitivity of 277.0 mV/T could be identified by generating the excitation signal simultaneously by a coil and the MEMS resonator in parallel. In conclusion, these MEMS resonator methods can potentially increase the sensitivity of the ME sensor even further. The unequal excitation frequency of the MEMS resonator and the resonance frequency of the ME sensor currently limit the performance. Furthermore, the MEMS resonator as a coil replacement also enables the complete sensor system to be scaled down. Therefore, optimizations to match both frequencies even better are under investigation

Knowing more about things you care less about : cross-sectional analysis of the opposing trend and interplay between conceptual understanding and interest in secondary school chemistry

The development of students' interest in school science activities, their understanding of central chemical concepts, and the interplay between both constructs across Grades 5–11 were analyzed in a cross‐sectional paper‐and‐pencil study (N = 2,510, mean age 11–17 years). Previous empirical findings indicate that students' knowledge increases over the time of secondary school while students' interest, especially in natural science subjects, tends to decrease. Concomitantly, there is evidence for an increase in the positive coupling between interest and knowledge across time. However, previous studies mainly rely on rather global measures, for example, school grades or general subject‐related interest, and focus on science as an integrated subject instead of specific disciplines, for example, chemistry. For this article, more proximal and differentiated measures for students' understanding of three chemical concepts (Chemical Reaction, Energy, Matter) and interest in seven dimensions of school science activities according to the RIASEC + N model (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional, and Networking; cf. Dierks, Höffler, & Parchmann, 2014) were applied. The results are in line with previous research indicating a general increase in conceptual understanding and a decline in students' interest for all school science activities. However, the interplay between conceptual understanding and interest differs across the seven dimensions. Interest in activities which are likely to promote cognitive activation (investigative, networking) or involving the communication of knowledge (social, enterprising, and networking) are increasingly connected to conceptual understanding, especially in upper secondary grades. Interest in guided hands‐on activities (realistic) which are typical in secondary science teaching, however, shows only small positive correlations to students' conceptual understanding across all grades. Hence, in upper‐secondary school, investigative, social, enterprising, and networking activities seem to provide opportunities to benefit most from the interrelation between students' interests and their understanding

DARIUS: A Comprehensive Learner Corpus for Argument Mining in German-Language Essays

In this paper, we present the DARIUS (Digital Argumentation Instruction for Science) corpus for argumentation quality on 4589 essays written by 1839 German secondary school students. The corpus is annotated according to a fine-grained annotation scheme, ranging from a broader perspective like content zones, to more granular features like argumentation coverage/reach and argumentative discourse units like claims and warrants. The features have inter-annotator agreements up to 0.83 Krippendorff’s α. The corpus and dataset are publicly available for further research in argument mining

Impact of volume and surface processes on the pre-ionization of dielectric barrier discharges: advanced diagnostics and fluid modeling

The phenomenology and breakdown mechanism of dielectric barrier discharges are strongly determined by volume and surface memory effects. In particular, the pre-ionization provided by residual species in the volume or surface charges on the dielectrics influences the breakdown behavior of filamentary and diffuse discharges. This was investigated by advanced diagnostics such as streak camera imaging, laser photodetachment of negative ions and laser photodesorption of electrons from dielectric surfaces in correlation with 1D fluid modeling. The streak camera images show that an increasing number of residual charges in the volume changes the microdischarge breakdown in air-like gas mixtures from a cathode-directed streamer to a simultaneous propagation of cathode- and anode-directed streamers. In contrast, seed electrons are important for the pre-ionization if the density of residual charges in the volume is low. One source of seed electrons are negative ions, whose density exceeds the electron density during the pre-phase of diffuse helium–oxygen barrier discharges as indicated by the laser photodetachment experiments. Electrons desorbed from the cathodic dielectric have an even larger influence. They induce a transition from the glow-like to the Townsend-like discharge mode in nominally pure helium. Apart from analyzing the importance of the pre-ionization for the breakdown mechanism, the opportunities for manipulating the lateral structure and discharge modes are discussed. For this purpose, the intensity and diameter of a diffuse discharge in helium are controlled by an illuminated semiconducting barrier