Continuity of motivation in higher education: A three-year follow-up study

This study investigates the question how the quality of students’ learning motivation changes within a period of 3 years. Of special interest is which conditions of the learning environment are responsible for the stability or respectively the change of learning motivation. Deci and Ryan’s (2002) self-determination theory (SDT) provides the theoretical foundation of this paper. It allows a differentiated analysis of the qualities of learning motivation (intrinsic motivation and four types of extrinsic motivation) and also suggests that motivational processes are highly influenced by basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and social relatedness. On three different dates between 2003 and 2005, 104 students participated in a questionnaire. Overall, the longitudinal results show that the qualities of learning motivation remain relatively stable. In contrast, particularly the perceived support of autonomy and competence show a significant decline. The evaluation of social relatedness at university, between students and lecturers as well as between groups of students, remains stable on a high level during those three years. The social relatedness significantly correlates with learning motivation in all of the three assessments. The results are discussed in relation to situational and cultural conditions

Personality, motives and learning environment as predictors of self-determined learning motivation

This study investigates how well can personality, motives for studying and the perceived learning environment predict self-determined learning motivation in higher education. Previous research has predominantly focused on the interrelation between learning environment and self-determined motivation or on the outcomes of self-determined learning motivation. The question whether relatively stable personality dispositions preform self-determined learning motivation has been largely neglected. The theoretical basis of this study is the differential psychology model, the “Big Five” model (Goldberg, 1999; McCrae et al., 2000), as well as Deci and Ryan’s (2002a) self-determination theory. The data of 730 students were analyzed by the means of regression analyses, with personality traits (Big Five), study motives and the perception of the teaching-learning environment as independent variables and self-determined learning motivation as a dependent variable. The results of hierarchical regression analyses show that the personality dimensions of conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness predict a large part of the variance of learning motivation and that additional predictors are motives to study and the perception of the learning environments

Micromorphic theory as a model for blood in the microcirculation: correction and analysis

This paper analyzes the applicability of Eringen’s Generalized Continuum Theories as a model for human blood in the microcirculation. The applied theory considers a fluid with a fully deformable substructure, namely a micromorphic fluid. This analysis is motivated by the fact that blood itself can be considered a suspension of deformable particles, i.e., red blood cells (RBCs), suspended in a Newtonian fluid, i.e., blood plasma. As a consequence, non-Newtonian phenomena such as shear-thinning are observed in blood. To test the micromorphic fluid as a model for blood, the solution for the velocity and the motion of substructure is determined for a cylindrical pipe flow and compared to experimental results of blood flow through narrow glass capillaries representing idealized blood vessels. A similar analysis was also conducted by Kang and Eringen in 1976, but it contains some misprints and minor errors regarding the mathematical expressions and subsequent discussion which are corrected in this paper. For certain material parameters, the micromorphic fluid models capture high-shear blood flow in narrow glass capillaries very well. This concerns both the velocity profiles and the shear-thinning behavior. Furthermore, a parameter study reveals that the flexibility of substructure governs the micromorphic shear-thinning. In this regard, parallels can be drawn to the shear-thinning of human blood, which is also induced by the deformability of RBCs. This makes the micromorphic fluid a complex but accurate model for human blood, at least for the considered experiments

Coarse Graining of Nonbonded Inter-particle Potentials Using Automatic Simplex Optimization to Fit Structural Properties

We implemented a coarse-graining procedure to construct mesoscopic models of complex molecules. The final aim is to obtain better results on properties depending on slow modes of the molecules. Therefore the number of particles considered in molecular dynamics simulations is reduced while conserving as many properties of the original substance as possible. We address the problem of finding nonbonded interaction parameters which reproduce structural properties from experiment or atomistic simulations. The approach consists of optimizing automatically nonbonded parameters using the simplex algorithm to fit structural properties like the radial distribution function as target functions. Moreover, any mix of structural and thermodynamic properties can be included in the target function. Different spherically symmetric inter-particle potentials are discussed. Besides demonstrating the method for Lennard--Jones liquids, it is applied to several more complex molecular liquids such as diphenyl carbonate, tetrahydrofurane, and monomers of poly(isoprene).Comment: 24 pages, 3 tables, 14 figures submitted to the Journal of Chemical Physics (JCP

TEACHER’S MOTIVATION – A NEGLECTED ISSUE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Den Bedingungen und Auswirkungen motivierten Lernens in der Schule wurde in den letzten Jahrzehnten erhöhte Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. So wurde eine große Anzahl von Studien zu diesem Thema auf Basis unterschiedlicher theoretischer Zugängendurchgeführt. Demgegenüber ist die (Arbeits-)Motivation von Lehrpersonen und deren Auswirkungen auf die Unterrichtsgestaltung und das Lernen von Schülern ein vernachlässigtes Thema der Forschung. Dieser Beitrag stellt erste empirische Befunde aus einem Projekt zur Lehrermotivation vor, welches an der Alpen-Adria Universität Klagenfurt (Österreich) durchgeführt wurde. Es werden Bedingungen und Auswirkungen der Motivation von Lehrpersonen eruiert. Als theoretische Grundlage der Studie dient die Selbstbestimmungstheorie von Deci und Ryan (2002), welche davon ausgeht, dass selbstbestimmte Motivation von der Befriedigung der grundlegenden psychologischen Bedürfnisse nach Autonomie, Kompetenz und sozialer Einbindung abhängt. Die Ergebnisse weisen auf direkte und indirekte Zusammenhänge zwischen verschiedenen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen von Schule, der selbstbestimmten Lehrermotivation und der Lernmotivation der Schüler sowie den Unterrichtsbedingungen hin.Posljednjih desetljeća velika pozornost je poklanjana istraživanju uvjeta i utjecaja motiviranog učenja u školi. Izveden je veliki broj studija o ovoj temi na temelju različitih teorijskih pristupa. Sukladno tome (radna) motivacija nastavnika i njen utjecaj na oblikovanje nastave i učenja učenika je zanemarena tema. Ovaj rad predstavlja prve empirijske nalaze projekta o motivaciji nastavnika, koji je realiziran na Sveučilištu Alpen-Adria u Klagenfurtu (Austrija). Istraživani su uvjeti i utjecaji motivacije nastavnika. Kao teorijski temelj studije poslužila je teorija samoodređenja autora Deci i Ryan (2002), koja polazi od toga da motivacija samoodređenja ovisi o zadovoljavanju temeljnih psiholoških potreba za autonomijom, kompetencijom i socijalnom vezanošću. Rezultati ukazuju na izravnu i neizravnu povezanost između različitih institucionalnih okvirnih uvjeta u školi, samoodređujuće motivacije nastavnika, motivacije za učenje učenika, kao i uvjeta u nastavi.In the last decades many studies focused on conditions and effects of students’ learning motivation. In contrast teachers’ motivation and its relevance for students’ learning and classroom instruction is a largely neglected issue in educational research as well as in educational psychology. The paper investigates conditions of teachers’ motivation and the correlation of teachers’ motivation, classroom instruction and students’ learning motivation. Deci and Ryan’s (2002) self-determination theory (SDT) provides the theoretical foundation for this study. It allows a differentiated analysis of the qualities of motivation (intrinsic motivation and four types of extrinsic motivation)n and suggests that motivational processes are highly influenced by basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and social relatedness. The results of the study show that institutional conditions of each school and the entire school system are interrelated with the self-determined motivation of teachers. The teacher’s self-determined motivation is directly and in-directly associated with students’ self-determined learning motivation and with their need satisfaction in the classroom

Anwendungsorientierter Unterricht als Prädiktor für das Interesse am Fach Mathematik?

Das Ergebnis eines erfolgreichen, qualitätsvollen Unterrichts kann die fachliche Kompetenz (Weinert et al., 1989) oder die Motivation der Schüler*innen sein (Krapp, 1999). Auch im Mathematikunterricht geht es nicht nur um eine Steigerung der fachlichen Kompetenz der Schüler*innen, sondern auch um eine Steigerung des motivationalen und emotionalen Outputs wie zum Beispiel des Interesses am Fach (Kunter, 2005)

Binocular function to increase visual outcome in patients implanted with a diffractive trifocal intraocular lens

Background: To evaluate binocular visual outcome for near, intermediate and distance compared to monocular visual outcome at the same distances in patients implanted with a diffractive trifocal intraocular lens (IOL). Methods: The study comprised of 100 eyes of 50 patients that underwent bilateral refractive lens exchange or cataract surgery with implantation of a multifocal diffractive IOL (AT LISA tri 839MP, Carl Zeiss Meditech, Germany). A complete ophthalmological examination was performed preoperatively and 3 month postoperatively. The main outcome measures were monocular and binocular uncorrected distance (UDVA), corrected distance (CDVA), uncorrected intermediate (UIVA), and uncorrected near visual acuities (UNVA), keratometry, and manifest refraction. Results: The mean age was 59.28 years ± 9.6 [SD] (range 44–79 years), repectively. There was significant improvement in UDVA, UIVA, UNVA and CDVA. Comparing the monocular results to the binocular results there was a statistical significant better binocular outcome in all distances (UDVA p = 0.036; UIVA p < 0.0001; UNVA p = 0.001). The postoperative manifest refraction was in 86 % of patients within ± 0.50 [D]. Conclusions: The trifocal IOL improved near, intermediate, and distance vision compared to preoperatively. In addition a statistical significant increase for binocular visual function in all distances could be found. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) DRKS0000783

Experimental analysis of the TRC benchmark system

The Tribomechadynamics Research Challenge (TRC) was a blind prediction of the vibration behavior of a thin plate clamped on two sides using bolted joints. The first bending mode's natural frequency and damping ratio were requested as function of the amplitude, starting from the linear regime until high levels, where both frictional contact and nonlinear bending-stretching coupling become relevant. The predictions were confronted with experimental results in a companion paper; the present article addresses the experimental analysis of this benchmark system. Amplitude-dependent modal data was obtained from phase resonance and response controlled tests. An original variant of response controlled testing is proposed: Instead of a fixed frequency interval, a fixed phase interval is analyzed. This way, the high excitation levels required outside resonance, which could activate unwanted exciter nonlinearity, are avoided. Consistency of testing methods is carefully analyzed. Overall, these measures have permitted to gain high confidence in the acquired modal data. The different sources of the remaining uncertainty were further analyzed. A low reassembly-variability but a moderate time-variability were identified, where the latter is attributed to some thermal sensitivity of the system. Two nominally identical plates were analyzed, which both have an appreciable initial curvature, and a significant effect on the vibration behavior was found depending on whether the plate is aligned/misaligned with the support structure. Further, a 1:2 nonlinear modal interaction with the first torsion mode was observed, which only occurs in the aligned configurations