Logfile-Analysen: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen ihrer Nutzung bei Untersuchungen zur Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion

Die Aufzeichnung der Computernutzung in automatisch generierten elektronischen Protokollen – so genannten Logfiles – entwickelt sich zu einer zunehmend genutzten Erfassungsmethode bei Untersuchungen der Interaktion zwischen Mensch und Computer. Dieser Beitrag bietet einen einführenden Überblick über Verfahren der Logfile-Aufzeichnung und der Analyse der Daten. Neben einer Erläuterung der Begrifflichkeiten werden sowohl Vor- und Nachteile von Logfile-Auswertungen als auch grundlegende Methoden, mathematische Beschreibungen des Nutzerverhaltens und Ansätze der Typisierung von Nutzeraktivitäten dargestellt

Ziviz-Survey 2012 : Zivilgesellschaft Verstehen

Organised civil society in Germany is a neglected area of statistical observation. The project ZiviZ (civil society in figures) of the Donors' Association for German Science together with the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation wants to bridge this gap and has first taken the third sector under the microscope. The data collected from representative civil society structures and processes provide guidance on key issues in the field of organized civil society for the first time

Assessing the quality of scientific explanations with networks

This article introduces a network approach to describe the quality of written scientific explanations. Existing approaches evaluate explanations mainly on the level of sentences or as a whole but not on the elementary level of single terms. Moreover, evaluation of explanations is often based on highly inferential scoring techniques. We addressed both issues by converting the elementary structure of terms in explanations into networks (so-called element maps) and analysing these with mathematical measures, thus extracting the size and complexity of an explanation, adequacy, coherence, and use of key terms. A total of 65 explanations of experts and students were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Differences between expert and student maps’ measures can be interpreted meaningfully against the background of existing research findings. Thus, we argue that our approach using network analysis provides a precise, fine-grained, and low-inferential tool that complements and refines existing approaches. Element maps have the potential to improve teaching and research by precisely revealing the strengths and weaknesses of explanations.Peer Reviewe

Estrategia para la enseñanza de límite de una función

La definición delta-épsilon de límite de una función en general no es comprendida cabalmente por los estudiantes, quienes frecuentemente separan lo conceptual de lo algorítmico, y por ello, en un intento de mejorar su proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, es que hemos diseñado una estrategia didáctica para la enseñanza de este tema para los alumnos del primer año de la Facultad de Ingeniería. Presentamos el diseño de la estrategia, las actividades propuestas y el resultado de la experiencia aúlica

Thermal expansion of water in the science lab-advantages and disadvantages of different experimental setups

When the thermal expansion of water is discussed in school or university lessons, functional relationships are often inferred without considering measurement uncertainties. Moreover, in some learning materials, the goal of experimentation and the experimental setup do not match. This creates the wrong picture of scientific practice. In this article we compare five experimental setups with different complexity to investigate the relationship between heat and volume change of water. We take different goals of experimentation into account, as well as measurement uncertainties. We compare the different experimental setups, show advantages and limitations, and give advises for their implementation in the classroom. By doing so, we demonstrate that thermal expansion can be very well adopted for applying scientific practice in school. It is shown that the more complex the experimental setup, the more precise the quantitative significance of the functional relationship.Peer Reviewe

The association between short periods of everyday life activities and affective states: a replication study using ambulatory assessment

Regularly conducted exercise programs effectively influence affective states. Studies suggest that this is also true for short bouts of physical activity (PA) of 10 min or less. Accordingly, everyday life activities of short duration might be used to regulate affective states. However, this association has rarely been studied in reference to unstructured activities in ongoing real-life situations. The current study examined the influence of various everyday life activities on three dimensions of mood (valence, calmness, energetic arousal) in a predominantly inactive sample. Ambulatory Assessment (AA) was used to investigate the association between actual PA and affective states during the course of 1 day. Seventy-seven students ages 19–30 participated in the study. PA was assessed with accelerometers, and affective state assessments were conducted hourly using an e-diary with a six-item mood scale that was specially designed for AA. Multilevel analyses indicated that the mood dimensions energetic arousal (p = 0.001) and valence (p = 0.005) were positively influenced by the intensity of the activity carried out in the 10-min prior to the assessment. As their activity increased, the participants’ positive feelings and energetic arousal increased. However, the students’ calmness was not affected by their activity levels.The findings highlight the importance of integrating short activity intervals of 10 min or less into everyday life routines to improve affective states

Neurotrauma: 2022 update

The year 2021 was highlighted by many notable advancements in the field of neurotrauma and associated neuropathology. After a thorough review of the new literature, we call attention to what we feel are among the most impactful studies and publications. In brief, 2021 was marked by published consensus papers related to the diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and its clinical counterpart, traumatic encephalopathy syndrome. There was also progress toward our understanding of the impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the general population, and how strongly CTE pathology may, or may not, commonly underlie long term clinical sequelae following TBI. Next, a critical new study has identified that acetylated tau protein, which has been found to be increased in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease and CTE patients, can be induced by TBI, is neurotoxic, and that its reduction via already-existent therapeutics is neuroprotective. There are also several important updates that pertain to military and blast TBI, particularly as they pertain to establishing causality of interface astroglial scarring. In addition, and for the first time, a specific signature for diffuse axonal injury has been identified in ex vivo tissues using multidimensional magnetic resonance imaging, providing promise for the clinical diagnosis of this lesion. Finally, several important radiologic studies from 2021 have highlighted long-standing structural reductions in a number of brain regions following both mild and severe TBI, emphasizing the need for neuropathologic correlation. We end by highlighting an editorial piece discussing how TBI is portrayed in entertainment media and how this impacts public perception of TBI and its consequences

Propuesta metodológica para la enseñanza del Cálculo.

Es frecuente que los estudiantes de Cálculo separen lo conceptual de lo algorítmico, por ello, en un intento de mejorar el proceso de enseñanzaaprendizaje del Cálculo en alumnos del primer año de la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, hemos centrado nuestro interés en la búsqueda de estrategias adecuadas para enseñar y aprender matemática . En la enseñanza tradicional los temas desarrollados dependen de las definiciones conceptuales, lo que a menudo resulta poco significativo y se pierde valor en su aprendizaje cuando se debe realizar las conexiones entre las representaciones gráficas, numéricas y algebraicas. Así, hemos diseñado y ensayado secuencias didácticas para superar la dificultad observada en nuestros alumnos para conceptualizar. Empleamos Ingeniería Didáctica como metodología y objeto de la investigación; en particular ensayamos en 2007 y 2008 secuencias para: conceptualización de la definición de límite; aprehensión del concepto de derivada en la modelización mediante ecuaciones diferenciales y comprensión significativa del proceso límite de una suma asociado a la integral definida. Es importante trabajar en la búsqueda de la metodología más adecuada al entorno de los alumnos que contribuya a la construcción de los esquemas de conocimientos sólidos necesarios para emplear el Cálculo en los estudios posteriores