Einwirkung als unverzichtbares Konzept jeglichen erzieherischen Handelns

Die Einwirkungskritik bezweifelt, daß Erziehung im Zusammenhang mit Einwirkung gesehen werden kann. Entgegen dieser Skepsis soll gezeigt werden, daß jede Erziehung unumgänglich auf den Edukanden einwirken soll, unabhängig davon, welche Erziehungsstile, oder - praktiken eingesetzt werden und welchen Erziehungszielen sie dienen. Erziehung besteht aus Einwirkungsversuchen. Selbst eine liberale Erziehung, die dem Prinzip des "begleitenden Wachsenlassens" entspricht, zielt auf Einwirkung. (DIPF/Orig.)The influence criticism doubts that education can be referred to as linked to influence. Contrary to this skepticism it is meant to be demonstrated that any effective educational process unavoidably influences those to be educated, regardless which educational styles or methods are employed and which educational goals they serve. Education consists of attempts of exercising influence. Even free education which corresponds to the principle of „accompanying mental development" inevitably aims at influencing people. (DIPF/Orig.

Partielle Geschlechtertrennung - enttäuschte Hoffnungen? Monoedukative Lernumgebungen zum Chancenausgleich im Unterricht auf dem Prüfstand

In der neuen Koedukationsdebatte ist die ursprünglich diskutierte bzw. vertretene Generalthese der Mädchenbenachteiligung durch gemischt- geschlechtliche Schulen weitgehend durch die Ansicht ersetzt worden, eine zumindest phasen- und fächerbezogene Teilaussetzung der Koedukation trage zur Chancengleichheit bei. Bildungspolitische Initiativen gehen von der Wirksamkeit der partiellen Monoedukation als eine der populären Ausgleichsmaßnahmen im Rahmen der "reflexiven" bzw. "differenzierten" Koedukation aus. Dennoch vermag eine Durchsicht klassischer und neuerer Studien kaum belastbare empirische Belege für diese moderatere koedukationsskeptische Haltung zu liefern. (DIPF/Orig.)In the new debate on coeducation, the originally discussed and advocated general thesis of the discrimination against girls due to coeducative schools has widely been substituted by the opinion that at least a partial abandonment of coeducation during certain phases or in specific subjects would promote equal opportunities. Initiatives in educational policy start from the assumption that partial single-sex instruction constitutes an effective and popular procedure of compensation within the framework of “reflexive” or “differentiated” coeducation. Still, a survey of both classic and recent studies hardly yields tenable empirical evidence for this moderate skeptical attitude towards coeducation. (DIPF/Orig.

Evaluation criteria of qualitative educational research in the context of justification: alternative or traditional quality standards or no standards at all?

Auch qualitative Untersuchungen zu Lern- und Bildungsprozessen weisen qualitative Unterschiede auf. Um die unterschiedliche Aussagekraft von qualitativen Studien im Begründungszusammenhang bestimmen zu können, ist es erforderlich, sich – ähnlich wie bei quantitativer Forschung – auf Standards zu einigen. Es wird die Auffassung begründet, dass eine Laissez-Faire-Haltung oder das Aufstellen ersetzender „alternativer“ Wissenschaftlichkeitskriterien wenig zum Ansehen qualitativer Ansätze beizutragen vermag. Die umfassende Etablierung qualitativer Verfahren zur Gewinnung belastbarer Erkenntnisse hängt entscheidend von der Anerkennung und Berücksichtigung konsensfähiger allgemeiner Qualitätskriterien für empirisches Vorgehen ab. Es wird argumentiert, dass qualitative Ansätze als empirische Verfahren prinzipiell denselben wissenschaftlichen Regeln unterliegen sollen wie quantitative. (DIPF/Orig.)Quantitative as well as qualitative research studies on topics of education within the context of justification vary in their level of quality. However, unlike researchers working with quantitative empirical methods, not all of their qualitatively oriented colleagues do recognize a mutual set of quality standards for their studies. In order to determine the degree to which we can reliably learn from a qualitative investigation, it is necessary to reach agreement on standards of quality within the qualitative paradigm. Neither a laissez-faire attitude of „anything goes“ nor the attempt to create „alternative” standards to the „traditional” ones do contribute to the reputation of the qualitative approach. Its extensive establishment as indispensable research methods of obtaining sound information depends on the acceptance and use of agreed-upon general criteria for determining the quality for methodological procedures. (DIPF/Orig.

Tradable Substitution Rights: Simulation of the Cost-Efficiency of a Nitrogen Reduction in the Pig Finishing Sector

To comply with the European Nitrate Directive, the Flemish manure policy has been elaborated mainly on the base of command and control measures (maximum fertilisation limits etc.). In literature, however, tradable permits are described as a cost efficient and effective instrument. Applied to nutrient emission they might offer an alternative for the current, expensive manure policy. In this publication both policy instruments are compared by means of simulation models. Based on accountacy data from 190 pig finishing farms, it is shown that tradable rights may result in cost savings of over 88%, compared to the most cost efficient command and control model. This result indicates that tradable permits at least need to be considered as a plausible policy instrument for the agricultural sector.tradable permits, agriculture, command and control, nitrogen, linear programming, Livestock Production/Industries, C61, D23, H23, Q58, Q52,

A (too) brief explanation of the terms "Bildung" and "Erziehung" for the hurried English-speaking reader

The German terms “Bildung” and “Erziehung” are hardly translatable and are therefore occasionally used internationally as loanwords. This text attempts to explain their meanings in a brief manner to an international readership. In doing so, a distinction is made between formal definitions and supplementary connotative meanings. Furthermore, broad and narrow sense definitions are being compared. (DIPF/Orig.)Die schwer übersetzbaren deutschen Ausdrücke “Bildung” und “Erziehung” finden bisweilen auch international Verwendung. Es wird der Versuch unternommen, die Bedeutungen dieser Termini in knapper Form einer internationalen Leserschaft nahezubringen. Dabei werden sowohl formale Definitionen von konnotativen Bedeutungszusätzen unterschieden als auch Begriffsbestimmungen im weiten und im engen Sinn. (DIPF/Orig.

The Dark Halo - Spheroid Conspiracy and the Origin of Elliptical Galaxies

Dynamical modeling and strong lensing data indicate that the total density profiles of early-type galaxies are close to isothermal, i.e., rho_tot ~ r^gamma with gamma approx -2. To understand the origin of this universal slope we study a set of simulated spheroids formed in isolated binary mergers as well as the formation within the cosmological framework. The total stellar plus dark matter density profiles can always be described by a power law with an index of gamma approx -2.1 with a tendency toward steeper slopes for more compact, lower-mass ellipticals. In the binary mergers the amount of gas involved in the merger determines the precise steepness of the slope. This agrees with results from the cosmological simulations where ellipticals with steeper slopes have a higher fraction of stars formed in situ. Each gas-poor merger event evolves the slope toward gamma ~ -2, once this slope is reached further merger events do not change it anymore. All our ellipticals have flat intrinsic combined stellar and dark matter velocity dispersion profiles. We conclude that flat velocity dispersion profiles and total density distributions with a slope of gamma ~ -2 for the combined system of stars and dark matter act as a natural attractor. The variety of complex formation histories as present in cosmological simulations, including major as well as minor merger events, is essential to generate the full range of observed density slopes seen for present-day elliptical galaxies.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal, 17 pages, 12 figure

Specific heat anomalies of open quantum systems

The evaluation of the specific heat of an open, damped quantum system is a subtle issue. One possible route is based on the thermodynamic partition function which is the ratio of the partition functions of system plus bath and of the bath alone. For the free damped particle it has been shown, however, that the ensuing specific heat may become negative for appropriately chosen environments. Being an open system this quantity then naturally must be interpreted as the change of the specific heat obtained as the difference between the specific heat of the heat bath coupled to the system degrees of freedom and the specific heat of the bath alone. While this difference may become negative, the involved specific heats themselves are always positive; thus, the known thermodynamic stability criteria are perfectly guaranteed. For a damped quantum harmonic oscillator, instead of negative values, under appropriate conditions one can observe a dip in the difference of specific heats as a function of temperature. Stylized minimal models containing a single oscillator heat bath are employed to elucidate the occurrence of the anomalous temperature dependence of the corresponding specific heat values. Moreover, we comment on the consequences for the interpretation of the density of states based on the thermal partitionfunction.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, new title and some modifications of the main tex

Finite quantum dissipation: the challenge of obtaining specific heat

We consider a free particle coupled with finite strength to a bath and investigate the evaluation of its specific heat. A harmonic oscillator bath of Drude type with cutoff frequency omega_D is employed to model an ohmic friction force with dissipation strength gamma. Two scenarios for obtaining specific heat are presented. The first one uses the measurement of the kinetic energy of the free particle while the second one is based on the reduced partition function. Both descriptions yield results which are consistent with the Third Law of thermodynamics. Nevertheless, the two methods produce different results that disagree even in their leading quantum corrections at high temperatures. We also consider the regime where the cutoff frequency is smaller than the friction strength, i.e. omega_D<gamma. There, we encounter puzzling results at low temperatures where the specific heat based on the thermodynamic prescription becomes negative. This anomaly is rooted in an ill-defined density of states of the damped free particle which assumes unphysical negative values when gamma/omega_D>1.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

The "terminological Babel" in education. A decisive plea for conceptual clarity by reflected definitions of technical terms

Die Unschärfe pädagogischer Grundbegriffe in der Fachliteratur wird seit Jahrzehnten moniert. Dennoch hat sich die Situation bis heute kaum verbessert. Der Verzicht auf definitorische Ausschärfung einzelner Termini wird damit gerechtfertigt, dass bestimmte mehrdeutige Begriffe nicht definiert werden könnten oder müssten. In jüngster Zeit wurden die Thesen der Undefinierbarkeit und der Definitionsentbehrlichkeit sogar auf die gesamte erziehungswissenschaftliche Terminologie ausgeweitet und Vorzüge vager Begriffe angeführt. Undefinierbarkeit ergebe sich aus der Sachlage, dass Definitionen ohnehin unweigerlich in infinite Regresse einmündeten und es keinen absoluten Referenzrahmen für Begriffsbestimmungen gebe. Als Gründe für die Ablehnung von Definitionen werden etwa angeführt, dass der Bedeutungsgehalt eines Begriffs stets bereits aus dem Kontext ersichtlich sei und keine Instanz die Macht besitze, bestimmte Definitionen durchzusetzen. Der Beitrag setzt sich kritisch mit den Argumenten der Verfechter dieser Thesen auseinander und unterstreicht das Erfordernis einer präzisen Begriffsfestlegung. Es wird dabei der Standpunkt eingenommen, dass vieldeutige Begriffe in einer wissenschaftlichen Disziplin zur Verständlichkeit zu erläutern sind, bevor sie an zentraler Stelle in Vorträgen oder Schriften eingesetzt werden. Dies gilt, solange kein allgemeines Einvernehmen über die Bedeutung der Termini, wie zum Beispiel „Lernen“, „Erziehung“, „Bildung“ oder „Sozialisation“, in der Erziehungswissenschaft hergestellt ist. Diese Position wird mit konkreten Beispielen gestützt. (DIPF/Orig.)For decades the vagueness of basic terms in pedagogical terminology used in academic literature has been criticized within the scientific community. Despite of this ongoing debate, the situation has barely improved up to the present. Rather, the lack of precisely defining specific concepts has been justified by the arguments that ambiguous terms simply cannot or need not be defined. Only recently, these theses of indefinability and definitional dispensability have even been generalized to any kind of technical terminology in pedagogy and it has been argued that vague and ambiguous terms have benefits and advantages. It is been stated by others that indefinability resulted from the facts that definitions inevitably lead to infinite regresses and lack an absolute frame of reference. The position that definitions are dispensable is backed up for instance by the arguments that the meaning of a term can always be inferred from its context and that no authority were powerful enough to establish particular definitions anyway. The present article critically reflects the arguments of the advocates of these theses, claiming for the necessity of clear-cut terminology. The authors take the view that it is essential to clarify ambiguous key terms prior to using them in talks or publications to warrantee comprehensibility. This is to be applied as long as there is no scholarly consensus in educational science on how terms, such as „learning“, „education“, „bildung“ or „socialization“ are to be determined. This position is illustrated by specific examples. (DIPF/Orig.

Testing a Simplified Method for Measuring Velocity Integration in Saccades Using a Manipulation of Target Contrast

A growing number of studies in vision research employ analyses of how perturbations in visual stimuli influence behavior on single trials. Recently, we have developed a method along such lines to assess the time course over which object velocity information is extracted on a trial-by-trial basis in order to produce an accurate intercepting saccade to a moving target. Here, we present a simplified version of this methodology, and use it to investigate how changes in stimulus contrast affect the temporal velocity integration window used when generating saccades to moving targets. Observers generated saccades to one of two moving targets which were presented at high (80%) or low (7.5%) contrast. In 50% of trials, target velocity stepped up or down after a variable interval after the saccadic go signal. The extent to which the saccade endpoint can be accounted for as a weighted combination of the pre- or post-step velocities allows for identification of the temporal velocity integration window. Our results show that the temporal integration window takes longer to peak in the low when compared to high contrast condition. By enabling the assessment of how information such as changes in velocity can be used in the programming of a saccadic eye movement on single trials, this study describes and tests a novel methodology with which to look at the internal processing mechanisms that transform sensory visual inputs into oculomotor outputs