Geschichten verstehen

How does reading comprehension of narrative texts work? Which processes are involved? And how can students be supported in their understanding? These issues are genuine research questions of reading and literature didactics, which the present study Geschichten verstehen also deals with. It focusses on the events represented in texts, and on how understanding series of events can be supported. The study follows two assumptions adapted from cognitive psy-chology. (1) The understanding of the histoire, the (re)construction of plot is an important component of understanding narrative texts, which can be supported by the explicit instruction of a story schema. The dynamics of the character's action between its initial impulse and reaching or missing the goal of the action, which is captured in this schema, is complemented by a static dimension of description. For narrative texts are not exclusively narrative. Narration also includes the de-scriptive mode, the description of the depicted world in which the action is situated. This trig-gers the second assumption. (2) During reception, dynamic and static images are evoked. These mental images sup-port the construction of meaning. Readers who develop rich conceptions of the narrated world during reading find it easier to build mental models of a story. Both assumptions are based on cognitive psychological models of reading comprehension: The story schema functions as a narrative superstructure and thus as a controlling element in the macro-strategic comprehension of complex narrative texts. The generation of mental images supports the formation of inferences, the integration of world knowledge, and the elaboration of textual worlds. In this context, these two facets of comprehending narrative texts are modeled as reading com-prehension strategies. A set of macro-strategies based on the story schema serves as the or-ganizing strategy. The generation of mental images is framed as an elaboration strategy. In order to teach the two types of strategies, a research-based series of lessons is designed for sixth grade (German) language and literature lessons. With the help of story elements, the students learn to structure narrative texts, to identify central information and to reconstruct the plot. With a dynamic visualization strategy, even the students who have difficulty generating mental images learn to visualize mentally while reading. The program that emerges is implemented in regular (German) language and literature lessons and passes the practicality test in the formative pre-study with N = 108 students as well as in the main study with N = 497 students. The results of the study will be used to determine whether the input described above leads to a significant improvement in reading comprehension. In addition, the implementation suitability of the program will be evaluated. Analysis of the data leads to the following results: - The structure of the training as well as the materials and texts are appropriate for the level of the students in the sixth grade and can be used at all levels through quantitative and qualitative differentiation. - The strategy program Geschichten verstehen can be implemented in regular (German) lan-guare and literature lessons. - The statistical analyses show relevant effects of the program (effect size d = 0.54) on reading comprehension, especially for weaker readers. 82% of the students benefited from the strategy training Geschichten verstehen, both, in long and short terms. In addition, based on the teach-ers' statements, a positive influence of the program on other levels of reading competence besides reading comprehension can be assumed. Due to the positive results regarding its implementation suitability, practicability and effective-ness, the use of the strategy set can be strongly recommended for all school levels.PublishedWie narrative Texte lesend verstanden werden, welche Prozesse daran beteiligt sind und wie Schüler*innen in ihrem Verstehen unterstützt werden können – all dies sind genuine Forschungsfragen der Lese- und Literaturdidaktik, mit denen sich auch die Studie Geschichten verstehen beschäftigt. Ihr Fokus liegt auf dem zu erlesenden Geschehen, dem Was des Erzählens. Das Verstehen der histoire, die (Re-)Konstruktion der Handlung, so die erste Annahme, ist ein zentrales Moment des Verstehens narrativer Texte, das unterstützt werden kann durch die explizite Vermittlung eines Geschichtenschemas. Die darin erfasste Dynamik des Figurenhandelns zwischen Anfangsimpuls und Erreichen oder Verfehlen des Handlungsziels wird ergänzt durch eine statische Komponente, die Deskription. Denn Erzähltexte sind nicht ausschließlich narrativ. Zum Erzählen gehört auch der deskriptive Modus, die Beschreibung einer dargestellten Welt, in der die Handlung situiert ist. Bei der Rezeption werden dynamische und statische Vorstellungsbilder evoziert, mentale Bilder, welche die Bedeutungskonstruktion unterstützen. Lesenden, die beim Lesen reichhaltige Vorstellungen von der erzählten Welt entwickeln, fällt es leichter, mentale Modelle zu einer Geschichte aufzubauen – so die zweite Annahme. Beide Annahmen werden gestützt durch kognitionspsychologische Modellierungen von Leseverstehen: Das Geschichtenschema fungiert als narrative Superstruktur und somit als steuerndes Element bei der makrostrategischen Erschließung von komplexen Erzähltexten. Die Generierung mentaler Bilder unterstützt die Bildung von Inferenzen, die Integration von Weltwissen und die Elaboration der Textwelten. Diese beiden Facetten des Verstehens narrativer Texte werden in der Studie Geschichten verstehen als Leseverstehensstrategien modelliert. Als organisierende Strategie dient ein auf dem Geschichtenschema basierendes Set aus Lesetechniken, das Prozesse der Konstruktion von Makropropositionen unterstützt. Die Generierung mentaler Bilder wird als Elaborationsstrategie gefasst. Zur Vermittlung der beiden Strategieausprägungen wird eine forschungsbasierte Unterrichtsreihe für den Deutschunterricht in der sechsten Klassenstufe konzipiert. Die Schüler*innen lernen mithilfe von Storyelementen, narrative Texte zu strukturieren, zentrale Informationen zu identifizieren und die Handlung zu rekonstruieren. Mit der Strategie Kopfkino erlernen auch diejenigen Schüler*innen mentales Visualisieren beim Lesen, denen die Generierung mentaler Bilder schwerfällt. Das Programm Geschichten verstehen wird in den regulären Deutschunterricht implementiert und besteht sowohl in der formativen Vorstudie mit N = 108 Schüler*innen als auch in der Hauptstudie mit N = 497 Schüler*innen den Praxistest. In einem komplexen Prä-Post-Follow-up-Design mit verschiedenen Kontrollgruppen und Matchingverfahren (Prätest-Matching, Propensity-Score-Matching) wird überprüft, ob sich durch den beschrieben Input eine signifikante Verbesserung der Leseverständnisleistung einstellt. Zudem wird die Implementationstauglichkeit des Programms evaluiert. Die Auswertung der Daten führt zu folgenden Ergebnissen: Die statistischen Analysen zeigen unterrichtsrelevante Fördereffekte (Effektstärke d = 0.54) auf das Leseverständnis, vor allem bei schwächeren Leser*innen. Unmittelbar sowie langfristig profitierten 82 % der Schüler*innen von dem Strategietraining Geschichten verstehen. Zudem kann aufgrund der Aussagen der Lehrkräfte ein positiver Einfluss des Programms auf andere Ebenen der Lesekompetenz neben dem Leseverständnis angenommen werden. Das Strategieprogramm Geschichten verstehen kann in den regulären Deutschunterricht implementiert werden. Der Aufbau des Trainings sowie die Materialien und Texte sind dem Niveau der Schüler*innen der sechsten Klassenstufe angemessen und durch quantitative und qualitative Differenzierung auf allen Leistungsstufen verwendbar. Aufgrund der positiven Ergebnisse hinsichtlich seiner Implementationstauglichkeit, Praktikabilität und Wirksamkeit kann die schulische Anwendung des Strategiesets aus didaktischer Sicht für alle Schulstufen nachdrücklich empfohlen werden

Digital contact tracing/notification for SARS-CoV-2: navigating six points of failure

Digital contact tracing/notification was initially hailed as a promising strategy to combat SARS-CoV-2, but in most jurisdictions it did not live up to its promise. To avert a given transmission event, both parties must have adopted the tech, it must detect the contact, the primary case must be promptly diagnosed, notifications must be triggered, and the secondary case must change their behavior to avoid the focal tertiary transmission event. If we approximate these as independent events, achieving a 26% reduction in R(t) would require 80% success rates at each of these six points of failure. Here we review the six failure rates experienced by a variety of digital contact tracing/notification schemes, including Singapore's TraceTogether, India's Aarogya Setu, and leading implementations of the Google Apple Exposure Notification system. This leads to a number of recommendations, e.g. that tracing/notification apps be multi-functional and integrated with testing, manual contact tracing, and the gathering of critical scientific data, and that the narrative be framed in terms of user autonomy rather than user privacy

Dirac states with knobs on: interplay of external parameters and the surface electronic properties of 3D topological insulators

Topological insulators are a novel materials platform with high applications potential in fields ranging from spintronics to quantum computation. In the ongoing scientific effort to demonstrate controlled manipulation of their electronic structure by external means, stoichiometric variation and surface decoration are two effective approaches that have been followed. In ARPES experiments, both approaches are seen to lead to electronic band structure changes. Such approaches result in variations of the energy position of bulk and surface-related features and the creation of two-dimensional electron gases.The data presented here demonstrate that a third manipulation handle is accessible by utilizing the amount of illumination a topological insulator surface has been exposed to under typical experimental ARPES conditions. Our results show that this new, third, knob acts on an equal footing with stoichiometry and surface decoration as a modifier of the electronic band structure, and that it is in continuous competition with the latter. The data clearly point towards surface photovoltage and photo-induced desorption as the physical phenomena behind modifications of the electronic band structure under exposure to high-flux photons. We show that the interplay of these phenomena can minimize and even eliminate the adsorbate-related surface band bending on typical binary, ternary and quaternary Bi-based topological insulators. Including the influence of the sample temperature, these data set up a framework for the external control of the electronic band structure in topological insulator compounds in an ARPES setting. Four external knobs are available: bulk stoichiometry, surface decoration, temperature and photon exposure. These knobs can be used in conjunction to tune the band energies near the surface and consequently influence the topological properties of the relevant electronic states.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

K0s K0s Final State in Two-Photon Collisions and Implications for Glueballs

The K0s K0s final state in two-photon collisions is studied with the L3 detector at LEP. The mass spectrum is dominated by the formation of the f_2'(1525) tensor meson in the helicity-two state with a two-photon width times the branching ratio into K Kbar of 76 +- 6 +- 11 eV. A clear signal for the formation of the f_J(1710) is observed and it is found to be dominated by the spin-two helicity-two state. No resonance is observed in the mass region around 2.2 GeV and an upper limit of 1.4 eV at 95% C.L. is derived for the two-photon width times the branching ratio into K0s K0s for the glueball candidate xi(2230)

Search for Heavy Isosinglet Neutrino in e+e- Annihilation at LEP

We report on a search for the first generation heavy neutrino that is an isosinglet under the standard SU(2)_L gauge group. The data collected with the L3 detector at center-of-mass energies between 130 GeV and 208 GeV are used.The decay channel N_e --> eW is investigated and no evidence is found for a heavy neutrino, N_e, in a mass range between 80 GeV and 205 GeV. Upper limits on the mixing parameter between the heavy and light neutrino are derived

Formation of the ηc\eta_c in Two-Photon Collisions at LEP

The two-photon width $\Gamma_{\gamma\gamma}$ of the $\eta_c$ meson has been measured with the L3 detector at LEP. The $\eta_c$ is studied in the decay modes $\pi^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $\pi^+\pi^-$K$^+$K$^-$, K$_s^0$K$^\pm\pi^\mp$, K$^+$K$^-\pi^{0}$, $\pi^+\pi^-\eta$, $\pi^+\pi^-\eta'$, and $\rho^+\rho^-$ using an integrated luminosity of 140 pb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s} \simeq 91$ GeV and of 52 pb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s} \simeq 183$ GeV. The result is $\Gamma_{\gamma\gamma}(\eta_c) = 6.9 \pm 1.7 (stat.) \pm 0.8 (sys.) \pm 2.0$(BR) keV. The $Q^2$ dependence of the $\eta_c$ cross section is studied for $Q^2 < 9$ GeV$^{2}$. It is found to be better described by a Vector Meson Dominance model form factor with a J-pole than with a $\rho$-pole. In addition, a signal of $29 \pm 11$ events is observed at the $\chi_c0$ mass. Upper limits for the two-photon widths of the $\chi_c0$, $\chi_c2$, and $\eta_c'$ are also given

Direct Observation of Longitudinally Polarised W Bosons

The three different helicity states of W bosons, produced in the reaction e+e- -> W+W- -> l nu q q~ are studied using leptonic and hadronic W decays at sqrt{s}=183GeV and 189GeV. The W polarisation is also measured as a function of the scattering angle between the W- and the direction of the e- beam. The analysis demonstrates that W bosons are produced with all three helicities, the longitudinal and the two transverse states. Combining the results from the two center-of-mass energies and with leptonic and hadronic W decays, the fraction of longitudinally polarised W bosons is measured to be 0.261 +/- 0.051(stat.) +/- 0.016(syst.) in agreement with the expectation from the Standard Model

Study of Z Boson Pair Production in e^+e^- Interactions at \sqrt{s}=192 - 202 GeV

The cross section for the production of Z boson pairs is measured using the data collected by the L3 detector at LEP in 1999 in e^+e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 192 GeV up to 202 GeV. Events in all the visible final states are selected, measuring the cross section of this process. The special case of final states containing b quarks is also investigated. All results are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions

Study of Z Boson Pair Production in e+e- Collisions at LEP at \sqrt{s}=189 GeV

The pair production of Z bosons is studied using the data collected by the L3 detector at LEP in 1998 in e+e- collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. All the visible final states are considered and the cross section of this process is measured to be 0.74 +0.15 -0.14 (stat.) +/- 0.04 (syst.) pb. Final states containing b quarks are enhanced by a dedicated selection and their production cross section is found to be 0.18 +0.09 -0.07 (stat.) +/- 0.02 (syst.) pb. Both results are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. Limits on anomalous couplings between neutral gauge bosons are derived from these measurements

Search for Scalar Leptons in e+e- collisions at \sqrt{s}=189 GeV

We report the result of a search for scalar leptons in e+e- collisions at 189 GeV centre-of-mass energy at LEP. No evidence for such particles is found in a data sample of 176 pb^{-1}. Improved upper limits are set on the production cross sections for these new particles. New exclusion contours in the parameter space of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model are derived, as well as new lower limits on the masses of these supersymmetric particles. Under the assumptions of common gaugino and scalar masses at the GUT scale, we set an absolute lower limit on the mass of the lightest scalar electron of 65.5 Ge