Assessing the impact of “more-flexible” learning as part of a study program

With the increasing use of Flexible Learning approaches in Higher Education at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), measuring their effectiveness, from both an educational and a participant's point of view, is of particular importance. In response to the limited scientific contributions on this topic, this article presents a possibility of how an assessment can take place: this study analyzes 62 undergrad-uate student responses to a Blended Learning task and compares the participant findings with a pre-existing educational competency framework

Game mechanics and technological mediation: an ethical perspective on the effects of MMORPG’s

<p>In the past decades, video games have grown from a niche market to one of the major entertainment media, enticing millions of players worldwide. When ethical aspects of video games are being debated, the discussion oftentimes revolves around effects of their content, such as violence. This paper argues that effects of game mechanics, such as reward mechanisms, should be considered as well, as these are at the core of the appeal of games. We analyze the ethical dimension of behavioral game design present in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG’s). Using the framework of technological mediation, we show how opaque and seductive game mechanics can invite problematic usage patterns, such as excessive use with negative effects on well-being, and how designers can take responsibility for morally acceptable impact of their games. Having a practical focus, the paper concludes with several proposals for better design.</p

Akkreditierung als Verfahren der Qualitätssicherung von Studiengängen in Deutschland. Eine Policy-orientierte Analyse

[Der Autor hinterfragt kritisch], ob Akkreditierung tatsächlich zu einem Moment kontinuierlicher Qualitätsverbesserung wird, der das Qualitätsbewusstsein an deutschen Hochschulen stärkt und Impulse für die Studienreform liefert, oder ob sie nur zu einer mehr oder weniger duldsam ertragenen formalen Prozedur wird, der man nicht entkommen kann. Die Tatsache, dass das Reformtempo an den Hochschulen - historisch eher ungewöhnlich - gegenwärtig schneller ist als die nachlaufende Praxis der Akkreditierung, könnte darauf schließen lassen, dass die Akkreditierung eine zwar formal unumgängliche, aber keine substanzielle Funktion für Qualitätsentwicklung ausübt, was im Übrigen durch den Wechsel zur Systemakkreditierung verstärkt würde. [Danach] wird zu fragen sein, ob Akkreditierung zur individuellen Profilbildung von Hochschulen und Studiengängen und damit zu Vielfalt und Innovation beiträgt oder ob hier eher ein neues engmaschiges Netz aus mehr oder weniger vereinheitlichenden Anforderungen und Standards übergestülpt wird. Offen ist auch, wie sich die neuen Exzellenzbestrebungen auf die Akkreditierung auswirken: Wird es mit einer stärkeren vertikalen Differenzierung von Hochschulen und Studiengängen auch eine solche der Akkreditierung geben? Mit allen […] Aspekten ist letztlich die Frage verbunden, ob sich Akkreditierung zu einer lernenden Institution entwickelt, die sich selbst kritisch an diesen hochschulpolitischen Zielen evaluiert, oder ob sie diesen Ansprüchen selbst nicht gerecht wird. (DIPF/Orig.

Global Multisector/ Multicountry 3- E Modelling : from COMPASS to GINFORS

La dimensión global de la política medioambiental, que se ha convertido en una cuestión de política internacional con la discusión concreta de objetivos e instrumentos, supone un enorme vacío de información para esa política medioambiental. Los autores postulan que éste solo puede cubrirse mediante la aplicación de modelos ambientales económicos globales, que habrán de cumplir ciertos requisitos: se necesita un sistema multi-sector y multi-país con cobertura global y con vínculos de comercio bilateral a parámetros estimados econométricamente. Los autores presentan el sistema COMPASS (Comprehensive Model of Policy Assessment) y el mejorado sistema GINFORS (Global Interindustry Forecasting System), que se está construyendo en base a la experiencia alcanzada con COMPASS. El análisis de la aplicación de GINFORS el proyecto MOSUS (Modelling Opportunities and Limits for Restructuring Europe towards Sustainability) de la UE da idea del potencial del modelo para estudiar asuntos ambientales y económicos globales y para predecir importantes indicadores ambientales. ________________________________________The global dimension of environmental policy, which has become a subject of international policy with the concrete discussion of targets and instruments, constitutes a huge information gap for environmental policy. The authors postulate, that this can only be filled by the application of global economic environmental models, which have to meet certain requirements: A multisector and multicountry system with global coverage and bilateral trade linkage with econometrically estimated parameters is needed. The authors present the system COMPASS (Comprehensive Model of Policy Assessment) and the improved system GINFORS (Global Interindustry Forecasting System), which is just being constructed based on the experiences made with COMPASS. A discussion of the application of GINFORS in the EU project MOSUS (Modelling Opportunities and Limits for Restructuring Europe towards Sustainability) gives an impression of the power of the model to analyze global economic environmental questions and to forecast important environmental indicators

Credit Supply, Firms, and Earnings Inequality

We study the distributional effects of a monetary policy-induced firm-level credit supply shock on individual wages and employment. To this end, we construct a novel dataset that links worker employment histories to firms' bank credit relationships in Germany. We document that firms in relationships with banks that were more exposed to negative monetary policy rates in 2014 see a relative reduction in credit supply. A negative credit supply shock in turn is associated with lower firm-level average wages and employment. These effects are concentrated among distinct worker groups within firms, with initially lower-paid workers more likely to be fired and initially higher-paid workers more likely to receive wage cuts. At the same time, wages decline by more at initially higher-paying firms. Consequently, wage inequality within and between firms decreases. Our results suggest that monetary policy has important distributional effects in the labor market

Historical Patterns of Anthropogenic Impacts on Freshwaters in the Berlin-Brandenburg Region

Since humans are preferentially settling in flood plains they often influence freshwater systems intensely. The first signs of anthropogenic impacts on surface waters in the Berlin-Brandenburg region are approximately 3000 years old. Considering the multiple and intense human uses of surface waters in this region, we analysed when, how and to which extent regional rivers and streams became impacted by dams, water mills and fish weirs resulting in changes in morphology, hydrology and ecological functioning. We hypothesise that the development and growth of cities in this region necessitated (1) efficient navigability of rivers linking them, (2) efficient use of hydropower resources for mills, and (3) significant pollution of surface waters especially with the beginning of industrial development. We analyse these hypotheses by means of three regional examples and delineate the effects of human uses on selected surface water bodies. Understanding the effects of these historic modifications of surface water supports the identification of options for a sustainable use of surface waters that are currently still subjected to multiple uses but face a significant decrease in discharge due to climate change

Species distribution models have limited spatial transferability for invasive species

The reliability of transferring species distribution models (SDMs) to new ranges and future climates has been widely debated. Biological invasions offer the unique opportunity to evaluate model transferability, as distribution data between species' native and introduced ranges are geographically independent of each other. Here, we performed the first global quantitative synthesis of the spatial transferability of SDMs for 235 invasive species and assessed the association of model transferability with the focal invader, model choice and parameterisation. We found that SDMs had limited spatial transferability overall. However, model transferability was higher for terrestrial endotherms, species introduced from or to the Southern Hemisphere, and species introduced more recently. Model transferability was also positively associated with the number of presences for model calibration and evaluation, respectively, but negatively with the number of predictors. These findings highlight the importance of considering the characteristics of the focal invader, environment and modelling in the application and assessment of SDMs

Studienabschlüsse, Übergänge und beruflicher Verbleib der Absolventinnen und Absolventen

Die Übergänge vom Studium in den Beruf und der berufliche Verbleib von Absolventinnen und Absolventen erziehungswissenschaftlicher (Hauptfach )Studiengänge im Vergleich zu ähnlichen Studiengängen waren bereits in den Datenreporten 2008, 2012 und 2016 ein zentrales Kapitel. Daran anschließend werden in diesem Kapitel nach einem knappen Überblick zur Zahl der Abschlussprüfungen im Fach Erziehungswissenschaft auf der Basis der amtlichen Hochschulstatistik1 die Übergänge vom Studium in den Beruf und der längerfristige berufliche Verbleib der Absolventinnen und Absolventen mit Daten aus fächerübergreifenden Absolventenbefragungen untersucht. Eine Bilanz der bisherigen Befunde mit einer Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse aus dem Datenreport 2020 findet sich im Abschnitt 3.4. (DIPF/Orig.