Notebookeinsatz beim selbstgesteuerten Lernen. Mehrwert für Motivation, Lernklima und Qualität des Lernens?

In einer empirischen Studie mit 152 TeilnehmerInnen eines einsemestrigen Softwarepraktikums wurde untersucht, welche Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Notebookeinsatz in einem universitätsweiten Funknetz und der Qualität selbstgesteuerten Lernens bestehen. Eingenommen wurde eine intrapsychische Perspektive auf die subjektive Interpretation der ubiquitären Lernsituation und die individuellen Parameter des Lernens. Die Ergebnisse zeigen Vorteile des Notebookeinsatzes für das selbstgesteuerte Lernen. Die Effekte fielen beim Erleben von Autonomie beim Lernen verhältnismäßig groß, bei Lernklima, Motivation und Lern-Leistung nur klein bis moderat aus. Darüber hinaus zeigte sich, dass die beobachtbar veränderten Nutzungsmuster ohne Einfluss auf die Qualität des Lernens waren. Zusammenhänge mit der Lern-Leistung zeigten sich dagegen mit Motivation und Lernklima. Auf der Basis dieser Befunde werden in diesem Beitrag Implikationen für die Gestaltung von Lernkontexten an einer Notebook-Universität diskutiert. (DIPF/Orig.

Gifted education in modern Asia: Analyses from a systemic perspective

When we were invited to comment on chapters describing gifted educa· tion in Asian countries, we were reminded of Mikhail Gorbachev\u27s famous dictum Life punishes those who delay. Asian countries entered gifted education and research on excellence relatively late compared to many Western nations (e.g., Stern, 1914). Nevertheless, there are examples that suggest the opposite may be true, that is, latecomers might also have some advantage. A famous example for the latter claim is the case of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. Both are suspension bridges linking the U.S. city of San Francisco to Marin County and the Japanese city of Kobe on the mainland of Honshu to Iwaya on Awaji Island, respectively. When the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began in 1933, the longest span of 1,280 meters seemed almost impossible to build. However, half a century later in 1988 when the construction of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge began, the architects could take advantage of the experiences of their predecessor. While many consider the huge Japanese bridge a highly intelligent copy, the copy clearly surpassed its model. At the time it boasted the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world at 1,991 meters. The height of the highest pylon was 282.8 meters compared to Golden Gate\u27s 227.4 meters. The first Asian country to enter the stage of gifted education was Taiwan in 1962. Other countries such as China (1978), Korea (1983), Singapore (1984), and Turkey (2000) followed later. In our contribution, we want to speculate whether Gorbachev\u27s admonition applies to gifted education in Asia or whether Asia was able to build a much more advanced bridge than its Western predecessors

The tower of creativity

In the field of creativity research, two paradigms can be distinguished. Both can be traced back to a seminal publication, the Art of Thought by Graham Wallas and Richard Smith in 1926, and to Joy Paul Guilford’s American Psychologist paper entitled Creativity in 1950. While Wallas and Smith conceptualized creativity as a thinking process, Guilford envisaged creativity as a personal trait. Nevertheless, a common element of both paradigms was that creativity is bound to an individual. Similarly, this is also the prevailing view in giftedness research: Creativity is a characteristic of an outstanding individual who is capable of either seeing clearly what is still indistinct for everybody else or of perceiving the outline of something that others cannot yet fathom. Individuals can use these abilities in many domains, such as the creative arts, science, interpersonal relations, leadership or sports. The individualistic paradigm of creativity has spurred many educational approaches, fostering such elements as fantasy, imagination, self-confidence, artistic skills and so on