Embedding R in the Mediawiki

Teaching statistics to students in our area of economics and educational science often brings about the problem that students have either forgottentheir statistical knowledge, or have taken different classes than the ones we offer in basic statistics. We therefore need some kind of statistical dictionary where we, as teachers, can refer to a common base and where students can look up specific terms. The Wikipedia - a general online encyclopaedia - compelled us to use a wiki for our dictionary. While the Wikipedia contains a large number of statistical terms, these are often too long and detailed to be visual displayed in lectures very well and some more specific terms are not included.R, wiki, Mediawiki

Wirtschaftspädagogisches Studium an der Uni Mainz. Ein polyvalenter Bachelor und Master of Science in Wirtschaftspädagogik

Die Autoren betrachten den 2007 akkreditierten Bachelor- und Masterstudiengang Wirtschaftspädagogik, der zum Wintersemester 2007/08 bzw. zum Wintersemester 2009/10 an der Universität Mainz eingeführt wurde und der zu den ersten großen Studiengängen der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität gehört, die nach dem Bologna-Modell umgestellt wurden. Nach einigen Vorbemerkungen zur Implementierung des Studiengangs führen sie a) die Ziele des Bachelor- und Masterstudiums Wirtschaftspädagogik, b) die Leitideen der Mainzer Wirtschaftspädagogik sowie c) die Struktur der neuen wirtschaftpädagogischen Studiengänge (für den Bachelor of Science sowie den Master of Science) aus. (DIPF/ ssch

Assessing the Quality of the Bachelor Degree Courses: An Analysis of their Effects on Students' Acquisition of Economic Content Knowledge

Quality development in higher education (HE) relies on the assessment, evaluation, and optimisation of university teaching. Only a few studies have evaluated the new bachelor (BA) and master (MA) degree courses in Germany based on an objective measurement of key performance indicators, such as students' knowledge acquisition. To address this research deficit, students' content knowledge of business and economic (b&e) was assessed in a longitudinal study. Results of students in the BA/MA study model were compared to those of students in the former Diplom study model while many potential structural and personal influence factors were controlled. This paper presents in detail the findings and discusses their implications for quality assurance and performance assessment in HE. 21.03.2014 | Roland Happ & Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia (Mainz

Modeling and Measuring Domain-Specific Quantitative Reasoning in Higher Education Business and Economics

Quantitative reasoning is considered a crucial prerequisite for acquiring domain-specific expertise in higher education. To ascertain whether students are developing quantitative reasoning, validly assessing its development over the course of their studies is required. However, when measuring quantitative reasoning in an academic study program, it is often confounded with other skills. Following a situated approach, we focus on quantitative reasoning in the domain of business and economics and define domain-specific quantitative reasoning primarily as a skill and capacity that allows for reasoned thinking regarding numbers, arithmetic operations, graph analyses, and patterns in real-world business and economics tasks, leading to problem solving. As many studies demonstrate, well-established instruments for assessing business and economics knowledge like the Test of Understanding College Economics (TUCE) and the Examen General para el Egreso de la Licenciatura (EGEL) contain items that require domain-specific quantitative reasoning skills. In this study, we follow a new approach and assume that assessing business and economics knowledge offers the opportunity to extract domain-specific quantitative reasoning as the skill for handling quantitative data in domain-specific tasks. We present an approach where quantitative reasoning – embedded in existing measurements from TUCE and EGEL tasks – will be empirically extracted. Hereby, we reveal that items tapping domain-specific quantitative reasoning constitute an empirically separable factor within a Confirmatory Factor Analysis and that this factor (domain-specific quantitative reasoning) can be validly and reliably measured using existing knowledge assessments. This novel methodological approach, which is based on obtaining information on students’ quantitative reasoning skills using existing domain-specific tests, offers a practical alternative to broad test batteries for assessing students’ learning outcomes in higher education

How Gender and Primary Language Influence the Acquisition of Economic Knowledge of Secondary School Students in the United States and Germany

Economics has become an essential component of secondary school curricula in many countries as a result of the growing awareness that young adults need fundamental economic knowledge to manage their personal finances. Accordingly, an increasing number of comparative studies are being conducted of commonalities and differences in students’ economic knowledge and its most decisive influencing factors within and across countries. In this study, we compare the performance of secondary school students in the United States (N = 3517) and Germany (N = 983) on the fourth version of the Test of Economic Literacy. We investigate two personal characteristics that have been found to influence the students’ acquisition of economic knowledge: gender and primary language. Although these two characteristics have been considered in numerous studies of economic education in both countries, they have not been investigated together in an international comparison, which would allow more effective pedagogical approaches for economic education to be formulated. We found male students in both countries exhibited greater economic knowledge, and students whose primary language was the same as the national language performed better. We discuss implications for economic education in both countries and cross-nationally

Eine Längsschnittsanalyse der Studieneingangs- und Studienprozessfaktoren auf den Studienerfolg im wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Bachelorstudium

Studieneingangsvoraussetzungen, wie das Vorwissen, gelten als wesentliche Prädiktoren für den Studienerfolg. Studienanfänger/innen in den Wirtschaftswissenschaften zeichnen sich durch eine große Heterogenität zu Studienbeginn aus. In einer Längsschnittstudie wird betrachtet, inwiefern die heterogenen Studieneingangsvoraussetzungen den Studienerfolg erklären und wie dieser Zusammenhang unter Berücksichtigung der studienprozessbezogenen Einflussfaktoren sich verändert. Mittels Mehrebenenmodellen wird der Einfluss voruniversitärer und studienprozessbezogener Einflussfaktoren auf die Studiennote am Ende des Bachelorstudiums differenziert betrachtet. Implikationen für die Hochschulpraxis und weitere Forschung werden kritisch diskutiert

Successful Integration of Refugee Students in Higher Education: Insights from Entry Diagnostics in an Online Study Program

Accessing higher education without having to overcome bureaucratic hurdles is a serious concern for refugees. Although empirical studies on the integration and success of refugees in higher education are scarce, the challenges related to this issue are becoming apparent. The Success and Opportunities for Refugees in Higher Education (SUCCESS) research project has been launched to investigate the effectiveness of new online study programs offered on the Kiron Open Higher Education (Kiron) platform that provides refugees with access to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). SUCCESS measures the prior knowledge and skills of refugee students and investigates to what extent their study opportunities, learning processes, and chances of academic success can be improved effectively through different forms of support provided in Kiron. In this paper, we present the assessment framework and study design of the SUCCESS project as well as data on 1,376 students entering the study program in Kiron in summer 2017. As students’ language skills, intellectual abilities, and prior study-related knowledge play a significant role in their performance in higher education degree programs, we focus on the crucial introductory study phase and valid diagnostics of students’ study preconditions. We analyze refugee students’ socio-biographical and educational data such as gender, country of origin, highest level of education achieved etc. and examine their English language skills, intellectual abilities, and previous study domain related knowledge. We find extreme differences in levels of education and preconditions on starting to study in Kiron. Based on these results, we discuss implications for the effective and successful integration of refugee students in higher education. In this paper, we present the evidence-based model, assessment framework, and study design of the XXXXX project, as well as data on 1,376 students entering a study program through Kiron in summer 2017. Because students’ language skills, intellectual abilities, and prior study-related knowledge play a significant role in their performance in higher education degree programs, we focus on the crucial introductory study phase and valid diagnostics of students’ study preconditions. We analyze refugee students’ socio-biographical and educational data such as gender, country of origin, highest level of education achieved etc. and examine their English language skills, intellectual abilities, and previous study domain related knowledge. We find extreme differences in levels of education and preconditions on starting to study through Kiron. Based on these results, we discuss implications for the effective and successful integration of refugee students in higher education