Development of attitudes during the transition to university mathematics – different for students who drop out?

Students’ attitudes are assumed to play a big role for successful learning processes and to differ substantially between students. To gain a better insight in which way attitudes at the start of a mathematics study program and their development influence study dropout, we asked 219 students to state their interest in university mathematics and their mathematical self-concept at the start of their studies and six weeks later. Applying a cluster analysis, we identified four development profiles which differ in both attitudes at the start of their studies and in the development of both attitudes. The dropout rate among students with different profiles ranged from 7 % to 44 %, highlighting that the development of attitudes in the first semester is of major importance for a successful start

“Sometimes it goes wrong!” – Teachers’ beliefs concerning experiments in mathematics

International audienceIn didactic literature there are many practical materials to use experiments in mathematics classroom. Even though, experiments seem to be beneficial in mathematics education, little is known about what teachers think concerning this method. In this explorative study we want to examine the teachers’ beliefs about experiments and which relations they see between experiments and mathematics. We asked teachers from various school types in Germany, with an open-ended questionnaire. Our results indicate that most teachers see experiments either as controlled and planful procedure or as “trial and error”. Furthermore, teachers state mainly two relations between experiments and mathematics

Gibt es eine zunehmende bildungsspezifische Polarisierung der Erwerbsmuster von Frauen? Analysen auf Basis der Mikrozensen 1976 – 2004

Dieser Beitrag untersucht den bildungsspezifischen Wandel der Erwerbsbeteiligung von Müttern in Westdeutschland. Die theoretischen Überlegungen lassen unterschiedliche Entwicklungstrends für Frauen unterschiedlichen Bildungsniveaus erwarten. Die empirischen Analysen der Scientific-Use-Files der Mikrozensen der Jahre 1976 bis 2004 zeigen einen Anstieg der Anteile Teilzeit und marginal beschäftigter, aber keine größeren Veränderungen in den Anteilen Vollzeit erwerbstätiger Frauen mit Kindern. Insbesondere für weniger qualifizierte Mütter ist ein kontinuierlicher Rückgang ihres Erwerbsarbeitsumfangs festzustellen. Hochschulabsolventinnen mit Kindern, deren Partner ebenfalls einen Hochschulabschluss haben, sind am häufigsten Vollzeit erwerbstätig. Die zunehmende Etablierung eines „Dual-Earner-Modells“ der Familie in der wachsenden Gruppe hoch qualifizierter Paare führt zu einer Konzentration von ökonomischen Ressourcen und verstärkter sozialer Ungleichheit zwischen Haushalten und Familien.Bildung; Erwerbsmuster; Mikrozensus

Gibt es eine zunehmende bildungsspezifische Polarisierung der Erwerbsmuster von Frauen? Analysen auf Basis der Mikrozensen 1976-2004

This paper examines the development of female and maternal labor market participation in western Germany. We discuss major forces that contribute to educational differences in female employment behavior. The empirical investigation draws on data from the scientific-use-files of the micro-censuses from the years 1976 to 2004. While part-time and marginal employment rates of mothers have increased in recent years, their full-time employment rates have decreased. Particularly, the least educated mothers show dramatic reductions in their working hours over time. Full-time employment is most common among highly educated mothers and the “dual breadwinner model” is most common among highly educated couples. This finding has major consequences for the concentration of economic resources and inequality between households and familiesGermany (Alte Bundesländer), breadwinners, education, family forms, female employment, microcensuses

Qualität von Mathematikvorlesungen – Präsentation von Sätzen und Beweisen in Analysisvorlesungen

Vorlesungen in höherer Mathematik sind für viele Studierende herausfordernd. Deshalb brechen viele von ihnen ihr Studium ab oder wechseln zu einem anderen Fach bereits im ersten Studienjahr (Geisler, 2020). Viele Wissenschaftler zweifeln an der Effektivität von Vorlesungen (z.B. Fritze & Nordkvelle, 2003). Es gibt jedoch wenig empirische Forschung, die diese Zweifel unterstützen kann (Viirman, 2021). In diesem Beitrag werden die Ergebnisse einer Hospitationsstudie bezüglich der Qualität der Präsentation von Sätzen und Beweisen in Analysisvorlesungen vorgestellt

Spectral-interference microscopy for characterization of functional plasmonic elements

Plasmonic modes supported by noble-metal nanostructures offer strong subwavelength electric-field confinement and promise the realization of nanometer-scale integrated optical circuits with well-defined functionality. In order to measure the spectral and spatial response functions of such plasmonic elements, we combine a confocal microscope setup with spectral interferometry detection. The setup, data acquisition, and data evaluation are discussed in detail by means of exemplary experiments involving propagating plasmons transmitted through silver nanowires. By considering and experimentally calibrating any setup-inherent signal delay with an accuracy of 1 fs, we are able to extract correct timing information of propagating plasmons. The method can be applied, e.g., to determine the dispersion and group velocity of propagating plasmons in nanostructures, and can be extended towards the investigation of nonlinear phenomena