Barbara Schober

TALK - A Training Program to Encourage Lifelong Learning in School

Abstract. Lifelong learning (LLL) is a topic of high political relevance. Within the context of continuous social development toward an “information society,” individuals find themselves facing a number of challenges that they will not be able to surmount successfully if they are not willing to commit to learning over the entire course of their lifetimes. The persistent motivation to learn, as well as the correspondent learning skills, appears to be essential if one is to survive in a modern society. Schools, as a collective institution, have the task of laying the cornerstones of these skills. The present article introduces the training program TALK, which aims to provide teachers with the competencies to systematically implement the enhancement of LLL into their regular educational responsibilities. From the perspective of educational psychology, motivation, self-regulation, social skills, and cognitive abilities are developed as core aspects for LLL in a scholastic context. Building on these, the goals...

Is research on gender‐specific underachievement in gifted girls an obsolete topic? New findings on an often discussed issue

A decline of gender‐specific underachievement among gifted girls can be observed. So, is this topic becoming gradually obsolete or do certain kinds of underachievement still exist? We investigated achievement and related factors among 10th‐grade gifted girls in comparison to gifted boys in two separate settings: in a regular German secondary upper‐level school, the Gymnasium (study 1, n=31); and in a curriculum‐compressing acceleration program within the Gymnasium system (study 2, n=116). In both school settings gender differences were found to exist: in the regular setting these differences are equally distributed; in the gifted program, on the other hand, they rather favor the girls. Nevertheless, for both settings lower self‐confidence in the math self‐concept can be observed among the girls. All in all, the findings reported here make obvious that things actually have changed and a general convergence of boys and girls can be observed. However, it also became clear that some decisive differences—especially on behavioral levels—still exist.

Evaluation of Curricula in Higher Education: Challenges for Evaluators

Evaluation of teaching at universities is traditionally realized in terms of student ratings. Curriculum evaluation is rarely done in a systematic manner. More often, the emphasis is placed on a particular aspect, which is only of little help in terms of modifying education. A very prominent example is that of medical education. Here, evaluations of curricula primarily focus on new curricula by contrasting them to traditional ones. The article at hand deals with a different evaluation approach, in which five phases have to be considered and contrasting results to other teaching formats are not the main focus. In this article, the authors concentrate on the first phase (baseline evaluation) of the systematic evaluation of a medical curriculum. They describe several challenges of such an evaluation approach and illustrate the strategies used to overcome them. In addition, associated relevant empirical findings from this evaluation study are presented.

Promotion of students’ mastery goal orientations: does TARGET work?

Achievement goal orientations are important for students’ ongoing motivation. Students with a mastery goal orientation show the most advantageous achievement and motivational patterns. Much research has been conducted to identify classroom structures which promote students’ mastery goal orientation. The TARGET framework is one example of these efforts and provides six instructional dimensions (task, authority, recognition, grouping, evaluation, time), which should form a classroom structure that fosters a mastery goal orientation. The aim of this study was to examine the entire multi-dimensional TARGET framework and its impact on mastery goal orientation in a longitudinal study with 1680 secondary school students. CFAs confirmed the existence of one latent factor TARGET comprising the six proposed dimensions. This study also provides the first empirical evidence, based on longitudinal data, that TARGET has a positive impact on student mastery goal orientations.

Evaluation of competence-based teaching in higher education: From theory to practice

Competence-based teaching in higher education institutions and its evaluation have become a prevalent topic especially in the European Union. However, evaluation instruments are often limited, for example to single student competencies or specific elements of the teaching process. The present paper provides a more comprehensive evaluation concept that contributes to sustainable improvement of competence-based teaching in higher education institutions. The evaluation concept considers competence research developments as well as the participatory evaluation approach. The evaluation concept consists of three stages. The first stage evaluates whether the competencies students are supposed to acquire within the curriculum (ideal situation) are well defined. The second stage evaluates the teaching process and the competencies students have actually acquired (real situation). The third stage evaluates concrete aspects of the teaching process. Additionally, an implementation strategy is introduced to support the transfer from the theoretical evaluation concept to practice. The evaluation concept and its implementation strategy are designed for internal evaluations in higher education and primarily address higher education institutions that have already developed and conducted a competence-based curriculum.

Time investment and time management: an analysis of time students spend working at home for school

This paper deals with the time students spend working at home for school. In Study 1, we investigated amount and regulation of time. Study 2 serves to validate the results of Study 1 and, in addition, investigates the duration of the time units students used and their relation to scholastic success. In Study 1, the participants were 332 students in Grades 5 to 11; in Study 2, we investigated 280 students, Grades 6 through 10. To measure the time students invested we used diary entries. Results proved that students use the majority of their time to prepare for exams and to complete homework assignments. In Study 2, three working types could be identified, which are also characterized by differences in scholastic parameters. Those students who predominantly work in 0.5-hr units show the best scholastic performances.

Guest Editorial: Bildung-Psychology: The Substance and Structure of an Emerging Discipline

The term Bildung-Psychology is derived from the German language term Bildung, which has no precise equivalent in English. The term encompasses the broad area of education and learning, and it has implications beyond this field in its meaning. Bildung-Psychology has a strong focus on life-long learning and involves a scholarly process from basic principles and research to evidence-based practice. In this guest editorial we discuss the vision for this work in the German-speaking countries. While in both the U.S. and UK contexts there are elements of this approach, they have not crystallized in precisely the same manner that is occurring in the German-speaking countries. Psychology in the broad field of education and learning in German-speaking countries lacks an integrative and compelling model or framework that would allow for systematic representations of activities (e.g., Bromme, 1998; Cropley, 1988; Hofer, 1987; Schneider 1998; Weinert, 1998). In addition, fields that exist on the interface between human development and education have been gravely underrepresented in research in general, and in educational psychology in particular. Examples here are the prevention of educational disadvantages for immigrants, the organization of learning processes in middle and advanced adulthood, learning on demand, and informal learning. The BildungPsychology approach may be a framework that would systematically integrate all such topics. Moreover, by incorporating the core ideas and credo of life-long learning (e.g., Commission of the European Communities, 2000), it uses a concept that has been winning increasing significance in European educational policies in recent years, as it addresses the dissemination of available knowledge to practitioners, a point that has not yet been professionally addressed (Karoly, Boekarts, & Maes, 2005). THE CONCEPTION OF BILDUNG-PSYCHOLOGY

Competencies for successful self-regulated learning in higher education: structural model and indications drawn from expert interviews

A global characteristic of higher education is the opportunity and necessity for students to self-regulate their learning. In contrast to considerable research focusing on self-regulated learning (SRL) from a behavioural perspective, little is known concerning the underlying competencies which enable students to succeed in SRL. A structural model is proposed that differentiates SRL competencies in terms of descriptive, procedural, and conditional knowledge regarding different types of self-regulation strategies in different phases of the learning process. Indications drawn from semi-structured interviews with N = 108 experts (39 lecturers and 69 as excellent nominated students) from 4 fields of study are in line with core assumptions of the proposed model. Moreover, the results provide a basis to ensure the content validity of assessments of students’ SRL competencies and from which to derive standards to judge these competencies.

Young physicians' competences from different points of view.

This paper describes a baseline evaluation of medical education focusing on the competences of young physicians. It was conducted in the context of a reform mandated for medical programs at Austrian state universities. The study investigated the goals of medical education (ideal situation) as well as the real situation. Furthermore, learning methods used by medical students were analyzed. A multiple-perspective procedure was applied and questionnaire data from students, graduates, university teachers, and clinical supervisors of young graduates were collected at the University of Graz. A high discrepancy was found between the goals of medical teaching and the educational effectiveness of achieving them. Competences of young physicians were rated to be relatively low – thereby external ratings were systematically lower than self-ratings by students and graduates. Reading passages from required textbooks is the dominant learning behavior among students. Based on the results, a gap between the ideal and the actual medical competences imparted at university can be identified. With regard to the generally low-rated competences of young physicians, the precondition for practical requirements hardly seems to be optimal.

Implementing Intervention Research into Public Policy—the “I3-Approach”

Evidence-based intervention programs have become highly important in recent years, especially in educational contexts. However, transferring these programs into practice and into the wider field of public policy often fails. As a consequence, the field of implementation research has emerged, several implementation frameworks have been developed, and implementation studies conducted. However, intervention research and implementation research have not yet been connected systematically and different traditions and research groups are involved. Implementation researchers are mostly given mandates by politicians to take on the implementation of already existing interventions. This might be one of the key reasons why there are still many problems in translating programs into widespread community practice. In this paper, we argue for a systematic integration of intervention and implementation research (“I3-Approach”) and recommend a six-step procedure (PASCIT). This requires researchers to design and develop intervention programs using a field-oriented and participative approach. In particular, the perspective of policymakers has to be included as well as an analysis of which factors support or hinder evidence-based policy in contrast to opinion-based policy. How this systematic connection between intervention and implementation research can be realized, is illustrated by means of the development and implementation of the ViSC school program, which intends to reduce aggressive behavior and bullying and to foster social and intercultural competencies.