Converging evidence of high stress levels in the nursing profession as well as their detrimental effects on the execution of nursing actions, quality indicators of care, and self-reported job satisfaction justify the need for test environments that assess stress coping competences in dealing with domain-specific stress factors. Reliable and valid…

Comparison is an important geographic method and a common task in geography education. Mastering comparison is a complex competency and written comparisons are challenging tasks both for students and assessors. As yet, however, there is no set test for evaluating comparison competency nor tool for enhancing it. Moreover, little is known about…

Advanced learning technologies have become a focal point in recent educational research, holding the promise of enhancing students' self-regulated learning (SRL) by facilitating various processes of planning, monitoring, performing, and reflecting upon learning experiences. However, concerns have arisen regarding the efficacy and design of…

Analysis of data from single-case intervention studies commonly involves visual analysis. Previous research indicates that visual analysis may suffer from low reliability and unpromising error rates. We investigated the reliability and validity of visual analysis and explored to what extent data trends affect judgments. We administered a…

Non-formal adult education (NFE) provides adults of all ages with the opportunity to acquire skills, knowledge, and expertise. However, there is currently a lack of validated instruments that measure the factors of NFE non-participation in European countries, particularly their barriers. One exception is the Non-participation in Non-formal…

As researchers in the social sciences, we are often interested in studying not directly observable constructs through assessments and questionnaires. But even in a well-designed and well-implemented study, rapid-guessing behavior may occur. Under rapid-guessing behavior, a task is skimmed shortly but not read and engaged with in-depth. Hence, a…

This follow-up study presents a design-based research (DBR) setting implemented over a three-year project called 'eKidZ - Teach Your Parents Well' which uses research-based learning and follows the four phases of DBR. In an iterative cycle, 20 teenagers aged 14-16 took on the role of researchers and investigated intergenerational learning and the…

University professors' views of nature of science play an important role when guiding undergraduate students into the culture of practicing physicists. While these topics have a long-standing tradition in U.S. curricula they are not part of German educational standards or curricula. Additionally professors' views--in contrast to those of their…

The research in the field of positive psychology is alive for children and adolescents, and especially the effects of intervention studies are promising. While a large number of instruments exist for adults, there is a need for greater attention to basic measurement work of constructs for children. The Satisfaction With Life Scale is one of the…

Although there is a common understanding of instructional sensitivity, it lacks a common operationalization. Various approaches have been proposed, some focusing on item responses, others on test scores. As approaches often do not produce consistent results, previous research has created the impression that approaches to instructional sensitivity…

Quality assurance and quality development represent central challenges of higher education institutions (HEIs). In this context, the term quality culture has gained increasing attention. Quality culture refers to an organizational culture, which emphasizes the importance of continuous quality improvement, shared attitudes, and commitment towards…

This article reports about our efforts to determine engineering students' competence in mathematics. Our research is embedded in a larger project, KoM@ING--"Modeling and developing competence: Integrated IRT based and qualitative studies with a focus on mathematics and its usage in engineering studies", within the program "Modeling…

Considering the reported lack of interest in the STEM-domain and the consequential difficulties in recruiting talented and interested young academics, the development of effective enrichment measures is indispensable. This requires a precise picture of students' interests. The paper presents an approach to characterize interest profiles in…

Purpose: Our purpose was to explore the validity and reliability of the German Focus on the Outcomes of Communication Under Six (FOCUS-G; Thomas-Stonell, Oddson, Robertson, & Rosenbaum, 2010, 2012), which is an authorized adaptation of the Focus on the Outcomes of Communication Under Six (Thomas-Stonell et al., 2010) tool, which measures…

In this study the visual working memory (VWM) and perception speed of 60 children between the ages of three and six years were tested with an age-based, easy-to-handle Matrix Film Battery Test (reliability R?=?0.71). It was thereby affirmed that the VWM is age dependent (correlation coefficient r?=?0.66***) as expected. Furthermore, a significant…