Universities have increasingly been subjected to policy- and industry demands to produce multi- and interdisciplinary knowledge. This paper explores the extent to which different higher education policy instruments are used to promote interdisciplinarity in teaching and research at universities in the German higher education system comparing them…

In this paper, we focus on the institutionalization of transdisciplinarity (TD) in higher education institutions and how they institutionalize Transdisciplinarity (TD). As such, universities have engaged in different activities to enact TD policies that aim at incorporating TD in their research and teaching. We take the Methodology Center at the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine whether students' self-assessment (SSA) could be used as a significant attribute to predict students' future academic achievement. Design/methodology/approach: The authors address how well students can assess their abilities and study the relationship between this ability and demographic…

Multimodality is implemented to the modern learning environment in line with trends towards multidisciplinarity. In the current study, multimodal interaction is based on the mutual integration of understanding of multimodality in philological and pedagogical perspectives. The purpose of the article was to analyze and compare the results of…

In this study, international research collaboration (IRC) and international research orientation (IRO) have been studied at the micro-level of individual academics from the university sector (N = 8,466, 11 European systems). Both were studied cross-nationally, cross-disciplinarily, and cross-generationally. This study differs from most existing…

The article examines how diverse semiotic resources are made available for explaining mathematical terms in a fifth-grade classroom. Situated within the methodological framework developed by conversation analysis and the analysis of embodiment-in-interaction, the study deals with two instances of a classroom episode in each of which participants…

The so-called Greek Financial Crisis, which has been the object of close attention in the German media since the end of 2009, has caused a public debate on who should be held responsible for the decline of crisis-hit Greece, the common currency and the Eurozone. The media's enduring and controversial public discussion has lately been referred to…

This paper deals with an empirical study examining the effectiveness of interdisciplinary teaching in biology and physical education (PE) regarding the students' growth in knowledge. The study was conducted with 141 German sixth form students. In groups, they were taught three hours a week for a period of six weeks. In order to compare the…

This article presents the results of a comparison of didactics textbooks in two countries: on the one hand it examines a textbook in the tradition of German Didaktik, and, on the other hand, a textbook in the tradition of "Instructional Design" from the USA. The main research question is: How do authors write didactics textbooks? Is it…

In 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is a worldwide study of 15-year-old students' performance in mathematics, science and reading skills. The study showed relatively poor results for German students' scientific literacy…

Strong societal requirements and consumer acceptance are the driving force of nanotechnology development. The necessity for qualified experts and strong demand on education in the multi-, trans- and interdisciplinary field of nanotechnology is a logical consequence of this driving force. There is the need for a comprehensive national…

This paper reports research in five European universities, in four countries between 2004 and 2008. The research explored and compared institutional contexts for academic development and the interpretations and reflections of a number of academic developers on the organizational position and role of academic development, and of…

The learning outcome of a physics laboratory course for medical students was examined in an interdisciplinary field study and discussed for the electrical physiology ("Propagation of Excitation and Nerve Cells"). At the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU) at a time about 300 medicine students were assessed in two successive…

Discusses a comparative study of regulations for assessment of achievement and grading in German secondary schools. Results reveal schools provide alternatives to traditional grading and take into account interdisciplinary or special learning achievements and social behavior. Summarizes major results. Discusses problems in the basic conception and…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2009 proceedings, see ED504973.]