This study explored relationships between Internet-specific justification beliefs and source evaluation and corroboration during Web search. Fifty university students completed the Internet-Specific Epistemic Justification Inventory (ISEJ), which targeted beliefs concerning the justification of Internet-based knowledge claims about natural science…

This paper studies the determinants of academic success using a unique administrative data set of a German university. We show that high school grades are strongly associated with both graduation probabilities and final grades, whereas variables measuring social origin or income have only a smaller impact. Moreover, the link between high school…

This paper examines the determinants of mathematics performance of first-year students enrolled in several business administration and economics study programmes at the beginning of the first semester (T1) and nine weeks later (T2). A simple model of educational production, which is developed in accordance with the model of Schrader and Helmke…

The article describes the development and evaluation of a web-based pre-course in mathematics, delivered to four cohorts of engineering students at a German university. Based on demographic, personal, and learning-related data relationships between students' preconditions, their learning gains in the pre-course, and study success in the degree…

Successful completion of a university degree is a complex matter. Based on considerations regarding the demands of acquiring a university degree, the aim of this paper was to investigate the utility of complex problem-solving (CPS) skills in the prediction of objective and subjective university success (SUS). The key finding of this study was that…

This study uses data from TEDS-M to explore and compare possible individual-based and institutional-based predictors of future secondary mathematics teachers' readiness to teach in Taiwan, Germany, and the United States. Across the three countries, future teachers' intrinsic motivation to become teachers and the consistency of courses arrangement…

It was investigated how domain-specific knowledge, fluid intelligence, vocational interest and work-related self-efficacy predicted domain-specific problem-solving performance in the field of office work. The participants included 100 German VET (vocational education and training) students nearing the end of a 3-year apprenticeship program as an…

Background: Beginning teachers encounter several constraints with respect to scientific inquiry. Depending on their prior beliefs, knowledge and understanding, these constraints affect their teaching of inquiry. Purpose: To investigate quantitatively the longitudinal relationship between pre-service teachers' knowledge and attitudes on scientific…

Modern knowledge-based societies, especially their younger members, have largely lost their bonds to farming. However, learning about agriculture and its interrelations with environmental issues may be facilitated by students' individual interests in agriculture. To date, an adequate instrument to investigate agricultural interests has been…

This study investigates the capacity of children to develop map-based skills in spatial orientation in an urban environment unknown to them. In this quantitative study, a total of 328 pupils of grades 3-5 had to achieve specific skills with regard to map-based skills in spatial orientation (such as turning-off skills, transformation from map to…

Prior computer expertise represents one of the most important predictors of performance when interacting with ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and acquiring computer skills. Due to demographic changes, the older adult will become increasingly important as a potential user. However, there is a lack of instruments for the assessment…

In mathematics, physics, and chemistry, women are still considered to be at a disadvantage. In the present study, the development of the symptoms of learned helplessness was of particular interest. A study involving average and mildly gifted 8th-grade boys and girls (top 60%) investigated whether girls, regardless of ability level, experience…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…