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Crossing the distance: university student newcomer socialization in online semesters — a case study
(2025)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency online learning impeded the pursuit of in-person activities that usually foster successful socialization in higher education. To investigate the effects of online learning on socialization, we asked two exploratory research questions: (1) How and to what extent does the level of socialization change during the first online semester? and (2) To what extent does level of change predict course dropout and academic performance? In our case study, using a sample of new students at a large German university, we ran an autoregressive three-factorial model of socialization (role, relationships, organization) with three measurements taken during the new students’ first semester, which was the second semester in which emergency online learning took place. Our results show that the relationships component of socialization did not increase over the semester, while the role and organization components increased. Furthermore, our results support a negative effect of the organization component of socialization on course dropout and a positive effect of the relationship component of socialization on academic performance.
Background
Evidence for the efficacy of nusinersen in adults with 5q-associated spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) has been demonstrated up to a period of 16 months in relatively large cohorts but whereas patients reach a plateau over time is still to be demonstrated. We investigated the efficacy and safety of nusinersen in adults with SMA over 38 months, the longest time period to date in a large cohort of patients from multiple clinical sites.
Methods
Our prospective, observational study included adult patients with SMA from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria (July 2017 to May 2022). All participants had genetically-confirmed, 5q-associated SMA and were treated with nusinersen according to the label. The total Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale Expanded (HFMSE) and Revised Upper Limb Module (RULM) scores, and 6-min walk test (6 MWT; metres), were recorded at baseline and 14, 26, and 38 months after treatment initiation, and pre and post values were compared. Adverse events were also recorded.
Findings
Overall, 389 patients were screened for eligibility and 237 were included. There were significant increases in all outcome measures compared with baseline, including mean HFMSE scores at 14 months (mean difference 1.72 [95% CI 1.19–2.25]), 26 months (1.20 [95% CI 0.48–1.91]), and 38 months (1.52 [95% CI 0.74–2.30]); mean RULM scores at 14 months (mean difference 0.75 [95% CI 0.43–1.07]), 26 months (mean difference 0.65 [95% CI 0.27–1.03]), and 38 months (mean difference 0.72 [95% CI 0.25–1.18]), and 6 MWT at 14 months (mean difference 30.86 m [95% CI 18.34–43.38]), 26 months (mean difference 29.26 m [95% CI 14.87–43.65]), and 38 months (mean difference 32.20 m [95% CI 10.32–54.09]). No new safety signals were identified.
Interpretation
Our prospective, observational, long-term (38 months) data provides further real-world evidence for the continuous efficacy and safety of nusinersen in a large proportion of adult patients with SMA.
Funding
Financial support for the registry from Biogen, Novartis and Roche.
Simulation-based learning is being increasingly implemented across different domains of higher education to facilitate essential skills and competences (e.g. diagnostic skills, problem-solving, etc.). However, the lack of research that assesses and compares simulations used in different contexts (e.g., from design perspective) makes it challenging to effectively transfer good practices or establish guidelines for effective simulations across different domains. This study suggests some initial steps to address this issue by investigating the relations between learners' experience in simulation-based learning environments and learners' diagnostic accuracy across several different domains and types of simulations, with the goal of facilitating cross-domain research and generalizability. The findings demonstrate that used learners' experience ratings are correlated with objective performance measures, and can be used for meaningful comparisons across different domains. Measures of perceived extraneous cognitive load were found to be specific to the simulation and situation, while perceived involvement and authenticity were not. Further, the negative correlation between perceived extraneous cognitive load and perceived authenticity was more pronounced in interaction-based simulations. These results provide supporting evidence for theoretical models that highlight the connection between learners' experience in simulated learning environments and their performance. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of the relationship between learners’ experience in simulation-based learning environments and their diagnostic accuracy, paving the way for the dissemination of best practices across different domains within higher education.
This study explores the cognitive load and learning outcomes associated with using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional search engines for information gathering during learning. A total of 91 university students were randomly assigned to either use ChatGPT3.5 or Google to research the socio-scientific issue of nanoparticles in sunscreen to derive valid recommendations and justifications. The study aimed to investigate potential differences in cognitive load, as well as the quality and homogeneity of the students' recommendations and justifications. Results indicated that students using LLMs experienced significantly lower cognitive load. However, despite this reduction, these students demonstrated lower-quality reasoning and argumentation in their final recommendations compared to those who used traditional search engines. Further, the homogeneity of the recommendations and justifications did not differ significantly between the two groups, suggesting that LLMs did not restrict the diversity of students’ perspectives. These findings highlight the nuanced implications of digital tools on learning, suggesting that while LLMs can decrease the cognitive burden associated with information gathering during a learning task, they may not promote deeper engagement with content necessary for high-quality learning per se.
Digital learning in schools: which skills do teachers need, and who should bring their own devices?
(2024)
We investigated factors that are potentially associated with teaching and learning with digital technology, by replicating and extending Sailer, Murböck, and Fischer's (2021) study with a representative sample of 407 German secondary school teachers. In line with the replicated study, teachers' technology-related teaching skills were crucial for different forms of students' active learning, whereas the digital technology equipment available in a school was less important. School support was positively related to successful digital teaching and learning at schools. The success of Bring-Your-Own-Device depended on who brought the device, teachers or students.
Medienbezogene Kompetenzen von Lehrkräften sind unabdingbar, um Schüler:innen auf Teilhabe, Partizipation und eine verantwortliche Mitgestaltung in einer Kultur der Digitalität vorzubereiten. Konkret benötigen Lehrkräfte hierzu medienbezogene Basis- und Lehrkompetenzen. Für die zielgerichtete und erfolgreiche Förderung dieser Kompetenzen im Rahmen der Lehrkräftebildung sind Instrumente zur Messung dieser Medienkompetenzen hilfreich. Bestehende Instrumente greifen allerdings zumeist auf einfache, nicht selten sehr allgemein formulierte Selbsteinschätzungen zurück. Dies erschwert eine valide Messung von Kompetenzen. In diesem Beitrag wird ein alternativer Messansatz vorgestellt, der Selbsteinschätzungen von Medienkompetenzen mittels Szenarien kontextualisiert und damit präzisiert. Die Szenarien-Basierung führt zu einem validen Messergebnis, hat aber für den Einsatz im Feld den Nachteil, dass die Messung deutlich umfangreicher ausfällt. Dem begegnen wir im vorliegenden Beitrag durch die Entwicklung einer Kurzskala in einem mehrstufigen Verfahren. Auf Basis eines Datensatzes von N = 552 (angehenden) Lehrkräften wird eine szenarienbasierte Kurzskala zur Messung instrumenteller und kritisch-reflexiver Medienkompetenzen sowie medienbezogener Lehrkompetenzen entwickelt. Diese Kurzskala wird in einer weiteren Studie mit N = 204 Lehrkräften nochmals validiert. Die Ergebnisse beider Studien unterstützen die Validität der Kurzskala. Für die Lehrkräftebildung und Forschung wird somit ein akzeptanzförderndes und ressourcenschonendes Instrument bereitgestellt, das eine reliable und valide Messung instrumenteller und kritisch-reflexiver Medienkompetenzen sowie medienbezogener Lehrkompetenzen erlaubt.
Teachers’ technology-related skills are often measured with self-assessments. However, self-assessments are often criticised for being inaccurate and biased. Scenario-based self-assessment is a promising approach to make self-assessment more accurate and less biased. In this study with N = 552 inservice and student teachers, we validated a scenario-based self-assessment instrument IN.K19+ for teachers. The instrument enables scenario-based self-assessment of instrumental and critical digital skills and technology-related teaching skills for teachers. In a confirmatory factor analysis, we show that the instrument has sufficient factorial validity. To test the predictive validity of the instrument, we examined the instruments’ relationship to the frequency of technology use during teaching and teacher-initiated student learning activities involving digital technologies. Results from structural equation modelling show that instrumental digital skills and technology-related teaching skills are positively related to the frequency of digital technology use during teaching, while critical digital skills are not. In terms of the initiation of student learning activities, instrumental and critical digital skills show relationships with initiating student learning activities that include lower cognitive engagement. Technology-related teaching skills are related to initiating learning activities that indicate higher cognitive engagement. The results show that instrumental and critical digital skills play an important role with respect to the basic use of digital technologies in the classroom, while technology-related teaching skills turn out to be crucial for more complex scenarios of digital technology use. This pattern of findings supports the predictive validity of the IN.K19+ instrument.
