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Computer aided data analysis in the qualitative adult education research Experiences with the software MAXqda 2 and Atlas.ti The qualitative social research has various different programmes to choose from when evaluating data which can make the systemization and organization of data easier. In the contribution two works from research in adult education and respective usage of software for qualitative data analysis are exemplarily discussed. Thereby especially the process of the (network) …
Striking the Balance between Competences – Backgrounds, Methods, Development Necessities The term competence entered the pedagogical/educational discussions of the German Education Council in the 1970s. However, it has recently become, once again, the objective of an intensive debate. It is always about the potential of the individuals which exceeds the certified level of knowledge and skills. This article introduces and analyses three different methodological approaches to the evaluation an…
Starting from constructivist, neurophysiologic and learning psychological deliberations the actual learning place should be described as the human being because only within him is where the learning takes place. Unanimously though, learning is always carried out in interaction with contextual factors. The outer environment – and therewith also local conditions – influence the processing of information. Hereunto three examples are named: (1) The Loci method links memory contents with places. (2)…
This article proposes two interpretational approaches which sociological transformation research offers to reflect on east German transformation processes after reunification. (1) Taking the concept of transformation as modernisation catching up, a picture is painted of a society going through inevitable modernisation processes with a time delay. (2) From the theoretical perspective of contextualisation, transformation is seen as an objectless, complex, conflict-prone process during which easte…
People with low literacy skills are often experiencing difficulties to manage their everyday life. For example, filling out forms, correspondence or banking may pose huge challenges. But what about the political participation of functional illiterates in a society which is dominated by the use of literacy? The following article focuses on how participants of literacy classes use their possibilities of contribution. These assumptions are based on first results of the qualitative research project…
Since Francis Bacon, the concept of knowledge has been related to the question of power. In the beginning, this interrelation was applied to scientific knowledge, nature and its controllability. Since the era of enlightenment this problem has been applied to questions of social power. Marxist theoreticians then exposed the emergence and distributions of and the access to knowledge as related to the class struggle. Finally, it was Foucault who opens up for a new and experimental perspective.
The need for counselling and counselling processes among students in the humanities and social sciences In the area of adult education, learning counselling assumes the role of a support function for self-guided learning. University students must also structure and plan their learning process, even though many of these students are unable to develop sufficient learning skills due to their previously limited learning experience. Learning counselling as a tool in the learning process could fil…
In Switzerland, experienced teachers can validate their competencies which they have achieved in the field of adult education. By submitting a self-assessment which is oriented along a competency profile, to the Swiss Association for Continuing Education (SVEB), the teachers demonstrate in a comprehensible way that they possess the necessary competences to teach in adult education. Experts examine the submitted self-assessments and use the competency profile as a reference standard. The experts…
This article starts from the premise that an academic discipline directed at practice has to question, within which terms its research results become useful beyond science. For empirical research, the authors put forward the idea of use-inspired basic research. This approach might be a helpful orientation due to (further) educational science’s double challenge to simultaneously prove academic productivity and practical as well as societal usefulness. By reference to points of decision regularly…
First results from the PIAAC survey, which was conducted in 25 countries, will be published in October 2013 by OECD. PIAAC collected information about adult competencies through representative data from a background questionnaire and from assessments of three competence domains. In Germany exists an additional study called "Competencies in Later Life" (CiLL), which is designed for people (aged) between 66 and 80 years. This article presents the context of the study, the process of data collecti…
