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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 information on the test takers' stress coping competence can help to identify individual deficits and supportive needs and thus, to design training measures that may contribute to job retention and a skilled workforce. This article describes the development and validation of a digital assessment that ensures authenticity by means of video-based situational judgement tests. Analyses of the performance data were conducted in four steps: (1) the scaling of the data with a partial credit model in order to identify items that are subject to measurement error, (2) differential-item-function analyses for different specializations in nursing education, (3) dimensionality tests, and (4) correlations between test performance and perceived psychological work stress in order to gauge criterion validity. The total sample consisted of n = 300 German nursing apprentices. The results show that the developed test instrument can be used for a reliable and valid measurement of coping skills of (prospective) nurses, covering two essential dimensions. Limitations of the current study and related objectives of future research are discussed together with questions of practical applicability.

A critical limiting factor for adaptive teaching is the availability of diagnostic tools that allow reliable and valid assessments of students' domain-specific skills in a way that produces detailed information for planning subsequent instructional strategies. The present study demonstrates how Cognitive Diagnosis Models (CDM) can deliver fine-grained diagnostic information on students' skills in dealing with domain-specific tasks, using introductory accounting as an exemplary field of application. Based on data from a sample of 773 students from secondary business schools in Austria, statistical analyses that incorporated several criteria for evaluating model fit corroborate theoretical assumptions on distinct skills as "multiple" dimensions of accounting competence. Moreover, they illustrate that CDMs allow not only to quantify the shares of students who have mastered or still lack each accounting skill but also to identify "individual skill profiles," which can serve as reliable classification criteria to distinguish homogeneous or heterogeneous ability groups among the learners. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of different diagnostic information obtained from CDM outputs for generic strategies of adaptive teaching, again with an illustrative focus on introductory accounting instruction.

The identification of effects of vocational education and training conditions on competence development in nursing education requires longitudinal studies. An important precondition is the availability of a test of nursing competence which is economical in use, measures a homogeneous construct throughout years of nursing education and across nursing specializations, and can detect increases in the required competence, hence allowing for sensitive testing. This article describes a cross-sectional study that aimed to optimize a computer-based test measuring nursing competence in care for the elderly--the TEMA test--through the selection of items on the basis of measurement error, differential item functioning, and item difficulty. Evidence of the test sensitivity of the optimized TEMA-L instrument is presented for the second and third year of nursing education. The total sample consisted of n = 133 German nursing students from clinical and geriatric nursing. The resulting instrument includes two test booklets consisting of 36 (WLE = 0.72) and 35 items (WLE = 0.70) respectively for the second and third year of training. The cross-sectional data indicate that the test likely has good properties for sensitive testing of nursing competence in a future longitudinal study. Hence, it might be used to study factors contributing to increases in nursing competence in German VET and serve as an example for similar studies in other countries. Limitations of the current study and related subjects of future research are discussed.

Addressing heterogeneity in the classroom by adapting instruction to learners' needs challenges teachers in their daily work. To provide adaptive instruction in the most flexible way, teachers face the problem of assessing students' individual characteristics (learning prerequisites and learning needs) and situational states (learning experiences and learning progress) along with the characteristics of the learning environment. To support teachers in gathering and processing such multidimensional diagnostic information in class, we have developed a client-server based software prototype running on mobile devices: the Teachers' Diagnostic Support System. Following the generic educational design research process, we (1) delineate theoretical implications for system requirements drawn from a literature review, (2) describe the systems' design and technical development and (3) report the results of a usability study. We broaden our theoretical understanding of heterogeneity within school classes and establish a basis for technological interventions to improve diagnostic accuracy in adaptive instructional strategies.

Although research generally attests to the beneficial role of transformational leadership (TL) for school effectiveness, little empirical work has distinguished individual- from group-focused dimensions of TL and analysed their relationships with target variables at the individual and group level of followers simultaneously. Using a dual effects model of TL, the present study aims to fill this gap. It examines the dimensional structure of principals' TL behaviours and their prognostic value for teachers' self- and group-referential efficacy beliefs. Additionally, contextual dependencies of leadership effects are considered through the moderating role of a principal's span of control. Based on questionnaire data of 1,702 teachers in 118 Swiss schools, doubly latent ML-SEMs specify moderated dual effects of TL on both teacher and school levels of analysis. Results convey empirically separable latent sub-dimensions of TL (individual-/group-focused), which (a) characterise systematic differences in the leadership behaviours of the investigated principals and (b) substantially predict variations in the mean-levels of both teacher and collective efficacy between their respective schools. TL-collective efficacy relations are stronger in close leadership situations (low span of control) than in distant ones.

Purpose: Concepts of values-based leadership posit that school principals' professional practice must be informed by values to ensure coherently purposeful activities. Contingency models stress the contextual dependency of professional practice and the need to match activities to local opportunities and constraints. The purpose of this paper is to reconcile both positions from an integrative perspective and to illustrate examples of "values-based contingency leadership" (Day et al., 2001). Design/methodology/approach: Analyses draw on survey data from 56 German schools in order to relate professional values stated by the principals as well as organizational features of their schools to teacher ratings on leadership behaviour (n = 910). Instead of scrutinizing singular variables in isolation, a typological approach serves to identify value profiles as well as organizational configurations. Analyses of variance are applied to examine the combined effects of both factors on leadership behaviour. Findings: Interactional effects in the sample indicate that contextual influences are not homogenous across differing value profiles of principals who operate under equal conditions. Descriptive patterns of leadership behaviour within each organizational configuration reveal how principals accentuate leadership activities according to their value profile. Research limitations/implications: Due to the low statistical power of the small sample, findings are clearly exploratory in nature. However, replication and extension studies seem fruitful, as effect sizes of value-context interactions are consistent with theoretical assumptions and not artificially inflated by common-source variance. Originality/value: This paper elaborates and exemplifies the moderating role of values in contextual influences on leadership behaviour. It also provides deeper insights into the content and structure of professional values advocated by school principals.

Contemporary office work is becoming increasingly challenging as many routine tasks are automated or outsourced. The remaining problem solving activities may also offer potential for lifelong learning in the workplace. In this study, we analyzed problem solving in an office work setting using an Internet-based, semi-standardized diary to collect data close to the process. Thirteen employees in commercial departments of an automotive supplier participated voluntarily; they recorded 64 domain-specific problem cases in total. Typical problems were moderately complex but rather urgent. They were detected by means of monitoring, augmented feedback or feedback from others. The problems detected provoked states of high arousal, including both negative and positive emotions. We found that seeking support from others was the most common approach to problem solving, and that in general problem solving offered considerable learning possibilities. Experts were confronted with more complex problems than novices, they more often solved problems using their domain-specific knowledge, but they also preferred social support. Surprisingly, experts reported higher negative emotional states after having detected a problem than novices. The results, the diary method and the limitations of the study are discussed.