["Breathing freely" in schools--results and model approaches concerning the air quality in classrooms]. / "Aufatmen in Schulen"--Untersuchungsergebnisse und Modellierungsansätze zur Raumluftqualität in Schulen.

Seven schools in Lower Saxony participated in a scientific re-search project measuring the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), indoor air temperatures and the relative air humidity in naturally ventilated classrooms on 58 days during the period of one year. The results are as follows: The hygienic reference value of 1500 ppm CO2 (in accordance with the official German regulation DIN 1946-2) was exceeded on 7 days in summer when measurements were taken (32% of all samples in summer) and on 32 days in winter (89% of all samples in winter). The mean CO2-concentration was 1316 ppm, 766 ppm and 1652 ppm in all samples (58 measuring days), summer samples (22 measuring days) and winter samples (36 measuring days), respectively. The mean indoor air temperature was 21.7 degrees C, 22.9 degrees C and 20.9 degrees C. The mean relative humidity was 50.7%, 54.3% and 48.5%. The mean number of persons per classroom (including the teacher) was 25.1, corresponding to a mean volume of 8.5 m3 for each person and a mean area of 2.9 m2 per person. A statistical association of CO2 concentration with season, outdoor temperature and the age of the windows was found. A software programme has been developed for calculating the concentration of CO2 depending on the number of persons and the ventilation rate in a classroom. A 3-level scheme based on CO2 concentration was developed to assess the air quality. The results showed that the classrooms were not ventilated regularly but depending on the outdoor temperature and the season. Deficits concerning all 3 parameters were found. It is very likely that the deficits are not limited to the schools participating in this project. Ventilation and indoor climate deficits might cause health problems and therefore lead to costly measurement programmes. To enable schools to take their own health-related measurements, measuring instruments were purchased which can be loaned to schools in Lower Saxony.

[Sports and motor development in rehabilitation of the disabled in the South of France - report of a study visit (author's transl)]. / Sport und motorische Fördermassnahmen in der Rehabilitation Behinderter in Südfrankreich. Bericht über eine Studienfahrt.

Within the framework of a study visit conducted to prepare for a German-French student exchange programme, various schools for the disabled as well as medical and vocational rehabilitation facilities had been visited, located in the vicinity of Toulouse and Auch in the South of France. Our interest focussed on programmes for motor development and stimulaton. Although the provision of physical education in not stipulated in the educational curricula, and notwithstanding a rather unfavourable general situation, promising beginnings have been noted. With the exception of leisure-time activities motor development is ignored in the vocational training facilities, while the clinics are limited to therapeutic activities. Model character can be attributed to the efforts undertaken by the YMCA in cooperation with the sports institute of Toulouse University (U.E.R.E.P.S.), aimed at comprehensive development and stimulation of the disabled within the YMCA-operated sheltered workshops which provide manifold opportunities for sports activities along various organisational patterns. Where coordination of activities exists among the facilities, it does not include the areas of physical education and sports. Even more so than in the Federal Republic of Germany, insight into the need for systematic development of the disabled through physical exercise seems to be lacking.

[Problem-based learning (POL) in environmental medicine]. / Problemorientiertes Lernen (POL) in der Umweltmedizin.

"Environmental medicine" is a new sub-discipline in the spectrum of medical specialization in Germany. The Berlin Academy of Occupational Medicine and Health Protection, now a branch of the Berlin Chamber of Physicians, developed a 200-lesson curriculum for physicians who want to specialize in this field. Coincidentally during the initial courses, the attendants were already highly qualified ("Facharzt"-level) and experts in various occupational fields, and hence the composition of the classes was highly heterogeneous on the levels of practical experience as well as theoretical knowledge. The Academy therefore decided to change the teaching method to Problem-Oriented Learning (POL). This required training tutors for small learning groups, supervision for these tutors and supplying adequate teaching materials and a stimulating environment for the student. The "Arbeitsgruppe Reformstudiengang Medizin" (Medicine Curriculum Reform Project) at the Berlin Humboldt University as well as the Dutch Rijksuniversiteit Limburg in Maastricht helped in the process of conceptualization. Participants worked in groups of up to 8 persons under non-directive tutors. A new "case" was presented every day, and the students developed individual learning goals according to the Seven Steps-method, which were then researched individually and with the help of outside experts. The findings were reported back and discussed in the group. Initially there was irritation, but after two or three days participants got used to not being lectured. Instead of being passive recipients of expert knowledge they felt that the POL method of learning enhanced their competence to act independently.