How does expertise influence the perception of representational and abstract paintings? We asked 20 experts on art history and 20 laypersons to explore and evaluate a series of paintings ranging in style from representational to abstract in five categories. We compared subjective esthetic judgments and emotional evaluations, gaze patterns, and electrodermal reactivity between the two groups of participants. The level of abstraction affected esthetic judgments and emotional valence ratings of the laypersons but had no effect on the opinions of the experts: the laypersons’ esthetic and emotional ratings were highest for representational paintings and lowest for abstract paintings, whereas the opinions of the experts were independent of the abstraction level. The gaze patterns of both groups changed as the level of abstraction increased: the number of fixations and the length of the scanpaths increased while the duration of the fixations decreased. The viewing strategies – reflected in the target, location, and path of the fixations – however indicated that experts and laypersons paid attention to different aspects of the paintings. The electrodermal reactivity did not vary according to the level of abstraction in either group but expertise was reflected in weaker responses, compared with laypersons, to information received about the paintings.

Although generic skills have received widespread attention from both policymakers and educationalists, little is known regarding how students acquire these skills, or how they should best be taught. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify what kinds of pedagogical practices are behind the learning of eight particular generic skills. The data were collected from university students (N = 163, n = 123) via Internet questionnaires. The findings from regression analyses showed that teaching practices involving collaboration and interaction as well as features of a constructivist learning environment and integrative pedagogy predicted the learning of generic skillssuch as decision-making skills, different forms of creativity, and problem-solving skills. In contrast, the traditional forms of university teachingsuch as reading, lecturing, and working alonewere negatively associated to learning generic skills. Overall, this study offers detailed information about the pedagogical practices that nurture learning generic skills in university contexts.

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Developing Social Competence and Other Generic Skills in Teacher Education: Applying the Model of Integrative Pedagogy AbstractThe purpose of the study was to examine how social competence and other generic skills can be developed in teacher education by using a pedagogical model calledIntegrative Pedagogy. This model is based on the idea of integrating the four basic components of expertise: Theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge, self-regulative knowledge, and socio-cultural knowledge. The subjects of the study were 95 student teachers. The data were collected with questionnaires. In addition to social skills, the student teachers reported learning of domain-specific skills, generic academic skills, skills for acting creatively in different situations, and development of independence.We conclude that the model of Integrative Pedagogy is feasible in teacher education.