bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Integrated Technique of Attention Improvement in Young Badminton Players (8-10 Years Old)
Authors:   Ural Federal University, Klementev Andrey , Galysheva Svetlana ,   Ural Federal University
Published: July 2021

One of the critical aspects of athletes’ fitness for effective competitive performance is the development of special cognitive qualities, in particular attention deficits. The development and enhancement of attention is important for increasing the effectiveness of sporting activities, and above all as a tool for controlling what happens when playing sports. However, original techniques of attention improvement in children are, to date, insufficient. The age of 8-10 is known to be a sensitive period for attention development. In our opinion, these are all strong arguments for developing a comprehensive methodology for developing young badminton players’ attention. During the pedagogical experiment, standard tests were used: the application of Gorbov’s tables, ‘Pyramid-tunnel’, the application of a Correction table; pedagogical observation and mathematical processing of the results using Microsoft Office Excel 2007. The credibility of disparities was calculated against Student’s criteria at significance level р . 0.05. The main constituents of attention for being successful in badminton are the scope, capability for shifting and keeping focus. The proposed integrated technique of attention improvement in young badminton players at the age of 8-10 caused a substantial improvement of sports achievements in the test group compared to the reference group. This shows that our methodology has a positive trend in the development of attention functions and is effective for young athletes.
Health Surveillance in Female Students Practicing Martial Arts
Authors:   Liberal Arts University – University for Humanities, Kuchumov Dmitry , Yamaletdinova Galina ,   Liberal Arts University – University for Humanities, Ural Federal University
Published: July 2021

In the modern world, health is ranked among the most significant human life values at any age. Young students are in a period of social and physiological maturity and are at high risk of health problems. Therefore, this article examines the matter of health preservation and improvement in female students in the course of their physical education at higher education facilities. The main goal is to investigate trends in health indicators of female students in the process of educational and training sessions in Kudo (full-contact hand-to-hand combat). We planned to highlight that martial arts are a powerful tool of physical education that has an impact on improving physical fitness and health levels, and that full-contact martial arts classes help to develop the ability to manage one’s lifestyle. The main methods of research were the theoretical and comparative analysis of scientific and methodological literature on physical education and sport, the study and synthesis of teaching experience, self-observation, physical health testing, pedagogical experiment, methods of mathematical statistics. At the end of the formative experiment, improvements were found in all physical condition indicators for female students in both groups. However, the results in the experimental group were substantially higher than in the reference group. The improvement rate was within the range of 19.21 to 126.09% and 6.24 to 40.63%, respectively. Thus, the results obtained confirm the positive impact of training sessions for female students engaged in martial arts on their health status.
Use of Speech Exercises at Correction of Rigidity Level in Students
Authors:   Moscow City Pedagogical University, Pushkina Valentina , Razmahova Svetlana ,   Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Borisovets Dilbar ,   Moscow City Pedagogical University, Gernet Irina ,   Moscow City Pedagogical University, Shirokova Tatyana ,   Moscow City Pedagogical University
Published: July 2021

To date, the guiding values of the domestic educational system have been changed. Knowledge and skills have been substituted with competences i.e., the ability to perform any work in an efficient and the cheapest manner. A practice-oriented approach has come to the forefront, requiring changes in teaching methods and technology. Therefore, active and interactive forms of education have taken a significant place in the educational process. By organising the learning process in this way, personal features of students, plasticity and flexibility of mental formations play an important role. In the course of intercommunication, the improvisation method is often employed, therefore such a personal trait as rigidity can badly hamper intercommunication. The methods embraced under the study were as follows: questionnaires to discover student personality characteristics, the analysis of scientific and research publications on the subject topic. To alleviate rigidity, speech exercises to develop speech skills and enunciation were used. The students’ rigidity was assessed prior to and following the Effective Engagement Techniques class, which included 36 hours of classroom work. The study demonstrated that the use of speech training exercises in the teaching process significantly reduced the level of rigidity in students: the number of students with high levels of rigidity decreased by 19 %, the group of students with medium levels of rigidity decreased by 6 %, and the group with low levels of rigidity increased by 25 %. The changes in young people’s personal characteristics will enable them to alter their actions more effectively and to adapt to the changing external environment.
Privacy Right as A Personal Value in an Information Society
Authors:   Ural Federal University, Rezer Tatiana
Published: July 2021

The relevance of the topic is that the continuous and rapid increase in the role and volume of information in human life leads to the need to develop ways of protecting private information as a subject of personal property and personal value. Privacy is a natural human right and is enshrined in the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms, as well as in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The regulation of the right to privacy is enshrined in the Russian Civil and Criminal Codes, which provide for legal liability for violations of this right. However, with regulations in place, the human element remains and often leads to leaks of private information, which destroys the personal value of the right. The article examines the concept of the right to privacy, its importance in the information society and human life, and the ways in which it can be protected. The aim of the study is to identify ways of protecting and complementing the right to privacy in the information society. The comparative legal analysis method allowed us to identify the mechanisms for the legal protection of the right to privacy. The case-analysis method enabled us to analyse Yandex’s data breach situation, while the content analysis method allowed us to make recommendations for protecting personal data. Main conclusions: the right to privacy as a personal value in the information society has not been sufficiently addressed in the scientific literature; self-protection as well as raising human legal awareness of information technology can be used as mechanisms to protect privacy.
PENGARUH DUKUNGAN ORGANISASI DAN KEJELASAN TUGAS SERTA LINGKUNGAN KERJA TERHADAP MOTIVASI DAN PROFESIONAL KERJA PERAWAT DI RSUD JARAGA SASAMEH BUNTOK
Authors: Yudith Dwi Angela
Published: July 2021

Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh Dukungan Organisasi, Kejelasan Tugas, Lingkungan Kerja terhadap Motivasi Kerja Perawat dan Profesional Kerja juga untuk menganalisa pengaruh Motivasi Kerja terhadap Profesional Kerja Perawat di RSUD Jaraga Sasameh Buntok. Model path analysis digunakan untuk menganalisis pola hubungan antar variabel dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh langsung dan pengaruh tidak langsung seperangkat variabel bebas (eksogen) terhadap variabel terikat (endogen). Model path analysis yang dibicarakan adalah pola hubungan sebab akibat atau “a set of hypothesized causal asymmetric relation among the variables”.

Kata Kunci : Dukungan Organisasi, Kejelasan Tugas; Lingkungan Kerja; Motivasi dan Profesional  Kerja.

 

Abstract: This study aims to analyze the influence of organizational support, clarity of tasks, work environment on employee motivation and work professionalism as well as to analyze the effect of work motivation on professional work employees of RSUD Jaraga Sasameh Buntok. The path analysis model is used to analyze the pattern of relationships between variables in order to determine the direct and indirect effect of a set of independent (exogenous) variables on the dependent variable (endogenous). The path analysis model discussed is a pattern of causal relationships or "a set of hypothesized causal asymmetric relations among the variables".

Keywords: Organizational Support, Clarity of Tasks; Work environment; Motivation and professional.
Implementasi Pendekatan Saintifik pada Pembelajaran Daring Selama Masa Pandemi Covid-19 di Lembaga Pendidikan Dasar
Authors: Izzuddin Ahmad
Published: July 2021

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is felt at all levels of education, from elementary to higher education. The existence of this pandemic has become a challenge for educators to innovate in developing and implementing lesson plans that have been prepared previously. One of the learning approaches used is the scientific approach. This approach trains students to learn with the scientific method through the process of observing, asking questions, gathering information, experimenting, associating and communicating the material they are learning. This is where the ability of a teacher is required to be creative in integrating the steps of the scientific approach with online methods. During the past year, the implementation of a scientific approach in online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has been carried out in basic education institutions with quite good results. Some of the advantages of the scientific approach using online learning include (1) the dependence of students on educators is slightly reduced because learning is carried out more at home through the network (online) (2) the flexibility of time and place to take the steps of the scientific approach to be a separate experience for students (3 ) train students to use learning technology from an early age. The weaknesses of online learning include (1) internet signal/connection is not very stable (2) teacher and student interactions cannot interact directly (3) still lack of facilities and infrastructure in the implementation of online learning (4) inadequate parental supervision This causes students to often lose focus in learning.
Pengaruh Keterampilan Mengajar dan Kedisiplinan Guru dalam Proses Belajar Mengajar
Authors: Watoni M. Saipul , Qusyairi Lalu A. Hery
Published: July 2021

This research is entitled "The Influence of Teaching Skills and Teacher Discipline in the Teaching and Learning Process on Student Achievement in Social Studies Subjects for the 2020/2021 Academic Year". The aim of this research is to find out how much influence teaching skills and teacher discipline in the teaching and learning process (PBM) have on student achievement in social studies subjects. The approach used in this research is a quantitative approach with the type of survey research. The population used as subjects in this study were all Social Studies students of class VIII consisting of three classes at MTs NW Selebung for the academic year 2020/2021. In this study, the technique used in sampling is a random sampling technique with the class as the sample unit so that all students are studied randomly by providing equal opportunities to all members of the population, the minimum sample size is 50.98 so 51 students will be taken  from class VIII MTs NW Selebung. The main data collection technique in this research is to use a closed questionnaire given to all students who are the research sample, there are two types of questionnaires used in collecting data in this study, namely a questionnaire about teaching skills and teacher discipline which will be filled out by students. For data analysis techniques used Pearson product moment analysis techniques, t-test (t-test) and multiple correlation. Based on the results of the calculations obtained coefficient t count of 5.75 with a contribution of 31.58% for teacher teaching skills, t count of 4 .42 with a contribution of 23.43% for teacher discipline, t count of 9.33 with a contribution of 27.98% for teaching skills and teacher discipline, with a significance level of 5%, dk = 51 obtained t table of 4.08 means that t count t table, thus there is a significant influence on teacher teaching skills, teacher discipline as well as teaching skills and teacher discipline together in the teaching and learning process in social studies subjects at MTs NW Selebung for the academic year 2020/2021.
Opciones de política económica 1979-1982
Authors: Rizzo Sócrates , Solís Leopoldo
Published: July 2021

Perspectivas de crecimiento de la economía mexicana 1979-1982
RF-Heartbeat: Robust and Contactless Heartbeat Monitoring Based on FMCW Radar
Authors: Pu Jian , Zhang Hao
Published: July 2021

We propose RF-Heartbeat, a robust heartbeat monitoring system based on FMCW radar, enabling accurate inter-beat interval (IBI) estimation. Dynamic programming is implemented to
improve the robustness of the template matching algorithm.
Template matching requires a high similarity of heartbeat shape
and suffers from shape variation of heartbeat signal obtained
by radar. With heartbeat signal, generated template, and heart
rate variability (HRV) prior knowledge, global optimal heart
segmentation can be achieved to solve this problem. In addition,
an optimal range bin selection algorithm is proposed. Therefore,
when the user is in different positions and postures, RF-Heartbeat
can always obtain high-quality heartbeat signals.
Bridging Reinforcement Learning and Iterative Learning Control: Autonomous Reference Tracking for Unknown, Nonlinear Dynamics
Authors: Meindl Michael , Lehmann Dustin , Seel Thomas
Published: July 2021

This work addresses the problem of reference tracking in autonomously learning agents with unknown, nonlinear dynamics. Existing solutions require model information or extensive parameter tuning, and have rarely been validated in real-world experiments. We propose a learning control scheme that learns to approximate the unknown dynamics by a Gaussian Process (GP), which is used to optimize and apply a feedforward control input on each trial. Unlike existing approaches, the proposed method neither requires knowledge of the system states and their dynamics nor knowledge of an effective feedback control structure. All algorithm parameters are chosen automatically, i.e. the learning method works plug and play. The proposed method is validated in extensive simulations and real-world experiments. In contrast to most existing work, we study learning dynamics for more than one motion task as well as the robustness of performance across a large range of learning parameters. The method’s plug and play applicability is demonstrated by experiments with a balancing robot, in which the proposed method rapidly learns to track the desired output. Due to its model-agnostic and plug and play properties, the proposed method is expected to have high potential for application to a large class of reference tracking problems in systems with unknown, nonlinear dynamics.
Effect of Fallowed and Cultivated Land Use Systems on the Composition and Abundance of Soil Macroinvertebrates Assemblage in Uruk Osung Community, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
Authors: Akpan A. U. , Chukwu M. N. , Esenowo I. K. , Johnson M. , Archibong D. E.
Published: July 2021

This study was to assess the effect of fallowed and cultivated land-use systems on the abundance of soil macroinvertebrates assemblage. Collections of soil samples were carried out fortnightly twice a month for four months. The extraction of soil macroinvertebrates was carried out using Berlese-Tullgren funnel extractor, and elutriation technique. The mean values of 6.93+/-0.25 were recorded for pH, 32.08+/-0.52oC for temperature, 15.60+/-1.22 for moisture content, were recorded for fallowed soil, and 4.43+/-0.16 (pH), 30.95+/-0.19oC (temperature) were recorded for cultivated soil. A total of 17 soil macroinvertebrates species comprising of 11 orders, from four classes were encountered. Out of the 517 individual soil macroinvertebrates encountered, 327 individuals representing four classes were present in the fallow land while 190 individuals representing three classes were present in the cultivated land. The most dominant species in terms of abundance in the fallowed land site included; Cryptotermes sp 67(20.49%) > Blatta sp 56(17.12%) with Hogna sp 1(0.0.30%) the least; while Cryptotermes sp. 79(41.58%) >Lasius sp 30(15.79%) > Lumbricus terrestris 21(11.05%) represents the dominant species in the cultivated soil with Paraponera sp 1(0.53%) the least. Soil temperature showed positive correlation with the abundance of Clitellata (r = 0.851; p < 0.05) and Insecta (r = 0.826; p < 0.05) and Soil pH showed positive correlation with the abundance of Diplopoda (r = 0.911; p ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, it could be deduced from the study that human activities in the cultivated site perturb soil macroinvertebrates community structure which is reflected in the relative abundance of soil macroinvertebrate from the two sampling sites. The results obtained in this study could be a piece of pointing information for the conservation and management of the soil macroinvertebrates giving their functions in balancing agroecosystems.
Bio-monitoring of Environmental Toxicants using West African Dwarf Goats at Amawzari Mbano, Imo State, Nigeria
Authors: Ogbonna P. C. , Dikeogu E. C. , Nwankwo O. U. , Kanu K. C. , Osuagwu E. C.
Published: July 2021

Several health risks have been linked to exposure to environmental toxicants in food consume by man. This study aimed to determine the level of environmental toxicants in goats tended by rural farmers. Fur and blood samples were carefully collected from sixteen (16) goats in open range husbandry (ex situ) at four sites in Amawzari, Imo State, Nigeria. The samples were digested and analyzed separately to determine the concentrations of some environmental toxicants (heavy metals). The concentrations of Pb, Cr, Cd and Ni in blood were 0.01 to 0.05, 0.01 to 0.07, 0.00 to 0.01 and 0.05 to 0.12 mg/kg, while their concentration in fur were 0.02 to 0.03, 0.001 to 0.006, 0.00 to 0.00, and 0.04 to 0.05 mg/kg, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis show very strong positive relationship between Pb in blood and Pb in fur (r = 0.855, p < 0.01) and Ni in blood and Ni in fur (r = 0.811, p < 0.01). The order of abundance of the four heavy metals tested in goat fur and blood is Ni > Cr > Pb > Cd. Based on our findings, the concentrations of heavy metals in blood were higher than its corresponding values in fur. Thus, consumption of meat processed from these metal-contaminated goats and utilization of their blood to manufacture blood meal for pigs and poultry birds will result to bio-magnification of heavy metals in man and animals. Therefore, we recommend that rural farmers should be enlightened on health challenges associated with in situ form of animal husbandry.
THE BASIS FOR A LEARNING VIEW – EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND PRACTICE
Authors:   Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of Computer science, Electrical engineering and Mathematical sciences (Norway), Sande Joar
Published: July 2021

This article tells about my own experiences as a student and professor in technical education in Norway and USA in the 1980s and 90s, and economic education in Norway the academic year 2000-01. In technical education in Norway in the 1980s it was not necessary to put that much effort into your studies get a good grade. In the United States, on the other hand, students had two work hard to keep up to get good results. Norwegian higher education, however, has become more like American higher education after the Bologna process. A fresh university professor is nothing more than an advanced student, in the beginning one sticks to the textbook, and any deviation from the plan can cause light panic. As time goes by, the professor gains experience and growing self-confidence, and can start to experiment. My journey in teaching control engineering ended up with flipped classroom, based upon sociocultural learning, where both students and professors participate with the knowledge they have. Learning happens best if people interact and construct new knowledge together. The participants in the learning environment extend their closest (proximal) development zone by collaborating with others.
DESIGNING TEACHERS’ TRAINING ON ADOPTING OERS IN THEIR TEACHING
Authors:   SMILE lab, University of Macedonia (Greece), Perifanou Maria , Economides Anastasios A. ,   SMILE lab, University of Macedonia (Greece)
Published: July 2021

During the covid-19, it became apparent the imperative need for openly available digital educational resources to be used in education which has been shifted to Online Remote Teaching and Learning. It is important for teachers to be able to utilize Open Educational Resources (OERs) in education. This paper develops a framework for designing Teachers’ Training programmes on how to integrate OERs in the teaching practice. The framework consists from six modules: 1) Introduction to OERs, 2) Exploring & Evaluating existing OERs, 3) Using OERs, 4) Communicating & Sharing OERs, 5) developing OERs, and 6) Open Educational Practices (OEPs). The paper also defines OERs & OEPs competence. Finally, educational policy authorities may use this framework to design training programmes for teachers on how to integrate OERs in their teaching.
LIFE SCIENCES TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING, PERCEPTIONS AND ADOPTION OF INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE EDUCATION IN SELECTED SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH SCHOOLS
Authors:   Science Education, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), Kazeni Monde , Mkhwanazi Nosipho ,   Science Education, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)
Published: July 2021

In recent years, Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) has emerged as one of the most effective and beneficial science teaching practices for developing science concepts in learners and for motivating them in the study of science subjects. IBSE is a pedagogical practice that allows learners to develop key scientific ideas and to understand the natural world, using skills employed by scientists. Like most science school curricula around the world, the South African life sciences national curriculum (referred to as Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement - CAPS), advocates for the adoption of IBSE. Despite the growing consensus about the cognitive and motivational benefits of IBSE, this pedagogical approach is seldom implemented by life science teachers, due to various factors. This qualitative research, involving a case study, explored the knowledge, perceptions, and adoption of IBSE by four life sciences high school teachers, conveniently selected from public schools around Johannesburg, in South Africa. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, and the findings show that participating teachers have substantial knowledge and positive perceptions of IBSE. However, they are less inclined to adopting IBSE in their life science classrooms due to inhibiting factors. We recommend the training of life sciences teachers in effective way of abating the constraints of implementing IBSE effectively.
LIFE SCIENCES TEACHERS’ CONCEPTIONS ABOUT SOCIOSCIENTIFIC ISSUES IN THE TOPIC EVOLUTION
Authors:   Department of Science and Technology Education, University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Relela Mokgadi , Mavuru Lydia ,   Department of Science and Technology Education, University of Johannesburg (South Africa)
Published: July 2021

The goal of science education is emphatically positioned on promoting science literacy. The rationale is learners should not only learn about scientific knowledge and processes but also on how to apply the knowledge when making decisions about heterogenous societal and personal issues. Previous research has indicated that by addressing socioscientific issues (SSIs) when teaching controversial science topics, it provides a suitable context for developing scientific literacy in learners. Scientifically literate learners are well-informed citizens with regards to the social, ethical, economic, and political issues impacting on contemporary society. The theory of evolution is one such Life Sciences topic deeply embedded with SSIs. Teachers are conflicted when teaching this topic due to the controversy surrounding the theory as they view the teaching of evolution as a way of negating the legitimacy of their religious and cultural convictions. It is against this background that the study sought to answer the research question: How do Life Sciences teachers conceptualise socioscientific issues embedded in the topic evolution? In an explanatory mixed method approach, a questionnaire with both quantitative and qualitative questions was administered to 28 randomly selected grade 12 Life Sciences teachers. Data was analysed and descriptive statistics were obtained, and themes generated. The findings showed that all the participants were knowledgeable about the SSIs embedded in the topic evolution. In justifying their conceptions 61% of the teachers perceived SSIs as important in improving learners’ reasoning and argumentative skills; developing learners’ critical thinking skills; and in informing learners in decision making. There were however 11% of the teachers who pointed out that SSIs as too sensitive to deal with hence not suitable to teach young learners. Though the teachers were knowledgeable about the SSIs embedded in the theory of evolution, it does not mean that they could address them when teaching the various concepts of evolution. The main source of the controversy rose from the evolution of humankind versus the Christian belief in the six-day special creation. The participants (25%) indicated that evolution challenges peoples’ religious and cultural convictions, which conflicts both the teachers and learners to question or go against their religious beliefs. Several teachers pointed out that some of the concepts on evolution such as ‘living organisms share common ancestry (18%) and ‘the formation of new species from existing species’ (11%), undermine the superiority of human beings over other organisms. The findings have implications for both pre-and in-service teacher professional development.
SPREADSHEETS AND LATEX – A PERFECT UNION FOR THE CREATION OF TESTBANKS FOR ONLINE ASSESSMENT
Authors:   College of Information Technology, United Arab Emirates University (United Arab Emirates), Beg Azam , Khan Manzoor Ahmed ,   College of Information Technology, United Arab Emirates University (United Arab Emirates), Sandhu Maqsood ,   College of Business & Economics, United Arab Emirates University (United Arab Emirates)
Published: July 2021

The current COVID-19 pandemic forced an instant shift in teaching from the traditional classrooms to an online format. While it was relatively easy to switch the teaching to online mode, the assessment process presents bigger challenges. Specifically, the assessment quality is compromised because during an online test, most students are able to seek help from their fellow test-takers as well as from different online sources. One way of discouraging the students’ tendency to share the answers among themselves is to inform them they will be given different questions than their peers. In this paper, we propose to use spreadsheets to create test questions in Latex format, thus making it easy to present each student with a ‘unique’ question-set during a test. The uniqueness of the testbank questions comes from randomly generated variable values in numerical questions. The spreadsheet also produces the answers to the questions to help automate the grading process. Such testbanks are suitable not only for normally sized courses, but also for the larger massive open online courses. We have successfully used such testbanks for multiple courses in our university’s Computer Engineering program. Originally, we had used the testbanks for in-class assessment. After the classes shifted online, we ported the testbanks to our learning management system to enable online assessment.
USING EVERYDAY LANGUAGE TO SUPPORT LEARNERS’ ACCESS TO MATHEMATICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
Authors:   Department of Childhood Education, University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Libusha Azwidowi Emmanuel
Published: July 2021

The language of mathematics can hinder the development of some learners’ conceptual understanding of mathematics. Language as a whole plays a crucial role in the teaching and learning of mathematics as it serves as the medium in which the teachers and learners think and communicate in the classroom. Ball, Thames and Phelps (2008) argue that the demands of teaching mathematics require specialized mathematical knowledge that only pertains to mathematics teaching and is not required in other mathematics professions. The role of the teacher is to use resources available to them to support learners in accessing mathematical content knowledge. Previous researchers acknowledged the difficulty learners face when trying to interpret the formal language of mathematics in order to access mathematical content knowledge. Consequently, the current study explored the various ways in which the language of learning and teaching can be utilized by teachers to mitigate language difficulties their learners may experience. The study was guided by the research question: What is the informal mathematical language that Grade 10 teachers use to inform effective instruction when teaching functions? This paper aims to describe how teachers use informal mathematical language to teach inequalities and functions. The research is qualitative and the descriptive method was employed, with the researcher serving as the main instrument. The required data was collected by observing two teachers teaching inequalities and functions. The findings indicate that the use of transliteration and demonstrations as teaching strategies reduced the challenges of using English as a medium of instruction to interpret mathematical symbolic language and that the use of everyday language makes a difference in the learning of functions and inequalities. The study informs both pre-service and in-service teacher development programmes.
PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES ADOPTED BY TEACHERS WHEN TEACHING LEARNERS TAKING ENGLISH AS FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE IN LIFE SCIENCES CLASSROOMS
Authors:   Department of Science and Technology Education, University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Seloma Portia , Ramaila Sam ,   Department of Science and Technology Education, University of Johannesburg (South Africa)
Published: July 2021

This study examined pedagogical practices adopted by teachers when teaching learners taking English as First Additional Language in Life Sciences classrooms. The inquiry adopted a generic qualitative design located within the interpretivist paradigm and involved purposively selected Life Sciences teachers and grade 10 learners from South African township schools as participants. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The empirical investigation is underpinned by the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) as the underlying theoretical framework. The study uncovered a myriad of instructional challenges facing Life Sciences teachers and learners associated with the use of English as a medium of instruction while it is taken as a First Additional Language by the learners. In particular, the terminology used in Life Sciences as a key knowledge domain posed fundamental instructional challenges in relation to meaningful development of enhanced learners’ conceptual understanding of scientific phenomena. Theoretical implications for meaningful science teaching and learning are discussed.
BUILDING BRIDGES: BRINGING NONFORMAL PEDAGOGIES INTO THE CLASSROOM
Authors:   Middlebury College (USA) // Bar-Ilan University (Israel), Wizel Maya
Published: July 2021

Education systems worldwide have long sought ways to engage and support learners to become self-directed and develop 21st-century skills. This became even more relevant—and crucial—with the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Solutions to help formal education systems establish innovative pedagogies and methods to organize learning can be found in places as unpredictable as nonformal education settings. In this study, I interviewed educators with backgrounds in nonformal education to better understand that system’s qualities and how they can be transferred into formal settings. Findings regarding practices include teachers prioritizing instructional choice (voluntarism); addressing social-emotional aspects through diverse teaching methods that emphasize students’ active learning and real-life experiences (classroom as a social group); and excelling in dialogue and teamwork to sustain solid interpersonal relationships with students and colleagues (relationships and dialogue). Educators working in nonformal settings often know they have a unique collection of difficult-to-articulate abilities. This research presents the voices of youth movement leaders in Israel, who nonformally have been doing what formal educators worldwide are trying to figure out; defines some of their skills; and explores how those skills can be applied in formal settings. This study has been published as a book in Hebrew in 2020. This paper embodies a few aspects of the study and will benefit formal education leaders and practitioners who seek to incorporate methods from nonformal pedagogies.
GREEK AND PORTUGUESE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION AND PERFORMANCE, THROUGH THE PRISM OF PISA
Authors:   Harokopio University of Athens/ PhD Candidate (Greece), Nolka Eleni , Sofianopoulou Chryssa ,   Harokopio University of Athens/ Associate Professor (Greece)
Published: July 2021

Greece and Portugal are two Southern European countries, with nearly the same population as well as a centralized educational system that follows the same vertical structure. Both countries were deeply affected by the economic crisis during the last decade. Despite being severely hit by the economic crisis, Portugal has advanced to the OECD average level in students’ mathematical performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2018), while Greece has performed below the OECD average. PISA, as one of the most influential international educational surveys, aims to evaluate educational systems and provides a valuable platform for comparisons. Portuguese students outperformed their Greek counterparts by 7 points in the first PISA 2000 and went on to widen the difference by 41 points in PISA 2018. In addition to having increased the average performance in Mathematics, Portugal has managed to reduce the percentage of low-achieving students and at the same time increase the percentage of high-achieving students. According to PISA 2018 reports, Portugal is the only member of OECD that has experienced significant improvement in mathematics performance of their students through its participation in PISA. In contrast, the performance of Greek 15-year-old students in mathematics has not improved and has remained below the OECD average since it participated in PISA. What national strategies have been set up and implemented in Portugal so as to foster student’s mathematical literacy competencies? A clear curriculum, students’ regular assessment, teachers’ training and the Action Plan for Mathematics. But despite that fact, the Mathematics performance of Greek 15-year-olds students in PISA in all cycles of PISA remains below the respective OECD average, in contrast with Portugal, that has registered a quantum leap (Crato, 2020). The main aim of this research is, through a recording of the Greek and Portuguese students’ mathematics achievements in PISA and at the same time of the Mathematics Education in both countries, through available policy documents and research reports, to comment on the current outcomes of the two educational systems and their students’ performance in Mathematics.
WOMEN FACULTY AND SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTIVITY IN LATIN AMERICAN CONTEXT: EVIDENCE FROM CHILE
Authors:   Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica (Chile), Sepúlveda-Páez Geraldy , Araneda-Guirriman Carmen ,   Facultad de Ingeniería, Depto. de Ingeniería Industrial y de Sistemas, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica (Chile)
Published: July 2021

Since the 19th century, the position of women in the context of higher education has undergone multiple changes, although their incorporation has not been a simple or homogeneous task. Currently, women face new consequential challenges of a globalized world and the notion of market education that characterizes institutions nowadays. One of the great challenges is related to the under-representation of women in senior research positions (Aiston and Fo, 2020). In this context, new standards have been established to measure the productivity, quality, and effectiveness of teachers, specifically scientific productivity has been internalized as an indicator of professional progress, the type of publication, its impact, and the citation rates today. They have special relevance, where many times achieving high scientific productivity is very complex for academics who do not access the teaching staff early (Webber and Rogers, 2018). Furthermore, it is very difficult for academic women to maintain high levels of productivity constantly both at work and home (Lipton, 2020). In this sense, the principles that encourage academic productivity increase competition among teachers and reinforce gender inequalitiestogether with a valuation of male professional life (Martínez, 2017). Indeed, the participation of women in sending articles is much lower than their male counterparts (Lerback and Hanson, 2017). Therefore, the present study aims to visualize the participation of Chilean academics in current productivity indices, based on the description of secondary data obtained from the DataCiencia and Scival platforms. The sample consists of 427 people, of which 17.3% were women, with an average of 10 publications for the year 2019. To achieve the objectives, the following strategy was developed: 1) describe and interpret the secondary data obtained during the year 2019 on each of the platforms. 2) Compare the data obtained to national averages and type of institution and gender. Based on the analyzes, the implications of female participation in the number of women observed at the national level and their position in international indicators and new lines of research are discussed.
IDENTIFYING THE EFFECTIVE TEACHER: THE CONCEPTIONS OF PRE-SERVICE ASSISTANT NURSES
Authors:   Department of Education, School of Pedagogical and Technological Education ASPETE (Greece), Kasimatis Katerina , Kontogianni Vasiliki ,   Vasiliki Kontogianni, Psychiatric Hospital of Attica (Greece), Moutsios-Rentzos Andreas ,   Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece), Rozou Varvara ,   Department of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece)
Published: July 2021

In this paper, we focus on the conceptions of effective teaching that pre-service assistant nurses hold about effective and ineffective teaching during their training in Public Vocational Training Institutes (DIEK) in Greece. We focused on three aspects of teaching effectiveness: 1) The model of Patrick and Smart (1998), who identified three groups of effective teacher characteristics includes; respect for students, ability to challenge students, organisation and presentation skills; 2) Considering the hands-on teaching experiences of pre-service assistant nurses, we explored their conceptions about teaching effectiveness in problem-based learning educational settings, based on Mayo, Donnelly, Nash and Schwartz (1993), who investigated, amongst others enthusiasm, active interaction and providing feedback. 3) The communicational aspect of teaching effectiveness, drawing upon the work of McCroskey and Richmond (1990) about socio-communicative styles, who identified two dimensions of interpersonal communication; namely assertiveness and responsiveness. All three aspects were explicitly investigated for both effective and ineffective teaching. A three-section (in line with the three-faceted conceptualisation of teaching effectiveness), 56 Likert-type items, questionnaire was completed by 125 students. Our analyses allowed us to identify which aspects of teaching characterise the effective teacher and which are present both in the effective and the ineffective teacher.
PERCEPTIONS AND PREFERENCES OF ENGLISH STUDENT TEACHERS ON THE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES
Authors:   Language and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Humanities, Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein 9300 (South Africa), Phindane Pule
Published: July 2021

Comprehending the role of assessment and the differential effects on developing students’ learning processes is still one of the most explored areas in higher education. The aim of this quantitative study is to investigate English student teachers ’perceptions and preferences on the assessment practices (i.e., formative). The participant were student teachers sampled from the Department of Social Sciences and Language Education, Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa. The outcomes showed that the assessment practices used by lecturers had an indispensable impact on students’ motivation, preparation for future learning tasks, and evaluation of study progress. The data obtained also revealed that while peer assessment is one of the least preferred assessment methods, presentations, self-assessments and research papers were the top preferences. The study outcome relates to previous research while also providing a better understanding into the link between individual differences in the assessment preferences and the learning strategies used by students throughout the years of specialization which might offer lecturers way forward for improving their educational practices.
TRANSITIONING ARCHITECTURAL PEDAGOGY INTO THE VIRTUAL ERA VIA DIGITAL LEARNING METHODS
Authors:   Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University (Canada), Estrina Tatiana , Huang Alvin ,   Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University (Canada), Hui Vincent ,   Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University (Canada), Sarmiento Kristen ,   Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University (Canada)
Published: July 2021

In an age of physical separation, a new pedagogical paradigm was established via the integration of pre-recorded videos, video conferencing, and online assessments to become hallmarks of the “new normal”. In architectural education, the hands-on learning methodologies were suddenly compromised, challenging design pedagogy to reconfigure how students integrate collaborative design, studio culture, and develop analog skills into virtual learning. This prompted the question, how can architecture be effectively taught and experimentally explored through distanced and virtual means? The recent COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted this pedagogical environment and extinguished the opportunity of accessioning collaborative facilities considering recent distancing parameters. Conducting a literature review on experiences of virtual teaching in the realm of architecture, the paper explores scenarios, surveys, and adaptations to an unprecedented full online architecture studio. The paper showcases a series of teaching modifications that prove to be useful in maintaining and improving student engagement and performance in virtual architectural pedagogy.
LET’S TALK! PROMOTING MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION THROUGH AUTHENTIC TEACHER CHILD DIALOGUE
Authors:   Kaye College of Education- Early Educational Department (Israel), Shapir Barbara , Lewin Teresa ,   Kaye College of Education- Early Educational Department (Israel), Aldinah Samar ,   Kaye College of Education- Early Educational Department (Israel)
Published: July 2021

The heart of this study is an analysis of teacher–child dialogue in a classroom environment. An authentic dialogue enables children to express their real thoughts and ideas, to present insights, to ask questions, to make comments and to argue about different interpretations. In an effort to help our future teachers improve the quality of their verbal and nonverbal interactions with children as well as emotional and social support, we created a “community of learners”. Mentors and eight students - teachers (Israeli Jews and Arabs) participated in a reciprocal process of learning through experimentation while building new knowledge. Their interactions were examined how the teachers’ verbal and nonverbal responsiveness helped them to open or close conversational spaces for children while enabling them to listen to their voices. The research methodology was a discourse analysis i.e. analyzing the use of language while carrying out an act of communication in a given context. It presents a qualitative analysis of 20 transcripts of students - teacher's conversations with Israeli Jewish and Arab children from ages 4 – 6 years old. The analysis revealed that as teachers provided open conversational spaces with children, authentic dialogue emerged. Both voices were expressed and the child’s world was heard. The significance of thisstudy isto demonstrate the importance that authentic dialogue between teachers and young children has on the learning process as well as teacher’s acknowledgment on how children think and feel. This offers an opportunity for them to learn with and from the children.
HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS’ NEED TO INITIATE CHANGE TO THE ACCOUNTING CURRICULUM DURING THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (4IR)
Authors:   Department of Languages and Social Sciences, Central University of Technology, Free State (South Africa), Peens Shaun
Published: July 2021

In South Africa, the Further Education and Training phase (FET) in Accounting faces a major decline in learner numbers. The current format of FET Accounting serves little purpose in preparing learners for Accounting courses at tertiary level, if FET Accounting is not a precondition to Professional and Chartered Accountant courses. This study followed a qualitative research approach, from five Focus Groups at five Secondary schools in the Motheo Educational district, comprising of 16 FET Accounting Teachers to consider possible reasons for the decline of learners in FET Accounting. As result, uncertainty exists regarding the future of FET Accounting and the Accounting profession, when guidance teachers are presumably advising learners to take less suitable subjects, like Mathematical Literacy, History of Geography to enhance school reports. These findings influence the social responsibility of teachers; and it also results in many Accounting students having to spend two or more additional years at university due to their apparent lack of basic Accounting skills. Additionally, the negative perception towards FET Accounting might impact learners’ choices who might not plan a career in Accounting, thereby limiting their ability to secure any career in the financial sector. Collaborative social change is required from the Accounting profession and university alike, especially in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, where a high degree of ethics and transparency are required.