ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Lisbona's Goals and Bolonian Process-Issue of Education in EU Integration
Author: Cernetic, Metod
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Needs,Altruism,Educational Objectives,Academic Achievement,Educational Change,Foreign Countries,International Cooperation,Economic Progress,Educational Quality,Educational Improvement,Faculty Mobility,Student Mobility,Foreign Students,Higher Education,Statistical Data

Lisbona's (2000) goals and strategy gave us the answers to the question how EU (European Union) can be competitive in the long term and, at the same time, preserve European model of life, that means a balance between economical, social and environmental goals. Knowledge is the focal point of development. That is the reason why many European states (and Slovenia too) strongly support the idea of construction of knowledge society which started with Lisbona's goals and BP (Bologna process). The first condition for maintenance of social sustainability and kindness towards an environment is economical growth. The successful achievement of educational objectives depends largely on the successfulness of co-ordination among all parties concerned. The educational organizations have an objective among others to improve the quality and standard of education. They play an important role in the system of education. There is, by all means, an explicit need of co-ordination with the interested organizations from the environment which is an important element of their success. In this paper, we will deal with educational organizations, whose objectives will be defined from the point of view of their organizational aims which need to be attainable, coordinated, measurable and stimulating. Further, we will deal with policy and strategy of development of the organization. We will hypothesise that the objectives of education are derived from the human need for education and that is the reason why organizations are set up to satisfy this need. A further hypothesis will be that the objectives of all participants are both internal and external, economic social (political) and psychological. We believe that individuals, organizations and state have many of these objectives in common but some of them, however, are not shared. The successfulness in satisfying the educational needs depends on the mutual co-ordination of all interested parties. The educational system is an open system where the changes happen on the levels of organization, society, culture and environment and on the level of external reform of education. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)
Conducting Assemblies in Botswana Public Schools
Author: Baamphatlha, Dinama
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Public Schools,Democracy,Religion,Foreign Countries,Religious Education,Democratic Values,State Church Separation,Educational Practices,Educational Policy,Elementary Secondary Education,Constitutional Law,Civil Rights,Freedom,Interviews,Political Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Politics of Education

In this paper, the author explored the teachers' experiences and their views regarding how assemblies are conducted in Botswana public schools. The author indicates that assemblies are a common feature in Botswana primary and secondary schools. The author adopted the Christian Privilege as the conceptual framework as espoused by Blumenfeld (2006) that the Christian religion is given an undue favor in various social institutions including schools, yet Botswana is a liberal democracy according to its constitution. The study drew on interviews from 18 in-service RE (religious education) teachers at the UB (University of Botswana)--Nine of the participants were primary school teachers, while the other nine were secondary school teachers. The sampled teachers were unhappy with worship in assemblies and were not aware of the conscience clause in the Botswana Constitution and Education Act which allows freedom to worship or not. The author concluded that collective worship is contestable since it emphasizes conformity, conversion and the promotion of the Christian religion and its values, hence making teachers uncomfortable especially those who are not Christians and those who do not practice religion. The author suggested that worship should be taken out of the school assembly and replaced by religiously neutral activities.
Validities of the Signed and Unsigned Lecture Questionnaires Using the Item Response Theory
Author: Hirose, Hideo
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Item Response Theory,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Course Evaluation,Student Attitudes,Faculty Development,College Faculty,College Students,Statistical Distributions,Validity,Foreign Countries

Teachers often raise a question that whether the lecture questionnaires are necessary or not. In this paper, we first show the recent statistical analysis for the official unsigned questionnaire evaluation results took in our faculty. We have found that: (1) the evaluation scores of lectures by students have been rising up year by year, which means that lectures have been improved; and (2) to take a look at the distribution of the evaluation scores as well as the mean value is crucial, which indicates that taking the questionnaires enhances the teaching skills of teachers. In addition to the official questionnaires, the author has been taking the Web-based signed lecture questionnaires to three mathematics subjects for more than five years. Using these stocked data, we have, next, analyzed the relationship between the signed and unsigned lecture questionnaires and found that: (1) although few unsynchronized relationships between the signed and unsigned evaluation scores are observed, the trends between them are roughly the same; and (2) detailed analysis for the questionnaires is also important to grasp the student lecture comprehension and satisfaction, via the IRT (item response theory) to investigate whether the official lecture questionnaires in the department and the Web-based signed lecture questionnaires are reliable or not; the questionnaires are reliable. (Contains 10 figures.)
Summer Entrepreneur an Activity for Stimulating Entrepreneurship among Youths: A Case Study in a Swedish County
Author: Karlsson, Hakan
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Entrepreneurship,Youth Opportunities,Youth Programs,Case Studies,Summer Programs,Research Projects,Foreign Countries,Interviews,Discourse Analysis,Observation,Questionnaires,Content Analysis,Program Attitudes,Program Descriptions,Participant Satisfaction

This paper aims to outline findings from a research project that has investigated an initiative to stimulate youths to become more entrepreneurial. The concept of summer entrepreneur has been developed in the last decade in a Swedish county. It was developed out of the idea that youths should have a possibility to run their own companies as alternative to traditional summer vacation employments. The study of the summer entrepreneur activity was conducted as a case study. The main findings showed that the concept developed as a project now needs an organization that can take the development further. It also shows that the participating youths express that they have archived the expected abilities from the activity, but any long time effects of changed attitudes towards entrepreneurship is hard to establish. (Contains 1 table and 5 footnotes.)
Using Mobile-Memo to Support Knowledge Acquisition and Posting-Question in an Mobile Learning Environment
Author: Lan, Yu-Feng
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Electronic Learning,Learning Activities,Handheld Devices,Questionnaires,Educational Technology,Multimedia Materials,Student Attitudes,Gender Differences,Computer Mediated Communication,Student Surveys,Web Sites,Discussion,Instructional Effectiveness,Constructivism (Learning),College Students,Computer Science Education

This study developed a mobile-memo system that supports the knowledge acquisition and posting-question to assist learners' learning in a ML (mobile learning) environment. To understand the effectiveness of our proposed system, the data were collected from the system logs, such as the elements of multimedia used in posting-question and a questionnaire regarding the students' learning attitude as well as satisfaction towards the use of the mobile-memo system. The experimental result showed that the mobile-memo was effective for learners to gather information in construction and reflection during the learning activities. In other words, the mobile-memo system can effectively support learners to acquire knowledge and post question relating to the learning course contents during learning activities. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)
Teachers' Involvement in Implementing the Basic Science and Technology Curriculum of the Nine-Year Basic Education
Author: Odili, John Nwanibeze
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Science Teachers,Technology Education,Science Education,Teacher Role,Teacher Participation,Principals,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary School Science,Curriculum Implementation,Educational Policy,Program Effectiveness,School Surveys,Questionnaires,Interviews,Developing Nations,Government Publications

The study investigated teachers' involvement in implementing the basic science and technology curriculum in primary schools in WSLGA (Warri South Local Government Area) of Delta State. It sought to identify the availability of the document in primary schools and teachers' knowledge of the objectives and activities specified in the curriculum. Interview and questionnaire were used to collect data from headmasters and basic science and technology teachers. The results showed that teachers are not involved in the implementation of the curriculum. This is evident from the fact that primary science teachers do not have knowledge of the curriculum in terms of the objectives and activities. Secondly, the curriculum was not available in most of the schools. (Contains 5 tables.)
Detecting a Gender-Related DIF Using Logistic Regression and Transformed Item Difficulty
Author: Abedlaziz, Nabeel
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Test Bias,Test Items,Difficulty Level,Gender Differences,Multiple Choice Tests,Mathematics Tests,Regression (Statistics),Grade 10,Foreign Countries

Test items are designed to provide information about the examinees. Difficult items are designed to be more demanding and easy items are less so. However, sometimes, test items carry with their demands other than those intended by the test developer (Scheuneman &amp; Gerritz, 1990). When personal attributes such as gender systematically affect examinee performance on an item, the result can be DIF (differential item functioning). The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in performance on multiple-choice mathematical ability test, designed to match six grade curriculums. The LR (logistic regression) method and transformed item difficulty were used to detect a gender related DIF. A random sample of 800 tenth grade students was selected. DIF analysis indicated that: (1) Females showed a statistically significant and consistent advantage over males on numerical ability, whereas men showed a consistent advantage over females on spatial ability and deductive ability; (2) The percentage of agreement between the two approaches in detecting DIF is relatively low; and (3) Gender differences in mathematics may well be linked to content. (Contains 3 tables.)
Pair Programming and LSs in Computing Education: Its Impact on Students' Performances
Author: Hui, Tie Hui
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Direct Instruction,Educational Strategies,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Cognitive Style,Formative Evaluation,Interaction,Programming,Computer Science Education,Instructional Effectiveness,Cooperative Learning,Preferences,College Students,Summative Evaluation,Comparative Analysis,Pretests Posttests,Recall (Psychology),Retention (Psychology),Learning Processes,Learning Modalities,Quasiexperimental Design

Learning to programme requires complex cognitive skills that computing students find it arduous in comprehension. PP (pair programming) is an intensive style of programme cooperation where two people working together in resolving programming scenarios. It begins to draw the interests of educators as a teaching approach to facilitate learning and improve programming performance. The approach of PP, its model, benefits and limitations as well as the LS (learning style) preference are presented in the first part of this paper. The research findings and discussion on the application of PP involving 96 first year computing students are incorporated in the second part of this paper. The participants in these two intact classes were randomly assigned either to the experimental group that received PP or to the control group that received DI (direct instruction) method only. In PP group, students worked in pairs based on the visual-verbal LS dimension and those of DI group work individually. During a seven-week treatment, both groups applied program flowcharts and pseudocode in solving programming tasks. This study used two assessment methods--the formative and summative to examine the students' programming achievements. Two programming assignments were used as a formative assessment tool, also the CPPT (computer programming performance test) as the second tool which comprises of a pre-test, an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test, was administrated to assess the students' programming recall and retention. The result findings indicated that students in PP group significantly outperformed those in DI group for both the formative and summative assessments. However, only the visual and verbal students performed significantly better in recall than the retention. The analysis on the interaction effects revealed that learning is within inner self with regard to the instructional strategies applied and LS preference in classroom environment. In this case, the effectiveness of instructional strategies adopted to foster learning somehow depends on the type of learners. Therefore, educators should reflect on individual learning abilities while applying PP to stimulate students' engagement and critical thinking skills that subsequently will have positive influence on academic performance. (Contains 4 figures and 3 tables.)
The Effect of Market-Oriented Subcultures on Post-Merger Higher Education Institutions
Author: Heidrich, Balazs
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Higher Education,Subcultures,Focus Groups,Cognitive Mapping,Educational Environment,Commercialization,Organizational Change,Consolidated Schools,Organizational Culture,Acculturation,Case Studies,Questionnaires,Administrator Attitudes,Employee Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries

Over the last decade, HEIs (higher education institutions) around the world have undergone transformation for a number of reasons, including mergers and acquisitions. The reasons for this vary from remaining competitive in an ever-increasingly competitive academic environment to being forced to do so. With deeply ingrained traditions, long tenures and substantial professional autonomy on the one hand and fragmentation, subcultures and a sense of territory and boundary on the other, the consequences of merging such cultures are significant. The BBS (Budapest Business School) has had to deal with this merging of cultures and subcultures whilst at the same time deal with a greater market-orientation as it strives to move further away from the budget-commanded regime towards a market-oriented operation. To investigate the make-up of the organisational culture of the BBS and consider its orientation, a multi-method approach was considered using the Competing Values Framework for quantitative analysis and cognitive mapping with focus groups and one-to-one interviews for a qualitative analysis. Potential difficulties are considered within this context. (Contains 2 tables, 5 figures, and 2 footnotes.)
An Effective Model to Increase Student Attitude and Achievement: Narrative Including Analogies
Author: Akkuzu, Nalan
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Student Attitudes,Achievement Tests,Chemistry,Interviews,Foreign Countries,Grade 9,Misconceptions,Attitude Change,Models,Instructional Effectiveness,Science Course Improvement Projects,Teaching Methods,Teaching Models,Science Achievement,Logical Thinking,Pretests Posttests,Attitude Measures,Scientific Attitudes

This study describes the analogical models and narratives used to introduce and teach Grade 9 chemical covalent compounds which are relatively abstract and difficult for students. We explained each model's development during the lessons and analyzed understanding students derived from these learning materials. In this context, achievement, chemistry attitude scales and semi-structured interviews were used to analyze the effectiveness of these new learning material based on narratives and models. The lesson and data were subject to independent which analyzes the following outcomes obtained: We planned to use the students' pre-knowledge wherever possible, responded the questions with narratives and extended and enriched analogies. We discussed where each analogy broke down but did not cause misconceptions. The data were drawn for two Grade 9 randomly selected as pre- and post- lesson interviews, CCAT (covalent compounds' achievement test) and CAS (chemistry attitude scale). This experimental research was conducted in the first term of 2009-2010 educational years. The EG (experimental group) was instructed through model and narrative including analogies based method with using sheets, whereas the CG (control group) was utilized by traditional teacher-centered method. The study carried out on 60 high school students in Izmir, Turkey. The differences of CG and EG tests were outlined. According to statistical analyzes of data, there was a significant difference between pre- and post- tests (p less than 0.05) of EG and CG. The results showed that EG was more successful than CG. Consequently, it was determined that students' interests and attentions may easily attract with using model and analogy assisted by a narrative. Finally, it can be said that models, analogies and narratives are great ways to illustrate teaching, training and science lessons having abstract and complex characters. (Contains 4 tables and 5 figures.)
Performance Analysis of Science Education Undergraduates: A Case Study of Biology Education Students
Author: Ochonogor, Chukunoye Enunuwe
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Developing Nations,Science Education,Case Studies,Gender Issues,Science Achievement,College Students,Preservice Teacher Education,Program Effectiveness,Biology,Grade Point Average,Followup Studies,Outcomes of Education

The problem of the study was to analyze the results of university biology education students as a case study against gender and performance and empirically determine the implications of the findings to countries, such as Nigeria, South Africa and the rest of the world. The study made use of all the 344 students in the levels from 100 to 400 of B.Sc.Ed. (Hons) (Biology Education Bachelor of Science Education (Honors)) students in the research university. The results showed that there is a significant difference in performance level among biology education undergraduates and between male and female biology education students. Qualitatively, the results showed that the female students are more in biology education as a course and also perform significantly better than the males. (Contains 4 tables.)
How to Stimulate Students' Interest in Nuclear Physics?
Author: Elbanowska-Ciemuchowska, Stefania
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Secondary School Students,Nuclear Physics,Science Instruction,Instructional Innovation,Science Interests,Student Interests,Science Activities,Classroom Techniques,Portfolios (Background Materials),Educational Games,Discussion (Teaching Technique),Student Projects,Field Trips,Motivation Techniques,Science Experiments,Lesson Plans,Radiation

Teaching nuclear physics in secondary schools offers us a unique possibility to increase our students' awareness of the influence that modern science and its achievements have on the everyday life of contemporary people. Students gain an opportunity to learn in what ways the outcome of laboratory research is put to use in such fields as medicine, technology, food conservation and the power industry. At the same time, it is a difficult subject to teach as the physics behind it and the mathematical apparatus required to describe it are very advanced. This part of school curriculum demands abstract thinking and frequently exceeds the students' cognitive powers. In this paper, we will present some teaching techniques which, while being suitable for teaching nuclear physics in secondary schools, stimulate the students' interests and engage them in the learning process. While considering traditional methods of teaching physics, which comprise lectures, problem-solving and experiments, as fundamental and thus not to be neglected, we proposed to improve the teaching process by using such techniques as discussions, students' projects, portfolios, didactic games and excursions. (Contains 5 figures.)
Evaluating the Impact of Professional Development on Teaching Practice: Research Findings and Future Research Directions
Author: Doherty, Iain
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Professional Development,Teaching Methods,Program Effectiveness,Program Evaluation,Teacher Effectiveness,Professional Continuing Education,Educational Practices,Teacher Workshops,Longitudinal Studies,Theory Practice Relationship,Transfer of Training,Instructional Innovation,Instructional Improvement,Teacher Improvement,Questionnaires,Mail Surveys,Knowledge Level,Participant Satisfaction,Program Implementation,Pretests Posttests,Familiarity,Technology Uses in Education

Continuing professional development for teaching is important for institutional renewal, teacher development and student learning improvement. However, our longitudinal research into provision of continuing professional development has shown that the majority of educators who attend professional development workshops do not put what they have learned into practice. We present the background to our research, research method, research procedures and research results. Whilst the majority of participants in our professional development workshops have evaluated the workshops positively and achieved the intended learning outcomes, only a minority of participants have put what they learned into practice. We present a hypothesis to explain this phenomenon and conclude with a discussion of academics' motivation to improve and innovate in their teaching. (Contains 6 tables.)