Planification a long terme du systeme pedagogique Hongrois

This study is concerned with the problem of perspective planning of education. First it considers the underlying conception of the educational system, indicating what are the essential factors in Hungary's national education. The authors then seek, by means of a systems theory conception to give this education a place in society, and in civilization — bearing in mind that national education is “a system of relative independence”. From here they go on to examine the patterns imposed by planning for perspective development. An important section examines planning as a process and considers it as an essential concomitant of the strategy of development in the following phases:

1. the politico-scientific process of formulating the conception.
2. the process of checking the continuing validity of the conception.
3. the decision-making process by which the conception is accepted.
4. the process of initiating and implementing the conception.

The thinking of practitioners of national education may come to regard planning as a permanent and continuing activity. A method of planning the process of continuing-development must be created on three levels, that of the great corporations concerned, that of regional directors, and that of experts in educational practice.     

We are invited to imagine: using a literary text to encourage cross-cultural dialogue about citizenship

ABSTRACT

Using William Golding’s Lord of the Flies as a stimulus, researchers from Norway, Pakistan and the United Kingdom explored the potential of a literary text to encourage intercultural dialogue. The innovative research method used was to combine Literature Circles and Google Documents to provide a platform for asynchronous online exchange between three cohorts of students in higher education. The authors’ analysis of the data suggested differences between those students who regarded the text as a living document speaking directly to their personal experiences of citizenship issues and those for whom the novel remained a historical document, removed from their lived experience. The authors contend that this research can contribute original and significant insights to the literature on teaching citizenship through literary texts such as the relationship between text choice and context, models of international collaboration at the higher education level and contrasting approaches towards citizenship and reading.     

Teaching Online: Applying Need Theory to the Work–Family Interface

Using Warner and Hausdorf’s (2009) framework, the authors empirically examined work–life balance and work outcomes among collegiate faculty teaching courses online. Quantitative and qualitative results from 138 online instructors demonstrated that basic psychological need satisfaction was related to higher levels of work–family enrichment, job satisfaction, performance, and intention to teach online courses again and lower levels of work–family conflict and stress. Work support was also related to job satisfaction, performance, and stress but was not related to work–family balance. These findings are important as universities are seeking ways to promote involvement with online education.     

A multilevel study of position effects in PISA achievement tests: student- and school-level predictors in the German tracked school system

Abstract

Position effects (PE) cause decreasing probabilities of correct item responses towards the end of a test. We analysed PEs in science, mathematics and reading tests administered in the German extension to the PISA 2006 study with respect to their variability at the student- and school-level. PEs were strongest in reading and weakest in mathematics. Variability in PEs was found at both levels of analysis. PEs were stronger for male students, for students with a migration background (science and mathematics), and for students with a less favourable socio-economic background (reading). At the school level, PEs were stronger in lower school tracks and in schools with a high proportion of students with a migration background. The relationships of the test scores with the covariates partly reflected the covariates’ relationships with PEs. Our findings suggest that PEs should be taken seriously in large-scale assessments as they have an undesirable impact on the results.     

Extension Procedures for Confirmatory Factor Analysis

We present factor extension procedures for confirmatory factor analysis that provide estimates of the relations of common and unique factors with external variables that do not undergo factor analysis. We present identification strategies that build upon restrictions of the pattern of correlations between unique factors and external variables. The first restriction minimizes the sum of squared correlations between unique factors and external variables. This approach is similar to the traditional factor extension procedure. The second restriction minimizes the complexity of the pattern of external correlations of unique factors. This approach has similarities with the simple structure ideal imposed on most factor rotation strategies. The procedures are illustrated with a real data example that demonstrates their applicability to real-world research questions.     

Effect of quantum therapy on pork quality

In this study the impact of quantum therapy on meat quality of slaughtered pigs was investigated. For this purpose the pigs were treated with different doses of magnet-infrared-laser (MIL) radiation. Animals were divided into four groups according to radiation doses (4096, 512, and 64 Hz, and control without application), which were applied in the lumbar area of musculus longissimus dorsi (loin) at various time intervals prior to the slaughter (14 d, 24 h, and 1 h). Animals were slaughtered and the meat quality was evaluated by determining of pH value (1, 3, and 24 h post slaughter), drip loss, colour, and lactic acid and phosphoric acid amounts. MIL therapy can be used in various fields of veterinary medicine as are surgery and orthopaedics, internal medicine, dentistry, pulmonology, gastroenterology, gynaecology, urology, nephrology, and dermatology. The results achieved showed that MIL radiation used in a short period before slaughter (1 h) can cause a change in the meat quality, as reflected by the non-standard development of pH values, increases in drip loss, and changes of meat colour.     

La situacion diglósica y su repercusión en la adquisición del lenguaje

Resumen

En este artículo se presenta una investigación cuyo objetivo es analizar las posibles consecuencias que la situación diglósica puede generar en la adquisición del lenguaje de los niños que la padecen. Se demuestra, mediante un riguroso análisis del lenguaje oral, que tal repercusión es claramente negativa en una circunstancia de no normalización lingüística. Dicha repercusión se materializa en una mayor pobreza morfo-sintáctica de la expresión oral cuando el niño debe desenvolverse en una lengua que no es la materna. Se deduce, por tanto, la conveniencia de que la lengua materna y la escolar sean una misma, al menos, en los primeros niveles de escolarización.     

Transformation processes in higher education: More market,less government

Competitively allocated research funds, from both public and private sources, constitute an increasing share of university revenues. The article investigates empirically, using data on the Italian university system, whether structural and strategic features of universities—such as size, age and especially the importance that they assign to their teaching and research missions—affect their success in securing research funds. The analysis shows that universities that strategically prioritize their research mission also obtain higher funds per researcher, from different sources. These results are compared with those obtained by similar studies of other European higher education systems, and some general implications of the introduction of competitive funding mechanisms for university behaviour are derived.