Making sense of learners making sense of written language: the selected works of Kenneth S. Goodman and Yetta M. Goodman

It is not an easy task to describe how an organization affects educational processes or events. First, the organization is a blend of multiple countries and changes dynamically; second, a segment of educational processes like the reforms of educational media are changing permanently as well. The changes are induced by institutional, legal, financial and other various factors as well. It is important to emphasize that the reforms in educational media were greatly influenced by the improvements in technology of the recent years. It is exciting and interesting to explore what actual and secondary effects an organization had in its field, that Hungary has been a member of for over 30 years. To analyse these effects, we have to give an overview of two things. First, we have to detail the role of educational media reform in the past, especially during a period when Hungary joined this international organization; second, we have to describe the curricula that was in effect during the implementation of the reforms. We also have to introduce the international organization and the changes in its goals, structure and function.

Die Wirkung von ICEM auf den Entwicklungsprozeß von Bildungsmedien in Ungarn

Es ist keine leichte Aufgabe, zu beschreiben, wie eine Organisation Bildungsprozesse oder ‐ereignisse beeinflußt. Erstens ist die Organisation eine Mischung der Einflüsse vieler Länder und ändert sich dynamisch, zweitens verändert sich ebenso durch die permanenten Reformen der Bildungsmedien ein Segment der Bildungsprozesse selbst. Die Änderungen werden aber ebenfalls von institutionellen, rechtlichen, finanziellen und anderen verschiedenen Faktoren herbeigeführt. Es ist wichtig, hervorzuheben, daß in den letzten Jahren die Reformen der Bildungsmedien sehr von Verbesserungen der Technologie beeinflußt wurden. Es ist aufregend und interessant, zu erkunden, welche tatsächlichen Effekte und Nebenwirkungen eine Organisation, der Ungarn seit über 30 Jahren angehört, in ihrem Feld hatte. Um diese Wirkungen analysieren zu können, müssen wir uns zwei Dinge genauer anschauen: Einmal die Rolle der Bildungsmedienreform in der Vergangenheit, insbesondere während der Zeit, als Ungarn sich dieser internationalen Organisation anschloss, zum anderen müssen wir die Lehrpläne beschreiben, die während der Durchführung der Reformen gültig waren. Wir müssen auch die internationale Organisation, die Änderungen in ihren Zielen, ihrer Struktur und ihrer Funktion vorstellen.     

Evaluating collaborative filtering recommendations inside large learning object repositories

Collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms are techniques used by recommender systems to predict the utility of items for users based on the similarity among their preferences and the preferences of other users. The enormous growth of learning objects on the internet and the availability of preferences of usage by the community of users in the existing learning object repositories (LORs) have opened the possibility of testing the efficiency of CF algorithms on recommending learning materials to the users of these communities. In this paper we evaluated recommendations of learning resources generated by different well known memory-based CF algorithms using two databases (with implicit and explicit ratings) gathered from the popular MERLOT repository. We have also contrasted the results of the generated recommendations with several existing endorsement mechanisms of the repository to explore possible relations among them. Finally, the recommendations generated by the different algorithms were compared in order to evaluate whether or not they were overlapping. The results found here can be used as a starting point for future studies that account for the specific context of learning object repositories and the different aspects of preference in learning resource selection.     

One year of anatomy teaching and learning in the outbreak: Has the Covid-19 pandemic marked the end of a century-old practice? A systematic review

At the end of 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic spread caused restrictions in business and social spheres. Higher education was also severely affected: universities and medical schools moved online to distance learning and laboratory facilities closed. Questions arise about the long-term effects of this pandemic on anatomical education. In this systematic review, the authors investigated whether or not anatomical educators were able to deliver anatomical knowledge during this pandemic. They also discuss the challenges that anatomical education has faced over the last year. The search strategy was conducted between July 2020 and July 2021. Two hundred and one records were identified, and a total of 79 studies were finally included. How best to deliver anatomy to students remains a moot point. In the last years, the advent of new technologies has raised the question of the possible overcoming of dissection as the main instrument in anatomical education. The Covid-19 pandemic further sharpened the debate. Remote learning enhanced the use of technologies other than cadaveric dissection to teach anatomy. Moreover, from the analyzed records it appears that both from students' perspective as well as teachers' there is a clear tear between those who endorse dissection and those who believe it could be easily overcome or at least integrated by virtual reality and online learning. The authors strongly believe that the best anatomy teaching practice requires the careful adaptation of resources and methods. Nevertheless, they support cadaveric dissection and hope that it will not be replaced entirely as a result of this pandemic.     

Questions Can Answer Questions About Mechanisms of Preschoolers’ Selective Word Learning

This study examined how inferences about epistemic competence and generalized labeling errors influence children’s selective word learning. Three- to 4-year-olds (N = 128) learned words from informants who asked questions about objects, mentioning either correct or incorrect labels. Such questions do not convey stark differences in informants’ epistemic competence. Inaccurate labels, however, generate error signals that can lead to weaker encoding of novel information. Preschoolers retained novel labels from both informants but were slower to respond in the Inaccurate Labeler condition. When the test procedure was not sensitive to the strength of information encoding, children performed above chance in both conditions and their response times did not differ. These results suggest that epistemic-level inferences and error generalizations influence preschoolers’ selective word learning concurrently.     

Research-teaching nexus: The new answer to the old question

The study tests 3 research hypotheses on the teaching-research nexus using the administrative data of the HSE University in Russia for 7 years. We confirmed the hypothesis that a lower classroom teaching load is associated with higher research output. Undergraduate courses have a relatively higher negative effect, especially on the probability of producing research output at all. A higher concentration of teaching in some semesters or quarters looks rather ineffective as a way to stimulate higher research productivity. Only a moderate share of English-taught classes (about 20% of the teaching load) is associated with higher research output and only for publications in good international journals. The empirical part of the study is based on zero-inflated Poisson and zero-inflated negative binomial models. This study comes to contribute to the development of literature discussing a mechanism and possible implications in teaching load composition as an essential part of the academic contract.     

Evaluating research efficiency within National R&D Programmes

Relying on efficiency analysis, we evaluate to what extent policy makers have been able to promote the establishment of consolidated and comprehensive research groups to contribute to the implementation of a successful innovation system for the Spanish food technology sector, oriented to the production of knowledge based on an application model. Using data envelopment analysis techniques that allow calculation of a generalized version of the traditional distance function model for productive efficiency, we find pervasive levels of inefficiency and a typology of different research strategies. Among these, in contrast to what has been assumed, established groups do not play the pre-eminent benchmarking role; rather, partially oriented, specialized and “shooting star” groups are the most common patterns. These results correspond with an infant innovation system, where the fostering of higher levels of efficiency and the promotion of the desired research patterns are ongoing.     

From group-based work to organisational learning: the role of communication forms and knowledge sharing

This paper examines the role of group-based work as a knowledge sharing mechanism in fostering organisational learning. Relying on insights from communication research, the paper develops a set of propositions highlighting the role of communication forms in mediating the effect of group-based work on knowledge sharing. Our view on group-based work is grounded in the philosophical perspective on organisational learning as occurring through interaction. This perspective emphasises the role of communication as the foundational basis for knowledge sharing and learning. Group-based work structures communication and creates conditions for sharing knowledge among organisational members. Drawing on cultural psychology research that reveals that people from different cultures have different cognitive styles and, thus, process and interpret information differently, the paper proposes a link between cognitive styles and preferences for different communication forms. It suggests that effectiveness of knowledge sharing in group-based work depends on whether the latter supports culturally preferred communication forms.     

Training Preschoolers on First‐Order False Belief Understanding: Transfer on Advanced ToM Skills and Metamemory

This study investigated the relation between theory of mind (ToM) and metamemory knowledge using a training methodology. Sixty‐two 4‐ to 5‐year‐old children were recruited and randomly assigned to one of two training conditions: A first‐order false belief (ToM) and a control condition. Intervention and control groups were equivalent at pretest for age, parents' education, verbal ability, inhibition, and ToM. Results showed that after the intervention children in the ToM group improved in their first‐order false belief understanding significantly more than children in the control condition. Crucially, the positive effect of the ToM intervention was stable over 2 months and generalized to more complex ToM tasks and metamemory.