Can political inequality be reduced in the classroom? Testing the compensation hypothesis and the BFLPE on youth civic competence

This study examines the general question of how classroom characteristics are linked with differences among students in civic competence, which is seen to be an important basis for political inequality. A resource-mobilisation account of youth civic competence is presented, and this is tested using hierarchical linear modelling and International Civic and Citizenship Study 2009 data. The determinants of youth civic competence are explored at the individual, family, and classroom levels, where resource and mobilisation factors at each level are examined. Evidence for classroom effects are tested using Campbell’s compensation hypothesis and insights derived from Marsh’s big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE). This case study of the Czech Republic shows limited evidence for an open classroom climate reducing civic competence differences between low- and high-SES students, and no evidence of BFLPE increasing such differences among youths.     

The dynamics of learning engagement and its relationship with teachers’ classroom practices in primary school

The current study was part of a larger project which examined teachers’ classroom practices and relationships with students’ learning engagement in primary-school education in Estonia. The focus was the role of autonomy supportive and structured teaching on learning engagement. Two primary-school teachers and their 46 students were selected for this study. The aim of the study was to explore how teachers’ classroom practices influence students’ learning engagement over two years during grade two and grade four of the educational system. Three trained observers rated classroom practices and students self-reported learning engagement. The results highlight primary students’ high-learning engagement, and did not confirm an expectation that low-autonomy-supportive teaching results in low-learning engagement in primary school.     

Does Concrete Content Help People to Reason Scientifically?

Science & Education - In this paper, we explored the scientific literacy of a general sample of the Slovak adult population and examined factors that might help or inhibit scientific reasoning,...     

Physical activities during pregnancy and type of delivery in nulliparae

The aim of this study was to investigate changes in physical activity across pregnancy and the relationship between trimester-specific physical activity and unplanned caesarean sections (CSs). A cohort study design was carried out. A cohort of 150 pregnant women was established when they received prenatal care at 29–40 weeks of gestation at a medical centre in northern Taiwan. Participants were asked to recall the amounts of physical activity in which they had engaged in the three trimesters as assessed by the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ). Overall self-reported physical activity for the cohort decreased by 31% in the first trimester compared to the pre-gravid period, then increased in the second trimester and remained stable until delivery. A repeated measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate the data and revealed significantly more physical activity during the second trimester than in the first and third trimesters (F = 36.471, P = 0.000). In addition, there was a significant difference between normal spontaneous delivery and unplanned CS groups (F = 4.770, P = 0.031). Logistic regression determined that the odds ratio of undergoing a CS increased by 0.644 (95% confidence interval: 0.429–0.968) for women in the third trimester who performed low levels of physical activity. Results support the benefits of physical activity, and professionals are encouraged to provide pregnant women with information on recommendations for physical activity, particularly in terms of reducing unplanned CSs.     

(<Emphasis Type="Italic">CF</Emphasis>)<Superscript>2</Superscript> architecture: contextual collaborative filtering

Recommender systems have dramatically changed the way we consume content. Internet applications rely on these systems to help users navigate among the ever-increasing number of choices available. However, most current systems ignore the fact that user preferences can change according to context, resulting in recommendations that do not fit user interests. This research addresses these issues by proposing the \(({ CF})^2\) architecture, which uses local learning techniques to embed contextual awareness into collaborative filtering models. The proposed architecture is demonstrated on two large-scale case studies involving over 130 million and over 7 million unique samples, respectively. Results show that contextual models trained with a small fraction of the data provided similar accuracy to collaborative filtering models trained with the complete dataset. Moreover, the impact of taking into account context in real-world datasets has been demonstrated by higher accuracy of context-based models in comparison to random selection models.     

The impact of study attitudes and study behaviour on satisfaction of online students with the implementation of online study programmes

The main objective of the research was to analyse the study attitudes and study behaviour of online students at DOBA Business School. Furthermore, the aim was to evaluate the interrelationship between study attitudes and study behaviour and to assess the predictive value of the two sets of variables for students’ general satisfaction with the study programmes. A total of 331 students participated in the web survey. Participants expressed the most positive attitudes towards the use of technology and flexibility of online learning, while the absence of personal contacts was also perceived as highly favourable. Average scores for both deep and strategic approaches were quite high, while the surface approach was much less prominent . Participants were highly engaged with their teamwork assignments, whereas proactive communication was somewhat less developed . Study attitudes seem to be far more powerful predictors of general satisfaction than study behaviour, which is not surprising. Satisfaction is thought to be the result of the complex subjective evaluation of all relevant aspects of the study programme implementation, as they were measured by attitudinal subscales.     

Teachers’ reflection on PISA items and why they are so hard for students in Serbia

The study explores how teachers perceive and go about students’ thinking in connection to particular mathematical content and how they frame the notion of applied mathematics in their own classrooms. Teachers’ narratives are built around two released PISA 2012 mathematics items, the ‘Drip rate’ and ‘Climbing Mount Fuji’ (will be referred to as the Fuji item). Teachers show concordance as to the reasons that could make either of the items difficult for students and are able to provide more examples justifying their reasoning for the ‘Fuji’ item. Suggestions linked to making the items more familiar to the students mostly relate to de-contextualization of the items’ content towards a more formal mathematical record. The teachers agree that students need only basic mathematical knowledge, at a level learned during elementary school, in order to solve these problems. Yet, at the same time, many teachers have difficulty clearly verbalising which procedures students are expected to follow to be able to solve the tasks. Disagreement among the teachers is noticeable when labelling the most difficult part(s) of each of the selected items. Mathematics teachers show openness for learning on how to create math problems we examined in this study, but question the purpose and meaning in incorporating more such problems in their own teaching.     

More student trust,more self-regulation strategy? Exploring the effects of self-regulatory climate on self-regulated learning

Self-regulated learning has been one of the important areas in educational research. The authors adopted structural equation modeling to explore and compare the impacts of three aspects of self-regulatory climate (i.e., academic emphasis, teacher trust, and student trust) on three features of self-regulated learning (i.e., self-efficacy, intrinsic motive, and self-regulation strategy). The results revealed both direct effects of academic emphasis on students’ use of self-regulation strategy, and indirect effects mediated by self-efficacy and intrinsic motive. Teacher trust has a positive impact on self-efficacy. While student trust has a positive impact on intrinsic motive, its relationship with self-regulation strategy is negative. Significant differences in school levels and gender were identified. The findings indicate that students in different cultures may have different expectations for teachers’ support in learning, which in turn influence the relationship between student trust in teachers and the use of self-regulation strategy. Implications for cultivating self-regulated learners are discussed in the article.     

The Labour Market,Graduate Competences and Study Programme Development: A Case Study

Developments in higher education are taking place in the wider context of globalisation, the Lisbon strategy and within the framework of the Bologna Process. Designing and developing Bologna programmes by taking into account the needs of the economy is a tool for successful quality assurance in higher education and for close cooperation with the environment. Our contribution aims to present the process of first cycle study programme formation and is based on a case study. By studying three groups of stakeholders, involved in the renewal of the study programme (teachers, students and employers), competences were thoroughly researched. It was found that graduate competences included in the questionnaire are of utmost importance and that they do not differ substantially from the competences of graduates in business studies presented in similar research (e.g. The Tuning Project of the European Commission, and the work carried out by the EFMD – the European Foundation for Management Development).