Biotechnology learning in Slovenian upper-secondary education: gaining knowledge and forming attitudes

Purpose: One area of science that will increasingly influence our society is biotechnology. An increasing number of modern biotechnological applications have provoked consideration of the ethical and social issues; therefore, it is important that the public is well-informed about them. Formal education in upper-secondary schools should help students to become biotechnologically literate citizens. There is little published research data on Slovenian high-school students’ knowledge about and attitudes towards biotechnology, as well a lack of curriculum evaluation data.

Methodology: This study combines two research approaches. The first part is content analysis of current upper-secondary education programmes in Slovenia, in which all curricula were reviewed about 15 selected biotechnological topics. The second part of the research focused on assessing students’ knowledge of traditional and modern biotechnology and exploring their attitudes towards modern biotechnological methods and their products. The sample included 1163 students aged 17–18 from three different types of schools located in 12 different regions of Slovenia. A questionnaire to measure knowledge and attitudes was designed.

Results: The research results revealed that selected biotechnological concepts appeared most frequently in the curri- cula of bio-technical gymnasia. These students also showed the 30 highest level of knowledge and the most positive attitudes. Furthermore, a clear correlation between students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards modern biotechnology was found. On the other hand, no significant differences in attitudes to the state- ments, which dealt with ethics, were found among the students 35 involved in the research.

Conclusion: Biotechnology teaching in upper-secondary education in Slovenia is obviously very diverse and dependent on the programme.     

Integrating Physical Education and Geography in elementary education in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovenia

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the lack of international knowledge and research in interdisciplinary curriculum development and teaching in the subjects of Physical Education and Geography. The authors analysed and compared elementary school curricular documents from two ex-communist countries, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovenia (an ex-socialist Yugoslav republic) to reveal how integration of Physical Education and Geography can be embedded at the policy level. A questionnaire survey among teachers examined how the integration is implemented in practice. The authors present some practical examples to show how Physical Education and Geography integration can be achieved. The findings of the study indicate that while interdisciplinarity is an important policy goal of the educational systems of these two countries, integration is not being implemented in practice.     

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.     

Exclusion Expected? Cardiac Slowing Upon Peer Exclusion Links Preschool Parent Representations to School-Age Peer Relationships

Attachment theory proposes that children’s representations of interactions with caregivers guide information-processing about others, bridging interpersonal domains. In a longitudinal study (N = 165), preschoolers (M_age = 5.19 years) completed the MacArthur Story Stem Battery to assess parent representations. At school-age (M_age = 8.42 years), children played a virtual ballgame with peers who eventually excluded them to track event-related cardiac slowing, a physiological correlate of rejection, especially when unexpected. At both ages, parents and teachers reported on peer and emotional problems. During exclusion versus inclusion-related events, cardiac slowing was associated with greater positive parent representations and fewer emerging peer problems. Cardiac slowing served as a mediator between positive parent representations and peer problems, supporting a potential psychophysiological mechanism underlying the generalization of attachment-related representations to peer relationships.     

Links between in-class use of social media and school adjustment of high-school pupils

Education and Information Technologies - The present study was conducted to assess the links between in-class use of social media and academic and social school adjustment of high school students...     

Market orientation in managing relationships with multiple constituencies of Croatian higher education

In this paper, market orientation in Croatian higher education (HE) is discussed within the context of stakeholder-oriented management. Drawing on existing studies, the ‘classical’ empirical model, describing the market orientation of generic nonprofit organisations, has been adapted to the contingencies of the Croatian HE sector. Empirical testing of the model, based on primary data drawn from the majority of public institutions of higher learning in the country, reveals inadequate market orientation toward the relevant stakeholders. Although social market orientation currently does not exist in Croatian HE institutions, the empirical results confirm that it might be possible to initiate a ‘virtuous circle’, in which relevant market orientation and stakeholder management practices, directed toward one or other of the stakeholders, simultaneously enhance orientation toward the other stakeholders. Unfortunately, the current situation in HE is not satisfactory, which could hinder the implementation of development of knowledge society in Croatia.

X-ray radiography and tomography for monitoring the penetration depth of consolidants in Opuka – the building stone of Prague monuments

Stone consolidation is one of the major restoration treatments used for historical monuments preservation. A natural stone is a complicated heterogeneous porous system making the process of consolidation dependent on many variables. In practical restoration aims, for a given stone type, the selection of a suitable consolidant and consolidation conditions therefore remains a complex issue. The impregnation depth is a key factor for the assessment of the treatment efficiency. The combination of state-of-the-art hybrid pixel semiconductor detectors with newly available micro-focus X-ray sources makes possible to apply X-ray radiography, an ideal non-destructive tool, for penetration depth monitoring. In this study, high-resolution X-ray radiography is used for monitoring the penetration depth of organosilicon consolidants in the Opuka stone. The penetration depth has been evaluated in relation to the time of consolidation, stone porosity and consolidation mixtures properties. The exact influence of the X-ray contrast agent on the consolidation depth has been investigated as well. The information obtained provides supplementary knowledge on the suitability of investigated products for the treatment of this type of stone. In our study, the capabilities of X-ray radiography have been demonstrated on X-ray radiography simple projections, high-resolution computed tomography (CT) as well as on the dynamic processes monitoring. The results thus can serve also as an instrumental and methodological example applicable for consolidation monitoring of other stone types.