The effect of potential fall distance on hormonal response in rock climbing

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of alterations in potential lead fall distance on the hormonal responses of rock climbers. Nine advanced female climbers completed two routes while clipping all (PRO-all) or half (PRO-½) of the fixed points of protection. Venous blood samples were analysed for total catecholamines, noradrenaline (norepinephrine), adrenaline (epinephrine), dopamine, lactate, cortisol and serotonin. Differences between the two conditions pre, immediately post and 15 min post climbing were assessed using a 2 × 3 repeated measures ANOVA. All hormones and blood lactate concentrations increased significantly (P < 0.05) immediately post climb, except for cortisol. Peak cortisol concentrations did not occur until 15 min post ascent. Further, significant interactions between climbing and clipping conditions were found for total catecholamines (890% of basal concentration in PRO-½ vs. 568% in PRO-all), noradrenaline (794% vs. 532%) and dopamine (500% vs. 210%). There were no significant interactions for adrenaline (1920% vs. 1045%), serotonin (150% vs. 127%) or lactate (329% vs. 279%). The study showed a greater catecholamine response with an increase in potential lead fall distance. The most pronounced increases seen in catecholamine concentration were reported for dopamine and noradrenaline.     

Attitudes of Serbian and Slovenian student teachers towards causes of learning underachievement amongst Roma pupils

The task of initial teacher education is to prepare student teachers (ST) to accept responsibility for improving the education of all pupils, including Roma pupils. Thus, knowledge of ST's attitudes regarding such pupils at the onset of initial teacher education is a key for the creation of teacher education programmes that challenge implicit beliefs and biases. The main focus of this paper, therefore, is ST's perceptions concerning the causes of learning underachievement amongst Roma pupils and who is primarily responsible for these pupils' learning achievement. Research was conducted at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and the Teacher Training Faculty at the University of Belgrade in Serbia. The results suggest that ST do not consider themselves likely contributors to Roma pupils' learning achievement, which leads to an attitude of minimal responsibility. The majority of ST attribute Roma pupils' learning underachievement to their parents' disinterest in schooling, Roma pupils' lack of motivation, and their non-acceptance by peers. The implications of these findings for teacher education programmes are subsequently discussed.     

The danger of inadequate conceptualisation in PISA for education policy

Due to the broad acceptance of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and other comparative studies as instruments of policymaking, its accuracy is essential. This article attempts to demonstrate omissions in the conceptualisation, and consequently in calculation and interpretation, of one of the central points of PISA 2006 and 2009. The authors point to the danger of such omissions for possible evidence-based education policymaking. With regard to the reproduction of social inequalities through education, we focus on variance in student performance between schools and within schools on the science scale (PISA 2006) and in the mother tongue (PISA 2009). The thesis of the PISA study is that there are countries (Finland, Iceland and Norway) where between only 14 and 29% of the average OECD variance (33%) is attributed to between-school variance – which is good – and there are countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, Slovenia, the Netherlands, etc.), where the variance between schools is at least ‘one-and-a-half times that of the OECD’ – which is bad. For Slovenia, we demonstrate a significantly different share of variance explained by between-school variance of the same or similar cohort if we move the point of research by only nine months. Our main argument is that such a difference in the share of variance is not the result of a substantial change in the results (grooving difference in the performance) but the result of formal organisational change – the transition of the cohort to upper secondary education. The difference in calculations also radically changes policy implications, which is crucial. While PISA data suggest the necessity of policy measures to reduce between-school variance, our calculations suggest the need for reconsideration of policy measures aimed at the reduction of within-school variance, gender differences, and differences in performance between native and immigrant students.     

A balanced scorecard-based model for evaluating e-learning and conventional pedagogical activities in nursing

The evaluation of e-learning and conventional pedagogical activities in nursing programmes has focused either on a single pedagogical activity or the entire curriculum, and only on students’ or teachers’ perspective. The goal of this study was to design and test a novel approach for evaluation of e-learning and conventional pedagogical activities that considers students’, teachers’ and managers’ perspectives. A case study of the proposed approach was performed at a publicly funded nursing faculty with Slovenian and Italian students from 2009 to 2012. The case study was combined with focus group discussions, interviews, direct observation and survey. The proposed approach allows management to compare the value of different pedagogical activities through the students’, teachers’ and managers’ perspectives. The approach proved useful in the evaluation of pedagogical activities and provided valid arguments for long-term pedagogical process improvement.     

Teacher and parental views on inclusive education policy lending in the Czech Republic

In international education policy articulations by organisations such as the UNESCO, inclusive education is defined rather vaguely, usually in terms of human rights. Yet, national reception it is more or less taken for granted. Analyses of policy lending show that when national education traditions are not respected, the lack of clarity about the concrete form of inclusion is further augmented by resistance to a foreign import. Taking the example of the implementation of inclusive education in the Czech Republic, a secondary analysis of survey results on responses from teachers and parents is presented. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of the reactions of two groups of actors who have had only a marginal involvement in preparing the implementation of inclusion; specifically, teachers at ordinary schools and parents of pupils with special education needs. Teachers are critical of inclusion, which they regard as special care for individual pupils with special education needs. It is only in schools which have lengthy experience with integration that a transformation of the school culture and the teaching profession in the direction of greater teamwork has taken place. The imperative of inclusion coming from above is regarded more as interference with what is a spontaneous development. The view of parents to pupils with special education needs was that systemic support to inclusion was lacking. Parents are forced to be intermediaries between other actors, but often do not have enough information and are not respected by teachers as experts on their children.     

Robust and specific personality traits as predictors of adolescents’ final grades and GPA at the end of compulsory schooling

The study investigated the predictive value of robust and specific personality traits in adolescents (M _age?=?14.7 years), in explaining their academic achievement at the end of basic compulsory schooling. Personality data were obtained through self, maternal, and peer reports using the Inventory of Child/Adolescent Individual Differences. Adolescent gender and maternal education predicted 36, 26, 19, and 26 % of the variance in the final grades in Slovene, English, and mathematics and the overall GPA, respectively. Personality ratings by each of the three groups of informants substantially improved the prediction of students’ academic achievements, over and beyond gender and maternal education. The robust trait scores contributed to significant increments in the variance explained, across the academic achievement indicators, ranging from 8 to 17 % (self-report), 15 to 24 % (maternal report), and 20 to 32 % (peer report). Conscientiousness was consistently the most powerful predictor of students’ academic success and extraversion was negatively associated with all achievement indicators. The study provided support for a relatively stronger predictive utility of specific, rather than robust personality traits. Likewise, peer ratings of the students’ personality provided relatively larger increments in variance explained in academic achievements than maternal and self-ratings; in general, the personality trait ratings added more to the prediction of mathematics grades and the GPA relative to the prediction of success in languages. Among specific traits, subjectively perceived student intelligence was the most powerful and consistent predictor of final grades and GPA.     

Complexity of Work Families and Entity-Based Visualization Displays

Abstract

Conceptual modeling of bibliographic data, including the FR models and the consolidated IFLA LRM, has provided an opportunity to shift focus to entities and relationships and to support hierarchical work-based exploration of bibliographic information. This paper reports on a study examining the complexity of a work's bibliographic family data and user interactions with data visualizations, compared to traditional displays. Findings suggest that the FRBR-based visual bibliographic information system supports work families of different complexities more equally than a traditional system. Differences between the two systems also show that the FRBR-based system was more effective especially for related-works and author-related tasks.     

News Producers' Pressures on Advertisers: Production of Paid News in Slovenian Television Programs

While media and journalism studies focus on advertising pressures on news producers, media pressures on advertisers are overlooked. The present study is the first to analyze media pressures on advertisers and the ways in which all participants interpret the phenomenon. This study used ethnographic methods to study 10 Slovenian television stations and 10 corporate marketing departments, as well as in-depth interviews with key actors. The research showed that television advertising practitioners and journalists exert pressure on advertisers to pay for news that either promotes products/services or suppresses information that reflects badly on advertisers.     

L'universite ouvriere de Zagreb

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