Teachers' views on citizenship education in secondary education in The Netherlands

In 2005 the Dutch Minister of Education proposed making it compulsory for all schools in The Netherlands to stimulate active citizenship and social integration. Teachers must give these educational goals a tangible form in their practice. What are the teachers' views on citizenship education? Concepts of citizenship education and the teacher's role in it may differ widely, and very different perspectives on values and value development are possible. This article addresses how teachers view citizenship education. We present the results of a survey conducted among a representative sample of Dutch secondary schools. The results show that teachers make clear choices in the importance they attach to certain values. Teachers want students to acquire skills to analyse, communicate and reflect on values, and they want to stimulate the development of certain values. The chosen values relate to different types of citizenship. School level, school subject and the age of the teachers make a difference to the importance teachers attach to different values.     

Numerical estimation in adults with and without developmental dyscalculia

It has been hypothesized that developmental dyscalculia (DD) is either due to a defect of the approximate number system (ANS) or to an impaired access between that system and symbolic numbers. Several studies have tested these two hypotheses in children with DD but none has dealt with adults who had experienced DD as children.This study aimed to compare these two hypotheses in an adult population in order to investigate which deficits still persist at that age. To that aim, numerical estimation tasks were given to adults who had or had not experienced DD as a child. Three of the estimation tasks required a mapping between the ANS and symbolic numbers: participants had to estimate the number of same or different-sized dots presented by producing the corresponding Arabic number or, conversely, to produce the number of dots corresponding to a presented Arabic number. A fourth task did not require any processing of symbolic numbers; participants had to produce a collection of dots of the same numerosity as another one previously presented.Consistently, in all the four numerical tasks and irrespective of whether the tasks used symbolic numbers or not, the estimates of DD participants were less accurate than those of the control participants. These results indicate that adults who had experienced DD as children continue to demonstrate a less precise magnitude representation.     

A cue or two and I'll trust you: Determinants of trust in government organizations in terms of their processing and usage of citizens' personal information disclosed online

This article discusses the results of a large-scale Internet survey (with 1156 respondents) that investigated the cues and factors that could positively influence Dutch Internet users' trust in government organizations in terms of their usage and processing of citizens' personal data. Confidence in online privacy statements, as indicated by the results of this study, significantly influences trust in government organizations among Dutch Internet users with and without previous e-government experience. Among those with e-government experience, the quality of their online government transaction experience and a positive government organizational reputation can also increase their trust in government organizations, specifically in terms of how they process and use citizens' personal data.     

Laboratory policies and practices for thyroid function tests in Croatia: survey on behalf of Working Group for Laboratory Endocrinology of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine

IntroductionLaboratory plays important part in screening, diagnosis, and management of thyroid disorders. The aim of this study was to estimate current laboratory preanalytical, analytical and postanalytical practices and policies in Croatia.Materials and methodsWorking Group for Laboratory Endocrinology of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine designed a questionnaire with 27 questions and statements regarding practices and protocols in measuring thyroid function tests. The survey was sent to 111 medical biochemistry laboratories participating in external quality assurance scheme for thyroid hormones organized by Croatian Centre for Quality Assessment in Laboratory Medicine. Data is presented as absolute numbers and proportions.ResultsFifty-three participants returned the questionnaire. Response rate varied depending on question, yielding a total survey response rate of 46-48%. All respondents perform thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). From all other thyroid tests, most performed is free thyroxine (37/53) and least TSH-stimulating immunoglobulin (1/53). Laboratories are using nine different immunoassay methods. One tenth of laboratories is verifying manufacturer’s declared limit of quantification for TSH and one third is verifying implemented reference intervals for all performed tests. Most of laboratories (91%) adopt the manufacturer’s reference interval for adult population. Reference intervals for TSH are reported with different percentiles (90, 95 or 99 percentiles).ConclusionThis survey showed current practices and policies in Croatian laboratories regarding thyroid testing. The results identified some critical spots and will serve as a foundation in creating national guidelines in order to harmonize laboratory procedures in thyroid testing in Croatia.     

Effect of flipped classroom model on academic achievement,academic satisfaction and general belongingness

Learning Environments Research - The effect of the flipped classroom model on students’ academic achievement, academic satisfaction, and general belongingness was investigated using an...     

Digital storytelling for primary school Mathematics Teaching: Product and process evaluation

Education and Information Technologies - The purpose of this research is to determine the quality of the digital stories developed by the primary school teacher candidates (PSTC) for primary school...     

Counselor educators’ views on cognitively complex trainees: A Q method study

Our Q method exploration of counselor educators’ perspectives of minimally acceptable cognitive complexity (CC) in trainees at the end of internship yielded two factors: Trainee's Conceptual Integration Ability and Trainee's Ability to Apply Integrated Knowledge. Implications for teaching, supervision, and research pertinent to assessment of and enhancement of CC conclude.