Novice teachers in the Czech Republic and their drop-out intentions

The current paper presents the results of the first research study of drop-out intentions of novice teachers in the Czech Republic. The study focuses on the reported satisfaction of novice teachers in primary and lower secondary schools with external factors that influence their socialisation and that can be seen as predictors of novice teachers' decision to stay in their current school. In the paper we present the results of quantitative research conducted in 2015–2017. Our main findings include the key significance of factors at the school level, especially the influence of school culture and climate, cooperation with colleagues and leadership. We conclude that in the Czech context teachers tend to stay in schools provided that they work in a well-functioning school, with cooperative colleagues and good head teachers.     

Does entrepreneurship education matter? Business students’ perspectives

The paper presents the findings of a mixed-methods study investigating the perceptions of business students in the Czech Republic towards entrepreneurship education, and examining the factors influencing their level of intention to be entrepreneurs. The results indicate that family background significantly influences the student’s entrepreneurial intention, and that participation in entrepreneurship-oriented courses positively influences the student’s level of self-efficacy. The study revealed further that business education had some effect on the student’s ability to gain the necessary knowledge for entrepreneurship. Another key finding was that entrepreneurship education specifically for business students has to equip students with entrepreneurial skills, attributes and behaviours. The results also suggest that entrepreneurship education is a contextually determined concept which requires modification of content and methods to meet the specific needs of particular target groups. The study has important implications for higher education institutions in terms of designing and managing effective entrepreneurship education.     

Comparing the job satisfaction of hourly paid and salaried preschool teachers in Turkey

This two-phase mixed-methods study compares the job satisfaction of Turkish preschool teachers who are paid hourly against the satisfaction of those on regular contracts. The participants in its first, quantitative phase were 260 preschool teachers, of whom 81 also participated in the second, qualitative phase. Initial data collection from all phase-one participants was via the Job Satisfaction Scale. Then, in phase two, the members of the hourly paid group were asked three open-ended questions, and the regular-contract teachers two of the same questions, related to the advantages and disadvantages of hourly paid teaching. The results indicated a significant difference in job satisfaction levels between the two types of teachers. None of the interactive effects between preschool teachers’ working status and their gender, age, marital status, and in-service training was statistically significant. In phase two, moreover, more than half of the 41 hourly paid teachers (n?=?22) emphasised that they worked as hourly for economic reasons, while more than a third (n?=?30) of the overall phase-two sample stated that there was no advantage of working as an hourly paid teacher. Working conditions for hourly paid teachers were described as disadvantageous by almost half the members of the phase-two sample (n?=?37).     

Decomposing Cross-Country Differences in Skills: Evidence from Four Nordic Countries

This paper performs multivariate analysis of skill differences in four Nordic countries as assessed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey of adults aged 16–65. The differences in average skills between Finland and each of the three Scandinavian countries are decomposed into a component that is due to different skill levels in subgroups of the population and a component that is due to differences in the composition of subgroups. The decompositions show that the high Finnish average skill level compared to the three Scandinavian countries can be attributed to the low share of immigrants in Finland and to high scores among Finns with high school and less than high school education. The Finnish average score is pulled substantially downwards as a consequence of the low numeracy skill level among older Finns, which is consistent with an increase in the quantity or quality of Finnish education over time, relative to the other three Nordic countries.     

Children's perseverative appearance-reality errors are related to emerging language skills

Two experiments explored the communicative bases of preschoolers' object appearance-reality (AR) errors. In Experiment 1, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds (N = 36) completed the AR test (with high- and low-deceptive objects), a control test with the same discourse structure but nondeceptive stimuli, and stimulus naming and memory tests. AR performance correlated positively with control (discourse) and naming test performance. Object deceptiveness had little effect. In Experiment 2, 3- and 4-year-olds (N = 64) completed AR tests that experimentally varied question phrasing and use of exemplar objects. Children also completed memory, vocabulary, and control tests (of verbal perseveration). AR performance variance was predicted by a composite perseveration score from three non-AR tasks, vocabulary, and exemplars. The results indicate that the discourse structure of the AR test elicits a perseverative tendency that is mediated by children's verbal knowledge.     

Examining Knowledge Levels of High School Students Related to Conductors at Electrostatic Equilibrium and Electric Field Lines Using the Drawing Method

Research in Science Education - The purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge of high school students related to conductors at electrostatic equilibrium and electric field lines. The...     

Kinematic differences between successful and faulty spikes in young volleyball players

ABSTRACT

This study was designated to investigate the kinematical differences between successful and faulty spikes, in order to identify the best strategies leading to better spike performance. Simulating a real-game condition, 13 elite youth attackers performed 6 spikes in the presence of 2 blocks. The kinematic variables of the spike performances were recorded using 6 optoelectronic cameras (Vicon Motion systems, Oxford, UK). The paired sample t-test was used to compare the kinematic variables recorded during the delivery of successful and faulty spikes. Among the successful trials, both the angular velocities of the knees (≈12.4%) and hips (≈13.3%), and the vertical velocity of the centre of mass at take-off (≈6.5%) and arm swing (≈8.2%) were considerably higher during the plant phase. Consequently, the jump (≈4.3%) and spike (≈1.5%) heights, as well as the wrist velocity (≈5.5%), were significantly higher during the jump phase of successful spikes. In successful spike performances, the attackers adopted higher hip and knee angular velocities, combined with efficient arm swings, to produce higher take-off velocities and reach higher jump heights. This approach provides them with the better position regarding the ball and the blockers to find the best path and hit the ball with higher arm velocities.     

Validity and Reliability of Trichotomous Achievement Goal Scale

The Trichotomous Achievement Goal Scale was developed by Agbuga and Xiang (2008 Agbuga, B. and Xiang, P. 2008. Achievement goals and their relations to self-reported persistence/effort in secondary physical education: A trichotomous achievement goal framework. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 27: 179–191. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) by including selected items from the scales of Duda and Nicholls (1992 Duda, J. L. and Nicholls, J. 1992. Dimensions of achievement motivation in schoolwork and sport. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84: 290–299. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Elliot (1999 Elliot, A. J. 1999. Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34: 169–189. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and Elliot and Church (1997 Elliot, A. J. and Church, M. A. 1997. A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72: 218–232. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and adapting them into Turkish. The scale consists of 18 items, and students rated each item on a 7-point Likert scale. To ascertain the validity and reliability of the Trichotomous Achievement Goal Scale, it was administered to 845 female and 861 male Turkish high school students attending three public schools in the 2008–2009 spring semester. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, and Cronbach's alpha and Fornell and Larcker's (1981 Fornell, C. and Larcker, D. F. 1981. Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18: 39–50. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) criteria were tested on the items that measured the students' achievements, screening for the three distinct types of achievement goals proposed by the trichotomous framework. Based on the results of the study, the 16-item Trichotomous Achievement Goal Scale can be claimed as a valid a reliable scale.