Public and Private Higher Education Institutions--Joint or Separate Evaluation and Ranking: The Polish Perspective

Since 1989, Polish higher education has been characterized by the emergence of a private sector of higher education as well as by the development of procedures and institutions for the evaluation and accreditation of higher education institutions and programmes in both sectors. Currently, the two sectors are evaluated separately by separate institutions. The authors call for the convergence of the two higher education sectors. Not only would evaluations of Polish higher education institutions thus be made more accurate and comprehensive, but the two sectors would learn from one another, and the private institutions and their students would become eligible to receive state grants.     

Reciprocal Bilingualism as a Challenge and Opportunity: The Case of Cyprus

Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, has never been monolingual. For over four hundred years the two main languages of the island have been Turkish and Greek. Turkish-Cypriots and Greek-Cypriots met each other in the streets, but seldom in the schools. The Greek language had a place in the Turkish-Cypriots' educational system during some periods in history, but the Greek-Cypriots have never given the Turkish language a place in their school system. Until recent years, the majority of Turkish-Cypriots have had communicative competence in Greek. In contrast, there have been very few Greek-Cypriots who had communicative competence in Turkish. The history of Cyprus clearly shows that lack of policies for bilingualism on the island has weakened the good relationship between the two folk groups. The fact that the learning of the global language English is happening to the detriment of the learning of Greek among Turkish-Cypriots makes the integration of the two main cultural groups of Cypriots more difficult. Using the island's historical background, especially the intercommunal dispute during the last four decades as a basis, the author argues for a closer relationship between the economic, social, cultural, including bilingual and educational policy of the two parts of Cyprus. He sees this as the best peace policy for the island.     

The triad-iodine deficiency,hyperlipidaemia, high coronary risk— in a ‘maternal-neonate’ population of rural Africa

In order to see the pattern of changes in differential serum lipid and lipoprotein fractions as a risk marker of coronary complication in paired ‘maternal—neonate’ blood samples in an iodine deficient zone, 26 pregnant women and their corresponding new born infants at term delivery from the iodine deficient Bassa region of Plateau state, Nigeria were assessed and the results were compared with those seen in a similar 44 group of women and their newborns assessed in non lodine deficient region of Jos. The serum thyroid function and lipid and lipoprotein profiles were determined by ‘ELISA’ and ‘enzymatic’ methods respectively. Urinary iodide excretion level was also measured in 14 pregnant women in Bassa, 23 pregnant women in Jos and 16 non pregnant control from Jos. Results indicate that the pregnant women assessed in Bassa were iodine deficient (P<0.01) and their thyroid status was strikingly reduced as reflected by a drop in serum level of T4/TBG ratio (P<0.01) and a rise in TSH (P<0.005) in comparison to that seen in Jos. There was marked hypertriglyceridaemia and total hypercholesterolaemia (P<0.005), with differential significant rise in LDL cholestotol fraction (P<0.005) in the women assessed in Bassa as compared to Jos. The HDL cholesterol however dropped less significantly in the group (P<0.05) with a concurrent marked rise (P<0.001) in the serum ratio of LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol and triglycerides/HDL cholesterol in the lodine deficient group. A similar pattern of changes were seen in the corresponding neonates in the Bassa group as compared to Jos group. It is concluded that the pregnant women and their newborn offsprings living in a longstanding environmental iodine deficiency run a higher risk of developing coronary complications than those living in non endemic region. It is striking that such newborns surrounded by a continued state of lodine deficient may at a later adult-period of life develop marked risk of coronary complication and other features of hyperlipidaemias associated with varying thyroid insufficiency and accompanied iodine deficiency disorders. Prophylaxis measures as intervention has been highlighted.     

Intelligence and Neurophysiological Markers of Error Monitoring Relate to Children's Intellectual Humility

This study explored developmental and individual differences in intellectual humility (IH) among 127 children ages 6–8. IH was operationalized as children's assessment of their knowledge and willingness to delegate scientific questions to experts. Children completed measures of IH, theory of mind, motivational framework, and intelligence, and neurophysiological measures indexing early (error-related negativity [ERN]) and later (error positivity [Pe]) error-monitoring processes related to cognitive control. Children's knowledge self-assessment correlated with question delegation, and older children showed greater IH than younger children. Greater IH was associated with higher intelligence but not with social cognition or motivational framework. ERN related to self-assessment, whereas Pe related to question delegation. Thus, children show separable epistemic and social components of IH that may differentially contribute to metacognition and learning.     

Bildungserfolg und adoleszente Abl?sung bei S?hnen aus t??rkischen Migrantenfamilien

Many studies have shown that young males of Turkish descent are disadvantaged in terms of educational opportunity in Germany. In this, the lower educational successes of children from migrant families are neither simple effects of lower levels of social capital nor of lower educational aspiration. With the aim of tracing unexplained mechanisms of the intergenerational transmission of educational chances, the interdependency of educational success or failure of young men of Turkish descent and adolescent processes of detachment and family relations were reconstructed using an intergenerational research design. This shows the major importance of parents?? processing of their immigration experiences in the context of discrimination and disadvantage, the effects of this on the parent-child-relationship, especially in adolescence, and the impact of intergenerational dynamics on the realization, processing and effects of differing educational aspirations and careers.     

An assessment of the contributions of Kazakhstan and other CIS countries to global science: the Scopus database

The role of Kazakhstan and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the global scientific landscape in 1996–2006 is analyzed on the basis of statistical data obtained from the Scopus database. The analysis of bibliometric indicators, publication activity, and citation per country and per field of study is presented in absolute terms and per population of a given country.     

Learning Approaches in the Architectural Education and the Role of Students’ Habitus: Case Study Pakistan

This study seeks to explore the impact of social upbringing on architectural learning. The theory of “habitus” helps to understand how students’ personality dispositions might affect the way they approach learning in the “field” of architectural education. The notions of learning approaches and knowledge codes in literature are used to develop a framework for the study that helps to explore the field of architectural education. It is a qualitative study, conducted through semi-structured interviews with 44 students in 10 architecture schools in Pakistan. Interviews explored students’ habitus as well as their learning approaches, later explored through the framework developed in the study. Interviews are transcribed and coded using Nvivo 12. A detailed analysis explores the connection between habitus and learning approaches and finds out that habitus plays a major role in determining the way students approach learning in Architecture, with most cultivated habitus students showing a deep learning approach.     

Preschool selection considerations and experiences of school mistreatment among lesbian,gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents

The current study is the first to investigate the school selection considerations and school-related experiences of sexual-minority parents with young children. The sample consisted of 210 parents in 105 couples, including 35 lesbian couples, 30 gay male couples, and 40 heterosexual couples, all of whom had adopted a child three years earlier. We found that parents with less income were more likely to consider cost in choosing a preschool, and parents with less education were more likely to consider location. More educated parents tended to emphasize racial diversity and the presence of adoptive families, and, among sexual-minority parents, the presence of other lesbian/gay parents. Sexual-minority parents were more likely to consider racial diversity than heterosexual parents. In reporting on their experiences with schools, heterosexual parents were more likely to perceive mistreatment due to their adoptive status than sexual-minority parents, and sexual-minority parents living in less gay-friendly communities were more likely to perceive mistreatment due to their sexual orientation than sexual-minority parents living in more gay-friendly communities. Our findings have implications for early childhood educators and administrators seeking to create an inclusive learning community for all types of families.     

The Problem of Pseudoscience in Science Education and Implications of Constructivist Pedagogy

The intrusion of pseudoscience into science classrooms is a problem in science education today. This paper discusses the implications of constructivist pedagogy, which relies on the notions of viability and inter-subjectivity, in a context favourable to the acceptance of pseudoscience. Examples from written statements illustrate how prospective science teachers in Turkey readily accept pseudoscientific explanations of the origin of species. Constructivist pedagogy underestimates, if not ignores, the difficulty of holding rational discussions in the presence of pseudoscientific or absolute beliefs. Moreover, it gives a higher priority to learners’ exposure to alternative constructions through social negotiation than to furthering their appreciation of science. Under these circumstances, self-confirmation and social pressure to accept existing pseudoscientific beliefs may be unanticipated consequences of social negotiation. Considering the aim of science education to foster an appreciation of science, the implications of constructivist pedagogy are, or should be, of great concern to science educators.     

Education and qualitative research in Mexico: issues and insights from the field

This co-editors’ introduction provides a context for the special issue on qualitative research in Mexico and introduces the five papers selected for publication. Papers present findings from qualitative research that explore the topics of teaching; school leadership; language education policy; and women in traditionally male, postsecondary engineering programs.