Effects of the learning cycle upon student and classroom teacher performance

A great deal of research has been done regarding science in-service education and the conclusion can be drawn that positive results were generally achieved in workshop-participant attitude and implementation of instructional approaches into the classroom. One of the most important effects of an in-service workshop is upon the students of the teachers participating in an in-service program, but rarely, if ever, is this parameter assessed in the in-service evaluation design. This study investigated the relationships among (1) teacher's attitudes and implementation of in-service workshop developed science materials (learning cycles) and (2) elementary school student's conservation reasoning and language used to describe properties of objects. Data were gathered from over 100 students from grades K-5 and 16 teachers who had participated in an in-service program. A representative comparison group of students and teachers was selected which generally matched the teachers participating in the in-service workshop except for one variable–-the comparison group taught science traditionally, that is, by exposition. Data from the research indicated that the teachers involved in the science in-service workshop implemented the workshop-developed learning cycles into their science classes. Significantly greater gains in conservation reasoning and language usage occurred with the students of the teachers participating in the science in-service workshop as compared to students in the exposition classrooms.     

Globalization and Higher Education

The question of the role of higher education in society and culture today is linked, in this article, with two parallel processes: the questioning of the nation-state in the global age and the gradual decomposition of the welfare state in the majority of the OECD countries. What is currently happening is, first, a major redefinition of the general responsibilities of the state vis-a ¤ -vis the familiar type of society characterized by the welfare state and, second, a major revision in thinking about the role of the state in contemporary politics and economies brought about by globalization processes (and hence the possible demise of the nation-state). The modern German-inspired university in the form in which it exists in Europe is certainly affected by the two processes. The aim of this article is to discuss higher education in this particular context.     

Choosing the Future: Economic Preferences for Higher Education Using Discrete Choice Experiment Method

Research in Higher Education - This study illustrates how respondents’ stated choices (the discrete choice experiment method) combined with the random utility framework can be used to model...     

Social and Cultural Dimensions of the Transformation of Higher Education in Central and Eastern Europe

The thesis of this article is that the main factors contributing to the need to rethink higher education institutions today are linked to the advent of the global age. Although the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are not yet feeling the full force of the ensuing pressures, higher education here is likely to be affected very soon by globalization-related processes. Higher education all over the world, including Central and Eastern Europe, is no longer the unique part of the public sector that it used to be, either in explicit political declarations, in public perceptions, or in practical terms. Higher education is doubly affected by the local post-1989 transformations and by more profound and more long-lasting global transformations. To neglect either of the two levels of analysis is to misunderstand a decade of failed attempts to reform higher education systems in this part of the world.     

Ontology mappings to improve learning resource search

This paper proposes an ontology mapping‐based framewrowrk that allows searching for learning resources using multiple ontologies. The present applications of ontologies in e‐learning use various ontologies (eg, domain, curriculum, context), but they do not give a solution on how to interoperate e‐learning systems based on different ontologies. The proposed solution uses a mapping ontology that is a part of a recent Semantic Web initiative, the Simple Knowledge Organisation System. On top of that, we develop and implement two search algorithms. Finally, we evaluated the solution by developing a system that helps students search for relevant learning resource using a local context (ie, course curriculum) ontology.     

Orientational dyslexia: Notes from the field

Annals of Dyslexia -     

Adolescent sexual initiation through the lens of letters to the editor published in Polish teenage magazines

Almost all teenage magazines invite readers to submit questions concerning relationships, published as letters to the editor, popularly called ‘advice columns’, often containing explicit questions about sexuality. This study aims to examine, firstly, how themes related to sexual initiation are presented in letters to the editor published in Polish magazines and, secondly, how these themes are reflective of Poland's socio-cultural climate. These aims are achieved through thematic data analysis and by presenting an in-depth history of teenage magazines in Poland. In order of prevalence, the presented themes include entering into a general dialogue focused on sexual activity, eliminating the long-term (e.g. unplanned pregnancy) and short-term (e.g. rejection by one's partner) consequences of sexual activity, establishing ideal circumstances for sexual initiation, and, as a transition stage, meeting needs relevant only to those who have already initiated sexual activity. Although by no means exclusive, these findings offer some insight into adolescent sexual initiation, reflective of Poland's socio-cultural climate, where adolescent sexuality remains a taboo topic and teenage magazines may be viewed by certain groups of adolescents as a resource for supplementing existing sexual education.