International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education @ijcrsee
Journal articles - International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education
All articles: 525
Students’ school satisfaction: the role of classroom climate, self-efficacy, and engagement
Scientific article
Students’ satisfaction with school is subjective, cognitive appraisal of overall positivity of school experiences, and precisely because it represents the key aspect of children’s overall perception of quality of life, it is important to find out what influences students’ school satisfaction and to which extent. The goal of this research was to establish whether self-efficacy and engagement function as mediating variables in the relationship between classroom climate and students’ school satisfaction. The research included 597 students from primary schools in Zagreb, Croatia. A structural equation model was designed and tested. The model testing showed that positive classroom climate has statistically significant and positive effects on self-efficacy and engagement. Furthermore, self-efficacy has a significant positive impact on explaining engagement. At the same time, negative classroom climate has a significant positive influence on engagement, which in turn contributes to the final effect on school satisfaction. The model has explained 56% of the school satisfaction variance in total.
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Study of sports teachers students' skills for self-assessment of their professional qualities
Scientific article
An essential characteristic of the teacher’s profession is the constant process of self-improvement, which is impossible without existence of a specific personal position and criteria of the sport pedagogue. One of the trends for self-improvement is his personal and professional qualities. They are important because of their specific role - as a means of influence on the trained students in the educational process. Self-evaluation of the level of their growth is a regulator for the sport teachers conduct and activity because it determines the genuine orientation for the level of his qualities, the satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
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Studying the welfare of children at an early age in the system of institutional care
Scientific article
This article discusses the need to develop a unified vision and strategy for enhancing the welfare of children at an early age in the institutional care system in Bulgaria. The methodological basis for the research is the “Quality Framework for Early Childhood Services” (QFECS) of the International Association Step-by-Step (ISSA). A diagnostic tool was developed that explores the guiding principles of good practices in nine different priority areas in three distinct groups in Bulgaria. It analyzes the state of early care and identifies the resources that ensure the quality of services during early childhood.
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Styles of decision making and management and dimensions of personality of school principals
Scientific article
This paper explores preference to the style of decision making (managerial, analytical, conceptual and behavioural), (Alan Rowe, 1992), management styles (relationship-oriented leadership and management by objectives), (Fiedler, 1987) and personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism), (Eysenck, 1998). The convenience sample of 61 respondents (principals of primary and secondary schools from Macedonia) were subjected to decision making style inventory (Decision Style Inventory - DSI) of 20 claims, a questionnaire to assess the management style (Least preferred coworker - LPC) composed of 18 bipolar adjectives, and a personality test (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - EPQ) composed of 90 items in the form of questions. Results show that schools lean towards directive style of decision making with a combination of democratic-participatory style that includes subordinates in the process of decision making. The results also demonstrate that school principals prefer management style motivated by relationships; they are more introverted and emotionally stable. The findings indicate a necessity for a new generation of managers who will be different from the traditional managers. It is evident that the future will require managers with leadership styles different from the traditional in Republic of Macedonia. Given that the school is a basic organisational cell on which the educational system of the country is based, the proposed findings present an occasion for developing new ideas and practices that may yield great results. This would increase the flexibility and adaptive capacity of the school as a modern organisation. Thus, these findings have practical implications as they may direct special training of principals in order to apply the best management style, or style that is most appropriate for certain situations, certainly through coordination of the desired profile of the principal and the business strategy, development and maturity of the organisation.
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Suicidal thoughts as cognitive risk factors for suicide among cancer patients
Scientific article
The aim of this study is twofold. The first aim is to investigate whether we can use the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), translated on Macedonian language, item 9 in order to screen passive suicidal thoughts. The second aim is to describe the nature of „better to be death thoughts or hurting own self in some way“ reported with structure clinical interviews carried out in order to further asses passive suicidal thoughts of cancer patients, who hade endorsed item 9 of this scale. The data were collected from Department of maxillofacial surgery, Clinical Hospital, Stip, Macedonia, during the period june 2014 - june 2016. The final survey sample consists of 122 patients (66 % female and 34% male) aged 19-70 years. Inclusive criteria: patients were diagnosed with cancer in maxillofacial region. We applied Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and structured clinical interview. Two weeks after they become familiar with the diagnose they filled up PHQ-9 scale, and after four weeks clinical interviews were carried out. The reliability (Cronbach`s alpha) for the PHQ-9 scale translated on Macedonian language and sample was good (alpha > 0.85). We found that patients with diagnosed cancer who endorsed „passive suicide ideas item 9“ were more likely to have suicidal thoughts which were described latter on during clinical interview. We analyzed thoughts reported by patients in the frame of modified categories of suicidality. Of 67 (54.92%) of patients who endorsed item 9 with „yes“, the highest percentige was in category with passive suicidal thoughts 39 (58.21%). Due to the limitation of this study, more studies are needed in future.
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Scientific article
We aim to review students’ conceptions of engineers and engineering accessed through their drawings. Accordingly, we enrolled in a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocols. For that, we established the Web of Science as the source of information. After applying eligibility criteria, the search resulted in ten records. We observed that many reviewed studies enrolled in research designs which contained comparisons of groups, cohorts (cross-age) or pre-post-tests. However, they generally overlooked appropriate statistical tests. Overall, the studies evidenced that most students conceive engineers as males who work individually in manual activities and outdoor environments. The major contribution of this study is providing an overview of the investigation of children’s conceptions of engineering. Additionally, we call attention to the need for more research, teacher training, and carefully planned and executed activities that enhance students’ conceptions of engineers and engineering instead of worsening stereotypes-especially considering current curriculum proposals, such as STEAM education embracing engineering at precollege levels.
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Teacher competence in reducing the level of aggression in the classroom
Review article
The authoress of the text raises the issue of teaching problematic students. This phenomenon mainly concerns the inappropriate behaviour of students in lessons of various subjects as well as inappropriate reactions of teachers. The authoress attempts to analyze the main problem, searching for the causes and consequences of this problem in education. In the following parts of the text, she shows and tries to resolve the development of the problem, trying to convince the reader of the practical and theoretical importance of discussing problematic situations in the process of education. The consequences of problematic student behaviour, preparing future teachers for coping with problem students, teaching activities aimed at weakening the actions of a “problematic” student, the importance of competence in interpersonal communication in activities correcting the attitudes of troublesome students are one by one discussed in the text. The selected contents are supplemented with references to the cited literature and with the opinions of the authoress. The article is closed by conclusions together with an indication of directions and areas of further research and practice.
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Teachers, students and extracurricular activities in primary education
Scientific article
In the scientific public, since long ago, there has been an interest in studying leisure time. Leisure time is a central issue of modern civilization, integral part of the structure of modern society and a significant factor for a person’s development. The goal of this research is to study the modern concept of and the benefits from the introduction of leisure (extracurricular) activities in the primary education process. Certain investigations show that teachers, through extracurricular activities, can have a significant role in building and improving the talents of students. From the answers received in the enquiry it can be seen that both teachers and students have different attitudes and interests regarding extracurricular activities. The school has still the best position and the hope for developing students’ skills for the wide world of extracurricular activities.
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Teachers’ key competencies for innovative teaching
Scientific article
The educational process is by its nature and essence very dialectical, so it necessarily requires teachers to have a developed whole set of various competencies. The aim of the research was to examine teachers on self-assessment of competencies that were crucial for innovating the teaching process. The sample of respondents included 1300 elementary and secondary school teachers in the territory of Southern Serbia. The instrument used was a five-point TCS scale of attitudes, with a total of 48 items (individual competencies). The results of the analysis showed that teachers, based on their self-assessments, highly value all diverse groups of competencies, which fully confirms the general hypothesis. The results also showed the existence of statistically significant differences in the degree of expression of attitudes about competency groups with regard to independent research variables, within special hypotheses, based on which the first was rejected, the second partially and the third and fourth special hypothesis fully confirmed. The issue of key competencies of teachers is certainly one of the fundamental issues when it comes to quality teaching, its innovation, generally successful and efficient dealing with the educational process. Based on these postulates, there is hope that the obtained research results will represent a good starting point and incentive for further research work in this field in the future.
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Scientific article
High achievements in the cognitive domain are the ultimate goal of any education, within it is important to understand the role of the teaching context. In this regard, the purpose of this research was to determine how teachers perceive the role of the teaching context on the pupils’ achievements in the cognitive domain in general technology education. For this purpose, a survey of teachers’ perception towards the influence of isolated elements of the teaching context, specific to technology education, on the achievements of learning objectives was conducted. The study was conducted as a survey on a stratified sample of technology education teachers (N = 194) from Croatia. ANOVA repeated measurements statistical procedure was used to process the research results. The analysis of the results showed that teachers give preference to certain contextual elements over others. These are activities with technological artifacts, models and simulations, service-learning activities, field trips, work in an appropriate space and the student’s presentation of their own results. These elements can be considered as a contextual basis for the cognitive development of pupils in general technology education. Teachers’ perception of the influence of other elements of the teaching context is not negligible, but obviously there is no priority over these elements, which is why further research is needed.
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Teaching ESP online: a guide to innovation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis
Scientific article
The paper studies the student experiences related to online teaching of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in order to determine which computer-mediated learning practices were perceived as purposeful and should be incorporated in traditional in-person teaching. The sample comprised of 60 students from two faculties of the University of Belgrade, Serbia. Descriptive statistics were obtained. The gathered data were subjected to qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The results indicate that the positive experiences are related primarily to synchronous conferencing in the form of real-time written communication as an integral part of the classes offered via videoconferencing. The use of video content and availability of various learning materials uploaded to the learning platforms proved to be helpful. Loss of concentration, technical difficulties and a lack of in-person communication were perceived as obstacles to effective learning. The most salient conclusion of the study refers to the necessity of incorporating real-time comment writing in the traditional classroom. The results also urge the need for addressing the issues of large classes and inadequate auditoriums in the traditional mode of teaching. The conclusions provide the guidelines for the improvement of in-person teaching of ESP based on specific computer-mediated learning practices that were found facilitative of the development of the students’ language competencies.
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Scientific article
This is a multidisciplinary paper presenting a synthesis of informational, educational, and ecological factors. This author discusses the inter-relationship between the aforementioned factors by means of an analysis of a comprehensive model of information-communication technology (ICT) support in the teaching and learning of ecology for students of vocational schools. In other words, the objective of the paper is to define accurately the manner, time, and extent to which computers, educational software, internet, as well as other modes of information - communication technology (ICT) are used in the ecology-related subjects taught in vocational schools, i.e. to offer a model of ICT support the implementation of which will be possible not only in ecology lessons, but other subjects with associated ecological contents as well.
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Teaching methods used in special education: a content analysis study
Review article
This study aims to reveal the situation and trends in teaching methods used in special education. Content analysis and citation analysis were used in this study as a research model. Published documents were obtained from Scopus by using the keywords ‘teaching method’ and ‘special education’ and a total number of 63 documents were obtained. The published documents were examined based on the previously determined content analysis criteria involving year of publication, name of the journals, authors, affiliations, countries, document type, subject area, keywords, language and citations. Data were analysed and provided with frequency and percentages. Results generally showed that there is an increase in the number of researches on teaching methods and special education throughout the years, most of the published documents were articles and from the areas of social sciences and psychology. All of the results were discussed with the relevant literature and recommendations for further research and practices were presented.
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Technique of thinking style evaluating
Scientific article
The results of psychometric analysis of the new technique of thinking styles diagnostics are presented. The fundamental principles of thinking style concept by A. Belousova, according to which the thinking style is determined by the dominance of a person's function in the structure of thinking activity during the problem solving, are covered. In accordance with A. Belousova's ideas that the collaborative thinking activity as a self-organizing system is carried out by means of functions assumed by each participant: function of generating ideas, the function of selection (review and evaluation of information), functions of sense transfer and function of implementation. Thinking of adult, acting as a complex self-organizing system, combines the same functions: generation, selection, sense transfer and implementation. In this connection, we believe that the thinking style is defined as a characteristic set of functions actualized by a person in different situations of the problem solving. Domination of generation function determines the development of initiative thinking style, selection - critical, sense transfer - administrative, implementation - practical. The results of testing the reliability and validity of a new questionnaire for the thinking style diagnostics on a representative sample of Russians are given. The author's version of the questionnaire is presented.
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Scientific article
The research in question investigates the technologies of initiating independent activity within the framework of distance learning and their psychological aspects. The authors' classification of educational technologies of initiating students into independent cognitive activity is presented. Such technologies utilize various psychological mechanisms of exciting students' cognitive interest, intensifying cognitive processes, developing independent activity skills, and, as a result, increase motivation for independent activity and learning on the whole. These include such types of technologies as developmental technologies, interactive technologies, technologies of information transfer, technologies of meaning-making initiation. The research of the attitude of distance learning educators to independent activity of students and the content of the academic courses were done at Moodle-based education programs. The findings show the differences in retention rate among distance learning educators whose competence in terms of initiating students into independent (self-guided) activity varies. It's emphasized that interactive lectures, videoconferences, audio-visual aids, interactive seminars, glossaries, interactive tests are considered the most efficient technologies in initiating students into independent (self-guided) activity. The obtained results have made it possible to stress the developmental effect of distance learning technologies and the technologies of initiating students into independent (self-guided) activity in various psychic spheres of students: cognitive, individual, emotional. We mention the changes in motivational sphere of students and their meaning-making activity. In the course of correct development of distance learning we notice the development of voluntary and nonvoluntary cognitive activity. A student starts actively participating in educational process, he becomes the creator of his own world.
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The Correlation Between Academic Media Multitasking and Achievement-a Meta-Analysis
Scientific article
Academic media multitasking specifically refers to the phenomenon where students or academics divide their attention between learning-related activities, such as studying or reading scholarly material, and non-learning activities like texting friends, checking social media, or browsing unrelated websites. Studies confirm a negative correlation between media multitasking and academic achievement, with some reporting small to moderate effects or no correlation at all. This topic is particularly important today due to the pervasive use of media among younger generations and its impact on attention, focus, academic performance, and cognitive load. This meta-analysis aimed to quantitatively integrate individual correlational studies and draw general conclusions about the relationship between academic media multitasking and academic achievement. The sample comprised studies published in English scientific journals from 2010 to the present, with methodological characteristics matching the context of this analysis. A total of 11 studies were included in the final analysis. Correlation coefficients were used as a measure of effect size, with both fixed and random effects models applied to calculate the overall measure of effect size. The quality of the included studies was assessed, and potential publication bias was examined using a symmetry graph and Trim and Fill analysis. The results confirmed a low-intensity negative correlation between digital multitasking and academic achievement with a weighted average correlation coefficient of r=−0.252 (fixed effects model) and r=−0.246 (random effects model) and high heterogeneity (I² = 93.98%) among the studies, suggesting variability in the findings. The present meta-analysis also revealed high heterogeneity among the studies, suggesting variability in the findings. This heterogeneity opens avenues for exploring potential mediating relationships or covariates that impact why students engage in digital multitasking.
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Scientific article
The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act), adopted in 2024, and introduced the first comprehensive legal framework for regulating artificial intelligence across sectors, including education. This paper explores the dual implications of the Act—contractual and pedagogical—within the context of digital education, with a particular emphasis on IT curricula. It examines the risks of diminishing foundational knowledge in algorithmic thinking, programming, and system architecture as AI tools become more prevalent in academic settings. The paper analyzes legal obligations arising from the use of AI in education, such as transparency, informed consent, and liability, situating them within the law of obligations and contract law. It argues that AI integration in education, particularly in high-risk domains, requires more than technical compliance: it demands sustainable, ethical, and pedagogically informed implementation. Drawing on EU policies, UNESCO frameworks, and recent academic literature, the paper proposes strategic recommendations to ensure that digital education not only complies with legal standards but also upholds the core mission of higher education—critical thinking, ethical responsibility, and the cultivation of foundational knowledge.
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Scientific article
Critical and creative thinking skills are essential in 21st-century education, but conventional learning approaches are still less effective in developing these skills. This study aims to analyze the influence of the Citizen Science Project learning model on the critical and creative thinking skills of high school students in Indonesia. The research method used experiments with post-test control groups, involving 70 students divided into experimental and control groups (35 students each). Instruments in the form of essay questions were used to measure students’ critical and creative thinking skills, while data were analyzed using quantitative descriptive analysis and inferential statistics using the MANOVA test. The results showed that the Citizen Science Project model significantly improved students’ critical and creative thinking skills compared to conventional learning (p < 0.05). This improvement demonstrates the effectiveness of the model in facilitating high-level thinking skills. These findings indicate that the Citizen Science Project can be an innovative strategy in learning to improve 21st-century skills. Therefore, this model is recommended to be applied in Education.
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The Effect of Emotional Charge of Visual Stimuli on Memorization and False Recognition
Scientific article
Various sensory stimuli, including visual ones, carry certain emotional characteristics. Given that the brain continuously processes a vast number of sensory inputs, inevitably, memory and emotions are intrinsically linked. This study aims to explore the connection between experience and cognitive performance. Through a quantitative experimental design, it has been demonstrated that individuals are more likely to remember emotionally charged visual stimuli compared to neutral visual stimuli. Additionally, a significant effect of emotional charge on memory recall was identified, with a positively charged stimuli being remembered more effectively than neutral ones. From the perspective of specific emotional charge, a preference for greater enjoyment of positively charged emotional stimuli over negatively charged ones was also observed. However, the effect of emotional charge on the occurrence of false associations was not confirmed, as no differences in false associations were found between emotionally charged and neutral visual stimuli. This knowledge can enhance our understanding of cognitive processes within the Slovak population and may serve as a foundation for future research in the field of cognitive sciences.
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The Effect of Primary School Teachers Using Online Education on Their Professional Creativity
Scientific article
This study aims to examine the effect of online education on the professional creativity of primary school teachers. The research was carried out in a mixed method. The study group of the research consisted of 319 primary school teachers who work in various primary schools in Zhetysu Region, Kazakhstan, and have online education experience. The data collection tools of the research were the teacher creativity scale, whose Kazakh language validity was provided by the researchers, and the semi-structured interview form. The analysis of the quantitative data of the research was carried out with SPSS 25 statistical program. Content analysis was performed for the analysis of the qualitative data of the studies. As a result of the research, it was determined that the creativity levels of primary school teachers were high. According to the seniority variable among primary school teachers, it was determined that the creativity levels of those with medium seniority were higher than the others. The vast majority of teachers stated that online education has a positive effect on professional creativity. The study recommends increasing the creativity level of primary school teachers, by establishing in-service training programs for all teachers, especially those who are in the first and last years of their professions.
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