Original research. Рубрика в журнале - International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational work of kindergarten teachers
Статья научная
The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the educational process from the perspective of kindergarten teachers. There is not enough research on the effects that the pandemic has caused in educational work with young children. The paper aims at better understanding of the realization of educational work during the state of emergency in Serbia, which came as a consequence of the unfavorable epidemiological situation. Teachers, children and parents are recognized in the paper as key determinants of educational quality. The results of the assessment of the attitudes of 168 teachers in Serbia on important aspects of the educational process during the state of emergency were statistically processed. Based on the obtained results, conclusions were made that show a sufficient degree of adaptability of teachers to the new situation as well as a significant role of teachers as factors of stability of educational work. The results emphasize a high degree of positive attitudes when it comes to cooperation between teachers and parents. The results show that there is a lot of room for improving the quality of educational work at a distance.
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The impact of using social media on academic achievement and attitudes of prospective teachers
Статья научная
The current study was conducted to investigate the impact of using social media and internet on the academic achievement of prospective teachers. Focus group of the research could be expressed as 204 prospective teachers that were studying in 2016-2017 fall semesters. To collect data, Attitudes Towards to Social Media Scale was employed. Result of the study revealed that, prospective teachers’ attitudes towards to social media had an influence on academic achievement. Furthermore, it could be stressed that prospective teachers with lower attitudes towards to social media were more likely to have lower academic success when compared with the prospective teachers with higher attitudes towards to social media. In addition to these, results of the current study also expressed that prospective teachers with social media accounts were achieved better grades when compared with the prospective teachers who did not have any social media account. Lastly, it could be indicated that prospective teachers’ attitudes towards to social media was at a moderate level.
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Статья научная
Timely, comprehensive, and continuous protection, as well as the use and presentation of authentic tangible and intangible cultural-historical heritage of a certain area can greatly contribute to the economic, ecological and social development of the community and the strengthening of the competitive position. Digitization should relax all previously known forms of cultural expression and enable access to the broadest audience and their participation in cultural life. This paper has the ambition to contribute to a more comprehensive appreciation of the digitization process, facilitate access to digital content and motivate new thinking about the continuous improvement of the availability of movable and immovable cultural assets, as well as intangible cultural heritage. A primary questionnaire was created in order to assess the views and opinions of the citizens of the Republic of Serbia on the importance of the digitization process for the promotion of cultural heritage. The research sample was an opportunistic, convenient sampling of residents of the Republic of Serbia from all 5 regions (n=138). The importance of the digitization process for the promotion and preservation of cultural heritage has been established. Modern technologies are insufficiently represented in the promotion and preservation of cultural heritage, while this attitude is supported by a slightly higher percentage of respondents with the highest level of education. The importance of the digitization process for the promotion and preservation of cultural heritage has been proven, and respondents with the highest level of education attach the highest degree of importance to it. The greatest contribution can be seen in the preservation of the national identity and cultural diversity of the national communities, of our region, with social networks being the media that can contribute the most to the promotion of cultural heritage.
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Статья научная
If our time is stressful, than protecting and promoting of our mental health is imperative of the time that is coming.In modern literature there is a huge interest for the determination of the mental health of the emotional intelligence, which is treated as a factor for it’s keeping and development. This paper is based on the assumption that the emotional intelligence has considerable contribution for understanding the relationship between psychosocial stress and mental health, seen through three important variables: self-confidence, depression and aggressiveness. In the research were included 72 people, and for variables’ measurement are used: questionnaire for measuring emotional intelligence (PК-45), stress inventory and questionnaire for emotional structure of the person- Profile index of emotions. The results from the regressive analyses showed that stress is connected to the three indicators of the mental health. People with low emotional intelligence react with lower self-confidence and high depression and aggressiveness in stressful situations. The two competencies of emotional intelligence (EI) - self consciousness and social consciousness statistically are different from the other relevant measures which show that EI is important thing in understanding the relationship between the stress and mental health.
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The method of destructive scenario forecasting for the development of divergent thinking of managers
Статья научная
The phenomenon of thinking is well studied in psychology, and many of its types are revealed. However, little attention is paid to the development of divergent thinking in general and the development of divergent thinking of managers in particular. At the same time, multidirectional management decisions, their prompt adoption and the originality of content are very necessary for enterprises. The aim of the article is to give the characteristic of divergent thinking, to note its features and to present own definition of the concept “divergent thinking of managers”. In the article the analysis of one of the functions of managers, that is forecasting, is described. The scenario method and a new method of destructive scenario forecasting are proposed. The algorithm of the last method application in the form of a technological map is shown. The result of using the method for 2 years on specialized programs of professional development and retraining of managers is described. The results of mathematical processing of the obtained data on diagnostic procedures are presented. They testify that in the experimental groups the development of qualitative characteristics of divergent thinking of managers proceeded more intensively than in the control ones, in which the method of destructive scenario forecasting was not used. That proves the effectiveness of the proposed method for the development of divergent thinking of managers.
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The traditional concept of the teaching staff continually is expanding and changing not only in the content but in the methodology and in the forms of learning as well because of the permanent change of the social conditions and the advancement of the science and technology. The teacher is a mediator of the knowledge and a key person who realizes the reforms and the teaching processes into practice and that is why the present and the future requires from the teacher qualified, expert and fundamental pedagogical knowledge. The competences and the skills as a changeable category mainly recognized and focused on the enrichment and the personal development of someone who learns, besides the initial education implies flexibility as well. Even more it implies improvement of the skills and the knowledge according to the given time frame periods and life conditions by the science and the technology development. During the teachers’ initial education there is a need of expanding their pedagogical skills and competences in order the pedagogical function to be fulfilled in a modern world using the foreign language in the teaching process as a tool for an entry to new resources and innovative techniques of studying. In the paper there is a presentation of a short comparison of the teachers’ competences in the English linguistic speaking areas and in Macedonia through comparing the educational programs of the higher faculty institutions and colleges.We will present their attitudes and opinions in terms of the level of the acquired competences in the initial education. The results are to be used in the professional improvement of the teaching competences of the English language and other subject teachers during their initial education. The research implemented with the teachers in the schools led to the conclusion that there is an immense need of expanding the teachers’ competences during their initial education.
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Статья научная
The representation format of math problems can manifest dissimilarly in people with varying levels of math performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the neurocognitive underpinnings of two-digit exact calculation tasks in different formats: numerical and word. Fifty-three students were divided into groups with high and low levels of math performance based on their ability to solve math problems. They were asked to calculate addition problems with two-digit numbers and to read math problems that did not require calculations. Brain activation was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). General linear model (GLM) analysis revealed that reading math problems without calculation led to increased activation in the inferior temporal and fusiform gyri in a group of high-level performers, while a group of low-level performers demonstrated increased activation in Broca’s area and the inferior frontal gyrus in the same experimental condition, as well as during solving arithmetic problems in a word format of the exact calculation task. Analysis after bootstrapping revealed similar activation patterns in both groups. Both domain-specific and domain-general regions of the frontal and parietal brain areas were involved in the calculations. Right and left hemisphere activation was found both in low and high math performers. Comparing experimental conditions with resting state revealed significant activation in Broca’s area in all conditions in a group of high-level performers and in a word format of arithmetic problems in a group of low-level performers. Thus, the observed brain patterns suggest the involvement of complex sentence comprehension, especially in high-performing students. These results could be used in future to improve educational practice for students with varying levels of math competence.
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The order in the structure of motives of activity: quantitative description
Статья научная
The purpose of the study is to conduct an empirical verification of the validity of the theoretical assumption that there is an order in the structure of motives of activity, which is determined by the proportionality between the significance of each motive in their aggregate significance and is quantitatively manifested in the parameters of the hyperbolic H-distribution ranked by the parameter. The necessary conditions for solving this problem are highlighted: a) structural elements - weakly functionally dependent on each other motives; b) in the structure of motives, the functional significance of each has a quantitative expression, which must be measured through the organization of empirical research; c) the measure of the total functional significance of all motives is limited by the situation of activity and the costs of obtaining its product. On a sample of students of the first, second, third, fourth courses of technical and humanitarian specialties (N=860) using the method of subjective assessment of the significance of each of the three motives for studying at the university in their combined significance (“acquisition of knowledge”; “mastering a profession”; “obtaining a diploma”) and using a given level of the average error of approximation of empirical results with an H-distribution of 10%, it was found that statistically, at a level of error probability less than 20%, students with an average error below a given level predominate. The possible formal and substantive reasons that led to a decrease in the validity of the result are named. The interpretation of the results in the context of the “junction” of systems theory and activity theory is presented. The directions of further research in the context of the proposed model are determined.
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The position, role and tasks of the homeroom teacher are defined in the Law on primary education, Regulation on the form and content of the pedagogy documentation and evidence in primary school; Regulation on assessment, upgrading, passing exams, acquiring certificates and pedagogical measures for the children in primary school. The need of strengthening the educational role of the school resulted in introducing of odd class in 2007/2008 for the pupils of the second to fifth grade in nine years primary school aiming to influence the personal, emotional and social development of the pupils. The scope of this research relies on the class homeroom teacher and their tasks in the successful realization of the tasks in accordance with the contemporary requirements. In that context is the aim of already mentioned research: to determine the effects of introducing homeroom class in two cycles of nine-year education, as well as the effects of the realizing the contents of the educational program for life skills. The pedagogical function of the teacher will be examined through several important aspects: how successfully the teachers realize the pedagogical, the administrative and the organizational tasks; how much the contents of the life skills program are in function of solving the issues met by the pupils in first two cycles of the primary education; how capable and qualified are the teachers to realize the contents of this program.
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The prerequisites of prosocial behavior in human ontogeny
Статья научная
Understanding the development of moral attitudes toward unrelated individuals from different social groups may provide insights into the role of biological and cultural factors in prosocial behavior. Children (3-11 years old, N=80) were presented with moral dilemmas describing a conflict of interests between a con-specific (human) and another species (animals or aliens). Participants were asked to evaluate the behavior of a human in terms of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and to choose whom they would help: a human aggressor who benefits at the expense of a victim in vital need, or the victim. Results showed that the older children preferred to help non-human victims significantly more often than the younger children. The evaluation of human actions was related to the proportion of such preferences. These findings are discussed from the perspectives of kin selection theory, group selection theory and the system-evolutionary approach. The implications of the study for moral education are suggested.
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The quality of online higher education teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic
Статья научная
This paper presents a study of online teaching in higher education during the 2021/2022 school year, during the Covid 19 pandemic. The theoretical foundation of this research is Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, according to which online teaching is realized through social presence (students’ interaction), teaching presence (student-teacher interaction) and cognitive presence (student-content interaction). This quantitative research was conducted in six countries: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Romania and Russia, and the answers were received from 808 students. At all participating faculties, online teaching was applied during the observed period, and in almost 80% of cases it was realized in full or to a greater extent than in in-person classes. The aim was to determine CoI presences and to identify possible differences among countries. The obtained data was processed with quantitative descriptive analysis and Kruskal-Wallis H test. The highest values of CoI presence were noted in Russia and Romania, then Slovenia and Croatia, and the lowest in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. In the whole sample, teaching presence has been most represented, followed by social presence, while the cognitive presence has been scored the least. Entire CoI presence was assessed as partially represented, as well as its three elements, the lowest of which is cognitive presence. In order to improve the online teaching process, in this paper technological and pedagogical training of teachers for online teaching, support for students for the use of digital tools for online learning and the provision of IT experts as necessary technical support are recommended.
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Статья научная
The presented results of the study allow us to determine the ratio of verbal and nonverbal components of thinking activity in solving problems of different types. The novelty of the research is in the use of individual cognitive maps made on the results of collaborative thinking activity in the study of possible combinations of symbolic (verbal) and figurative (nonverbal) components of internal thought processes implemented in different conditions. The study included two methodological blocks. The first of them is diagnostic. It consisted of four tasks (a verbal task with one solution, a verbal task with multiple solutions, a nonverbal task with one solution, a nonverbal task with multiple solutions), as well as a cognitive map based on the results of solving these tasks. The second block is mathematical and statistical, including the Kruskal-Wallis H-test, the Mann-Whitney U-test, and the Friedman chisquare test. The study sample consisted of 80 students of the Don State Technical University. As a result of the study, it was found that cognitive maps created with time constraints significantly outperform cognitive maps created without such restrictions in terms of figurative, symbolic abstractness and symbolism. Cognitive maps created without time constraints significantly outperform cognitive maps created with time constraints in terms of imagery. In general, the predominance of the verbal or nonverbal components of thinking can vary significantly, but the general trend towards the predominant character of the imagery of thought processes remains.
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The relations between morphological space and the athletes’ jumping and throwing events result
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The sample included 200 primary school students in the region of Prokuplje, male, aged 13 and 14 years, who, in addition to regular physical education classes, were included in the sports clubs training activities. The variables sample included 13 anthropometric measures as a set of predictors and four specific-motor tests of jumping (high jump and long jump) and throwing events (shot put and javelin), as well as a set of criteria. The aim of this research was to examine the relation of morphological characteristics with the jumping and throwing events results, with elementary school students as athletes. Determining the relations and influence between the morphological characteristics and the specific motor skills was obtained by applying the canonical-correlation and regression analysis. The research of canonical correlation analysis results showed that there are statistically significant interlinks between canonical factors of morphological dimension Can. 0.81% (p =.000) and the results of examinee’s specific-motor skills in a long running jump, running high jump, shot put and javelin. Regression analysis results show that the morphological dimensions have an important prediction of the results of examinee’s specific-motor skills.
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This article describes a study of the preschool children's communication with their mates in joint mental activity, one of the results of our study was the establishment a correlation between the intensity and effectiveness of the communication.
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Статья научная
The aim of the work is to identify strategies for transferring the meanings of information messages used by students in social networks, and how these strategies are related to the students' meaning-of-life orientations. The study was conducted with the use of a theoretical method, as well as a survey, a content analysis, an expert method, a psychodiagnostic method, descriptive statistics, and also nonparametric tests, the Kruskal-Wallis H-test and Spearman's rank correlation method. Among modern youth, social networks are one of the most common sources of obtaining and distributing information. Therefore, it is important to find out what strategies for transferring the meanings of information messages are used by respondents. The expert method and content analysis allow us to identify 6 strategies for transferring meanings that students use in communication when transferring the meanings of various publications in social networks. Further analysis shows that each strategy has its own features of the meaning-of-life orientations components and significant relationships between the strategies of the meanings transferring and the components of the meaning-of-life orientations of social networks users are also revealed. Thus, we can conclude that the features of the transferring of meanings are significantly influenced by the meaning-of-life orientations, in particular, goals in life. Thus, the study emphasizes the importance of the semantic communication in social networks, the results of which can influence the effectiveness of communication, training, and the interaction among users.
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The role of action research in teachers' professional development
Статья научная
The challenges of contemporary education and teaching profession have resulted in an increased demand for the appropriate professional advancement and practice-based research. The action research is an approach that encourages teachers to manage and control their own work. This research was conducted with the purpose of being primarily beneficial for primary and secondary school teachers. The empirical research presented in this paper was based on the factor analysis, by which the research factors were extracted, as well as on the examination of the teachers' attitudes towards methodological education, cognition and metacognition in teaching, reflexive practice, science education and lifelong learning in the context of the action research. The method used was descriptive together with the scaling technique and the five-level Likert scale (AISE) consisting of 29 items. The research was realized in 2020, and then retested in 2021. The number of 1021 teachers from the Republic of Serbia participated in this research. The research results showed statistically significant differences in the respondents' responses related to the independent research variables: education cycle, teaching experience and the number of professional development seminars attended. The significance of action researches is reflected in the fact that the problems are resolved by the teachers themselves, not the scholars or academics who are not directly involved in teaching. Therefore, this research contributes to a greater motivation and support of teachers to raise their classroom activities and accomplishments to the level of a scientific research.
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The role of education in the formation of values and value orientations among adolescents
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In this paper is discussed the concept of values and value orientations, as to the role of education in the process of their forming among adolescents from middle and late adolescence. Presented and discussed are the results of a larger research regarding the differences in values and value orientations in adolescents with different kind of education and: а) adolescents learning religious subjects and ethics b) adolescents learning ethics and c) adolescents learning neither religious subjects, nor ethics. The findings obtained testify for the presence of differences in the system of values in adolescents with different educational type as regarding the following instrumental values: cooperation, honesty, determination, capability, assistance, clarity, generosity, logics and competing. There are also differences regarding the terminal values: an exciting life, peace in the world, self-respecting, peace of mind, equality, economic welfare, pleasure and social justice. As regarding to the examined life styles, differences are found between the examined groups of adolescents in the following value orientations: family, altruistic, utilitary, popular and individual, as to religious, hedonism and power.
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The role of persistence in students’ self-realization
Статья научная
The paper analyzes the results of an empirical research obtained with the help of a sample of students. The research of persistence was carried out within the framework of the dispositional concept of personality traits and individuality by A. I. Krupnov. The techniques developed by A. I. Krupnov as well as the author’s test of persistence were used in the study. After allocating the levels of persistence, the features of self-realization were analyzed in each group of the respondents. The specificity of self-realization was revealed in the context of the author’s polysystemic concept, the author’s multidimensional questionnaire on personality’s self-realization (MQPSR) was used as a diagnostic tool. The empirical study revealed statistically significant differences in the specifics of self-realization of the students with different levels of persistence manifestation. The respondents with a high level of persistence realize themselves more successfully in different spheres of life due to the obvious active behaviour, optimistic attitude, high motivation, creative methods and techniques of self-expression, internal self-regulation and constructive behavior. The students with low persistence lack successful self-realization because of passivity, pessimism, external locus of self-control, a high level of barriers and standard simple schemes of self-expression.
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The role of students' life course conception in their self-development
Статья научная
To facilitate students' self-development it is necessary to understand the inner factors of this process as well as the ways of increasing its productivity. This paper studies whether a person's idea (mental representations) of their own life course influences self-development. To examine this phenomenon 215 engineering students completed the study. The empirical research included two phases. The purpose of the first phase was to examine if there was co-herence of the two analyzed constructs - the life course conception and intentional self-development. During the second phase a programme was implemented which was dedicated to the improvement of students' life course conception. Also, changes in indicators of self-development and life course conception were studied. The results show that maturation of student's life course conception, awareness of experience and future goals, understanding of one's significant life achievements, attitude toward oneself as a source of life events and achievements, and thoughtful actions in goal pursuit promote intrinsic motivation, and activity in self-development. The improvement of student's life course conception and formation of meaningful ideas about their own lives help to actualize self-development. The results of the study can be implemented in education programmes' development in order to choose appropriate methods for the facilitation of students' self-development.
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The role of the school counsellor in school-community collaboration: the case of Slovenia
Статья научная
The article presents some essential characteristics of collaboration between the school counselling service and individuals or institutions in the community. The role of school counselling in Slovenia is not limited merely to counselling and providing direct assistance to students with learning and their personal development. Rather, it includes the encouragement of all participants in the educational process to create adequate learning environments. The role, however, should also be understood in broader terms as organizational and content collaboration with external environments, institutions and individuals in the community. The authors begin by proposing some starting points for collaboration between the school counselling service and the local community and, in the second part of the article, they move on to the findings of their empirical research study, conducted on a representative sample of school counsellors working in Slovenian primary schools. The results prove the need for collaboration between the school counselling service and different institutions or individuals in the community. The authors primarily focus on examining the obstacles and drawbacks to the collaboration, while they simultaneously highlight examples of good practice that enable constructive collaboration, without which schools and school-based counselling would not be able to contribute to educational processes. The described examples demonstrate that collaboration between schools/school counsellors and institutions/individuals in the community is crucial to solving the problems that students and their families face.
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