Well-developed programming (technical) skills are very important for software engineers, information systems engineers and programmers in general. However, they must also possess relevant personal skills (soft skills) to be successful at the workplace (eg, collaboration, solving real-world problems and communication). The latter, however, are rarely assessed and acknowledged in regular software engineering courses. This paper describes the results of a small case study involving an extracurricular Java programming course in which, in addition to knowledge and skills in relevant technologies, students' soft skills were also assessed. As part of the assessment, students have been awarded Open Badges. The study was exploratory in nature, aimed at examining Open Badges as a motivational mechanism, students' engagement in attaining soft skills and students' perception of soft skills and Open Badges. The results suggest that Open Badges may not be so effective in motivating students to complete the assignments nor attend the course, although students' perception of Open Badges is generally positive. Soft skills were generally perceived as important as hard skills. Students' engagement in attaining soft skills could be affected by assignment announcement time and its level of difficulty. 相似文献
This study explores the role of the motivational self-regulation in academic procrastination under the personality framework. Therefore, the aims of the study were to investigate: (a) the role of personality dimensions in the self-regulation of motivation; (b) the role of self-regulation of motivation in procrastination; and (c) the mediating role of the self-regulation of motivation. The participants were 274 university students (M?=?21 years). The Big Five traits explained from 6% to 17% variance of the individual motivational regulation strategies (MRSs). Both personality (conscientiousness) and the MRS (environmental control) were significant predictors of academic procrastination. Conscientiousness, agreeableness, and intellect showed an indirect effect on reducing academic procrastination, mediated through the strategy of environmental control, thus additionally suggesting the important role of this motivational strategy. Since this strategy can be taught, these findings have a strong practical value. 相似文献
The present study reports an empirical investigation into concept formation of young children. Based on interviews conducted before and after participating in a playfully enacted chemistry lesson at a culture center, it is analyzed how 6-year-old children conceptualize water, molecule, and chemistry. Theoretically, the study is informed by Vygotsky’s cultural-historical perspective on concept formation. The empirical data consist of pre- and post-interviews with children and documentation of their participation in the intermediate activity. This documentation is used in the post-interviews as a mutual ground for talking with the children about what they remember and how they understand the activity they participated in and what the activity intended to illustrate. The results are presented in terms of three inductively generated categories: ‘everyday’, ‘experientially-based’, and ‘generalized experiences’ concepts, respectively. The implications of these findings for early childhood chemistry (science) education are discussed.
The induction period is a very important time in the career of a teacher and has a long‐term influence on the teacher’s professional development, efficacy, job satisfaction and the length of his/her career. One of the key roles in this period is played by the trainee’s mentor. This paper presents the results of the extensive project ‘Partnership of Faculties and Schools’, carried out at the Pedagogical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, with the financial support of the European Social Fund and the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. We studied an induction project involving 361 teacher trainees and 331 mentors. The study reveals the trainees’ expectations towards their mentors and the mentors’ and trainees’ evaluations of how the mentor aids a teacher trainee in developing their competences. 相似文献
The study examined the predictive value of adolescents’ personality trait ratings by different groups of informants in explaining academic achievement [grade point average (GPA)] while controlling for students’ sex and their mothers’ education. The Inventory of Child/Adolescent Individual Differences was employed as a measure of students’ personality traits at the end of elementary schooling (mean age = 14.7 years) and two years later when the participants attended secondary schools. The trait ratings were obtained through self‐, maternal and peer reports at both measurement occasions. They explained substantial portions of unique variance in the students’ GPA concurrently, and over time. Ratings by each of the three groups of informants had an incremental validity over one another in predicting school grades. Among personality variables, conscientiousness and low extraversion were consistently predictive of GPA. 相似文献
The paper seeks to understand the trajectories of students who defer entry to university. The study was conducted in Lithuania, a former Soviet Union republic. The phenomenon of a ‘gap year’ is usually associated with young people, who decide not to enter higher education schools immediately after receiving secondary education, instead they choose to spend a year volunteering, working or engaging in other activities. This article analyses the choice of taking a gap year from the perspective of rational choice theory, complemented by human development theory, which was developed by R. Inglehart and his colleagues. The latter theory allows discovering relation between the spreading of the gap year phenomenon in developed European countries and the emergence as well as development of post-materialist values from the macro-level perspective. The theoretical analysis is based on semi-structured interview data collected in Lithuania. 相似文献
ABSTRACTThe aim of this research was to examine the levels of burnout syndrome dimensions in special education teachers and correlations with some socio-demographic characteristics, job characteristics, and levels of assertiveness. The research included 225 special education teachers from Serbia (82% were women, 18% were men, with the average age of 42.51 ± 9.23 years). Research instruments included Maslach Burnout Inventory, Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. There were differences in all burnout dimensions in relation to types of students’ special needs. Higher levels of burnout symptoms were observed in teachers working with children with motor skill disorders. The assertiveness scores had a significant negative correlation with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, and a positive correlation with a lack of accomplishment. The results obtained may help in the planning of the adequate preventative measures for improving the mental health of those professionals. 相似文献
This article analyses the role of the cooperation with and the influence of the Nordic countries on the development of a democratic society in Lithuania through adult education since the reinstatement of its independence from Soviet regime in March 1990 to the present. The authors focus on three main areas: (1) the training of Lithuanian adult educators; (2) the establishment and development of NGOs; and (3) the implications for a Lithuanian policy of adult education. Within the framework of Nordic-Baltic cooperation established among five Nordic and three Baltic countries (NB8) in 1992, Lithuanian adult educators seized the opportunity to visit Scandinavian institutions and projects. Experiencing Nordic adult education ideas has resulted in a marked shift in Lithuanian adult educators’ values, methodology and careers; and in the establishment of a series of very influential umbrella associations as well as hundreds of NGOs in Lithuania which work with adults and support functioning democratic values in society. This shift is related to the civic responsibility and active participation growing out of the bottom-up approaches of group work, cooperation, discussions and learning circles which are so inherent in the Nordic tradition of adult education. The internalisation of new democratic values was more complicated than expected for many Lithuanian politicians, adult educators and NGO leaders in terms of how political decisions were perceived and implemented. Furthermore, the influence of the Nordic-Baltic cooperation in adult education may also be traced in adult education policy implications in Lithuania. Some changes in the policies of contemporary Lithuania have not been successful and even failed to promote a democratic society. 相似文献