Year : 2022

Vocational Education with Social Distancing: Data from Online Platforms

30 June 2022

This is a study of how vocational education was transformed to deal with social distancing due to
coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation. Data was taken from online delivery platforms such
as Coursera, Timepad, and Edumarket. The demand for educational courses in Russia increased by
2.5 times in the first half of 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19. Despite this only 19% of learners
are prepared to continue their learning after the quarantine measures are lifted. In the first half of
2020 programs on these platforms were focused on soft skills. There was an increase in programs for
stress resistance, leadership, productivity, business, hobbies and art, parent-child relationships, and
foreign language learning. The proportion of programs reliant on social communications decreased
significantly. However, there was an increase courses in IT (blog / website development, machine
learning), and medicine (ensuring safety in case of coronavirus infection, prevention of COVID-19,
etc.). The study is of interest to the heads of regional educational departments, specialists of the
continuing education in universities, professional educational organizations, non-governmental
organizations of continuing education, labor exchange and those who are involved in continuing
education and self-learning.

Classification of Sciences and Systematization of Knowledge for the General and Professional Integrative Education Content Design

30 June 2022

The article highlights the need for a new classification of scientific knowledge in order to reform
the educational doctrine in modern Russian society. Several reasons explain this position. First,
the constantly increasing volume of information leads to the “lag effect” of educational programs
in comparison to scientific achievements; the effect of “redundancy” of knowledge cannot be
envisioned and learned within the school year. Second, the post-non-classical stage of science is
marked by the interdisciplinary nature of any knowledge and a focus on its object, which limits its
representation within the framework of classical scientific differentiation and results in the loss of
a holistic view of the world, which is unproductive in the context modern man’s cognitive styles.
Third, modern education has evolved to a practice-oriented system that helps students adapt to
world situations, but it has not altered considerably. The article examines prior classifications of
sciences and puts forward a new conceptual model of systematization of knowledge that takes into
account society’s educational demands.
The anthropic principle underpins the proposed model of classification of sciences and knowledge
systematization. This model can be used to create new educational programs based on the logic of
integrative education, define constant academic disciplines for general and professional education,
the order in which they should be studied, and the possibility of constant modernization of
knowledge without expanding the number of academic disciplines. The provided methodology
of scientific classification and knowledge systematization is thought to be useful in addressing the
pressing issues in current education.

Text as a Goal and Outcome in the Teaching of Native Languages at the Primary General Education Stage (Comparative Analysis of Russia and Bulgaria)

30 June 2022

The capacity to work with text is becoming increasingly vital in the modern world. Text skills are
now seen as ubiquitous, influential, and intellectual. This article analyzes the educational standards
and curricula used in Bulgarian and Russian schools at the elementary general education level as
they relate to the formation of textual skills for students in primary school. Additionally, the paper
presents the results of a study that looked at the development of text skills among younger students
from Bulgaria and Russia. The authors employed a variety of methods, including theoretical
analysis, experiment design, and qualitative and quantitative analysis of the experiment outcomes.
One-hundred and two Bulgarian and Russian primary school children participated in the study.
The research findings may be of interest to scientists and practitioners in the field of teaching native
languages and literature.

Designing New Educational Programs in Special Education

30 June 2022

The growing number of children with disabilities studying in various institutional settings has made
it necessary to analyze educational programs for special needs teachers in terms of their relevance.
In the field of special psychology and correctional pedagogy, traditional specializations (speechlanguage
therapy, oligophrenopedagogy, surdopedagogy) cannot adequately meet society’s needs
for psychological and pedagogical support for all types of students with mental and physical health
disorders. The authors identified general trends in the training of special education teachers while
studying educational programs for bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education offered by
higher education institutions under the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. Persons
with disabilities, whose education and psycho-pedagogical assistance are not given by professional
workers, were identified. The factors that influence the development of new educational programs,
as well as their validity and importance for providing correctional and pedagogical aid to students
with special educational needs, are investigated.

A New Approach to Pedagogical Local History in the Professional Development of the Teacher of the Future: From Comprehension to Translation

30 June 2022

The importance of the problem under study stems from the rising demands of the state and modern
society for a teacher’s professional growth. The objective of this paper is to establish a new format of
pedagogical local history as a strategic resource for professional development of the teacher of the
future. The notion of pedagogical local history has been explained from the standpoint of a branch of
pedagogical science that investigates the past and current situation of education in the country and its
areas. Through the generalization of sources, clarification and interpretation of formulations, a new
approach was proposed to understanding pedagogy as it relates to the professional readiness of the
future teacher to independently manage his or her career, to determine the trajectory of profession,
and to set desirable goals to promote the cultural heritage through the interaction of times, the
development of a new one, and the preservation of the past. By incorporating the main principles
of digitalization into pedagogical practices, regional pedagogical traditions were articulated in the
context of the cultural heritage of generations of the Orenburg region. Regional factors have been
found as having a novel quality to the seemingly well-known processes of professional evolution
of the future teacher due to their “territorial” nature. The influence of pedagogical local history on
the construction of a distinctive individual-creative style of a new evolution teacher, as well as the
enrichment of historical and pedagogical heritage, was assessed analytically. The authors conclude
that evaluating the strategic resources of pedagogical local history, which could play a certain
reinforcing role in preparing a teacher for innovative pedagogical activities, based on the traditions
and historical experience of studying the region and understanding the modern problems of its
development, is of current importance. The Google Forms tool was used to conduct an online survey
of 235 instructors.

E&SD 17(1) March 2022

31 March 2022

Contents
Nick Rushby
Editorial: Recent references 6
Elina B. Khobotova, Maryna I. Ihnatenko, Inna V. Hraivoronska, Iuliia S. Kaliuzhna
A Competency-based Approach to Environmental Education: Learning About “Radioecology” 10
Galina I. Simonova, Anastasia O. Luchinina
Study of Educational Needs of Applicants with Disabilities 28
Musa Nushi, Amirpooya Dayani
Instagram-Assisted Learning of Collocations and Colligations: The Case of EFL Learners 44
Shahyad Mohammadnia Afruzi, Mehdi Vaez-Dalili, Bahram Hadian
Investigating the Effects of Written Corrective Feedback and Revision on EFL Learners’ Production of Grammatical Structures 62
Branka Radulović, Maja Stojanović, Milanka Džinović, Oliver Zajkov
Students’ Opinion of Gifted Education and Teaching Profession 80
Michela Freddano, Valeria Pandolfini
Teacher Training on Data Literacy for School Evaluation and Improvement: A Teacher Professional Development Experience in Italy 89
Nežka Sajinčič, Anna Sandak, Andreja Istenič
How do Slovenian Educators feel about Gamification? Interested to Know More 99
Alexey M. Polyakov
The Use of Symbols by Elementary Schoolchildren and Adolescents with Learning Disabilities as Tools of Awareness of Subjective Reality 110
Oksana O. Gorshkova
Implementation of Modular Engineering Programs in Collaboration with Employers 120
Nadezhda V. Sivrikova, Elena V. Moiseeva, Nadezhda A. Sokolova,
Tatyana G. Ptashko, Elena G. Chernikova, Natalya P. Artemeva
Analysis of Nominal Pedagogical Experimental Data Using the Example of the Development of Conflict Competence 136
Alexander A. Litvinyuk, Svetlana A. Ledneva, Ekaterina V. Kuzub
Target Characteristics of Creative Young Professionals in the Field of Science and Higher Education 153
Elena V. Borzova, Maria A. Shemanaeva
Multifunctionality as a Feature of Modern Education: Evidence from University Language Education 164
Anna V. Bakina, Snezhana M. Sityaeva, Olga A. Orlova, Valeria I. Ambrosova, Elena N. Katkova, Alexander A. Shumeyko, Andrey A. Bazilevsky
Students’ Subjective Well-Being as a Criterion for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Children’s Centers: Evidence from All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean” 179
Anastasia Pesha
The Development of Digital Competencies and Digital Literacy in the 21st Century: A Survey of Studies 201
Mariya A. Stupnitskaya, Svetlana I. Alekseeva, Anna N. Nalobina
A Toolkit to Assess the Level of Universal Competencies (Soft Skills) of Pedagogical University Students 221
Veronika B. Veretennikova, Olga F. Shikhova, Yuri A. Shikhov, Agzam A. Valeev
Diagnostics of Student Teachers’ Pedagogical Thinking Based on a Competence Approach 233

Editorial: Recent references

31 March 2022

In addition to editing Education & Self Development I am on the reviewer panel for
other journals in the field. I never begrudge the work involved in reviewing: it gives me
insights into what other researchers are thinking, long before their work reaches the stage
of being published. It also gives me a way of moderating the reviewing activities of E&SD
so that we are matching the standards of other journals.
This piece was prompted by a discussion between the authors and reviewers of an
article submitted to one of these journals. It concerned the recency of the references and
I recalled that on several occasions over the past few months, submissions to E&SD had
been criticised because many of the references were ‘old’ – that is, published more than
ten years ago. It is a simple matter to read through the list of references and count the
number that are more than, say, ten years old, but that does not necessarily mean that
they do not have value. In contrast to high energy particle physics, our field of education
and psychology moves relatively slowly.

A Competency-based Approach to Environmental Education: Learning About “Radioecology”

31 March 2022

The research objective was to develop a new approach and methodology for the discipline
of “Radioecology.” This ensures that the education is practice-orientated, with the possibility
of distance and independent learning, skills improvement, and the development of interdisciplinary
relationships. The research methods used a theoretical and methodological analysis of scientific and
educational literature, logical and semantic modeling of the learning content, design, theoretical
analysis and synthesis. The research achieved a new curriculum for “Radioecology,” the creation and
implementation of a theoretical course and the development of the practical part of the discipline.
This was differentiated by difficulty levels and aimed at solving specific situational problems. The
work proposed the creative component of the practical part in the form of individual tasks requiring
the learner to resolve a specific production problem situation. It also created a laboratory workshop
with the development of modern scientific methods a textbook on radioecology and an electronic
version of the methodological support of the discipline, facilitating independent training and
making distance learning possible.

Study of Educational Needs of Applicants with Disabilities

31 March 2022

Background. The presence of health limitations and disabilities of students affects the structure and
content of their educational needs. In some cases, these students may require special counseling in
career guidance, assistance in social and psychological support in the process of acquiring education.
Aims. The purpose of this study was to analyze the educational needs of applicants with disabilities
and develop recommendations to expand the accessibility of higher education for this category of
youth. The research was carried out as part of the State task of the Ministry of education and science
of the Russian Federation.
Methods and procedures. The researchers monitored the educational needs of applicants with
disabilities using the survey method in the form of an online questionnaire.
Outcomes and results. The article presents the results of monitoring the educational needs of 170
Russian school graduates with disabilities and health limitations who studied in 16 comprehensive
educational institutions, where students of the 11th grades were trained and who expressed a desire
to participate in the monitoring. The research was carried in the assigned territory out as part of
the State task, which includes 7 constituent entities of the Russian Federation: the Republic of
Bashkortostan, Mari El, Tatarstan, the Udmurt and Chuvash Republics, the Orenburg and Kirov
regions.
Conclusions and implications. Based on the analysis of the monitoring results, recommendations
for regional and municipal authorities and educational organizations subordinate to them were
developed. The recommendations are aimed at positioning ways to increase the accessibility and
quality of higher education for persons with disabilities, their further employment and career
growth.

Investigating the Effects of Written Corrective Feedback and Revision on EFL Learners’ Production of Grammatical Structures

31 March 2022

The study was an attempt to examine the effects of three types of written corrective feedback
namely direct, indirect, and metalinguistic, and the related responses (with and without revision)
on the production of grammatical structures by Iranian intermediate EFL learners. 180 language
learners were chosen out of a population pool of 260 participants and assigned to six groups of
30 learners based on their performance on Oxford Quick Placement Test (QPT): DCF with and
without revision, ICF with and without revision, MCF with and without revision. Provided with
different types of feedback, the students in any of six experimental groups were given instruction
on present and past perfect tenses. A pre-test -post-test design was applied to conduct the study.
Participants in each group were required to take Dicto-Comp as a pre-test. After being offered
with the relevant treatments, a parallel post-test was run. The results showed that students in all
experimental groups outperformed their knowledge of present/past perfect tenses from the pre-test
to the post-test. Students in the ‘DCF with revision’ outperformed all other groups, and the groups
required to make revisions (i.e., DCF / ICF / MCF with revision) outperformed the corresponding
groups with no revision, and the only groups whose scores (between pre-test and post-test) showed
more variation were MCF with and without revision. The results provide valuable insights into the
effectiveness of teacher feedback on L2 writing ability at large and learning these two tenses at least
for the participants of the present study. Furthermore, these results suggested that providing written
corrective feedback can be beneficial as an enhancing element in the curriculum development for
improving EFL learners’ writing ability.

Students’ Opinion of Gifted Education and Teaching Profession

31 March 2022

Gifted education is specific and requires extensive investment from teachers to respond to their
students’ cognitive and social needs. Due to the link between beliefs and behaviors, teachers’ views
on this issue are often monitored to ensure that gifted students receive educational opportunities
appropriate to their learning needs. This paper presents student teachers’ attitudes to gifted education
and their perception of the teaching profession. It was considered essential to look at how future
teachers relate to the teaching profession to prevent possible problems and better respond to gifted
students’ needs. Eighty-three students of the Teacher Education Faculty, University of Belgrade,
participated in the research. A customized Gagné and Nadeau questionnaire Attitudes towards the
gifted and their education and a customized questionnaire Teacher job satisfaction were used. The
results showed that students have favorable opinion of gifted education in Serbia. Thus, positive
thinking and the theoretical concepts related to gifted education they studied will be appropriately
incorporated into their teaching practice. It also shows that these students are sensitive to other
groups of students with disabilities. A significant belief was that ‘Children with disabilities have
the greatest need for special educational programs.’ The research showed that students are satisfied
with the social position and opportunities for advancement that the teaching profession offers them,
while they are somewhat more dissatisfied with society’s economic position. The positive results are
encouraging because they indicate the existence and maintenance of a positive trend toward Serbia’s
gifted education.

Teacher Training on Data Literacy for School Evaluation and Improvement: A Teacher Professional Development Experience in Italy

31 March 2022

This paper presents a teacher training experience involving 674 Italian teachers working in primary
and secondary schools in Liguria Region, in the North of Italy. The course aims to train teachers in
analysis, interpretation and use of data emerging from the census-standardized tests by the Italian
National Institute for the Evaluation of the Education System (INVALSI) for the assessment of
students’ learning in Reading, Mathematics and English language at different school levels. The
paper contributes to the debate on teachers’ data literacy by describing the experience and discussing
preliminary results from two online surveys of teachers attending the training course (completed
respectively, by 452 teachers, totaling 67.1% of the overall population attending the course, and
by 413 out of 515). The first survey was administered at the beginning of the experience, exploring
teachers’ previous professional development experiences of evaluation topics, their expectations in
relation to the course and self-efficacy of evaluative and educational strategies. The second survey
was administered as a satisfaction questionnaire at the end of the training course to teachers who
attended the online laboratories. Differences among primary and secondary school teachers are
discussed, together with teachers’ level of satisfaction for the training course. The paper stresses the
importance to train teachers in data literacy, as a challenge for training teachers in the 21st century,
and it encourages teacher professional development initiatives promoted by public authorities at
local levels in order to better meet the specific local needs.

How do Slovenian Educators feel about Gamification? Interested to Know More

31 March 2022

Research examining teachers’ attitudes toward gamification is scarce, although attitudes play a critical
role in implementing a new pedagogical approach. The aim of this study was to understand whether
Slovenian educators are familiar with the concept of gamification, whether they have experience
using it, and what their attitudes are towards its use. A secondary goal was also to construct an
instrument that can capture the affective, behavioral, and cognitive components of teachers’
attitudes toward gamification. Based on survey results from 103 Slovenian educators, teachers did
not have a good understanding of gamification and had difficulty distinguishing it from game-based
learning, although more than 60% reported using the principles of gamification at least once in the
past year. However, teachers’ attitudes toward gamification are quite positive and they expressed an
interest in learning more about how to use it in their teaching. They would use it mainly to make
learning content more interesting and motivate their students but have concerns that it is difficult to
implement and that it would overwhelm them. The main findings of the study show that Slovenian
educators lack familiarity with gamification and competencies to effectively take advantage of its
benefits but are open and positive about adopting this innovative method to motivate their students.

The Use of Symbols by Elementary Schoolchildren and Adolescents with Learning Disabilities as Tools of Awareness of Subjective Reality

31 March 2022

Schoolchildren with learning disabilities have difficulties in communication and interaction with
other people and this is related to their awareness of other’s subjective reality. A symbol is a “mental
tool” for awareness of subjective reality. The symbol is a cultural presentation of subjective reality,
mediating the relationship and interaction of two or more agents. The purpose of this study, based
on cultural-historical methodology, is to identify and experimentally verify the use of symbols
to understand this agent’s subjective reality by younger schoolchildren and adolescents with
learning disabilities. The experimental method is based on identifying the dominant attitudes to
the awareness of the agent’s subjective reality, as well as how it is interpreted and evaluated by the
child. The study involved 80 students of secondary schools: 40 with normal development and 40
with learning disabilities (9-12 and 14-16 years old). It showed difficulties in understanding agent’s
subjective reality and the predominance of a stable objective attitude to symbols and other people,
with significant differences in the Mann-Whitney U test for the experimental group of participants of
both ages. This feature is considered as an obstacle in the construction of interpersonal relationships
and cooperation by children and adolescents and can serve as a target for psychological assistance.

Implementation of Modular Engineering Programs in Collaboration with Employers

31 March 2022

There is currently a problem in engineering universities with the quality of training of graduates.
This article discusses the formation of a system of partnership with basic enterprises, integrating
the implementation of the main professional educational programs in a practical-modular format.
Empirical methods were used to determine the level of graduate training in the engineering
university by evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation process of practical-modular
educational programs and identifying the dynamics with the participation of employers. The article
examines the need for practice-modular training (PMO), the preconditions for its implementation,
and highlights the problems solved through partnership between the university and enterprises,
taking into account the interests of all the actors involved. It sets out the stages and the technology
for implementing the programs, and specifically considers the case of training for the oil and gas
business. The possibilities of an electronic educational environment, students’ project activities, and
different types of practice in the implementation process of PMO are revealed. The effectiveness of
PMO is demonstrated by the results of the State final certification, an independent comprehensive
assessment of the training of graduates by employers. The article will be useful for teaching staff in
engineering universities, specialists in the field of pedagogy, theory and methods of professional
education, and the system of additional education.

Analysis of Nominal Pedagogical Experimental Data Using the Example of the Development of Conflict Competence

31 March 2022

The paper examines the problem of using mathematical statistics methods in pedagogical research.
It identifies and describes the possibilities of using different methods of analysis of nominal data
in processing the results of pedagogical experiments. The authors analyzed the frequency of use of
statistical criteria in 100 publications in journals included in Web of Science and the Russian Index
of Scientific Citation. The criteria for selecting publications were (1) year of issue; (2) reviews of
manuscripts; (3) free access to the publication from the publisher; (4) availability of quantitative
data on test results before and after pedagogical impact; (5) conclusions about the effectiveness
of pedagogical impact. It was found that 45% of publications did not use mathematical statistics
methods to test scientific hypotheses. Of the mathematical statistics methods used by the authors,
the T-Test and Chi-square Test are more often used. For the study example of developing conflict
readiness in future teachers, it presents the possibilities of using: Chi-square Test, Fisher’s Exact Test
(Phi test), Cramer ‘s V Test and Somers’ d Test.

Target Characteristics of Creative Young Professionals in the Field of Science and Higher Education

31 March 2022

The article deals with the problem of rejuvenation of the staff potential in scientific organizations and
higher educational institutions through the selection and motivation of talented young specialists
to build their career trajectory in the field of science, high technology and higher education. The
authors provide a detailed description of the target characteristics necessary for successful work
in a creative environment. Based on original methods and building on the basic provisions of the
theory of motivational complex work activities and use of the MMPI diagnostic test, they define the
reference variant personality, and motivational profile of the scientist and compare it with the real
profiles of undergraduate and graduate students wishing or not wishing to continue their graduate
education with subsequent employment in a higher school or scientific organization. By logical
comparison of the reference and real profiles, the article came to the paradoxical conclusion that
people who are predisposed to scientific activity do not have aspirations to enter graduate school.
Those who are professionally unfit for scientific activity, on the contrary, tend towards graduate
school. Based on the analysis of the causes of this situation, a number of proposals for improving
the system of professional selection and motivation of talented young professionals are formulated
and justified. They are mainly related to the development of diagnostic tests for career guidance and
the use of the postdoctoral institute. The authors suggest that the implementation of these proposals
will contribute to the rejuvenation and strengthening of the human resources of higher educational
institutions and scientific organizations in the Russian Federation.

Multifunctionality as a Feature of Modern Education: Evidence from University Language Education

31 March 2022

The article deals with the phenomenon of multifunctionality in the education context, particularly
in university foreign language education, considering teacher and student activities, materials and
texts, as well as technologies and tasks. It demonstrates the need for the development and application
of specific educational tools which are based on complex goal focus and expected integral outcomes
of university education. Multifunctional tasks are considered to be an effective way to form and to
enhance both key and subject-specific competences. The article describes the main characteristics of
such tasks and the essential conditions to implement them in university foreign language classrooms.
Examples of multifunctional tasks intended for foreign language learning are presented and their
potential for teaching non-language subjects is also outlined.