There is a problem in evaluating improvements in education effectiveness that is related to the
selection of appropriate, clear assessment criteria and methods for measuring the results of the
educational process. This article discusses the possibility of using the students’ subjective well-being
as a criterion for internal evaluation of the educational system effectiveness in a children’s center.
It describes indicators of subjective well-being and methods for studying them. The process was
tested at the All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean” in 2019. Two cohorts participated in the study:
‘Parus’ (92 people aged 13 to 17 years, average age 14.7 years) and ‘Brigantine’ (74 people aged
11 to 17 years, average age 15.2 years) – a total of 168 people. To study the cognitive component
of well-being, the level of satisfaction among students in “Ocean,” and the opportunity to realize
their needs in this children’s center were assessed. The study used a modified methodology of
international index of personal well-being, a modified version of the techniques ‘Level of correlation
values and accessibility in various spheres of life’ developed by E. B Fantalova. To assess the
emotional component of pupils’ well-being, their prevailing emotional background was studied
using a modified version of the questionnaire ‘Feelings in school’ developed by T. N. Klyuyeva).
The subjective well-being indicators in specific aspects of the children’s center life were analyzed,
both for the center as a whole and separately for the cohorts. This analysis made it possible to assess
the possibilities of fulfilling different children’s needs in the Centre, the number of areas where
there was an internal conflict (due to insufficient subjective availability of value) and an internal
vacuum (due to excessive presence of low-value phenomena in the child’s life). An integral indicator
of misalignment was taken into account, showing the degree of internal dissatisfaction and the
obstacles to basic life needs.
Year : 2022
The Development of Digital Competencies and Digital Literacy in the 21st Century: A Survey of Studies
The development of digital competencies and digital literacy in the 21st century is one of the most
urgent in the theory and practice of modern education. The need for an understanding of the analysis
of scientific knowledge on this issue is confirmed by the high demand for digital competencies of
specialists in the labor market. The paper organizes and presents publication trends in the field of
human digital abilities, with an emphasis on in-depth study of topics in higher education. Reviews
and analytical work were carried out using the Web of Science, Google Scholar, RSCI (eLibrary).
The analysis was based on the 120 most cited publications for the period from 2000 to 2020 and this
article provides a final overview of 55 articles. The results are presented in visual-graphic form. In
particular, the concepts related to digital abilities used in scientific everyday life are presented in the
form of a pyramid of concepts: from the basic concept of ‘digital skills’ to the broadest meaning of
the concept of ‘digital literacy.’ The word cloud reflects the most frequently used words in scientific
works describing human abilities in the digital sphere. The article presents a graphical visualization
of the factors influencing the formation and development of digital literacy and digital competencies
of university students. The results obtained will be of interest to researchers of digital literacy
and digital competencies, teachers, and university leaders in the implementation of educational
programs.
A Toolkit to Assess the Level of Universal Competencies (Soft Skills) of Pedagogical University Students
As science and technology develops rapidly and the knowledge gained over the years of study devalues
equally rapidly, a university should not only provide students with specific, highly professional
knowledge and skills, but also develop universal competencies (soft skills), which include the ability
to self-study, self-development, communication and cooperation, creativity, critical thinking and
others. These are the skills that are increasingly valuable and will be more valuable in the future for
the personal and professional success of a young specialist demanded by an employer.
In the absence of unified and validated methods for diagnosing universal competencies, and with the
uncertainty and inconsistency relating to the basic set of soft skills required for a young specialist at
the start of his/her professional career, difficulties arise in organizing the educational process in high
education to integrate the development of hard and soft skills. The aim of the study was to develop a
toolkit for assessing and monitoring the level of development of universal competencies in students
of a pedagogical university.
The proposed toolkit was tested at the Institute of Natural Science and Sports Technologies of the
Moscow City University. It made it possible to identify strengths and weaknesses in the educational
process, acting as a sensitive diagnostic tool and facilitating the choice of a strategy aimed at
increasing its effectiveness for developing students’ universal competencies. The proposed approach
is universal and can be used in different contexts.
Diagnostics of Student Teachers’ Pedagogical Thinking Based on a Competence Approach
In the didactics of higher education, the issue of professional thinking development (so-called
pedagogical thinking) for students majoring in pedagogics remains insufficiently studied. At the
same time, pedagogical thinking, and the methods of its development and diagnostics can provide
clear guidelines for teaching individualization and correction mechanisms. These methods should
focus on fostering the professional qualities for future teachers.
The purpose of the article is to describe the proprietary technology for diagnosing the level of students’
pedagogical thinking – future preschool teachers – using the group expert assessment method.
Research methods and techniques. The study was carried out through a competency-based approach,
which coordinates the competence-oriented goals of future teachers’ professional training with the
level of their pedagogical thinking. The method of the group expert assessment was used to justify
the structure, content, and students’ pedagogical thinking levels. We involved qualified university
instructors and pre-school teachers as experts.
Findings. We determined the basic structure of pedagogical thinking and its development levels for
these students. This helped to define the choice of teaching aids and targeted assistance to students
within individual educational pathways. The article shows the interrelation of components and
interdependence of the pedagogical thinking for students with the structural components of the
professional and pedagogical competence for a bachelor degree student.
The novelty of the research. The authors propose a methodology for diagnosing the development
level of students’ pedagogical thinking which is coordinated with the competence-oriented goals
of their professional training. The federal-state educational standard of higher education and the
Professional standard “Teacher (pedagogical activity in the field of preschool, primary, basic and
secondary education)” determines the content of these goals.
Practical significance. The findings of the research can be applied by administrative authorities and
university instructors for planning individual educational pathways of undergraduate students, as
well as of post-graduate students studying the current issues of preschool education.
Instructional Leadership Models in Modern Schools
The tool developed by Hallinger (PIMRS) has been widely used to identify the level of involvement of a school principal and his/her management team in instructional leadership. PIMRS unfolds the domains which principals delegate to their team, domains that are of a priority for the leadership team when drawing up the school’s instructional leadership profile. However, no studies have been conducted aimed at identifying instructional leadership models based on the profiles obtained by applying PIMRS. Cluster analysis (Ward’s method) was carried out to identify the instructional leadership patterns of 120 schools in one of the megacities of Russia. Four instructional leadership models were identified, and recommendations were provided.
Investigating the Effects of Written Corrective Feedback and Revision on EFL Learners’ Production of Grammatical Structures
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.
Instagram-Assisted Learning of Collocations and Colligations: The Case of EFL Learners
Instagram, as a popular social networking platform, allows users to share photos and videos with other users. This research investigated the effect of Instagram-assisted instruction on the learning of collocations and colligations by Iranian EFL learners. Fifteen participants who were selected based on a language proficiency test took part in this research. The participants were first pre-tested on their collocational and colligational knowledge. The collocational and colligational items that were answered incorrectly by 50 percent or higher were selected for treatment. Afterwards, the researchers prepared nine videos, containing 41 collocational and colligational items, and posted them on Instagram during a five- week instruction period. The participants were asked to watch the videos, and carry out the related exercises in the caption section of the post, through the usage of the comments sections on Instagram. After posting all the videos, the pre-test was run again as a post-test. The results indicated a significant difference between the mean scores of the pre- and post-test, highlighting the fact that the treatment had been effective. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants in order to find out their attitudes towards language learning via Instagram. The learners indicated a positive attitude towards using Instagram for their language learning purposes. In conclusion, the research showed that Instagram-assisted instruction, when properly implemented and designed, can be beneficial to the development of second language learning.
The principles of the implementation of gaming technologies in a blended learning environment in a technical university
We formulated seven general principles for authors for the implementation of educational gaming technologies in an engineering university based on descriptions in the literature. The principles are ordered by their “importance” for the quality of the game model and systemic influence on the student. These principles provide conditions for mastering educational material by resolving problematic game situations. Conclusions are made about the effectiveness of the methodology based on the principles. It was found that the role of the emotional component in the educational process increases, the students’ independent work is stimulated, the quality of teaching increases, and the teacher is freed from routine control operations.
Study of educational needs of applicants with disabilities
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.