The basis of successful socialization of children with ASD is a sufficient degree of mastery of social and domestic skills for optimal functioning in society. The process of such children acquiring social and everyday behavior skills is lengthy and gradual, and its effectiveness depends largely on the adults raising the child, and, above all, on the parents. In order to reduce possible negativism in relation to the learning situation, children with ASD need an explanation of the importance of the task and a requirement that will have a greater effect if they come from an adult who is close to the child. For the gradual mastering of elementary skills of social and domestic behavior, constant daily training is necessary, which can only be provided in a family environment. In terms of effectiveness, the best way to teach children with ASD social and domestic behavior is recognized as operant learning, the optimal conditions for the implementation of which are formed in a family setting.
Thus, the family and its corrective influence on the child with ASD becomes the focus of attention. The parental type of attitude is a necessary condition for the effective development of children with autism. If the relationship is properly built in the family, the child with ASD is given considerable time, which allows the parents to conduct corrective and developmental work in the conditions of family upbringing. In this case parents encourage any manifestations of the child’s initiative, activity and independence.
Therefore, the aim of the study is to analyze the influence of the type of parental relations on the general level of development of social and domestic behavior in general and its specific components skills, which will allow to form a system of further comprehensive work to build a developmental environment for children with this nosology.
The paper presents the results of our own experimental study containing a qualitative analysis of empirical data, from which it is clear that children with ASD, brought up in families with parental relations of the type “cooperation” demonstrate higher rates for all components of social and domestic behavior, at the same time type “acceptance” provides a significant level of social failure and infantilization of the child with the ability to interact with a close adult. The “symbiosis” type causes the risk of occurrence of persistent dependence of the child with ASD on parents, leading to social disadaptation. The most disorganizing type of parental attitude is “little loser” which provokes a child with ASD to be as dependent as possible on parental assistance in all the aspects of social and domestic life.
The results obtained can be used as a basis for targeted, comprehensive and systematic correctional and developmental work with families with children with ASD on the formation and development of social and domestic behavior.
Journal Articles
Formation of Professionalism of Future Social Teachers in the System of Training in Russia and Kazakhstan (Comparative Aspect)
Social pedagogues are specialists representing the nurturant profession that requires high professionalism and is still in great demand. The modern society needs highly qualified social pedagogues to address the issues of younger generation’s socialization in today’s complex socio-economic and political context. Future social pedagogues improve their professional skills by mastering the profession through gaining the awareness of their professional level that motivates the career development. The excellence and necessary competences are incepted at the stage of professional education.
The authors of this article investigate the features of future social pedagogues’ professional formation in the training systems of Russian and Kazakhstan. Research methods are analysis, comparison, generalization, synthesis, historical and pedagogical reconstruction.
The article presents the results of a comparative analytical review of professional formation specifics in the national education systems of Russia and Kazakhstan. The comparison of professional formation specifics demonstrated the common problems of social pedagogues’ training determined by the shared historical past, the similarity of socio-economic factors in the development of the education systems. The identified differences imply the analysis of the ways to improve the training of future social pedagogues. The analysis shows that the professional success of social pedagogues is defined by focusing on social competences and social responsibility development as part of the training process. According to the authors, specialists’ training based on the methodological principles of axiological approach contributes to the formation of future social pedagogues’ conscious attitude both to their education and their professional development.
Motivation of Student Teachers’ Professional Career
The negative consequences of an incorrectly chosen profession affect both the person himself/herself and his/her social environment. The right choice of profession helps to reduce staff turnover and increase labor productivity. This truth is directly related to the teaching profession. The problem of motivating a professional teaching career, as well as the problem of motivating human behavior and developed. There are practically no special studies that would trace the relationship between the motives for choosing a pedagogical career and the motivation for pedagogical activity among students at the initial stage of teacher education.
The purpose of the study: to identify the career orientations preferences of first-year student teachers from various types of universities implementing teacher education programs: the capital’s pedagogical university, federal university, classical university, regional multidisciplinary university in the national region, regional pedagogical university and regional university of humanities and technology.
E. Shein’s method of studying professional career motivation (adapted by V.E. Vinokurova and V.A. Chiker) was chosen as the research method. First year students of six Russian universities enrolled in the Pedagogical Education program participated in the study.
The study presents the student teachers’ career orientations on the following scales: professional competence, management, autonomy, job stability, residence stability, service, challenge, lifestyle integration, entrepreneurship. Dispositions, value orientations and social attitudes of students that influence career orientations are also presented.
The Development of Integrative Qualities of Primary School Teachers in the Context of Distance Learning
The paper focuses on the need to facilitate the rapid development of integrative qualities of primary school teachers who work remotely. The authors examine the mechanism of methodological support for the development of integrative qualities of primary school teachers in the context of distance and blended learning.
The review of scientific literature, detailed information on integrative qualities of the teacher, and the formation process design created the opportunity for successful development of integrative characteristics of teachers using a well-tired mechanism to support their professional training in the distance and blended learning modes.
The development of integrative qualities, ensuring the successful implementation of modern educational principles, becomes an essential task of education and a key component of pedagogical skills. Professional activities of teachers require them to react quickly to situations and implement their actions in a timely manner. Every day, teachers are involved in a variety of activities determined by their integrative qualities. Teaching is governed by the uncertainty and dynamics of the learning process, which cannot be fixed. The educational process, as a living organism, can be constantly transformed. Thereby, it maintains its viability.
The study aims to identify and theoretically justify the mechanism of methodological support for the development of integrative qualities of primary school teachers working in the distance and blended learning modes.
To address the research questions, we opted to apply questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, comparative analysis, and pedagogical modeling.
The paper presents the results of surveys and interviews with primary school teachers of rural settlements, urban-type villages and cities in the Republic of Tatarstan.
Based on the analysis of obtained data, the authors identified the following components of the studied mechanism: organizational (structural); content-related; information and educational; analytical (reflexive). The researchers outlined the functions of the proposed mechanism and its requirements for success. The study also revealed some interesting facts and observations from the experience of primary school teachers involved in the distance learning environment.
Digital Educational Environment and Online Learning Format Through the Lens of Students: Pros and Cons
The modern transformation of all spheres of life is associated with rapid technological and digital development. The educational sphere, focusing on external demands, systematically introduces technological and digital solutions into the processes of pedagogical systems functioning, focusing on the expansion of the educational space, on increasing the availability of educational services. In order to create a comfortable and effective digital environment in universities, it is important to take into account not only the level of development of digital competencies of students and teachers, but also their basic needs and requirements in this area. We set a goal to identify the most successful digital solutions used at this stage in university education from the students’ perspective and to consider the factors inhibiting these processes. To solve the problems, we used methods of theoretical analysis and empirical processing of research data. The main method was a survey of students using the questionnaires “Digital learning environment and online learning format” and “Quality of digital educational resources and organizational aspects of e-learning” developed by the authors. More than a thousand students from Russian universities took part in the survey. The results of the survey showed what means of communication in online learning are considered by students to be the most effective, what means of increasing productivity and what means of organization and support in online learning are most useful to them. The platforms and learning systems were considered in detail to understand the important characteristics of these services for students. The analysis highlighted the main areas in the digital transformation of the educational environment, which should be targeted for their development and improvement.
Personal Determinants of Selfie Addiction in High-School Students
Modern young people live in the dynamically changing world, in conditions of constant changes in the sphere of public life and, especially in personal terms and the sharp change of habitual stereotypes. The specificity of age aspects and psychological characteristics in adolescence contributes to the expansion of the number of addicts. It is the desire to assert oneself, to know oneself more, the formation of worldview and moral convictions that sometimes contribute to the loss of a sense of security, the emergence of fear of reality, and the distortion of ideas about the image of the “selfness”. Selfie craze among young people has become a “global catastrophe”. Today it is hard to find young people who would not take pictures of themselves and would not post photos on various social networks, chats. And it is crucial for a young person to receive feedback from their friends who have seen the post. In this regard, the issues of studying the psychological characteristics of persons suffering from various forms of addictive disorders are gaining relevance in science, since the presence of addiction is due to the personality characteristics and the accompanying negative emotions (irresponsibility, uncertainty, anxiety), its environment and interaction with people. At the same time, there are almost no scientific papers on the study of personality characteristics prone to selfie addiction; most of the works are only of indirect, fragmentary nature.
The authors of the current paper analyzed various approaches, etiology, mechanisms, symptoms of development and risk factors for the formation of selfie addiction in high school students, and presented the results of a study of the personal determinants of high-school boys’ and girls’ selfie addiction.
The purpose of the research is to study the personal characteristics of children’s prone to selfie addiction.
Research methods: theoretical methods, including theoretical analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature, comparison and generalization of experience; empirical methods (experiment, testing, questioning and diagnostic methods, observation); data processing methods (quantitative and qualitative analysis).
The diagnostic tools were chosen taking into account the components of the structure of the anti-addictive attitude to the emergence of selfie addiction, which determine the personal determinants of the manifestation of selfie addiction.
The study involved 172 students (aged 16-18) of secondary schools of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia), of which 93 were girls and 79 were boys. As a result of the study, it was revealed that 37.2% of respondents have signs of selfie addiction, while girls are most prone to addictive behavior. Gender differences in potential addicts in the manifestation of a tendency to selfie addiction were found in the assessment of the meaningfulness of life, satisfaction with their personal characteristics, self-esteem, and the level of knowledge about self-dependence.
The results of the study, the author’s methods for identifying the level of formation of selfie addiction and the selection of diagnostic tools for studying the anti-addictive attitude to the emergence of selfie addiction can be successfully used in the practice of correctional and preventive work of teachers and psychologists of educational and social institutions.
Telehealth Communication Strategies of Medical Students in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Telehealth in the context of the spread of COVID-19 requires doctors to use a new set of communicative skills in medical practice: good diction, the ability to conduct interviews with a patient, active listening skills, summing up, empathy, acting techniques.
The aim of the study is to theoretically substantiate and experimentally test the effectiveness of telehealth communication strategies of medical students in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The leading methods of the study: Test “Assessment of communicative skills” by Karelin (2011); Yusupov’s Ability to Empathy Test (Ilyin, 2011); Online simulators “Development of Communication Competencies of a Doctor” (Kamalova & Gaifullina, 2022).
We have proven that a patient-centered approach is an effective communication strategy. We developed a special course “Communicative competence of future doctors” for medical students majoring in “Medical business”. Online simulators have been developed to assess the medical students’ use of a patient-centered approach to communication with patients, posted on the Online Test Pad platform. The results of the study can be used in the professional training of medical students majoring in “Medical care”.
The Study of Socio-Psychological Factors Contributing to and Hindering the Retention of Teachers in the Profession
The profession of a teacher in modern conditions in our country is associated with a number of both positive aspects and professional difficulties. Among the most pressing problems, leading teachers point out: the constant transformation of the education system and the administrative requirements changing in this regard; the contradiction between the preservation of established pedagogical traditions and the need for constant introduction of innovations into pedagogical practice; the overload of reporting documentation, the need for constant personal growth and self-realization in the profession in combination with the threat of emotional burnout and professional deformation, the simultaneous focus of the teacher’s activities on the provision of psychological and pedagogical influence on students and on reflection of their professional activities, weak socio-legal protection of the teacher from the arbitrariness of the administration of the educational institution and aggressive actions on the part of students and their parents. To date, the fact of existence and the high degree of severity of the personnel problem are officially recognized, the shortage of teachers, their high degree of overload, including bureaucratic work, the combination of diverse subjects in teaching is openly stated. Based on the above, the purpose of the study is: to analyze the reasons for the departure of teachers from the profession, in order to determine the socio-psychological factors contributing to the retention of teachers in the profession.
The Teacher is a Guide or Barrier to Mathematics: Case Studies in Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan
Mathematics is an important subject to study. But the presence of mathematical and gender stereotypes affects the self-perception of mathematical abilities for boys and girls. In the future it may be associated with the choice of educational and career trajectories. In turn, the teacher acts as a guide in the formation of these ideas and motivation for the subject. Among the factors of the impact of the teacher on these formations, one can distinguish: the teacher’s pleasure from teaching mathematics, their beliefs and ideas about mathematics, including teachers’ self-confidence in order to teach mathematics, etc. At the same time, the role of the teacher may vary depending on the structure of the educational process. This article discusses how important is the teacher in the educational environment when choosing an educational trajectory, as it develops interest to the subject and motivation for further learning on the example of three countries: Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The research methodology is a case-study research strategy: research I – the study of the attitude and motivation of schoolchildren to study mathematics, the role of the teacher in its study; research II – evaluation of the effectiveness of separate education based on the opinion of teachers. Our research showed that the main motivational factors are the content of education, which forms a set of knowledge about different types of careers, and the individual characteristics of teachers who introduce students to different subject areas. And segregated education can become an alternative strategy for achieving gender equality.
Comprehensive Support System for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Regional Experience
The article deals with the problem of organizing and implementing a system of comprehensive support for children with autism spectrum disorders in the Russian Federation. The purpose of the work is to identify features, trends, directions, risks and benefits of implementing successful regional practices of comprehensive support for children with ASD. The authors analyzed modern domestic and foreign studies, monitoring results, concluded that the effectiveness of the implemented regional models “university (institute) – organizations” dealing with the issues of supporting children with autism spectrum disorders, methods and forms. Difficulties and risks are identified, recommendations are given for the implementation of strategies for their further implementation.
The Development of Cognitive Regulation in Connection with the Communicative Competence of Monolingual and Balanced Bilingual Children
Preschool age is the most favorable period for mastering languages due to a number of psychological factors. This is the age of potential children’s opportunities, the period of intensive development of language abilities. Therefore, an indispensable pedagogical condition for the development of early bilingualism is the creation of a favorable educational environment for children. The aim of the study is to study the development of cognitive regulation in connection with the communicative competence of balanced bilinguals (Tatar / Russian) and monolinguals (Russian), whose socialization is carried out in different developing subject-spatial environments.
The research methodology is based on sociocultural concepts of “environmental” influences on the mental development (Vygotsky, 1999; Bronfenbrenner, 1999). The empirical study involved 60 children aged 5 to 7 years, among them 30 balanced bilinguals socializing in a bilingual (Tatar/Russian) environment, and 30 monolinguals in a Russian-speaking linguistic environment.
To diagnose the development of children’s cognitive regulation, children’s subtests of the NEPSY-II neuropsychological battery were used: “Repetition of sentences”, “Memory for construction”, “Inhibition”, “Sorting cards according to a changeable attribute”; communicative competence in communication – the methods of “Pictures” by E.O. Smirnova and E.A. Kalyagina, “Peculiarities of interpersonal relations for children” by G.R. Khuzeeva; level of general intelligence – a children’s version of the Raven Test methodology. Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using the non-parametric U-Mann-Whitney test, Spearman correlation analysis.
Conclusions and recommendations. It has been established that balanced bilinguals in older preschool age, compared with monolinguals, have advantages in cognitive regulation, in particular, in updating non-verbal information in the linguistic context of the target language (visual working memory), blocking and suppressing irrelevant verbal and non-verbal information (inhibitory control). Bilingual preschoolers are more active in communication, but less prone to leadership and dominance in a peer group, while monolingual children readily take on a leading role in a group with a desire for a high social position in a peer group. Differences in the convergence of indicators in groups of preschoolers were revealed, in particular, in the group of monolingual children, indicators of cognitive regulation are significantly associated with indicators of communicative competence, while in the group of balanced bilinguals they are with indicators of general intelligence as the ability to use mental operations in solving cognitive problems. We assume that the content of the educational program for the older group of monolinguals in the preschool educational institution is focused primarily on social and communicative development, while for bilinguals it is focused on cognitive and speech development.
E&SD 17(2) June 2022
Contents
Dinara Bisimbaeva
Editorial: Choosing a title for a scholarly paper 6
Nitin Joseph, Sharada Rai, Vijay Pratap Singh, Shreekanth D Karnad, Kishan Kadur
Effectiveness of an Online Viva Voce Workshop in Improving the Knowledge of Faculties of Various Health Science Courses in Mangalore, India 9
Sibel Çelik, Tülün Malkoç, Hakan Bağci
Investigation of Conservatory Students’ Perceptions of Value in Terms of Different Variables 26
Romero Parra Rosario Mireya, Llontop Castillo María del Carmen, Mas Vives Oscar Eduardo
Creativity Development with Cerebral Gymnastics from the Perspective of the Pro.Seso Creativo 3.0 Method 39
Vsevolod V. Andreev, Boris M. Gildenberg, Vladimir I. Gorbunov, Olga K. Evdokimova, Iraida G. Trofimova
The Principles of the Implementation of Gaming Technologies in a Blended Learning Environment in a Technical University 51
Eva Stranovska, Zdenka Gadusova
Developing Reading Comprehension in L2 with respect to Text Genre and Form 63
Miroslav Šebo, Alena Hašková
Impact of Two Coronavirus Waves on Higher Education: Comparative Study 75
Moloud Mohammadi, Arefe Amini Faskhodi
Modeling the Dynamics of Knowledge Management in Educational Institutes: A System Dynamics Approach 86
Oksana V. Polyakova, Lamia Kamel, Dilyana D. Sungatullina, Yuliya N.Gorelova
EMI for Universities: How to Benefit from Embodying It into Educational Process 105
Olga Yu. Svetlakova
Development of Inclusive Culture among Teachers in Educational and Sanatorium Type of Institutions 115
Zhamilya T. Makhambetova, Akmaral S. Magauova
Pre-Service Social Educators’ Professional Competences: An Inclusive Education Context 129
Aiman Berikkhanova, Zhanar Ibraimova, Magripa Ibrayeva
Collaborative Learning Environment in the Professional Training of Future Teachers 144
Anatoliy B. Kondratenko, Irina N. Simaeva, Boris A. Kondratenko
Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Professional Activity of Future Naval Officers 157
Anatoly Kasprzhak, Anna Kobtseva, Marina Tsatrian
Instructional Leadership Models in Modern Schools 172
Marina A. Tikhomirova, Nina V. Bordovskaia, Elena A. Koshkina
Psychological Well-Being of Teachers 188
Ilya А. Korshunov, Natalia N. Shirkova
Vocational Education with Social Distancing: Data from Online Platforms 203
Vladimir N. Panferov, Anastasia V. Miklyaeva, Svetlana A. Bezgodova
Classification of Sciences and Systematization of Knowledge for the General and Professional Integrative Education Content Design 219
Snezhanka D. Georgieva, Irina V. Khairova
Text as a Goal and Outcome in the Teaching of Native Languages at the Primary General Education Stage (Comparative Analysis of Russia and Bulgaria) 231
Yury V. Sinyagin
Characteristics of Social Sector Managers with Different Attitudes towards the Pandemic and Its Consequences 246
Anna A. Almazova, Alevtina V. Krotkova
Designing New Educational Programs in Special Education 256
Nadezhda A. Ivanishcheva, Lyubov G. Pak, Lyubov A. Kochemasova
A New Approach to Pedagogical Local History in the Professional Development of the Teacher of the Future: From Comprehension to Translation 270
Editorial: Choosing a title for a scholarly paper
This editorial was written following the discussion initiated at the conference for
scientific editors and publishers. The delegates raised a number of relevant and thoughtprovoking
issues. Among them was the quality of reviews, the author-editorship
interaction, ethical issues and many more. But the presentation on how to choose a title
for a scientific paper kindled my interest. The speaker showed examples of headings in
the manuscripts from the chemistry field. As the comments were quite universal, I would
like to share them with readers and potential authors of Education and Self-Development
Journal.
Effectiveness of an Online Viva Voce Workshop in Improving the Knowledge of Faculties of Various Health Science Courses in Mangalore, India
Introduction: Viva voce or oral examination is widely used to assess the cognitive domain along with
attitude and communication skills of students. However, the role of traditional viva voce examinations
has always been challenged for high stakes exams due to its poor reliability of assessment. Therefore,
it is imperative to train faculty members in the correct procedures and assessment practices in viva
voce examinations. Given the challenges faced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an online
faculty training program was conducted and evaluated.
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of an online faculty development programme in improving the
knowledge of the good practices for the conduct of viva voce among faculty members.
Methods: This intervention-based study was carried out among 32 faculty members who were
participants of an online workshop on viva voce. It was held at a private medical college in
November 2020. Relevant knowledge of the participants before and after the workshop was assessed
using multiple choice questions designed in Google Doc. Paired and Unpaired t-tests were used to
test associations.
Results: The majority of the participants were faculties of clinical science subjects [17(53.1%)].
Their median years of teaching experience was 12.5(4, 25.7). Half of the participants attended this
workshop to learn the recommended procedure for conducting a viva voce. The mean pre-test score
among participants was 6.3±2.2, and the mean post-test score was 8.8±2.7 (t=4.381, p<0.001). Most
participants gave a positive feedback about the workshop.
Conclusion: Based on the performance scores and the positive feedback given by the participants,
this online workshop was found to improve their knowledge regarding good practice for conducting
a viva voce. The training of teachers in the proper conduct of viva voce is essential at every teaching
institution and can be effectively delivered using online platforms, as confirmed by this study.
Investigation of Conservatory Students’ Perceptions of Value in Terms of Different Variables
There are various factors that affect people’s perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours. One of these
factors is the values that individuals have. Human values are widely being used as a notion in
many disciplines. The aim of this study was to investigate the human values of conservatory
students. The research group consisted of 204 conservatory students at the Dicle University State
Conservatory and Gaziantep University Turkish Music Conservatory enrolled in the 2019-2020
academic year. In this study, the data of the research were used with a personal information
form and the “The Human Values Scale” developed by Dilmaç, Arıcak & Cesur (2014). The data
obtained were analysed with the SPSS 22 program. Descriptive analysis, Independent Group ttest,
One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Pearson Correlation Coefficient were used in
quantitative data analysis. The findings showed that with respect to gender, a significant difference
was not found in conservatory students’ human values by t-test result. According to the findings,
conservatory students’ most important values are human dignity, social, freedom and futuwwat
& courage. On the other hand, conservatory students’ the least important values are materialistic.
Similarly, according to the variables of age and departments, significant differences were not found
in conservatory students’ human values as shown by ANOVA test. Relationships among the subdimensions
of the values scale has been determined statistically significant and strong except from
between the human dignity and romantic values sub-dimension and between the materialistic
values and futuwwat & courage sub-dimensions. It has been observed that participating students’
human values are above the average. This information reveals that conservatory students’ human
values are at superior level.
Creativity Development with Cerebral Gymnastics from the Perspective of the Pro.Seso Creativo 3.0 Method
The aim of this research was to demonstrate the effects of cerebral gymnastics as a strategy in the
creativity development from the perspective of the Pro.Seso Creativo 3.0 method in the university
students. The research is experimental with quasi-experimental design. The sample is represented
by 120 students. The research results showed that cerebral gymnastics as the strategy has a positive
influence on the creativity development from the perspective of the Pro.Seso Creativo 3.0 method
in the students of the Communication Career of the UCAL-Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de
América Latina in the academic period II-2020. The research hypothesis was confirmed, and the
null hypothesis was rejected, since when applying the t-Student test in the Study Group, the P-value
was 0.000, which is less than the established significance level (α = 0.05). Indeed, brain gymnastics
becomes a very relevant aspect since it allows developing and enhancing the creative process of
people, and it is through creativity that ideas or conceptions can be created, to produce alternative
solutions to the difficulties that arise.
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.
Developing Reading Comprehension in L2 with respect to Text Genre and Form
Self-development in terms of reading comprehension in a second foreign language is often practiced
to a small extent in foreign language education. In the L2 (German language) educational process, the
teacher focuses mainly on teaching basic grammatical phenomena and vocabulary. The development
of reading comprehension in L2, as to text genres and forms, provides a new dimension in terms of
self-development, as it mainly supports metacognitive processes and thus self-efficacy and success
in a foreign language text understanding.
The goal of the presented research was to find out connections between students success in reading
comprehension with regard to different categories of text genres (adventure books, historical novels,
fairy tales, poems, legends, and science fiction, and others) and text forms (either printed – magazines,
newspapers, books, textbooks or electronic – e-books, websites, e-textbooks, and others). We were
interested in whether a particular (concrete) genre or form of text does (or does not) contribute to
the success in L2 reading comprehension or whether reading of any genre or form of text does (or
does not) contribute to the success in L2 reading comprehension. The research was carried out in
secondary vocational and grammar schools in Slovakia on a sample of 126 respondents. Statistically
significant correlations were found between specific (concrete) genres and forms of texts and success
in reading comprehension. It turns out that short stories, legends and books about nature predict
better understanding of texts in the German language, and reading of printed books and magazines
promotes success in L2 reading comprehension.
Impact of Two Coronavirus Waves on Higher Education: Comparative Study
The first wave of the coronavirus pandemic caused the largest disruption of education systems
in the history of mankind. All schools and education institutions were forced to shift their
education processes from face-to-face to online forms. Some of them had better conditions
and more experienced staff for this transition, some of them had to start to create appropriate
conditions both for teachers and students. Subsequently, numerous studies and analyses on the
impact of the coronavirus pandemic on education have been done worldwide. The paper deals
with a specific research question of how schools and education institutions used their experiences
from the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic to ensure sustainable quality of education under the
pandemic conditions. In this comparative study the authors present the findings resulted from
two questionnaire surveys. The study has been processed with a focus on three areas: the quality of
teaching, technical equipment used by students and students’ opinions and experiences with online
forms of education, and influence of the home schooling (microclimate of the home environment)
on student’s education. In the paper the authors present and discuss in more detail the first area,
i.e. they analyse how experiences from the first wave of the pandemic were used to eliminate the
negative impact on education and to provide adequate quality of education.
Modeling the Dynamics of Knowledge Management in Educational Institutes: A System Dynamics Approach
Research problem. Recently, being known as the most vital asset to as well as the capital of
organizations, the issue of organizational knowledge creation has attracted a great deal of attention
in several settings encompassing educational centers and institutions. Not only may a highquality
capital account for the success of a given organization, publishing its success stories, and
consequently both clients’ and employees’ satisfaction, it can result in the escalation of scientific,
human, and financial resources. Knowledge management has been defined as the process of
discovering, acquiring, developing, maintaining, evaluating, and applying the right knowledge at
the right time by the right person in an organization through the creation of a link between human
resources, information technology, and communication while creating a suitable structure for
achieving organizational goals (Afrazeh, 2005). Similarly, Hoffman, Hoelscher, and Sheriff (2005)
described it as the process of creating and sharing knowledge in such a way that the results can
be used effectively in the organization. In educational institutions also, knowledge management is
a systematic and organized process of creating and disseminating information, selecting, refining,
and disseminating explicit as well as implicit knowledge, in order to create a unique value which
can be used to strengthen the learning and teaching environment (Gonzalez & Martins, 2017).
Having probed into the relevant literature, we realize that in many studies (Jashpara, 2004; Messa
& Testa, 2004; Newman & Conrad, 2000) knowledge management includes four general processes:
knowledge creation, knowledge retention, knowledge sharing, and knowledge application.
Purpose of the study: In this research, using the system dynamics method, a model is proposed
to identify the effective factors in the knowledge management cycle in an educational center. Then,
the effectiveness of the identified factors over time is simulated and the changes in the behavior of
the institute, which are the result of the changes in the behavior of the staff as well as capabilities
and tendencies, are observable. This study attempts to identify the most influential factors in the
knowledge management process using the presented dynamic model and by examining the factors.
The levers suggest appropriate operations to focus on these factors. Research method: This is applied
research that is conducted using the system dynamics approach introduced by Sterman (2000). This
approach is used to represent the status quo of a system and its changes in the future. Identifying
and problematizing the main issue through studying related works and interviewing twenty-eight
experts in the field using a semi-structured researcher-made survey; creating dynamic hypotheses
and drawing the cause-effect diagrams and the flow diagram; using Vensim software to simulate the
mod, and finally, sensitivity analysis was the stages followed respectively. The results of this study
showed that by implementing the knowledge management process in the institute, the performance
of the teaching personnel increased in an s-shaped manner; the experience improved exponentially,
and the family-student contentment improved which would consequently result in organization
growth. Finally, the researchers presented and analyzed two proposed policies.