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Students with Special Needs and Their Parents – Informal Participation of a Parent in the Education of an Adult Child
44-51Views:50The article presents the issue of participation of adult students’ parents in their academic life. There are many examples in the literature of how important is the support of students’ with disabilities parents at the universites. This determines academic success. Disability (its depth, type, cause, limitations resulting from it) is a determining factor for independence, and consequently for the parent’s participation in the student’s academic life. The parent’s attitude towards their own child’s disability is also related to the parent’s participation in the study. The main questions of presented research is: how do students, parents and university staff see the participation of parents in their adult chilredn higher education? This study was qualitative in nature and the individual in-depth interviews were conducted in the course of the study. Two female students with disabilities and their mothers, as well as a member of staff from the one of Polish university’s disability office, were invited to participate in the study. The results show that students, parents and university’s staff can present different opinions about parental suport. The fact is that parental participation cannot be permanent. Each time this type of support should be considered on an individual basis, with particular regard to the welfare of the the student. The results of the survey are relevant to the university’s process of planning support for students with disabilities so as to work with parents with the students’ consent.
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Different Forms of Civil Activity and Employment in Hungary and Abroad, and the Development of Student Drop-out
41-54Views:284Young people involved in higher education have created a specific culture, to which, in addition to their studies, social and cultural activities associated with university life are also related (Kozma, 2006). Among these activities, student employment and participation in civic organizations should be highlighted. Voluntary and paid work among higher education students is increasing. These activities have several advantages in terms of future benefits; however, the attracting role of the labour market is one possible reason for dropout. In our current research, we emphasize the role of employment and civil activity in the development of student dropout. Masevičiūtė et al. (2018) found that a quarter of students stopped studying for work-related reasons. In addition, a negative perception of the marketability of the course they are on may lead to the interruption of university studies. In our study, we analysed the extent to which students are willing to interrupt their higher education studies in exchange for voluntary work. In our current research, we examined how often and for what reasons students who dropped out did paid work and volunteering during their studies.
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The Relations between Students’ Intercultural Communication Competencies and Employability
72-79.Views:92In today’s globalised world, businesses operate on an international level. Most business and economics graduates will interact with colleagues, clients, and partners from diverse cultural backgrounds. Intercultural competencies are essential for their success and effective collaboration in the labour market. A special questionnaire was compiled to investigate students’ intercultural competencies. Based on the statements and responses of the questionnaire, the examination aimed to establish the principal components of the intercultural communication competencies of the students of a Hungarian university. In the next phase of the research, the principal components served to create student clusters which were analysed from a labour market point of view, focusing on advantages and disadvantages. The crucial question was: which cluster is in demand the most in the labour market? By utilizing a principal component analysis, the dataset was reduced to three key components. Subsequently, to classify the students into groups, a multivariate statistical procedure, i.e., cluster analysis, was used to reveal the structures by clearly considering the similarities of a relatively heterogeneous population and to create a relatively homogeneous subset. The study revealed five distinct student clusters, each with varying advantages and disadvantages for employers. In this context, the Interculturally Active and Open with Good Language Skills cluster proved to be the most competent, with the least ideal collection indisputably being the Interculturally Reluctant in Cooperating cluster. The research underscores the importance of intercultural communication competencies for employees and enriches our understanding of the dynamics between intercultural communication competencies and workforce readiness. Developing these competencies in foreign language classes will significantly facilitate our students’ employment.
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Dropped-out Students and the Decision to Drop-out in Hungary
31-40Views:660The interpretation of the phenomenon of student dropout, which represents a waste of a relatively large proportion of human and material capital in the social, individual and institutional domain, is impossible without examining dropout students. In this study, we analysed the DEPART 2018 database, which contains data from 605 Hungarian dropout students. We tried to identify higher education dropout scenarios and pointed out that higher educational dropout is a complex phenomenon. Based on the students' reports on their interpretation and evaluation of their dropouts, four student clusters were created. We compared the groups with their socio-cultural background and their decision to drop out from higher education, and their assessment of that decision. The most important result of the study is that it identifies a new group in addition to the international dropout types, and provides a detailed picture that calls our attention to the diversity of dropout groups, thereby moving beyond the over-generalised image of the dropout student.
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Curricular and Extracurricular Learning among Students with Resilience Potential. Social Inequalities in Higher Education
37-42Views:101Does resilience potential in higher education mature into success or does it remain merely a promise of success due to rising social inequality? We studied curricular and extracurricular learning of students with outstanding academic achievement who entered higher education despite their disadvantage of social background (= students with resilience potential). A student survey database compiled in the research project “Higher Education for Social Cohesion – Cooperative Research and Development in a Cross-border Area” (HERD) (HURO/0901/253/2.2.2.) in 2012 was analyzed. Students of three Eastern Hungarian higher education institutions were surveyed (N = 1205). Students with resilience potential were identified in the intersection of two groups of variables: social background and input academic achievement. We have conducted a cluster analysis, which has resulted in the identification of students with resilience potential and other researched groups: drifters (low social background and low input academic achievement), beneficiaries (high social background and high academic achievement) and indifferent prodigals (high social background and low academic achievement). To sum up our results, the students with resilience potential only use higher education to fulfill curricular requirements, and hit a ceiling, compared to the beneficiaries, when it comes to the student year mining, meaningful extracurricular activities. Thus social inequalities crawl through these invisible channels into higher education and beyond.
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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation to Learn as Factors of Resilience in Students' Pedagogical Disciplines - Pilot Study
17-23Views:195Motivation determines the dynamics of behaviour and helps in overcoming obstacles. A related concept is resilience, which also relates to overcoming stressful situations and speaks to an individual’s ability to adapt to challenging circumstances in life. The aim of this paper was to investigate the relationship between resilience and motivation to learn in students studying in the field of education. One hundred and thirty students participated in the research (100 bachelor students and 30 master students). The research instrument used to measure resilience was The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 10) and to detemine motivation The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS-C 28) tool was used. The Mann-Whitney test found no significant difference between the two groups of students in each of the variables measured. The results show a significant association between resilience and types of intrinsic motivation in particular, but the strongest relationship was found between resilience and the lack of motivation. Students with low resilience scored higher on amotivation. For students at university, motivation to learn based on intrinsic drives is assumed to be self-evident. However, the ability to overcome obstacles is also necessary for the attainment of learning goals. Its degree can also be developed through educational intervention, which provides an opportunity for university teachers to expand their area of operation.
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Favouring Middle-and Upper-Class Students? The Structure and Process of Attending China’s Selective Universities
1-16Views:283Research suggests the increasing influence of family socioeconomic status, as measured by parents’ income and occupations, in access to Chinese higher education. Yet, the literature remains inconclusive about the extent to which the social background of rural and urban students is associated with academic and social performance at elite universities. We address this limitation by looking at the academic and social success of representative samples of first- and second-year students enrolled at four Chinese elite universities. Our aim is to understand the characteristics that students from both urban and rural environments bring with them and how those characteristics bear on academic and social performance in university. We found an overrepresentation of students from middle- and upper-class backgrounds in both urban and rural student groups. The fact that the process indicator of cultural capital has a direct association with social success suggests students from urban areas exhibit traits valued in the selective university environment.
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Information and Trust in Parent-Teacher Cooperation – Connections with Educational Inequality
19-28Views:570There is an ongoing debate on how parents and the cooperation between parents and teachers contribute to educational inequality. In this study, the assumption that information and trust in parent–teacher cooperation mediate the effects of parent socioeconomic status (SES) on student achievement in mathematics and instruction language (German) was examined. The effects of information and trust on achievement were assumed to be mediated by parent self-efficacy expectation in German. The hypotheses were tested using a sample with 1001 students from 4th to 6th grade and their parents in Swiss primary schools using questionnaires and achievement tests at the beginning and the end of a school year. Results from structural equation models with longitudinal data showed that parent trust and parent self-efficacy expectation fully mediated the effect of SES and student achievement in language instruction but not in mathematics. Information did not correlate with SES nor with student achievement, but with trust. Parental trust in the cooperation with teachers affected achievement in both mathematics and German. The model combines the research on parental involvement with the research on educational inequality in school. Teachers need to establish trust in cooperation with low-SES parents to reduce educational inequality in school.
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Migrating From Face-To-Face to Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Psychology Students at a Private Higher Education Institution in Gauteng
11-21Views:440Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an accelerated migration from face-to-face to online learning. This article aims to explore and describe how psychology students experienced the migration from face-to-face to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It entailed a qualitative research design with an exploratory and descriptive approach. The participants were 28 purposively sampled psychology students from a Private Higher Education Institution in Gauteng. An online survey method was employed to gather the needed information which was then subjected to a thematic analysis. It emerged that the challenges experienced by students were internet connectivity issues, insufficient computer literacy, reduced class time, anxiety, physical impact, and communication issues. Moreover, some benefits related to flexibility, the convenience of online studies and safety from infection with COVID-19 were identified. It was also noted that having certain attributes such as independence, time management skills, having support and being tech savvy improved the online learning process. Some opportunities for Higher Education Institutions to improve the experiences of students included creativity in module delivery as well as providing guidelines on how to use these online platforms.
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The interaction of meso and macro contexts with students’ careers. Three applied analysis
10-21Views:188This paper presents three applied analysis. Our principal interest is to understand how meso (university level) and macro (national level) contexts interact with micro phenomena such as students’ careers. To achieve this aim, the paper shows a secondary analysis of longitudinal administrative data by means of Sequence Analysis and Event History Models. Furthermore, it shows the results of an additional analysis using a quasi-experimental research on longitudinal data.
The paper examines typical pathways of Italian students, by means of administrative information’s on student enrollment from Sapienza University of Rome. The aim of this paper is triple: 1. describe students’ careers in higher education by building a typology of pathways using Sequence Analysis. 2. Identify how socio-economic and macro level characteristics affect students’ careers by multinomial logistic regression model where clusters are used as dependent variables and focus on the study of the “event” by using Event History analysis. 3. Evaluate the Italian Higher Education reform policies and their main outcomes throughout a quasi-experimental research.
Mainly, the outcomes show the importance of the warming-up period, the individual choice and the exogenous events after enrolment in determining the success/failure of each career. Our outcomes suggest that Italian universities should rethink the mechanisms available to manage failure and guide student choices.
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For the Sake of the Cause – Persistence of Romanian Higher Education Students in Finishing their Studies
22-30Views:198As a consequence of the expansion in higher education, the number of students has increased and the academic population has diversified but at the same time the university dropout has become a general problem since the last century (Trow, 2005; Kozma, 2010; Barro & Jong, 2013; Stanciu, 2014; Berei, 2018). In this paper, I proposed to analyze the persistence of students from 5 universities from Romania. We examine at institutional and individual level the perspective of their willingness to finish their studies. In partnership with the Center for Higher Education Research and Development - Hungary, named CHERD – H, from the University of Debrecen, was collected dates among students in 2012 (N=1323) and in 2014 - 2015 (N=323). Through a quantitative analysis, on a longitudinal perspective, I used SPSS statistical program to analyze data. The question of the research was: is there any difference between students` intentions to graduate on private and state institutions? Who is intending to finish and who is preparing to abandon his study? I concluded that students with unfavorable family background have nearly two times lower chance to enroll at state university and in private institutions students intention to enter into possesion of diploma was significant lower. With logistic regression I found also, that low financial status or low schooling of parents is not a significant obstacle on student academic path if they make every effort to participate in educational programs, submit assignments on time and are able to prepare for exams.
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The Connection between Extracurricular, Leisure Time Activities, Religiosity and the Reasons for Drop-out
55-67Views:279The interruption of tertiary education and the reduction in the dropout rate have been a central issue in educational sociology and education research. Exploring the possible reasons for dropping out can significantly contribute to reducing the trend. Our aim is to map the links between students dropping out and individual factors. Consequently, we investigate the connection between extracurricular and leisure-time activities, health behaviour and religiosity in relation to dropout. This is explained by the fact that one of the axioms of the literature on dropout is that belonging to civil networks usually strengthens the commitment to the successful completion of studies. In our analysis, we used the database created during the research carried out in 2018 by the Center for Higher Education Research and Development (CHERD-H) in the framework of project No. 123847 of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund of Hungary, entitled The Role of Social and Organisational Factors in Student Dropout (DEPART 2018, N=605). Our results show that the neglect of study obligations among those who are disappointed in the course and further education is closely related to the shift in value preferences and an increase in the time spent with entertainment activities and partying. It can also be stated that students take part indifferent types of extracurricular activities only to a limited extent, and the different forms of participation in activities and religiosity are not related to the causes of dropout.
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Differences in Foreign Language Choice of Students from Different Social Backgrounds
78-86Views:168According to previous research (e.g. Bernstein, 1971; Gogolin, 2014; Hegedűs et al., 2019), family background plays a decisive role in an individual's mother tongue acquisition and in learning foreign languages. In another study, parents with a high social background (54.0%) chose German for their children, and parents with a low social background (56.9%) chose English in primary school (Sebestyén, 2021). Based on this, in the study I examine what difference can be detected in the foreign language choice of high school students from different social backgrounds. In the study, I analyze the student data (890 people) of my database entitled “German learning and teaching in Hajdú-Bihar and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties” prepared in the 2018/2019 school year, during which I perform cross-tabulation and cluster analysis with the help of SPSS program. The database contains data on 11th grade high school and vocational high school students who studied German and / or English in high school. As the results, there are differences between the learned foreign languages among secondary school students according to family background. Among the clusters related to high school choice, those belonging to the “Higher Education Oriented Local” cluster are most interested in foreign languages, most German-speaking (74.0%) and English (89,0%) students tend to be in this cluster. Overall, the majority of respondents learn English, while students from higher social backgrounds (also) learn German.
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Criteria determining school choice among the ethnic minority high school students
17-25Views:179In our paper we sought for the answer to the question: based on which motives do students from various types of high schools (in our case, denominational or non- denominational school) make their choice of educational institution? The target group of our research consists of the 9th and 11th grade students of Harghita County’s denominational (Roman Catholic, Reformed, Unitarian) schools and the non-denominational ones added to them. All in all, eight high schools got into our sample. We conducted a survey by questionnaire, the sample including 1,064 people. We analyzed the decision criteria formed based on motives behind the decision (primary and secondary effects) on the one hand, and followed the decision making process on the other. The non-denominational sector is often chosen by the elite- and institution-oriented student group, who has great expectations of the institution, e.g. - top of the line standards of education, outstanding achievement indicators, prestige of the institution, local reputation. According to the clusters created from the motives, the value- and community-oriented student group, as well as the one following the orientation of the peer group, can be found in significantly higher proportion in denominational schools.
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Increasing Motivation among Language Learners through Individualized Assessment
1-13Views:260An extensive body of research has shown that motivation is integral to successful and sustained language learning (Carreira, 2005; Cheng & Dornyei, 2007; Crookes & Schmidt, 1991; Dornyei, 1994; Ehrman, Leaver, & Oxford, 2003; Gardner, 2005; Matsumoto & Obana, 2001; Yang, 2008; Yu & Watkins, 2008). Maintaining student motivation in all aspects of language instruction, particularly assessment, can be challenging for multiple reasons, including learner differences, access to technology, and, most recently, reactions to pandemic learning. Instructors therefore face the challenge of creating assessments that not only evaluate students’ performance but also promote their ability and desire to learn. Based on the results of an action research project, this article highlights the benefits of two types of individualized assessment used to improve students’ motivation while evaluating their performance: work cycle projects and a course portfolio. Using qualitative data collected from student reflective statements, I argue, first, that the ability to choose assessment topics and types motivates students to focus closely on course content and work creatively; these choices ultimately improve their desire to learn course material more than traditional assessment types. Second, encouraging learners to utilize and reflect on their strengths using a portfolio as a form of assessment allows students to understand their strengths and weaknesses and empowers them as learners, thereby improving their motivation.
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Correlation Between Educational Performance, Family Background and Settlement Type in Covasna County, Romania
62-69Views:222In social sciences, a more sophisticated way of examining students' school performance, based on the combination of school and family factors, is becoming increasingly popular. Important indicators of schools operating in a given territorial and societal context can be obtained both at student and institutional levels if territorial characteristics are included. In our research we examine the correlation between family background and performance, and investigate the settlement type where the proportion of students from low SES schools is the highest. At the same time we are also curious whether there is a greater chance of resilience in smaller communities. Our results show that the majority of students from low SES schools study in small settlements, but resilience is clearly not more typical in smaller communities.
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The Situation and Chances of Roma students in Secondary and Tertiary Education in Hungary
26-35Views:234Addressing student drop-out or early school leaving has long been a major challenge for education policy makers at both national and international levels. This phenomenon affects all levels of education and has a profound impact on those classes of society that are economically and socio-culturally disadvantaged. This is particularly the case of the largest minority group in Hungary, the Roma, and its roots go back to primary education. Since the 1990s, so from the change of the regime, a positive tendency could have been observed in the completion of primary education, but in secondary school graduation and in obtaining a higher education degree they are still far behind the non-Roma population. In the current study, we identify causes of their learning failures, and we also present a selection of study grants that are available to young Roma students and support them to achieve higher levels of education. We also highlight the difficulties faced by those Roma youth, who have origins in traditional communities but obtain higher educational degrees.
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College Begins in Kindergarten: A Path to Higher Education Through Family-School Partnerships in a K-5 School
1-12.Views:88As income inequality rises in the United States, students from low-income backgrounds and other excluded identities are likelier to remain in the lower income percentile, especially if they do not have college degrees (Kochhar & Cilluffo, 2018). Therefore, a critical approach is to focus on what happens before middle and high school, realizing that early childhood is prime for students to learn about college and their future. This study explored the practices influencing college-going aspirations for marginalized students in a K-5 school that engages teachers and families. The exploration extends the literature on how schools prepare elementary-aged students to develop college-going aspirations. The case study design collected data from observations, an administrative interview, and a document review. Findings revealed social and environmental practices influencing students and families regarding college-going attitudes and aspirations. The results have implications for curriculum and school culture to redefine the postsecondary conversation.
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Teacher Work and Job Satisfaction among Romanian Lower Secondary Teachers
93-100Views:309The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical based understanding of the Romanian context of teacher work, which provides an opportunity to identify characteristics considered to affect teaching activities and gives a basis for planning and conducting other research on teachers working conditions. The paper is based on authors' research which is a secondary analysis of Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 database. The database contains the survey responses of teachers of lower secondary education (ISCED 2) and the principals of their schools. During the investigation cross/tables, cluster analysis, linear and logistical analyses were used. Based on our research results, we can see that the factors attributed both to the individuals and to the elements of pedagogical culture show a strong correlation with the characteristics of the teaching and the satisfaction with the teaching. Considering the factors attributed to the individuals, professional development and the total career time is the most influential factor of job satisfaction and teacher’s self-efficacy. Among the variables included in the school culture dimension, the effectiveness of teacher work, the disciplined atmosphere, the values of student/teacher relationships and the positive effects of teacher-teacher relationships indicated satisfaction and self-efficacy.
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The Challenges of Adopting a Learner-Centered Approach to On-Line English Teacher Education: A Teacher-Research Study on Jigsaw Reading and PeerTeaching in Cambodia
60-71.Views:96In Cambodia, the shift to on-line learning due to Covid-19 reinforced an already overly teacher-centric approach to education, leading to the risk of greater learner disengagement. To address this problem, I3 embarked on a research project involving the redesign of the on-line delivery of a final year English teacher education course on ‘School and Society’, in which all lectures were replaced with jigsaw reading (JR) and peer teaching (PT) tasks. To track the impact of this innovation, I recorded class sessions, kept observation logs, and obtained data from students’ reflective journaling, interviews, and a focus group. This paper reports on the design principles behind the innovation and its impact on student motivation and engagement. The research has implications for on-line teacher education and the introduction of learner-centered pedagogies in global south contexts.
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The Use of Linguistic Features in Indonesian Students’ Texts at Hungarian Universities
131-141Views:138Students enrolled in a higher level of education may face challenges in producing assignments, including writing an essay. They need to present appropriate linguistic features in the text to demonstrate their writing quality. Comparing linguistic features during university study is one fundamental aspect of administering writing quality and showing student writing development. The topic presented in this study describes an initial statistical analysis and the frequency of linguistic features in the texts produced by Indonesian graduate students enrolled at Hungarian universities. This study proposed two research questions: 1) How frequently do pre-selected linguistic features appear in the texts of Indonesian graduate students? 2) How do these features appear in a paired T-test statistical analysis? Seven MSc and MA graduate students took part in the study to meet the goal. They are students at three different universities in Hungary, which all have a Social Science Faculty. During their second-year studies, fourteen essays with a minimum text length of 2000 words were collected. The findings revealed an increase in conjunctions, adjectives, abstract nouns, concrete nouns, noun phrases, expanded noun phrases, active verbs, verb phrases, and passive forms. Meanwhile, the frequency of linguistic features such as prepositions, definite articles, indefinite articles, noun clauses, adverbial clauses, and adjective clauses decreased. In addition, both the rise of nine linguistic features and the decrease of six features in the second semester are not statistically significant.
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A Comparison of the Educational Methods of Zoltán Kodály and his Student, Klára Kokas
47-52Views:362After the presentation of Klára Kokas’ pedagogical methods and her own invented musical activities with children, I shall try to compare these methods with Zoltán Kodály’s music educational practices and innovations to emphasize the continuity and discontinuity of Hungarian music educational practice. Kokas centered her pedagogical concept on children’s creativity, human relations, acceptance of and complete attention paid to others. This world view and ideology was constructed around a child-centered sensitivity, music being her primary pedagogical resource. The goal of this paper is to explore the main elements and characteristics of Klára Kokas’s pedagogy, which were revolutionary and new in the fields of personality development, music and complex art education. I will draw out those elements, which show similarity between his work and Kokas’s, then I will point out those components in which Kokas offered excess for personality development. The main elements of this concept is music, dance improvisation, motions, imaginative stories, visual arts, painting and drawing, but it’s most important component is that very specific and intimate relation, which connected her to the children. My purpose is to highlight the contours of the Kokas’ pedagogy. In my comparative research I mention the reform pedagogical elements of the Zoltán Kodály’s concept, and I seek the common and different elements of their music educational ideas and innovations. The importance of her beliefs and moral convictions in the art of education will be outlined then.
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Students in Hungarian Higher Education and Their Perception of Dificulties During Their Studies
101-113Views:200Our research aims to examine the recruitment of students who experience difficulties with learning during their higher education studies and the motives behind their career choices, as well as the correlation of these factors with student persistence. The topicality of the problem stems from the diversity of students as a result of the expansion of higher education, as well as the increasing proportion of reading comprehension and other learning difficulties that can hinder individuals' progress in the labour market. Previous research has linked problems in learning in higher education to underdeveloped skills. However, we hypothesize that the occurrence of difficulties during students' studies and careers is determined by career choices, which are influenced by social background. While in higher education the social status differences of the family background already seem to disappear, the origin also affects the higher education career. To test the viability of this assumption, statistical methods were used to analyze the CHERD-Hungary database PERSIST -2019. In the case of difficulties and low persistence, we found a relationship with the career choice patterns of the students studied, especially with family factors influencing career choice and students' interest in their current education. One of our most important findings is that students who experience difficulties during learning can be divided into two groups. One group is characterized by low social status indicators, participating in low prestige and high risk fields of education, and there are specific cultural disadvantages in the background of their difficulties. The other group includes students who come from a higher-status family and concentrate on higher-risk but more prestigious courses, characterized by above-average selectivity and a higher risk of dropping out.