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Introduction: This paper focuses on the information culture of higher education institutions in Estonia. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between information culture, information management and job satisfaction, leadership style, and self-reported individual performance. Method: A total of 160 faculty members from twelve institutions of higher education completed an online survey. The aim of the online survey was to identify the behaviour and values that characterise the information culture of Estonian higher education institutions. Analysis: Factor analysis and multivariate analysis were performed to analyse online survey data. Results: Taking into account six components of information culture identified by earlier researchers, analysis revealed three types of information culture characterised by their dominant components: integrated, proactive, and informal. A significant correlation was found between information culture with integrated information culture and job satisfaction, leadership style, and self-reported individual performance. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the construct of information culture is valuable in analysing information environments and their relations with job satisfaction, leadership style, and self-reported individual performance. In addition, integrated information culture seems to be (at least in the sample of academic staff) the most sensitive one, having significant correlations with several indicators of subjective well-being within the academic staff.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study Bayesian dependency modelling (BDM) to validate the model of educational experiences and the student-customer orientation questionnaire (SCOQ), and to identify the categories of educatonal experience in which students expect a higher educational institutions (HEI) to be student-customer oriented. Design/methodology/approach: This paper employs a cross-sectional quantitative survey study, mixed methods research, exploratory factor analysis and BDM. Findings: The validated model of educational experiences and the SCOQ; results indicate that students expect to be treated as customers in some, but not all categories of educational experience. Research limitations/implications: The authors contribute to existing literature on two fronts: the validated model of educational experiences and the categories of educational experience in which students expect to be treated as customers. Practical implications: The validated SCOQ presented in the paper may be used by other HEIs to assess the degree to which students expect a particular HEI to be customer oriented. Also, HEIs should assess students' expectations concerning student-customer orientation before employing such an approach. Originality/value: The paper presents a validated model of educational experiences and a SCOQ. Additionally, the study does not investigate whether students expect a HEI as such to be student-customer oriented (as most studies have done so far); instead, the aim is to find out whether, in which categories of educational experience and to what extent students expect a HEI to be student-customer oriented. Thus, the study explores the phenomenon of student-customer orientation at a deeper level, i.e. separately at the level of educational experiences.

Most countries stress that preparing quality teachers for twenty-first century students is an essential task for teacher training institutions. Besides the skills for how to teach subjects effectively, teachers should also know how to integrate digital technology into their teaching. Several studies have been done based on the TPACK framework. Some of these studies use this framework for specific subject domains. In this study a generally applicable instrument for measuring TPACK was created. The aim of the paper was to validate the created instrument and to find out how pre-service teachers perceive their technological, pedagogical and content knowledge regarding the TPACK framework in Estonia, in a technologically highly developed country where technology is broadly used in general education. Conducting factor analysis all items with technology merged into one factor meaning that young generation perceives technology already integrated with content and pedagogy. The results indicate that pre-service teachers lack pedagogical knowledge, but they perceive that they are good at integrating technology into their teaching. Differences in perceptions were also found according to gender, age and curricula.

Structural modelling offers an overall pattern of relationships; this paper looks at differences in students' attitude structures between England and Estonia. Where different coherent sets of beliefs exist in a national sample, factor analysis, which focuses on sets of responses which differ between groups, should be able to separate them out. England and Estonia differ both in the composition of the factors, indicating differences in the patterns of viewpoints between the students in the two countries, and in the interrelation between the factors and influences. In England, the first factor indicates attitude differences between the religiously "committed" and the uncommitted, but in Estonia this is only the second factor, despite the importance of religion to the "Russians". In Estonia the first, integrative, factor relates to religious education, which evokes much more divergence of opinion than in the English data. In the structural model, the most striking differences relate to the stronger differences in belief in Estonia, the greater influence of "language spoken" in England and the effect of "RE model" only in Estonia. However, the Estonian data indicate that individual influences on "commitment" reduce the effect of "RE model", a group-level influence. (Contains 3 notes and 2 figures.)

Grounded in 'expectancy-value' theory, this paper reports on the psychometric properties of an instrument intended to measure students' motivation in mathematics. The participants were 2045 third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from Estonia, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Serbia and Sweden. The Expectancy-Value Scale (EVS) was found to be suitable for early grades of primary education in measuring competence self-perceptions and subjective task values relative to the mathematics field. The results indicate a good model fit aligned with the expectancy-value theory. The EVS dimensions showed good reliability, and scalar invariance was established. However, findings also indicated high correlations between some of the EVS dimensions, which is well documented for students at this age. The findings are discussed relative to the 'expectancy-value' theory framework and students' age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: There are widely recognized benefits of sharing economy for entrepreneurs and consumers. The European Commission emphasizes the importance of European countries being open to new opportunities that sharing economy brings. In order to promote the development of sharing economy, it is important to understand what factors contribute to its development. Purpose of the article: The presented paper aims to identify the main factors relevant for the growth of sharing economy and to determine whether there are factors which are more significant for the development of the sharing economy than others. Based on reviewed literature, the Authors compiled a set of indicators and employed them for research purposes. The selected indicators were assigned into four main groups: technological, political and regulatory environment, economic and social-cultural environment. Methods: The authors used two multicriteria methods (SAW and APH), which were applied to the set of indicators and modeled five different situations by attributing significance to the indicators. The Authors have applied this set of indicators for assessing the following selected countries: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the United Kingdom. The data covers the years 2011-2015. Findings & Value added: The results of the research show that technological readiness and social-cultural environment are significant for the development of sharing economy. For further research the Authors recommend the creation of a composite Sharing Economy Index (SHEI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assist higher education institutions in meeting the challenge of limited student engagement in the implementation of Learning Analytics services, the Questionnaire for Student Expectations of Learning Analytics (SELAQ) was developed. This instrument contains 12 items, which are explained by a purported two‐factor structure of "Ethical and Privacy Expectations" and "Service Feature Expectations." As it stands, however, the SELAQ has only been validated with students from UK university, which is problematic on account of the interest in Learning Analytics extending beyond this context. Thus, the aim of the current work was to assess whether the translated SELAQ can be validated in three contexts (an Estonian, a Spanish, and a Dutch University). The findings show that the model provided acceptable fits in both the Spanish and Dutch samples, but was not supported in the Estonian student sample. In addition, an assessment of local fit is undertaken for each sample, which provides important points that need to be considered in future work. Finally, a general comparison of expectations across contexts is undertaken, which are discussed in relation to the General Data Protection Regulation (2018). Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Accounting for student expectations allows for a service that is meaningful.SELAQ measures student expectations towards Learning Analytics services.The 12 items of the SELAQ can be explained by a two‐factor structure (Ethical and Privacy Expectations and Service Feature Expectations). What their paper adds to this: Validation of the SELAQ in three contextsA discussion of localized sources of strainAn assessment of measurement quality in each contextA general comparison of student expectations across contexts The implications of study findings for practitioners: SELAQ can be used with Spanish and Dutch students.SELAQ responses provide a much needed input from end‐users in Learning Analytics implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The reason for this study was void of a data‐driven imminent risk assessment instrument for aggression in psychiatry clinics in Estonia. The predictive accuracy of the observer‐rated Dynamic Assessment of Situational Aggression (DASA) has been repeatedly demonstrated. However, the research gap remains regarding a deeper conceptual understanding of the underlying latent structure of the DASA. Aim: Comprehensively evaluate the psychometric properties of the Estonian DASA version for cross‐cultural clinical use. Method: We used a prospective repeated measure design and collected 6097 risk evaluations from 381 adult inpatients, 151 of whom committed 1013 aggressive incidents during the study. Results: The Estonian DASA version has acceptable inter‐rater reliability (Kendall's τ = 0.74) and is a useful instrument with excellent predictive validity (AUC = 0.86) for identifying potentially aggressive inpatients. In our sample, the DASA has a bi‐factorial structure which explains 83% of the total variance. Discussion: The adapted DASA has acceptable validity and reliability indices for measuring imminent aggression risk in adult inpatient units. Implications for Practice: Evidence‐based risk assessment of aggression in psychiatric clinics enhances recognition of the signs of potentially aggressive behaviour in order to apply preventive actions and reduce aggression, thereby improving the quality of the care provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents forecasts of headline and core inflation in Estonia with factor models in a recursive pseudo out-of-sample framework. The factors are constructed with a principal component analysis and are then incorporated into vector autoregressive (VAR) forecasting models. The analyses show that certain factor-augmented VAR models improve upon a simple univariate autoregressive model but the forecasting gains are small and not systematic. Models with a small number of factors extracted from a large dataset are best suited for forecasting headline inflation. The results also show that models with a larger number of factors extracted from a small dataset outperform the benchmark model in the forecast of Estonian headline and, especially, core inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current study proposes a model for a positive safety culture with a knowledge management dimension and tests this on a sample of 1757 employees from Estonian SMEs in different branches of industry, using the factor analysis. Despite conceptual and empirical justification, researchers have not consistently included concepts of knowledge management in safety culture studies. This paper explores the possibility of using Knowledge Management in the Occupational Health and Safety Management System. The paper reports on an empirical examination of the relationship between safety climate and safety culture through a knowledge management dimension with a special focus on the management of safety knowledge. The results of this study indicate that a safety climate has impact on the three dimensions of safety culture, namely psychological, behavioral and organizational aspects of safety culture. This paper supplements Cooper's Reciprocal Model of Safety Culture with Knowledge Management System Dimensions. Several specific features of knowledge management, such as communication, personal competence and responsibility, were found to influence the relationship between a safety climate and a safety culture. Thus, an effective assessment tool for the evaluation of knowledge management dimensions of safety culture could be proposed based on the results of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Subjective Well-Being Under Neuroleptic Treatment Scale short form (SWN-K) is a self-rating scale developed to measure mentally ill patients' well-being under the antipsychotic drug treatment. This paper reports on adaptation and psychometric properties of the instrument in an Estonian psychiatric sample. Methods: In a naturalistic study design, 124 inpatients or outpatients suffering from the first psychotic episode or chronic psychotic illness completed the translated SWN-K instrument. Item content analysis, internal consistency analysis, exploratory principal components analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis were used to construct the Estonian version of the SWN-K (SWN-K-E). Additionally, socio-demographic and clinical data, observer-rated psychopathology, medication side effects, daily antipsychotic drug dosages, and general functioning were assessed at two time points, at baseline and after a 29-week period; the associations of the SWN-K-E scores with these variables were explored. Results: After having selected 20 items for the Estonian adaptation, the internal consistency of the total SWN-K-E was 0.93 and the subscale consistencies ranged from 0.70 to 0.80. Good test-retest reliabilities were observed for the adapted scale scores, with the correlation of the total score over about 6 months being r = 0.70. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the presence of a higher-order factor (general well-being) and five first-order factors (mental functioning, physical functioning, social integration, emotional regulation, and self-control); the model fitted the data well. The results indicated a moderate-high correlations r = 0.54 between the SWN-K-E total score and the evaluation how satisfied patients were with their lives in generally. No significant correlations were found between the overall subjective well-being score and age, severity of the psychopathology, drug adverse effects, or prescribed drug dosage. Conclusion: Taken together, the results demonstrated that the Estonian version of the SWN-K is a reliable and valid instrument with psychometric properties similar to the original English version. The potential uses of the scale in both research and clinical settings are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses factors associated with bulking in 195 small scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Estonia. Operational data from each plant were collected and analysed statistically. The key factors associated with bulking were infiltration into sewage pipes, the type and purpose of process reactor, operational practices and influent characteristics. Both anaerobic fraction and volumetric fraction of the anaerobic reactor compared to the aerobic reactor resulted in a positive correlation with sludge volume index (SVI) <150 ml/g values. Good operation and maintenance practice as well as an operator's competence play a crucial role in bulking prevention. Using the 30 minute settling test (V30) as the single process control parameter can mislead an operator's judgement in process control strategies and cause effluent violations. Misjudgements in process control decisions can lead to unwanted conditions in small WWTPs (e.g. excessive chemical addition favoured bulking). Use of instrumentation, control and automation helped to keep the process conditions more stable and reduce the probability of bulking. Analyses of variance showed that the factors associated with Microthrix parvicella growth were long solids retention time (SRT), low foodto- microorganism ratio (F/M) and lack of carbon content compared against nitrogen and phosphorus contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural modelling offers an overall pattern of relationships; this paper looks at differences in students' attitude structures between England and Estonia. Where different coherent sets of beliefs exist in a national sample, factor analysis, which focuses on sets of responses which differ between groups, should be able to separate them out. England and Estonia differ both in the composition of the factors, indicating differences in the patterns of viewpoints between the students in the two countries, and in the interrelation between the factors and influences. In England, the first factor indicates attitude differences between the religiously committed and the uncommitted, but in Estonia this is only the second factor, despite the importance of religion to the 'Russians'. In Estonia the first, integrative, factor relates to religious education, which evokes much more divergence of opinion than in the English data. In the structural model, the most striking differences relate to the stronger differences in belief in Estonia, the greater influence of language spoken in England and the effect of RE model only in Estonia. However, the Estonian data indicate that individual influences on commitment reduce the effect of RE model, a group-level influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to use selected Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) tests to examine the dimensional structure of cognitive dysfunction in first episode of psychosis (FEP) patients compared with cognition in healthy subjects.MethodA total of 109 FEP patients and 96 healthy volunteers were administered eight CANTAB tests of cognitive function. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to estimate dimensionality within the test results. The dimensions identified by the PCA were assumed to reflect underlying cognitive traits. The plausibility of latent factor models was estimated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Multi-group CFA (MGCFA) was used to test for measurement invariance of factors between groups. The nature and severity of cognitive deficits amongst patients as opposed to controls were evaluated using a general linear model.ResultsAmongst subjects PCA identified two underlying cognitive traits: (i) a broad cognitive domain; (ii) attention/memory and executive function domains. Corresponding CFA models were built that fitted data well for both FEP patients and healthy volunteers. As in MGCFA latent variables appeared differently defined in patient and control groups, differences had to be ascribed using subtest scores rather than their aggregates. At subtest score level the patients performed significantly worse than healthy subjects in all comparisons (p < 0.001).ConclusionsResults of this study demonstrate that the structure of underlying cognitive abilities as measured by a selection of CANTAB tests is not the same for healthy individuals and FEP patients, with patients displaying widespread cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]