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This paper reports the findings of the second year of a four-year empirical research project. Its aim is to modify 'step-by-step' instructions for practical activities in a way that may enable the development of experimental design skills among junior high school learners. Each school year pupils spend six lessons doing practical activities using worksheets we provide. At the beginning of the research, the Grade 7 (12-13-year-old) pupils were divided into three groups. Group 1 (control group) followed step-by-step instructions. Group 2 followed the same instructions as Group 1, but after the experiment, they answered a series of questions on their worksheets concerned with the design of the experiment. Group 3 was required to design the experiments, guided by a similar set of questions. The impact of the intervention on pupils' experimental design skills (EDS) and disciplinary content knowledge (DCK) was measured using structured tests at the beginning of the project and at the end of both school years. Seven hundred fifty-six (756) Grade 8 pupils completed the test at the end of the second school year (April-May 2023). Over the first two years, the intervention resulted in a medium effect size positive change in the EDS of Group 3 compared to the control group (Group 1), (Cohen's d: 0.23). By the end of the second year of the project, there was only a small difference in the change in DCK between the experimental groups and the control group (Cohen's d value for Group 2: 0.10 and for Group 3: 0.12).

The aim of the study was to explore same-sex and opposite-sex friendship functions among 12 to 13- and 16 to 17-year-old Hungarian adolescents (n = 304). To explore perceptions of friendship functions, the McGill Friendship Questionnaire (MFQ, 30 items, 6 factors: stimulating companionship, help, intimacy, reliable alliance, self-validation, emotional security) was used. The confirmatory factor analysis did not support the theoretical structure of MFQ. Based on the exploratory factor analysis, the 26-item Hungarian version of MFQ can be used to measure adolescents (the original 6 factors were retained). The internal reliability indices of the MFQ versions (same and opposite sex) were adequate (Cronbach's [alpha]: 0.69-0.88). The results only partially confirmed the age and gender hypotheses. Based on the results, the older students are more likely to acknowledge the achievements and positives of a friend for both same-sex and opposite-sex friends, as well as intimacy for opposite-sex friends. Also among older students, we identified several significant gender differences: for girls, all features of friendship were more important, except self-validation in same-sex friendship. In the opposite-sex relationship, only stimulating companionship and reliable alliance are more important for girls. The results raise the possibility that friendship functions build on and reinforce each other with age.

The task of higher education is twofold: (1) to prepare students to meet the expectations of the labor market; and (2) to create a learning environment and conditions so that as many students can meet the subject requirements as possible, the dropout rate should be the lowest possible. Input and continuous monitoring of students' transversal competencies can be a suitable method to meet this dual requirement. The range of these competencies is very diverse. In our present study, we focused on inductive thinking, which plays an important role in problem-solving. The research involved 212 first-grade BSc technical students. Our measurement tool is widely used in the selection of the workforce, which the students had to fill in online. The gained results were evaluated using IBM SPSS Statistics. The analysis included a comparison of inductive thinking and its two subcomponents, abstract reasoning, and diagrammatic cognition, in terms of background variables, as well as time consumption, and the definition of specific performance. We found a functional relationship between time consumption and the performance achieved in the test. Students have advanced analogical cognition in terms of abstract thinking; however, their diagrammatic thinking shows very different levels of development, which can cause difficulties in solving technical problems.

In the third decade of the 21st century, the limitation of information has been replaced by the difficulty of selecting freely available information. Useful and irrelevant knowledge is available in enormous quantities on the online storage of increasingly growing server capacities. The world of education and history didactics are no exception either. Students, teachers and researchers share the need for key reference points that are solid in this field of science. As a discipline introducing sources and traces of the past and activities with higher order cognitive tasks, history didactics can be a promoter of the effective information selective process. Our study investigates the role and trends of the "International Journal of Research on History Didactics," "History Education and History Culture" over the past decade and provides the reader with a mosaic of the most recent themes and approaches in the discipline. The most important objectives of our research are the detailed portrayal and analysis of the journal and outlining the key professional workshops, authors, current directions and issues of history didactics. As an annex to the study, we have created a thematic repertory containing the open-access online writings of the journal's archive between 2010 and 2021, thus allowing for thematic aggregation.

Phonological awareness plays a key role in learning to read; therefore, its assessment has received a lot of attention. Research in the domain of phonological awareness has been characterized by attempts to develop reliable and valid assessment tools for diverse populations. Over the past few decades, phonological awareness assessment has gone through a significant evolution. Computer-delivered tests have led to new opportunities. Integrating the new medium into the testing process offers multiple benefits compared to traditional face-to-face and paper-and-pencil methods. Studies on the feasibility, structure and results of online assessments are scarce. The aim of the present study is to explore the possibilities for a technology-based assessment of phonological awareness of Hungarian first language learners (N = 5838) and to develop a reliable and valid online instrument. Results suggest that we have managed to develop a valid, reliable and easy-to-use online phonological awareness test that can be used easily in elementary school classroom settings. The unique results about the multi-dimensional nature of the construct can help rethinking and reconceptualizing phonological assessment in a wide range of languages. Since Hungarian is a language with a high level of orthographic transparency, the results could be generalized to other languages with similar qualities.

There is no generally accepted model for the continuous professional development of teachers (CPD). Different education policies in different countries reflect the implementation of different practices, although the goal is the same: to improve the quality of education. The reasonable goal of this study is to contribute with an editable and content-wise validation of the Theoretical Framework Model (TFM) for further research, a model created on the base of central regulatory documents. To this end, researchers reconciled the dimensions and indicators of the TFM to the TALIS 2018 research tools, then filtered out the relevant Hungarian respondents from the OECD online database. Finally, the data of Hungarian teachers and those of the other 47 TALIS countries were subjected to secondary statistical analysis in order to show correlations with the TFM dimensions and indicators. Results show disproportion between the TFM dimensions and shortcomings of the indicator system, particularly in career management. Besides the weakness of the support system for CPD, data point to the dominance of monitoring. Statistics also show contradiction between the central expectations towards teachers in Hungary and their belief in their professional development.

This study investigates the nature of the social interaction profiles observed among youth with intellectual disabilities (ID), defined while considering their relationships with their parents, peers, and teachers, as well as the implication of these profiles for self-esteem, aggressive behaviors, and prosocial behaviors. A sample of 393 youth with mild (48.2%) to moderate (51.8%) levels of ID, aged between 11 and 22 (M = 15.70), was recruited in Canada (n = 141) and Australia (n = 253). Our results revealed four profiles, corresponding to Socially Isolated (23.24%), Socially Integrated (39.83%), Socially Rejected (28.37%) and Socially Connected (8.57%) youth with ID. The socially integrated and connected profiles both presented higher self-esteem, more prosocial behaviors, and less aggressive behaviors than the socially isolated and rejected profiles.

This study investigates associations between initial levels and change in the quality of the relationships youth with intellectual disabilities (ID) share with their parents and teachers, and changes in their levels of depression over time. A sample of 395 youth with mild (48.3%) and moderate (51.7%) ID, aged between 11 and 22 (M = 15.69), were recruited in Canada (n = 142) and Australia (n = 253). Youth completed self-report measures of relationship quality and depression twice over a one-year period. Initial levels of warmth ([beta] = - 0.109) and conflict ([beta] = - 0.302) predicted decreases in depression. Increases in warmth predicted decreases in depression ([beta] = - 0.179), while increases in conflict predicted increases in depression ([beta] = 0.268). Discrepancies between youth relationships with their parents and teachers predicted decreases in depression ([beta][subscript warmth] = - 0.732; [beta][subscript conflict] = - 0.608).

Restrictions and lockdown measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic exerted unprecedented pressure on higher education institutions to switch to online-only teaching. This transition was characterised by swift implementation of policy, and the adoption of a wide range of information technologies at extraordinary speed and scale. Our aim was to explore which factors contributed to a successful switch and to what extent. We collected data from university students related to their experience with the deployment of emergency remote teaching. Using a framework of Person, Artefact, and Task factors as indicators, we conducted a hierarchical logistic regression analysis to predict problem-free transition to online-only university education. Transparency of tasks and difficulties with practicals emerged as the most important predictors, among factors related to IT equipment (availability, experience, and attitude), and teachers' availability to communicate with students. We present an impact-prevalence analysis of the predictors to provide guidance for managerial decision-making and prioritisation for future intervention and research. The findings are used to provide an evaluative reflection of the transition, and to promote improvement and planning. Knowledge generated within the pandemic context is especially valuable for future contingencies, such as natural emergencies and disasters, times of conflict, and other unforeseen events.

In education, we have noticed a significant gap between the ability of students to program in an educational visual programming environment and the ability to write code in a professional programming environment. The aim of our research was to verify the methodology of transition from visual programming of mobile applications in MIT App Inventor 2 to textual programming in the Android Studio using the Java Bridge tool as a mediator of knowledge transfer. We have examined the extent, to which students will be able to independently program own mobile applications after completing the transition from visual to textual programming using the mediator. To evaluate the performance of students, we have analysed qualitative data from teaching during 1 school year and determined the degree of achievement of educational goals according to Bloom's taxonomy. The results suggest that students in the secondary education can acquire advanced skills in programming mobile applications in a professional programming environment, when they have knowledge of visual programming in an educational programming environment, and a suitable mediator is used to transfer such knowledge into a new context.

The results of an earlier four-year longitudinal research study on the development of experimental design skills led to the conclusion that 12-13 year old students probably need more help to design experiments than had been offered to them in that project. This paper reports the findings of the first year of a further four-year empirical research project. Its aim is to modify 'step-by-step' instructions for practical activities in a way that may enable the development of experimental design skills. Nine hundred and thirty-one (931) students have been involved. All were 12-13 years old in the beginning of the study (September 2021). Each year students spend six lessons (some or all of each) doing practical activities using worksheets we provide. The students were divided into three groups. Group 1 (control group) follow step-by-step instructions. Groups 2 and 3 are experimental groups. Group 2 follow the same instructions as Group 1 but also complete a scheme (a series of questions) on their worksheets concerned with the design of the experiment. Group 3 is required to design the experiments, guided by the scheme. The scheme asks indirect questions about the identification of the independent variable, the dependent variable and the constants. The impact of the intervention on the students' experimental design skills (focusing on the identification and control of variables) and disciplinary content knowledge is measured by structured tests. After the first school year of the project it was clear that the applied type of instruction had a significant positive effect on the results of the Group 3 students' experimental design skills (Cohen's "d" effect size: -0.28). However, no significant effect of the intervention could be detected on the changes in the Group 2 students' experimental design skills (Cohen's "d" effect size: -0.11). ANCOVA analysis showed that these effects were due to a combination of several factors (mainly the intervention, school ranking and prior knowledge). This paper provides the interesting details of the results of the first year of the research and discusses the minor changes to the approach that have been made for the remaining three years of the project.

We present a new secondary school teaching method of quantum uncertainties of two-state systems. Intending to be a material teachable in schools, only two-state systems described by real numbers can be considered. An elementary argumentation based on school statistics leads to the identification of the uncertainty of a physical quantity in such systems with the standard deviation of two random variables. We provide a qualitative picture on the state-dependence of the uncertainty, leading to a pictorial representation in the form of four petals of a flower. When considering the product of uncertainty of two essentially different physical quantities we conclude that the general feature: "if the measurement of one of the quantities is certain, the other remains uncertain", cannot be faithfully expressed by means of an inequality, the product has no lower bound different from zero. The application of techniques used by school materials for teaching quantum physics leads to an exact formula for the state-dependence of the uncertainty valid in any two-state system described by real numbers, in full harmony with the qualitative picture. We compare the two-state case with the celebrated Heisenberg position-momentum uncertainty relation and show that these are both specific facets, but only the Heisenberg relation can be expressed by an inequality. The latter hardly provides any hint on the uncertainties of physical quantities in two-state systems. We conclude that the two-state approach is worth teaching in schools also in relation to the uncertainty relation, even if the Heisenberg relation is not part of the curriculum.

The present research, by using cross-sectional (Study 1, N = 413) and daily diary methods (Study 2, N = 95) aimed to investigate the way intelligence mindset influences students' self-esteem and emotional experiences when they are confronting academic adversities (i.e., failures and difficulties). Although fixed intelligence mindset showed no association with students' daily positive or negative emotions, results consistently indicated that fixed intelligence mindset moderated the effect of academic failures (Study 1) and daily difficulties (Study 2) on their self-esteem. Academic adversities reduced students' self-esteem, and fixed intelligence mindset amplified this effect.

Literature data show that acute, severe, and also chronic stress play an important role in the development of somatic and mental disorders. It is well documented in the literature that starting university studies results in anxiety in many ways for individuals. In this present work, we examined how perceived stress affects the appearance of depression and sleep disorders among a special group: the first-year undergraduates. In February 2020, 134 students completed a 14-question Perceived Stress Scale questionarre. In addition, the 13-question Beck Depression Scale and the 8-question Athens Insomnia Scale were used as measures to assess their current mental health status. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which anxiety and depressive symptoms changed had become a major issue worldwide. In June 2020, we repeated our previous measures in the given population with the same methods. Our research clearly proved higher perceived stress values among undergraduate students, which were associated with high depressive symptom parameters and insomnia. However, unexpectedly, questionnaires completed during the quarantine period of the COVID pandemic showed lower perceived stress, which was accompanied by a decrease in depressive symptoms and insomnia.

Using data from 4047 adolescents in three countries, this study was designed to investigate the associations between two important components of the learning process: academic motivation and student engagement. To increase the precision and accuracy of these analyses, preliminary analyses were conducted to identify the optimal measurement structure of both constructs, leading us to retain a bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling representation of academic motivation and of a partial bifactor confirmatory factor analytic representation for student engagement. Our main analyses revealed that academic motivation factors were able to explain almost 66% of the variance in global levels of engagement, and between 5% and 35% of the variance in specific levels of engagement. Finally, mediation analyses supported the role of emotional engagement as a mediator of the association between academic motivation and global and specific behavioral forms of engagement.

One of the main aims of national assessment programmes is to improve the efficacy of education systems; realizing this aim often takes the form of implementing a variety of accountability measures. Using assessment results for accountability purposes is highly controversial, while one of its undesirable impacts is that it generates negative attitudes towards educational assessments among teachers. The aim of this study is to examine lower and upper secondary teachers' (N = 1552) opinions and beliefs about testing and, more specifically, about the national assessment programme in Hungary. A questionnaire was used to explore teachers' beliefs about the effects of the assessment system on how they teach, perceived pressure from stakeholders, teachers' acceptance of assessment programmes and the relationship between these beliefs. Results show that assessment programmes compel teachers to revise their teaching practices -- some change to make meaningful gains in student learning, while others turn to practices that are not conducive to a genuine improvement in students' knowledge, focussing instead on assessment scores. Pressure from inside the school (colleagues and school leaders) and teachers' attitude towards assessments bring about changes in instruction, such as the reallocation of coaching and improvement in teaching. Sources of pressure outside school (local government and the media) have an indirect effect on changes in teaching because their pressure influences in-school motivators. Pressure from parents and students is felt directly by teachers, but only in limited areas. The results demonstrate that a national assessment programme has a more significant impact on teaching in lower than in upper secondary schools.

According to previous studies, general environmental characteristics and job-related factors influence employees' transfer of learned skills to the job. However, among job-related variables, the role of work engagement in connection with transfer motivation, opportunity and training transfer has not received much research attention. Building upon the theoretical background of the Job Demands-Resources Model, the present study investigated the relationship between job resources/demands and training transfer through work engagement, transfer motivation and opportunity to transfer. Based on data from 311 working adults who participated in soft skill training programmes, job resources were associated with higher levels of training transfer through increased work engagement, motivation and opportunity to transfer. In contrast, job demands had negative relationships with transfer via work engagement and opportunity to transfer. The findings supported the assumption of the positive gain spiral in the transfer context. We conclude that companies should prioritize the development of job resources to provide a better environment for training transfer.

Skilled reading is thought to rely on well-specified lexical representations that compete during visual word recognition. The establishment of these lexical representations is assumed to be driven by phonology. To test the role of phonology, we examined the prime lexicality effect (PLE), the index of lexical competition in signing deaf (N = 28) and hearing (N = 28) adult readers of Hungarian matched in age and education. We found no PLE for deaf readers even when reading skills were controlled for. Surprisingly, the hearing controls also showed reduced PLE; however, the effect was modulated by reading skill. More skilled hearing readers showed PLE, while more skilled deaf readers did not. These results suggest that phonology contributes to lexical competition; however, high-quality lexical representations are not necessarily built through phonology in deaf readers.

Most questionnaires construe avoidance as resulting from a problem-solving process and analyse only a few, single-factor and mostly non-adequate, forms of avoidance. The aim of the present study was to develop a multi-dimensional questionnaire to measure avoidance among adolescents. We tested the Avoidance Questionnaire for Adolescents (AQA) with 12-, 15- and 18-year-olds to measure most forms of avoidance in social problem-solving as well as to shed light on the relationships between the sub-processes of social problem-solving. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed to examine the measure's factor structure, while confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to support the theoretical process model of avoidance. The convergent and discriminative validity of the AQA was tested in relation to the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R). Two versions (a long version of 42 items and a short version of 23 items) of the 11-factor AQA were developed in accordance with the results. The long and short versions were found to be valid measures of problem-solving with regards to negative thoughts, feelings and physical symptoms; negative self-efficacy/insolvability; prevention; annulation; ignoring the problem; expectation/diversion; mulling; procrastination/rethink; stopping/subordination; external pressure; and asking for help. The factors show positive or negative correlations with the SPSI-R factors. The results of the SEM support the original process model. Based on earlier Hungarian research carried out with the SPSI-R, avoidance shows a tendency to increase in adolescence. In contrast, the results of the AQA show that the earliest age differences occur in the ignoring the problem, procrastination, stopping, diversion and expectation factors.

The aim of this study was to explore when experts trust their intuition. The Take-The-First heuristic suggests that experts generate a few options based on option validity that match the current situation and probably pick the first one they generated. In chess, the rated quality of moves can be used to analyze fast and slow decisions. We provided players with strategic (long-term) and tactical (short-term) situations and asked for fast choices, further candidate moves, and the best choice. We divided the participants into three groups based on expertise. Results indicate that chess players at lower skill levels were more vulnerable in tactics than in strategy, especially under time pressure. Masters scored better than near-experts on intuitive and final decisions, and whereas near-experts profited from more time, the masters did not. This finding implies that Take-The-First is both boundedly and ecologically rational. Conclusions are made regarding trusting the intuitions of experts.

Introduction: This article examines the first level of the European higher education system, namely the short-cycle higher education trainings related to the ISCED 5 whose Hungarian characteristics, and its historical changes were described. Methods: We examined participation rates among OECD countries. As there are large differences in the short-cycle higher education trainings in Europe, we have relied on data that makes the different systems comparable. Results and discussion: The interpretation, definition and practical orientation of the trainings varies from country to country, we presented the Hungarian form in connection with the results of international comparative studies and data. To understand the role of trainings, it is essential to get to know their history, especially because short-term higher educational trainings were transformed in several European countries. Conclusions: Prioritising or effacing the social-political role of short-cycle higher education trainings depending on the political orientation of the government and as a part of this, prioritising the disadvantaged regions instead of the disadvantaged students.

Bauhaus, the German arts and crafts college, is 100 years old this year. One of the revolutionary features of its pedagogical programme was the methodology of teaching about colour, elaborated by Johannes Itten and Paul Klee, leading Bauhaus masters, and further developed by their disciples, Joseph Albers and György (George) Kepes. This methodological legacy is continued in a curriculum innovation experiment in art education that is currently being piloted in primary and secondary schools of Hungary. Developing colour perception, creation and communication are basic components of our curricular modules. In this article, we show the development of colour perception of 7,087 students in two age groups: 7-8.8 and 12-13.5 years, tested through arts-based tasks in an interactive, online platform. Evolution of colour sensitivity, recognition of colour and form, colour memory and decoding the meaning of colours will be shown and the relevance of the results for arts education indicated.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and interpret the critical quality attributes of core educational services at the course level both with student and lecturer involvement. Significant differences between the viewpoints of these two directly involved stakeholder groups are also demonstrated to provide a better understanding of student expectations. Methodology: Students of quality management courses were invited to collect those attributes that could have an impact on their perceived educational service quality. The compiled list of 23 characteristics has been formed on the basis of a four-point Likert scale-based questionnaire. With approximately 360 responses, thorough statistical analyses have been executed to investigate whether any significant differences could be detected between the quality attributes perceived by the different student segments. A group of lecturers has also been invited to fulfil the same questionnaire to compare their viewpoints with those of the students. Findings: The results allow us to identify critical quality attributes which may be used in all platforms and interactions with students. The conclusions can be implemented on the course level to adjust the plan-do-check-act-based improvement of courses in which lecturers are directly interested. Originality: As the new generation of students increasingly regard themselves as customers, they have become more aware of how they are taught and how they participate in the learning process. Institutionalizing this approach may contribute to the shaping of the organizational quality culture by emphasizing student focus and may result in the identification of best practices and standardization of processes at the course level.

The Masters level Opportunities and Technological Innovation in Vocational Teacher Education project (project site: http://motivate.tmpk.bmf.hu/) aims to develop the use and management of virtual learning environments in the area of vocational teacher training, drawing on a well established international partnership of institutions providing both technical and educational expertise. This paper gives an overall picture of the first results and products of the collaboration. We touch upon the goals, the assessments and the learning process of using "Multimedia and e-Learning: e-learning methods and tools" module in details. The main cooperative and collaborative devices are presented in virtual learning environment. The communication during collaborative learning, the structured debate on forum and the benefits of collaborative learning in VLE are interpreted at the end of this paper.

Academic self-handicapping is a very popular subject of research in educational psychology, in which a growing number of related findings are reported. However, apart from a recent meta-analysis (Schwinger et al. in J Educ Psychol 106(3):744-761, 2014), the last comprehensive review of the subject was published 17 years ago (Urdan and Midgley in Educ Psychol Rev 13(2):115-138, 2001). This paper integrates relevant findings accumulated since then, which are discussed in a coherent interpretive framework. The first part of the paper discusses the definition and theoretical grounds of academic self-handicapping, then its manifestations in an academic context are enumerated. The second part of the study focuses on the self-protective function of stereotypes based on self-handicapping as well as on the impressions self-handicapping students may make on others at school. A summary of the contributions of goal orientation theory is provided in relation to self-handicapping, and the effects of various goal orientations and goal structures on academic performance are analysed. Based on an analysis of interactions between self-handicapping and academic performance, the authors argue for the importance of prevention and suggest possible ways to prevent self-handicapping. In conclusion, measurement issues of academic self-handicapping and the methodological paradox inherent in questionnaire measures are discussed.

From the perspective of the world-systems theory and post-colonial studies, the 1989 transition in Hungary was a part of the re-integration of former Soviet countries into an inferior position in the world system. The political-economic transition was in no sense a revolution, but a replacement of dictatorial/totalitarian state capitalism with neoliberal global capitalism. In this paper we will analyze how Hungary's semi-peripheral "catching-up revolution" consisted of stabilizing the neoliberal hegemony in education. As a result, one of the most decentralized, diverse, vertically, and horizontally stratified, and hence extremely selective education systems emerged from the gloomy Central-East European semi-periphery with exemplary diligence in conserving and reproducing social inequalities. Some 27 years after the transition, the teaching staff from Herman Ottó High School in Budapest wrote a public letter analyzing the problems of public education and criticizing the Hungarian government's interventions, which led to one of the country's biggest movements since the political-economic transition in 1989. To understand the conditions that led to these situations, wherein education under siege triggered the biggest protests since 1989, we will first describe how the Hungarian education system was affected by the political-economic transition. Second, we will point to a rupture in the post-socialist history of Hungary, namely the neoconservative interventions of Hungary's post-fascist, far-right government which has been in power since 2010. And lastly, we will try to place the teacher's movement (and, briefly, the pro-Central European University protests) in this post-socialist rhapsody by showing how they interweave with Hungary's forever lasting semi-peripheral catching-up revolution. In our conclusion we will try to propose a strategy drawing on Immanuel Wallerstein's idea of an anti-systemic Rainbow Coalition, by which new social and anti-systemic movements could organize their resistance more effectively.

This is the start of a road map for the effective introduction of inquiry-based learning in chemistry. Advantages of inquiry-based approaches to the development of scientific literacy are widely discussed in the literature. However, unless chemistry educators take account of teachers' reservations and identified disadvantages such approaches will never have the place they deserve in the everyday teaching of chemistry. If circumstances do not allow for complicated and open-ended inquiry tasks, simpler and more structured inquiry-based tasks may be used. As a first step, teachers could be asked to modify and adapt established "step-by-step" instructions to practical activities which require some stages to be designed by the students. If this happens only a few times in a school year the question arises about its effectiveness to develop experimental design skills and to reinforce knowledge and ideas taught in chemistry lessons. The present study describes the results of an empirical research project aimed to finding the answer. Modification of step-by-step practical activities as described requires limited time and effort, yet the results suggest that many students benefit from this approach.

Workplaces and employees' health are closely connected. A healthy workforce would increase productivity, effectivity and efficiency which will benefit the employer in financial and moral terms as well. On the contrary, if employees experience stress, long working hours, bad managerial style, not safe working conditions that would lead to ill physical and mental health and poor lifestyle habits like lack of exercises, smoking, drinking and inadequate diets. Our research was carried out at faculties of the University of Szeged (n = 261). Data acquisition was online, with the help of a self-completed questionnaire distributed through e-mail. Apart from basic socio-demographic data the questionnaire contained questions referring to employees' nutrition-, exercising-, sporting-, and leisure habits, visiting the doctor and their smoking and alcohol consumption frequency. To sum all findings up, we can say that employees of the University of Szeged are concerned about their health and act for preserving and promoting it. They strive at creating a good well-being. Their health behaviour is acceptable and can mean a suitable example for the young adult generation.

This paper presents the results of an experimental project in which media students created a short video. The students in groups of 4 or 5 used concept maps for collected their ideas about organizing the project. The analysis of the concept maps revealed that two groups were product-oriented, one group was workflow-oriented, and two groups used concepts that belonged to both categories. The contents of the concept maps also reflected students' prior knowledge and skills related to the task. In a joint discussion of the concept maps, students created a to-do list for shooting the video, which was an important activity to build common knowledge. This project confirms that the use of concept maps is a useful tool for developing students' professional skills.

The legal treatment of disability affairs carries in itself an inherent contradiction due to the nature of modern society and free-market economy. On the one hand both the historically developed notions of essentialism and on the other the particular-functional definition of manhood drawing its roots from the established democratic order and market economics are present simultaneously. However, within the current order of things there is an unbridgeable divide between them. Nevertheless, with the progression of time there is a slow gradual shift discernible away from the functional definition with the parallel strengthening of the essentialist approach. This shift is further exaggerated by the more widespread acceptance of the rights of self-determination and the provision of opportunities for the disabled, the emergence of social self-determination in case of a population subgroup living under special conditions. For the proper interpretation of the currents in the evolution of legal treatment of disabled people it would be indispensable to institute a proper social-discourse analysis, which, however, exceeds in scope its narrowly defined task.

Computer-based assessment can provide new insights into behavioral processes of task completion that cannot be uncovered by paper-based instruments. Time presents a major characteristic of the task completion process. Psychologically, time on task has 2 different interpretations, suggesting opposing associations with task outcome: Spending more time may be positively related to the outcome as the task is completed more carefully. However, the relation may be negative if working more fluently, and thus faster, reflects higher skill level. Using a dual processing theory framework, the present study argues that the validity of each assumption is dependent on the relative degree of controlled versus routine cognitive processing required by a task, as well as a person's acquired skill. A total of 1,020 persons ages 16 to 65 years participated in the German field test of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies. Test takers completed computer-based reading and problem solving tasks. As revealed by linear mixed models, in problem solving, which required controlled processing, the time on task effect was positive and increased with task difficulty. In reading tasks, which required more routine processing, the time on task effect was negative and the more negative, the easier a task was. In problem solving, the positive time on task effect decreased with increasing skill level. In reading, the negative time on task effect increased with increasing skill level. These heterogeneous effects suggest that time on task has no uniform interpretation but is a function of task difficulty and individual skill.

The present experiments focused on how orthographic processing develops during reading acquisition. Specifically, a large, cross-sectional sample of children from grade 2 to grade 4 was exposed to pairs of words, pseudowords, digit strings, and pseudo-letter (Armenian) strings while their sensitivity to transpositions (T) and substitutions (S) of internal characters was investigated in a perceptual matching task. The results showed that the development of identity and position decoding diverged between the four stimulus categories. Most importantly, sensitivity improved with longer exposure to formal education and higher reading level to "both" S and T pairs for digit strings, but "only" to S pairs for words and pseudowords. The results were successfully reproduced in two small independent samples. We propose a general framework, the Adaptive Specialization Hypothesis, to accommodate the results. According to this hypothesis, the transposed-letter effect is not a hard-wired feature of the orthographic processing system but an adaptive response of the developing orthographic system to the constraints of lexical access in several orthographies.