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Attracting prospective students could be difficult and expensive. Candidates, when choosing a future school for their studies, consider a great number of factors. Information from official university websites does not suffice to persuade. Word of mouth plays a significant role, among others. The aim of this paper is to present findings about important factors influencing the overall satisfaction of current students with university life as well as their willingness to share positive references. The study took place in the Czech Republic with students attending business schools at universities. Primary data was collected via an online questionnaire with students with bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees (n = 274) and in-depth interviews (n = 10). Data was processed with regression analysis and Spearman's correlation coefficient. The main findings suggest that there is a close positive correlation between students' satisfaction and the willingness to recommend the university. The quality of student life and the reputation of the school were identified as the most important factors influencing this satisfaction and willingness to recommend.

The paper describes the results of a study whose main aim was to find the interrelationship between pupils' school grades in Czech language (native), mathematics, and physics and pupils' cognitive predispositions to problem-solving in science and mathematics diagnosed by the Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning and the Culture of Problem Solving test. A total of 180 pupils from the Czech Republic aged 14-15 took part in this study. The results show that pupils with better grades in the monitored subjects achieve better results in both tests. It also turns out that there are generally statistically insignificant differences between the results of pupils assessed by grades 1 or 2 and between those assessed by grades 3 or 4. Pupils' performance in the two tests might help to strengthen the objectivization of grading at school. They might also help identify the indicators important for developing problem-solving skills. The research specifically points to the need to develop algebraic thinking, the conception of infinity, spatial imagination, geometric imagination in the plane, proportional reasoning, and the ability to control variables.

Mobile phone dependence refers to the excessive use of mobile phones by individuals, which may cause problems in study, work and life. We compared differences in mobile phone dependence among Chinese and Czech university students, and explore the relationship between mobile phone dependence and academic achievement among them in this paper. The subjects of this study included 358 Chinese university students and 282 Czech university students who were recruited during March to April 2022. We collected data through online questionnaires, using the Short Version of the Smartphone Dependence Scale (SAS-SV) to assess the level of students' mobile phone dependence and the Academic Achievement Questionnaire (AAQ) to assess the level of students' academic achievement. The results show that for the level of mobile phone dependence are negatively correlated with the scores of various dimensions of academic achievement and the total score of academic achievement, among them, Chinese students have more significant effect in the relationship between mobile phone dependence and study performance; moreover, the correlations between the three sub-factors of academic achievement in Chinese students were stronger. It can be concluded that mobile phone dependence may lead to lower study performance, more difficulty in handling study demands, and lower social adaptation, or lower academic achievement may also lead to more severe mobile phone dependence.

Investigating disadvantaged children is a priority area concerning education and health. However, little attention has been paid to pandemic-specific research in recent years. In the present study, we aim to explore the attitudes toward distance education in a sample (N = 305) of 7-8th grade students studying in disadvantaged settlements concerning the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Attitudes towards distance education were measured using a 16-item tool. Factor analysis was applied to detect the factors of attitudes towards distance education. Variables influencing these factors were measured by linear regression analysis including well-being, perceived stress and support, academic achievement, and sociodemographic background. The results indicate that four factors (learning difficulties, poor health, time saving and safety, and distance learning preference) can be distinguished. The effects of gender, type of settlement, deprivation and objective financial status is significant regarding distance learning preference and perceptions of poor health. Regarding health indicators, a protective role of support from teachers and a hindering role of stress indicators were found. The role academic performance was insignificant. Overall, the factors influencing attitudes towards distance education partly follow the trends of the factors influencing perceptions of traditional education. However, it is necessary to stress the crisis nature of the pandemic.

This article aims to identify the mutual relationship between the awareness of the importance of mathematical competencies for the acquisition of work-related skills and the perceived importance of the latter for performance in future work and successful participation in the labor market. How these issues relate to math anxiety is also explored. The above is examined on a sample of university students in the selected education institution (HEI) N =297 in the Czech Republic in 2022. Subsequently, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with the students in 2023. It was found that by improving work-related skills for a future career, math anxiety increases. A crucial finding is up to 47 % of the perceived importance of competencies for future job performance can be explained by understanding the importance of mathematics for their acquisition. The findings of this study have the potential to contribute to the improvement of mathematics education and the development of a more skilled and capable workforce, which can ultimately lead to greater economic growth and social progress. In addition, this article contains practical recommendations on how to use these findings in the practice of mathematics education not only in the selected higher education institution.

Extracurricular learning plays a key role in shaping students' interest in (not only) biology. The research examined which extracurricular areas related to biology can make biology more attractive for the participating Finnish and Czech students. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was administered to 178 Finnish and 195 Czech 9th-grade lower-secondary school students. Cronbach's alpha, Varimax rotation and Mann-Whitney U-test were performed. Factor analysis identified 7 areas: Family trips, My career, Biology lessons, Healthy lifestyle, Institutions, Nature-related hobbies, and Information sources. For Czech, hobbies related to nature and family trips are significant contributors to fostering interest in biology, and an informal educational environment is crucial for cultivating a lasting relationship with biology. For Finns, biology classes and career orientation have a more significant influence on students, demonstrating the effectiveness of formal educational strategies in increasing students' interest in biology. Increasing interest in biology among the students observed in both sociocultural environments is significantly influenced by family involvement and the use of information sources. Further research should explore how specific ECA can support the connection between family and school environments and their impact on students' interest and engagement in biology lessons.

This study explores journalism students' responses to hazards and hostility in the profession within a Safety of Journalists course. The research uses focus group interviews, field notes, study diaries, written tasks, and Teams' chat logs of 11 students. Students' reactions to the hazards highlight the importance of awareness for finding solutions and developing resilience. Proposed solutions include fostering self-assurance, enhancing interpersonal communication, setting boundaries to prevent burnout, and recognizing the significance of workers' rights. However, finding some solutions was hindered by students' experiences of media organizations neglecting worker well-being.

Objective: This study investigated active recess as an innovative approach to improving physical activity levels in European primary schools, addressing the need to counteract sedentary behaviour and enhance health in students. Method and Design: Using rapid reviewing, the article summarises empirical evidence from a variety of sources, including cross-sectional and intervention studies. Different approaches are investigated to determine their impact on physical activity during recess. Results: Different playground settings have distinct effects on physical activity, with grassland and designated zones in particular promoting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Gender inequalities in physical activity patterns suggest the need for gender-sensitive interventions. Playground marking and scheduled activities temporarily increase physical activity, whereas recess of more than 60 minutes dramatically enhances physically active participation. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the impact of active recess in facilitating children to engage in higher levels of physical activity. The findings have implications for school health policy decisions.

This quantitative survey-based study examines 366 Czech and 532 Turkish preschool teachers' compassion levels and psychological well-being. The Adult Compassion Scale and Psychological Well-being Scale were used as the data-collection tools, and Mann-Whitney U testing and Kruskal Wallis-H testing were used for data analysis. Although Turkish preschool teachers' compassion levels were found to be higher than Czech participants, the Turkish preschool teachers' psychological well-being was lower. While participants' compassion did not differ significantly across gender, parent/non-parent status, or the presence/absence of children with special needs in their classrooms, significant differences were associated with age, seniority, personal education level, marital status, age group of children taught, class size, and faith. While psychological well-being did not differ significantly across presence/absence of special-needs children, seniority, personal education level, age group of children taught, or faith, there were significant differences across gender, age, parenthood, marital status and class size. There was also a positive and moderately significant relationship between the preschool teachers' compassion and their psychological well-being.

The article focuses on adaptation and validation of the Academic Motivation Scale questionnaire (AMS-28) in higher education in four Eastern European countries: Czechia, Slovakia, Serbia, and Poland. The research was conducted with a total of 1711 respondents. We examined the construct validity of AMS-28 including measurement invariance and reliability according to national, gender and age groups. Our analysis confirmed its original seven-factor structure as well as its reliability. The tool is measurement invariant across all compared groups (gender, age, countries) except Poland, whose results are specific. The results identify new places on the world map where AMS-28 is functional. The tool appears functional in time, space and various language mutations. Despite satisfactory results, there is still room for future examination of the AMS-28 among different countries. In practice, the tool has a wide range of application possibilities.

This paper presents the results of qualitative research on academic inbreeding in Czech higher education, the first of its kind. Its focus is on exploring the significance of academic inbreeding, its types, practices, and possible solutions. The research for this paper was done among academic staff at eight institutions of higher education in the Czech Republic. It was conceptually informed by ideas about different types of inbred employees (immobile, mobile, silver-corded, and adherent) and available policy tools. The results show that academic inbreeding has long flown under the radar as an issue. Its impact is perceived ambivalently, as both positive and negative, by academics and experts alike. Generally, its avoidance has not been taken into account in staff recruitment, which has allowed it to become widespread among Czech higher education institutions. The policy tools for combatting academic inbreeding include nodality (open recruitment), reorganization of recruitment procedures, capacity-building (including stays abroad), and hortatory proclamations (paying attention to the issue). Overall, the evidence gathered in the course of research suggests that some progress has been made in limiting academic inbreeding at some workplaces, and that what we would call purely immobile inbred employees are giving way to mobile and "silver-corded" inbred academic staff. Finally, Czech higher education institutions register few cases of pseudo-inbreeding, combining work at the same institution where a PhD was taken with an academically relevant position in a state research institute or the Academy of Sciences.

In the era of higher education institutions' internationalisation, international student mobility is viewed as a crucial educational tool for enhancing the cross-cultural competence of learners. This paper aims to present research findings on the development of cross-cultural competence (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) among students participating in a short-term international mobility programme. The study involved 45 students from five European universities located in Kosovo, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, and Malta. We utilised three scales in our methodology: the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory, the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire, and the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, along with data from a structured diary. Our findings indicate that students who took part in this programme expanded their knowledge through various trainings and workshops during each study visit abroad. Students not only gained new knowledge and specific skills (e.g., conflict management, negotiation skills), and behaviours (e.g., tolerance, openness, trust), but they also improved previously acquired competencies, such as professional and linguistic ones (English fluency). This study contributes to the scientific understanding of cross-cultural competence development and may also be valuable in designing intercultural training and mobility programmes for students.

The study examines the influence of nudging on the successful studies of Higher education institutions (HEI's) students. Data from one of the typical countries of the Central European region (Czech Republic) is analyzed. The goal of the research was to find out how students accept individual forms of nudging. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey at Czech HEIs (N = 207) and structured interviews with experts (N = 19) were conducted. This study showed that information nudges and high-touch nudges enjoyed the highest level of acceptance. A strong correlation was also found between "most irritating" and group "manipulative" nudges. These forms of nudging fluctuated around the borderline value of acceptance. A strong or moderate correlation was also found between nudges with similar content and different forms. Structured interviews showed that experts supported the use of nudges. They considered it an important tool to influence the study's success. Experts explained the differences in the acceptance of nudges in connection with the different ages of students, the type of study, the students' life experiences, and partly with the type of field of study. They considered parents' education rather ambivalent.

More and more experts from the social sciences are appearing in the media to provide expert opinions on media coverage of events and social issues. However, with regard to the conditions under which media content is produced, a growing number of voices have been pointing to the fact that quasi-experts with a media interest tend to speak more in the media than scientifically trained scholars. This article conducts an analysis of media outputs to examine whether this criticism is relevant to the field of education in the Czech media landscape, and the analysis shows that in almost half of cases the so-called "education experts" commenting on education in the media were quasi-experts -- people to whom the authority and status to speak on education is attributed by the media -- rather than scholarly experts. The analysis results in a classification of experts on education speaking in the Czech media -- they usually choose similar rhetoric and accentuate only selected educational topics.

The telehealth model can allow for cost-effective supports in areas where limited applied behavior analysis (ABA) services are available. As a result, e-learning programs for parents of children with autism have become part of the telehealth paradigm. In the Czech Republic, one of the many places where there are limited ABA supports and no available ABA e-learning courses for families, the development of an e-learning course that is freely available, and linguistically and culturally appropriate, is needed. It was anticipated that this course could mirror some of the free e-learning materials available to English-speaking caregivers and provide foundational knowledge to later support more intensive ABA services. Therefore, a pilot study was developed to assess an ABA e-learning course for caregivers in the Czech Republic with the aim of validating its efficacy and assessing whether a synchronous component was needed for the best outcomes. The materials were not meant to replace best practices in more intensive caregiver training but provide foundational skills for later more successful local services. Results demonstrated that a total of 33 caregivers completed the course, making statistically significant gains in their ABA knowledge and rating the course highly. Interestingly, the addition of the synchronous component only impacted the knowledge gain outcome. Suggestions for supporting caregivers in e-learning course completion and directions for future research are additionally explored.

Since the introduction of new legislation in 2016, questions of inclusive policy have been constantly discussed not only in schools, but also among professionals, parents, and politicians. This article is part of a larger research survey mapping the state of inclusive education at all Czech Republic secondary schools. It presents the results for two regions in order to show what attitudes and views are held by principals on the implementation of inclusion in the education system. The research was carried out as a qualitative study and semi-structured interview were employed as the research method. The obtained data were analysed using the grounded theory method. The results show that inclusion is not generally accepted by school principals. There are schools that are very pro-inclusive, but there are also schools that fundamentally reject inclusion. Initial assumptions that inclusion has been best received by general secondary schools were not confirmed. On the contrary, it turns out that the type of school does not matter as much as the attitudes of the seniors' pedagogical staff towards inclusion. Their behaviour and attitudes significantly influence the whole school climate, which is passed on to all actors as well as how the school functions overall in working with pupils with special needs.

We have developed a new interactive instrument that uses psychological distance (represented by visual distance) together with the metaphors of size and temperature to assess liking and influence among primary school students. To test its concurrent validity, we compare its results with an established sociometric instrument. Furthermore, we examine the characteristics of the obtained ratings, the main sources of variability of the observed ratings, and the reliability of person-level results. Our results indicate that the ratings derived from the interactive visual metaphors of distance, size, and temperature show adequate reliability and strongly correlate with a traditional sociometric inventory that uses rating scales. The novelty of our approach lies in the use of generalizability theory, which allows for the decomposition of obtained ratings into class, rater, rated person, dyadic, and idiosyncratic effects. This allows for a more nuanced analysis of the relationships between members of social groups, such as school classes.

The aim of this paper is to measure and compare the quality of services provided by higher education institutions in the Czech Republic and Vietnam. It is not the sheer volume of services offered, but their quality, which matters as a strategic tool enhancing the competitiveness in the tertiary education market. Feedback from student-clients is valuable to school management in their efforts to improve the services supplied. Samples of hundreds of students from the Czech Republic and Vietnam were involved in the research applying the SERVQUAL method. The five-dimensional questionnaire was administered, and the obtained data were analysed using descriptive statistics and t-test. The results show that Czech respondents are less satisfied with the service quality than their Vietnamese counterparts. In both countries, the quality perception in all dimensions was lower than expectations, the largest gaps being found in the Assurance dimension. Czech students placed the greatest emphasis on the Empathy factor, while their Vietnamese colleagues preferred the Tangibles dimension. To improve the quality of services, higher education institutions in the Czech Republic are advised to facilitate fast and unambiguous information transfer, ensuring comfort, security, and a supportive learning environment for students, with helpful staff willing to address their concerns.

The issue of educational work with trauma in juvenile detention centres (JDC) is a less explored area in the Czech Republic, even though the literature points to a higher incidence of trauma among children at risk in this target group. The aim of our research was to determine the extent of adverse childhood experiences among young people in detention centres in the Czech Republic. A quantitative research strategy was applied in the research. The results show that more than 90% of the surveyed adolescents living in JDC had more than one adverse childhood experience (captured in the ACE-Q). In light of the findings, it seems important to pay attention to traumatic experience of youth in JDC and to design comprehensive holistic interventions based on the individual needs of the at-risk youth with traumatic experiences.

This is a study of the process of biographical learning and how it can be observed in narration. There have not yet been empirical studies focused explicitly on the learning aspects of biographical learning, as scholars have focused more on the biographical part of the concept -- more on the question of what is learned than of how it is learned. This text therefore concentrates on the learning process itself within biographical learning, using data from 29 biographical narrative interviews with mature students studying for education degrees in Czech higher education. The results show that narrators do not present their experiences separately in their narration, one after another. The narrative analysis revealed that their experiences are intertwined. In adding another experience, the narrators discover new meanings. It is therefore possible to talk about the learning process going on in the narration. The narrative analysis identified three types of this biographical learning as reflected in narration: learning by analogy, learning by audit, and learning by authority. In learning by analogy, experiences are compared to one another, creating an analogy between them. Learning by authority involves the influence of a past experience on the present day. Learning by audit is a retrospective movement, looking at a past experience through the lens of the present. The results presented here have implications for both adult education research and practice.

Hands-on dissections of animals are traditionally regarded as an essential part of biology education. Nowadays, regardless of the reported educational benefits, there is a gradual change in the concept and acceptance of hands-on dissection, leading in many cases to its abandonment in schools and its replacement with alternatives such as 3D models, figurines, plastination and computer-based alternatives. However, the position of hands-on dissection has recently been challenged, mostly by computer-supported alternatives. The aim of the study was to explore whether teacher self-efficacy can be recognized as a predictor of the application of the different kinds of animals in hands-on and virtual dissections in Biology lessons. Based on responses from 405 Czech Biology teachers there are differences in the acceptability and implementation of organisms for hands-on and virtual dissection. It was established, that self-efficacy is not a predictor of either the acceptability of organisms or actual behaviour in both variants of dissection.

Microlearning has become a promising modern and effective approach to the education of various groups in recent years. In order to be able to further develop microlearning and consider student individualities it is necessary to map their passage through a course in detail. The article presents the conclusions of a research carried out at the Faculty of Education of the University of Ostrava. The aim of the research was to find out whether there are differences in approaches of studying a microlearning course. A microlearning course focused on teaching future teachers was created for the purposes of the research. The aim of the course was to present to students the possibilities of using digital technologies in the educational process. The research was conducted in the winter semester of the academic year 2021/2022. A total of 378 students participated in the study in the first phase (precourse survey) and subsequently 156 students in the second phase (analysis of course participants' behavior). Student activity was monitored during the study through learning analytics tools. Time of study, the number of realized events, the number of registrations, etc. were recorded for each student with these tools. The obtained data were analyzed using cluster analysis. Total of six different approaches that led to the successful completion of a microlearning course were described based on this analysis. The approaches can be used to describe a successful strategy to go through a microlearning course including the extreme ones. An interesting fact is that the choice of strategy is not influenced by the student's gender. The only parameter where significant differences were found was the number of days to finish the microlearning course. In addition, the article describes the behavior of students in the course, the types of learning materials, devices from which they logged in the course and list of the most used course components. This part of the data was recorded via heatmaps. A detailed description of students' study strategies within microlearning courses can improve the effectiveness of microlearning also in connection with the personalized passage and thus improve the quality and efficiency of the educational process of future teachers.

The mindfulness-based methods are on the rise in the mental health care of students as well as employees. Therefore, the research on self-compassion is necessary to explore abilities and personality traits that are cultivated by the mindfulness approach. Our research deals with the assessment of the level of self-compassion by the students of the Faculty of Economics and Management at the Czech University of Life Sciences to precise the planned mindfulness-based intervention. Further, the gender and personality specifics as well as a connection to academic achievement are examined. For this purpose, the Self-compassion Scale, and the NEO-PI-R were used. The results proved insignificant correlations between the self-compassion subscales and self-reported grades, but also subtle differences in the structure of the self-compassion by males and females. Further, correlations between the neuroticism and the Self-compassion Scale and its subscales were revealed. Structural equation modeling was involved to gain more complex insight in the researched area.

The aim of this research was to determine what children aged 10-15 associate with happiness/ satisfaction as well as to analyse which factors are related to their feelings of happiness and their evaluation of life satisfaction. A total of 954 children attending Czech primary schools from various socio-cultural backgrounds were surveyed using the incomplete sentence method. The levels of both their happiness and satisfaction were measured using the Subjective Happiness Scale and Students' Life Satisfaction Scale. The results indicate that the children considered themselves relatively happy and satisfied, and they understood happiness/satisfaction in terms of the concept of eudaimonia (personal growth, achievement of school goals, etc.). Happiness/satisfaction were indicated at a significantly lower level if the children did not feel accepted by their caregivers, described themselves as 'melancholic', were raised in a single-parent family, or spent their childhood in institutional care. Further, as the children grew older, their happiness/satisfaction levels declined. Neither gender nor spirituality were found to predict happiness/satisfaction.

The increasing use of the Internet calls upon the need for adequate cyber security awareness to better face the risk and dangers connected with the online environment. This research presents an experiment that revealed the cyber security awareness of children at Czech primary schools. They were tested for their skills to distinguish different online risks. After the pre-testing children received training and with the time delay they filled in very similar questionnaires. The re-testing measured how well the children retained the training and their ability to use the skills in the virtual environment. The results show only a moderate level of cyber security awareness at the initial testing. The one-off training had only an insignificant impact on their online behavior. The research reveals an important finding. One-off training does not affect their responsive online behavior and is not a suitable solution for effectively improving online safety skills. The task is to involve cyber security awareness education in the whole educational process. Based on the literature and conducted research this paper provides a set of recommendations for the designers of the cyber security school curriculum.

Rhetoric plays an important role in helping information technology (IT) professionals communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. By employing rhetorical devices when speaking about technology topics, IT professionals can present logical and convincing arguments, and demonstrate their knowledge and expertise while engaging the audience and making complex technical concepts more accessible for non-experts. This study attempts to understand how IT students construct and develop persuasive arguments by analysing their use of rhetorical strategies in a sample of persuasive presentations delivered in the course "English for IT". Both corpus analysis and manual analysis were used to identify different types of rhetorical strategies students employed to influence their audiences' attitudes. The results show that IT students not only created a logical appeal which might be more natural for them but also employed a wide range of rhetorical strategies and devices to establish disciplinary credibility and create a more personal connection with their audience, thus maintaining an appropriate balance of logos, ethos and pathos. The study further recommends systematic and careful rhetorical analysis of ESP (English for specific purposes) students' spoken language across disciplines and the consequent adaption of learning materials and teaching methods to improve ESP students' rhetoric skills.

The aim of this survey was to determine whether there is a relationship between prosocial tendencies and the level of emotional intelligence in a sample of teachers. The partial goals were to determine whether there is a difference in the score of emotional intelligence and prosocial tendencies between male and female teachers. The research group consisted of 997 primary and secondary school teachers, of whom 109 were men (average age 44.9 years) and 889 women (average age 45.17 years). The Czech translation of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire - Short form, TEIQue-SF was used to determine the emotional intelligence score. The second method applied in the research is the abbreviated form of the Prosocial Personality Battery (PSB). The correlation coefficient calculation shows a significant negative relationship between the level of emotional intelligence and age, and the length of work experience. This result was found both within the group as a whole and for the individual groups of men and women.

Critical thinking is considered one of the key competencies of university students and its importance increases with the effort to develop students' creativity, independence as well as scientific thinking. For this skill, it is important to have confidence in one's ability to solve problems, find relevant answers or to formulate defensible conclusions. The aim of the paper was to determine whether academic self-efficacy acted as a precondition for critical thinking in university students. A total of 451 university students were involved in this study. The data were obtained by The Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale. The results showed that academic self-efficacy predicted all the three dimensions of critical thinking, albeit with a small amount of explained variance ranging from 8.1 to 12.2%. Although the main factor moderating each dimension of critical thinking is the effect of academic self-efficacy, a gender interaction effect was also found, which was more evident for males than females.

The goal of the research was to find out the effect of using living animal in teaching on remembering and understanding acquired knowledge in students with special educational needs (SEN). In our experiment, students with SEN (n=24) were compared with students without SEN (n=56). The design of the research was experimental. The research tool consisted of a test which was made by the authors, and which served both as a pre- and a post-test. For the assessment, the methods of descriptive statistics (the average) and inductive statistics (t-test for dependent and independent samples) were used. Students in experimental groups which encountered living animals in teaching, acquired more information about animals, which were used during teaching process and because of that, their results were better than the results of students in control groups.

Climate education is becoming a key educational issue of our time. This also brings with it increased demands for educational research in this area. One important question is how climate attitudes are constructed to support students' willingness to act towards climate change. In this paper, we explore how participatory, holistic and community-based learning approaches influence the construction of climate attitudes in school students from the Czech Republic, Portugal, and the UK (n=473; M=13.49 years). Students' perceptions of different educational strategies were nearly the same across countries. Girls perceive holistic, values-based teaching more strongly. Of the strategies studied, holistic education has the greatest influence on the formation of climate attitudes ([beta]=0.34 for climate change beliefs, [beta]=0.32 for climate change intentions), and community-based teaching has a partial influence ([beta]=0.13 for climate change intentions). It is thus the use of holistic and community-based educational approaches that is key to the successful implementation of climate education.

Climate change is not a future problem, it is a significant variation of weather conditions becoming warmer, wetter or drier. It is the longer-term trend that differentiates climate change from natural weather variability. The aim of this research was to determine primary school students' knowledge and attitudes related to climate change among primary school students (n = 473) in the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Portugal using a questionnaire survey. The dimensions of climate change knowledge, environmental attitudes and values, pro-environmental behaviour, and climate change attitudes were measured and analysed. The results showed gender differences in favour of girls in all the dimensions studied, except for climate change knowledge, where the results of boys and girls were comparable. In an international comparison, UK children scored higher on climate change knowledge and climate change attitudes dimensions. A multiple regression analysis showed the dimensions of nature preservation and appreciation of nature as the strongest positive predictors of pro-environmental behaviour and the dimensions of climate change knowledge and nature preservation as the strongest predictors of climate change belief. The results suggest the importance and implications of the wider societal debate on climate-related personal dimensions. The interconnectedness of environmental and climate-related topics at the primary school level is also evident.

Although the number of publications on formative assessment in science education has long been high, there is no bibliometric analysis or scientific mapping in the literature to understand research trends in formative assessment research. This research aimed to examine the bibliometric results of articles on formative assessment in science education. Based on the criteria for inclusion and exclusion, 94 articles were selected for analysis. The results show that between 2015-2016 and 2020-2022, the number of publications on formative assessment increased substantially. Among the top ten institutions that contributed to the research are three institutions from the United States. The results also show that the United States had the most publications. Analysis of the co-citations showed that the "Journal of Research in Science Teaching," "Science Education," and the "International Journal of Science Education" were cited more than 100 times. The three most cited studies were published in "Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy, and Practice." The results show that the researcher used formative assessment, students, science education, teaching, education, engineering education, curricula, STEM, and e-learning in research on formative assessment. In light of the obtained results, practical suggestions for further studies are made in the conclusion.

The development of communication and information means, especially the presence of the online environment, is undoubtedly an integral part of pupils' leisure time. During the pandemic, it also inevitably became a standard part of formal education in the form of so-called distance learning. On 11 March 2020, an extraordinary measure of the Ministry of Health entered into force, resulting in the widespread closing of schools. The extraordinary measure was later replaced by the Resolution of the Government of the Czech Republic No. 74/2020 Coll. of 12 March 2020. On 12 March 2020, a state emergency was declared. The main research goal is to name selected related cyberspace risks with the transition to distance learning and their potential intensity, which threatened or may continue to threaten students in the transition to this model of education. Research sub-objectives are to analyze students' awareness of their rights and obligations in the context of cyber security in distance learning and to compare the obtained data among primary and secondary school pupils. Research and achievement of set research goals are carried out through a quantitative and qualitative approach through piloting in the form of interviews with a selected sample of students, and the use of a questionnaire survey focused on the occurrence of selected risks in cyberspace and finding out essential awareness of students' rights and obligations in cyber security.

In this study, we present the results of a project, which involved students enrolled at four universities located in Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. The main goal of the project was to raise students' awareness about the conditions that cause epistemic injustice for migrants and refugees. Epistemic injustice is a concept that sheds light on the ethical dimensions of our epistemic practices. It recognizes that individuals can be wronged specifically in their capacity as knowers, a capacity essential to human value (Fricker, 2007). The project material included a set of interviews with migrants and refugees as well as desk research about the status of their national migratory contexts. Students exchanged their testimonies via extended sessions that took place between October and November of 2022. An ethics of listening was cultivated to disrupt conventions of authorized discourse about migrants. Through understanding that labels such as illegal, undocumented and unauthorized are not neutral descriptors but carry implicit association and value judgments that frame and influence debate, students were invited to engage in a form of communication and consciousness to create spaces for unheard, marginalized voices of migration trends (Lipari, 2010.) Our international research with students and migrants was influenced by Arjun Appadurai (2006) who invites us to question established paradigms and critically reflect on contemporary global dynamics of migration contributing to Sousa Santos 'ecology of knowledges' across continents and cultures (2015).

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the educational process since the teaching process has been forced to go online in many countries. This enforced change revealed the weaknesses and strengths of the national educational systems and particular institutions. This article aims to analyse the impact of COVID-19 at selected European universities and assess the satisfaction of students, teachers, IT staff and management. This study is unique for its systematicity and complexity -- it aggregates the opinions of all interested groups of stakeholders, distinguishes several time periods (before, during and after the pandemic), and allows the respondents to express hesitance in their evaluation. The evaluation model uses fuzzy sets to capture the uncertainty and to aggregate the opinions of different stakeholder groups. The empirical results show that most of the satisfaction development is the same or similar for all institutions examined. Then, the pandemic strongly influenced the satisfaction of all stakeholder groups at the universities examined. This impact was mostly negative, however, several lessons learnt have been revealed. Therefore, it was shown that it is highly beneficial to include these aspects to obtain a reliable picture of overall satisfaction.

We analyze here the online and face-to-face teaching of mathematics and statistics at the university level and compare the results of students from two courses of applied mathematics. We examine the influence of online teaching on the performance of students with the help of grades from five consecutive years. A questionnaire on satisfaction with online teaching was also administered to the students. We show that online teaching has a positive impact on the successful results of students if we provide them with video recordings created for all lectures and seminars. We present some opinions of students on this type of teaching.

This study is a mixed design study on a sample of 87 respondents to a questionnaire in the Information Studies and Library Science program in Brno that identifies their attitudes towards hybrid teaching. Hybrid teaching is understood as synchronous education with the choice of participating in an online or face-to-face educational session. The students declared that they prefer this form of education and wish to continue using it long term. The study shows that students in the online environment prefer more passive and individual forms of educational interaction because they are connected to such education and can concentrate on it. The study offers a basic description of the phenomenon and identifies further areas for developing educational approaches and activities.

Digital storytelling (DST) is one of the alternative teaching methods and previous research shows its positive impact on students' motivation and learning outcomes, especially in humanities subjects. In vocational subjects such as economics, the effectiveness of this method is questionable. 856 respondents aged 15 to 19 from six business academies in the Czech Republic took part in the testing, which focused on the effectiveness of digital storytelling in economics. This paper presents other possible factors that may have influenced students' performance in the post-test. A comparison of the results from the pre-tests and post-tests of the experimental and control groups showed that the students from the experimental group reached higher mean values in the post-test than the students from the control group. It was also found that in the group that used digital storytelling, the year of study and the initial knowledge of the students assessed in the pre-test influenced the mean post-test scores. On the other hand, the factor of students' gender was not demonstrated. At the end of the testing, a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate students' views on digital storytelling and their preferences for teaching methods.

This abstract presents a research study that investigates the effects of technology integration (TI) through digital gameplay on English as a foreign language (EFL) college students' behavior intention. The study employs a mixed-methods research design, combining quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods. The quantitative phase involves a pre- and post-test design, measuring the behavior intention of EFL college students before and after engaging in digital gameplay activities. The qualitative phase involves in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to gather students' perceptions and experiences with using digital gameplay in their language learning process. The findings reveal that TI through digital gameplay positively influences EFL college students' behavior intention, including their motivation, engagement, and self-efficacy in language learning. The qualitative data provide insights into students' perceptions of the benefits and challenges of using digital gameplay, highlighting its potential for improving language skills, fostering social interaction, and promoting autonomous learning. The implications of the study suggest that incorporating digital gameplay in EFL college classrooms can be an effective approach to enhance students' behavior intention and contribute to their language learning outcomes. This study contributes to the existing literature on TI in language education and provides practical recommendations for educators and policymakers to leverage digital gameplay for enhancing EFL college students' behavior intention.

The article describes a study carried out on pupils aged 12-13 with no prior programming experience. The study examined how they learn to use loops with a fixed number of repetitions. Pupils were given a set of programming tasks to solve, without any preparatory or accompanying instruction or explanation, in a block-based visual programming environment. Pupils' programs were analyzed to identify possible misconceptions and factors influencing them. Four misconceptions involving comprehension of the loop concept and repeat command were detected. Some of these misconceptions were found to have an impact on a pupil's need to ask the computer to check the correctness of his/her program. Some of the changes made to tasks had an impact on the frequency of these misconceptions and could be the factors influencing them. Teachers and course book writers will be able to use the results of our research to create an appropriate curriculum. This will enable pupils to acquire and subsequently deal with misconceptions that could prevent the correct understanding of created concepts.

The primary aim of this paper is to present the key elements that characterise online course design, addressing the process of designing, implementing, and evaluating an online course for Bachelor's degree students that focuses on developing their academic writing skills. These skills are essential for university students as they provide the knowledge necessary to express themselves effectively, analyse texts, think critically, cite correctly, and avoid plagiarism. Academic writing is also the foundation for responsible research practice. The Research Integrity Competency Profile Model, which includes four main areas, namely values and principles, research practice, publication and dissemination, and violations, was created prior to the design of the course and the skills students need to acquire at the Bachelor's level for successful academic writing were identified. A small private online course was carefully designed in 2020. It consisted of a variety of assignments, including interactive elements such as quizzes, videos, and work in international interdisciplinary groups. The participants of the course were 36 students from Slovenia, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. The course lasted four weeks and covered topics such as literature analysis, writing a research paper, avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing, and citation styles, among others. The course was launched in 2021 for two consecutive instances. The participating students evaluated the course positively, describing the assignments as motivating, useful, and well-structured. However, they concluded that they need more practice in this area, and we suggest that a university course be established to provide all students with the necessary academic writing skills.

Teachers' communication skills are integral to classroom management skills. If teachers implement effective communication skills and appropriate communication strategies, they are more likely to support learner autonomy, engagement, self-concept, well-being, or responsibility and succeed in behaviour management. This study examines student teachers' awareness and use of communication strategies to address common disruptive learner behaviours. Although the participants showed limited ability to support learners through communication, they were more likely to identify effective communication responses than to produce them themselves. The study unveils that student teachers in the last year of a graduate program cannot respond to disruptive behaviour without communication roadblocks. They need to develop communication strategies to address disruptions in the classroom, while supporting learner engagement, motivation, self-concept, and autonomy. These findings correspond with other research studies that show a lack of opportunities to develop communication skills during preservice teacher education.

Children's literature can become one of the means of shaping personal identity, including gender socialization. The main characters portrayed in a book can become a kind of gender role model. The study examines gender themes in Czech books for children of younger school age that have been awarded the Golden Ribbon and Magnesia Litera prizes. The selected books (n=15) were analysed through quantitative content analysis and qualitative thematic analysis. The main findings include the fact that 596 different characters (as well as 29 main characters among them) are represented from a position of gender imbalance (boys and men are represented twice as often as girls and women). In other similarly focused research, the gender imbalance in the number of literary heroes did not have an effect on readers' popularity or the impact of reading on readers, regardless of their gender self-identification. From the results obtained, therefore, we do not conclude on social discrimination, since from a gender perspective we do not encounter any erosion of respect for any individual.

An ever-increasing trend of early foreign language teaching requires adequate responses to the university training of future kindergarten teachers. However, research in this area, including policies, suggests that the situation is not entirely satisfactory. This paper aims to determine the level of preparation of future teachers for teaching English to pre-primary children at individual universities in the Czech Republic. It presents findings obtained through quantitative content analysis of the syllabi of eight universities that provide education in the field of teacher training for kindergartens and focus on the preparation of future teachers for English tuition. The results show that courses for English tuition in kindergarten are not implemented by every university. Universities differ in their emphasis on foreign language tuition in kindergarten, which is reflected in the number and content of provided courses.

The priority goals of the development of Czech higher education include ensuring the quality of its activities, improving the availability and relevance of flexible forms of education, and increasing efficiency in teaching and research. Several professional articles evaluated educational efficiency, but the proposed models did not include unemployed graduate students. The paper assesses education efficiency at public universities in the Czech Republic in 2020-2021 using an extended Data envelopment model with undesirable outputs, non-proportional and non-radial measures of distance from the efficient frontier. The influence of selected economic, social, regional and institutional factors on education efficiency is estimated by a panel regression model using the Feasible generalized least squares method. The results document the level and development of education efficiency and find insufficient reduction of unemployed graduates as a critical problem of inefficiency. More prominent universities achieve higher education efficiency. The main statistically significant factors influencing changes in education efficiency are population density, the unemployment rate, the location of the university in larger urban centres and the number of students per university employee.

This study compares the mental health literacy (MHL) of university students in China and the Czech Republic. MHL refers to the ability to recognize mental health problems, adjust one's mental state and seek professional assistance. The study recruited 358 Chinese university students (244 female and 114 male) and 282 Czech university students (247 female and 35 male) and collected data through online questionnaires using the O'Connor's MHL Scale. The results indicated that Czech students had a significantly higher level of MHL compared with Chinese students based on the total score and other subscales. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of MHL on a global scale and the potential of cross-cultural comparisons to promote MHL and improve mental health outcomes. The disparity in MHL between the two countries highlights the need for increased mental health education and resources in China. Further research is needed to explore the cultural and educational factors contributing to the difference in MHL between China and the Czech Republic.

The study of variables related to the use of ICT in the classroom is a topic of interest that has been frequently researched. In this paper, after examining the importance of teacher training in explaining the use of ICT in the classroom, we focused on analysing the weight of variables related to teaching practices and the organisational context of schools, which are variables that are less frequently addressed in the literature. To do so, a secondary analysis was carried out using data provided by the Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS 2018). Specifically, we worked with a sample of 3,918 principals and 64,899 teachers from a total of 3921 schools in 21 countries. A multilevel binary regression model with random intercept, fixed coefficients and a two-level structure with teachers at level 1 and schools at level 2 was used. The results indicate that the presence of ICT in the classroom is associated with self-efficacy in teaching and the cognitive activation of students and with the organisational aspects of the school, which are scarcely addressed by the existing literature on this topic of interest, such as school climate, educational innovation and cooperation among teachers. Based on these results, we reflect on possible ways to promote the use of ICT in the classroom.

The present study aimed to explore lived experiences of Czech adolescents with a focus on mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. To meet the study objective, the qualitative analysis employed focus group interviews with 12 selected adolescent participants. The participants described a wide array of behavioral changes, feelings, experiences, and opinions related to their mental health and well-being across a wide range of contexts. The thematic analyses revealed 23 specific factors characteristic to the context of the response to the pandemic emerged within the context of school and study, followed by the context of families, peer and social interactions, as well as the situation of coronavirus and pandemic in society. The specifically emerged themes were described as potential factors leading to aggravating or mitigating mental health problems in reference to already published findings. The results can potentially draw implications for public health policy in the event of the reemergence of potential societal threats.

Women's academic careers are shorter, slower, and progress less than those of men. We investigated gender differences in thinking about leaving an academic career across career stages. Our analysis of data from an online survey of academics in the Czech Republic (1657 individuals) showed that in men, the trajectory of such considerations gradually decreases after obtaining a Ph.D. (except for 6-10 years post-Ph.D.), while in women it starts to drop significantly only after earning associate professorship and even then the decrease is less steep than for men. In both men and women, differences in thoughts of leaving across career stages were explained mostly by biological age and salary but in women, leadership position was also an important factor. Surprisingly, neither in men nor in women were differences in thinking about leaving explained by job satisfaction. Our findings imply that for women, achievement of a leadership position is more important with respect to thoughts of leaving than for men and that career age is for women less important than academic rank. We suggest that gender differences in trajectories of thinking about leaving may be linked to different perceptions of career prospects, especially at the career stage of 11 + years post-Ph.D.

This study describes the case of a student with congenital intestinal perforations and her experience with inclusive education in the Czech Republic. She is also a sister of an identical twin with cerebral palsy. The data were gained from semi-structured interviews and bio-graphical narratives of the student during her studies at the grammar school and from her parents. Van Manen's analyses of lived experiences was used to identify important themes for each participant. The overarching themes present in their narratives concerned Lucy's future and the choice of the most appropriate educational environment. The parents' narratives focused more on barriers to inclusive education, benefits of inclusive environments, medical and educational care and family support based on close cooperation with school. For Lucy, the dominant theme was being a sister with a less severe disability and caretaking of her sister. In addition to enhancing the understanding of different needs of a student with congenital malformations and her parents' experiences with inclusive education, it helped us to explore how the specific sibling's constellation within her family and school contexts impacts her personal perspective on life, driven strongly by a wish for independence.