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2. The Future of Vocational Education and Training in Europe. Volume 4. Delivering Lifelong Learning: The Changing Relationship between IVET and CVET. Cedefop Research Paper. No. 91
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Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Department for VET and Qualifications
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This study compares the way IVET and CVET sub-systems interact to support the learning of adults, and thus facilitate lifelong and life-wide learning. By comparing the interaction between IVET and CVET sub-systems in the countries covered, the study analyses the extent to which IVET systems are opening up to adults, and questions whether national and regional policies and practices support or prevent a closer link between CVET and IVET. The study builds on concrete national case-studies, allowing for an in-depth, qualitative comparison and analysis of practices and policies. This allows for a better understanding of obstacles and opportunities in this complex area, directly supporting the stakeholders and policy-makers responsible for taking lifelong and life-wide learning in Europe forward. [The research was carried out by a consortium led by 3s Unternehmungsberatung GmbH (Austria). The consortium includes Ockham IPS (the Netherlands) and the Fondazione Giacomo Brodolino (Italy). The German Federal Institute of Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) supported the project as sub-contractor. For "The Future of Vocational Education and Training in Europe. Volume 3. The Influence of Assessments on Vocational Learning. Cedefop Research Paper. No. 90," see ED626202.]
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- 2023
3. The Future of Vocational Education and Training in Europe. 50 Dimensions of Vocational Education and Training: Cedefop's Analytical Framework for Comparing VET. Cedefop Research Paper. No. 92
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Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Department for VET and Qualifications
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This report presents a holistic approach to understanding and comparing vocational education and training (VET) systems. The approach has been developed jointly by a group of interdisciplinary VET researchers over a 5-year period as part of Cedefop's research on the future of VET and has been reviewed several times. The framework introduces 50 dimensions for analysing VET systems, as well as parts of them, structured according to three overlapping main perspectives: epistemological and pedagogical, education system, and socioeconomic or labour market. The framework is particularly suited to 'clearing the ground' for policy work and provides a model for how research can support policy. This model can be flexibly adapted and applied in any comparative research or international policy learning activity related to VET. [The research was carried out by a consortium led by 3s Unternehmungsberatung (Austria). The consortium includes Ockham IPS (the Netherlands) and the Fondazione Giacomo Brodolino (Italy). The German Federal Institute of Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) supports the project as sub-contractor. For "The Changing Nature and Role of Vocational Education and Training in Europe. Volume 1: Conceptions of Vocational Education and Training--An Analytical Framework. Cedefop Research Paper. No 63," see ED586251.]
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- 2023
4. Entrepreneurship Competence in Vocational Education and Training. Case Study: Austria. Cedefop Research Paper. No 95
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Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Department for VET and Qualifications
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This report describes how entrepreneurship competence is embedded in vocational education and training (VET) in Austria. It complements existing knowledge with examples of methods, tools and approaches that can help policy-makers, VET providers and other stakeholders build better entrepreneurial learning ecosystems. The report is based on the research of Cedefop's study "Entrepreneurship competence in VET." It is part of a series of eight national case studies (Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Austria, Sweden and Finland) and a final report. [Dmitrijs Kulšs was responsible for the publication and research conducted under the project. Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini Srl SB (FGB) was contracted for research and services.]
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- 2023
5. How Are OECD Governments Navigating the Digital Higher Education Landscape? Evidence from a Comparative Policy Survey. OECD Education Working Papers. No. 303
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Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (France), Directorate for Education and Skills, Nikolaj Broberg, and Gillian Golden
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Module A of the OECD Higher Education Policy Survey (HEPS) 2022 elicited information on policies to promote digitalisation of higher education in OECD member and accession countries. In total, 30 jurisdictions responded, providing comparative information on various areas of digitalisation policy, from regulation and governance to financial and human resources. The survey results provide insight into the role of public authorities in guiding, coordinating and resourcing the digital transformation of higher education institutions. The analysis and comparative tables in this working paper provide insights that can support the development of strategic digitalisation policies.
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- 2023
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6. Advancing the Entrepreunerial University: Lessons Learned from 13 HEInnovate Country Reviews. OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papers. Policy Brief
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Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (France)
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Higher education institutions (HEIs) are more critical than ever to help societies respond to the complex challenges of our times. Recognising that these challenges require HEIs to adopt holistic innovations in teaching, research and collaboration activities, the European Commission (EC) and the OECD have developed the HEInnovate guiding framework. HEInnovate promotes innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education and provides guidance to policy makers and HEIs that want to generate additional societal and economic value. This policy brief distils the main findings and recommendations of 13 HEInnovate Country Reviews that have examined higher education system and institution, identifying factors affecting the delivery of the entrepreneurial and innovation agenda in higher education. Looked at in the round, the country reviews provide HE leaders with peer-learning and best practices, policy makers with tested policy solutions and the European Union and the OECD with a deeper understanding of the state of innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education.
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- 2022
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7. Exploring Transdisciplinary, Technology-Assisted, and Architectural Modelling STEAM Practices through a Cultural Lens
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Shereen El Bedewy, Zsolt Lavicza, Barbara Sabitzer, Tony Houghton, and Farida Nurhasanah
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In this paper, we propose novel transdisciplinary STEAM practices to enable students and teachers to model architecture using technology. Architectural modelling can foster students' mathematical knowledge and computational thinking while connecting them to other disciplines such as culture and history. Our study focuses on enabling architectural, cultural, and historical diversity in educational practices. Moreover, the study tries to foster participants' modelling skills and innovative technology use as augmented reality and 3D printing. Thus, this paper will describe three case studies from Austria, Libya, and Indonesia and how these STEAM practices were used in different ways to allow participants to express their diversities through modelling diverse architectural constructions cross-culturally. We followed a qualitative data analysis approach for the participants' interviews, questionnaires and artefacts including architectural modelling, disciplines connections and lesson plans. The data analysis resulted in emerging themes emphasizing STEAM practices' possibilities to connect architecture to culture and history and highlighting the participants' cultural diversities in each of the three case studies.
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- 2024
8. Analysis of Vocational Education and the Role of the Teacher
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Dagmar Rusková and Lubica Vaskova
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Technical, economical, and social changes place great demands on the qualification of professional forces in all areas of the national economy. The decisive foundations for these qualifications are built in vocational education. Vocational education is an investment in the future and one of the decisive pillars of the prosperity of every state in the future horizon of competitiveness. From that follows that the topic of professional dual education is becoming more and more relevant in all countries of the world. Economic experts at the moment state, that overall unemployment among young people is higher compared to other years, and at the same time, there is a lack of qualified personnel for professional positions in various work areas. Many states see the solution to this problem in the implementation of dual education, so individual countries have begun to take the necessary measures. The advantages of adapting curricula to the demands of the economy and business are obvious and transparent, so the public and private sectors, as well as non-profit and non-governmental organizations support this agenda. The article analyzes the elements of dual education in individual European countries with a special focus on dual education in Slovakia. A meaningful motivating factor for its qualitative rise can be the comparison of the vocational education system in individual European countries. [For the full proceedings, see ED654100.]
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- 2023
9. Evaluating Physical Activities of Disabled Young People: Expectations & Challenges
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Muhammet Demirbilek
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After rehabilitation or treatment in hospitals, young people with disabilities often could not engage in a variety of sports due to their physical limitations related to their illness or disability. This gives rise to certain psychological problems, reduced self-esteem and self-confident. The aim of the ReSport project is to enable young people with disabilities to participate equally in sports activities, considering their health condition. Professionals from 8 project partners' countries aim to recognize the problems that are preventing young people with disabilities from participating in sports after rehabilitation. Partners collected local, regional, national and Europe wide best practices and concepts in the field of innovative approaches for motivation of youth with disabilities for sports, and developed a set of exercises to raise their inclusion in sport activities. The project "Re-Sport" encourages social inclusion and equal opportunities in sport, while the parallel topics are to promote voluntary activity in sport and education in and through sports with special focus on skills development. Two main target groups will benefit from the project results: a) youth with disabilities and b) volunteers from sports organisations. The purpose of this study is to learn and evaluate which physical activities youth with disabilities prefer, their expectations, challenges and good practices. This research was conducted with young people with disabilities in Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Sweden, Greece, and Turkey. Total number of participants were 230. Analysis and graphics were prepared with a special software based on the survey's answers. According to the answers received, investigations, inferences were made and reported. [For the full proceedings, see ED654100.]
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- 2023
10. Revisions of Evidence-Based Governance: The Case of the Austrian Quality Management System SQA
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Herbert Altrichter, Karin Ettl, Karin Grinner, Kornelia Kolleritsch, Silvia Kopp-Sixt, Renate Leeb-Brandstetter, Heidemarie Pöschko, and Alexandra Postlbauer
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Throughout the last 30 years, many European countries have 'modernized' their governance of education. For the Central European school systems of Austria and the German Bundesländer it has been claimed that this 'modernization' was characterised by a sequence of reform 'waves' which culminated in introducing 'evidence-based governance' models characterised by nation-wide comparative performance testing, new school inspections, etc. This paper argues that we recently see the emergence of "revisions of the original 'evidence-based governance' models" which may be understood as a new 'wave of modernization' of school governance. These models aim to react to increasing criticism of the evidence-based philosophy, in particular to its ambivalent attitude to teacher professionalism. The paper at hand analyses the specific aspirations and features of 'revised evidence-based governance instruments' to discuss their potential as a policy future. In a second step, we take the Austrian quality management system SQA as an example for these new governance models. In an explorative study, we use case data to understand how teachers and school leaders evaluate this reform and its impact on their work. In particular, we are interested whether or not educational professionals feel that this reform conveys appreciation of and trust in their professional capacities.
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- 2024
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11. Overcoming the Theory-Practice Divide in Teacher Education with the 'Partner School Programme'. A Conceptual Mapping
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Katharina Resch, Ilse Schrittesser, and Mariella Knapp
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Pre-service teachers often express a strong desire for more practical experience in teacher education, which requires teacher educators to consider new, meaningful opportunities for field experiences. This paper aims to bridge the gap between two 'practice worlds' - university teacher education and school practice - based on the example of the Austrian 'Partner School Programme' in order to overcome the theory-practice divide. In this conceptual paper, we explore how the 'Partner School Programme' has aimed at bridging the two 'practice worlds' by enhancing collaboration between universities and schools in different ways: pre-service teachers can take part in fieldwork in schools within the framework of a project ("project-based learning"), a research activity ("community-based research") or an organised service ("service-learning"). The paper shows the relevance of developing integrated approaches for encouraging pre-service teachers' reflective practice as thorough preparation for their subsequent careers and provides teacher educators with new ideas for practical fieldwork.
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- 2024
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12. Integrating Decolonization and Anti-Racism into the World Language Curriculum
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Isabel Aven and Gisela Hoecherl-Alden
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This paper explores ways to integrate social justice issues pertaining to decolonization and anti-racism into the world language classroom at all levels of instruction. It describes tasks designed to introduce language learners briefly to German colonialism, raise awareness of colonial legacies in contemporary German-speaking societies, and familiarize students with current decolonization initiatives. By engaging students with the complex diversity of German-speaking societies, the tasks provide examples for diversifying and decolonizing the language curriculum while fostering collaboration, critical thinking, and transcultural sensitivity. The examples highlight approaches to anti-racist pedagogies and ways of incorporating social justice practices across all levels of instruction and applicable to all languages.
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- 2024
13. A STEAM Practice Approach to Integrate Architecture, Culture and History to Facilitate Mathematical Problem-Solving
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El Bedewy, Shereen, Lavicza, Zsolt, Haas, Ben, and Lieban, Diego
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In this paper we propose STEAM practices that would foster mathematics learning through modelling architecture while connecting to culture and history. The architectural modelling process is applied by the teachers as participants of these practices from different countries allowing a broad cultural and historical connection to mathematics education. The modelling is implemented in GeoGebra platform as it is an open-source platform to allow teachers to model on a mathematics basis. The architectural modelling process does not provide participants with steps to follow but rather allows them to explore the architectural models' components and construct them with various approaches which may foster problem solving techniques. We aim to investigate how different phases of this approach (such as motivation, modeling, and printing process) reflect on opportunities of learning in STEAM education, with a particular lens in mathematical development from open tasks. This paper will show two use cases that took place in Upper Austria and the MENA region.
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- 2022
14. Teaching Internationally, Learning Collaboratively: Intercultural Perspectives on Information Literacy and Metaliteracy (IPILM)
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Griesbaum, Joachim, Dreisiebner, Stefan, Mackey, Thomas P., Jacobson, Trudi E., Thadathil, Tessy, Bhattacharya, Subarna, and Adilovic, Emina
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Intercultural Perspectives on Information Literacy and Metaliteracy (IPILM) is a discourseoriented learning environment that engages students from diverse cultural backgrounds to participate in collaborative knowledge construction. The objective is to evolve a thematic approach to course design that includes elements of open pedagogy, information literacy, and metaliteracy. IPILM invites participation from educators and learners from around the world and has witnessed an increase in participating countries. This paper describes the concept of IPILM and demonstrates the implementation of this approach in practice. The initiative was well received by students and is both feasible and sustainable as an intercultural learning endeavor. IPILM is an ongoing project and a work in progress that is an adaptable model which may be transferred to disparate fields of teaching and learning or adopted by international communities of instructors.
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- 2023
15. Muslim Diversity, Religious Formation and Islamic Religious Education. Everyday Practical Insights into Muslim Parents' Concepts of Religious Education in Austria
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Kolb, Jonas
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Since its establishment, Islamic religious pedagogy at German-speaking universities has primarily faced basic questions like: What kind of methodological and didactic approaches can be employed in Islamic Religious Education (IRE) and how should the structural framework be designed? Analyses concerning these questions are often drafted via top-down approaches, which neither hypothesise from practice nor consider the perspectives of Muslim populations and parents. This paper gives a hearing to those voices from a practice-theoretical research perspective, which is built upon an evidence-based empirical analysis of everyday practical realities. The study of these realities was conducted in Austria, where IRE has been taught within the public education system nationwide since 1982/1983. This article evaluates the importance Muslim parents assign to religious questions among different concepts of education, and also deals with the question of which pedagogical approach they favour. Furthermore, the paper analyses the parents' position concerning religious formation in mosques and schools, and points out their related expectations, aspirations and worries. Consequently, the paper breaks new ground by profoundly illuminating the realms of experience of Muslim students and by providing the basis for pupils to be systematically taken into account in religious pedagogical and religious didactic approaches.
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- 2023
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16. Reading Habits and Attitudes in First-Year EFL Student Teachers and Their Implications for Literature Course Design in an Austrian Study Programme
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Spann, Harald and Wagner, Thomas
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This paper reports results from a quantitative curriculum study on literature modules in Austrian undergraduate teacher education programmes. In order to optimise course delivery in literature classes at the University College of Education Upper Austria (PHOÖ), reading habits and attitudes of 153 first-year EFL students for secondary school education were assessed in an online-questionnaire. The questionnaire examined students' exposure to literary texts, their self-assessment as avid readers, their performative literacy, and their preferred reading stance. Results show rather limited avid reading, a self-centred performative literacy as well as a profoundly pragmatic reading stance. Such habits and attitudes could not only jeopardise success within the current teacher education study programmes but also aggravate the well-known Peter Effect, rendering prospective EFL teachers incapable of inspiring enthusiasm for literary reading in their future students. After discussing these results, the paper concludes with potential ramifications for curricular revisions as well as avenues for further research.
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- 2023
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17. Teachers' and Parents' Attitudes towards Inclusion of Pupils with a First Language Other than the Language of Instruction
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Kast, Julia and Schwab, Susanne
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Due to the rising linguistic heterogeneity in schools, the inclusion of pupils with a first language other than the language of instruction is one of the major challenges of education systems all over the world. In this paper, attitudes of in-service teachers, pre-service teachers and parents towards the inclusion of pupils with a first language other than the language of instruction are examined. Additionally, as the paper focused on how the participants perceive the development of this pupils in different school settings (fully included, partly included, fully segregated). Data from 1501 participants were investigated. Descriptive results showed that pre-service teachers' attitudes towards the inclusive schooling of pupils with different language skills in composite classes were rather positive, while attitudes of in-service teachers and parents rather tend to be neutral. Regarding the results concerning the participants' attitudes towards the pupils' development in different school settings, all three sub-groups belief that pupils with German as first language would develop in a more positive way, compared to pupils without German as first language. Moreover, the migration background of pre-service teachers and parents had a positive influence on the participants' attitudes.
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- 2023
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18. Reducing Air Travel Emissions in Academia: An Exploration of Universities' Manoeuvring Room
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Schreuer, Anna, Thaller, Annina Elisa, and Posch, Alfr
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Purpose: This paper aims to explore the manoeuvring room of higher education institutions to take action to reduce emissions from academic flying. In particular, this study investigates how university staff and central actors in university management evaluate potential measures in this area. Design/methodology/approach: The authors applied a single case study design encompassing an online survey directed at staff (N = 338) and 11 semi-structured interviews with key actors from management at an Austrian university. The authors used descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis to examine the data. Findings: This study found considerable support among university staff in principle for implementing measures to reduce academic flying, but also serious concerns about the fairness and viability of some restrictive measures, especially disincentives and caps on flying. However, bans on short-haul flights were largely supported. Actors from university management saw their manoeuvring room limited by the potential resistance and non-compliance of staff, as well as by framework conditions external to the university. Practical implications: Dedicated leadership is needed to facilitate broad commitment within the university and to avoid shifting the responsibility between different governance levels. Restrictive measures to reduce academic air travel will be more readily accepted if perceived as fair and viable. Originality/value: Although several papers have addressed the behavioural and institutional factors that sustain extensive flying in academia, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first contributions to investigate the potentials and challenges of introducing measures to reduce air travel in higher education institutions.
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- 2023
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19. A Story of Collaboration and Action Learning to Create a Sustainable Future
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Abbott, Christine, Tscherne, Anita, and Weiss, Michael
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This paper explores how three organisations collaborate to support organisations and individuals to act on the challenges of sustainability through action learning, each using its unique skills. It examines the roles of each organisation and how by moving from individual to a collaborative they could do things better and do better things. The paper describes the challenges of collaborating at an organisational and international level and gives examples of two projects where the skills and capabilities of each organisation came together to create a new future for a commercial organisation and community.
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- 2023
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20. Identifying Difficulties and Best Practices in Catering to Diversity in CLIL: Instrument Design and Validation
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Pérez Cañado, María Luisa, Rascón Moreno, Diego, and Cueva López, Valentina
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This paper makes available to the broader educational community the instruments which have been originally designed and validated within the European project "CLIL for all: Attention to diversity in bilingual education" ("ADiBE") to determine how diversity is being catered to across a broad array of CLIL contexts in European Secondary Education (Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). They include three sets of questionnaires, interviews, and observation protocols and are qualitative and quantitative instruments whose design has been based on the latest research and which have undergone a carefully controlled double-fold pilot process for their validation (external ratings approach and pilot phase with a representative sample of 264 subjects). The questions included in the three sets of instruments are initially characterized, together with their format and main categories. The paper then details the steps undertaken for their research-based design and the double-fold pilot process followed for their validation. The questionnaires and interview and observation protocols are then presented in a format which is directly applicable in any CLIL classroom in order to determine the accessibility of bilingual programs for all types of achievers and to identify the chief difficulties and best practices in promoting inclusion in bilingual education.
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- 2023
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21. 'Give and Take' -- Higher Education Teachers Using Open Educational Resources
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Schroeder, Nadine and Donat, Sophia
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Open educational resource (OER) as free teaching and learning materials can contribute to the collaborative design and development of teaching. To support higher education teachers in their work with teaching in general and OER in particular and to encourage their use of OER, it is necessary to pay attention to their needs and requirements. This paper presents the results of a research project, identifying the usage behaviour of German-speaking higher education teachers. In an interview study, they were asked about their experience with OER to get detailed insights into their practices concerning their 'use' and 'revise' of materials. From this, four user types were derived according to different OER activities, such as creating, reusing, editing, and publishing OER, and their scope. Finally, these user types are transferred to considerations when designing OER infrastructures and establishing support options. These are aligned with the specifics of each user type, making the research findings a complementary contribution for application in higher education.
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- 2023
22. Between Academia and School: Habitus Reflexivity as One Way of Dealing with the Theory-Practice Tension in Teacher Education
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Susanne Kink-Hampersberger, Lisa Scheer, and Iris Mendel
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Teacher education's primary goal is to train prospective teachers, which differs from study programmes, such as philosophy or mathematics, that do not cater to defined professions. This traditional understanding of the teaching profession becomes apparent when students ask: 'How is this content, topic, method, task, or question relevant to school work?' It is also reflected in the inclusion of practical school training in teacher education curricula. In Austria's teacher training, these practical elements are accompanied by theoretical and methodological teaching foundations. However, students often question the applicability of theoretical knowledge to the teaching profession, which creates tension between the academic and pedagogical orientations. This paper discusses these very theory-practice tensions in teacher education based on findings from the project Habitus.Power.Education, which involved student teachers at an Austrian university. We argue that teacher training at universities is neither merely a place for producing a future workforce nor a self-growth space without purpose. Teacher training, rather, combines both (sometimes ambivalent) elements: education in its broadest sense and professional training. Using our empirical material, we show that the theory-praxis gap manifests in the tension between academic and pedagogical orientation. To address and mediate this tension, we propose the concept of habitus reflexivity. Promoting such a form of reflexivity among students makes it possible to bridge the gap between the different logics of university and school. Furthermore, it helps to comprehend inequality and power imbalances in the education system and develop agency, which is essential for navigating the ever-changing and complex world of modern schools.
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- 2023
23. Research and Innovation Staff Exchange as a Frame for Collaboration of Higher Education with Industry: Lessons Learned from WrightBroS Horizon 2020 EU Project
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Krzysztof A. Cyran
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The paper focusses on a collaboration between academia and industry. As an introduction, we present typical behavior of university researchers, who often define the area of application without consulting it with industrial partners, and we propose different approach which led to the definition of the scope of the WrightBroS project. The project, entitled "Collaborative Factory of the Flight Simulators Branch of RISE" is financed by the European Union in the frame of Horizon 2020 MSCA Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) programme. The international Consortium composed of Higher education (Silesian University of Technology from Poland) and industrial (LG Nexera from Austria and Virtual Reality Media from Slovakia) sectors, has designed a project as a collaborative platform whose know-how results from knowledge sharing among partners. Then, from the experience gained in the implementation of the WrightBroS and other similar projects, by using case-study methodology we demonstrate how representatives of education and industry in the new joint environment supplement each other in common research efforts. We also present methods for knowledge sharing, in particular achieved by intersectoral staff exchanging. Then we present the results achieved by collaboration of Higher Education with Industry in the WrightBroS project. Finally, the discussion in the context of tackling broader challenges of intersectoral collaboration leads to the conclusions that this kind of environment is very efficient way to overcome typical difficulties in academia and industry dialog, which is so common in the global world.
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- 2023
24. Assessing the Second-Level Digital Divide in Austria: A Representative Study on Demographic Differences in Digital Competences
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Alexander Schmoelz, Corinna Geppert, Stephanie Schwarz, Erich Svecnik, Jana Koch, Till Bieg, and Lisa Freund
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The second-level digital divide concerns individual levels of digital competences and demographic indicators of digital gaps. In this paper, we have analysed empirical data that allow a thorough and differentiated look into the second-level digital divide with a rigorous methodological quantitative approach. We investigated the relationship between results from a self-assessment of one's own digital competences, and a knowledge test about digital tools among Austrian citizens (N=1109). The study explores second-level digital divides in gender, education level, age, first language, and length of time living in the country regarding respective competence levels and areas, referring to the Digital Competence Model for Austria - DigComp 2.2 AT. Results show that the digital gender divide is paramount across all competence areas, while the age divide remains strong when comparing under 18-year-olds with over 60-year-olds. Moreover, positive effects are related to education level and first language.
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- 2023
25. Geospatial Technologies in Hazard Research and Response -- A Case Study of Paper2GIS in an International Field Course
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Jiri Panek, Benjamin Hennig, Jonathan Huck, and Karl Benediktsson
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Geospatial technologies have revolutionised the field of hazard research as well as geography field-courses, providing powerful tools to analyse and visualise geospatial data for decision-making purposes. This paper presents a case study of Paper2GIS, an application for field data collection tested during an international field course in Seyðisfjörður, East Iceland. The field course was designed to expose students to the practical application of interdisciplinary geospatial technologies in hazard research. Students experienced geological/physical geography field mapping as well as data collection using Paper2GIS. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of Paper2GIS in facilitating hazard research with a participatory component, as well as the simplification of data collection during geography field courses. Paper2GIS proved to be an effective tool for enhancing collaboration, data visualisation, and decision-making. The findings provide valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and educators looking to incorporate low-tech geospatial technologies into their work.
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- 2024
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26. Teenagers Performing Research on Climate Change Education in a Fully Integrated Design-Based Research Setting
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Sandra Parth, Maximilian Schickl, Karin Oberauer, Susanne Kubisch, Veronika Deisenrieder, Nina Liebhaber, Melanie Frick, Gerd Michelsen, Johann Stötter, and Lars Keller
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This follow-up study presents a design-based research (DBR) setting implemented over a three-year project called 'eKidZ - Teach Your Parents Well' which uses research-based learning and follows the four phases of DBR. In an iterative cycle, 20 teenagers aged 14-16 took on the role of researchers and investigated intergenerational learning and the multiplier effects of students participating in the Climate Change Education project 'k.i.d.Z.21 - Competent into the Future' on their parents, using the complete research process. Simultaneously, scientists implemented and tested the DBR setting to validate student research findings and to evaluate the quality of the educational setting. In this fully integrated DBR, using multiple methods (quantitative and qualitative), educational and scientific perspectives are brought together to evaluate students' findings and draw conclusions regarding their learning effects. These research results demonstrate that not only did students generate valid and reliable research, but - when changing perspectives - teenagers also contribute to the discussion about closing the gaps in science education and practice. By examining young people's research on Climate Change Education and recognising their contribution in scientific discourse, this paper offers a host of new insights. Highlights: Teenagers take on the role of researchers and perform reliable and valid research results on intergenerational learning and multiplier effects in Climate Change Education, by completing all phases of research-based learning. Design-based research is an effective method to combine science and education and thus delivering novel insights into science education and practice. High-quality Climate Change Education fosters constructive cooperation among all participants with inter - and intragenerational learning and multiplier effects. Constructivism, transdisciplinarity and research-based learning form the basis for effective design-based research and Climate Change Education.
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- 2024
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27. Teaching Practices and Organisational Aspects Associated with the Use of ICT
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Javier Gil-Flores, Javier Rodríguez-Santero, and Carla Ortiz-de-Villate
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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.
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- 2024
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28. Mapping the Evolution Path of Citizen Science in Education: A Bibliometric Analysis
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Yenchun Wu and Marco Fabio Benaglia
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For over two decades now, the application of Citizen Science to Education has been evolving, and fundamental topics, such as the drivers of motivation to participate in Citizen Science projects, are still under discussion. Some recent developments, though, like the use of Artificial Intelligence to support data collection and validation, seem to point to a clear-cut divergence from the mainstream research path. The objective of this paper is to summarise the development trajectory of research on Citizen Science in Education so far, and then shed light on its future development, to help researchers direct their efforts towards the most promising open questions in this field. We achieved these objectives by using the lens of the Affordance-Actualisation theory and the Main Path Analysis method.
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- 2024
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29. Barriers to Knowledge Mobilisation: Implications for Responsible and Inclusive Research in Higher Education
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Paola Ruiz-Bernardo, Auxiliadora Sales, Aida Sanahuja Ribés, and Odet Moliner
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From an understanding of knowledge mobilisation as a set of strategies that favour responsible and inclusive research, the aim of this paper is to identify the obstacles or barriers to carrying out such research in higher education institutions, as perceived by researchers. In this descriptive study, content analysis is used to examine semi-structured interviews carried out with eighty research groups from five European countries (Austria, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain) that participated in the research. Results reveal the main barriers researchers perceived are associated with social commitment, relational aspects, encouragement to participate (attitudinal, organisational and institutional barriers) and knowledge mobilisation practices (derived from the research process and research evaluation policies). Ethical and policy implications for more responsible and inclusive research are drawn in the conclusions.
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- 2024
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30. Transforming First-Aid Training: A New Lesson Study Approach for the Red Cross
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Barbara Hanfstingl and Thomas Andreas Ogradnig
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Purpose: The first-aid courses organized by the Youth Red Cross Carinthia (Austria) had a quality problem, necessitating a professionalization in teaching and time structure. This research aimed to enhance the quality and effectiveness of these courses by implementing modified lesson studies with non-professional trainers. The paper presents the realization process, empirical research and results obtained by applying the first-aid curriculum. Design/methodology/approach: Around 22 lesson study first-aid courses (14 classes with 2 cycles, 8 with 3 cycles) were conducted and evaluated in different Austrian school types. An observation sheet was created to evaluate attention and competencies. Interviews were conducted with both teachers and students to validate the results. Findings: The research findings demonstrate that lesson studies can significantly enhance the quality and effectiveness of first-aid courses. Inexperienced and experienced first-aid teachers significantly improved their teaching skills. Newly educated first-aid teachers showed substantial improvement, leading to the introduction of an induction period and coaching opportunity within the Youth Red Cross Carinthia. Originality/value: This is the first lesson study conducted in a non-academic context. It highlights the adaptation process of Carinthian first-aid courses. It illustrates how lesson studies impact lesson clarity, instructional variety, student engagement in the learning process, student outcome, student feedback and teaching effectiveness in a non-academic context. It contributes to the literature on the application of lesson study in first-aid education and provides insight into the benefits of this approach in enhancing the quality of first-aid training.
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- 2024
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31. Bending and Bowing: How Teachers Adapt a Vocabulary-Based Reading Program to Their Students Needs
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Andrea Kulmhofer-Bommer, Susanne Seifert, Lisa Paleczek, and Barbara Gasteiger-Klicpera
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This paper investigates the implementation of a reading program designed for third grade elementary school classrooms in Austria. Using a mixed-methods approach, lesson types were identified, respective class compositions analyzed, and the effects on students' reading gains examined. The results show that the lesson types seem to reflect learner group needs as students in the different lesson types profited similarly from the reading program. This supports the hypothesis that reading is a highly individualized process and leads to the conclusion that the instructional approach of the reading program investigated supports teachers in conducting reading lessons tailored to their students' needs.
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- 2024
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32. Sustainability Evolved for Experts but Students Fell Behind: Teaching Interrelated Social, Economic and Environmental Goals
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Warren G. Lavey
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Purpose: While sustainability experts point to interrelated social, economic and environmental goals, students may think about sustainability primarily as natural resources. To prepare students to tackle global challenges to well-being, this paper aims to show that educators need to assess and address students' shortcomings in considering socioeconomic dimensions. Design/methodology/approach: This study coded essays on the meaning and components of sustainability written by 93 undergraduate and graduate students in environmental policy, business and engineering courses at US and Austrian universities. Then, the study reviewed a teaching strategy using diverse experts, case studies and assignments. Finally, the analysis evaluated students' final projects proposing sustainability legislation with social, economic and environmental dimensions. Findings: Students usually connect sustainability with limited natural resources affecting current and future generations, but seldom think that sustainability means acting on prominent socioeconomic challenges like poverty, food insecurity, pandemics and violence. Teaching in diverse courses through multidimensional case studies and legislation broadened and deepened students' understanding and preparedness to act. Originality/value: Despite experts' attention to the interconnected Sustainable Development Goals, educators and policymakers need information on whether students associate sustainability with socioeconomic challenges. Open-response questions can reveal gaps in the respondents' sustainability beliefs. In a wide range of courses, teaching can use diverse experts and multidimensional case studies and legislative assignments.
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- 2024
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33. From Policy to Practice: How Schools Implement German Language Support Policy in Austria
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Susanne Schwab, Katharina Resch, Marie Gitschthaler, Sepideh Hassani, Diana Latzko, Antonia Peter, and Sarah Walczuch
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In 2018/2019, the Government of Austria instituted a new language support model to Austrian schools that included segregated language support measures for non-fluent German-speaking students. The central research aim of the paper is to investigate how the implementation of this new language support model compares to the policy requirement by examining different models of implementation. In the framework of the initial phases of the project 'A multi-perspective study on German language support', 12 interviews with German language support teachers and school principals were conducted. Following a prototypical case study analysis, four models of implementation were identified: (1) Segregationmodel, (2) Mixed segregated and integrated model, (3) Individualized language support, and (4) Inclusive support model. Given that thisis the first study in Austria to show the concrete implementation models of German language support in schoolsFindings highlight important implications for school principals and educational policy makers.
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- 2024
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34. 'Same, Same, but Different?!' Investigating Diversity Issues in the Current Austrian National Curriculum for Physical Education
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Meier, Stefan, Raab, Andreas, Höger, Brigitta, and Diketmüller, Rosa
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Discussions on educational policy are shaped by current societal transformations associated with diversity. At the same time, the most recent reform of the Austrian National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) was driven by the desire to stipulate standardised learning outcomes. Building upon Bernstein's framework, this paper explores to what extent issues of diversity are addressed in curricular documents, which inform and structure teaching and learning processes. Based on a qualitative content analysis, the General National Curriculum (GNC) and the latest NCPE were investigated. In a two-stage process, combining predetermined and emerging coding, significant themes were developed throughout the data analysis process. The findings demonstrate differing understandings of what diversity means and how it should be taken into consideration, indicating a less comprehensive way in the NCPE compared to the GNC. Since a uniform understanding of diversity is missing, this ambiguity fails to comply with a NC's function to act as a systematic framework for teachers. There is friction at the level of education policy, as the NCPE should both reflect generally acknowledged societal transformations associated with diversity and be standardised at the same time. The paper concludes that future curriculum reforms should specifically address diversity-sensitive teaching and learning within the subject in a more comprehensive way, interlink the GNC and NCPE precisely and rethink the tension between diversity and standardisation in the NCPE.
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- 2022
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35. Circular Economy, Cradle to Cradle and Zero Waste Frameworks in Teacher Education for Sustainability
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Kowasch, Matthias
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Purpose: Sustainability is a major concern in education policies. This paper aims to describe how alternative economic education including concepts of the circular economy (CE), cradle to cradle (C2C) and zero waste can be addressed by teacher education. The author asks to what extent such alternative concepts contribute to sustainability education and transitions and empower students and future teachers, through fieldtrips. Design/methodology/approach: Fieldtrips to three extracurricular learning places in Graz (Austria) -- a plastic waste disposal facility, an upcycling design atelier and a supermarket without packaging -- were organized as part of a university seminar on economy and sustainability. Based on student essays reflecting the fieldtrips, this praxeological paper provides insights on how students perceive awareness-raising and innovative responses to mass consumption, recycling/upcycling and waste prevention issues. Findings: Including altermatic economic frameworks, such as CE/C2C and zero waste, into teacher education contributes to reflections on the economic growth paradigm and promotes more sustainable futures. In various statements, students highlighted social-ecological change and awareness-raising. They rather focussed on recycling, upcycling and (plastic) packaging than on the problematic eco-efficiency of downcycling. Originality/value: Alternative economic concepts can be addressed and critically reflected in sustainability education, even if rarely taught. Although the extracurricular learning places described offer partial solution from the perspective of degrowth, they can serve as an eye-opener and promote alternative economic education, where students can share experiences, knowledge and creative ideas to engage in sustainability transitions.
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- 2022
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36. Multi-Level Classification of Literacy of Educators Using PIAAC Data
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Yalcin, Seher
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This study aims to identify the literacy skills of individuals whose highest level of education was in the field 'teacher training and educational sciences'. The study sample comprised 10,618 individuals in the field of teacher training and educational sciences, selected from 31 countries (participating in the International Adult Skills Assessment Programme during the 2014-2015 survey) using a multi-stage sampling method. The study employed multi-level latent class analysis and three-step analysis in order to determine both the number of multi-level latent classes of educators' literacy scores as well as the selected independent variables' success in predicting those latent classes. The analysis revealed that educators in Germany constituted the group with the highest literacy skills while educators from Singapore comprised the group with the lowest literacy skills. [This study was presented at the 9th International Congress of Educational Research. Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey.]
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- 2022
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37. A Design Science Approach to Developing and Evaluating Items for the Assessment of Transversal Professional Competences
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Fahrenbach, Florian
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Purpose: Relying on a design science paradigm, the purpose of this paper is to describe the development and evaluation of items for an ICT artefact that supports the assessment of transversal professional competences within the validation of prior learning (VPL). To do so, the authors build a conceptual bridge between the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Design/methodology/approach: Design science research paradigm, in particular the participatory development of candidate items and their evaluation in a multi-stakeholder approach. Findings: The authors find that a self-assessment of professional competences should be comprised of 160 items in order to cover the breadth and depth of the O*NET in the hierarchical taxonomy. Such quantity of items sufficiently builds a conceptual bridge between the O*NET and the; EQF. Practical implications: When designing procedures for the VPL, it is imperative to bear in mind the purpose of the validation procedure, in order to determine relevant stakeholders and their needs in advance as well as the; required language proficiency of the assessment instrument. Social implications: The innovative value of this approach lies in the combination of an underlying hierarchical taxonomy with assessment items that are developed based on the qualification standards of different Austrian professions. Together with specific verbs that were adapted for each particular item, an innovative self-assessment is proposed. Thereby the authors aim to account for some of the mentioned shortcomings of the EQF. Originality/value: This paper applies a design science paradigm to develop an ICT artefact that should support the VPL. By reflecting on the design process, the authors introduce a theoretical bridge between the O*NET and the EQF. Thereby the authors aim to account for some of the mentioned shortcomings of the EQF.
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- 2022
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38. Using Computational Thinking to Facilitate Language Learning: A Survey of Students' Strategy Use in Austrian Secondary Schools
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Rottenhofer, Marina, Kuka, Lisa, Leitner, Sandra, and Sabitzer, Barbara
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After Jeanette Wing in 2006 described computational thinking (CT) as a fundamental skill for everyone just like reading or arithmetic, it has become a widely discussed topic all over the world. Computational thinking is a problem-solving skill set that is used to tackle problems in computer science. However, these skills, such as pattern recognition, decomposition, abstraction, generalization, and algorithmic thinking, are useful in other domains, as well. This study focuses on the use of CT skills to approach complex linguistic learning tasks in the foreign language classroom. To foster these problem-solving skills, an innovative method is used. The authors take advantage of computer science (CS) models (e.g. Unified Modeling Language -- UML) and transform them into a teaching and learning tool. This paper describes the design and implementation of a survey used to detect students' use of learning strategies that are linked to computational thinking. This survey is an instrument used in a multiple-case study and was administered at the beginning of the interventions. The participants of the study were learners of English and Spanish (n=66) from two secondary schools. Results indicated that the students were medium to low users of learning strategies that demand problem-solving skills related to computational thinking. Differences by gender were also found, with females reporting higher use of learning strategies than males. To conclude, the study showed a low use of strategies among students and highlighted the importance of introducing students to learning strategies and fostering skills needed for future professional life.
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- 2022
39. Three Decades of Literacy Preservice Teachers' Engagement in Research: Operationalizing Critical Reflexivity to Explore Possibilities for Increasing Racial Literacy
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Lammert, Catherine
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In this paper, the author analyzes 89 studies published from 1990 through 2020 that focused on literacy preservice teachers' involvement in action research as part of learning to teach. In doing so, the author provides an example of why critical reflexivity is necessary in qualitative literature review methods. The author relies on a social practice view of race and uses activity theory to answer the questions: How have researchers considered race as a factor in research on literacy preservice teacher education? How can preservice teachers' experience with research be (re)designed to help develop their racial literacy? Findings demonstrate that in the reviewed studies, 51% of researchers addressed preservice teachers' race, and 34% addressed K-12 students' race. Far fewer studies, however, acknowledged their own race or that of field supervisors and mentor teachers, which ultimately minimized their roles. Findings also emphasize four design principles for literacy teacher education programs that aim to include research: collaboration between K-12 partners and universities; selective teacher educator scaffolding; engagement with diverse communities; and extensive time spent as part of the pathway toward racial literacy. The implications and uses of an existing literature base that reflects shifting reporting standards related to race are also examined.
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- 2022
40. Practice Enterprises in Times of Distance Learning: The Impact and Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic to the Collaboration of Practice Enterprises
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Feuchter, Theresa, Dreisiebner, Gernot, Riebenbauer, Elisabeth, and Stock, Michaela
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The aim of this paper is to outline the consequences which arise from the digital transformation of the multidimensional teaching and learning setting of practice enterprises and to discuss how digital collaboration of students can be supported during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an evolutionary moment also in the field of education, one can consider the experiences of COVID-19 as a catalyst for digital transformation and distance learning in education. How digital collaboration can be fostered in times of distance learning is shown by using the example of business simulations such as practice enterprises (PE). While previously this multidimensional teaching and learning setting was organized to a large extent onsite in a special classroom, a new learning and working environment had to be created with the transition to distance learning. By presenting two specific PE-activities (the Erasmus+ Project HEIPNET and the Online Trading Day at the University of Graz) a better insight is gained into how practice enterprises work and how the digitalization of teaching and learning settings is achieved in this context. It is concluded that COVID-19 has led to an accelerated need for teachers to rethink their didactical settings, with the role of the teacher as a designer of an adequate learning and working environment getting even more relevant than before. In addition, the article aims to identify opportunities to promote digital collaboration and contribute to learners' employability.
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- 2021
41. School Leadership That Supports Health Promotion in Schools: A Systematic Literature Review
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Adams, Donnie, Lok Tan, King, Sandmeier, Anita, and Skedsmo, Guri
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Objective: Schools are important settings for health promotion. In schools, children and adolescents can be reached regardless of their social background, which represents a unique opportunity for promoting health. Several studies have demonstrated the importance of school leadership in initiating and sustaining health promotion; however, efforts to systematically review the influence of school leadership on school health promotion are still lacking. Hence, this paper analyses empirical studies published in scientific journals on school leadership and health promotion in schools. Design: Systematic literature review. Method: Informed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines, a review was conducted using two main databases: Web of Science and Scopus, which retrieved 51 eligible articles. Results: The review of these articles resulted in the identification of seven main themes -- school leaders' health; attitudes, knowledge and behaviour; accountability; support from school leaders; shared leadership approaches; capacity building and parent engagement. Conclusion: This systematic literature review expands the literature by highlighting the school leadership factors that promote school health promotion in Oceania, Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia continents. Future systematic literature reviews could explore studies and different aspects of health promotion by teachers, especially in the Asian context.
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- 2023
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42. Social Classroom Climate and Personalised Instruction as Predictors of Students' Social Participation
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Zurbriggen, Carmen L. A., Hofmann, Verena, Lehofer, Mike, and Schwab, Susanne
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Previous research has repeatedly confirmed that students with special educational needs (SEN) are generally less accepted by their peers. Although inclusive teaching strategies and classroom characteristics are frequently hypothesised to improve students' social participation, empirical evidence is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate classroom characteristics and teaching practices that can help foster social participation, in general, and reduce the effect of lower social participation among students with SEN, in particular. The sample includes 518 students in 31 Grade 4 and 7 classes from Austria, of whom 99 are students with SEN. The results show that students with SEN receive fewer peer nominations and perceive their social participation to be lower compared to their peers without SEN. However, the association between SEN and self-perceived social participation is moderated by the social classroom climate, i.e. the difference becomes smaller when the social classroom climate is more positive. Furthermore, the higher the personalised instruction was rated by a student, the higher was his or her social status. The results suggest that interventions should focus not only on the improvement of individual students (with SEN) but also on changing the whole classroom environment.
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- 2023
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43. Raising Teacher Retention in Online Courses through Personalized Support. Evidence from a Cross-National Randomized Controlled Trial
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Azzolini, Davide, Marzadro, Sonia, Rettore, Enrico, Engelhardt, Katja, Hertz, Benjamin, and Wastiau, Patricia
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Online courses have become an increasingly attractive format for delivering teacher training. However, the low retention rates are a critical and still unsolved issue. This paper presents the results of a randomized controlled trial aimed at testing the impact of a personalized support model on teachers' retention in online training courses. The support consisted of a package of nine messages triggered by teachers' characteristics and their specific (in)actions on the course platform. The study involved 3,777 lower-secondary education professional and student teachers from nine European Union Member States and Turkey, who were invited to participate in four new online courses in school year 2018/2019. The experimental estimates show that the offered support increased course completion by 10 percentage points among professional teachers in EU Member States, while it had no effects among student teachers nor in Turkey. Implications for online teacher training providers--such as the importance of reaching out to participants with poor online training experience and who do not start the courses in time--are discussed.
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- 2023
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44. Specifying the Literacy Pedagogy Moves through Genre-Based Instruction for Advanced Second Language Teaching: Developing Multiple Literacies through Systemic Functional Linguistics
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Ryshina-Pankova, Marianna and McKnight, Douglas C.
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While the multiliteracies framework proposed two decades ago has had a considerable effect on the field of second language (L2) teaching and learning, its successful implementation has been found challenging, both on the conceptual and practical levels. In this paper, we discuss the main hurdles of putting the approach into practice and argue for the use of the genre-based instruction in combination with key constructs of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) as a framework that can help address these challenges. Connecting the multiliteracies pedagogy with the genre-based approach, we delineate specifically how the literacy pedagogy moves and knowledge processes that constitute them can be implemented in content- and language-integrated L2 instruction. We illustrate the approach by reporting on the materials development project that focuses on a particular public discourse theme (banning the burka in Austria) and advanced literacy genre (Argumentative Discussion). The project serves as an example of formulating the advanced L2 learning goals and designing activity types that can be used for developing the multiliteracies curricula in other instructional and thematic contexts.
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- 2023
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45. Bullying among Primary School-Aged Students: Which Factors Could Strengthen Their Tendency towards Resilience?
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Ganotz, Tanja, Schwab, Susanne, and Lehofer, Mike
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Resilience is the capacity to cope successfully with various threats. This paper aims to adapt the Resilience-Scale of Schumacher et al. (2004. "Die Resilienzskala -- ein Fragebogen zur Erfassung der psychischen Widerstandsfähigkeit als Personmerkmal." [The Resilience Scale -- A Questionnaire to Measure Mental Resilience as a Personal Characteristic]. Zentrum für Klinische Psychologie, Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie) to measure the "tendency of being resilient" even before a threat occurs. Since primary school students are exposed to various threats at school, 535 4th grade students of Austrian primary schools were surveyed for the study. The reliability of the short-scale was found to be acceptable (Cronbach's [alpha] = 0.66), and the tendency towards resilience can be explained by the students' perception of their social inclusion in class (F (1,252) = 15.11, p<0.05) and the relationship with their mothers (F (2, 251) = 10, 02, p<0.05). The stability of the students' tendency of being resilient was only moderate. A similar correlation between resilience and school-wellbeing for victims and non-victims of bullying can be reported. Future studies should focus more on primary school students' resilience and related protective factors.
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- 2023
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46. Labour Market Success of Initial Vocational Education and Training Graduates: A Comparative Study of Three Education Systems in Central Europe
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Hoidn, Sabine and Štastný, Vít
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This paper compares within-country programmes of initial vocational education and training (IVET) in Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany and their outcomes. Specifically, it aims to analyse and compare the labour market success of graduates of different tracks at the ISCED 3 level in both early and later stages of their careers. The comparison is based on the analysis of PIAAC 2013 OECD study data. A composite multidimensional indicator was constructed to measure labour market success and subsequently used as a dependent variable in regression models. The results indicate that in the systems with dual IVET at the ISCED 3 level (Germany and Austria), graduates are indeed more successful at the labour market than their counterparts with other ISCED 3 tracks. However, their advantage diminishes in later stages of the career. Additionally, in Austria, the success of dual education young graduates is mediated by individual characteristics. In the system with only school-based IVET (the Czech Republic), this track does not guarantee substantively higher labour market success for young graduates compared to other ISCED 3 tracks and also to those with lower education. Czech apprentices in the later stages of career succeed even less than those with below ISCED 3 education.
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- 2023
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47. The Importance and Level of Individual Social Capital among Academic Librarians
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Wojciechowska, Maja
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Academic libraries, apart from their main function, which is to provide information services to academic communities, may also perform a number of social roles in the broad meaning of the term. Accordingly, they now tend to serve as the third place offering inclusion and animation activities to academic as well as local communities (including potential students) and to groups in risk of social exclusion (immigrants, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, etc.) or in need of various kinds of care and support. However, for libraries to be able to fulfil those tasks, they need properly trained staff who not only have the required competencies but also the right social attitudes. The paper presents an analysis of the social attitudes of academic librarians from twenty countries across the world as compared to the personnel of other types of libraries. The level of individual social capital, activity in social networks, aspirations in life and social and civic engagement were investigated. It was noted that the respondents tend to undervalue the importance of the work done by libraries for local communities. At the same time, the research showed that academic librarians have a somewhat lower level of individual social capital and trust than public librarians and less extensive social networks. Nonetheless, they are open to relationships with others, which enables them to engage in various social projects.
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- 2023
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48. Does Personality Matter? The Relationship between Child Personality and Interaction Quality in Preschools
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Smidt, Wilfri and Embacher, Eva-Maria
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Evidence indicates that children's personalities shape their interactions and relationships with others. This study aims to identify the relationship between child personality types and interaction quality in preschools, which is of high predictive importance for the development of children's competencies. Interaction quality was determined using the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS) in a sample of 181 children attending 61 preschools in Austria. After including control variables, our results indicated that children characterised as 'overcontrollers' and 'undercontrollers' had significantly less peer interactions, compared to 'resilients'. Furthermore, 'undercontrollers' tended to show less task orientation than 'resilients' and had more conflict interactions than 'overcontrollers'. Consideration of child personality offers opportunities to support children in their interactions with others to improve interaction quality in preschools.
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- 2023
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49. Preparing Teachers for Diversity: How Are Teacher Education Systems Responding to Cultural Diversity -- The Case of Austria and Ireland
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Barbara Herzog-Punzenberger, Martin Brown, Herbert Altrichter, and Sarah Gardezi
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The paper begins with an overview of migration-related diversity in Austria and Ireland, both countries with high levels of cultural, linguistic and religious diversity in schools. Research in Europe indicates that migration produces a new context for teaching, for which many teachers do not feel sufficiently prepared. Hence, teacher education is at stake and rarely looked at systematically in migration-related research in education. Therefore, in this article secondary teacher education courses are analysed to ascertain how higher education institutions in these two countries are preparing secondary teachers for culturally responsive teaching. After describing the methodology used to examine the Initial Teacher Education curricula of the two countries an analysis of the research findings is provided. It turns out that relevant courses in the compulsory sections of the curricula are largely missing in both countries. Finally, based on an analysis of the literature and research findings, a discussion of the consequences for teacher education together with recommendations for improvement are formulated. It provides countries with a foundational discourse to equip student teachers with the necessary skills to embed cultural responsivity into their classrooms upon completion of their apprenticeship for teaching.
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- 2023
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50. Experiencing Motherhood and Fatherhood with Learning Difficulties in Austria: The Need for Self-Determined Support
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More, Rahel and Tarleton, Beth
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Background: Many parents with learning difficulties face high rates of child welfare intervention and child removal. In contrast to other high-income countries, there has not been any published research on the lives of mothers and fathers with learning difficulties from an Austrian perspective. After presenting an insight into the international literature and the Austrian context, original empirical findings relevant to providing professional support for parents with learning difficulties are introduced. Method: As part of a larger qualitative study, ten individual parents with learning difficulties (six mothers and four fathers) were interviewed to gain insight into their experience of motherhood and fatherhood. During the interviews, participants were asked to visualise their social networks through network maps that were then included into analyses. The current paper primarily engages with parents' experience of professional practice based on a hermeneutic analysis of latent and manifest meanings. Findings: The study results reinforce the relevance of social networks, including (a lack of) professional parenting support, and gendered parental self-understandings in relation to barriers for parents with learning difficulties in Austria. Parents often experienced surveillance from child welfare professionals and referred to "being checked on" as well as receiving "the wrong support". Only one study participant experienced the (flexible and self-determined) support provided to her family as helpful. Mothers and fathers with learning difficulties face, at times, quite different challenges in the parenting role. The findings highlight a maternal self-understanding as being primarily responsible for their child, while fathers often felt excluded from their child's life. Conclusions: Support services need to acknowledge the relevance of gendered parenting roles and intersections of multidimensional disadvantages. The parenting support currently available to mothers and fathers with learning difficulties (if available at all) needs radical improvement and nationwide support structures need to be installed in collaboration with families.
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- 2022
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