Jagiellonian Digital Library contains 885 520 digital objects
- The aim of the article is to point out deficiencies in teaching reading in lower secondary schools inferred from results of the achievement test administered in 60 random schools from six voivodships. The analysis of the results rests on the assumption that reading is composed of several linguistic, psychological and cultural operations. The article is focused on the acquisition of vocabulary and the impact of linguistic and genetic awareness on the perception of written texts. The development of these components is particularly important in the era of orality and visuality domination.
- The aim of the ISCED classification was to compare educational resources in different countries. One of the reasons why the classification fails is that it does not reflect the specific characteristics of educational systems in individual countries and as a result creates an oversimplified image of the role of education in contemporary societies. In Poland, the national classification provides a better tool than the ISCED for specifying the role of education, which is demonstrated by the results of the 2010 European Social Survey. The advantage of national classification over the ISCED follows from the fact that it takes changes and reforms in the Polish educational system into consideration. These empirical results speak for supplementing standards with national classifications for education which allow specific characteristics of education systems to be taken into account in inter-country comparison. This would be a step towards functional harmonisation, a concept abandoned after the year 2000 which was replaced with methodological rigor. In the discussion possible reasons are outlined for why researchers find using the ISCED more appropriate for their countries than constructing their own instruments.
- The aim of the study described was to diagnose learning abilities of children completing the first and second stages of education. The following research questions were refined: What are the characteristics of primary school pupil learning ability: (a) in the field of operations specified by J. P. Guilford: cognition, memory, evaluation, convergent and divergent production?; (b) in terms of special abilities determining effective learning: reading ability, mathematics ability, writing abilities, creativity?; and: Are individual differences in learning ability of children significantly associated with gender and age? The SOI-Learning Abilities Test invented by Mary and Robert Meeker was applied to 195 children, who had completed the first and second stages of education. The results showed individual differences in learning ability, which were significantly associated with gender and age. In each age group girls achieved significantly better results. Children finishing the second stage of education scored markedly lower than those finishing the first stage. Results from the 6 grade revealed that resource potential and capabilities, identified as learning abilities in third grade pupils had been lost. Further studies are needed to determine whether school offers learning conditions incompatible with developmental specificity and mechanisms for learning ability, or whether other sources should be investigated to confirm these findings.
- The aim of the study was to determine the species composition of microscopic fungi colonizing dead wood of birch, beech, sycamore maple and sorb (Karkonosze Mountains), and black alder, mountain pine, willow, Swiss pine, sorb, sycamore maple and birch in the Tatras. The mycological analysis was conducted in 2015 and 2016 in the foothills and in the lower and upper montane zones of the Karkonosze Mounts, Karkonosze National Park, and in 2016 in the Białka Valley and Chochołowska Valley in the Tatras, Tatra National Park. For both, Karkonosze Mounts and Tatras, the dominant microscopic fungi inhabiting dead wood belonged to the genus Trichoderma. The Mycobiota of dead wood in the lower classes of decomposition was characterized by a higher species biodiversity but the lower numbers of colonies isolated.
- The aim of the study was to present the role of polymeric materials in various industries. The article discusses the statistics related to the global production of plastics in the years 1950-2015. The paper presents the properties and application of polymer materials, and also made the characteristics of the processes of degradation of polymers, detailing the processes induced by chemical agents, physical and biological. Attention is paid to the characteristics of the biodegradation process. The work has also raised issues associated with the development of ever-larger amounts of polymer waste.
- The aim of this article is to present the problem of differences in the level of knowledge of 20th century Polish history among students of upper secondary schools. The article begins with a theoretical and methodological context, followed by an analysis of the level of knowledge depending on students’ characteristics. Analyses were conducted according to two-level linear regression models based on data retrieved from a representative (of the population of second year upper secondary school students) survey on attitudes towards 20th century Polish history. Considerable differences were observed in the level of knowledge depending on the type of school and gender. To provide a wider context for the interpretation of these differences, additional factors – such as family, school and individual characteristics (potential interest in history and intensity of attitudes towards history) – were taken into consideration. The control of these additional factors, particularly the intensity of attitudes, reduced the effect of school type and gender, however, they still remained significant.
- The aim of this article is to s summarise the evolution of labour market situation of vocational education graduates the last 20 years in Poland. With the use of statistical analysis of LFS and PIAAC data we present the main changes in the situation of vocational education graduates in respect of their quantity, employment status, wages and skills. The number of students has decreased sharply in the last 20 years at basic vocational schools rather than in technical secondary schools. Our results support the thesis that the main challenges facing vocational education in Poland is not the decline in number of students, but a strong negative selection mechanisms, low efficiency of acquiring the basic skills and too slow adaptation of vocational education to the structural changes of the economy. Therefore, we show why the key success factor of vocational education consist in developing basic skills. Introduction of German model of dual education system is unlikely to solve the most important problems of Polish vocational education.
- The aim of this article is to summarise the evolution of the labour market situation of vocational education graduates in the last 20 years in Poland. With the use of statistical analyses of LFS and PIAAC data, we present the main changes in the situation of vocational education graduates in terms of their number, employment status, wages and skills. The number of students has decreased sharply in the last 20 years, in basic vocational schools, but not in vocational upper secondary schools. Our results support the thesis that the main challenges facing vocational education in Poland are not the decline in the number of students, but the strong negative selection mechanisms, low effectiveness of attaining basic skills and the inability of vocational education to quickly adapt to structural changes in the economy. We show why the key success factor of vocational education should be the development of general skills, and why introducing a dual education system is unlikely to solve its most important problems in Poland.
- The aim of this study was to reveal the relationships between the teachers’ perception of various school climate/culture aspects and school academic achievement and perceived intensification of problem behaviour among young people. The anonymous survey was conducted among teachers (n = 140) from four Warsaw lower secondary schools. The study included various aspects of school climate and culture: perceived social relationships at school, the characteristic of the educational process, educational ideologies among teachers, and sense of workload. Teachers’ perception of intensification of youth problem behaviour was directly related to three factors: results-oriented teaching, acceptance of the romantic educational ideology and the negative relations between students. The higher school academic achievement was related to the length of teachers’ career, perceived students’ commitment to learning and low teachers’ sense of workload. Moreover, it turned out that the male teachers, compared to female teachers, perceived school climate as a more favourable.
- The analyses of influence of class size on academic achievement used data from study conducted in 2006 by the Regional Examination Board in Cracow (Poland). The variables explaining the achievements of lower secondary school pupils were identified using regression analysis. The model explains 71% of variance of exam results. These variables were used to identify statistical twins. Their assignment to the experimental and control group was performed in three ways: by stratification using Mahalanobis distance, matching one-to-many and one-to-one using k-means method. The last method proved the most successful. The effect of class size on student outcomes proved statistically insignificant. However, pupils from classes with below 23 pupils achieved higher mean scores than their peers from larger classes by 0.039 standard deviation.
- The analyses of influence of class size on academic achievement used data from study conducted in 2006 bythe Regional Examination Board in Cracow (Poland). The variables explaining the achievements of lowersecondary school pupils were identified using regression analysis. The model explains 71% of variance ofexam results. These variables were used to identify statistical twins. Their assignment to the experimentaland control group was performed in three ways: by stratification using Mahalanobis distance, matching one-to-many and one-to-one using k-means method. The last method proved the most successful. The effect ofclass size on student outcomes proved statistically insignificant. However, pupils from classes with below23 pupils achieved higher mean scores than their peers from larger classes by 0.039 standard deviation.
- The analysis of chemistry textbooks for the 3rd stage of education was carried out in order to obtain in-depth information on the degree of realization of the first educational goal from general requirements (learning outcomes) of the core curriculum: A student obtains and processes information from various sources with the use of information-communication technologies. The range of occurrence of content related to the periodic table of elements in chemistry textbooks for the 3rd stage of education was investigated. The choice of this source of information was dictated by the provisions of the curriculum for general education on the one hand, and on the other, by the fact that the periodic table is a foundation of modern chemistry – the good command of the periodic table not only allows to systematize the knowledge, but also, to anticipate and understand the properties of chemical elements. We analyzed all the series of chemistry textbooks for junior high schools, which have been approved for use in schools by the Ministry of Education since 2009. The study results indicate that the content of all series of textbooks contains the periodic table of elements along with the materials helpful in forming the skills of reading data from such source of information. The most authors of textbooks also took care of that the periodic table of elements was present in every part of the series, which should help students in consolidating the ability to use this tool. The colors most often used in periodic tables to indicate the nature of the chemical elements were different shades of blue and pink, which may help in consolidating the knowledge, but it can also lead to the formation of students’ misconceptions about the properties of elements.
- The analysis presented in this article assesses the fit of the education subvention allocation among the first tier of local governments in Poland (gminas) to the costs of providing education. The first part of the paper describes the weights used in the algorithm that divides the education subvention among gminas, focusing on the changes implemented in 2015. The paper then discusses the consequences resulting from the so-called rural weights, which have a relatively large impact on the allocation of founds. A major part of the paper introduces a measure to determine the inefficiency of the division of fund among gminas. this measure allows a quantitative assessment to be made of the effects of changes introduced to the formula in 2015. Possible corrections of the weights are proposed, which allow the inefficiencies and perverse incentives of local school authorities to be reduced.
- The article addresses areas for cooperation between higher and secondary education, beyond the bounds of administrative and organisational division. Also summarised is the general curriculum reform which is founded on changing the paradigm of education. Satisfying the needs of the most gifted pupils at secondary level in the public system is also described. Specific ideas are presented for how to organise cooperation between schools and universities for work with gifted students. The strengths and weaknesses of the present Polish assessment system are pointed out, together with its role in improving school education. The article draws attention to the difficulty posed by exams in terms of admission to higher education and highlights the need for co-operation between the systems of national examination and higher education.
- The article analyses the economic and non-economic determinants of the decision to offer apprenticeships to young workers in a company. The analysis was based on interviews with employers conducted as a part of the BECKER study in 2014. The authors briefly review the literature on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training. The analysis of the collected qualitative data helped to identify the major costs, benefits and risks associated with apprenticeship training in Polish companies. The article also shows how employers may perceive the overall balance of costs and benefits of apprenticeship training. It was found that profitability could be equally dependent on economic factors (the short or long-term cost-effectiveness of investments in apprenticeship training), as well as non-economic factors (e.g. the need for companionship, the desire to maintain a given profession, a sense of mission to support young people from the local community).
- The article analyses the factors determining the preferences of local councillors to the decentralization of education. The question of whether the decentralization of education policy is a priority for local authorities is examined. We take into account both the individual features of the councillors as well as the characteristics of the municipalities. The empirical study is based on a logit model and used data collected in a survey, which was part of the BECKER project, as well as data from the Local Data Bank and the Ministry of Finance. The results indicate that in addition to factors related to the financial situation of the municipality (level of spending autonomy and wealth) and the characteristics of citizens (education, income), preferences are influenced by the fact that a councillor has a child of school age.
- The article approaches the question of how provisions for the 2008 core curriculum are implemented at lower secondary school within the sub-area of linguistic awareness. It also covers, how Polish language grammar is taught, and student results. Data was obtained from the study: Didactics of literature and Polish language in middle school under the new core curriculum, including results from: tests measuring knowledge and skills involving linguistic awareness, non-participant observation of language classes, information collected from interviews with teachers and students, and questionnaires. The analysis of this varied data allowed construction of a multi-faceted image of linguistic awareness teaching in middle school which emerged to appear highly traditional and geared towards theoretical knowledge of the Polish language. This model does not satisfy the principles for functional language teaching, as prescribed by the new core curriculum. This may explain, why many middle school students experience difficulty in the application of their abstract knowledge to practical situations.
- The article compares two methods used to detect differential item functioning (DIF) of dichotomously scored items: a nonparametric solution based on the Mantel–Haenszel procedure (MH) and a parametric IRT approach with a likelihood ratio test. A Monte Carlo experiment was performed in order to evaluate performance of both statistics in various conditions of DIF uniformity. Results confirmed the theoretical prediction that the MH test has greater statistical power in detecting uniform DIF than the likelihood ratio test and less power than the LR test in cases of non-uniform DIF. Apart of examining statistical power of the test, specific measures of DIF effect size were compared: MH D–DIF and three measures of P–DIF expressed on the item easiness scale.
- The article considers the consequences of abandoning the axiological ambiguity beyond the sphere of human reflection and experience (including that impinging on students – as shown by analytical and interpretive material). The inherent hazards of creating an image of a world closed in extreme binary oppositions is pointed out. It is shown to risk human (student) alienation from reality and a shift of this reality and the human into artificial formations. Another risk is transformation of values into a set of anti-values which exclude any interpersonal agreement. This may result in a situation in which construction of personal axiological space only occurs at the expense of discrediting values of others and denying their rights to hold them in the first place. In effect, another world is created, in which there is no place for the human being.
- The article deals with teaching literature in the context of individual reading experience. Creating the analogy between reading and journey, questions are posed about the student’s freedom as reader, privacy and the uniqueness of the act of individual reading in the educational process. This culminates with the basic question of whether a reader needs school. The main analysis, supported by references to works of Certeau, Izer and Nietzsche, concentrates on the problems of change of status and function of literature in contemporary life, both social and individual, rejection of reading, preservation of passive attitude through educational routine and identification of knowledge about literature with the experience of its reception. Conclusions concentrate on redefinition of the aims of literary education, presentation of reading as an existential need and also deal with the reader’s freedom and responsibility, the role of school in building the reader’s competence, as well as with the range and form of the teacher’s activity. The author postulates structural changes which would allow introduction of a variety of organizational solutions and classes focusing on literature.
