Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science

77-88

Authors: HUSÁK, Jakub; VOLKÁNOVÁ, Markéta

In the current postmodern society, knowledge is still more important. Also corresponding with this fact are the development theories which have been developed from the theory of learning organisation, the theory of learning regions to the relatively new term “learning economy” used in some current publications (e.g. Lam, Lundvall, 2006). Knowledge, learning process and education become an integral part of personality development and also the development of the whole of society. The concept of the “learning economy” is based on the responsibility of each member of society for its education and individual knowledge dynamics and also is based on the responsibility of the whole of society for the collective knowledge dynamics as a prerequisite of its successful development. In this context, the paper is focused on the preferences and ideas of potential applicants for university education within the process of the choice of universities. The main factors which influence the decision-making process of potential applicants for university education are examined by using quantitative empirical research. The correspondence of these factors, preferences and ideas with the requirements of the “learning economy” is also analysed. Attention is also paid to the responsibility of potential applicants for university education for the creation of their knowledge and knowledge dynamics (mainly codified and scientific knowledge are the focus of this paper).

97-104

Authors: PŘIBÁŇ, Tomáš; HODINÁŘ, Jan; VRBÍK, Václav

Nowadays computer literacy is one of the required conditions demanded by employer, who wants to success in today’s labor market. Unfortunately so called necessary minimum of knowledge is not exactly defined. In the Czech Republic computer literacy is an important part of basic education. Our educators face the difficult issue of assessing a level of computer literacy among our students. This case study compares two tools used for testing of computer literacy. For this study we selected two testing tools, the Original Testing System (OTS) and the Modified Testing System (MTS), and investigated them thoroughly by quantitative comparison. In our case study, this quantitative comparison of those testing tools was done using data collected from a freshman-level Word and Excel course in fall 2010 semester in the University of West Bohemia (UWB). Comparison was based on analysis of the performance of 138 students attending this course. We analyzed correlations between the scores from our two testing instruments. We conducted a paired sample t-test for the sake of comparison of the students’ performance between the examination scores. This study has limitations, which were discussed and based on them, recommendations for future works and directions were included.