Problems of Education in the 21st Century

337-338

Authors: Editorial Board

Cover page, Vol. 79, No. 3, 2021, PEC

340-342

Authors: Milan Kubiatko

I would like to thank the editor of the journal for the space to write some words about actual problems of subject didactic. I would like to ask all readers to remember, this is not a classic scientific text, it is only short reflection for the actual situation in subject didactic as it is perceived by the author of this text. Current subject or disciplinary didactic is a dynamic discipline, which is still changing and is reporting to actual trends in the relative disciplines like pedagogy, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and others, and also the newest findings from the scientific disciplines, which are connected with subject didactic. The didactic is perceived in different ways by different countries. For example, in the Middle Europe and former post-communist countries it is possible to observe subject didactic, where every subject, has got its own didactic (e.g., didactic of biology, didactic of history, …). For Anglo-Saxon countries it is typical disciplinary didactic (e.g., science didactic). It can cause a little bit problematic view, but the nature of concept is similar. In this text it is used the term “subject didactic”.

360-380

Authors: Abdo Hasan AL-Qadri, Wei Zhao

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is essential attribution among school learners of today. In this respect, determination and normalization of the measures to investigate and recognize dimensions levels help educators have a successful intervention and increase students' academic achievement level. This research aimed to explore the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and the academic achievement of Arabic basic school students in China. Further, it also sought to determine the level of students' emotional intelligence and motivation to learn. The research aims are addressed through a tool that explores emotional intelligence and motivation. A 60-item for initial emotional intelligence scale was utilized and analyzed to test their psychometric properties by pilot testing. A final total of 303 students with ages ranged between 12-16 years old participated in the research. The research findings suggested the final formulation of items of the emotional intelligence scale that can measure the levels of emotional intelligence of students along with a significantly positive relationship to academic achievement. There were statistically significant differences in the respondents' level of emotional intelligence according to the gender variable. In comparison, there were no statistically significant differences in the respondents' level of emotional intelligence according to the grade variable. Recommendations of the research were presented.

397-411

Authors: María Rosa Fernández-Sánchez, Juan Silva-Quiroz

Universities are living in a time of major transitions regarding the challenge of rethinking and transforming the current pedagogical models so they can respond to the needs of the global knowmad society. In this study, the Design-Based Research (DBR) approach is used to address the improvements of two emerging pedagogical designs in e-learning in the university context: the model of the Center for Research in Education and ICT (CIIET) of the University of Santiago de Chile (Chile) and the model developed by the Education Node research group of University of Extremadura (Spain). The main focus of these models is the student, who by developing activities based on the resolution of a contextualized problem and using new strategies, accompanied by open resources for resolution, resulting in a learning outcome that can be achieved and measured through assessment. This work aims to advance in identifying of some pedagogical keys for the design of online training scenarios that promote environments of production, research, and open dissemination of best practices, to experience new creative forms and collaborative learning, which have emerged within the hyper connected society and the net-culture.

425-450

Authors: Yoon Fah Lay, Khar Thoe Ng

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study that has been implemented by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) since 1995. This proposed study is aimed to identify the correlations of science classroom teachings with eighth graders' science achievement in TIMSS among Southeast Asian and East Asian countries. The freely downloadable secondary data were analyzed using IEA's International Database (IDB) Analyzer (version 4.0) for TIMSS, a plug-in for SPSS. TIMSS uses an imputation methodology, involving plausible values, to report student performance. This study found that countries with higher average science achievement allocated higher percentage of educational hours for science teaching, students were taught the TIMSS science topics, students attended schools with science laboratories and have assistance available when conducting experiments, computer availability during science lessons, with science teachings were not limited by student needs, and less frequency of student absences. Based on the research findings, policy recommendations were made to the Malaysian Ministry of Education to boost Malaysian eighth graders' science performance in the forthcoming TIMSS assessments.

467-484

Authors: Suzana V. Marković Krstić, Lela R. Milošević Radulović

Education is a significant factor which contributes to overcoming social, economic, health, ecological and other challenges. During a pandemic, formal education adapts to ongoing circumstances, and the learning-teaching process transitions to distance education. A study of the advantages and disadvantages of the realization of certain modalities of distance education is significant as it contributes to the improvement of its quality. The aim was to determine how the citizens of Serbia evaluated the quality of distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research questions focused on how they evaluated: distance education based on modality (via Radio Television of Serbia, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Zoom, Viber groups, WhatsApp), the level of involvement of the learners/students during distance learning classes, the quality and extent of their acquired knowledge, and the level of skills that teachers need to effectively teach in distance education. The study presents the results of a survey carried out in 2020 on a sample of 602 adult Serbian citizens. The results confirm the initial hypothesis that certain modalities of distance education received a highly positive evaluation (Google Classroom, Google Meet, Zoom), and that teachers, learners/students, and other citizens provided statistically significant different evaluations of their quality (classes for primary and secondary school students broadcast on the Radio Television of Serbia; classes via Viber groups, on WhatsApp). Citizens feel that distance education enables efficient learning-teaching during the pandemic, confirming the importance of modern technologies for the learning-teaching process in Serbia, and the need for their continued intense development and application in education.

505-508

Authors: Editorial Board

End page, Vol. 79, No. 3, 2021, PEC