Education & Pedagogy

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world, has caused serious problems in many areas. Undoubtedly, one of the most important of these areas is education. Education-teaching processes were continued remotely during the pandemic period, which caused the closure of schools almost all over the world. In this study, it is aimed to examine the views of social studies teachers, who have given lectures with the help of distance education during the pandemic period, about distance education. Phenomenology, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 12 social studies teachers who work in a secondary school affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the city of Bayburt and have given lessons with the help of distance education. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool to examine teachers' views on distance education. The collected data were analyzed with thematic analysis method. The data obtained were shown in themes and the findings were supported by direct quotations from the views received from the participants. As a result of the study, it was demonstrated that the negative thoughts of the social studies teachers about distance education were higher than the positive thoughts, and they also expressed problems such as slow connection, internet infrastructure, low participation in the course and insufficient devices for accessing distance education. In addition, it was concluded that all of the participants agreed that social studies teachers should take in-service training, seminars and courses in order to improve themselves in the distance education process and using technology effectively. In this context, it is recommended to give educational seminars on technology literacy to social studies teacher candidates and teachers.

Background: E-cigarette prevention education aims to mitigate adolescent e-cigarette use. Such education is increasingly delivered through virtual/video-based teaching platforms (e.g. Zoom, Google Classrooms). However, there is little evidence about the effectiveness of virtual e-cigarette education compared to in-person education on adolescents' knowledge about e-cigarettes, perceived addictiveness and intent to try e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and marijuana. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of virtual e-cigarette education compared to in-person education on student knowledge and perceived addictiveness of e-cigarettes and intent to try e-cigarettes. Design, Setting and Method: We conducted a pre- and post-education evaluation among 10 middle and high school students in the Greater Birmingham area, Alabama, who were non-randomly assigned to receive either virtual (n = 745) or in-person e-cigarette education (n = 286) (mean age: 14.36 years). The study used a 25-minute educational presentation about the health effects of e-cigarettes, the risks of second- and third-hand smoke, the addictive nature of nicotine, and marketing strategies of e-cigarette companies. Participants completed a 10-minute self-administered survey immediately before and after the presentation. Results and conclusion: Except for certain e-cigarette knowledge-related items, our study shows that both virtual and in-person education had similar effects on improving knowledge about e-cigarettes, increasing perceived addictiveness and reducing intent to try e-cigarettes, cigarettes and marijuana among participants. Virtual education may be applied where in-person education is not feasible (e.g. in rural communities).

COVID-19 has had serious consequences in all areas of social life, including education. In this period, distance education appeared as an inevitable solution. Even today, when the pandemic process is over and re-normalization has begun, online teaching environments have become such an indispensable part of education systems that it has been decided that a certain proportion of the courses will be conducted online in universities. For this reason, determining student experiences in online courses is important in planning the future of distance education. Since academic performance is the output of the teaching process, students' academic performance is one of the topics of interest in higher education research. There may be different factors affecting the academic performance of students in the distance education process, which imposes more responsibility on students and requires self-control. This study aimed to examine the relationship of academic performance in the distance education with home infrastructure, student interaction, computer skills, academic satisfaction. This research is based on a large-scale study, "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of higher education students", examining the pandemic's impact on higher education student perceptions in 2020. It has been observed that home infrastructure has a significant impact on the student's academic performance. The infrastructure increases the interaction of the student. When home infrastructure is taken as a control variable, students' computer skills are the highest predictor of their perception of academic performance, followed by their online interactions and, finally, perceived satisfaction. Today, pandemic conditions are still ongoing. In addition, even as the pandemic ends, online education has become an indispensable part of our education system. Therefore, the findings of the research would be beneficial for the ongoing planning process.

Environmental education (EE) is vital in addressing global environmental problems. Educational institutions are integrating EE into their curricula, but studies indicated the need for its intensification. This mixed method study assessed the integration of EE in Teacher Education Programs (TEPs) in Region III, Philippines. Respondents were 10 program deans, 10 chairs, 171 teachers, and 344 students. Data were gathered using validated questionnaires. Findings revealed that the New Teacher Education Curriculum (NTEC) integrated EE in program outcomes and performance indicators; in mandated courses -Physical Education (PE) and National Service Training Program (NSTP); and in Science Technology and Society (STS), a General Education (GE) course. Likewise, teachers integrated EE in their lessons and in community extension programs. Seminars/webinars included environmental care and promoted environmental awareness in social media. As to support for EE integration, administrative, physical facilities and financial support were provided. On student outcomes, positive findings were shown on attitude towards environment care, but application of knowledge and skills needs improvement. Students' knowledge was significantly correlated to attitude (Pearson's r value is 0.593 and p value <0.05) as well as skills acquisition and attitude (Pearson's r value is 0.647 and p value <0.05). Teachers' challenges in the EE integration included inadequate environmental knowledge and lack of time to lead students in environmental action. The study concludes that EE is integrated into the TEPs but the outcomes on the learners' knowledge and skills acquisition still need strengthening. Also, EE should be integrated in professional education courses, not only in GE and mandated courses.

This article presents a descriptive analysis case study conducted in the stream of teacher action research. An instructor-generated questionnaire was administered to teacher education program participants (n=141) who are practicing U.S. teachers of English learners (ELs). All respondents were enrolled in an online graduate-level teacher education program with a concentration in bilingual education and TESOL certification. The results of the questionnaire indicate that, as teachers of ELs worked in a variety of pre-K--12 settings and modes of instruction during the pandemic, including school closures, 67.4% of teachers worked longer hours compared to their pre-pandemic workloads. Additional data analysis includes teacher-reported meaningful student engagement, instructional modeling in teacher education programs, and the use of technology in teacher education. As the educational profession evaluates the effects of the pandemic on the state of teaching and student achievement and sets post-COVID directions, this data may help inform decisions. The article highlights the value of modeling practices in tertiary instruction for educators and the use of educational technology in a teacher education program. It also advocates for increased teacher voice and agency in shaping professional development of in-service teachers. The article ends with a call to administrators, policy makers, teacher education programs, and publishers to acknowledge the unprecedented professional growth of school-based educators and seek teacher-generated reflections on the pandemic-induced changes in their pedagogy to help inform future professional development, educational policy, and teacher education program development.

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.

An individual is born with millions of neurons and the quality of the experiences he/she will have at the early years can potentially determine the future life of that person. This makes quality early childhood education pivotal. However, the perception people have about this influence how they prepare themselves to provide that quality early childhood education for young children. Thus, this qualitative research purposively sampled 26 participants to elicit their views about the perception they have about the criticality of early years experiences and how the perception influenced how they were providing the early childhood education within the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. Data in the form of interview were analysed thematically. The study found that experiences through the early childhood education are criticality serving as the foundation for future education. The study also found that developmentally appropriate infrastructure (such as tables and chairs sized to the height of learners, spacious and well-ventilated classroom), teachers who are specifically trained in early childhood education and child friendly pedagogy should be in place to ensure quality early childhood education and that how early childhood education was perceived greatly influenced how it was provided. The recommendations based on the findings are that, there should be more advocacy by teachers and head teachers on the criticality of early years experiences to ensure people's sufficient appreciation for quality early childhood education for young children. Importantly, early childhood education should be completely detached from the primary and basic school to enable it receive the due attention and the needed provision. Individuals with the right perception should be engaged with the provision of Early Childhood Education (ECE).

Education possesses the potential to combat the prevailing systemic inequities in societies through policy interventions aimed at creating inclusive societies. Several studies since independence have critically analysed the indifferent nature of the education system towards certain groups and sections. Despite a rights-based approach to educational access, the data still shows that some social, religious, economic groups and girls are striving for basic educational access. The silent arrival (without any political dialogue) and approval of NEP have left all to accept the policy as it is, leaving no room for any discourse (New education policy 2020: what is concealed and what is unveiled. The New Leam 20). The most recent data available at the national level (UDISE, 2018--2019) also confirms that irrespective of decades-old commitment to equitable education, the social, gender and economic gaps in the education system still exists. The major objective of this paper is to analyse the shift in policies relating to the educational statuses of disadvantaged sections of society in the Indian post-independent era with a major focus on NEP 2020. Primarily based on analysis of all the major educational policies, this paper tries to develop an argument around the policies and how far it has led to un-democratization of education by reinforcing the exclusion of certain groups from the education system. This has been substantiated by the secondary data, which categorically highlights the gaps which exist in the educational access by different groups. The findings reveal that the policies have played a detrimental role in intensifying the already existing inequalities. Further, the children who access and complete the school education constitute a homogenous group and not all children from diverse group enrol for and complete the education.

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of distance learning system on academic standing of education faculty's students at Yozgat Bozok University. Education faculties are one of the leading educational institutions where students and teachers' interaction is at the highest level. The education provided in these institutions is highly important due to training the teachers who are accepted to have been the pioneer of the society in terms of its change and transformation. The study focuses on to find how there is a relationship between distance education commonly given due to pandemic and academic success of students of the educational institutions training teachers. The descriptive content techniques that are to be evaluated as parts of the qualitative research techniques have been implemented as the method of the study. Within the scope of the research, 223 pre-service teachers studying in different programs of Yozgat Bozok University Faculty of Education have been determined as the study group. 223 students participating in the study have been asked to answer the fourteen questions previously provided in interview through online. In line with the data obtained, it has been noticed that face-to-face education is more efficient compared with the distance education, in spite of the high academic success of the teacher candidates. As a general opinion, even though it is a comfortable education, it has been revealed that distance education can be an alternative rather than a choice to face-to-face education. Along with the advantages and disadvantages of distance education, the opinions of teacher candidates for the development of this system are also presented in the study.

In the field of education, the "non-formal education approach" to fostering human proficiency in a wide range of skills is credited with having engendered the broadening of educational practice beyond formal schooling through the emergence of methods and techniques of basic education, administrative training and management science. In the field of economics, the relationship between national economic growth and upskilling the population is informed by two major dominant theoretical perspectives. The "human capital approach" considers the relationship between education and national economic growth from purely economic viewpoints, while the "ecological development approach" adopts a liberal stance and argues for a democratisation of educational opportunities. After reviewing this theoretical background, the authors of this article focus on the need to strengthen non-formal education in Nigeria with the aim of promoting national economic growth. They propose that the National Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education Commission (NMEC), launched in 1991, should be upgraded to a ministry of non-formal education. They argue that this kind of dedicated ministry is already operating successfully in many developing Asian and industrialised nations, serving to coordinate all basic education programmes with a special focus on citizens with low literacy. In Nigeria, the authors argue, such a ministry could provide training and retraining of all workers in both the public and private sectors of the economy, facilitate administrative training and executive management education as well as taking on responsibility for all continuing professional training programmes at all levels of the polity. The authors conclude their article by setting out the main elements of their proposed programme development framework for non-formal education.

The expectation of the labour market on the quality of graduates produced by Faculties of Education in Nigeria universities has become a burning issue that many stakeholders in the education sector felt unsatisfactory. It becomes imperative to assess the challenges of quality assurance in teacher education. This study therefore assessed quality assurance in teacher education in Nigerian universities: challenges and way forward. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was all university teachers in Faculties of Education in universities in Kwara State, Nigeria. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 240 university teachers. A researcher-design questionnaire was used for data collection for the study. The data collected were analysed using means ranking and standard deviation. The findings of the study showed that the provision of teachers with adequate academic and professional formative experience for teaching and control of examination system with clear procedures as well as ethics of confidentiality and impartiality are the most needed qualities to be assured in teacher education. Overcrowding that leads to poor classroom management and control; instability of academic calendar and adoption of outdated curriculum and inadequate exposure to practical teaching that ensure professionalism are the major challenges in the teacher education. Broadening the curriculum of research methodology to improve the student's project writing skills and emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge in the teaching subject pedagogy, entrepreneurial studies, and computer literacy for functional education need to be considered. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that internal quality assessment in teacher education should be strengthened in the Faculties of Education that would allow for improved pre-service teacher quality products in Teacher Education in Nigerian universities.

The aim of this research is to examine the ideal physical education profile from the perspective of physical education teacher educators, that is, academicians working in the physical education and sports teaching department of the faculties of sports sciences. Within the scope of this purpose, the views of the academicians about the pre-graduate education, the undergraduate education period and their own teaching were compared with their views on the ideal physical education teacher. In order to express the comparisons more clearly, metaphor was used. The academicians were asked to match the physical education teachers who influenced them the most from their past to the future, their own teaching and their views on the ideal physical education teacher, with the nature metaphor presented to them by the researchers. In the study, which was based on the qualitative research method, the "interview" approach and the "interview form method" were used as the data collection method. According to the stratified sampling method, the participants of the study; taking into account the academic titles of the participants; 3 professors, 3 associate professors, 3 assistant professor and 3 lecturers A total of 12 physical education teacher educators (academics) were determined. As a result of the research, it was observed that while the participants defined their pre-graduate teachers closer to the ideal teacher in terms of their physical characteristics, they defined their undergraduate physical education teachers and themselves as closer to the ideal physical education teacher in the main themes of personality traits, teacher leadership styles and teaching methods.

A study was conducted to determine the costs of vocational education programs in excess of, or in addition to, the costs of "regular" education for grades 7-12 in New Mexico. Data were gathered through a literature review, a study of vocational education funding formulas of other states; a review of the data from the New Mexico Vocational-Technical Information System for 1991-92 and from vocational programs in the state; visits to exemplary vocational education in and out of state; and interaction with an advisory committee formed for the project. The study identified the following characteristics of high quality programs: (1) enthusiastic teachers; (2) a goal of education for a career; (3) individualized instruction; (4) mastery of specified competencies and high expectations; (5) involvement of business and industry; (6) student organizations; (7) involvement in competency events; (8) articulation between secondary and postsecondary programs; (9) integration of academic and vocational curriculum; (10) up-to-date equipment and computers; and (11) the presence of a local vocational director. Insufficient data were developed to determine a dollar amount for the additional cost of vocational education or a ratio of cost of vocational education to the cost of regular education, although the data pointed to supplies and materials, student organizations, space, and equipment as increasing the costs of vocational education. Recommendations were made to change the funding formula for vocational education, to request annual appropriations for equipment, to encourage shared skill development programs and vocational supervisors between school districts, to develop a comprehensive plan for vocational education, and to develop an accounting system to track funding to various types of programs. (The report's five appendixes list the validation committee and advisory committee members, provide the survey instrument and responses, and include U.S. Office of Education Codes. The report has 9 tables and contains 34 references.) (KC)

The explosive economic growth and rising prosperity of Taiwan is linked to the country's system of vocational education. Paralleling Taiwan's rapid economic transformation has been the growth of its national educational system. Both the government and the private sector have been making concerted efforts to develop education, resulting in constant increases in educational expenditures, and the percent of Gross National Product allocated to education far exceeds that of many other richer nations. The number of schools and colleges has exploded and total school enrollment has increased fivefold since 1950. The vocational education system has also increased dramatically. Currently, there are about 150,000 vocational school students, 100,000 technical college students, and 2,000 institute of technology students graduating each year in Taiwan. The total number of 252,000 graduates from the technical and vocational education system far exceeds the 60,000 academic high school graduates or 40,000 college graduates each year. There are seven types of vocational schools in Taiwan: agricultural, industrial, commercial, marine products, nursing and midwifery, opera and arts, and home economics. Emphasis presently is on the expansion of industrial and maritime education while slowing the development of commercial schools and enriching the curricula of agricultural schools and readjusting home economic education according to needs. Taiwan's emphasis on mass vocational education extends to postsecondary level education, as evidenced by the creation of closer linkages between high schools and postsecondary institutions. Technical colleges are continuing to grow in importance. In addition, the government supports technical training and skills upgrading both in school and on the job for workers. Vocational education and training has had a major influence in providing the skilled labor force that has transformed Taiwan into one of the world's most powerful economies. (Contains 13 references.) (KC)

This report on the education of minorities results from policy research projects conducted at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at Texas University (Austin) as part of the Quality Education for Minorities project to provide background research for development of a national action plan on improving the quality of education for Alaska native, American Indian, Black American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican students. The following papers are presented as chapters: (1) "Education for Minorities and the National Interest" (R. Marshall); (2) "Parent-Child Interventions for Children Age Zero to Three: The Role of the States" (S. J. Means); (3) "Neither Equitable nor Excellent: The Effects of Tracking on Minority Students" (F. Mecca); (4) "Everyone Can Learn Math" (R. M. Nielsen); (5) "Mathematics and Science Education: Reclaiming Minorities at the Elementary School Level" (D. T. Garza); (6) "Assessment and Referral of Hispanic Bilingual Special Education Students: A Growing Controversy" (C. C. Talkington); (7) "Magnet Schools: A Quality Alternative" (E. Fonken); (8) "Magnet Schools for Disadvantaged Students in Texas" (J. Cano); (9) "Performance-Based Funding for Schools: A Practical and Feasible Alternative" (D. M. Marchick); (10) "Choice in Minnesota: Open Enrollment as a Means of Educational Reform" (J. S. Wicinski); (11) "Coordinating Social Services: The Role of Schools" (J. M. Ehrlich); (12) "The Potential Impact of Restructuring on the Education of Minorities: The Miami Experience" (B. Rungeling); (13) "The Use of High-School Vocational Counseling To Help Students Choose and Implement Career Choices" (S. L. Holland); (14) "Improving the School-to-Work Transition of Minority Youths" (R. W. Glover); and (15) "Effective Strategies for the Recruitment and Development of Black Faculty at Four-Year Institutions of Higher Education" (R. Pickering). One figure and 21 tables illustrate the essays. Contains 454 references. (SLD)