DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF AGRICULTURAL SECTOR – CASE OF SERBIA

New trends in global economy require greater capacity of the agricultural workforce. In order improve agricultural productivity it is needed to increase the level of human capital of the agrarian population. Human capital is accumulated knowledge, created in the long term process of human resources development, which begins in early stages and last all through the life, which is especially true for agricultural business. During transition Serbian economy went through major changes, with agriculture trailing to other sectors of the economy. Each farmer is producing only around 3,000 € gross added value per year, which is substantially lower than in other sectors. This paper will analyze what innovative activities are used worldwide in agriculture and give some possible solutions for investments in human capital and development of human resources in order to increase the level of competitiveness. Finally we analyze Serbian agricultural education system and give some instructions for improvements.agricultural sector, productivity, human capital, education, reform, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital, Productivity Analysis,

Social Networks as Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments for Second Language Teaching in Higher Education

In the post-pandemic era, the Digital 2023 Report highlights a rapid expansion in the global user base of social networking sites (SNSs). Despite the lack of formal integration of SNSs in second language (L2) education, which could enhance real-time creation, collaboration, and communication in the target language and culture, L2 learners still actively use these technologies outside of educational settings. This exploratory study utilizes a descriptive survey research design with a purposefully selected sample of 239 undergraduate and graduate students in their first and second years of language studies. These students pursue commonly taught languages, such as Spanish, as well as less commonly taught ones, such as Arabic, Persian, Slavic (Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Russian, and Polish), Turkic (Turkish and Uyghur), and Uralic (Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian), in addition to others, such as Mongolian. The diverse range of languages enables a thorough investigation of the use of SNSs among college-level L2 learners in the United States, including both widely taught and less commonly taught languages. The findings of this study show that the target age group exhibits distinct preferences in their choice of social platforms for personal use compared to those used in L2 classrooms. Furthermore, the outcomes underscore the significant impact of age, gender, and the method of course delivery on the usage patterns of social networking sites

ESP for Biotechnology Purposes in Serbian Higher Education: the Skills Required and Blended Learning Environment

Biotechnology engineering is a complex domain that explores the use of living systems and organisms to develop products or any technological application that uses biological systems and living organisms to make or modify products or processes for specific use in the production of raw food, feed, and food processing. English as a foreign language in biotechnology engineering reflects the complexity in terms of content knowledge, language skills, and strategies characteristic of biotechnology. The article focuses on the knowledge and skills a biotechnology engineer should acquire with the emphasis on communicative language ability in English as a foreign language for specific purposes, as well as on the gains and obstacles of a blended learning language environment from the perspective of a Serbian higher education setting. Additionally, small-scale research was carried out to examine the potential differences in the levels of biotechnology undergraduate students\u27 communicative language ability in two language learning environments - blended language learning and face-to-face language instruction in prepandemic and pandemic times. The obtained results indicate that blended learning instruction during the pandemic enhanced the students\u27 communication skills in English for biotechnology purposes

An ecological perspective on the use of memes for language learning

Internet memes—usually taking the form of an image, GIF, or video with text—have become an important type of semiotic tool for meaning making. Due to the fact that memes can help learners leverage semiotic modes in social contexts, they hold great potential for language education. Integrating ecological social semiotic frameworks, this comparative case study examined the semiotic affordances of using memes for language learning in the digital wilds, with a focus on self-identified highly-motivated learner-memers in a university-level student-run Chinese-English intercultural chat group. Data sources included meme artifacts, screen shots, and recordings of meme-related communicative practices as well as semi-structed interviews with each participant. Analysis suggests there were four affordances perceived and utilized by the participants, including linking learners to emergent semiotic repertoires, L2 user agency, increased motivation, and personhood development. Key to learners’ experiences was their awareness of perceived semiotic affordances and their agency to participate in meaning making for potentially meaningful learning experiences. We conclude with pedagogical implications for integrating the rich semiotic resources of memes into language classrooms

Teachers’ Perspectives in Higher Education on Using Educational Technology During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Observations for Ghana, India, and Serbia

Objective: The purpose of this research was to understand the significant changes and challenges regarding teaching experiences during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in three universities, one each in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The study provides information on how teachers adapted to online teaching under COVID-19 conditions. Methods: We employed a descriptive phenomenology approach and used an online survey with open-ended questions to collect the data. Braun and Clarke’s six steps of thematic analysis based on the traditions of descriptive phenomenology were employed to analyze the data. Results: The teachers’ adaptive mechanisms to the COVID-19 crisis could be described through the following steps: identifying the teaching challenges, developing awareness of personal learning challenges, initiating the process of learning by doing, and recognizing the lessons learned. Conclusions: A global teacher’s network could be established to encourage professionals from different fields of education to build conventional wisdom in the awareness of the need to constantly try out new strategies with cutting-edge technologies. Implication for Practice: The results provide evidence of ways that future reactions by higher education to global crises can be anticipated. Further, the research provides an understanding of teachers’ adaptation strategies during the COVID-19 crisis. Complementary studies show that institutions should be prepared in terms of both material and human resources for emergency remote teaching(ERT), and students should also be prepared mentally and materially for such unprecedented online teaching delivery and learning. Findings of the present study point to the benefit of faculty using communities of practice as an environment for learning and adapting to emergency situations

Helping student teachers to see into practice:The view from a teacher-education classroom

The aim of this study was to unlock, over the course of one academic year, the pedagogical knowledge in action of an experienced teacher educator engaged in teaching a cohort of fourteen postgraduate student teachers on a one-year, university-led, modern foreign languages course. From the context of a teacher-education classroom, the study focused on how, and with what underpinning rationale, a teacher educator helped her student teachers to see into practice with theoretical understanding. The study was based on a constructivist philosophy. To this end, there was a strong collaborative dimension to the research, which was particularly pronounced in the interactions between my ‘self’ as researcher and the teacher educator. The principal data-generation methods involved observing sixteen three-hour sessions taught by the teacher educator. Each session was followed by a debriefing interview to unpick the pedagogical processes just observed. Additionally, four semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teacher educator at different points in the year, and four focus groups were run with student teachers. The resulting empirical material was analysed using a framework for reflexive thematic analysis. The study shows how an integrative, symbiotic, and non-dichotomous relationship between theory and practice can be achieved in ways that result in theory being regarded by the student teachers as a guide, confidante, and friend – especially in adverse circumstances. The study also suggests ways in which modelling can be rendered more effective. Recommendations for practice include how careful attention needs to be given as to how experiences can be orchestrated and lived in a teacher-education classroom so as to possess the high levels of personal meaning and felt significance that can increase the reflective traction for seeing into practice. The study advocates that the desire to cover material should not come at the cost of deep understanding. Continuity with one’s students, and sufficient time away from the school classroom, are prerequisites for realising such an approach

Sustainable Development Perspectives for Serbian Mountain Areas: Lessons from the European Context

Starting from the hypothesis European countries have more experience in addressing problems in their mountain areas, the research was designed as a cross-country study mixed with a casestudy approach. Major European mountain massifs were embraced within the first phase of the research (exploratory-descriptive), indicating how similar problems in Serbian [SMA] and other European mountain areas [EMA] are and how their countries address them. The next task was to present how sustainable development of SMA alone can be enhanced, which was done in the explanatory phase. Multiple source analysis, also known as the triangulation method, enabled evidence cross-checking. In the case of SMA, data was collected from both available sources and interviews conducted in three rounds with experts, authorities and the local population (in four municipalities), while data for other EMA was obtained solely from written sources. Both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed. The research led to identification of five categories of problems: environmental, demographic, infrastructure, economic and management. In this regard, SMA have been shown to be similar to other EMA in terms of environmental and demographic issues, while differing from them in matters of the economy, physical accessibility, infrastructure endowment and management. The Balkan Mountain Massif and the Carpathians showed the greatest similarity to SMA. In contrast, the Alps showed a considerably lower extent of problems because of the length of time already spent on finding solutions for them. The identified problem categories in mountain areas Serbia has been dealt for the shortest period of time, including defining and promotion of principles, instruments and measures. The issues stressed are: Serbia lacks decision-making power below the national level, explicit measures for mountain area problems and their implementation. The greatest gap between EMA and SMA appeared to be in the sphere of management, where Serbia has done the least. The last part of the research argues and suggests the prospects for the sustainable development of SMA, split into three main fields of action - management, infrastructure and the economy, and additionally a couple of actions valuable for all the fields simultaneously – urban-rural dependences and activation of the civil sector and volunteers. Within the management field, active local population participation, responsible realisation of the full cycle of decision making - from research to evaluation – and the special status for SMA are highlighted as inevitable in the enhancement process. In the field of the economy, the suggestions made are economic diversification and the improvement of products and job attractiveness, which are expected to positively affect the dissemination of knowledge, product marketing and accessibility to the market. Finally, the sustainable development perspectives aligned in the field of accessibility and infrastructure are the endowment of roads, modernisation of education and ICT endowment.Ausgehend von der Hypothese, dass europäische Länder bereits vielfältige Erfahrungen mit der Bewältigung von Problemen in ihren Berggebieten haben, ist die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit als länderübergreifende Fallstudie angelegt worden. In einem ersten, exploratorischdeskriptiven Teil der Forschungsarbeit werden die größten europäischen Gebirgsmassive vorgestellt. Es wird herausgearbeitet, wie sich Probleme in serbischen [SBG] und anderen europäischen Berggebieten [EBG] ähneln und auf welche Art und Weise sich die einzelnen Länder mit ihren Berggebieten auseinandersetzen. Dies geschieht in der Absicht, Wege aufzuzeigen, wie eine nachhaltige Entwicklung der Berggebiete in Serbien angegangen werden könnte. Daten aus verschiedenen Quellen sind zu diesem Zweck ausgewertet worden, wodurch auch die Prüfung der Daten, d.h. ihre Triangulation möglich war. Im Falle der SBG wurden Daten aus zwei verfügbaren Quellen herangezogen. Außerdem sind Interviews mit Fachexperten, Behörden und den Bewohnern in vier Gemeinden geführt worden. Zu den EBG sind verfügbare Daten aus der Literatur genutzt worden. Sowohl qualitative als auch quantitative Daten sind in die Analyse einbezogen worden. Fünf Kategorien von Problemen konnten auf diese Weise herausgearbeitet werden: ökologische, demographische, infrastrukturelle, wirtschaftliche und administrative Probleme. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die SBG und die EBG vor allem in Bezug auf die Umwelt und die Demographie Ähnlichkeiten besitzen. Unterschiede zeigten sich vor allem in Bezug auf Fragen der Wirtschaft, der physischen Zugänglichkeit, der infrastrukturellen Ausstattung und der Verwaltung. Das Gebirgsmassiv im Balkan und den Karpaten besitzt die größte Ähnlichkeit mit den SBG. Im Gegensatz dazu, zeigten die Alpen wesentlich geringere Probleme, da diese seit einem längeren Zeitraum angegangen werden. Im darauffolgenden, analytischen Teil der Arbeit werden zu jeder der identifizierten Problemkategorien in Serbien kurzfristig umsetzbare Entwicklungsprinzipien, Instrumente und Maßnahme vorgeschlagen. Herausgestellt werden folgende Aspekte: Serbien braucht mehr Entscheidungsbefugnis unterhalb der nationalen Ebene, es braucht besondere Instrumente zur Bewältigung der Probleme seiner Berggebiete sowie eigene Ansätze zu deren Umsetzung. Der größten Differenzen zwischen EBG und SBG werden im Bereich der Verwaltung gesehen, da Serbien hier bisher die wenigsten Anstrengungen unternommen hat. Im letzten Teil der Arbeit werden Perspektiven für die nachhaltige Entwicklung der SBG aufgezeigt, aufgeteilt in drei mögliche Haupthandlungsfelder– Verwaltung, Infrastruktur und Wirtschaft. Außerdem werden Maßnahmen vorgeschlagen, die alle Problemfelder übergreifen. Dazu gehören die Bezugnahme von Stadt und Land sowie die Aktivierung zivilen und ehrenamtlichen Engagements innerhalb der SBG. Für den Bereich der Verwaltung werden die aktive Einbeziehung der lokalen Bevölkerung, die verantwortungsvolle Umsetzung planerischer Entscheidungsprozesse – von der Forschung bis hin zur Evaluierung – sowie die Einrichtung eines besonderen Status für die SBG als notwendig für deren nachhaltige Entwicklung erachtet. Für den Bereich der Wirtschaft werden Diversifikation, die qualitative Verbesserung von Erzeugnissen sowie die Steigerung des Angebotes attraktiver Arbeitsplätze als Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten vorgeschlagen, da diese voraussichtlich positiv auf die Verbreitung von Wissen, Produktmarketing und die Zugänglichkeit zu den Märkten wirken. Darüber hinaus werden für nachhaltige Entwicklungsperspektiven der SBG in Bezug auf die Erreichbarkeit und die Infrastruktur die Einrichtung von Straßen, die Modernisierung von Bildungseinrichtungen und die Einrichtung von Informations- und Kommunikationswegen angeregt

Educational design research in collaboration with students : using digital tools to learn about reindeer herding within a vocational Sámi pedagogical context

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