Report on the Implementation of Work Package 4 “Selection and Testing New ICT Tools” in the Framework of the IRNet Project

This article, prepared by an international team of authors – researchers from different scientific areas, connected with ICT, e-learning, pedagogy, and other related disciplines – focuses on the objectives and some results of the IRNet international project. In particular, this article describes the research tools, methods, and some procedures of the Work Package 4 (WP4) “Selection and Testing New ICT tools”: Objectives, Tasks, Deliverables, and implementation of research trips. Researchers from partner universities have analysed the results of WP4 in the context of the next stages and Work Packages of the IRNet project – International Research Network

Relative efficiency of higher education in Croatia and Slovenia: an international comparison

The article measures the relative efficiency of government spending on higher education in selected new EU member states (with special focus on Croatia and Slovenia) in comparison to selected OECD countries. The article applies a non-parametric approach, i.e. data envelopment analysis (DEA), to assess the relative technical efficiency of higher education across selected countries. When estimating the efficiency frontier we focus on measures of quantities outputs/outcomes. The results show that the relatively high public expenditure per student in Croatia should have resulted in a better performance regarding the outputs/outcomes, i.e. a higher rate of higher education school enrolment, a greater rate of labor force with a higher education and a lower rate of the unemployed who have tertiary education. On the other hand, regardless of the input-output/outcome mix, the higher education system in Slovenia is shown to have a much higher level of efficiency compared to both Croatia and many other comparable new EU member states and OECD countries.public expenditure, efficiency, higher education, data envelopment analysis, Croatia, Slovenia, new EU member states, OECD

What do Europeans do at Work? A Task-Based Analysis: European Jobs Monitor 2016

[Excerpt] Europe continues its recovery from the economic slump caused by the global financial crisis in 2008, exacerbated by the euro zone single currency crisis in 2010–2011. In 2014–2015, aggregate employment levels rose faster than at any time since 2008 and over four million new jobs were created in the 28 EU Member States. The fifth annual European Jobs Monitor report looks at employment shifts at Member State and aggregate EU level from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2015. Part 1 presents the jobs-based approach, used to describe employment shifts quantitatively (how many jobs were created or destroyed) and qualitatively (what kinds of jobs). This approach relies on breaking employment down into detailed ‘job’ cells, with a job defined as ‘a specific occupation in a specific sector’, for example, a health professional in the health sector, or a skilled craft/tradesman in car manufacturing. A particular focus is placed on the time profile of recent shifts in employment structure. Ranking the jobs according to their wage and educational levels – or a broader multidimensional index of job quality – adds a qualitative dimension to the analysis. In this year’s report, a further level of detail is provided by measuring the intensity involved in carrying out different categories of task: physical, intellectual and social in terms of the job’s content, methods and work organisation, as well as the tools used (such as information and communication technologies (ICT) and machinery). Parts 2 and 3 of the report introduce a new set of indicators on the task content, methods and tools used at work. Derived from international databases on work and occupations, these indicators enable the analysis to go beyond characterising jobs by quality alone – to give a detailed account of what Europeans do at work and how they do it. The indicators provide valuable new insights on the structural differences and recent evolution of European labour markets, as well as a better understanding of labour input in the production process and the changing nature of the skills required. The jobs-based approach has been used since the 1990s to assess the extent to which employment structures in developed economies are polarising, leading to a shrinking middle quintile, or upgrading as the demand for, and supply of, highly qualified workers increases. These are the two main patterns identified in recent analysis of developed economy labour markets, although more recent analysis in the US – corroborated by some evidence in this report – suggests that a downgrading of the employment structure (relatively faster growth at the lower end of the wage distribution) is also emerging as an alternative pattern

Methodology of research into the dynamic formation of professionally important cognitive and personal qualities of it specialties students

The article is devoted to the description of certain methods which identify the dynamic formation of the structure of intelligence and the identity of the IT training profile students. The study uses a technique that includes the colour-associative test of M. Luscher, the definition of the Myers-Briggs typology, and a modified intelligence structure test for R. Amthauer. The verification of the effectiveness of the methodology was carried out by testing students of the Faculty of Information Technologies of the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, the results of which are demonstrated on the basis of the obtained data. The proposed methodology allowed to reveal the peculiarities of the impact of studying at the university on the professionally important qualities of future IT industry professionals

Methodology of research into the dynamic formation of professionally important cognitive and personal qualities of it specialties students

The article is devoted to the description of certain methods which identify the dynamic formation of the structure of intelligence and the identity of the IT training profile students. The study uses a technique that includes the colour-associative test of M. Luscher, the definition of the Myers-Briggs typology, and a modified intelligence structure test for R. Amthauer. The verification of the effectiveness of the methodology was carried out by testing students of the Faculty of Information Technologies of the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, the results of which are demonstrated on the basis of the obtained data. The proposed methodology allowed to reveal the peculiarities of the impact of studying at the university on the professionally important qualities of future IT industry professional

Employment Polarization and Job Quality in the Crisis

[Excerpt] European labour markets added nearly 30 million new jobs in a golden age of employment creation prior to the onset of the Great Recession in 2008. The markets have subsequently shed five million jobs and unemployment – rising rapidly once again – is at its highest since the late 1990s. This second annual European Jobs Monitor report looks in detail at recent shifts in employment at Member State and European level. The analysis covers three distinct periods: the pre-recession employment expansion (1995–2007); the Great Recession (2008–2010); the stalled recovery (2011–2012). A ‘jobs-based’ approach is applied to describe employment shifts quantitatively (how many jobs were created or destroyed) and qualitatively (what kinds of jobs)

Selected aspects of IBL in STEM-education

This article focuses on an important category of modern education in contemporary society based on innovation as well as SMART, and analyses Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL), inquiry-based science education (IBSE), problem-based learning and project-based learning in the context of STEM education. “At the third millennium in the midst of the digital age, it is expected that emerging technologies will be able to accelerate scientific literacy and enable the majority of citizens to enjoy the blessing of STEM.“ (Chen, 2017: XV) Additionally, the authors analyse advantages and some aspects STEM education, contemporary trends in modern professions and present several examples of good practice. The article also presents the results of research carried out among academic staff, teachers and students on educational trends and technologies. The survey showed a huge gap between the students’ needs and the proposals for organizing the educational process put forward by teachers and academic staff. Interdisciplinarity - an important concept related to STEM-education is highlighted. The authors describe and compare educational technologies, IBL, PBL, PrBL. The stages of IBL provide an opportunity to analyse and implement educational technology in the educational process. In particular, the authors offer instruments for IBL. One of them is the creation of an inquiry learning space Go-Labs that allows for connecting different applications to organize activities at all stages of the research process

RIO Country Report Slovak Republic 2014

The report offers an analysis of the R&I system in the Slovak Republic for 2014, including relevant policies and funding, with particular focus on topics critical for two EU policies: the European Research Area and the Innovation Union. The report was prepared according to a set of guidelines for collecting and analysing a range of materials, including policy documents, statistics, evaluation reports, websites etc. The report identifies the structural challenges of the Slovak research and innovation system and assesses the match between the national priorities and those challenges, highlighting the latest policy developments, their dynamics and impact in the overall national context.JRC.J.6-Innovation Systems Analysi