Between theory and practice – teaching maths to elementary school students in Poland

The development of children's school achievements in mathematics is one of the most important aims of education in Poland. The results of research concerning monitoring of school achievements in maths is not optimistic. We can observe low levels of children’s understanding of the merits of maths, self-developed strategies in solving problems and practical usage of maths skills. This article frames the discussion of this problem in its psychological and didactic context and analyses the causes as they relate to school practice in teaching math

Jak skutecznie rozbudzić i utrzymać zainteresowanie dzieci matematyką?

Artykuł z numeru 3-4/2014 czasopisma internetowego TREND

Tectonic subdivision of Poland: Polish Outer Carpathians and their foredeep

Authors discussed the actual state of tectonic regionalization of the Outer Polish Carpathians and their foredeep. The following category of tectonic unit are defined: the groups of nappes, nappes, sub-nappes, thrust-sheets (skibas), anticlinorial and synclinorial structures, and regional-scale folds

Multiple low-temperature thermochronology constraints on exhumation of the Tatra Mountains: New implication for the complex evolution of the Western Carpathians in the Cenozoic

The tectonothermal evolution of the highest mountain range in the Carpathian arc—the Tatra Mountains— is investigated by zircon and apatite fission track and zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) dating methods in order to unravel the disputed exhumation and geodynamic processes in the Western Carpathians. Our data in combination with geological evidences reveal a complex Cenozoic history, with four major tectonothermal events: (i) a very low grade metamorphism of the crystalline basement at temperatures >240°C due to tectonic burial during the Eo-Alpine collision in the Late Cretaceous (~80 Ma); (ii) exhumation and cooling of the basement to temperatures 150°C after burial to 5–9 km depths by the Paleogene fore-arc basin; (iv) final exhumation of the segmented basement blocks during Oligocene-Miocene (32–11 Ma) owing to lateral extrusion of the North Pannonian plate and its collision with the European foreland. The spatial pattern of thermochronological data suggests asymmetric exhumation of the Tatra Mountains, beginning in the northwest at ~30–20 Ma with low cooling rates (~1–5°C/Ma) and propagating toward the major fault bounding the range in the south, where the youngest cooling ages (16–9 Ma) and fastest cooling rates (~10–20°C/Ma) are found. Our data prove that the Tatra Mountains shared Cenozoic evolution of other crystalline core mountains in the Western Carpathians. However, the Miocene ZHe ages suggest that the Tatra Mountains were buried to the greatest depths in the Paleogene-Early Miocene and experienced the greatest amount of Miocene exhumation

Early education – between standarization and subjectification

The article attempts to answer the question: why standardization of early education can limit the development of children and disintegrate the learning process? The main topic is focused on the issue of standardization in early childhood education. The goals of education, core curriculum, expected developmental effects and learning outcomes are most often standardized. The standardization process has specific consequences that affect the quality of education and development opportunities for students. The effect of this approach, especially close to politicians, stakeholders, is limited variety of educational approaches, fragmentation, depersonalization of education and subordinating it to standards and set goals. All these activities should favor the control of results achieved. The destination is defined at the beginning of the education process. The achievement of “experts’” aims is the basis for assessments of the value of the teacher’s work and the effectiveness of educational institutions

OBUT (Nationwide Research on School Achievements of 9-Year Olds) - Pedagogical Experiment with "Policy Context"

The main topic of the paper is concentrated on the quality of school achievements in language and mathematics of 9-year olds-completing the first stage of primary education and the possibilities to use analysis of results as an instrument of increasing the quality of elementary education. OBUT was conducted in 2011 and 2012 among the majority of Polish primary schools. The main goal of research was enrichment of knowledge on effectiveness of school education which complete teachers’ everyday observations and activities. The results of research OBUT was treated as an element of school evaluation. In the paper is presented the methodology of research, especially the procedure of preparation and carry out of nationwide research at schools, the role of teachers during the process of completing and coding the data and the role of reports from research. The last part of the paper includes the critical analysis and discussion concerning the purposefulness of this kind of research , interpretation of results and possibilities and limitations of implementation recommendations from reports at elementary education

Children in the world of economics – innovative tool for lower primary school “I Think, Decide, Act-finances for the youngest”

The article is dedicated to the issue of developing skills and acquiring economic knowledge in early school-age children, in particular in the field of financial education. The concept of the innovative educational tool “I Think, Decide, Act-finances for the youngest” and the process of testing this didactic material for two and half years in grades 1–3 of primary schools in Poland were presented. The purpose of the above mentioned tool is to provide children with cognitive and social educational situations for independent and creative activity that requires solving economic, financial and social problems. The main research methods were a parallel group experiment and an interview with teachers. The results of studies comparing the level of knowledge and financial-mathematical skills of children in the pretest and post test indicate a statistically significant increase in the level in experimental group in comparison with the control one. The teachers’ opinions on the application of the innovative tool in school practice show its didactic and educational value, with a particular emphasis on the quality of proposed mathematical open-ended problems related to the practical context

Nauczyciele edukacji wczesnoszkolnej i ich gotowość do zmiany

W artykule zostały omówione doświadczenia nauczycieli, związane z wprowadzaniem innowacji edukacyjnych w procesie dokonywania zmian postaw i stylu pracy z dziećmi w wieku wczesnoszkolnym. Zagadnienie przedstawiono na przykładzie analizy badania przeprowadzonego w schemacie eksperymentalnym w latach 2012–2013 w klasach trzecich szkół podstawowych. Eksperyment dotyczył testowania środka dydaktycznego Gramy w piktogramy, który powstał w celu wspierania rozwoju umiejętności matematycznych uczniów. Jednym z problemów badawczych było założenie o zmianie poglądów nauczycieli na trzech wymiarach: „pesymizm edukacyjny”, „formalizm edukacyjny”, „promowanie samodzielności” pod wpływem doświadczeń zdobytych podczas testowania produktu. Do analizy wyników zastosowano model statystyczny IRT oraz wielopoziomową regresję. Wyniki wskazują na istotną statystycznie zmianę w poglądach edukacyjnych nauczycieli: zmniejszenie poziomu pesymizmu i formalizmu edukacyjnego oraz wzrost w wymiarze promowania samodzielności