Vpogled v pedagoško prakso tehniškega izobraževanja v slovenskih osnovnih šolah med pandemijo covida-19: model učenja na daljavo

When the Covid-19 pandemic started in March 2020, the educational process had to be redesigned to meet current needs. At the Faculty of Education of the University of Ljubljana, pre-service engineering and technology teachers (3rd and 4th years of undergraduate two-subject teachers’ study programme) are obliged to complete a teaching practice in educational institutions and submit a teaching practice diary. Due to the closure of primary schools, the teaching practice was transformed to distance/online practice. This empirical study examines a recently developed intuitive model for distance learning, which took place during the teaching practice. Teaching practice diaries served as an instrument for gathering data. The sample size encompasses 56 lesson plan activities for the compulsory primary school Design and Technology subject for students aged 12–15 years at 15 primary schools in different parts of Slovenia carried out during online teaching practice by 11 pre-service technology teachers in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic years. The research methodology is focused on lesson-type determination and model elements analysis in lesson plan making and implementation activity. Distance learning model elements are evaluated with regard to online/offline learning tools from e-learning platforms to engineering education field-specific tools (e.g., technical drawings and electric circuits). Online teaching practice was as new for pre-service technology teachers and teacher-mentors as online learning was new for students. The advantages and disadvantages are highlighted. Furthermore, the distance learning model from the first Covid-19 wave teaching practice was adapted to challenge the second Covid-19 wave. The pandemic has enabled the rise of blended learning, which has been gaining focus in secondary and higher education levels in recent years; however, it encountered obstacles when entering the primary school domain. How to encompass blended learning into the evolved distance learning model will be shown. (DIPF/Orig.

Students' Attitudes Towards Craft and Technology in the Context of Finnish and Slovenian Comprehensive Schools

Peer reviewe

Students' attitudes towards technology in the context of Finnish, Slovenian, Estonian and Icelandic technology education

The research is based on a comparative study of craft and technology education curriculums and students‟ attitudes towards craft and technology in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland. The study was undertaken by the Helsinki University, University of Ljubljana, University of Tallinn and University of Iceland during years 2012-2015. A literature review was completed, in order to examine and compare the curriculums of craft and technology education in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland. In addition, a quantitative survey was subsequently distributed to 864 school students. It consisted of 14 questions, which aimed to ascertain students‟ attitudes towards craft and technology. The survey showed substantial differences in students‟ attitudes towards craft and technology education among the four countries. Estonian boys had the most positive attitude towards technology, whereas the lowest attitude was found among Slovenian girls. The difference between boys and girls was definitely the smallest in Iceland. These differences may be explained by differences in the national curriculums, the different pedagogical traditions and cultural differences in the field of technology.Peer reviewe

Technology Education in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland : The Structure of Students’ Attitudes towards Technology

The research is based on a comparative study of craft and technology education curriculums and students’ attitudes towards craft and technology in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland. The study was undertaken by the Helsinki University, University of Ljubljana, University of Tallinn and University of Iceland. A literature review was completed, in order to examine and compare the curriculums of technology education in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland. In addition, a quantitative survey was subsequently distributed to 864 school students in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland. It consisted of 14 questions, which aimed to ascertain students’ attitudes towards craft and technology. The survey showed substantial differences in students’ attitudes towards technology education in the four countries: these differences may be explained by differences in the national curriculums, the different pedagogical traditions and cultural differences in the field of technology. In addition, the study tried to examine the structure of students’ attitudes towards technology. The factors can be interpreted as matching with the affective, cognitive and behavioral components. However, no far-reaching generalizations were allowed regarding the structure or properties of the attitudes towards technology as the questionnaire consisted of only 14 items.Peer reviewe

Craft and Technology Education Curriculums and Students’ Attitudes towards Craft and Technology in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland

The research is based on a comparative study of craft and technology education curriculums and students’ attitudes towards craft and technology in Finland, Slo-venia, Estonia and Iceland. The study was undertaken by the Helsinki University, University of Ljubljana, University of Tallinn and University of Iceland during years 2012-2015. A literature review was completed, in order to examine and compare the curriculums of craft and technology education in Finland, Estonia and Iceland. In addition, a quantitative survey was subsequently distributed to 864 school students in Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Iceland. It consisted of 14 questions, which aimed to ascertain students’ attitudes towards craft and technology. The survey showed substantial differences in students’ attitudes towards craft and technology education in the three countries: these differences may be explained by differences in the national curriculums, the different pedagogical traditions and cultural differences in the field of technology. However, for deeper understanding, the quantitative findings need to be examined further with different research methods

Detecting couplings between interacting oscillators with time-varying basic frequencies: Instantaneous wavelet bispectrum and information theoretic approach

In the natural world, the properties of interacting oscillatory systems are not constant, but evolve or fluctuating continuously in time. Thus, the basic frequencies of the interacting oscillators are time varying, which makes the system analysis complex. For studying their interactions we propose a complementary approach combining wavelet bispectral analysis and information theory. We show how these methods uncover the interacting properties and reveal the nature, strength, and direction of coupling. Wavelet bispectral analysis is generalized as a technique for detecting instantaneous phase-time dependence for the case of two or more coupled nonlinear oscillators whereas the information theory approach can uncover the directionality of coupling and extract driver-response relationships in complex systems. We generate bivariate time-series numerically to mimic typical situations that occur in real measured data, apply both methods to the same time-series and discuss the results. The approach is applicable quite generally to any system of coupled nonlinear oscillators