Factors Affecting the Development of ICT Competencies of Teachers in Primary Schools

A research was conducted in order to ensure valid and reliable assessment of the extent of ICT knowledge and skills of teachers in primary schools, to identify the factors in terms of teachers affecting the development of ICT competences, and to identify strategies to improve the development of effectiveness in the future. The research surveyed 220 teachers from 10 primary schools of Macedonia. The Technique SEM was used to determine the relative strength of influence of factors on ICT competencies of teachers. The results show that 25% of the teachers have below basic ICT Competency, 17% of teachers have basic knowledge and skills to operate a computer, and the highest percentage, 58% of teachers with proficient ICT competence

A manual with examples of good practice in the process of creating qualification standards and programs related to the improvement of teaching competencies of teachers in higher education

The European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF) is an instrument for establishing qualification levels aimed at recognition and understanding of qualifications among national qualifications frameworks. In the framework of this project, it is important to highlight the Qualifications Framework for the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA), which serves to establish qualification levels within the higher education system in order to recognize and understand qualifications among national qualifications frameworks of the European Area of Higher Education. In order to link with EQF and QF-EHEA, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia have developed their own national qualification frameworks, which are described in more detail in the manual. The Manual contains examples of good practice in the process of creating qualification standards and programs related to the improvement of teaching competencies of teachers in higher education. The coordinator and partners created a Manual that describes the process of developing qualification standards, LLL programs and program reviews in each country. The manual also contains general information about the qualification frameworks of the countries and procedures for creating standards and programs, as well as program evaluation processes, as well as links to important legislative and strategic documents

Qualification standard of teachers in higher education in Republic of North Macedonia (draft version) and connection with recommendations of Roma Communiqué (Annex III, October 2020)

На почетокот на работилницата претставникот на работната група од Македонија проф.д-р Татјана Атанасова Пачемска со предавањето Qualification standard of teachers in higher education in Republic of North Macedonia (draft version) and connection with recommendations of Roma Communiqué (Annex III, October 2020) ги запозна учесниците на работилницата со изработениот документ-стандард за квалификација на наставник во високото образование, понатамошната постапка за регистрација согласно националната легислатива како и следните чекори во контекст на барањата и препораките на министрите на сите земји членки и придружни членки на ЕУ, содржани во Римското комунике

Evaluation model for the Qualification standard: Teacher in higher education, related to both academic title and scientific field of the teacher

Research for what qualifies faculty to teach an undergraduate, graduate and PhD levels across the world shows that the profession: teacher in higher education is probably one of the least regulated professions in terms of the skillset required for a person to be able to teach. In our country, having a doctoral degree in a relevant field and the teaching / research experience are the only relevant characteristics a teacher must possess in order to be able to progress in his/her academic career. But, questions arise about all the other important skills and competences a teacher must possess, especially from the pedagogical perspective in general. Related to this, new standard for the qualification: Teacher in higher education is proposed. It refers primarily to gaining knowledges, skills and competences related to the teaching in higher education institutions, from formal, informal and non-formal point of view and all of them – improving the teacher. A research was conducted showing the current condition in terms of learning outcomes defined within the standard and related to both the academic level and the scientific field of the teachers. With processing these data into a qualitative assessment tool based on a mathematical modeling, we obtain a clear picture for the learning outcomes with highest need to be improved. The activities conducted within the research were a solid base for creation of a module towards life long learning program: professionalization of the profession: Teacher in higher education (didactical aspect)

Аssessment report and functional qualitative analysis of the current condition regarding the qualification standard: teacher in higher education in republic of north Мacedonia

The role of a higher education teacher is just one of the dimensions and attributes of the academic profession. Anyone with the necessary qualifications, engaged in the academic world is expected to possess a pool of professional academic roles through the whole career, such as teacher, researcher, manager, contributor etc. We have worked on a development of a Standard of qualification: Teacher in higher education within the international Erasmus + project, where one of the activities was evaluation of the current condition with the proposed key qualifications for the teachers in higher education and their expectations in the future, using mathematical modeling techniques. This resulted in a determination of the current qualitative levels regarding different categories of teachers, in terms of the specific qualifications of the teacher, called key job tasks, provided within the Standard

Assessment Report and Functional Qualitative analysis of the current condition regarding the Qualification Standard: Teacher in higher education in Republic of North Macedonia

The role of a higher education teacher is just one of the dimensions and attributes of the academic profession. Anyone with the necessary qualifications, engaged in the academic world is expected to possess a pool of professional academic roles through the whole career, such as teacher, researcher, manager, contributor etc. We have worked on a development of a Standard of qualification: Teacher in higher education within the international Erasmus + project, where one of the activities was evaluation of the current condition with the proposed key qualifications for the teachers in higher education and their expectations in the future, using mathematical modeling techniques. This resulted in a determination of the current qualitative levels regarding different categories of teachers, in terms of the specific qualifications of the teacher, called key job tasks, provided within the Standard

Adolescent well-being and learning in times of COVID-19-A multi-country study of basic psychological need satisfaction, learning behavior, and the mediating roles of positive emotion and intrinsic motivation

The sudden switch to distance education to contain the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered adolescents' lives around the globe. The present research aims to identify psychological characteristics that relate to adolescents' well-being in terms of positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and key characteristics of their learning behavior in a situation of unplanned, involuntary distance education. Following Self-Determination Theory, experienced competence, autonomy, and relatedness were assumed to relate to active learning behavior (i.e., engagement and persistence), and negatively relate to passive learning behavior (i.e., procrastination), mediated via positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation. Data were collected via online questionnaires in altogether eight countries from Europe, Asia, and North America (N = 25,305) and comparable results across countries were expected. Experienced competence was consistently found to relate to positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and, in turn, active learning behavior in terms of engagement and persistence. The study results further highlight the role of perceived relatedness for positive emotion. The high proportions of explained variance speak in favor of taking these central results into account when designing distance education in times of COVID-19.Peer reviewe

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events

Intraperitoneal drain placement and outcomes after elective colorectal surgery: international matched, prospective, cohort study

Despite current guidelines, intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery remains widespread. Drains were not associated with earlier detection of intraperitoneal collections, but were associated with prolonged hospital stay and increased risk of surgical-site infections.Background Many surgeons routinely place intraperitoneal drains after elective colorectal surgery. However, enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines recommend against their routine use owing to a lack of clear clinical benefit. This study aimed to describe international variation in intraperitoneal drain placement and the safety of this practice. Methods COMPASS (COMPlicAted intra-abdominal collectionS after colorectal Surgery) was a prospective, international, cohort study which enrolled consecutive adults undergoing elective colorectal surgery (February to March 2020). The primary outcome was the rate of intraperitoneal drain placement. Secondary outcomes included: rate and time to diagnosis of postoperative intraperitoneal collections; rate of surgical site infections (SSIs); time to discharge; and 30-day major postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade at least III). After propensity score matching, multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to estimate the independent association of the secondary outcomes with drain placement. Results Overall, 1805 patients from 22 countries were included (798 women, 44.2 per cent; median age 67.0 years). The drain insertion rate was 51.9 per cent (937 patients). After matching, drains were not associated with reduced rates (odds ratio (OR) 1.33, 95 per cent c.i. 0.79 to 2.23; P = 0.287) or earlier detection (hazard ratio (HR) 0.87, 0.33 to 2.31; P = 0.780) of collections. Although not associated with worse major postoperative complications (OR 1.09, 0.68 to 1.75; P = 0.709), drains were associated with delayed hospital discharge (HR 0.58, 0.52 to 0.66; P &lt; 0.001) and an increased risk of SSIs (OR 2.47, 1.50 to 4.05; P &lt; 0.001). Conclusion Intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery is not associated with earlier detection of postoperative collections, but prolongs hospital stay and increases SSI risk

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead