What Does the Data Say about Effective University Online Internships? The Universitat Politècnica de València Experience Using MOOC during COVID-19 Lockdown

Universitat Politècnica de València’s students can take in-company internships during their bachelor’s degrees, and, with the COVID-19 lockdown, 224 students had their internships cancelled. EdX launched a free certificate initiative for its partners, and UPV gave the possibility of using MOOCs to cover for the credit needed to graduate. We have tried to answer the question, “Is it possible to use MOOCs to replace an in-company internship in an emergency?” using Learning Analytics; 179 students chose this possibility. More than 90% of the students got their academic credit, and their satisfaction with the initiative was 4.6/5. They scored MOOCs’ quality with 4/5 and the contribution of MOOCs to their careers with 3.6/5; 95% will take a MOOC, and 69.3% think it is worth paying for the certificate. The answers to the question evaluating if MOOCs had given them the same knowledge as a company internship are positive but much less conclusive, with an average of 2.87/5. We conclude that MOOCs achieved the pursued goal during the emergency. With more time for planning and extra resources for remote support, they can be a good solution in environments where online is the only choice, and they can even be used as a tool to reinforce some of the knowledge needed to be successful in a traditional internship.

Global and national tracks of mobility of graduates of educational institutions in Russia

Introduction. Involvement in global information flows, holding major international events in Russia, focusing on interaction with foreign universities and partners creates conditions for the formation of modern youth's focus on the global track of mobility – admission to educational organizations of foreign countries. At the same time, role and quality of education in Russia in the global market are increasing through the development of Russian education, internationalization and networking of universities. Such tendencies to increase mobility in education naturally require a study of the prevalence of the ideas of mobility in general and in certain areas among schoolchildren and university students. The aim of the study is to reveal the prevalence of the ideas of mobility (potential mobility), both within Russia and abroad, among graduates of educational institutions (at different levels). Materials and research methods. The study involved 1136 graduates of educational institutions in Ekaterinburg, of which 30% are graduates of secondary schools, lyceums and gymnasiums, 60% are graduates of bachelor's degrees from 4 universities, and 10% are graduates of master's degree from 3 universities. Research results. A study conducted in 2020–2021 indicated the following trends: the higher the level of education, the higher the value of the educational environment in the country of residence, the more broadly represented the national track of mobility (schoolchildren – 46%, bachelors – 51%, masters – 54%). Among the global market of educational services for all graduates of educational institutions in Russia, priority is given to Europe. Among bachelors, there are more of those who are confident that they can find the desired job in Russia (21%) than in another country. Master students are more confident in the possibilities of working in their specialty in Russia (36%). The older the graduate becomes, the more rational motives prevail in the track of mobility. Conclusion. The study of potential mobility allows us to conclude that the predominance of the national track of mobility is directly proportional to growing up, the older the respondent, the more rationally he approaches the choice of a further place of study and residence, taking into account the possibilities, both intellectual and financial. Thus, it becomes obvious why sufficiently high figures of potential mobility do not become as high indicators of real educational and labor emigrations.

Profiling Digital Printing Technology Adoption in the Fashion Industry: A New Approach to Exploring Innovation Diffusion

Digital printing technology (DPT) represents a core innovation that is currently revolutionizing the global decorated apparel market by automating the printing process, facilitating customization, and reducing energy costs and production lead time. However, the fundamental understanding of the emerging DPT market remains unexplored due to its novelty. This study aims to identify DPT diffusion patterns over the past decade in the U.S. market and establish a predictive user profile employing social media-based analytics along with data mining and traditional statistical modeling. A proxy variable is used to measure likely adoption which reflects an S-shaped diffusion curve consistent with Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Additionally, the outcome profile suggests that likely DPT adopters reside in locations that reflect higher levels of education (bachelor’s degrees or higher), relatively young populations (i.e. between 19–34 years of age), proportionately higher incomes generated from art and design occupations, but with lower household annual incomes.

PREVALENCE, PATTERN, AND DETERMINANT OF SEX PREFERENCE IN INDIA: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SURVEY-II (2011-12)

Sex preference is highly dominated in India and its adjacent South Asian countries. The present study examines the pattern, prevalence, and determinants of sex preference for an extra child at India's national and regional levels. For this study, we have utilized the secondary data of the Indian Human Development Survey-II. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were carried out to understand the difference of sex preference for an extra child by selected background variable- prevalence of sex preference almost 40% in India. Sex preference is higher among women who have three alive children, where the son's preference is more who have at least four living children. Son preference is decreasing with the increase of women's educational levels. On the contrary, sex preference is more among lower age at marriage. The odds of sex preference are higher among those above bachelor's degrees than those with no formal education. On the contrary, sons' preference is higher who completed their primary education than those who have no education. Sex preference, especially son's preference, directly or indirectly affects on sex ratio. Therefore, Government should focus on an awareness program and make some policies for a venerable woman identified in this study.

The Learning of E-Sustainability Competences: A Comparative Study between Future Early Childhood and Primary School Teachers

Digital technologies play a key role in the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda. However, their contribution to this goal depends on the digital culture of society. In this context, future teachers’ knowledge of e-sustainability is of paramount importance, as the responsible and sustainable behaviour of future generations largely depends on their skills in this area. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the existence of possible differences in digital competences in sustainability among trainee teachers. The study involved the participation of 348 students in the 2nd year of their Bachelor’s Degrees in Early Childhood and Primary Education at the University of Alicante (Alicante, Spain), who filled out a questionnaire on this topic. The SPSS v. 25 statistical programme, with which a comparative analysis was carried out, was used to process the data. On the basis of the results, the students of the Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education generally presented a higher level of e-sustainable competences, especially with regard to general competences and the economic dimension of digital sustainability. Despite this, and given the small size of the differences, we conclude that there is a need to design didactic proposals to favour the acquisition of these competences among future teachers at both stages.

Next Steps for the Relative Education Hypothesis

The relative education hypothesis states that in contexts where university degrees are scarce, workers with bachelor’s degrees are sought after and enter cognitively skilled occupations; but as education expands across birth cohorts, some workers with bachelor’s degrees are unable to maintain their position in the labor market. In an earlier ASR article (Horowitz 2018), I found support for this argument; however, Furey (2021) shows model instability in estimates of the education–skill relationship. We should treat the results from these two studies as a range of possible estimates, and carefully consider interpretation of the findings in the context of the selected reference categories. Future revisions of the relative education hypothesis should consider that absolute and relative education effects might not shift concurrently, and also that labor market experiences may vary considerably by field of study and occupation.

Parental Knowledge Regarding Dental Radiography of Children Attending Dental Clinics in Ilam, Iran

Background: Radiological examinations expose the patient to the adverse effects of ionizing radiation, which is more severe among developing children. This can cause excessive and unreasonable fear and anxiety for parents and even disrupt the treatment process. This study aimed to evaluate the parents’ knowledge about dental radiographs for children referred to dentistry, and to assess the relevant factors. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional analytical study examining parents of children referred to dental clinics from October 2019 to April 2020. The required information included demographic information, and nine statements for assessing parents’ level of knowledge. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent t-test, and linear regression were used to analyze the data. Ward’s cluster analysis method with a squared Euclidean distance was adopted to include the background and demographic variables. Results: A total of 108 parents of children referred to Ilam dental clinics – including 69 females (68.3%) and 32 males (31.7%) in the 24-51 age range, participated in this study. Among the studied variables, the level of educational attainment of the parents had a highly significant influence (P<0.01) on their knowledge of pediatric radiography. Furthermore, parents holding bachelor’s degrees or higher with an average score of 5.35 had more heightened awareness of radiography than those in other educational groups. Conclusions: Examining the parental radiographic knowledge revealed significant differences among three groups of parents with educational attainment in favor of those with higher educational achievement. In general, three biographical variables, namely age, gender, and household size were found to be less influential. Therefore, the dentists should learn about the educational attainment of the parents and provide them with the required information on treatment accordingly. Due to the relatively poor knowledge of the parents about children’s dental radiographs, it is recommended that plans be developed for raising the parental awareness of the issue in order for reducing their unreasonable fears which may create a burden for dental treatment procedures.