Comparison of Forest Engineering Students’ Attitudes towards Their Education and Future Jobs: Case Results from Turkey

Forestry is a complex multidimensional discipline that implies a broad job description and task variety for forest engineers. Thus, the scope of professional forestry education is expanding and diversifying. It is essential to determine the students’ attitudes towards their education and future jobs to develop focused solutions in forestry education. In this context, the present study aims to analyze the attitudes of forest engineering students towards their education and future jobs. This study evaluated and compared the students’ attitudes over a 10-year period through questionnaires administered to senior forest engineering students of the Faculty of Forestry at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa (IUC). It was revealed that, during job selection, non-job factors (39.5%) were nearly as influential as job-related factors (53.7%). Moreover, students’ career plans were based mainly on working in public institutions (41.4%) and simply doing their job (78.1%). The results showed that students’ views on education have improved over time; however, they have doubts about their readiness to succeed in their careers (M = 3.41) and the adequacy of their knowledge and experience level (M = 2.95). Their attitudes on their future job were not wholly positive: They have doubts about finding a job (M = 2.90), having satisfactory working conditions (M = 3.38), and income (M = 3.57). The results of this study can support decision-making in forest education and human resources in forestry.

Large-scale tasks as a means to prepare schoolchildren for the basic state examination in informatics

The article considers the problem of the lack of task variety in the existing task bases for preparing schoolchildren for the Basic State Exam in informatics. The need to use tasks in the training process with the similar texts as in the Basic State Exam tasks, but excluding the possibility of applying a template, is substantiated. The authors introduce the concept of a large-scale task, which is a sequence of interconnected tasks. It is proposed to use an approach based on the analysis of the structure of the conditions of the tasks presented in the demo versions of test materials. The large-scale task is based on a variation of conditions and requirements of the tasks for multi-component tasks and for two-component tasks it is based on the selection of a sequence of subtasks. The article describes examples of the process of developing large-scale tasks aimed to prepare for the Basic State Exam in informatics.

Moments of Meaningfulness and Meaninglessness: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Affective Eudaimonia at Work

Meaningful work (MW) is an important topic in psychological and organizational research with theoretical and practical implications. Many prior studies have focused on operationalizing MW and distinguish between the attributes of a job that make it meaningful, such as task variety or significance, and the affective experience of meaning during work, such as the feeling that what one does at work is meaningful. However, most empirical research focuses on the former definition and utilizes quantitative scales with deductive questions that omit what people find important in their experiences. To address this, we conduct a qualitative investigation of psychological narratives focusing in-depth on the quality and content of feelings of meaningfulness and meaninglessness during experiences at work—crucially, without any framing around task attributes. We introduce the term affective eudaimonia to describe these experiences. Overall, our results corroborate many existing thematic findings in the MW literature, such as the importance of connecting and contributing to others and avoiding confinement. We also offer new findings: Although the way that people give language to meaningless narratives is more descriptive, vivid, and experiential in tone than meaningful narratives, meaningless narratives are also more structurally static and constrained. We use these results to inform practical suggestions to promote day-to-day experiences of meaning at work and provide a basis for further academic discussion.

COMPLETE LOCOMOTION ANALYSIS OF A SMALL DIFFERENTIALDRIVE MOBILE ROBOTIC PLATFORM

Mobile robots are becoming a part of more and more research areas due to their structural advantages and the increase in usage areas. Differential drive mobile robots are among the most preferred of this type of robots due to the convenience that they provide in engineering studies. It is quite important to test and structurally investigate primary parts such as motors and its sensors before being used in research applications. Before proceeding to further studies, it is very useful to do such tests as they may provide critical information about the robot which can be quite beneficial in terms of time, effort, and cost. To achieve this task, variety of methods are available in the literature such as structural locomotion tests and system identifiaction. In the first part of this study, locomotion tests of a small mobile robot driven by servo motors and operating with a single microcontroller was performed using the velocity propulsion mode. Three different predefined routes were determined for the robot and the accuracy of the robot moving along these routes was investigated. Through these tests, it is aimed to examine how the robot interprets the basic movements such as rectilinear forward motion, curvilinear motion, and rotation around its own axis. The next part focuses on the system identification of the robot. A data-driven model for the robotic platform was developed to make a mobile robot perform the desired movements and system identification. Various step input commands were sent to the robot under consideration and the responses of the robot wheels to these inputs were examined. Circular movements were made to the robot with a range of velocity input values and the relationship between input and output was examined for both wheels of the robot. In the locomotion tests, it was observed that the robot completed the predetermined routes with minor errors. As a result of these tests, theoretical calculations and experimental results were compared and the reasons for the error parameters were discussed. Through system identification tests, it was observed that the right wheel of the robot was more consistent and produced closer to the expected value for each test performed.

Sykepleiere i hjemmebaserte tjenester – hvorfor fortsetter de i sin stilling?

Sykepleiere som arbeider i helsetjenester i hjemmet har krav om høy kvalitet på sykepleieutøvelsen. Samtidig har Norge en sykepleiermangel og primærhelsetjenesten utfordringer med å rekruttere og beholde sykepleiere. Studien beskriver og fortolker hva som var viktig for å fortsette i sin stilling som sykepleier i helsetjenester i hjemmet. En kvalitativ design ble benyttet. Deltakerne var seks sykepleiere i alderen 26 til 60 år ansatt i helsetjenester i hjemmet i en distriktskommune. Data ble samlet inn gjennom individuelle intervju. Transkriberte intervju ble analysert ved hjelp av fenomenologisk-hermeneutisk metode. Resultatene er formulert som fire tema: Å være ønsket velkommen hos pasienter; å ha samhold med kollegaer og leder; å ha variasjon i arbeidshverdagen; å ferdes i naturskjønne omgivelser. Studien konkluderer med at det som synes å være viktig for at sykepleiere fortsetter i sin stilling, er å ha en opplevelse av å lykkes. Studien løfter fram at dette synes å være mulig for sykepleierne i helsetjenester i hjemmet. Det er mulig når sykepleierne inngår i en sammenheng som er meningsfull, begripelig og håndterbar. Fordi sykepleiere har en sentral rolle i helsetjenester i hjemmet, trengs det mer forskning på hvorfor sykepleiere fortsetter i sin stilling. Abstract High-quality nursing care is a goal and requirement in health services. The Norwegian primary health care is challenged by a shortage of nurses, difficulties with recruiting and retaining nurses. This study aims to describe and interpret important aspects allowing nurses working in home healthcare to remain in their current position. A qualitative research design was used. The setting was one district municipality’s home healthcare. Six nurses aged between 26 and 60 years were recruited through strategic sampling to individual interviews. Data were analyzed using a phenomenological hermeneutic method. Four themes emerged from the analysis: Being welcome at the patients’ home; experiencing community with colleagues and leader; experiencing work task variety; traveling in scenic surroundings. Thus, the significance of having a sense of coherence, comprehensibility, and manageability cannot be too strongly emphasized. The study indicates that remaining in home healthcare practice seems to revolve around achieving a sense of success as a nurse.

Effects of Long Working Hours and Night Work on Subjective Well-Being Depending on Work Creativity and Task Variety, and Occupation: The Role of Working-Time Mismatch, Variability, Shift Work, and Autonomy

This study explored the effects of long working hours (LW) and night work (NW) on subjective well-being and the modifying effects of work creativity and task variety (WCTV) and occupation. In addition, we examined the influence of working time-related variables including working-time mismatch, variability, shift work, and autonomy on the effects of LW and NW. This study used data from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey on 50,205 workers. LW and NW were defined as 52–60 h (L1) or >60 h (L2) per week, and 1–10 days (N1) or >10 days (N2) of night work per month. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the effects of LW and NW and the modifying influences of WCTV and occupation. Differences in ORs of LW and NW caused by working time-related variables were investigated, to determine effect sizes and directions. A high level of WCTV alleviated the risks of LW and NW. White-collar workers were more vulnerable to the risk associated with NW. Regarding working-time related variables, working-time mismatch and variability increased the risks of LW and NW, respectively, while shift work alleviated the risks of NW. In countries where flexible work systems are not well utilized, working-time autonomy might not be associated with the risk of LW or NW. This study showed that it is necessary to comprehensively consider the occupation and task characteristics of individual workers performing LW or NW. Further studies of the modifying effects of working time-related variables on LW and NW are needed.

On the Relation between Task-Variety, Social Informal Learning, and Employability

Fluctuating demands and fast changing job-requirements require organizations to invest in employees so that they are able to take up new tasks. In this respect, fostering employees’ employability is high on the agenda of many organizations. As a prerequisite for creating employability, many scholars have focused on the role of social informal learning. In this study, we extend this perspective and examine the relationships between task variety, social informal learning, and employability. We hypothesized that task variety is a catalyst for social informal learning, which in turn enhances employees’ employability. We contribute empirical evidence for this mechanism. However, while task variety leads to social informal learning and, subsequently, the competences needed for employability, task variety also may have negative direct effects on employability. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research and practice.