ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING BETWEEN TEMPORARY SOLUTION AND FUTURE NECESSITY

The Covid-19 pandemic pushed the limits and limitations of all educational systems, teachers and students around the world. The solution adopted – distance, online teaching, learning and assessment – has proven to be of a longer duration than initially anticipated, to the frustration of students, parents, and teachers alike. Nonetheless, following a careful analysis of these processes over the last (two) semesters, surprising findings point out to the fact that the digital experience has brought forth, at least at the higher-education level, substantial positive outcomes that cannot be neglected. It has strengthened the digital skills that both students and teachers will need in a technology dominated future and has made the actors of the educational process aware of the constant need for an innovative look and creative approach toward sharing and assimilating the impressive amount of knowledge existent nowadays. The present article aims at discovering both the strengths and the weaknesses, the motivational factors and the technical difficulties that have characterized the recent online educational process; it also inquires to what extent this type of learning will be an integral part of our daily lives in the academia, once the on-site courses will be resumed.

STUDENTS’ “VIRTUAL HERBARIUM” – A RESEARCH PROJECT ON PLANTS AND SPECIFIC LIVING ENVIRONMENTS

The “Virtual Herbarium” project was carried out during the seminars of Sciences and science didactics, in the second semester of the academic year 2020-2021 (in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impossibility of field trips and the composition of classical herbariums), all the 45 students of the specialization Pedagogy of Primary and Preschool Education (IF), Năsăud extension of the Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, “Babeș-Bolyai” University Cluj-Napoca, being involved. Each group of students created a virtual herbarium with plants specific to a certain world environment. The professor provided them with details, working models, the criteria on the basis of which the evaluation is made. Each group presented their herbarium in front of their classmates, in the seminar organised on the Microsoft Teams Platform. At the end of the research, a questionnaire was applied to receive feedback from students regarding this activity.

GEOGRAPHY AND IDENTITY: AN ANALYSIS OF GEOGRAPHY CURRICULA IN TURKEY

Although there are differences in identity construction depending on countries and periods, some courses have come to the fore in the education system in each per i od. In Turkey, the education system in general, and history, geography, citizenship and social studies courses, in particular, have instrumental importance in the construction of identity. When the literature is examined, it can be observed that there are many studies on history, social studies and citizenship lessons for identity construction. However, there is a limited number of studies on identity construction for the geography curricula. The main purpose of this research was to examine the secondary education geography curricula in Turkey in terms of identity and citizenship construction. The study was planned and carried out as a qualitative case study. Case studies often describe the exploration of a bounded system. In this research, the sample was limited to the 2005 and 2018 geography course curricula, and a detailed description was made by using “content analysis” based on the research purpose. As a result of the research, it was determined in both curricula that the national identity theme had the most expressions, and national identity was aimed to be built by presenting details about the geography of the homeland. In addition to national identity, it was determined that there were also contents related to social identity, ecological identity, universal identity, and a limited number of digital identity and religious identity themes.

A DYNAMIC MAP DESIGN FOR GLOBAL AWARENESS IN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING

In this study, the stages of creating a dynamic map in Microsoft Excel with the rapid prototyping instructional design model developed by Tripp and Bichelmeyer are explained to support and improve students’ global awareness in social studies lessons in Turkey. The dynamic map was created in four general stages in the study , i n w hi c h the waterfall design model was adopted. First, the needs and content analysis of the study were conducted for this aim. In the second stage, an algorithm was created in line with the determinations of the first stage, and, within this framework, the prototype of the dynamic map was designed in Microsoft Excel. In the third s ta ge , the working status of the dynamic map was checked, the design process was completed, and the distortions on the coordinate system were eliminated. In the last stage, the dynamic map was evaluated by three experts, and the final prototype was created based on their feedback. The study was conducted using action research, the reflections of the acquisitions in the dynamic map are evaluated descriptively, and the opinions about the dynamic map are evaluated with content analysis. According to the obtained results, the dynamic map can reflect the acquisitions, concretize the content, and increase students’ map literacy levels, but it also requires teacher support. In addition, the map also supports the competencies in teaching programs with mathematics and learning skills. Suggestions based on these results are also provided for educators and researchers.

THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL

The current national and international context has determined teachers to evaluate teaching methods and utilise active student involvement strategies in the classroom during learning processes. This article presents the Flipped Classroom instructional model, analyses its application, and proposes stages to follow in order to create a successful flipped classroom. Even though the flipped classroom instructional model is not utilised in Romania, the authors aim to attract attention to it, presenting its advantages and disadvantages. A change is due in the current teaching paradigm and it is high time to promote an innovative learning framework using the flipped classroom instructional model.

DEVELOPING A GEO-GAME APPLICATION FOR GLOBAL CONNECTIONS IN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING: GEZGİN CASE

This study investigated the developmental process of a dynamic geo-game, Gezgin, which was developed by the researcher based on the Four-Component Instructional Design (4C/ID) Model, and its benefits in the acquisitions, values and skills of the Global Connections learning area of the social studies curriculum applied in Turkey. It also determined Gezgin’s reflecting acquisitions, values, and skills, as well associal studies education experts’ opinions about Gezgin. A case study approach was adopted and five experts participated. The data collection lasted for approximately fourteen months due to the development process of Gezgin. Most of this process coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic period. The data were descriptively analysed and the experts’ evaluations were subjected to content analysis. Findings indicated that Gezgin mostly reflected the acquisitions, values, and skills of Global Connections learning area and could support the curriculum as a studying environment, create various experiences, materialise theoretical knowledge, and that it co uld be tested on students. It was also understood that values, primarily, and skills and acquisitions, subsequently, were mostly supported. Although the results of the study revealed similarities with the results of other studies in scientific literature, it differed from them as a large platform where the acquisitions, values, and skills of a learning field were reflected. The results indicated that geo-games should be used to support other learning areas, develop high-level skills, and create a level of awareness in accordance with spatial citizenship skills.

TEACHERS’ OPINIONS ON THE CONCEPT OF REPRESENTATION AND PREDICTORS FAVOURABLE TO THE CREATION OF REPRESENTATIONS IN PUPILS

International research in the field of education focuses on the approach and use of mental knowledge-related mechanisms. In the educational research in Romania, we see the absence of studies focused on revision, analysis, and summary of the literature on the concept of representation and a shortage of studies tackling issues concerning creation of quality representations in primary school pupils. The aim of the study is to analyse teachers’ opinions on nine different themes of interest in the lexical field of representation, explored throughout three standard interviews. The interviewees are teaching staff, a professor and two pre-university teachers. The data collected are presented in tables and analysed by manual codification. The results are significant in relation to the theoretical substantiation. The main conclusion of the study is: representations constitute a premise for the optimal functioning of the intellect. Some predictors favourable to creation of quality representations in pupils are t he use of previous cognitive experiences, the accessibility and monitoring of learning as well as the quality of educational aids. By using suitable didactic resources, which reproduce the reality in a simplified manner or bring about elaborated abstractions, the teacher facilitates learning.

The Use of the Educational Film in Primary Education in Romania.

In the introduction, t he paper makes a brief presentation of the topics related to the use of films in the education system, which are included in the works in the field of education sciences. As a result of the study of articles avai lable on the Internet, 38 studies have been identified, aut hored by researchers. These contain some results regarding the use of film for educational purposes. 16 articles refer to the use of films in the education system, at different levels, and 15 articles refer to the use of films in primary education. Seven articles published in the period 2013-2020 presented detailed research on the use of films in primary education. The literature analysis is systematized on four directions: factors that influence the use of edu cational films in primary education; selection of educational films for their use in primary education; improving educational films for their use in primary education; the modality of using the educational films in primary education and the results obtaine d as a result of their use.

Language Instruction in Tourism Education: Beyond the Vocational Field

The paper reports on the quantitative data resulting from the questionnaires designed by the authors (language for specific purposes instructors) addressing both graduate students’ range of abilities, skills and competences and tourism employers’ expectations. Language proficiency and communicative competence (understood as specific purpose language ability) are discussed as indicative of graduate students’ rate of employment in their field of studies. The authors choose tourism graduate students as the focus group in their investigation of the possible factors impacting market employability and influencing the degree of socio-professional integration in Cluj county.

The Use of the Educational Animated Film in Primary Education in Romania

This study aims to review, analyse and synthesize the literature, which refers to the use of educational film in education in Romania and which deepens aspects related to the use of animated film in primary education. The aim was to review the literature on: classification of animated films in the category of educational means; the functions of animated films; types and sources of animated films; teacher preparation for the use of film for educational purposes; integrating the film into the lesson; how to use animated films in primary education and the results of their use. Existing information in papers in the field of education sciences from the last three decades was analysed. Regarding the use of animation films in primary education, five studies were analysed in depth