THE IMPORTANCE OF E-LEARNING FOR MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES STUDENTS

The pandemic situation in Slovakia has shown that e-learning teaching within educational institutions has not received sufficient attention so far. The purpose of the paper is to stress the importance of e-learning application in foreign language teaching as well as show the possibilities of creating new educational portals for university students using professional foreign language texts. The KEGA project “Innovative Methods and Forms of Education for Needs and Development of Language and Communication Skills within Technical Professional Foreign Language Study Material” is still ongoing at the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities. The aim is to emphasize the importance of foreign language training for future engineers, and at the same time to look for modern and innovative mixed methods of education, which includes the use of e-learning. The paper compares the study results of more than 200 students in different study programmes at the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies in Prešov Technical University of Košice achieved during the academic year 2020/2021. The research findings prove that the experimental group of students from different study programmes achieved the best study results in those manufacturing technologies e-tests which are closely connected with their study programme. The results confirm that English teaching focused on tailor-made professional texts and topics within the engineering levels of studies was effective. Teachers also identified the strengths and weaknesses of students within tasks to practice language competencies. By applying e-tests students were able to improve their language skills, which can be practised in selected foreign companies or in their future careers as engineers, technicians, managers or computer programmers.

HIGHER EDUCATION LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS EMERGENCY ONLINE INSTRUCTION DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE CONTEXT OF TURKEY

This mixed-methods study aimed at investigating the Turkish higher education learners’ attitudes towards Emergency Online Teaching (EOT) under the Covid-19 pandemic in order to discover the benefits and drawbacks of it. The participants were 251 higher education learners who received the EOT during the Covid-19 crisis in Turkey. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered by means of a questionnaire in August 2020. Quantitative data were obtained via closed-ended questions with the response on a Likert-scale format. Qualitative data were acquired through open-ended questions. The results showed that the hurried shift to an online instruction by universities in Turkey was not fully satisfactory and the majority of the respondents (74.1%) preferred face-to-face learning to the online format, however, the participants also stated that they felt safer during this pandemic disease thanks to the availability of distant online education. The drawbacks they mentioned included inadequate technological infrastructure or facilities, lack of sufficient teacher-student and peer interaction, lack of learners’ attention and concentration, tediousness of online lessons, learners’ inadequate engagement in class activities, as well as the absence of comprehensive assessment procedure.

CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: THE CASE OF OVERSEAS EXCHANGE PROGRAMS

This article highlights an increasingly popular form of experiential learning, namely overseas exchange programs. Experiential learning is regarded as a valuable way to link up theoretical knowledge and practical skills in hospitality and tourism education. Although some studies have addressed the importance of experiential learning, the factors influencing students’ choice of overseas exchange programs, and the challenges and benefits of students’ experiential learning are still unclear, especially on the overseas exchange programs. The purpose of this study is to reveal the whole picture of overseas exchange programs by utilizing experiential learning cycle theory, and further understand students’ perception of overseas experiential learning. By employing quantitative and qualitative methods, including questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews with students who have participated in the overseas exchange programs and content analysis of program information, this study analyzes the differences of factors considered by males and females in choosing overseas exchange programs, and displays the four-stage learning process of experiential learning in overseas exchange programs and identifies two themes of challenges (living challenges and learning challenges) and five themes of benefits (cognitive development, behavioural change, multiple skill development, social bonding development, academic competitiveness & employability enhancement) for experiential learning for students majoring in Hospitality and Tourism. The study enriches our understandings of the experiential learning cycle theory and provides insights to educators in the design of future overseas exchange programs.

ATTRIBUTES OF EFFECTIVE FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS: INSIGHTS FROM UKRAINE

The paper set out to explore pre-and in-service foreign language teachers’ perceptions of attributes of effective teachers in Ukraine within a framework developed by the authors of the study to unravel the construct of effective language teaching. Two groups of pre-service (n=105) and in-service (n=127) teachers were recruited using a snowball sampling technique. The independent samples t-test and MANOVA statistical procedures were utilised to analyse and compare data generated from a self-report questionnaire. The findings indicated that the highest value was assigned to the performance category of teacher effectiveness, followed by the prerequisite category, including teacher competence, with the lowest value attached to the output category. A considerable degree of convergence was observed in students’ and teachers’ views on many attributes of teacher effectiveness. Both groups endorsed such attributes as clear teaching, target language proficiency, knowledge of language pedagogy, active engagement of learners, downplaying the importance of learners’ test scores. Nevertheless, a statistically significant difference was detected between the perceptions of the two groups of subjects. The students accentuated teachers’ personality and rapport domains, as well as motivating instruction. They also endorsed traditional approaches to language teaching in giving preference to form-focused instruction. Conversely, the teachers associated effective teaching with competence, careful planning and ongoing professional development. Teachers gave precedence to current methodological approaches in favouring meaning-focused instruction. A conclusion was drawn that teachers form more sophisticated cognitions of effective teaching in the process of professional maturation, thus implying the necessity for closer attention to the development of prospective teachers’ cognitions in teacher education programmes.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE INTENTION TO QUIT FROM THE TEACHING PROFESSION AMONG VOCATIONAL TEACHERS

This paper aimed to explore the variables that influenced the intention to quit the teaching profession among vocational teachers. Moreover, the researchers examined the differences in the perception of the levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction among vocational teachers in Thailand. The target population comprised vocational teachers from public colleges in Thailand with a total number of 29,915. The stratified random sampling technique was used for selecting the samples. The data collection involved self-report surveys from 510 vocational teachers from 55 vocational colleges in Thailand's metropolitan, north, northeast, east, and south. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the possible relationships among the variables and identify the significant variables. The findings reported that emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were moderate while personal accomplishment was at a high level. Job satisfaction was the strongest predictor of the intention to quit. In addition, three components of burnout influenced the intention to quit among the vocational teachers: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. For the implication, this study recommended a practical application in the dimension of policy improvement concerning teachers' welfare. It emphasized the need to develop programs supporting teachers' mental health to reduce burnout and increase job satisfaction.

CLIL IN TOURISM STUDENTS’ MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT

The current study aims at implementation of the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as an educational approach in tourism students’ multicultural competence development. To achieve the goal, a mixed-method was chosen, which implied the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative method was used to process the test results of tourism students and determine the statistical significance of the results obtained during the experiment, the qualitative method was used to analyse and interpret the results. 25tourism students of V. I. Vernadsky Taurida National University took part in the experimental study in 2020-2021 academic year. According to the results, due to CLIL classes the students’ theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the field of tourism, the ability to interact with representatives of other countries and cultures and to solve professional problems in the conditions of foreign language communication in the intercultural environment, have been increased. Additionally, the knowledge, skills and abilities of the tourism students; the pedagogical conditions of successful CLIL implementation; the methodological recommendations for developing the multicultural competence on the base of CLIL and the specifics of implementing CLIL in the educational process of the tourism students were defined. It was concluded that the use of CLIL in tourism students’ multicultural competence development helps to diversify foreign language learning at the university level and facilitates the development of professional communicative skills.

INTERNATIONALISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION BASED ON LEAN MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES: CASE STUDY OF JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY

The paper deals with the phenomenon of lean management in higher education analyzed within the context of internationalisation process in Polish higher education as a means of ensuring inclusive global higher education space. Lean management is looked upon as one of the 21st century models of university management transplanted from the sphere of private enterprises and business companies’ management. The empirical analysis has been conducted with the use of statistical data provided by the official website of Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Republic of Poland. The data have been collected in accordance with the following internationalisation process indicators: amount of bilateral Memoranda of Understanding; Inbound Mobility: number of foreign students who have completed the full cycle bachelor's / master's degree; Inbound Mobility: number of foreign students who have completed the full cycle PhD’s degree; Inbound Mobility: participation in Quin Jadwiga Fund granting schemes; Inbound Mobility: participation in Erasmus / Erasmus+ Programme; Outbound Mobility: participation in Erasmus / Erasmus+ Programme; number of outbound mobile students in accordance with bilateral agreements; number of inbound mobile students in accordance with bilateral agreements; number of outbound mobile staff in accordance with bilateral agreements; number of inbound mobile staff in accordance with bilateral agreements. The collected data have shown gradual increase of internationalisation process indicators and allowed concluding that the introduction and support of lean management principles in higher education promotes the intensification of the internationalisation process.

ASSESSMENT OF REFLECTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN PEDIATRIC SURGERY COURSE AT MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

The article is aimed at studying medical students’ reflective strategies for learning the Pediatric Surgery course at medical university. We used a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning questionnaire (Soemantri et al., 2018), which has four subscales: self-orientation, critical thinking, self-regulation, and feedback seeking. The self-orientation component deals with students’ perceptions on their self-efficacy and internal motivation. The participants were fourty-six 5-th year medical students from the Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine. The survey was held in May 2021 when the students finished their spring semester in the online mode. We observed the prevalence of high and moderate levels in all the variables, but the indicators of Feedback seeking are lower which can be explained by the specificities of online learning. The authors propose methodological recommendations for educators how to create an environment for reflective learning to develop students’ reflective skills and employ alternative assessment strategies in the classroom.

PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ TRAINING FOR THE INNOVATIVE EXTRACURRICULAR WORK

The research proves that the level of pre-service teachers’ readiness for innovative extracurricular work at school will be increased together with the general index of their satisfaction with the extracurricular work at university after the implementing the designed holistic program of their training. The participants of the pedagogical experiment were 148 students, divided into experimental and control groups; the experts were 18 teachers of Philological Faculty of the Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav and 10 General Secondary Schools teachers (Pereiaslav, Ukraine). After implementation of the program, 27% of participants were ready for innovative extracurricular work at the high level, 62% of students increased their level of readiness for innovative extracurricular work to the middle one. The suggested program also increased the students' satisfaction with the extracurricular work at university. On the basis of the research results, the authors suggest methodical recommendations for educators.

PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF THE COURSE ON INTRODUCTION TO GERMANIC LINGUISTICS

The present article investigates foreign language teacher training quality enhancement by surveying pedagogical university students’ opinions on important aspects of the course of Introduction to Germanic Linguistics within the Educational Programme for Bachelor’s Degree in Education. The prime purpose is to study the perception of the above-mentioned optional course by Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University (DIFSPU) students, with a focus on its content, organization and relevance to foreign language teacher training as well as on its professional competence formation efficiency. The complexity of the problems involved requires a combination of different methods, i.e. empirical, theoretical and statistical ones. 42 undergraduate DIFSPU students majoring in 014 “Secondary Education (English Language and Literature)” and 014 “Secondary Education (German Language and Literature)” took part in the experiment. The main survey tool was a questionnaire reflecting the parameters of assessing the course of Introduction to Germanic Linguistics. The data collected provides a solid basis for the revision of the course content, structure, organization, educational significance and efficiency, based on the direct participants’ assessments and comments. The students’ feedback reveals: 1) unanimous approval of the content and organizational principles of the discipline; 2) mixed opinions on its importance in the structure of the Educational Programme for Bachelor's Degree in Education; 3) variability of the course efficiency assessments. The data obtained allow for determining the conditions of an efficient implementation of Introduction to Germanic Linguistics into educational practice, such as prior familiarization of students with its aim and essence, emphasis on its applicability and optionality as well as its adaptation to the level and needs of future teachers. The data interpretation equally contributes to establishing the prospects of enhancing the course: 1) proportionalizing diverse types of educational activities; 2) increasing flexibility and variability in the educative process organization; 3) more efficiently interiorizing its content in terms of professional education priorities for future teachers of the English and German languages.