Quantitative and qualitative studies of various aspects of the perception of biotechnology were conducted among 469 Slovenian high school students of average age 17 years. Our research aimed to explore relationships among students' pre-knowledge of molecular and human genetics, and their attitudes to four specific biotechnological applications. These applications—Bt corn, genetically modified (GM) salmon, somatic and germ line gene therapy (GT)—were investigated from the viewpoints of usefulness, moral acceptance and risk perception. In addition, patterns and quality of moral reasoning related to the biotechnological applications from the aspect of moral acceptability were examined. Clear gender differences were found regarding the relationship between our students' pre-knowledge of genetics and their attitudes to biotechnological applications. While females with a better genetics background expressed a higher risk perception in the case of GM salmon, their similarly well-educated male colleagues emphasized the risk associated with the use of germ line GT. With all four biotechnological applications, patterns of both rationalistic—deontological and teleological—and intuitive moral reasoning were identified. Students with poorer genetics pre-knowledge applied an intuitive pattern of moral reasoning more frequently than their peers with better pre-knowledge. A pattern of emotive reasoning was detected only in the case of GM salmon. A relatively low quality of students' moral reasoning, as demonstrated by their brief and small number of supporting justifications (explanations), show that there is a strong need for practising skills of argumentation about socio-scientific issues in Slovenian high schools on a much larger scale. The implications for future research and classroom applications are discussed.
COBISS.SI-ID: 6727033
Teacher competencies can be researched in many different ways. In the present article they are studied from the learner's viewpoint. The article presents results of the extensive project "Teacher Education for New Competencies for the Knowledge Society and the Role of these Competencies in Educational Goal Attainment at School", carried out at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, with the financial support of the Slovenian Ministry of Education and Sport. We present the results of the learner's judgement of the teacher's didactic competencies. We formed a questionnaire with which we operationalised teacher competencies with the purpose of measuring the teacher's efficiency of instruction. In order to achieve the goals of modern instruction it is important to engage both models: learner-centred and teacher-centred education. The research showed that elements of the traditional instruction model are more frequently used than the model that demands a changed learner role.
COBISS.SI-ID: 45725538
The study examines the relationship between the dimensions of personality (Big Five, stability, plasticity, general factor of personality /GFP/ and the dimensions of the quality of life (physical, psychological, social, environmental quality and general factor of the quality of life /GQL/). Different multivariate analyses on the sample of 129 adult participants of both sexes clearly yielded a substantial connection between the dimensions of both domains (personality and quality of life) including the correlation between GFP and GQL (0,42). SEM analysius also confirmed the hypothesised causal influence of personality upon quality of life. The results thus clearly demonstrated the association between personality and quality of life, which is further in concordance with the numerous findings indicating the essential relationships between the personality factors on one side and the factors concerning the quality of life on the other.
COBISS.SI-ID: 49705314
The structural analyses of 6 basic cognitive abilities, measured on the great American adult sample MIDUS II, revealed a stable hierarchical structure with two primary dimensions (memory and executive functioning) and a general factor. The best way of describing this structure is the bifactor model, although the classic hierarchical model was also acceptable. Cognitive speed was for the most part included into the dimension of executive functioning. All dimensions of cognitive abilities are correlated with age and perceived intellectual aging. Yet the dimensions of personality (Big Five) were better predictors of perceived intellectual aging than age or cognitive abilities.
COBISS.SI-ID: 50997346
The main research goal was to investigate the self-concept, self-esteem and social support among adolescents with special needs, concentrating on the differences between adolescents who are attending regular schools and those who receive their education in special institutions. Participants filled in three questionnaires: Self-description Questionnaire (Marsh, 1992), Self-Liking / Competence Scale (Tafarodi and Swann, 2001) and Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (Malecki, Demaray and Elliott, 2000). The results show that the educational institution and type of disability affect studentsʼ self-concept, self-esteem and social support, while parentsʼ disability only has a minor influence on these characteristics. Positive correlations between types of self-concept and social support can also be observed. The results therefore show inclusionʼs positive effect on studentsʼ personal and social functioning: students attending inclusive education have better self-concepts and receive more social support than students attending special schools.
COBISS.SI-ID: 48554850