This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the literature on school effectiveness, with a focus on identifying the main factors that contribute to successful educational outcomes. The research ...question that this paper aimed to address is “what are the main factors of school effectiveness?”. We were interested in several descriptors such as school, effectiveness/efficiency theories, effectiveness/efficiency research and factors. Studies (published within the 2016–2022 period) were retrieved through two databases: JSTOR and ERIC. This paper defines several categories identified by school effectiveness research. Within these categories, various factors that affect the students’ outcomes and the defined effectiveness in school are listed. As the results show, the issue of school effectiveness is multifaceted, as the effectiveness of schools is a complex concept that can be measured through various indicators such as academic achievement, student engagement and teacher satisfaction. The review of school effectiveness revealed that several factors contribute to effective schools, such as strong leadership, effective teaching practices, a positive school culture and parental involvement. Additionally, school resources, such as funding and facilities, can impact school effectiveness, particularly in under-resourced communities.
Electrocaloric materials have become a viable technology for solid state heat management applications. We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that liquid crystals (LCs) can be exploited ...as efficient electrocaloric materials. Numerical and experimental investigations determine the conditions under which the strongest electrocaloric effect (ECE) responses are expected in LCs. Specifically, we show that a large ECE can be expected at the isotropic-nematic and in particular at the isotropic-smectic A phase transition. In our theoretical study, LC ordering is modelled using a Landau - de Gennes - Ginzburg mesoscopic approach. The simulation results are in qualitative agreement with our high precision electrocaloric measurements conducted on 8CB and 12CB liquid crystals. In the latter, we obtained ΔT
~ 6.5 K, corresponding to the largest response measured so far in LCs. The fluid property of LC electrocaloric heat cooling elements could lead to the development of devices with a higher coefficient of performance and thus better cooling power yield per mass of the ECE-based device.
The article focuses on the “impact” of the Erasmus+ program in Slovenia in the field of adult education. The “impacts” were studied at the institutional and systemic levels. The article is based on ...the assumption that the Erasmus+ program represents an example of the Europeanization of the education system (adult education), especially a (reversible) impact on educational institutions, public policies and common (European) values. We focus on the results of a survey questionnaire which encompassed 87 respondents (mostly managers of adult education institutions). The results (which represent opinions) on the effects of the Erasmus+ program on adult education in Slovenia have shown that these effects are clearly visible and are predominantly positive (e.g. in terms of professional development, organizational climate, quality, “European added value”). On the other hand, the majority of respondents were undecided on the compliance of the needs of adult education institutions with the national guidelines for adult education.
Thermal stabilization exploiting phase change materials (PCMs) is studied theoretically and numerically. Using the heat source approach in numerical simulations, we focus on phase change temperature ...as a key factor in improving thermal stabilization. Our focus is to analyze possible mechanisms to tune the phase change temperature. We use thermotropic liquid crystals (LCs) as PCMs in a demonstrative system. Using the Landau-de Gennes mesoscopic approach, we show that an external electric field or appropriate nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed in LCs can be exploited to manipulate the phase change temperature.
We studied numerically external stimuli enforced annihilation of a pair of daughter nematic topological defect (TD) assemblies bearing a relatively strong topological charge |m|=3/2. A Landau- de ...Gennes phenomenological approach in terms of tensor nematic order parameter was used in an effectively two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, where spatial variations along the z-axis were neglected. A pair of {m=3/2,m=−3/2} was enforced by an appropriate surface anchoring field, mimicking an experimental sample realization using the atomic force microscope (AFM) scribing method. Furthermore, defects were confined within a rectangular boundary that imposes strong tangential anchoring. This setup enabled complex and counter-intuitive annihilation processes on varying relevant parameters. We present two qualitatively different annihilation paths, where we either gradually reduced the relative surface anchoring field importance or increased an external in-plane spatially homogeneous electric field E. The creation and depinning of additional defect pairs {12,−12} mediated the annihilation in such a geometry. Furthermore, we illustrate the absorption of TDs by sharp edges of the confining boundary, accompanied by m=±1/4↔∓1/4 winding reversal of edge singularities, and also E-driven zero-dimensional to one-dimensional defect core transformation.
Background: There is a lack of empirical data on the school-age population’s attitudes toward refugees. Despite this, the attention being paid to the integration of refugee students in schools ...worldwide is increasing. Objectives: First, the present study aims to explore the attitudes of eighth-grade students in Slovenia regarding refugees and to investigate whether there are differences in their attitudes based on the geographical areas from where refugees originate. Second, the study also explores the connections between attitudes and some characteristics of students. Methods: The present study is quantitative; sample: 3466 respondents (representative sample; year 2022). Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression are used. Results: Most of the students would be willing to help refugees coming from any country. The students are least willing to help refugees from Syria and Afghanistan or Africa. A high proportion of students express fears about what refugees bring, though these fears are varied. Logistic regression shows that civic knowledge and positive attitudes towards immigrants are significantly and negatively related to students’ opinion that refugee children should study in separate schools, while student socio-economic status (SES) and own immigration status are not. Conclusions: The results call for different approaches to be maintained/introduced in schools for tolerance and reducing prejudices for (certain) groups of immigrants/refugees.
During the COVID-19 pandemic’s school closures and the distance education that resulted from it, teachers were faced with an increasing workload and significant changes in their working environment. ...Because increased workload can result not only in worsened mental health and lower work motivation, but also in worsened learning outcomes, this article explores how teacher-perceived job demands, job resources, and personal resources are related to teachers’ assessment of teaching quality and student engagement during the pandemic. Using the data of 1,422 8th grade teachers in Slovenia from the IEA Responses to Educational Disruptions Survey (REDS) survey, this study also explores the perceived level of support from different institutional actors and the utility of Job demands-resources model for this specific group of workers in a specific work setting. The results show that the teachers of 8th graders in Slovenia perceived a higher level of support from their closest working environment compared to the national bureaucracy. In terms of job demands, the increased workload in preparing the lessons had negative effect on both teaching quality and student engagement, while the reported increase in time spent on direct work with students and social support received (a job resource) contributed positively to both outcome variables. In line with theoretical expectations, personal resources were positive predictors of teaching quality and student engagement in our model. Compared with the initial expectations this study had based on the underlying theoretical model, the results paint a complex relationship between job characteristics and learning outcomes during distance learning. Thus, some of the challenges both teachers and policy-makers face and will continue to face in possible similar situations are discussed.
We study the spatiotemporal dynamics of spiral waves in a lattice of chemically coupled memristive FitzHugh–Nagumo neurons. We also introduce local and global functional inhomogeneities by means of ...variations in nodal action potentials that are distributed in different ways. We find that, in the presence of globally distributed random inhomogeneity, increasing the maximum threshold for excitability generates neurons with reduced depolarization capacity. Although such a setup makes the entire medium less excitable and thus challenges the robustness of emerging spiral waves, highly excitable neurons can compensate for the less excitable ones, thereby nonetheless preserving the spiral wave pattern. However, this compensatory mechanism has limitations, which can ultimately lead to the elimination of spiral waves under specific conditions. When inhomogeneities are local, two different scenarios are possible. If the distribution is random, the spiral tip cannot penetrate the inhomogeneous region but remains resilient against it. The tip is consistently anchored to the inhomogeneity, meandering around its boundary. As the inhomogeneity size increases, the curvature of the spiral tip and the propagation speed of the circular wavefronts decrease. If the distribution is uniform, inhomogeneities are analogous to semi-conducting barriers, thus permitting the spiral rotor to penetrate while sacrificing the strength of its wavefronts.
•Spiral waves are studied in chemically coupled memristive FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons.•Local and global inhomogeneities are considered.•Optimal robustness of the spiral waves against random inhomogeneity is determined.•Uniform inhomogeneity to the locality can be penetrated by stronger spiral seeds.
This paper presents a comprehensive review of the literature on electronic reading (e-reading) versus paper reading. The main objective was to assess the current state of research comparing digital ...and paper reading outcomes among students aged 6–18 years old, as well as assessing the impact of various factors (gender, socioeconomic status, and school location) in explaining the differences between the two modes. Inclusion criteria included the following: participants (6–18 years), research focus (comparing digital reading and paper reading), study type (quantitative or mixed methods), publication (peer reviewed between 2015 and 2022), and language (English). A systematic search in four databases (WOS, Scopus, ERIC, and JSTOR) in August 2022 was conducted by three reviewers. The search revealed 23 studies matching the inclusion criteria. The findings from the reviewed studies are diverse, with some reporting no significant differences in reading comprehension between the two modes, while others suggest screen inferiority, thereby favoring paper reading. Individual-level predictors, such as prior comprehension skills and reading habits, play a crucial role in determining reading performance across modes. Family-level factors, such as the number of books at home, and school-level factors, like the usage of ICT resources, influence both paper and digital reading comprehension. Moreover, gender differences in attitudes and performance towards different reading modes are apparent. SES is positively associated with reading achievement in both modes, with a larger effect shown for paper reading. Overall, the comparison between electronic and paper reading modes reveals a complex interplay of individual and contextual factors influencing reading comprehension and attitudes.
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