@article {1329, title = {ANALYSIS OF PRE-SERVICE FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS{\textquoteright} INCORRECT ARTICULATIONS: FREQUENCY, INFLUENCE ON COMMUNICATION, AND A SPECIFIC CORRECTIVE STRATEGY}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century}, volume = {78}, year = {2020}, month = {December/2020}, pages = {Continuous}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {933-947}, abstract = {English Foreign Language (EFL) teachers need to be especially aware of their own articulatory errors and to manage strategies to overcome them. A specific corrective strategy using phonetic notation to destabilise the most recurrent articulatory errors to be applied to Spanish pre-service English Primary School teachers is presented. Firstly, the presence of incorrectly articulated sounds in a corpus of 238 minutes of recorded improvised production of 34 pre-service EFL teachers was identified. Incorrect articulations were classified in two groups, those that presented a higher frequency were classified as fossilised errors and those appearing only once were considered mistakes. A categorisation of the most frequent articulatory errors and their possible origins was offered. Errors were also examined attending the effect they posed on communication, if they hindered it, they were considered unintelligible. Results showed that more than 80\% of fossilised incorrect articulations were perfectly understandable and did not disrupt communication. Even if these results can be considered positive, research shows that pronunciation highly influences the learning process of other skills, and that it affects learners in terms of confidence, social and work advancement. Therefore, to get rid of their own fossilised errors, future teachers need effective pronunciation skills training strategies. For that reason, a specific error corrective strategy based on phonetic notation and self-learning is proposed. }, keywords = {EFL (English as a foreign language), higher education, second language acquisition, teacher training}, issn = {1822-7864}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/20.78.933}, url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2020/457-1607329741.pdf}, author = {Coral I. Hunt-G{\'o}mez and Macarena Navarro-Pablo} } @article {1302, title = {QUALITY AND FEATURE OF MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS IN EDUCATION}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century}, volume = {78}, year = {2020}, month = {August/2020}, pages = {Continuous}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {576-594}, abstract = {The quality of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) as well as the student{\textquoteright}s solve behavior in MCQs are educational concerns. MCQs cover wide educational content and can be immediately and accurately scored. However, many studies have found some flawed items in this exam type, thereby possibly resulting in misleading insights into students{\textquoteright} performance and affecting important decisions. This research sought to determine the characteristics of MCQs and factors that may affect the quality of MCQs by using item response theory (IRT) to evaluate data. For this, four samples of different sizes from US and China in secondary and higher education were chosen. Item difficulty and discrimination were determined using item response theory statistical item analysis models. Results were as follows. First, only a few guessing behaviors are included in MCQ exams because all data fit the two-parameter logistic model better than the three-parameter logistic model. Second, the quality of MCQs depended more on the degree of training of examiners and less on middle or higher education levels. Lastly, MCQs must be evaluated to ensure that high-quality items can be used as bases of inference in middle and higher education.}, keywords = {higher education, item evaluation, item response theory, multiple-choice test, secondary education}, issn = {1822-7864}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/20.78.576}, url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2020/457-1596902595.pdf}, author = {Bing Jia and Dan He and Zhemin Zhu} } @article {1065, title = {LEARNING ASSESSMENT VIEWS AND PERCEPTIONS OF FINNISH TEACHERS AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN POSTGRADUATE PHYSICS STUDIES}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century}, volume = {75}, year = {2017}, month = {June/2017}, pages = {Continuous}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {270-287}, abstract = {The way teachers view assessment has a considerable impact on their practice of assessment. Student perceptions of assessment, in turn, affect the ways in which they take advantage of its potential to direct their learning processes and to develop metacognitive skills. In this research, physics teachers and international postgraduate students at a Finnish university were surveyed for their views of assessment. The teachers were found to use assessment in a restricted fashion, which indicates that their conceptions of assessment are also limited in scope. The international students appeared to have a loose grasp of the concepts pertaining to assessment. Furthermore, clear differences were found in the purposes ascribed to assessment by the teachers and students. The implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions are made for the development of assessment practices to ensure a better use of its potential as a tool for achieving learning objectives.}, keywords = {educational programmes, higher education, international students, postgraduate studies, views of assessment}, isbn = {E-ISSN 2538-7111}, issn = {1822-7864}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/17.75.270}, url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2017/457-1498501191.pdf}, author = {Roni Tinell and Mervi A. Asikainen and Pekka E. Hirvonen} } @article {1066, title = {PREPAREDNESS AND PHYSICS-RELATED EPISTEMOLOGICAL VIEWS OF INTERNATIONAL PHYSICS MAJORS AT A FINNISH UNIVERSITY}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century}, volume = {75}, year = {2017}, month = {June/2017}, pages = {Continuous}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {288-314}, abstract = {The aim of this research is to depict foreign entrant students{\textquoteright} preparedness for studies in an international Master{\textquoteright}s degree programme of physics at a Finnish university in order to lay the ground for a research-based development of the study programme. Interviews were conducted with the academic staff involved in the programme to investigate their views on the international physics students as learners. Conceptual tests were deployed to assess international students{\textquoteright} conceptual understanding of the areas fundamental to acquiring a solid expertise in physics. To enrich the data, a survey was conducted to obtain information about students{\textquoteright} physics-related epistemological views. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for the data analysis. The main results suggest that the entrant international students comprise a very heterogeneous group with regard to their preparedness for commencing physics studies. The staff were specifically concerned with the international students{\textquoteright} pre-knowledge of physics, a notion that is supported by the test results. Suggestions based on present findings are made for further development of international degree programmes such as the one considered in this article.}, keywords = {epistemological views, higher education, international students, postgraduate studies, pre-knowledge}, isbn = {E-ISSN 2538-7111}, issn = {1822-7864}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/17.75.288}, url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2017/457-1498501259.pdf}, author = {Roni Tinell and Mervi A. Asikainen and Pekka E. Hirvonen} } @article {680, title = {CONTROL, FREEDOM AND TRUST: SEEKING FOR A HIGHER EDUCATION MODEL IN A POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRY}, journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century}, volume = {40}, year = {2012}, month = {March/2012}, type = {Original article}, chapter = {88-95}, abstract = {Higher education in Estonia as in all post-communist countries has undergone rapid changes during the last 20 years. Soviet-type centralised model was replaced during the 1990s with liberal and sometimes even chaotic self-organisation of the whole sector. From the beginning of the new century, through the use of both financial mechanisms and quality control procedures state regulation has been strengthened. During last years the new paradigm of trust has been frequently discussed, and some first steps taken to introduce this approach, for example the replacement of control-centred curricula accreditation with quality evaluation and institutional accreditation, aimed at supporting the development of university{\textquoteright}s strategic management and quality culture. Analysis of the higher education paradigm change in the research is based on Hargreaves{\textquoteright}s Bigger, Tighter, Harder and Flatter model, which describes the large scale educational change taking place in the western world during recent decades. The article studies changes in the Estonian higher education sector and observes possible future developments originating from the EU and Estonian strategies.}, keywords = {educational change, higher education, quality assurance}, issn = {1822-7864}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/12.40.88}, url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1408532108.pdf}, author = {Mati Heidmets and Birgit Vilgats} }