@article {848,
	title = {CONTEMPORARY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: THE NEW CHALLENGES},
	journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century},
	volume = {55},
	year = {2013},
	month = {July/2013},
	type = {Original article},
	chapter = {100-113},
	abstract = {The quantitative research basis is the data of surveys which were filled in by teachers of vocational education institutions and employers. The research is based on researches and reports regarding vocational education, strategic planning documents of development of education of Republic of Latvia and EU, studies, statistics on vocational education (data basis of the Central Statistical Bureau, statistics of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) on vocational education) also are used. The aim of the research is to analyze factors of the internal and external environment that affect vocational education in order to determine how these factors create challenges for the vocational education system and educational institutions. The article analyzes the correlation between the elements of internal environment: resources, processes and results and external environment (political, demographic social) factors. The challenges make the vocational education change the existing paradigm of vocational education. The research was performed with a purpose to analyze the environmental factors; the quantitative research combines: an analysis of normative documents and a survey of employers and teachers of vocational education. The key results of the research: demographic trends in Latvia have an essential impact upon the human resources of the vocational education institutions; in order to implement the lifelong learning strategy, it is important to involve more adults in the vocational education; the learning environment of vocational education must be developed by following the principles of lifelong learning; cooperation between the state institutions, employers and teachers is required in order to provide effective solutions to the challenges that vocational education is facing. The cooperation between the employers{\textquoteright} institution, educational institutions and state institutions is essential in the process of planning and implementation of the curriculum and evaluation of the results. The prestige of the vocational education in the society affects students{\textquoteright} choice regarding their further education; it also influences the assessment of employers.
 If there were developed and implemented such curricular, which would imply the key competences that are relevant to the vocational areas of education and on the basis of which a flexible transformation of the content of curricular would be possible, the competitiveness and quality of the vocational education would be ensured.},
	keywords = {external environment, learning environment, vocational education},
	issn = {1822-7864},
	doi = {https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/13.55.100 },
	url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1420055220.pdf},
	author = {Anita   Zalaiskalne}
}
@article {872,
	title = {PEDAGOGY 1:1 IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY},
	journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century},
	volume = {57},
	year = {2013},
	month = {December/2013},
	pages = {Discontinuous},
	type = {Original article},
	chapter = {102-110},
	abstract = {The use of ICT in education has changed substantially over the last two decades. The development of new technologies has enabled us, the users, to mature and gain experience. The introduction of ICT in the educational process at the same time means a change of the teachers{\textquoteright} role. The teacher appears in the role of a mentor who directs the activities of the learner. There has been a change in the teacher preparation to teach. He should provide both the content as well as technical support and to create a suitable learning environment. The way of teaching in the natural science and engineering education is specific due to the need of transfer knowledge into the practice. The nature of work in this kind of education requires more experimental work, based on individual learning process. There are many different implementation options of laboratory exercises that advantageously incorporate ICT into the nature of their work. The most popular in engineering education are two different types of laboratories: Simulation (virtual) and Remote controlled (online) labs, defined by Balamuralithara and Woods (2009). A remote controlled laboratory for conducting remote experiments at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering was developed. Development of the remote lab was carried out as an exploratory work of the group of students and professors. The lab was developed in the following three phases: development of the construction with corresponding technical documentation, development of the control system and development of the system for remote control of a lift. The successful student project is evident through the applicability of the developed laboratory that serves as a great tool for studying and offers all the benefits of ICT.},
	keywords = {experimental work, higher education, learning environment, pedagogy 1:1},
	issn = {1822-7864},
	doi = {https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/13.57.102},
	url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1420056880.pdf},
	author = {Mateja Ploj Virti{\v c} and Uro{\v s} {\v Z}uperl and Marija Javornik Kre{\v c}i{\v c}}
}
@article {851,
	title = {SOCIAL-ACADEMIC CLIMATE AND ACADEMIC SATISFACTION IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN EDUCATION},
	journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century},
	volume = {56},
	year = {2013},
	month = {November/2013},
	pages = {Discontinuous},
	type = {Original article},
	chapter = {16-31},
	abstract = {The social climate created in the classroom has been recognized to have important implications for learning. This study was motivated by the explore how design students in the design studio compared to other other architectural courses view their social-academic climate. 
 Despite the role played by social climate in classroom, some have argued that classroom climate has been largely ignored in studies of higher education and most studies on classroom climate explore the perceptions of teachers rather than views of students themselves. The present study focuses on social-academic climate and its significance in architectural studies and its effect on academic satisfaction.
 A survey was conducted of students of architecture, following an approach developed by Moos (1970), who claimed that behavior is largely affected by environmental and situational factors. The model he constructs presents social climate as a product of bilateral pressure systems - environmental pressures that affect the individual, and pressure that the individual exerts on his or her environment. This study evaluates social-academic climate and academic satisfaction in an academic architectural program, focusing on a comparison of perceptions of students in the design studio and traditional classes, based on the eight dimensions proposed by Moss (1979). 
 Findings shed light on the importance that students attribute to the measures of social-academic climate. These factors (specifically, students{\textquoteright} involvement, competence, innovation, and teacher support) were rated higher in the design studio than in the courses. Social-academic climate measures such as involvement, order and organization, teacher{\textquoteright}s control, and orientation of the learning material were higher in the first year than in more advanced years. Academic satisfaction was higher in the first year design studio. Ratings of order, organization, and teacher support were the major predictors of students{\textquoteright} academic satisfaction with the architectural program.},
	keywords = {academic satisfaction, architecture, classroom, design studio, learning environment, social-academic climate},
	issn = {1822-7864},
	doi = {https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/13.56.16},
	url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1420055446.pdf},
	author = {Hernan   Casakin and Nitza Davidovitch}
}
@article {523,
	title = {FOREST IN TEACHER EDUCATION: HOW TEACHER STUDENTS PERCEIVE AND RELATE TO FOREST},
	journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century},
	volume = {28},
	year = {2011},
	month = {April/2011},
	type = {Original article},
	chapter = {72-83},
	abstract = {In a country like Finland, there has been intensive discussion on the use of forests. Forest has a special meaning for Finnish people and also a significant role in comprehensive education. Teacher education should also focus on forest{\textquoteright}s role in students{\textquoteright} life. This study describes one approach which could include forest issues in teacher education. Teacher students{\textquoteright} (N=117) perceptions of forest and their relationship to it is discussed in the context of this course. The data has been collected by a questionnaire which the students filled in partly before and partly after their visit to the forest. They were asked to explain their relationship to forest and how they view its use in their future life and teaching profession. For most of them, forest is important. The main reasons for students to visit forests were to seek tranquility and recreation, physical exercise, and to collect berries and mushrooms. In their future profession, they said that they would generally be willing to make different kinds of trips to forests, and be there in order to learn everyday living skills as well as values.},
	keywords = {forest perceptions, learning environment, relationship with forest},
	issn = {1822-7864},
	url = {http://journals.indexcopernicus.com/abstract.php?icid=939900},
	author = {Sinikka  P{\"o}ll{\"a}nen and Tuula Keinonen and Petteri  Vanninen and Sirpa K{\"a}rkk{\"a}inen}
}
@article {263,
	title = {ENHANCEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROCESS USING EXPERIENCE BASED TUTORING APPROACHES},
	journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century },
	volume = {14},
	year = {2009},
	month = {October/2009},
	type = {Original article},
	chapter = {7-23},
	abstract = {In any technological development we must always take into account very important set of equations:
 
Better vocational training = more skilled workers = better production = more competitive production = greater employability = reduce unemployment and its effects.
 
The equations clearly show that any technological development requires adequate preparation i.e. education of human resources for this development. Slovenia wishes to base its own development and prosperity mainly on knowledge. Therefore, the change and modification of education system became an imperative. Consequently, the following article deals with the demand: Slovenia has to fulfil in this process of transformation. 
From the experiences of recent years, it seems clear that the existing education system in Slovenia, as a whole, is perceived as an ailing system that fails to meet the needs of a major portion of the society it serves. Every aspect of the educational process and system must be studied and reconsidered in light of new and different societal expectations. And for these purposes we would like to use all positive experiences from different systems in the world.},
	keywords = {learning environment, quality enhancement},
	issn = {1822-7864},
	url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1393668265.pdf},
	author = {Boris Aber{\v s}ek and Mateja Ploj Virti{\v c}}
}
@article {289,
	title = {QUALITY OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS IN ESTONIAN PRESCHOOLS},
	journal = {Problems of Education in the 21st Century },
	volume = {15},
	year = {2009},
	month = {November/2009},
	type = {Original article},
	chapter = {118-124},
	abstract = {The quality of the learning environment in a group is an important factor in evaluation of activities in preschools. Studies have shown that factors of the learning environment influence different aspects of child{\textquoteright}s development as well as smooth transition from kindergarten to school. Since 1994 besides traditional kindergarten groups there are also Step by Step groups in Estonia that emphasise on the need of child-centred education. The present article gives an overview of a study where the quality of the learning environment was compared in the Step by Step and traditional kindergarten groups by using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Revised Edition. ECERS-R consists of 7 areas that cover the main quality factors in kindergarten groups: premises, equipment, programme structure, activities in the group, child-adult communication, cooperation with parents and professional support to staff. Observation based on the ECERS-R scale and an additional interview was carried out in 2008 in 30 groups in total {\textendash} in 15 traditional groups and 15 Step by Step groups. The results showed that the quality of the learning environment in the Step by Step groups was higher than the quality of traditional groups. The main differences were in relations between teachers and children and group activities.},
	keywords = {learning environment, preschool},
	issn = {1822-7864},
	url = {http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1395387091.pdf},
	author = {Tiia {\~O}un}
}
