Three strategic priorities of the European Union such as Open Innovation, Open Science, and Openness to the World reveal that higher education focused on training of students as prospective specialists needed by society and production orient higher education how to change. In higher education the transition from distance learning to on-line learning has started. For on-line learning in higher education, webinars are becoming an indispensable tool. However, educators’ opinion on webinars in higher education has not been analyzed. The aim of the present contribution is to analyze educators‘ opinion on webinars in higher education underpinning elaboration of a hypothesis on use of webinars in on-line educational environment within higher education. The meaning of such key concepts as webinar, opinion, on-line learning and on-line educational environment is studied. Moreover, the study shows how the steps of the process are related: identifying webinars → defining educators’ opinion → empirical study → conclusions. The empirical study was carried out in September 2015. The sample included 58 educators from the teacher training institution, namely Dr. Sivanthi Aditanar College of Education in India. The study results demonstrate that the educators’ opinions on webinars in higher education are homogeneous. A hypothesis on use of webinars in on-line educational environment within higher education is elaborated. Directions of further research are proposed.
The aim of the contribution is to analyze advantages and disadvantages of open educational resources (OER) in higher education underpinning elaboration of a new research question. Comparative study was applied. The study was carried out in February 2016. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews. The sample included seven educators from different countries. The data were processed via structuring and summarizing content analysis. The respondents’ views are homogeneous. A new research question is formulated. Directions of further research are proposed.
Blended learning in higher education has already become an indispensable tool in both university staff and students' daily life. A number of definitions of blended learning have been developed. However, these definitions mostly focus on the synergy of traditional and online instruction, thereby these definitions lack its main notion -blended learning. These othersided definitions do not contribute to the qualitative blended learning for the improvement of students' learning achievements. Aim of the present paper is to analyze and work out the definition of blended learning underpinning analysis of quality of blended learning for the improvement of students' learning achievements. The meaning of the key concepts of blended learning and students' learning achievements is studied. Moreover, the logical chain of analysis is shown: blended learning → students' learning achievements → empirical study within a multicultural environment. The results show that students' learning achievements after having been implemented the blended learning process have been enhanced. Directions of further research are proposed. The novel contribution of the paper is the definition of blended learning worked out by the paper's authors.
Background: Education for health society attracts more and more research efforts as it facilitates the quality of society's life. However, research on education for health society is of bursty nature. The phenomenon of burstiness is of particular research interest as it influences the flow of a number of processes including research and the quality of society's life in general. Research question: What are indicators of burstiness in research? Approach: Interdisciplinary research was applied to the study of the meaning of the key concepts of burstiness, criteria, indicators and research. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates how the key concepts are related to the idea of education for health society and shows how the steps of the process are related following a logical chain: theoretical framework → empirical study → conclusions. Experiment: Qualitative study was applied for empirical analysis. The empirical study was carried out in February 2016. Conclusion: The theoretical findings on the inter-relationship between burstiness and gap processes allow determining the indicators of burstiness of research. The empirical findings of the research allow drawing the conclusions on a high level of research burstiness. A newly formulated research question is presented. Further research directions are proposed.
The research presents the data of long-term observations of the impact of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant operation on the radioecological situation in the region of its location. The dynamics of the content of natural and artificial radionuclides in the components of agricultural ecosystems was studied due to the data based on the information from the radioecological monitoring network developed in 2003. Samples of soils, agricultural products and animal feeds were taken at 11 control sites located on arable lands and grasslands in the vicinity of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, and, in settlements, locally produced food was sampled. It was shown that for the period of studies of 2003-2019, the average specific activity of 90Sr in the soils of agroecosystems of the 10 km influence zone of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant varied within 2.7-4.3 Bq/kg, and specific activity of 137Cs was 14.6-40.8 Bq/kg. At the same time, there were found no trends of increase in the content of artificial radionuclides in soil over time and at different distances from the NPP, and the increased specific activity of 137Cs in soil compared to the global background is explained by the Chernobyl fallout. The variability of the average content of natural radionuclides in the soil for 40K was 481-625 Bq/kg, 226Ra – 20.6-29.5 Bq/ kg, 232Th – 28.2-39.2 Bq/kg, which corresponded to all-Russian data. The average specific activity of 90Sr in grain was 0.24-0.43 Bq/kg, and 137Cs – 0.19-0.37 Bq/kg. Even the maximum levels of artificial radionuclides in grain were 44 times for 90Sr and 85 times for 137Cs lower than the current SanPiN standards. The highest specific activity values of 137Cs and 90Sr in potatoes, vegetables, and gourds were 160 times lower than the SanPiN standards. It was noted that the maximum content of 90Sr in milk was more than 540 times lower than the SanPin standard, and for 137Cs this difference was 330 times. The maximum content of 137Cs in beef turned out to be over 850 times lower than the SanPiN standard for this radionuclide. About 70 Bq/a of 90Sr and 200 Bq/a of 137Cs enter the population diet with locally produced food, which is almost 400 times for 137Cs and 200 times for 90Sr lower than the annual limit. Milk (46%), meat (31%), potatoes and vegetables (14%) make the main contribution to the formation of the internal dose from agricultural products containing 137Cs, and contribution to dose from 90Sr is made by milk (14%) and crop products (potatoes, vegetables, bread) – up to 78%. In general, we concluded that over the past 17 years, the operation of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant did not lead to a deterioration of the radioecological situation in the region of its location, because during the survey period there was no significant increase in the content of artificial radionuclides in agricultural products, foods and environmental components.
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