Edukim

The article analyzes the current status, development trends and challenges of teacher education in Kosovo and Albania in their efforts to be aligned with current trends of a more research-based, practice and skills oriented teacher education system. The article compares the provision of pre-service teacher education and draws conclusions related to future development trends of the two countries as they aim to meet the best international standards and practices in shaping pre-service teacher education from a research-based and practice orientation. This article is based primarily on findings from desk research conducted at public universities in Kosovo and Albania, more specifically analyzing the university curricula and other documents related to the provision of teacher education courses. In addition, the research involves the analysis of work completed and documents produced as a result of the 2009-2011 Trans-European Mobility Program for University Studies (TEMPUS) 1 Project "Development of Master Study Programs in Education" (DEMED). 2 The article outlines the similarities and differences of teacher education systems in Kosovo and Albania and emphasizes the need for small countries to cooperate on joint reform that leads to wider regional impact and facilitates mobility of staff and students. Identifying common goals is thus important. The two priority goals for these two countries are: development of practice and research-based teacher education. Conclusions are presented with the intent of findings being extrapolated to similar small, developing countries.

The article analyzes the current status, development trends and challenges of teacher education in Kosovo and Albania in their efforts to be aligned with current trends of a more research-based, practice and skills oriented teacher education system. The article compares the provision of pre-service teacher education and draws conclusions related to future development trends of the two countries as they aim to meet the best international standards and practices in shaping pre-service teacher education from a research-based and practice orientation. This article is based primarily on findings from desk research conducted at public universities in Kosovo and Albania, more specifically analyzing the university curricula and other documents related to the provision of teacher education courses. In addition, the research involves the analysis of work completed and documents produced as a result of the 2009-2011 Trans-European Mobility Program for University Studies (TEMPUS) 1 Project "Development of Master Study Programs in Education" (DEMED). 2 The article outlines the similarities and differences of teacher education systems in Kosovo and Albania and emphasizes the need for small countries to cooperate on joint reform that leads to wider regional impact and facilitates mobility of staff and students. Identifying common goals is thus important. The two priority goals for these two countries are: development of practice and research-based teacher education. Conclusions are presented with the intent of findings being extrapolated to similar small, developing countries. Artikel ini menganalisa situasi terbaru, tren pengembangan dan tantangan pendidikan guru di Kosovo dan Albania dalam upaya mengembangkan sistem pendidikan guru berbasis riset plus berorientasi praktek dan ketrampilan. Penulis membandingkan regulasi pendidikan guru pra-jabatan, kemudian menyimpulkan perkembangan kedua negara ke depan dalam mencapai standar internasional dan praktek terbaik untuk pendidikan guru pra-jabatan. Artikel ini merujuk pada penelitian dokumen dari sejumlah universitas negeri di Kosovo dan Albania, secara spesifik menganalisa kurikulum universitas dan dokumen regulasi perkuliahan pendidikan guru. Riset ini juga menganalisa dokumen dan program dari proyek TEMPUS 1 "Pengembangan Program Master di Pendidikan" (2009)(2010)(2011). 2 Memetakan persamaan dan perbedaan sistem pendidikan guru di Kosovo dan Albania, artikel ini menekankan perlunya negara kecil menggagas reformasi bersama dalam rangka kemajuan regional yang lebih luas dan memfasilitasi mobilitas staf dan siswa. Menentukan tujuan bersama menjadi tugas penting. Dua prioritas utama untuk kedua negara ini adalah: pengembangan praktek dan pendidikan guru berbasis riset. Kesimpulan penelitian ini juga berlaku bagi negara kecil dan berkembang lainnya dengan isu serupa.

The study of primary teacher students’ knowledge of fractions is very important because fractions present a principal and highly complex set of concepts and skills within mathematics. The present study examines primary teacher students’ knowledge of fraction representations in Slovenia and Kosovo. According to research, there are five subconstructs of fractions: the part-whole subconstruct, the measure subconstruct,the quotient subconstruct, the operator subconstruct and the ratio subconstruct. Our research focused on the part-whole and the measure subconstructs of fractions, creating nine tasks that were represented by different modes of representation: area/region, number line and sets of objects. The sample consisted of 76 primary teacher students in Slovenia and 93 primary teacher students in Kosovo. Both similarities and differencesof the primary teacher students’ interpretations of the representations across the two countries were revealed and compared. The findings suggest th...

This study aims to present the potential of Participatory Action Research (PAR) to bring together the experiences of teachers and researchers with the intention of improving teaching practices and students’ learning outcomes. Participants in the study were 7 teachers, their 160 fifths grade students, and researchers (authors). Teachers and researchers participated as partners in all collaborative activities during the period of 12 weeks.  All teachers assisted by the researcher (first author) who serves as a teacher at the same school, were involved in implementing the reciprocal teaching method (RTM) in math classes. They examined each step of the implementation of this method in order to investigate whether it has an impact on student achievement in solving mathematical word problems. Teachers observed the work of students in their classes, whereas in the joint meetings they discussed occasional ambiguities as well as issues that were most challenging for them and their students. ...

This chapter assessed pre-service teacher knowledge of fraction interpretations and their ability to demonstrate procedural and conceptual knowledge of adding and subtracting fractions. The sample included 58 pre-service teachers in Kosovo. The twenty tasks given in the study’s test were related to fraction concepts, fraction addition and fraction subtraction. It was found that the pre-service teachers had limited knowledge regarding different fraction interpretations. It was also found that they had limited knowledge on showing the explanation of the procedures of adding and subtracting fractions. This chapter discusses the findings taking into considerations the context in which the study was conducted and provides suggestion for future research.

This study examined the lessons learned from the introduction of a teacher mentoring culture within a teacher professional development program in selected pilot schools in Kosovo. Four mentor teachers and four mentee focus groups were involved in the open interviews, and their portfolios were examined. The important themes in terms of developing a school mentoring culture in a system that had lacked mentoring practices and is embarking on an ambitious curricular reform were identified. The study revealed that individual, collegial and institutional dimensions are critical in attempting to introduce the mentoring culture. The study concluded that mentoring is a mixed concept and is viewed as hierarchical but is, nevertheless, an important professional development tool for teachers who are facing the pressure of the reform. This formalized way, known as “Balkanization” culture, marks a critical step towards developing a collaborative school culture as the desired end point. (DIPF/Orig.)

Word problem constitutes an important part of the mathematics curriculum of the elementary school. Different studies have argued that the understanding of the problem is the most difficult part for students, because of the lack of understanding of the ‘keywords’ used in the problem contexts. Thus, because the process of word problem solving is related to reading comprehension, as a most important factor in this study it was examined the impact of reading comprehension for improving student’s skills for mathematics word problem-solving. Participants in the study were fifty-fourth-grade students and their teachers. The methodology of the study is the collaborative action research. The researchers (authors) have worked together with two class teachers and have used the Reciprocal Teaching method as an intervention for eight weeks aimed to improve the student's skills for reading comprehension. The Reciprocal Teaching method includes prediction, clarifying, questioning and summarizi...

This paper discusses the impact of action research methodology used in the teaching and learning process and professional teacher development. In this study are including 58 students of three second grade classes, 3 teachers of those classes and a university professor. Aiming at using a different approach in their teaching of multiplication and division in the second grade, all three teachers agreed to cooperate and jointly plan the learning activities, to observe systematically their students and to reflect on the outcomes. This way of research doing in their classes enabled them to „act‟ effectively in designing an action plan appropriate to students‟ achievement level. This research was carried out in the period of February 18 to May 31 incorporating several different methods, such as classroom observation, interviewing and worksheets.

This paper is about the perception of student teachers concerning their role as researchers and the impact of action research in their professional development. This paper is a product of joint collaboration with master-level student teachers of the Faculty of Education of the University of Prishtina. Qualitative data collected through reflective writings, open-ended questionnaires and various research project reports implemented by student teachers themselves were analyzed using inductive methods. Findings support the fact that action research is a major component in teacher professional development. According to teacher-researchers, action research has a major impact not only on the improvement of teaching practices and better student achievements, but also on increasing the collaboration among peer teachers and fostering a new culture where teachers assume their responsibilities to implement action research in their own classrooms. Key terms: Action research, professional develop...

This paper discusses the impact of action research methodology used in the teaching and learning process and professional teacher development. In this study are including 58 students of three second grade classes, 3 teachers of those classes and a university professor. Aiming at using a different approach in their teaching of multiplication and division in the second grade, all three teachers agreed to cooperate and jointly plan the learning activities, to observe systematically their students and to reflect on the outcomes. This way of research doing in their classes enabled them to "act" effectively in designing an action plan appropriate to students" achievement level. This research was carried out in the period of February 18 to May 31 incorporating several different methods, such as classroom observation, interviewing and worksheets.

This empirical study investigates the impact of metacognitive strategies and self-regulating processes in learners' achievement on solving math word problems. It specifically analyzes the impact of the linguistic factor and the number of steps and arithmetical operations that learners need to apply during the process of solving math word problems. Two hundred sixty-three learners, of three classes of third graders (N=130) and four classes of fifth graders (N=133) of the elementary cycle from two urban schools of Kosovo, participated in the study. Almost half of the total number of the third and fifth-graders were exposed to metacognitive instruction. The rest of the learners were included in control classes in which they performed tasks without having been given any specific guidance, based exclusively on traditional methods and respective textbooks. All the learners were tested in math word problems twice, before the intervention and after it. Research findings have shown that metacognitive strategies and self-regulating processes that learners use to control their actions, to reason, and to reflect, are one of the main resources that influence their success in solving a math word problem. Although the difference between the pre-test and the post-test results was statistically significant solely with the fifth-grade experimental classes, yet an improved performance was observed in third-grade experimental learners' classes compared to control classes. Theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed in the end of the study.

Algebraic knowledge transfer is considered an important skill in problem-solving. Using algebraic knowledge transfer, students can connect concepts using common procedural similarities. This quasi-experimental study investigates the influence of algebraic knowledge in solving problems in a chemistry context by using analogical transformations. The impact of structured steps that students need to take during the process of solving stoichiometric problems was explicitly analyzed. A total of 108 eighth-grade students participated in the study. Of the overall number of students, half of them were included in the experimental classes, whereas the other half were part of the control classes. Before and after the intervention, contextual problems were administered twice to all the student participants. The study results indicate that the students of the experimental classes exposed to structured steps in solving algebraic problems and the procedural transformations scored better results in...

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of action research to improve students' abilities for word problem solving. The cooperation between a third grade teacher (Rajmonda) and a professor from the university focused on examining the results of the implementation of the two activities within the action plans, 'Developing the mathematical vocabulary' and 'Formative assessment-feedback'. Thus the project reviewing the impact of 'activities' in the process of word problem solving can be seen as 'under-study' within the broader study of the effect of collaboration in action research. From the analysis of qualitative data (interviews with students, observation and journal entries) and quantitative (questionnaires and tests) seen a significant improvement of the results of students in word problem solving. Developing mathematical vocabulary enabled them to understand mathematical terms and requirements while providing feedback problems led to the improvement of the 'gap' in the process of problem solving.

The study of primary teacher students’ knowledge of fractions is very important because fractions present a principal and highly complex set of concepts and skills within mathematics. The present study examines primary teacher students’ knowledge of fraction representations in Slovenia and Kosovo. According to research, there are five subconstructs of fractions: the part-whole subconstruct, the measure subconstruct, the quotient subconstruct, the operator subconstruct and the ratio subconstruct. Our research focused on the part-whole and the measure subconstructs of fractions, creating nine tasks that were represented by different modes of representation: area/region, number line and sets of objects. The sample consisted of 76 primary teacher students in Slovenia and 93 primary teacher students in Kosovo. Both similarities and differences of the primary teacher students’ interpretations of the representations across the two countries were revealed and compared. The findings suggest ...

The study examined pre-service elementary teachers and newly accepted secondary non-math and science major students at a university. The study examined weaknesses of students in conceptual and procedural understanding of fractions. It also examined whether there were differences in math fractional knowledge for both groups. The study found students' weaknesses were in solving word fraction problems, in dividing, multiplying, adding and subtracting fractions. Moreover, the study found that on procedural knowledge of fractions, newly accepted students significantly had higher knowledge than preservice elementary teachers. The study did not find significant differences on conceptual understanding of fractions or knowledge of overall fractions.

This study examined the lessons learned from the introduction of a teacher mentoring culture within a teacher professional development program in selected pilot schools in Kosovo. Four mentor teachers and four mentee focus groups were involved in the open interviews, and their portfolios were examined. The important themes in terms of developing a school mentoring culture in a system that had lacked mentoring practices and is embarking on an ambitious curricular reform were identified. The study revealed that individual, collegial and institutional dimensions are critical in attempting to introduce the mentoring culture. The study concluded that mentoring is a mixed concept and is viewed as hierarchical but is, nevertheless, an important professional development tool for teachers who are facing the pressure of the reform. This formalized way, known as “Balkanization” culture, marks a critical step towards developing a collaborative school culture as the desired end point. (DIPF/Orig.