Science mapping, therapeutic effectiveness, and informal learning
Table of contents
- A systems theory approach to teachers’ professional development
- KSR: Keyword standardisation in science mapping
- The relationship between cosmopolitanism and attitudes towards immigrants
- Motivational dispositions of pre-service teachers in Hungary and Myanmar
- The role of informal learning in career choices
- CORE-OM: A clinical measuring tool of mental health and therapeutic effectiveness
- What helps us keep the rhythm?
A systems theory approach to teachers’ professional development
Nóra Rapos, Katalin Tókos, Fruzsina Eszes, Krisztina Nagy and Dóra Czirfusz (members of the School Organization, Teacher Education and Professional Learning Research Group), published a study in the D1 journal Professional Development in Education. This paper interprets the professional development and learning of teachers as a dynamic, complex system, offering new methodological possibilities for a deeper understanding of specific learning situations. Building on the MoTeL research, the authors employ a systems theory approach to show how teacher development can be examined as an embedded system, moving away from the limitations of accountability and linear thinking. The research places particular emphasis on exploring the potential of object-based methodologies as well.
KSR: Keyword standardisation in science mapping
The bibliometric analysis of networks based on the co-occurrence of keywords is a frequently used method of scientific mapping, which aims to identify research topics and directions. However, the thematic similarity that may be measured from the association of raw keywords often introduces significant noise and bias into the structure of the networks. To address these problems, this study presents a method and its validation that combines the analysis of keyword networks with deductive content analysis. The proposed pre-processing procedure, called Keyword Standardization and Restructuring (KSR), scales up expert coding with an efficient navigation algorithm that generates a consistently constructed set of discipline-specific concepts from a large-scale and heterogeneous keyword set. As it progresses, it continuously uses the professional context provided by the already standardised keyword set, in a similar way to generative AI but through expert instructions. The resulting transcoded set of concepts greatly improves the validity and reliability of the thematic similarity network built on it.
To validate the method, the authors compared two networks of more than 5000 articles on innovation management: one was based on the raw set of keywords while the other was based on the keyword set generated via the KSR method. The KSR-based network resulted in a higher sensitivity to thematic similarity as well as clearer and more easily interpretable thematic clusters, demonstrating the benefits of the effective combination of qualitative and quantitative tools in science mapping.
The relationship between cosmopolitanism and attitudes towards immigrants
The study examines how cosmopolitan orientation, social trust and diffuse support for democracy are related to attitudes towards immigrants in Europe. Using data from the European Values Study (59,037 respondents from 36 countries), the researchers used multilevel analysis to explore the individual and contextual factors associated with the attitudes. Cosmopolitan orientation showed the strongest positive correlation with favourable attitudes towards immigrants, followed by social trust and diffuse support for democracy. The consistently strong relationship between cosmopolitan orientation and positive attitudes towards immigrants indicates that promoting cultural openness and global awareness can be an effective strategy in different contexts, especially when supported by democratic principles.
Motivational dispositions of pre-service teachers in Hungary and Myanmar
The study presents different aspects of the English as a Foreign Language writing skills development method among pre-service teachers of English language teacher training programmes in Myanmar and Hungary. The quantitative questionnaire used for the research measures the motivational characteristics of the pre-service teachers, with a special focus on teaching writing skills. The researchers collected data from two study groups to compare motivational characteristics in the context of the two countries. The results show that intrinsic motivation and the ideal L2 self are strong predictors of the pre-service teachers’ motivation to learn in the Myanmar context, while the ideal L2 self and pre-writing activities play the most significant role in the Hungarian context. These discrepancies highlight the importance of context-sensitive instruction in English language teacher training and shed light on the importance of learner autonomy in English writing skills acquisition in Myanmar. The data also point to the paramount importance of well-formed and constructive feedback from teachers in the Hungarian context. The research contributes to the motivational theory of second language acquisition and provides theoretical as well as practical implications for English language teacher training programmes.
CORE-OM: A clinical measuring tool of mental health and therapeutic effectiveness
Measuring the effectiveness of the therapeutic process is of particular importance to practitioners, researchers, training institutions and health legislators alike. In their research, Gábor Aranyi (head of the Applied Psychology Research Group at the Szombathely campus of ELTE PPK) and his Austrian colleagues examine and present the practical facilitation of one of the most commonly used tools for assessing mental health. The CORE-OM (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation—Outcome Measure) is a widely used, free clinical measuring tool that has been translated into more than 50 languages.
The first study of the research aimed at validating the German version of the CORE-OM with the involvement of more than 4300 participants receiving psychotherapy. In addition to exploring and confirming the factorial structure and creating an alternative scoring structure, the study pays special attention to measurement invariance, subscale reliability and gender differences, including non-binary respondents in the analysis of the CORE-OM for the first time. The second study aims to further investigate the structure of the CORE-OM through network analysis, involving nearly 4500 participants. The authors investigated the interrelationships between items of the measuring tool, based on which they identified groups that are connected on the basis of content and response pattern: general problems, interpersonal problems, positive resources, and self-harm risk.
The researchers’ third study (to be published later) offers a scoring guide for the CORE-OM in English and German. This is based on data from more than 1000 Austrian respondents without psychological problems and individuals matched to them who have received both a psychological diagnosis and therapy. The study also includes a free, open-source application to help interpret scores by age and gender.
The role of informal learning in career choices
Today, lifelong learning is crucial for success both at an individual and a socio-economic level. This multi-stage research by ELTE PPK’s Institute of Research on Adult Education and Knowledge Management examines the significance of informal learning in terms of the labour market as well as its impact on educational and training systems. In the first (interview) phase, the leisure experiences (from before they began their higher education studies) of first-year ELTE PPK students from the community coordination and sports management programmes were analysed. The results show that the young people interviewed had several experiences in the context of informal learning that helped their self-awareness and influenced their choice of study.
In the second (questionnaire) phase, human resources students from ELTE PPK and BGE were surveyed, but no statistically significant relationship was found between leisure activities and career choice decision or study programme satisfaction. This is because career and occupational choice is a complex phenomenon that may be shaped by the students’ socio-cognitive background and personal values as well as by labour market trends. Research has shown that young people’s culture consumption habits have changed, with individual activities and passive group activities overshadowing cultural programmes. Their career choices are mostly motivated by future livelihood and job opportunities.
What helps us keep the rhythm?
Have you ever wondered why some people can clap easily to music while others find it difficult? The answer lies in our brain’s ability to follow and synchronise rhythm, a process called neural entrainment. The present study investigates how neural entrainment, memory skills and previous musical training influence how well adults can move to rhythm. The researchers recorded brain activity using electroencephalogram (EEG) while participants were listening to rhythmic sound samples: they heard both rhythms with clear beats (unsyncopated) and rhythms with missing beats (syncopated). Participants had to tap to the beat and completed a working memory task as well. Surprisingly, those whose brains closely followed the strong beat were less accurate and consistent in their tapping. In contrast, those with better working memory performed the task more consistently. Previous musical training had no significant effect on performance.
These results suggest that synchronising with music requires more than just following the rhythm. Too much focus on following the strong beat can reduce the flexibility of the timing of our movements. Instead, good memory may be more important for following the beat.