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The study examines the career aspirations of Slovenian ninth-grade students and analyses how these are influenced by personal factors and their attitudes towards engineering professions. Regression analyses on a sample of 779 students show that interest in outdoor work is a significant predictor of engineering career aspirations across all educational levels. Physical demands positively influence aspirations for engineering occupations requiring secondary or elementary education, while intellectual demands and employment opportunities encourage interest in engineering occupations at the tertiary level. A positive perception of engineering professions as interesting is a key factor for all levels of education. The results emphasise the importance of fostering interest in technical careers. V raziskavi smo preučevali poklicne želje slovenskih devetošolcev in analizirali, kako nanje vplivajo osebni dejavniki ter njihov odnos do tehničnih poklicev. Rezultati regresijskih analiz na vzorcu 779 učencev so pokazali, da je zanimanje za delo na prostem pomemben napovednik poklicnih želja v tehničnih poklicih na vseh ravneh izobrazbe. Fizična zahtevnost pozitivno vpliva na izbiro tehničnih poklicev s srednješolsko ali z osnovnošolsko izobrazbo, medtem ko intelektualna zahtevnost in zaposlitvene možnosti spodbujajo zanimanje za tehnične poklice z univerzitetno izobrazbo. Pozitivno dojemanje tehničnih poklicev kot zanimivih je ključni dejavnik za vse ravni izobrazbe. Rezultati poudarjajo pomen spodbujanja zanimanja za tehnične poklice.

As knowledge and attitude towards performing basic life support and using an automated external defibrillator (BLS and AED) contribute equally to improving survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, we aimed to develop a measuring instrument for a validated assessment of schoolchildrens’ attitude towards BLS and AED. The objective was to identify, measure, and address pertinent attitude dimensions that influence the intention to actually perform BLS and AED. We conducted a BLS and AED course for seventh and ninth grade students. Students fulfilled pre- and post-course questionnaires on attitude and intention to perform BLS and AED. The measuring instrument was developed with the use of exploratory factor analysis with application of principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis with application of structural equation modeling. Measurement invariance across different groups (gender, grades, previous courses) was tested with Wilcoxon signed ranks test and Mann–Whitney U test. Differences in attitude pre- and post-course were evaluated by application of Mann–Whitney U test. The final attitude model consisted of 3 behavioral constructs (self-confidence, positive motivation, and amotivation). Self-confidence was the major construct directly affecting the intention to act. Positive motivation had a negligible direct effect on intention but correlated strongly with self-confidence. The effect of attitude on the intention to help is therefore less complicated than was expected, which relieves the non-professional educators of having to know the specifics of the different behavioral constructs.

In the context of improving the quality of teacher education, the focus of the present work was to adapt the Mentoring for Effective Primary Science Teaching instrument to become more universal and have the potential to be used beyond the elementary science mentoring context. The adapted instrument was renamed the Mentoring for Effective Teaching Practicum Instrument. The new, validated instrument enables the assessment of trainee teachers’ perceived experiences with their mentors during their two-week annual teaching practicum at elementary and high schools. In the first phase, the original 34-item Mentoring for Effective Primary Science Teaching instrument was expanded to 62 items with the addition of new items and items from the previous works. All items were rephrased to refer to contexts beyond primary science teaching. Based on responses on an expanded instrument received from 105 pre-service teachers, of whom 94 were females in their fourth year of study (approx. age 22–23 years), the instrument was reviewed and shortened to 36 items classified into six dimensions: personal attributes, system requirements, pedagogical knowledge, modelling, feedback, and Information and Communication Technology due to outcomes of Principal Component and Confirmatory Factor analyses. All six dimensions of the revised instrument are unidimensional, with Cronbach alphas above 0.8 and factor loadings of items above 0.6. Such an instrument could be used in follow-up studies and to improve learning outcomes of teaching practice. As such, specific and general recommendations for the mentee, mentors, university lecturers, and other stakeholders could be derived from the findings to encourage reflection and offer suggestions for the future.

It is no longer just an opinion but a fact that the only way to prevent a catastrophic future for humanity on a planetary scale is to introduce sustainable practices in all areas of human endeavour. The key role in these processes is activity to education. The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of Slovenian secondary school students, parents, and teachers (SPTs) regarding the role of smartphones and tablets in promoting 21st-century skills. This study explores the views of Slovenian secondary school students, parents, and teachers (SPTs) on the value of smartphones and tablets in 21st-century skills education. The results show a consensus among participants that smartphones and tablets make a positive contribution to various aspects of 21st-century skills as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Future. Participants consistently rated the suggested benefits of smartphones and tablets above the middle of the scale, with a focus on internet, digital, and information literacy. However, there is still room for improvement in basic skills and higher-order thinking skills. The factorial analysis revealed three correlated factors: Holistic Learning skills, Higher-Level Cognitive skills, and Digital Information Literacy skills. Subsequent analysis revealed significant differences between the focus groups, with students showing stronger agreement with the positive impact of smartphones and tablets on a wide range of skills. While teachers recognized the value of smartphones and tablets for students’ digital literacy and engagement, the differences between teachers and other groups were relatively small. These findings underscore the importance of integrating smartphone strategies and technology tools to promote 21st-century skills as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Future. Educators and policymakers can use these findings to promote effective teaching and learning practices that meet the demands of the 21st century.

After the appearance of the first smartphones in 2007 and shortly thereafter, tablets became not only useful communication tools, but also objects that function as life organisation units. However, although they are ubiquitous, their actual and potential role in biology education has not been sufficiently explored. The objectives of the survey were to investigate the recent use of smartphones in the last two grades of Slovenian comprehensive school by 14- to 15-year-old students, their satisfaction with them for educational purposes, and the perceived impact on the quality of schoolwork in biology classes. Based on the responses of 313 lower secondary school students, we can conclude that by the end of compulsory education, almost all of them have used smartphones and tablets for educational purposes to some extent, even if the reported use in different school subjects is low. Based on structural equation modelling, which examines the influence of the constructs of support, perceived usability, perceived ease of use, attitudes, and perceived pedagogical impact on the quality of smartphone-based schoolwork, it can be concluded that only perceived pedagogical impacts and perceived usability impacted quality, leading to the conclusion that additional efforts should be made to explore their full potential and the gaps that should be addressed through formal education. Leaving students to their own devices is the worst solution, resulting in a permanent lack of skills, such as the ability to select and interpret information provided through the media.

The paper provides evidence as a baseline for action to prevent the educational catastrophe that would result from the predicted shortage of STEM teachers in lower secondary schools in Slovenia. Based on the data, obtained from the relevant institutions, we can predict that, without a change in educational policy towards encouraging students to choose the teaching of STEM subjects as a career, the number of STEM teachers will fall below all acceptable levels.

Health is coconsidered as goodness; therefore, schools should be places where healthy habits, along with evidence-based medical knowledge and practices, are taught and practised. The key persons in education are teachers, so their opinions and worldviews should not be neglected. The objective of this work was to identify opinions about health education among Slovenian teachers. We investigated the worldviews of and differences between pre-service and in-service Biology teachers about health education. The questionnaires were delivered to 163 Sloveian participants. Most differences in opinion occurred in the nutrition field between younger and older participants. The majority of participants (85%) agree that “Providing knowledge or developing behavior that is respectful of one´s own health” is the main goal of health education.

Background Suicidal ideation is a depression symptom which represents a key (cognitive) component of suicidality and plays an important role in suicide risk detection, intervention, and prevention. Despite existing research showing the importance of certain factors of depression symptoms and suicidal ideation, less is known about the interaction between the various risk and protective factors. The aim of the study was to examine whether living conditions characteristics and personal circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic predicted the presence of depression symptoms and suicidal ideation among tertiary students and whether resilience and social support can mitigate the detrimental effects of difficult life circumstances. Method A large online cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2021 among 4,645 Slovenian tertiary students. Hierarchical multiple regression and hierarchical logistic regression methods were used to assess and compare the effect of life circumstances variables, as opposed to resilience and social support, on depression symptoms and suicidal ideation. Results Female gender, single relationship status, living alone, a higher degree of household conflict, having a history of mental illness and chronic disease diagnosis were significant predictors of depression scores. All but gender were also predictors of suicidal ideation. Household conflict and a history of mental illness were the factors showing the strongest effect in both cases. On the other hand, social support and, in particular, resilience proved to be strong protective factors against depression symptoms and suicidal ideation. After accounting for one’s resilience and social support, the explained variance in depression scores was more than doubled, while the harmful effect of household conflict and history of mental illness significantly decreased. Conclusions The findings stress the importance of one’s resilience and social support and explain why some people manage to maintain mental well-being despite finding themselves in difficult life circumstances, which was the case for many tertiary students during the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights may inform preventive efforts against developing suicidal ideation and may be used as support for the design and implementation of interventions for improving resilience and social support from childhood onward.

One of the most significant changes in the majority of postsecondary educational institutions was the closure of those institutions and the shift of educational activities to online distance learning formats as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Closure combined with forced online distance education (FODE) was a cure with many side effects, 1 of them being the effect on students' mental health and, more specifically, levels of stress. Due to the novelty of the situation, there have been no studies so far designed to link satisfaction with online study, feelings toward the study obligations, and stress among students. The aim of the study is to assess the perceived stress of Slovenian postsecondary students in order to identify the online study-related factors affecting or acting as a covariate during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data collection was conducted through a self-reported survey as part of a large cross-sectional study based on data collected from postsecondary students from a number of higher educational institutions. The random sample consisted of 4455 individuals. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4), Satisfaction with Online Study Scale (SAT-5), and Feelings Towards Study Obligations Scale (FETSOS) were used to assess the constructs and the relations observed within the study. The results indicate that more than half of all respondents reported high levels of stress. The difference in the reported levels of perceived stress between genders were statistically significant (N=4454, F =56.719, P<.001, Cohen d=0.35). Overall, the results suggest that a decline in the motivation to study, the quality of internet and mobile connections, and the presence of distracting factors in the study space were the 3 main factors related to the students' negative emotions as associated with the timeliness, performance, and quality of the study obligations. Furthermore, the results show that the level of satisfaction with online study affected stress such that the higher the satisfaction, the lower the stress. Moreover, the more positive feelings connected with the timeliness, performance, and quality of the study obligations that the students felt, the more satisfaction they reported with online study and, thus indirectly, lower stress and less negative feelings. The findings of this study call for implementing structures and measures targeted at stress reduction, working conditions, and pedagogy with regard to FODE.