Jiří Kohout

Factors influencing acceptance of e-learning by teachers in the Czech Republic

Effects of various factors on the acceptance of e-learning (AEL) were studied.Prior experience with e-learning has no effect on AEL.Positive expectations before an e-learning course have significant effect on AEL.Teachers working individually through the courses exhibit higher level of AEL.Positive subjective evaluation of various aspects of the course lead to high AEL. The goal of this study was to explore the factors which impact the acceptance of an e-learning course by teachers of elementary and secondary schools in the Czech Republic. The survey involved 228 teachers from 68 different primary and secondary schools. These teachers took part in some of 16 different asynchronous on-line courses aimed at the use of modern technologies in education. It was found that the factors with major impact on the e-learning course acceptance include the voluntary participation of teachers in the course and the positive expectations held before the course start (p<0.001). Working through the course on ones own and the subjective evaluation of various aspects of the course plays an important role as well (p<0.001). The factors which had no statistically significant impact (p0.05) included the teachers age, gender, type of school, prior experience with e-learning, individual habits in terms of completing voluntary tasks and taking notes, the involvement in discussions during the course and the time schedule of the course. We conclude that considerable attention should be paid to the psychological aspects of further education of Czech teachers using e-learning.

Knowledge about epilepsy and attitudes towards affected people among teachers in training in the Czech Republic

The aim of this study was to compare knowledge about, confidence with, and attitudes towards epilepsy and affected people between groups of freshmen and senior teachers in training (preservice teachers) at the Faculty of Education in Pilsen, Czech Republic. Two hundred thirty-six freshmen and 138 seniors completed the 21-item Scale of Attitudes Towards People with Epilepsy (ATPE), an 18-item multiple-choice test measuring their knowledge about epilepsy, and a 5-item questionnaire focused on confidence with epilepsy in a school environment. We found that despite a higher level of knowledge about epilepsy among seniors (mean score of 9.6 points compared with 8.48 points for freshmen, p<0.001), attitudes towards epilepsy, and also confidence in how to manage children affected with this disease did not differ significantly. The presented findings suggest that epilepsy-related training of preservice teachers should be more effective especially with respect to their ability to resolve problems that may happen to children with epilepsy in a class.

Effect of learning disabilities on academic self-concept in children with epilepsy and on their quality of life

Academic self-concept could significantly affect academic achievement and self-confidence in children with epilepsy. However, limited attention has been devoted to determining factors influencing academic self-concept of children with epilepsy. We aimed to analyze potentially significant variables (gender, frequency of seizures, duration of epilepsy, intellectual disability, learning disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in relation to academic self-concept in children with epilepsy and to additional domains of their quality of life. The study group consisted of 182 children and adolescents aged 9-14 years who completed the SPAS (Students Perception of Ability Scale) questionnaire determining their academic self-concept and the modified Czech version of the CHEQOL-25 (Health-Related Quality of Life Measure for Children with Epilepsy) questionnaire evaluating their health-related quality of life. Using regression analysis, we identified learning disability as a key predictor for academic-self concept of children with epilepsy. While children with epilepsy and with no learning disability exhibited results comparable to children without epilepsy, participants with epilepsy and some learning disability scored significantly lower in almost all domains of academic self-concept. We moreover found that children with epilepsy and learning disability have significantly lower quality of life in intrapersonal and interpersonal domains. In contrast to children with epilepsy and with no learning disability, these participants have practically no correlation between their quality of life and academic self-concept. Our findings suggest that considerable attention should be paid to children having both epilepsy and learning disability. It should comprise services of specialized counselors and teaching assistants with an appropriate knowledge of epilepsy and ability to empathize with these children as well as educational interventions focused on their teachers and classmates.

Educational video and story as effective interventions reducing epilepsy-related stigma among children

Stigma has been related to epilepsy since ancient times. Despite the importance of this issue, only a few interventions focusing on the reduction of epilepsy-related stigma may be found in the literature. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two interventions focused on the reduction of epilepsy-related stigma in children aged 9-11years. The first group of children involved in the study (n1=89) completed the 23-item Czech version of the SSE (Stigma Scale of Epilepsy) questionnaire and an 11-item multiple-choice knowledge test, then watched a video and completed the same questionnaire and test immediately after the intervention. The same procedure was used for the second group (n2=93) where a story was read by an instructor. Both groups were retested 6months later using the same methods. Both interventions resulted in long-term decrease of epilepsy-related stigma - the average value on SSE decreased from 55.15 points at baseline testing to 43.28 points in the 6-month follow-up for the case of the video (p<0.001) and from 48.68 points to 36.97 points for the case of the story (p<0.001). Knowledge about epilepsy was also significantly improved with the average result in the knowledge test increasing from 6.58 to 9.09 points in case of the video (p<0.001) and from 6.88 to 8.99 points in case of the story (p<0.001). The results showed that both aforementioned interventions were significant and effective ways to reduce epilepsy-related stigma in the given age group.

Hard AlN films prepared by low duty cycle magnetron sputtering and by other deposition techniques

Crystalline AlN films are very attractive due to their properties such as high thermal stability and relatively high hardness and piezoelectric response. However, the deposition of dense textured AlN films with superior quality at a high deposition rate remains a challenge. In the present work, a reactive low duty cycle pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering (LDMS) process was employed to deposit AlN films on glass and silicon substrates. An arc-free discharge on the Al target was achieved by using short voltage pulses of 10 μs at a low duty cycle of 10%. The authors optimized the deposition conditions in terms of reactive gas flow, working pressure, average target power, substrate temperature, substrate bias, and the level of target erosion. With the optimized deposition conditions, the authors were able to obtain transparent crystalline AlN films with strong (002) preferential orientation and very good optical and mechanical properties: The AlN films with the highest refractive index of 2.1 present ...

Psychometric properties of the Czech version of the Stigma Scale of Epilepsy

Although significant attention has been devoted to analyzing stigma associated with epilepsy, there is still a significant lack of valid and reliable instruments. We aimed to validate the 23-item Czech version of the Stigma Scale of Epilepsy (SSE; originally developed in Brazil), which has been used to evaluate epilepsy-related stigma in the general population. Verification of the SSE questionnaire was carried out in a group of 207 students aged 15–18 years of whom none had epilepsy. These students completed the SSE twice in a period of 3–6 months as part of standard test-retest evaluation practice. The instrument exhibits good psychometric properties including internal consistency higher than in the original version (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.856 here compared with 0.81 reported in Brazil) and acceptable test-retest reliability. Using exploratory factor analysis (not provided for the original version), four factors were identified and corresponding subscales were described and interpreted. Two items did not fit into the structure and were eliminated. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to propose and verify the hierarchical 4-factor structure of the Czech version of SSE confirming the existence of a common factor corresponding to stigma. The results showed that the Czech version of SSE has good psychometric properties and can be used in further research and clinical practice.

Psychometrické ověření české verze Škály vnímaného stresu

Recently, a great attention has been devoted to stress. Thus, it is worth to have a simple and reliable tool measuring the current level of perceived stress. The aim of this paper is to present a validation of the Czech version of the Perceived Stress Scale which was developed by Cohen in 1983 and is a widely used instrument in this field. Verification of the questionnaire containing 10 items was carried out on a group of 358 university students. The statistical analysis included besides other things determination of the internal consistency and confirmatory factor analysis. The Czech version exhibited a high level of internal consistency with Cronbach ́s alpha of 0.871. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure preferred also in the literature and showed adequate values of both absolute and relative fit indices as well as indices of parsimony. The Czech version of the Perceived Stress Scale is valid and reliable instrument enabling measurement of perceived stress.