Marko Urh

Reasons for Plagiarism in Higher Education

Abstract Background and Purpose: The survey was performed to determine the reasons that lead students to possibly commit plagiarism during their studies. By doing so, we wanted to determine the main reason for the appearance of plagiarism and how, within this main reasons, various indicators of plagiarism are judged and, finally, how demographic data and student motivation for study are associated with the reasons for plagiarism. Design/Methodology/Approach: A paper-and-pencil survey was carried out among 17 faculties of the University of Maribor in Slovenia. A sample of 139 students 85 males and 54 females participated in this study, ages ranged from 19 to 36 years. The questionnaire contained 95 closed questions referring to: (i) general data, (ii) education, (iii) social status, (iv) awareness of plagiarism, and (v) reasons for plagiarism. Parametric and nonparametric statistical tests were performed depending on distributions of the answers. Results: The results reveal that information and communication technology is largely responsible for the plagiarism with two reasons highlighted: ease of copying and ease of access to materials and new technologies. We also found some differences between low and high motivated students. Different average values of the answers considering motivation for study were confirmed for academic skills, teaching factors and other reasons for plagiarism, where the average for lower motivated students is significantly different (higher) than the average for higher motivated students. At the end we could find no direct relationship between the average time spent on the Internet and plagiarism. Conclusion: The transmission of knowledge is the basic mission of faculties. This mission is based on moral beliefs about the harmfulness of its abuse, and plagiarism is exactly such abuse. Regardless of the students past at this point professors are those who could greatly contribute to the right set of skills to keep students off plagiarising.

Factors influencing plagiarism in higher education: A comparison of German and Slovene students

Over the past decades, plagiarism has been classified as a multi-layer phenomenon of dishonesty that occurs in higher education. A number of research papers have identified a host of factors such as gender, socialisation, efficiency gain, motivation for study, methodological uncertainties or easy access to electronic information via the Internet and new technologies, as reasons driving plagiarism. The paper at hand examines whether such factors are still effective and if there are any differences between German and Slovene students’ factors influencing plagiarism. A quantitative paper-and-pencil survey was carried out in Germany and Slovenia in 2017/2018 academic year, with a sample of 485 students from higher education institutions. The major findings of this research reveal that easy access to information-communication technologies and the Web is the main reason driving plagiarism. In that regard, there are no significant differences between German and Slovene students in terms of personal factors such as gender, motivation for study, and socialisation. In this sense, digitalisation and the Web outrank national borders.

Student satisfaction with an online and a face-to-face Business English course in a higher education context

Abstract Over the last decade, online learning has grown to become an important part of higher education. However, despite the considerable volume of research in this area, many educators are still concerned about how online learning can be used in an effective way. This paper presents the results of research which set out to evaluate the efficacy of an online Business English course in higher education. The key findings of a comparison of student satisfaction in an online vs. face-to-face Business English course are discussed and the questions of how much the online learning environment benefits the student and what factors affect students’ satisfaction with the course are addressed. The results indicate that there are significant differences in student satisfaction levels between online and face-to-face learning of English as a foreign language. Students taking the face-to-face course were generally more satisfied with the course on several dimensions than their online counterparts.

Introduction of a Lesson: A Guarantee of Motivation? The Significance of the Lesson Introduction for Learners’ Activation Level in Business and Economics Teaching at German Vocational Colleges

Konferenca o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti je konferenca z najdaljso tradicijo na Univerzi v Mariboru in vsako leto poveže studente, raziskovalce, gospodarstvenike in predstavnike javne uprave, ki delujejo na podrocju organizacije in managementa. Tema letosnje, že 36. mednarodne konference o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti, je Odgovorna organizacija in se nanasa na sirino organizacije v njenem notranjem in zunanjem okolju. Odgovornost do zaposlenih, poslanstva, strategije, procesov, tehnologije, razvoja so samo nekatera izmed podrocij, ki jim mora organizacija slediti. Identiteta organizacije se izkazuje z njenim vsestransko odgovornim ravnanjem in kaže vrednost navzven pri kupcih ali uporabnikih storitev. V casu, ki ga živimo, smo vpeti v preplet tehnoloskega in socialnega napredka, ki nenazadnje rezultira v posamezniku in družbi nasploh. Ravnanje organizacije se ravno tako ne veže samo na delovanje v lokalnem okolju temvec zaradi globalnih razsežnosti ucinkuje tudi v mednarodnih dimenzijah. S temo konference želimo odpreti polje vprasanj in poiskati odgovore, ki bodo doprinesli k napredku organizacijskih ved. Materialni vplivi, komuniciranje, znanje in postenje ter nenazadnje ideal odgovornega ravnanja lahko kot pomembni dejavniki obvladujejo pogosto nemirne situacije v in izven okolja nasih organizacij. Ker smo casovno in prostorsko vpeti v vzorce, ki mnogokrat ne sledijo vec nasim preteklim izkusnjam, je nasa želja, da s srecanjem na konferenci stopimo v korak s casom in prepoznamo dobre prakse, izoblikujemo nove metode in se seznanimo z aktualnimi trendi, ki jih organizacije vsakodnevno živijo.Konferenca o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti je konferenca z najdaljso tradicijo na Univerzi v Mariboru in vsako leto poveže studente, raziskovalce, gospodarstvenike in predstavnike javne uprave, ki delujejo na podrocju organizacije in managementa. Tema letosnje, že 36. mednarodne konference o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti, je Odgovorna organizacija in se nanasa na sirino organizacije v njenem notranjem in zunanjem okolju. Odgovornost do zaposlenih, poslanstva, strategije, procesov, tehnologije, razvoja so samo nekatera izmed podrocij, ki jim mora organizacija slediti. Identiteta organizacije se izkazuje z njenim vsestransko odgovornim ravnanjem in kaže vrednost navzven pri kupcih ali uporabnikih storitev. V casu, ki ga živimo, smo vpeti v preplet tehnoloskega in socialnega napredka, ki nenazadnje rezultira v posamezniku in družbi nasploh. Ravnanje organizacije se ravno tako ne veže samo na delovanje v lokalnem okolju temvec zaradi globalnih razsežnosti ucinkuje tudi v mednarodnih dimenzijah. S temo konference želimo odpreti polje vprasanj in poiskati odgovore, ki bodo doprinesli k napredku organizacijskih ved. Materialni vplivi, komuniciranje, znanje in postenje ter nenazadnje ideal odgovornega ravnanja lahko kot pomembni dejavniki obvladujejo pogosto nemirne situacije v in izven okolja nasih organizacij. Ker smo casovno in prostorsko vpeti v vzorce, ki mnogokrat ne sledijo vec nasim preteklim izkusnjam, je nasa želja, da s srecanjem na konferenci stopimo v korak s casom in prepoznamo dobre prakse, izoblikujemo nove metode in se seznanimo z aktualnimi trendi, ki jih organizacije vsakodnevno živijo.

Interest in Currency Trading Learning – Preferred Methods and Motivational Factors

Abstract Background and purpose: This paper analyzes the interest of potential users for learning in the field of currency trading or foreign exchange (forex, FX). The purpose of our article is a) to present currency trading, b) to present different options, methods and learning approaches to educating in forex, c) to present the research results discovering the interest of potential users for learning in the field of currency trading. Methodology: For gathering data, an online questionnaire was used. It was distributed so that the survey sample covers socio-demographic variables (gender, age, working status, relationship status, financial status of credit and educational level). Interest in learning in the field of currency trading was assessed. Descriptive statistics, t-test, paired samples test, homogeny test of variances, and ANOVA were used. Results: It was determined that people are interested in learning about currency trading, especially younger ones (< 30 years), who prefer e-learning as their learning approach. Obtaining and possessing the right information is the strongest motivation factor and fearing not having enough necessary prior knowledge is the strongest discouraging factor for learning about currency trading. Conclusion: Education of users in the field of currency trading is becoming increasingly popular with the development of e-learning.

iUrnik: Timetabling for Primary Educational Institutions in Slovenia

Slovenian primary schools must adhere to a complex curriculum imposed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia. This complexity makes the scheduling problem challenging. To address this problem, we developed iUrnik, an interactive and automated scheduling system that generates near-optimal schedules using evolutionary computation. We developed our system to produce quality timetables for both students and teachers; however, contradictory goals make this task difficult. iUrnik addresses the complexity of assigning students to elective subjects and enables planners to add constraints and set their parameters. It also provides an advanced substitutions module, which determines and suggests the most appropriate teacher to substitute for an absent one. We used our system at three Slovenian primary schools, and the results we achieved indicate a significant improvement in the scheduling process in comparison to the previous processes these schools used.