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JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

QUANTIFICATION OF EDUCATIONAL PROCESS PARAMETERS USING NEW TECHNOLOGIES

JANA

CORONIČOVÁ

HURAJOVÁ,

ZUZANA

HAJDUOVÁ,

PAVOL ANDREJOVSKÝ

a,c

University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of Business

Administration based in Košice, Tajovského 13, 04 001Košice,
Slovakia

University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of Business

Management, Dolnozemská 1, 851 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
email:

jana.coronicova@euke.sk,

zuzana.hajduova@euba.sk,

pavol.andrejovsky@euke.sk

Scientific Paper elaborated within the framework of the projects KEGA 026 EU-
4/2018.

Abstract: One of the criteria for a student's acceptance into our university is his/her
success in the entrance testing. The aim of this work was to create a model for
measuring the effectiveness of the pedagogical process using IT support. Utilising the
mentioned model we hope to create an educational system aimed at the reduction of
disparity in educational habits and skills from the chosen areas of economic studies
targeting quantitative methods. The entry test is needed for the subjects of
mathematics as well as economics and foreign languages. In this article we have
proven that there exists a correlation between the entrance test results and the
evaluation results in the subject of mathematics for the winter semester of the first year
of the bachelor studies

Keywords: model, Blended learning, teaching, effectiveness, mathematics,education

1 Introduction

Universities are also influenced by new trends in education. The
content and type of subjects are ever changing and adjusting to
the demands of the students and the companies which are
perspective employers of the graduates. Education is a complex
process representing more than just a change of information
between the teacher and the student.

Measurement of added

value in education has recently become a sought-after tool for
quantitative assessment of educational institutions. The added
value expresses a degree of knowledge that a student has
acquired over a period of time by actively participating in the
teaching process of that educational institution. The quality of
education determined by this method is quite often discussed
(Harris 2011, Krpec and Burda, 2011, Mura 2017, Radu 2018,
Anyakoha 2018, Kaclík et al. 2015). The measurement of added
value consists in the fact that before and after completing the
educational process, the knowledge of the given student,
respectively. groups of students in a suitable form of test, the
content of which corresponds adequately to the curriculum. The
results obtained are then compared and evaluated on the basis of
a statistical model. The desired conclusion is the information
indicating the "scope" of newly acquired knowledge (Braun
2005, Rogers et al. 2011,Buleca 2014). The continual monitoring
of various parameters of the process (using more or less
sophisticated models and/or using IT systems) is currently a
normal part of the management support in many organisations.
With its help it is possible to discover critical places in the
processes and subsequently to take measures to eliminate its
negative influence. A similar situation exists in the educational
process as well. In today's information loaded era of addiction to
computers and the internet it is necessary to adjust the
educational process so the student is able use his/her knowledge
without any problems in everyday practice. The use of
computers, mobile phones or other technologies is taken as a
matter of course by the younger generation. Applications like
Facebook, Viber or Whatsapp are considered a commonplace
communication channel. But the companies require something
more from their employees (Žulová,2018). They have to be able
to search and manage the information in the shortest time
possible, so they have to navigate around the internet quickly
and effectively. They have to present their results and they have
to work in teams which implies learning the job division and
responsibility for the other members of the team. One of the
possibilities for how to prepare a student for managing real life
situations is to include informative technologies in the syllabus.
The advantages of a computer supported syllabus (Bajtoš, 2006;
Híc & Pokorný, 2004; Turek 1996):

Studying at one's own pace
Chance to offer immediate feedback
Option to go over the same materials and exercises many times
according to one's need
Mistake notification. A student feels psychologically less
offended when during their learning process the mistake
notification comes from a computer programme than from a
teacher or a classmate
Objectivity of grading

It is notable that the use of technology in the education process
does not guarantee the success of it per se. It is necessary to find
the right extent and the best way of incorporating these
technologies.

It is also important to understand that upon entry into the
university the students do not have great skills in the use of
informative technologies for their self-education and the internet
is more the means of fun and relaxation for them.

One of the basic methods utilised in the educational process is e-
learning. The new e-learning software products allow the
monitoring of the individual phases of student's learning on an
individual level. They enable interactive testing of his/her skills
and knowledge. With appropriate models it is subsequently
possible to design such educational processes which can help the
student in the most effective way to understand the explained
part of syllabus. There are significant differences observed in the
readiness of the applicants of various technical and economic
universities (Rozsa,2018). Different departments have noticed a
decreasing trend in exam results in the field of mathematics.
Regarding the area of quantification methods, scientific and
technical developments as well as the current developments in
economics have resulted in increasingly higher demands on a
university student's knowledge. The number of lessons in
mathematics or informatics (or other quantitatively oriented
subjects respectively) differ in various types of secondary
schools.

E-learning represents a method of education, or propagation of
information, via informative technologies. At the same time it
offers a database of information in the form of educational
materials available through this learning. It can have several
forms and thus can be tailored to the individual needs of the
student, groups and organisations. The most acclaimed type of
e-learning is the so-called asynchronous e-learning. It includes
the self-study of the students who can choose what information,
when, and at what pace they are going to receive it. The student
adjusts the learning process to his/her needs and habits. Horton
defines e-learning as the means of using the electronic
technologies to acquire educational experience, i.e. how is this
experience formed, organised and created. Graham sees the main
advantage of e-learning and the expected benefit being based on
the greater accessibility of information considering two aspects
(time and space). E-learning is education enabling free and
unlimited access to information. Blended learning is a special
form of education combining the presentative form of teaching
with the electronic and web applications, mostly e-learning with
the aim to suppress its negatives and to reach a synergy of
benefits from both approaches. Blended learning is the subjects
of many recent scientific works (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004;
Schroeder & Oakley, 2005; Dziuban et al., 2004; Osguthorpe &
Graham, 2003; Graham, 2006; Eger, 2005; Lewis et al., 2006).
Graham (2012) presents the existing models of blended learning
and discuses the importance and usefulness of BL for the present
and future. He states three reasons why people use to choose this
method: To improve pedagogy, Easy access and a high degree of
flexibility,Cost effectiveness.

2 Empirical background

This experiment was inspired by several things. The first was the
results of the entrance exams for the academic year 2017/2018.

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