Hungarian Higher Education Research Articles

The Graduate Tracking and Attainment Model at the University of Pécs

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the Hungarian higher education system facing changes since 1990. The three major challenges are: the decreasing number of students enrolling since the ‘golden age’ ended; the Bologna-Process and its influence since its introduction in 2006 and the uncertainty about the future role of the state in educational finance. The institutions have to take these changes and the effects on their situation into account and they need to flnd a way to benefit from them. Thanks to Graduate Follow-Up System (GFS) research, they can measure the new graduates performance on the labour--market, their job-related satisfaction levels and possibilities, and furthermore they can have direct information about employers’ expectations, first of all on the level of working skills. This information can be used for the creation of a different approach of how to think about the students and which services could be offered to them. In the following analysis we use data from research conducted in the last three years at the University of Pécs.The focused energy and resource investment is more effective if it is based on specific training and education packages offered within the Alumni framework. It can increase the results of an even more successful Alma Mater service; furthermore it can improve the self-identification of the institution, therefore it is important to have a long-term strategy.

Államnyelvi hatás a kárpátaljai magyar felsőoktatásban tanuló diákok nyelvhasználatában

The influence of the state language on the language use of students studying in Hungarian higher education in Transcarpathia Until now, linguists dealing with student language use have not been able to clearly define what exactly the term student language means: the full usage of lan-guage by school-age young people, or the use of language related to school life, including the names of educational units, subjects, teaching aids and grades. How-ever, they overwhelmingly agree that relatively identical attributes characterize students’ language use within the borders of the country. The state languages of the individual countries have an increased influence on the Hungarian language outside Hungary’s borders, and this influence affects the students’ language as well. Research on this subject has consistently shown that students’ language use is not free from contact effects either. Within the framework of the present paper, based on the results of sociolinguis-tic research, I try to examine the extent to which the effect of the state language appears in the student language in the narrower sense, among students studying in Hungarian higher education in Transcarpathia. Keywords: Transcarpathia, Hungarian language, state language, loan elements, student language, higher education

Higher Education in Crisis? An Institutional Ethnography of an International University in Hungary

Aim/Purpose: Our goal is to provide understanding of if and how the institutional factors found to contribute to a chilly climate are experienced in an international setting and provide a broader understanding of the discourses that create challenges for marginalized and underrepresented groups in STEM. Background: In August 2018 the Hungarian government stopped funding gender studies program and took direct control of funding at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in order to focus “taxpayer money on areas that can generate a payoff for society” (Witte, 2018). Methodology: Data collection and analysis focused on how the interface between students and mathematics education was organized as a matter of the everyday encounters between students and faculty and administration by exploring their experiences inside and outside of the classroom. Contribution: There is little in the scholarly literature on how the recent threats and policy changes by the Hungarian government will impact Hungarian higher education; as such, this research has the potential to be a significant and leading contribution to the field by critically examining how ongoing changes to higher education policy, practices, and procedures in Hungary impacts the educational environment for students seeking a graduate degree in Hungary. Findings: Although students and faculty at IU were aware of the political discourses surrounding higher education in Hungary, they largely felt that their work as mathematicians was not largely impacted by threats to academic freedom and institutional autonomy. Instead, these findings suggest that many of the same discourses that coordinate the work of STEM students in higher education persisted to create similar challenges for IU mathematics students. Recommendations for Practitioners: The first step toward improving the chilly climate in STEM fields requires revising the STEM institution from one that is masculine to one that is inclusive for all students with the goal of creating a STEM education environment that supports, validates, and gives students an equal voice. Recommendation for Researchers: Subsequent inquiries guided by this work can extend to additional institutional environments in Hungary and in other authoritarian countries where academic freedom and institutional autonomy are challenged in order to understand how political reform and institutional factors play a role in creating challenges for students from underrepresented groups. Impact on Society: By providing an international perspective, we can explore trends in institutional factors in order to make recommendations that mitigate or reverse the traditional competitive and intimidating STEM classroom environment. Future Research: Future inquiries can explore discourses that contribute to the chilly climate in STEM with an international perspective, to explore if these discourses are consistent across different types of universities around the world.

Perspectives in Public and University Sector Co-operation in the Change of Higher Education Model in Hungary, in Light of China’s Experience

The model shift of higher education in Hungary brought not only the deepening of university-industry relations and technology transfer processes, but also contribute the emerging role of universities in shaping regional innovation policy. This process provides a new framework for cooperation between actors in regional innovation ecosystems and raises the relationship between economic-governmental-academic systems to a new level. Active involvement of government, the predominance of state resources, and the strong innovation-organizing power of higher education institutions are similarities that characterize both the Hungarian and Chinese innovation systems. This paper attempts to gather Chinese good practices whose adaptation can contribute to successful public-university collaboration. In the light of the examined practices, the processes related to the university model shift implemented so far can be placed in a new context, which are presented through the example of the Sz\'echenyi Istv\'an University of Gy\H{o}r.

Real-time classification of national and international students for ICT and mobile technology: an experimental study on Indian and Hungarian University

This paper focused on the classification of student national-level status such as national and international. A primary survey was conducted in the academic year 2017-2018 to analysis the circumstances of trending ICT and Mobile Technology (MT) in Indian and Hungarian higher education. The main objective was to identify the student’s answers provided in the survey based on their national-level status. For the classification tasks, we used Logistic regression (LR), Support Vector Machine, Multilayer perceptron (MLP) and Random Forest (RF)on both balanced and unbalanced datasets with K-fold Cross-Validation (KCV), Leave One Out (LOO), and Hold Out (HO) methods. Also, Xtreme Gradient Boosting (XGB) classifier was also implemented to enhance the classification accuracy of existing classifiers. The findings of the study showed that the XGB classifier outperformed others with the highest accuracy of 95% with 18 significant features. Also, class balancing improved significantly the accuracy of classification. Further, the authors recommended this predictive model to be implemented as a real-time function utility on the website of the university.

How Can Be Academic Talent Measured During Higher Education Studies? - An Exploratory Study

Many articles claim that talent management is a very important aspect of higher education. Despite of this, the studies, which investigate this topic empirically, are very rare. The Hungarian higher education talent management focuses mainly on academic-, scientific aspect of talent. So, the main purpose of talent-management is the academic reinforcement, namely, growing up a new generation of scientist/university teachers. The talent management in higher education can be imagined as a bridge between formal school studies and scientific career. In this study, I search answer for the (research) question: how should academic talent be measured during higher education studies? Moreover, does it have any sense to identify the academic talents during even their higher education studies? The research is based on opinion of 170 university teachers who supervised talented students during a young-researcher competition. The method was questionnaire-method. The questions gathered round two main topics: (1) identifying of talented students and cooperation with talented students; (2) own career of supervisor university teachers. The results had been analyzed with descriptive statistics which show the mostly chosen talent-identifying methods and features of talented students. The open-ended questions had been content-analyzed. The data of university-teacher’s career had been analyzed with mathematical statistical tests (ANOVAs, Two-sample T tests, correlations) where the dependent variable was the number of publication (as indicator of the scientific performance). The results may suggest conceptions for talent-programs (honor programs) based on academic talent; for doctoral schools, and for any other institutes who works with career entrant scientist. The scientific reinforcement would be more effective if scientific programs/scholarships/PhD-programs used professional methods during selection process, instead of subjective choices, based on CV and motivation letter.

Áttekintés a vezetői információs rendszerek magyar felsőoktatásban való megjelenéséről a Debreceni Egyetem példáján keresztül

In recent years, the ever-decreasing number of students in Hungarian higher education has created a serious competition between institutions, in which not only national but also foreign universities prove to be competitive. In order for national institutions to be able to compete adequately in this competition, managers need to be provided with well-structured, up-to-date information that can support decision-making. The management information system, which successfully adapted at the University of Debrecen, has been in operation for years and provides significant support in data reporting and ad hoc reporting, but there are still many opportunities for advancement. The study draws attention to the importance of management information systems through the example of the University of Debrecen.

Practical or theoretical persistence?: The investigation of (f)actors influencing students’ persistence at three levels

Higher educational dropout is a major education policy issue that can be influenced by several factors. In addition to the family background, it is necessary to mention the motivation for further education as an individual factor which has a complex effect. Another possible individual cause can be the attractiveness of the labor market. Due to the ratio of students dropping out of higher education in Hungary, it can be suspected that students’ intensive work contributes to weaker learning outcomes, resulting dropout finally. In this context, however, the decisive role of the different work values and working attitudes is also unquestionable. Other institutional factors such as the country of the institution or the type of financing of the training cannot be ignored as well. Accordingly, in our research, we investigated individual, institutional, and sociodemographic factors affecting persistence through the TESCEE 2015 (N = 2015) database. Factors influencing persistence were measured by linear regression analysis with the application of two-sample t-test to measure the between-group differences. Regarding socio-demographic factors, the father’s educational level showed a significant impact on a negative while the mother’s employment in a positive way, furthermore, gender presented a trend effect. Institutional factors by themselves are not remarkable; however, some individual factor can increase their impact. At the individual level, the significant effect of career office membership and work values could be detected. Our results can contribute to the recognition of the relationships behind the high ratio of dropout and the identification of factors that can promote persistence, which can support to reduce the dropout ratio at a national and international level.

Foreign language learning attitude of Hungarian higher education students

Foreign language skills come under the spotlight in higher education (HE) in Hungary. At present, Hungarian HE students are required to pass at least one intermediate level general or professional language exam in order to earn a degree, but from 2020, having an intermediate language exam will be a requirement for admission to HE. Thus, it is important to examine the foreign language-learning attitude of HE students as well as their family background that could affect their attitude. Expansion brought several non-traditional student groups to HE, which used to attract only the most talented upper-class students. However, a number of research studies highlight that motivation, attitude to learning, and the socioeconomic background of the students are influential factors not only in HE but also in foreign language learning. In this study, we present the results of our quantitative analysis performed on the Hungarian subset of the IESA-TESSCEE II. 2014 database developed by CHERD-Hungary. Using cluster analysis, the students could be clustered into four categories. Our results show that students whose parents have a low level of education are mainly motivated by the requirement to pass the necessary language exam to earn a degree. Students with a language certificate are driven by cultural interest to learn a foreign language. Students in Master Degree programs experience the practical benefits of learning a foreign language. Significant correlations between language attitude and the financial status of the family were not detected.

Work in Team – Improve your GIS Skills. Effectiveness of project work in teaching GIS for foreign students

Abstract. In 2013, the Hungarian Government opened a scholarship programme called Stipendium Hungaricum for foreign students to study in the Hungarian higher education. Within this scholarship, students coming from non-European Union countries complete full studies at both bachelor and master levels in Hungarian universities. Three years ago, the first international students financed by Stipendium Hungaricum arrived to the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics of ELTE Eötvös Loránd University to study cartography and geoinformatics at master level. Since then the success of the programme constantly encourages students to choose our degree program.Teaching GIS for “beginners”, i.e. for those who finished their studies in other areas and are new in our field, is not easy for its multidisciplinary nature. Teaching Z generation might be a challenge for modern issues of generation gap. Teaching international students from very different countries is also not easy because of very different professional backgrounds and exercises, studying habits and language skills, in some cases. Teaching GIS for foreign students is a combination of these aspects and led us to develop new methodological and pedagogical approaches in order to reach success both for students and professors.On this poster, we present one of our solutions: the “Geoinformatic and Cartographic Project” work. It is a large, complex practical subject for second year students, which needs all the previous studies of the first year and much of individual work and creativity. Students work driven by professors, but mostly individually. The topic is mapping environmental conditions of Vác, a charming small town at the bank of the Danube, 20 km to the North from Budapest.Students work in pairs. This is comfortable for sharing the tasks not only in the field work but in the lab work too, while they can also show their individual skills. For completing the task they need to do some theoretical research and they have to get familiar with the tools (noise meter, thermometer, solar radiation device, GPS) and specific software (ArcGIS, Qgis; Global Mapper; graphic software eg. OCAD, Corel Draw; Open Layers, etc.). They have to cope with real life situations during data collecting and have to learn timing their work. The semester ends with an oral presentation of the results with data analysis.The project has five phases: Phase 1: Preparation; Phase 2: Research; Phase 3: Field work; Phase 4: Lab work; Phase 5: Analysis and documentationResults of the geoinformatic work are a complex environmental database with data on temperature, humidity, solar radiation and noise pollution; a series of thematic maps created from the collected data; and an interactive web site where users can consult the thematic maps and read the analysis of the data.For the cartographic part of the project, students also prepare a hard copy touristic map of the town. This task needs touristic data collecting (including research, taking notes and pictures in the field work). The result is an independently edited and designed touristic map in the style of a city map.In the poster, we would like to present the step-by-step workflow of the Geoinformatic and Cartographic Project (the phases in detail) with the resulting geodatabases, thematic maps and websites. We believe these are the steps that bring the students to the same level of GI knowledge, that facilitate them to work together in a team, and encourages them to lead sub-tasks, opens their imagination and to figure out their own ideas. A project work like this provides professional experience, strengthens problem-solving skills and gives self-confidence for the future GIS experts.

The search for Cezannism in the prac-tice of Adalbert Erdeli of 1930–1940.

The search for Cezannism in the prac-tice of Adalbert Erdeli of 1930–1940.

FINANCIAL AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ENTERING HIGHER EDUCATION BASED ON THE RESULTS OF A QUESTIONNAIRE RESEARCH

The definition and the importance of the financial literacy and the financial awareness arises increasingly in connection with the economic crisis. When we try to analyse the events of the crisis, the most frequently asked question is, that who and to what extent is responsible for the escalation. On the side of banks we should say, that the main responsible participants were the borrowers, who bought the banking products with their insufficient financial knowledge. Is this criticism true, or the banks’ greed is the main reason, as the borrowers think? The banking products are very diverse and multifaceted, so the choice between them is not easy. The crisis has highlighted the fact, that without a stable financial knowledge it is very difficult to navigate in a globalized financial markets. Stable financial knowledge is essential for financial products to avoid the next financial crisis similar to the one in 2008. The role of the education system is unquestionable in all levels to acquiring and consolidating this knowledge, but the banks and central banks have an important role in this work as well. Hungarian people are often criticized because of an insufficient financial knowledge, but this problem is not mainly Hungarian, it is a big question all over the world. The aim of this study is to present the results of a questionnaire survey carried out in the Hungarian higher education

A „nagy háború” hatása a magyar felsőoktatásra és az egyetemi ifjúságra

The ’Great War’s Influence on the Hungarian Higher Education and Youth. The study examines the different effects that occurred as a consequence of the First World War, such as the reduction of student numbers due to enlisting the army, the society’s reaction to the increased number of women and Jewish students, the reduced activity of university societies, the loss of territory due to war, the continuous inflation, and the radical right wing’s reaction to the lack of stability of the Hungarian youth. These consequences resulted in the increased popularity of the so called association of army brotherhood. To sum up, the author concludes that the Hungarian higher education wasn’t well prepared for the war, which in turn resulted in a number of negative consequences in the following decades.

Az egyetemi és akadémiai ifjúság politikai szerepvállalása 1830–1880 között

The Political Involvement of the University- and Academic Youth between 1830 and 1880. The institutional network of the higher education in Hungary was very diverse on the turn of the 18th and 19th century and in the first part of the 19th century. In the multi-national and multi-confessional country, 88 institutions provided higher than medium level education. Most of these institutions were related to the historical denomination but besides them several state higher educational institutions existed. We reported about the student movements of these schools in this paper. In the first part of the 19th century the Holy Alliance’s system prohibited the foundation of student movements, although, in most of the institutions, reading circles and literature student associations were formed in which the leaders of the future national movements played an important role. The period of the revolution and the fight for freedom of 1848–1849 was significant regarding the student movements as well, because at most universities the studentry listed their requests aiming not only the reform of student life but the social changes as well. After the defeat of the freedom fight it was not possible to form student associations for ten years. But from the 1860s the battle for the national language of higher education marked the Hungarian youth movements. After the Austro- Hungarian Compromise, the studentry’s activity decreased, although they spoke in some political questions. For example, in 1867–1877, during the time of the Russian-Turkish war, the students in Pest and Cluj- Napoca stood against the Russians and not the Turks. This action produced that the university youth got back 36 valuable medieval codices from the Turks which were stolen in 1526 from the Royal Library in Buda.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ УГОРЩИНИ ПОЧАТКУ ХХ СТОЛІТТЯ: ГЕОГРАФІЧНО-РЕГІОНАЛЬНИЙ АСПЕКТ

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ УГОРЩИНИ ПОЧАТКУ ХХ СТОЛІТТЯ: ГЕОГРАФІЧНО-РЕГІОНАЛЬНИЙ АСПЕКТ

A tanulmányi fegyelem a felsőoktatásban az ötvenes évek elején

A Rakosi-korszak felsőoktatasaban a tanulmanyi hanyagsag (az orai hianyzas, keses vagy bukas stb.), de a tanulmanyok engedely nelkuli abbahagyasa is fegyelmi vetsegge valt, mely elvi szinten a tanulas munkakent valo azonositasabol, praktikusan a felsőoktatas szakemberutanpotlasban betoltott funkciojabol kovetkezett. A szocialista tanulasszervezes a fegyelmet a diploma megszerzesenek legfontosabb alapfelteteleve emelte, s a hallgatoknak a felsőoktatas otvenes evek eleji műkodesi mechanizmusaival szoros osszefuggesben allo tanulmanyi nehezsegeit is pusztan fegyelemlazulaskent ertelmezte. Discipline in the Hungarian higher education at the beginning of the fifties In the universities of the Rakosi era, classroom absence, late arrival or failure, as well as dropping out of school often led to disciplinary penalties. On the field of principles, this practice was based on the interpretation of learning and studying as working, while in practice, on the role of the higher education as making of a “new intelligentsia”. Through the communist regulations of learning the discipline became a primary condition of getting a degree, therefore learning difficulties of students were interpreted exclusively as a lack of discipline, even if they came from the mechanisms of the Soviet-type higher education themselves. Keywords: discipline; punishment; Rakosi era; higher education

How the Planned V0 Railway Line Would Increase the Resilience of the Railway Network of Hungary Against Attacks

The development of the Moodle e-learning system started in 2002. Since it is an open source platform with a prominently rich functionality, the system has been introduced in more than 100,000 organisations worldwide in the last decade, including numerous Hungarian higher education institutions (Szent Istvan University, Obuda University, University of Pannonia) and many organisations in the public administration. We have been operating with one of the largest user (12,000 visitors daily) and course (more than 1,000 active courses per semester) numbers in Hungary, a Moodle based system since 2007 at the Corvinus University of Budapest (CUB) with a high level of user satisfaction.We managed a major, overall system improvement project at CUB in 2016. The development included a version upgrade to the newest Moodle 3, a full redesign, introduction of several new functions regarding the professors’ needs and core improvement on the system’s stability and security among others with a comprehensive load-impact test.In this paper, we discuss the success factors and pitfalls of the whole renewal process. We will further focus on analysing the group discussions with the major stakeholders and evaluate the comprehensive load-impact test. At the end of our paper, we will examine the state of the Moodle e-learning system at the National University of Public Service and we will propose elements of an improvement project relying on our recent experience at another university.

Система освіти дорослих Угорщини і Данії

The purpose of the work is to characterize the organization of adult education in Hungary and Denmark. It has been found that in Hungary adult education is being conducted to ensure literacy in accordance with market requirements and economic development of the country. The Hungarian Association for Adult Learning has been set up in Hungary, which plays an important role in professional supervision and job satisfaction, as well as in the development of vocational training legislation. The country is characterized by decentralization of education management of unoccupied citizens. On the basis of the concept: the state system of vocational training, retraining and retraining of the unemployed population; the concept of adult education in the EU countries programs for the adult population. Higher education in Hungary is represented by more than 20 educational institutions: universities and institutes (colleges). Denmark's adult education system is an extensive network of private, community, municipal and state organizations and institutions offering a wide range of informal and formal, professional and non-professional education programs that are governed by relevant legislation. The Danish adult education task is to support world trends that promote the nation's prosperity: the development of innovative processes and the improvement of the quality of education; increasing the flexibility and responsibility of schools to adult students. The adult education in Denmark, funded by the state, can be divided into three components: liberal (Free) adult education (popular higher schools, home economics schools, evening schools, day schools); general education of adults (adult education centers, language centers, evening high schools of secondary education); professionally oriented education and adult education (labor training center, production schools, vocational schools, social and medical schools, etc.). A system of grants (scholarships) was created to support gifted students. Some universities and other institutions of higher education provide their own scholarships. Much attention in the country is paid to the education of adults, which is carried out in the form of general secondary schools courses, vocational training courses. The state's care of providing all kinds of services in the education system of the adult population contributes to Denmark's high achievements in economic development. Higher education establishments of this country give an opportunity to get not only education but also knowledge that will be useful not only for the graduate but also for the whole country. Key words: adult education, Hungary, Denmark, Association of adult education enterprises, non-formal education, formal education, vocational education, non-vocational education.

Neoliberalism Meets Minority Nationalism: The Politics of Hungarian Higher Education in Romania

A Hungarian public university was one of the main demands of the leaders of Hungarians from Romania after the fall of the communist regime in 1989. Almost three decades later, higher education in Hungarian has developed into a precarious, fragmented, and divided institutional assemblage, solidified around two main components, the Hungarian line of study at the well-established public Babeș-Bolyai University and the new private university Sapientia, reliant on the Hungarian government’s financial support. The article investigates how Hungarians from Romania, whose persistent ethnic politics brought them extensive recognition, and who were successful in creating a Hungarian parallel society, failed to converge in achieving one of their most important goals. By unpacking this case of intra-ethnic unmixing, it shows how institutional arrangements affect the stakes and means of the struggle for minority rights, and how structural asymmetry in numbers and power carries disadvantage into the life of institutions.

Computer oriented higher education in Hungary – the beginnings

The history of computer-oriented higher education in Hungary started in 1957, when Prof. Laszlo Kalmar started the education of “applied mathematicians” at the University of Szeged. (The author graduated in the second year of this course, later called the “Szeged School.”) This paper starts with the computing experience starts with educational activities around M-3, the first computer made in Hungary, and the use of this experience for educational purposes. It then continues with the initiatives of the University of Szeged, and, after surveying some basic and higher-degree courses, goes on to the institutions of higher learning offering education in computer studies, all the way to the programmer and program developer mathematician courses started in 1972 at three science-universities . However, the institutions of technical education will not be discussed in such detail; although teaching applied computing skills necessary for the technical field had begun quite early, the teaching of professional IT specialists was started only around 1990. The paper contains a table listing the first elective and founding subjects and the first specializations and independent training programmes offered by each university and college. Finally there is a short overview of the connections between contemporary professors and a list of the first conferences organized for IT teachers in Hungary.The IT History Forum (iTF) within the John von Neumann Computer Society (NJSZT) was founded at the beginning of 2009. At one of its events, it occurred to the author that information about the beginnings should be gathered while the persons in question are still alive. The study took 3 years to prepare and is the product of a large-scale collaboration: a total of 130 contemporary and present day teachers, researchers, and librarians participated in the work. Typotex published the material in the form of a book in 2012. This study, which provides insight into the everyday lives of 30 institutions, is the source for this paper. (The book includes a name-index containing 300 entries and a list of almost 500 definitive contemporary articles, textbooks and technical books published until 1980.) – The paper is concluded with a brief presentation of the digitalised “Data Archive” (see the iTF website: http://itf2.njszt.hu) that serves to preserve the history of computing in Hungary.