Swiss Education System Research Articles

Proximal Policy Optimization-Based Reinforcement Learning and Hybrid Approaches to Explore the Cross Array Task Optimal Solution

In an era characterised by rapid technological advancement, the application of algorithmic approaches to address complex problems has become crucial across various disciplines. Within the realm of education, there is growing recognition of the pivotal role played by computational thinking (CT). This skill set has emerged as indispensable in our ever-evolving digital landscape, accompanied by an equal need for effective methods to assess and measure these skills. This research places its focus on the Cross Array Task (CAT), an educational activity designed within the Swiss educational system to assess students’ algorithmic skills. Its primary objective is to evaluate pupils’ ability to deconstruct complex problems into manageable steps and systematically formulate sequential strategies. The CAT has proven its effectiveness as an educational tool in tracking and monitoring the development of CT skills throughout compulsory education. Additionally, this task presents an enthralling avenue for algorithmic research, owing to its inherent complexity and the necessity to scrutinise the intricate interplay between different strategies and the structural aspects of this activity. This task, deeply rooted in logical reasoning and intricate problem solving, often poses a substantial challenge for human solvers striving for optimal solutions. Consequently, the exploration of computational power to unearth optimal solutions or uncover less intuitive strategies presents a captivating and promising endeavour. This paper explores two distinct algorithmic approaches to the CAT problem. The first approach combines clustering, random search, and move selection to find optimal solutions. The second approach employs reinforcement learning techniques focusing on the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) model. The findings of this research hold the potential to deepen our understanding of how machines can effectively tackle complex challenges like the CAT problem but also have broad implications, particularly in educational contexts, where these approaches can be seamlessly integrated into existing tools as a tutoring mechanism, offering assistance to students encountering difficulties. This can ultimately enhance students’ CT and problem-solving abilities, leading to an enriched educational experience.

FEATURES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN SWITZERLAND

The article provides an analysis of the current problems of education in Switzerland. Based on the development of normative materials (national and cantonal levels), scientific research by foreign scientists (U. Bekolli, X. Bueler, U. Fredriksson, B. Getto, A. Gretler, T. Holzer, M. Keim, K. Maag-Merki, J. Zulliger) and generalization of the educational activities of practicing teachers (N. Boruvka, К. Кirr, R. Stuber) the Swiss education system is characterized, the latest trends and contradictions in its development are highlighted.In the course of the general historical and pedagogical discourse, it was emphasized that Switzerland has fundamental pedagogical traditions, which are reflected in the works of J. Pestalozzi (1746-1827), A. Ferrier (1841-1919), J.-Zh. Rousseau (1712-1778), E. Clavius (1837-1906). It has been established that modern education in Switzerland is decentralized and lies within the responsibility of cantons (administrative units), so certain features may exist in different regions of the country. However, the general principles of organizing the education system of the Swiss cantons are similar. Each canton establishes its own educational calendar, curriculum and didactic criteria.The basic structure of Swiss education includes the following levels: preschool education, primary education, secondary education (lower secondary education and upper secondary education), vocational education, higher education. One of the features of the education system in Switzerland is multilingualism. Four languages are officially recognized in the country: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Depending on the region, the language of instruction may differ. Foreign languages are highly valued in the Swiss education system. Most children and young people learn English and at least a second national language. It is also worth noting that the education system in Switzerland is quite flexible, there are different paths and programs that meet the needs of pupils and students with different educational goals and interests.It was found that the problems of education in Switzerland are studied by many scientists who specialize in the field of education, psychology and sociology. Among the most urgent problems of Swiss pedagogy, it is appropriate to single out the following aspects: digitalization of education and the impact of this process on the transformation of educational interaction between teacher and student, teacher and student (pedagogical creativity and cooperation in conditions of digitalization); organization of didactic communication in a multicultural and multilingual educational environment (approximately 25% of the population of Switzerland is made up of foreigners); professional development of teachers (lack of support for innovation, inflated expectations of society, instability of employment, etc.); application of labor education and productive work in the educational process; improvement of ties between educational institutions and basic enterprises, etc.

Online Self-Assessment in Mathematics at the University of Bern

In the Swiss education system the cantons oversee educational matters, practically meaning there are 26 different school systems. This is also reflected in the graduation exam, which is organized locally in every high school. Based on this assessment and their preference, students are admitted to university without any additional entrance exam. This motivated us to create an online self-assessment. Its two mathematical parts serve a different purpose: one evaluates basic mathematical skills, and the other one deals with abstract reasoning that gives students a flavor of university mathematics. Additionally, the online self-assessment contains a set of metacognition questions regarding motivation, expectations and attitude towards mathematics. Our goal is that students to identify their strengths and help them make a more informed study choice.
 The technical tool used for the implementation is STACK, an open-source online assessment system in mathematics. Concerning this use case of STACK, we are currently collecting students’ feedback. We will present our first conclusions on this matter, which serve as a basis for further adjustments of the material.

Does Time Since Arrival have an Effect on Immigrants’ Preferences for Vocational Education and Training Programs in Switzerland?

In many European countries, immigrants tend to view vocational education and training (VET) programs as less desirable for themselves and their children. Students with migration background, therefore, show stronger preferences for academic education over VET programs. This article contributes to the literature on immigrants’ educational choices by investigating whether their educational preferences change as foreign-born students live in Switzerland for longer periods. Using data of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of ninth-grade students between 2000 and 2012, our results confirm that the probability to prefer a VET program, conditional on cognitive ability, increases for foreign-born students the longer they have been in Switzerland. By exploiting variation in students’ knowledge level at the time of immigration, we provide a tentative test for whether differences in the level of knowledge on the host country's education system influence immigrants’ educational choices. For students born in a country with a similar VET system and for students with a parent born in Switzerland, the preference for VET programs did not increase with the time spent in Switzerland. These findings suggest that a lack of information about the Swiss education system biases immigrants’ educational preferences and this bias can lead to suboptimal choices. Thus, policymakers should ensure that immigrant students early receive information about the host country's education system.

Discovering new perspectives - strengthening autonomy. Students from different healthcare professions interact with patients and provide care in a self-determined and interprofessional manner.

The Careum Summer School (CSS) is a learning setting that enables self-regulated learning in an environment in which trainees and students from the various medical, nursing and therapeutic healthcare professions taught in the Swiss education system (upper secondary and tertiary levels A and B) develop project ideas together with patients and their caregivers. The aim of this learning setting is to promote a positive attitude among trainees and students towards interprofessional collaboration that includes patients as cooperation partners. Objective: The evaluation examines the extent to which trainees’ and students’ attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration changed. Information was also obtained on the experiences patients and their caregivers had during their participation in the CSS programme. Methodology: A total of 69 trainees and students were given access to an online survey in the form of the German version of the University of the West of England Interprofessional Questionnaire (UWE-IP) one week before the CSS programme began and six weeks after it concluded. Problem-focused interviews were also conducted with 11 patients and their caregivers.Results: The attitudes of the trainees and students in the UWE-IP Interprofessional Learning Scale improved significantly after the CSS programme was conducted (median t1=22.0/t2=16.0). The effect size was r=0.839 (Wilcoxon test for dependent samples). No significant results could be identified for the other three UWE-IP scales. Patients and their caregivers reported that they were able to actively participate in the CSS programme and felt valued and appreciated. Conclusion: The CSS offered a learning environment in which all participants were able to exchange knowledge and information in an interprofessional manner and work collaboratively on the development of a project idea – for example an interprofessional competency passport with a spider diagram.

Culture, norms, and the provision of training by employers: Evidence from the Swiss language border

Apprenticeships are the core track of the Swiss educational system at the upper-secondary level, made possible by the fact that many Swiss firms voluntarily provide appropriate training positions. However, firms’ training provision differs substantively between the language-cultural regions within Switzerland. This feature of the Swiss apprenticeship system is hard to explain using conventional explanations of firm-provided training. In this paper, we argue that there are cultural differences in the norms favoring private over state provision of goods, which influence firms’ provision of training positions. Exploiting national referenda, we first show that, within a narrow band around the language border, voters in German speaking municipalities value private over public provision of certain goods more than their French speaking counterparts. We then document a higher share of training firms on the German speaking side of the language border of 4.4 percentage points, or roughly 13%. This estimate is robust across different sets of controls, alternative specifications, and various subsamples. Our results suggest an interplay between regional norms and local firms’ training behavior.

Human Agency in Educational Trajectories: Evidence from a Stratified System

AbstractIn the research on life-course outcomes, there is a long-standing debate on the relative importance of institutional structure and human agency. This study examines how structure and agency influence educational trajectories in Switzerland. The Swiss education system is hierarchically differentiated but permeable, providing both standard and non-standard pathways to higher education. Using data from a 15-year panel survey, the study assesses, first, the extent to which lower-secondary-school track attendance is associated with individuals’ probability of moving into an academic or vocational programme at upper-secondary level and, second, how this predicts the probability of subsequently entering a university. The study also examines how human agency influences these probabilities. Results of a structural equation model show that lower-secondary track attendance significantly predicts individuals’ probability of transitioning into academic education, whereas human agency plays a minor, albeit non-negligible, role in this regard. In turn, pursuing an academic rather than a vocational programme is associated with a 47-percentage point (or 16-fold) higher probability of subsequently attending university. Individuals comparatively rarely follow non-standard pathways to university, irrespective of their level of agency. The education system channels educational trajectories, but the power of the channelling effect varies across the different junctures of the system.

Benefit finding moderates the relationship between young carer experiences and mental well-being

Objective Research has shown that some young carers face many negative consequences because of their caring experiences, whereas others seem to be unaffected or even report greater well-being. To understand how caring for a family member or close friend can have these different effects, this study compared benefit finding between young carers and their peers and examined its association with mental well-being. Design We recruited 2,525 adolescents aged 15–21 years (59.6% female, M age = 17.73) through the Swiss education system. They were asked to complete measures of caring experiences, benefit finding, and mental well-being. Young carers (n = 1,137), including adolescents who currently or formerly provided care, were compared to adolescents without caring experiences (n = 1,388). Results Young carers had a higher level of overall benefit finding than non-carer peers, and their profiles of benefit finding differed regarding the dimensions of growth and empathy. The association between caring experiences and mental well-being was weaker when benefit finding was higher. Benefit finding dimensions were differently associated with mental well-being among young carers. Conclusions This study shows that caring is associated with benefit finding and suggests that engaging with past stressors in a positive way may promote resilience in young carers.

Youngsters’ choices within the field of vocational education in French-speaking Switzerland: the interplay of institutional influences, peer-group and habitus

ABSTRACT This article aims at deepening our understanding, through an ethnographical approach, of the processes at play in orientation choices within the field of vocational education; 21 working-class students nearing the end of compulsory schooling in French-speaking Switzerland were interviewed and their interactions with education professionals during guidance classes observed. Using data-source triangulation, the article shows that choices are often strongly shaped, within the highly selective and rigidly tracked Swiss educational system, by the systematic discourse of teachers during daily classroom interactions that instil a sense of limits in students over the course of the school year, thus consolidating the reproduction of social inequalities. Students’ choices also stem from pragmatically rational decisions, in which opportunity structures of the labour market, institutional influences, habitus, peer-group and the values of (fractions) of social classes each play a differentiated part in every individual situation. Finally, our ethnographic approach enables us to add complexity to recent studies based upon Bourdieu as well as upon Hodkinson and Sparkes’ theoretical models that tend to underestimate the structural influence of teachers’ discourse in shaping youngsters’ horizons for action.

"Together on the Way": Occupational Therapy in Mainstream Education-A Narrative Study of Emerging Practice in Switzerland.

In Switzerland, recent changes in legislation have reformed special needs education; more children with special needs are now integrated into mainstream schools. Health professionals such as occupational therapists are not embedded in the Swiss education system, but pediatric occupational therapists are starting to work at schools, with the aim of enabling children's full participation as school students. This is bringing a change to the practice of pediatric occupational therapists. Cultural, political, and social factors differ in many ways from those of other countries where most of the current research on pediatric occupational therapists in mainstream education has been conducted. The need for school-based research that is situated within the political, structural, and cultural context of a country has been stressed in different studies. This qualitative study employed narrative analysis to explore the practice experiences and clinical reasoning of Swiss pediatric occupational therapists when working with children with special needs in the school context. Three main themes were identified in the narratives: “bringing in an occupational therapy perspective,” “focusing on school-related occupations,” and “collaborating with different inclusion players.” These represent three different aspects of the therapists' emerging practice. The participants highlight different approaches for children with special needs to enable their participation in everyday life at school through learning, playing, and being with their peers. The findings are discussed in relation to current international research and with respect to European countries with a similar political and structural context, thus complementing approaches to school-based occupational therapy.

РОЛЬ И МЕСТО АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА В ШВЕЙЦАРСКОЙ СИСТЕМЕ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ

The article provides an overview of publications on the role and place of the English language in the Swiss educational system from the perspective of the extent and breadth of the “English Language” discipline distribution in key educational organizations. The specificity of teaching English in different cantons both at public and private educational institutions is discussed. High quality of teaching foreign languages is emphasized. Particular attention is paid to the possibility of obtaining education in English at private schools in Switzerland.

The Car, the Hammer and the Cables under the Tables

AbstractBased on ethnographic material, this article explores how three groups of apprentices negotiate masculinities in the specific setting of a male-dominated vocational school in Switzerland dedicated to the building trades. We use an intersectional and relational perspective to highlight how the institutional setting of the school—mirroring wider social hierarchies—influences these young men’s identity work. The apprentices use three discursive dichotomies: manual vs. mental work; proud heterosexuality vs. homosexuality; and adulthood vs. childhood. However, the three different groups employ the dichotomies differently depending on their position in the school’s internal hierarchies, based on their educational path, the trade they are learning and the corresponding prestige. The article sheds light on the micro-processes through which existing hierarchies are internalised within an institution. It further discusses how the school’s internal differentiations and the staff’s discourses and behaviours contribute to the (re)production of specific classed masculinities, critically assessing the role of the Swiss educational system in the reproduction of social inequalities.

La enseñanza del español como lengua de origen en el contexto suizo. Desafíos de los cursos LCO (Lengua y Cultura de Origen)

This article aims to present the diversity and reality of “Courses of Spanish as a heritage language” (HLC) in Switzerland. The article is organized in two parts. The first section exposes the characteristics of heritage language teaching policies in Switzerland and their objectives. On the base of a survey carried out with heritage language teachers, the current situation of the courses is described (Calderon, Fibbi & Truong, 2013). Furthermore, the problematic with regard their integration in the Swiss education system and their formal recognition is also discussed. In the second section, specifically the courses of Spanish as a heritage language and the organization models are introduced. We also present the results of a questionnaire addressed to families whose children attend the Spanish courses. The answers of the questionnaires allow us to better describe the linguistic context and educational background of children and consequently the characteristics of the population who studies Spanish as a heritage language (Sanchez Abchi, current project). The important presence of these courses highlights the vitality of Spanish in Switzerland. However, the maintenance of the heritage language courses entails major challenges not only for the institutions but also for the teachers.

Work or university? Economic competencies and educational aspirations of trainees with hybrid qualifications in Switzerland

The Federal Vocational Baccalaureate constitutes the major link between the academic and vocational tracks in the Swiss educational system. Statistics show that only 20 % of a cohort move immediately to an academic track after graduation. Regarding the effects of economic competencies on these transitions, there is a substantial lack within the current state of research. This study thus aims to elucidate these effects by following a prevailing explorative approach. A cross-sectional design is used, and the data are based on a representative sample of N = 1.051 Federal Vocational Baccalaureate students of the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Data were gathered at the end of the school year 2010/2011 via an achievement test and a questionnaire. Results show positive interrelations for economic knowledge and skills, value-oriented dispositions as well as attitude towards economics on the one side and educational aspirations on the other side. Thus, interrelations regarding the intention to study in economics or a related field are stronger than for other fields. The study offers new insights on the effects of economic competencies and supports the assumption that economic competencies are part of prerequisites of students’ educational aspirations and in the long run for social participation.

The Mediating Impact of Parental Support on the Relationship Between Personality and Career Indecision in Adolescents

In the Swiss education system, approximately 55% of adolescents are required to make their first vocational choice at the end of mandatory school. This can induce transitory or long-lasting career indecision that is recognized as being influenced by personal and contextual factors. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between career decision-making difficulties and the five-factor model of personality traits, parental support, and self-esteem in 448 Grade 9 Swiss adolescents. We then proceeded to test if these relationships vary according to the adolescent’s educational choice (i.e., whether they attend high school or if they choose an apprenticeship or vocational training). Results have highlighted the importance of neuroticism, conscientiousness, and parental support to predict career decision-making difficulties. Moreover, parental support mediated the relationships between extraversion and agreeableness (fully) and between conscientiousness (partially) and career decision-making difficulties. Finally, the educational choice had no impact on the overall pattern of relationships. Implications for career counselor practices were further discussed.

Measuring the Social Status of Education Programmes: Applying a New Measurement to Dual Vocational Education and Training in Switzerland

This paper proposes a new approach to measuring changes in the social status of education programmes, a type of social status that the literature has greatly neglected so far. We focus on the dual Vocational Education and Training (dual VET) system in Switzerland, which has recently received substantial attention across Europe. We argue that, holding everything else constant, a change in the relative ability of students in an education programme, in relation to the cohort, reflects a change in the social status of that programme. Using PISA scores as a proxy for cognitive ability, we apply this approach to test whether growing knowledge of the education system increases the social status of dual VET in Switzerland. Our results, which focus on immigrant students, confirm that the social status of dual VET increases with these students length of stay in Switzerland, thus reflecting their learning process about the Swiss education system.

Human capital depreciation and education level

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between human capital depreciation and education level, with an emphasis on potential differences between general and specific education.Design/methodology/approach– A nonlinear wage equation, based on Arrazola and de Hevia's (2004) model, is estimated using data from the Swiss Labor Force Survey (SLFS) over the period 1998-2008, in order to estimate a human capital depreciation rate for several education groups.Findings– Human capital depreciation is significantly related to education type. Academic (“concept-based”) education protects workers more effectively against depreciation than vocational (“skill-specific”) education.Research limitations/implications– The SLFS survey is a rotating panel of five years and no retrospective data on earnings and employment are provided. A study of lifecycle earnings like the one proposed here would clearly benefit from a longer individual observation period.Practical implications– In all educational tracks, even vocational ones, a substantial time share should be devoted to the acquisition of general skills. Moreover, it is necessary to manage lifelong learning carefully in order not to waste initial investments in education.Originality/value– Instead of using a purely quantitative approach to separate workers by years of education, qualitative aspects of educational system are taken into account. Taking advantage of the Swiss educational system characteristics, workers are separated on the basis of their education type. Workers with vocational education (apprenticeships, professional and technical schools and universities of applied sciences) are assumed to possess a relatively specific human capital, compared to those with academic education (high schools and universities).

Реформирование школы в современной Швейцарии

The Swiss education system is hardly represented by Russian comparative education, but some of its elements deserve real attention. Today this country’s school education is being reformed. Education management decentralization makes this process unequal in regions, where local governments determine themselves the need for reforms, their goals, objectives, directions and measures. In such a case the content of re-organizations took the most important place in educational debates. Almost in every region re-organizations contains the questions of educational monitoring system, introduction of educational standards, developing pupils’ language competencies, school restructuring, educational inequality elimination and teachers’ training optimization. The paper also deals with background, conditions and other features of the reform process in the most of regions, with predictions about its success.

Developing applications of the ICF in education systems: addressing issues of knowledge creation, management and transfer

Purpose: Since its endorsement, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has been applied in many policy contexts, including education. While so far the focus has been on showing ways in which it can be used to describe functioning and disability, this article seeks to focus on its value to represent knowledge. Methods: Two applications of the ICF and ICF-CY in the context of the Swiss education system highlight ways in which the classification can be used to assist multidisciplinary teams in acquiring and mapping existing knowledge, in creating new knowledge and in applying it for specific purposes. Results: The conceptual analysis illustrates that “disability in education” is a hybrid conceptual world that needs to bridge disability-related information with information relevant for learning and education. The ICF can be used to adequately map such knowledge in complex social settings. Conclusion: More attention needs to be paid to the ICF as an information system to help negotiate between different views on reality and different areas of expertise. The selection of content and ways of representing it need to be considered in the light of the specific purposes during collaborative knowledge creation processes.Implications for RehabilitationA sound understanding of the linkage between knowledge, information and data helps to clarify problems with the application of the ICF in everyday practice.Tool development needs to be responsive to the different information requirements across the knowledge creation cycle.Planning and decision-making can be improved if relevant information is represented in ways that facilitate adequate information processing.

Umweltbildung fördert den respektvollen Umgang mit der Natur

Environmental education promotes a respectful approach to nature Environmental education is not only of topical interest but has over the last 40 years developed into an interesting and multifaceted approach to education, which has been recognised as an important component of the Swiss educational system. Environmental education opportunities for all ages have been put in place, always with the objective of leading people to a relation with natural resources which is based on respect.