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The thesis aims to explore the students’ reading efficiency, i.e., the peculiarities of time and accuracy, at the end of the lower elementary grades. From the fifth grade, children are already expected to use reading as a tool for gaining information, that is, they do not learn to read, but reading is a tool for learning. The research consists of four phases. In the first phase, we assessed the oral reading with a traditionally used Hungarian reading aloud test of a randomly selected sample that consisted of 934 fourth grade students. In the second part of this phase, we analyze the role of socioeconomic factors in reading skills. The second phase focuses on the pattern and characteristics of mistakes, while the third one concentrates on eye movements during identifying words. Finally, we examined the degree of care of children who read poorly can get access to. Our results show that we can identify students with low reading efficiency in the fourth grade, in addition, their reading performance is significantly correlated with comprehension. In text, wrong semantic or syntactic guessing causes mistakes; therefore, reading errors are more apparent while reading letters, syllables and isolated words. There is a difference in eye-movements based on mastery: children with better reading skills are less sensitive to the orthographic complexity of the words. The settlement type and the highest education level of the mother are highly correlated with the speed and the accuracy of reading. We can also conclude that on system level, a significant proportion (66%) of pupils with reading difficulties are left without assistance; the access to intervention programmes depends on reading performance only on a minor extent, regardless of socioeconomic status. Based on our research, it can be emphasized that even at-risk students could learn the written language on a more secure basis by creating orthographic and lexical prerequisites, i.e., thoroughly differentiating certain vowels, preparing syllabification, and expanding vocabulary. The most effective way to solve this problem is through early detection and treatment, furthermore; it would be highly advisable to incorporate screening milestones and related interventions during learning to read.

The analysis of the National Core Curriculum (2012), the chemistry framework curricula and the school-leaving examination requirements showed that the development of inquiry skills is an important goal of chemistry teaching in Hungary, but the results of the textbook analysis show that there is a lack of exercises that require formulating questions, hypotheses, designing experiments and working with variables. There is therefore a need for additional tasks and tried and tested educational intervention programmes that can be directly implemented in teaching (Szalay et al., 2020; Szalay et al., 2021). In our research, we have developed an intervention for tenth-grade students related to the teaching of the „Carboxylic acids and esters” unit. The programme aims to foster the control of variables strategy (CVS). These skills are essential for proper experimental design and for drawing evidence-based conclusions (Chen & Khlar, 1999). Without them, students cannot distinguish confounded experiments and unconfounded experiments and thus reach unreliable conclusions (Kuhn, 2007). Developing CVS can also help students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills (Kuhn, 2008). The programme is primarily based on inquiry-based learning (Orosz et al., 2023), which we found in a previous case study to be effective when appropriate scaffolding is provided. The educational experiment took place in spring 2019. The intervention followed a control- and experimental-group, pre-posttest research design. The sample consisted of grade 10 students from urban high schools. The experimental group consisted of five classes (N = 121; Age = 16.7 years, SD = 0.4 years; boy 42.1%, girl 57.9%) and the control group contained six classes (N = 151; Age = 16.8 years, SD = 0.4 years; boy 50.3%, girl 49.7%). Inquiry skills were assessed with an online test (Inquiry skills test), and the CVS was assessed using paper-and-pencil tests (CVS tests). In addition, we examined the impact of the intervention on students' attitudes towards chemistry and chemistry learning motivation, using an adapted questionnaire (Chemistry Motivation Questionnaire II – CMQ II, based on Glynn et al., 2011). The results show that the intervention had a small effect on students' performance in the Inquiry skills post-test (Cohen's d = 0.315). The experimental group had a larger mean score than the control group, but the difference was not significant. The experimental group had a significantly better average performance in the CVS post-test than the control group. The effect size is medium (partial eta-squared = 0.159) when the results of the Inquiry skills pretest, the CVS pretest and the CMQ II pretest are included as covariates in the model. Thus, the program has been shown to be effective in enhancing students' skills in identifying and controlling variables. There is no significant effect of performance categories when included as an independent variable in the model, nor is the interaction of performance categories and the intervention significant, suggesting that low, medium and high-performing students benefited equally from the programme. Furthermore, there is no significant effect of gender when included as an independent variable in the model, so it can be concluded that the development does not differentiate between boys and girls. During the intervention, both the experimental and control groups' motivation to learn chemistry decreased, which is in line with the results of Salta and Koulougliotis (2015). Analysis of variance and effect size calculations suggest that the intervention did not affect learning motivation and attitudes towards chemistry. Student feedback suggests that students in the experimental group enjoyed the topics and felt that they gained a greater understanding. Of the methods used in the intervention, inquiry-based learning was the most popular, followed by games and worksheets. Our research has shown that the CVS of tenth-grade students can be fostered through our intervention programme during chemistry teaching. In the thesis, we present the implications of the findings, the limitations, and the possible improvements.

As adult learning has become an integral part of everyday life as a result of environmental changes and challenges, there is a growing focus on the effectiveness of national adult education systems, in which the qualified adult learning professional is a determinant factor in promoting successful adult learning process. Nevertheless, the international literature draws attention to the inadequate preparation of professionals, their changing careers, atypical employment conditions, changing fields of activity and lack of professional identity, all of which have an impact on the effectiveness of professional activities of the adult learning professionals. As a result, the aim of the thesis is to investigate the main labour market characteristics and professionalisation process of adult learning professionals in Serbia, using a multidimensional approach. These dimensions were aimed at an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of (1) the adult education as a profession, (2) the legislative environment of adult education in Serbia, (3) the national institutional system of adult education and (4) the characteristics of adult learning professionals. Several research methods were used to achieve this goal during the research period. First, we used a content analysis method to conduct comparative research on the legislation environment and the content of the andragogy training programmes at university level. Following that a semi-structured interview research was conducted to investigate the opinions of adult learning experts in decision-making positions about the practical implementation of adult education in Serbia (N=6). Based on the results of the previous research activities, a large sample semi-structured, self-developed questionnaire survey (N=303) was realized to explore the specified features of adult learning professionals. The target groups were the adult learning professionals employed in the adult primary schools and the state-recognized non-formal adult learning institutions. SPSS and Atlas.ti. were used to analyse the data. One of the significance of the research is that no similar empirical survey has been conducted in Serbia, which confirms the diversity of adult education professionals, their atypical employment conditions and the lack of a unified professional identity.

Musical activities, in addition to their many positive transfer effects, are also a source of joy. The development of musical skills at school takes place primarily in music lessons, which are the main stage for the foundation of general musical literacy. Therefore, school music lessons offer all children the opportunity to experience the feeling of freedom and joy by connecting rhythm and movement, acquiring musical knowledge, and refining their aesthetic sense. At the same time, based on our experience, the practice and methodology of Hungarian music education in elementary schools put more emphasis on singing musical activities, and less on rhythmic activities. School music lessons can also provide opportunities for students to like music and musical activities more, however, based on previous studies, music lessons are not one of the most popular lessons in Hungary. In our research, we aimed to examine the development of rhythmic skills among first and second-grade students. In a longitudinal study, we examined the characteristics of the rhythmic skill development of children studying according to the traditional curriculum in the first two grades of elementary school (n=205). Our two other experimental studies concern the playful development possibilities of rhythmic skills in classroom conditions, in which we examined the possibility of effective development of rhythmic skills and the effects of regular practice of rhythmic games on the attitude towards music lessons (n1=258, n2=218). Based on our longitudinal study results, the auditory rhythmic ability which represents rhythmic skills shows a significant, moderate development with a slowing intensity in the first two years of elementary school. We have shown also that rhythm perception and rhythm reproduction develop to a different degree in the examined grades. The developmental characteristics of the auditory rhythmic ability and the changes in its structure were revealed by factor analysis. In the first two years of elementary school, our results show a continuous reorganization of rhythmic skills and in the second year, we can conclude that the ability to perceive tempo stabilizes. The results of our first experiment show that the application of the first rhythmic development program did not affect the development of abilities in the experimental group (n=141) to a significantly greater extent than in the control group (n=117), but at the same time, it slightly helped the students with low development to catch up. The development program was successful in promoting a positive attitude toward music lessons, contributing to a significantly more positive attitude in the experimental group than in the control group. As a result of our second experiment, the application of an intensive rhythmic development program, the experimental group (n=90) achieved significantly higher development in all tested musical abilities than the control group (n=128). The students of the experimental group using the intensive rhythmic development program liked the music lessons significantly more than the students of the control group. Our longitudinal study and two experiments conducted in first grade support the previous research results, according to which the age of 6–8 is a sensitive period for the development of rhythmic skills. In addition, we have also shown that rhythmic skills can be significantly improved in the first grade with intensive and regular development integrated into the lesson.

In my dissertation, I undertook to examine the early work of Gyula Krúdy, one of the most outstanding literary figures in Hungarian literature. The aim of the systematic analysis of the works written in the period 1894-1902 was twofold. On the one hand, I tried to draw conclusions about the intrinsic value of the works produced in this early period, while at the same time trying to find certain points of connection with the general features of the oeuvre. My dissertation is primarily composed of analyses of writings that focus on religious phenomena and respond to transcendence. In my view, the results of the history of religion can make a major contribution to broadening the traditional framework of interpretation. The exploration of the types of structures and their poetic function of the spiritual contexts in Krúdy's works has so far escaped the attention of the reception. In my analyses, I wanted to point out, among other things, the poetic functions of the evocation of folklore myths, which Krúdy's characters are based on, and which imply elusiveness. My basic assumption is that the schema of the identification technique that creates heroes with dispersed identities and ever-changing self-identities can also be recognized in the mutable, shape-shifting figures of folk legends. My most important efforts were undoubtedly related to the figure of the traveller, a genre that had already been included in several early Krúdy texts as a prefigure of the travelling companion stories or even the Sinbad short stories. Beyond the development and presentation of the method of reading Krúdy from an ethnographic or religious-historical perspective, the main lesson of the work was the recognition of this identification technique. At the same time, I consider it my own achievement to have pointed out the religious origin of the dimensional shifts that characterize the epic culture of Krúdy's oeuvre and the syncretic nature of these descriptions in their montage of various religious behaviours and beliefs.

Jelen monográfiánk a Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem Pedagógiai Kara (KRE PK) Gyakorlati felkészítés, pálya- és hivatásszocializáció a református pedagógusképzésben kutatási pályázatának A református pedagógusképzés eredményei a pálya- és hivatásszociológiai folyamat horizontján alprojektje keretében készült el. Kutatási alprojektünk a Református Pedagógiai Intézet korábban megkezdett kutatásaihoz kapcsolódva, a Kar pályaszocializációs gyakorlatát elemezve, a kari DPR-rendszer és egyéb, a pályaszocializációt támogató, meglévő hallgatói szolgáltatások vizsgálata révén kíván további ismeretekkel szolgálni a pálya- és hivatásszociológia területén. Az elméleti kutatást, az adatelemzést, valamint a kvalitatív módszereket is felhasználó kutatás célja a pálya- és hivatásszocializációt segítő és gátló tényezők pontosabb megismerése, a felsőfokú képzések és maga az intézményrendszer alkalmasabbá tétele arra, hogy a megfelelő minőségű és elkötelezettségű munkaerőt képes legyen pályán tartani, motiválni, fejleszteni. Kötetünkben az óvodapedagógus- és tanítóképzés szempontjából, azon belül is Egyetemünk szempontjából vizsgáljuk a pálya- és hivatásmotiváció kérdéskörét.