Abstract:

An analysis of the results of the TIMSS, PIRLS and PISA tests in Slovakia clearly shows a gradual decrease in the results of students belonging to the Hungarian minority in Slovakia compared to Slovak students. Looking for objective reasons for the poor performance of Hungarian students, in addition to the influence of socio-economic status, the need to rethink the roles, methodology, priorities and objectives of classroom teaching and the key competences to be developed may also be suggested. Although the complex education reform unfolding in Slovakia is trying to respond to this, and makes curriculum and methodological changes and recommendations, the objective measuring tools for the goals to be achieved are not yet available.

Our current research is focused on inductive reasoning, which is of outstanding importance among the thinking skills to be developed, because it is an important tool for acquiring new knowledge. We are looking for a measuring tool that can measure the inductive reasoning in a valid and reliable way, regardless of language, cultural background and school system. The importance of all this is justified by the heterogeneity of the Hungarian school network in Slovakia, its cultural, infrastructural and developmental diversity, and the fundamental importance of development of mother-tongue education. In our study, we present the results of a pilot survey investigating the suitability of a measurement tool (e.g. CFT 20-R) that can be applied both for the age groups participating in the aforementioned international competency assessments and for primary, secondary and high school students. During the research, we used ability tests on a small sample of 9- and 17 year old students.

Keywords:

Key competences, inductive reasoning, empirical research, pilot measurement.