Jana Martincová
22. July 2022Mgr. Jana Martincová, Ph.D., is a graduate of the Pedagogy (Ph.D.) and Social Pedagogy (Mgr.) study programmes. She currently works at the Institute of Pedagogical Sciences at FHS UTB in Zlín as an academic staff member – Assistant Professor. Her focus lies in methodology, academic stress, and students’ critical thinking. The following interview explores her scientific and research activities at the Faculty of Humanities.
Your professional interests are quite broad. You focus on critical thinking, rhetoric, lecturing skills, student professional preparation, academic success and stress, oversee internships, and engage in management. What connects these topics? Yes, it is indeed a broad scope, but the common denominator is higher education. This research area offers numerous significant topics that remain largely overlooked in the Czech Republic, including critical thinking, analytical thinking, and methods of working with texts, as well as the issue of academic stress. At this moment, we are conducting research under the IGA project, focusing on academic stress at universities in the Czech Republic. We are examining the intensity of academic stress, its sources, and the pedagogical aspects influencing the perceived level of stress. Student interest in this type of research is considerable, and we receive positive feedback not only from students but also from faculty leadership. Some faculties have expressed interest in the results, and we are happy to share them. You are also currently studying management and dedicating your efforts to creating a new study programme at FHS. Management has become my hobby beyond my academic profile, although managerial theories, competencies, and skills intersect throughout the higher education system. The ability to plan, organise, and manage teaching and research is crucial for success in the university environment. From the perspective of change and innovation management, I am currently preparing a new study programme titled Development and Education Specialist for Adults in collaboration with PhDr. Iva Staňková, Ph.D. This programme will be offered in a blended format and will be a professional study programme. Its preparation requires a significant amount of time, but we believe it will provide students with a new opportunity to engage in adult education. Students can look forward to an extensive portfolio of subjects, including adult education, modern technologies in education, educational project planning, financing and accreditation, and personal development training. We are also incorporating substantial hours of professional practice – 480 hours in total. We hope to begin enrolling students in the first year of the programme for the 2023/2024 academic year. You teach research methods and techniques in pedagogy, conduct your own research, and publish. What are the key research topics and projects that define your work? I am currently working on the previously mentioned IGA project Academic Environment: Success and Stress. This project is being carried out in collaboration with students who are doing an excellent job. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mgr. Sabina Fridrichová and Bc. Michaela Bílá in particular. I believe that giving students the chance to engage in project activities during their studies is invaluable. They gain skills in independent research, project organisation, and coordination, as well as the ability to work with databases such as SCOPUS and Web of Science. They also develop their language skills, as much of the work involves foreign-language sources. Regarding the second project (Online University Pedagogy and Flexible Forms of Education), we have recently received approval. Unfortunately, due to the high number of participants, we are currently on the reserve list. According to the House of International Cooperation, institutions have used an excessive amount of funding this year, so some approved projects could not be financed. This is a prestigious project funded by EEA grants, supporting cooperation between the Czech Republic, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The goal of the project is to establish institutional collaboration to support the digitalisation of higher education and create an online university pedagogy course. This will be achieved through peerlearning methods, workshops, and conferences. Now we have to wait until 1 July to find out if we will move from the reserve list to the position of project implementers. The third area involves establishing cooperation with Pennsylvania State University, specifically with the College of Continuing Education. We hope to build collaboration in the fields of adult education and higher education pedagogy. What is the focus of your publishing activities? Between 2012 and 2017, my publications primarily focused on social pedagogy and social pedagogical training. Critical thinking also became one of my core topics. Both areas were examined within the context of higher education and the academic environment. To date, I have published 15 academic articles and two books. I primarily publish in journals indexed in Web of Science and SCOPUS. My current publication focus is on academic stress in higher education. A preliminary study on this topic is summarised in the article Pedagogical Concept of Self-reflection of Students of Social Education: Qualitative Study of Selfreflection Determinants, which was published in a SCOPUS-indexed journal (Q3). In this preliminary study on academic stress, we identified a significant impact of academic stress on student success. As a result, a second article from the IGA project, titled Analysis of the Pedagogical Aspects of Academic Stress Research at University: A Systematic Review, was developed. This review article analyses the strengths and weaknesses of current academic stress research while reflecting on the opportunities and threats that new research might present. The article is currently under editorial review at 7NER (SCOPUS Q3) and is awaiting publication. In my future publishing activities, I plan to expand on the articles mentioned above and further explore the phenomenon of academic stress from a pedagogical perspective. I am preparing an article analysing pedagogical situations that cause academic stress, as well as an analysis of the Yerkes-Dodson Law (the theory of stress and performance) applied to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
We have also collected data from 2,460 university students across the Czech Republic using the Academic Stress Inventory, which was developed as part of the IGA project. The results of this research are currently being analysed and interpreted, and they will subsequently be published in an academic journal, ideally indexed in Web of Science. You’re a graduate of FHS. How has your perspective on the field and related work changed since your student years? Where do you see your greatest achievement? It may sound dramatic, but I truly love my work, and it inspires me to continue developing professionally. The work of an academic is full of opportunities, innovative approaches, critical thinking, and creativity. I wouldn’t change it. The Faculty of Humanities was my alma mater. I studied Social Pedagogy here. During my master’s studies, I began collaborating with doc. Novotná, who invited me to join an internal grant project on the topic of Critical Thinking and Creativity in the Professional Training of Social Pedagogues. This experience deepened my methodological knowledge, statistical data analysis skills, and ability to conduct independent research. As I mentioned earlier, I consider this experience invaluable. Afterwards, I decided to pursue a doctoral programme in Pedagogy at Masaryk University in Brno. I have been working at the Institute of Pedagogical Sciences for ten years now, and I am very satisfied. I have experienced many unexpected situations with students – some pleasant, others less so. I have taught various subjects, but my main focus has remained on methodology, lecturing skills, and professional practice. Throughout my career, I have worked on three internal grant projects, published academic books and articles, and I am a member of the Association of Educators in Social Pedagogy, the Czech Educational Research Association, and the Czech Andragogy Society. One of my greatest achievements is being invited to join the Editorial Board of the Journal of Educational Research (SCOPUS), based on the reviews I have conducted. I also collaborate with journals such as Sociální pedagogika and the Journal of Social Science Education as a reviewer. What pleases me greatly are the responses to my publications and articles. What are your future plans? I face significant challenges in refining research topics and pursuing planned accreditations. I am currently analysing research topics from prestigious journals in the field of higher education pedagogy, seeking themes that could be socio-culturally transferable to our environment. The academic environment is full of challenges, opportunities, and possibilities. If you have the time, a good team, reliable colleagues, and supportive leadership, you can achieve a great deal. And I have that.