Promoting a participatory convergence in a Spanish context: an inter-university action research project using visual narrative

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the deconstruction of an inter-university action research project that has allowed us to rethink our teaching and research, questioning the social, political and ethical dimensions of the university. Following the pre-assembly proposal to promote participatory convergence, organized within the framework of the 1^st Global Assembly for Knowledge Democracy (2017), an action research process was implemented in order to generate systematic inquiry around the current situation of the university and the need to act and rethink our commitment to promoting changes in this context. We have reflected on the meaning of democratization, rethinking the pedagogical relationship with our students and how we critically commit them to promote activism. We generated an environment where we look for the meaning of our practices by means of a visual narrative which has enabled us to weave and identify our own biography and become aware of where we are and why we act in one way or another. We have also focused on the search for the meaning of our actions in relation to the community we belong to and how to deal with the challenges of social justice, encouraging collaboration with other networks in a wider inter-university framework.     

Students with special educational needs and cooperative learning in the ordinary classroom: some learnings from teaching practice

This article presents the results of a study to determine the strategies used by teachers to include students with special educational needs in regular classrooms, primarily using Cooperative Learning strategies. It aims to identify the factors of inclusive learning in order to enhance the participation and learning of all students in the classroom and in their cooperative teams. A qualitative case study was carried out in the context of the teachers participating in a postgraduate course ‘expert in cooperative learning’ offered by the University of Alcalá (Spain), over a period of six years (2011–2017), involving the participation of 176 professional teachers. All the participants attended an annual university continuous training course on cooperative learning. Document analysis, in-depth interviews and a questionnaire designed ad hoc were used. The conclusions include the importance of cooperative work in facilitating inclusive education, with a variety of different strategies used to respond to all students' needs, and those with special educational needs in particular, and the coordination required between teachers and special educational needs specialists to implement those strategies.     

Between Scientific Ideas and Christian Religious Beliefs

Science & Education - Despite the importance of evolution to understand living phenomena, evolution teaching confronts several tensions, especially with respect to teachers’ and...     

An analysis of the needs for nonacademic staff and operating funds in a university

Regressions can be used to analyze the relationship between departmental activities and the need for nonacademic staff and operating funds. Support costs are broken into task categories and related to certain basic variables describing the composition and activity of the unit (e.g., FTE academic staff, teaching load). The results are then linked in a total model which predicts the cost for departmental support based on institutional activity variables. Beside the number of students, there are other variables such as the number of fields of study, number of teaching and research staff, and the laboratory equipment. The model is generalizable to many national settings.Presented at the Twentieth Annual Forum of the Institution for Institutional Research, April 1980.     

Self-Assessment of Governance Teams in an Argentine Private University: Adapting to Difficult Times

Argentine Universities like similarinstitutions all around the world are facing acomplex and challenging environment thatdemands a more sophisticated leadership and thedevelopment of complex managerial skills. Inthis paper we propose that enhancing thequality of collective decision making, andbuilding more complex teams as a way topreserve collegiality in academic governance,can help the institutions to survive andsucceed in a hostile context. We analyse thecase of a private university, and we presentsome conclusions of the process ofself-assessment initiated by the governanceteams at both institutional and academic unitlevels.     

The Hispanic Experience in Physical Education Teacher Education Programs: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of Hispanic faculty involved in physical education teacher education programs at predominantly White colleges and universities in the United States. The study was positioned in the theoretical framework of organizational socialization. Participants were Hispanic (n = 6) faculty from various kinesiology-based programs in tenure-track positions at institutions of higher education in the United States. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and transcribed, triangulated, and analyzed with constant comparative procedures. We uncovered the following themes: (a) underrepresented, (b) socialized, and (c) cultured and determined. The study’s findings magnify the need for faculty and administrators to heighten their awareness and implement strategies to improve the organizational socialization of Hispanic faculty, particularly at predominantly White doctoral-granting colleges and universities. This means, for instance, identifying strategies to recruit, prepare, retain, and mentor Hispanic faculty at such institutions.