Are A-not-B errors caused by a belief about object location?

Eight- to 12-month-olds might make A-not-B errors, knowing the object is in B but searching at A because of ancillary (attention, inhibitory, or motor memory) deficits, or they might genuinely believe the object is in A (conceptual deficit). This study examined how diligently infants searched for a hidden object they never found. An object was placed in A twice, and then in B. In a different task the object was placed beside A twice, and then in B. Infants made more A-not-B errors in the former task, and perseverating infants searched diligently in A rather than in B. Infants seemed to believe the object was in A, suggesting that both a conceptual deficit and ancillary deficits account for A-not-B errors.     

New Methods in Design Education： The Systemic Methodology and the Use of Sketch in the Conceptual Design Stage

This study describes the application of a new product concurrent design methodologies in the context in the education of industrial design. The use of the sketch has been utilized many times as a tool of creative expression especially in the conceptual design stage, in an intuitive way and a little out of the context of the reality needs that the design should be attended. This methodology systematizes and guides the process of sketching by means of a conceptual model and a geometric model toward a feasible solution, complementing the role of the sketch in the phase of a product conceptual design. The model describes its operating principles, as well as the phases of implementation in the context of teaching the industrial design illustrated with projects carried out in the workshop of conceptual design of the University Technical College of Valencia and University of the Bio-Bio, Chile. Finally, we discuss the implementation of the systemic models, their relation with the optimisation of the sketching process in the conceptual design stage, and their implications in the educational context.     

A Lakatosian Framework to Analyze Situations of Cognitive Conflict and Controversy in Students' Understanding of Heat Energy and Temperature

The objective of this study is to analyze secondary school students' interactions (conflicts, controversies, and arguments) as they participate in an intact classroom activity designed to facilitate their understanding of heat energy and temperature. The study is based on 32 ninth-grade students in a public school in Londrina, Brazil. Results obtained show that the differentiation between heat energy and temperature constitutes considerable difficulties for the students, and can be considered as part of the hard-core of their understanding (Lakatos, 1970, Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 91–196). Student interactions (video taped) were classified into an Alternative Model, Transitional Model, and Scientific Model, depending on the degree to which they reflected a progressive transition in their hard-core. Students generally resisted a change in their conceptual understanding. Some students were able to question the hard-core of their beliefs and construct a Transitory Model. Some students experienced a further progressive transition by constructing a Scientific Model, based on the understanding that Temperature only measures the energy of agitation. Methodology used also provided a glimpse of how a particular student grappled with the conflicts in order to facilitate progressive transition in understanding. It is concluded that given the opportunity to discuss, reflect, consider alternative/conflicting situations, students can construct models that increase progressively in their heuristic/explanatory power.     

PISA as a Political Tool in Spain: Assessment Instrument,Academic Discourse and Political Reform

This study examines to what extent there is a sort of “political appropiation” by political parties when they seek to set a discourse about the Spanish PISA outcomes. We have consistently found that programs for assessing the competencies of students, especially PISA, have become tools of rationalization and the legitimization of education policies in both the national and territorial contexts. Furthermore, each regional government focuses its discourse on what it feels to be its strong points, that is, a clear “self-justifying reading” of PISA outcomes.     

Spanish savings banks: a view on intangibles

We study Spanish savings banks from the point of view of their efficiency, transparency in the disclosure of financial information through the net, and the provision of electronic banking services. Performance indicators are developed using data envelopment analysis and the tools of multivariate statistical analysis. The choice of indicators is framed within the theory of intangible assets. An attempt is made rank savings banks according to their level of achievement in each indicator. Savings banks are shown to be classified into four groups according to the level of achievement in the indicators of transparency and e-service. The relationship between efficiency and profitability is also discussed.     

Writing intervention with elementary students struggling with writing: examining approach profiles to the teacher feedback on writing quality and motivational variables

Reading and Writing - Many young students experience difficulties mastering writing, and are designated as students struggling with writing. Teacher feedback on writing is an educational tool...