Estrategias para facilitar las iniciativas de interacción en hablantes asistidos

Resumen

En este trabajo se estudia la habilidad de iniciar la comunicación en alumnos con parálisis cerebral que usan tableros con pictografías para comunicarse, así como el papel que juegan los interlocutores en la adquisición de esta habilidad. El estudio expone tres casos, dos niños y una niña de entre 12 y 13 años, escolarizados en un centro de educación especial. Los tres presentan discapacidad motora grave y retraso intelectual. Utilizan tableros de comunicación no electrónicos desde hace 5 años, y sus interlocutores habituales (en casa y en la escuela) ya conocen diferentes estrategias de interacción necesarias para comunicarse con hablantes asistidos. Para facilitar la iniciativa en la comunicación se ha empleado la espera estructurada y la guía física y/o verbal, con la retirada progresiva de estos soportes. Los resultados muestran que tales estrategias, cuando son utilizadas por los interlocutores adultos, pueden aumentar las posibilidades comunicativas de los alumnos. También se ilustra cómo las habilidades aprendidas se mantienen a lo largo del tiempo.     

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOEDUCATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS FOR OLDER ADULT STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

In this paper we consider that, to a great degree, educational quality is insured through successful educational and social-relationship strategies developed among educators and their older adult students. Proposals to improve educational quality should be considered within the unique context of each university's mission and goals. Otherwise, the same measures used in different institutions may lead either to progress or to educational and social regression. Much depends on the conditions under which programs are implemented, and the way they are perceived by participants in the educational process.     

La representación gráfica de la multiplicación aritmética: una experiencia de aprendizaje

Resumen

La teoría de Piaget abre grandes posibilidades a la educación, pero su aplicación en el aula requiere una investigación rigsrosa que nos muestre las significaciones que el alumno atribuye a los contenidos concretos que debe aprender. En esta línea se presenta una experiencia de aprendizaje de la representación gráfica de la multiplicación aritmètica con un grupo reducido de alumnos de 3.° de EGB. Se analizan los procesos de generalización que se producen al cambiar de un contexto (manipulativo) a otro (gráfico), así como las características del proceso de construcción de un código en su doble vertiente cognitiva y social.     

Stimulating breadth and depth of vocabulary via repeated storybook readings or tests

We investigated effects of listening to single or multiple storybook readings versus testing with and without feedback on children’s breadth (i.e., the number of words) and depth (i.e., the quality of word knowledge) of vocabulary learning. Kindergartners (n = 125) were divided into 3 intervention and 1 control conditions. Children in the control condition listened once to a storybook reading. In the experimental conditions, the initial storybook reading was followed by (a) repeated storybook reading, (b) repeated testing, or (c) repeated testing with feedback. For breadth of vocabulary, all 3 conditions showed learning gains compared to a single storybook reading, and no “testing effect” was found. For depth of vocabulary, repeated storybook reading and repeated testing with feedback were more effective than the control condition with the former seemingly most effective. Both for breadth and depth of vocabulary, the effects of testing were found to be conditional upon the provision of feedback.     

Trends in No Leisure-Time Physical Activity—United States, 1988–2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine trends in the prevalence of no leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) from 1988 to 2010. Method: Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data, 35 states and the District of Columbia reported information on no LTPA from 1988 to 1994; all states reported no LTPA from 1996 to 2010. Results: No LTPA significantly declined over two decades. Prevalence for all states declined on an average of 0.6% per year from 29.1% in 1996 to 24.1% in 2004 and stabilized from 2005 to 2010, ranging from 24.0% to 25.4%. Prevalence declined for both sexes and all racial/ethnic groups. Conclusion: While the no LTPA trends improved over two decades, one in four U.S. adults still report they do not engage in LTPA.     

Hierarchical web resources retrieval by exploiting Fuzzy Formal Concept Analysis

In recent years, knowledge structuring is assuming important roles in several real world applications such as decision support, cooperative problem solving, e-commerce, Semantic Web and, even in planning systems. Ontologies play an important role in supporting automated processes to access information and are at the core of new strategies for the development of knowledge-based systems. Yet, developing an ontology is a time-consuming task which often needs an accurate domain expertise to tackle structural and logical difficulties in the definition of concepts as well as conceivable relationships. This work presents an ontology-based retrieval approach, that supports data organization and visualization and provides a friendly navigation model. It exploits the fuzzy extension of the Formal Concept Analysis theory to elicit conceptualizations from datasets and generate a hierarchy-based representation of extracted knowledge. An intuitive graphical interface provides a multi-facets view of the built ontology. Through a transparent query-based retrieval, final users navigate across concepts, relations and population.     

The construction of parents and teachers as agents for the improvement of municipal schools in Chile

This article examines how teachers and parents in 10 municipal schools serving students growing up under conditions of social vulnerability represented themselves, and others, as valid agents for charting school improvement. In four schools parents and teachers saw each other as trustworthy and collaborating to provide an education that could transform students’ life chances. In the other six schools, social relations were marked by distrust, staff constructed students as lacking the resources necessary to benefit from a rigorous academic programme, and parents in leadership positions shared with teachers the belief that school failure could largely be attributed to uncommitted parents. These results suggest that the impact of quality assurance policies tends to be associated with the social capital of municipal schools, thus educational policy needs to consider developing and strengthening social capital within schools.