Word identification and reading disorders in the Spanish language

In this study, a reading-level-match design was used to test the hypothesis that children with reading disability (RD) are characterized by poor phonological skills, and that a developmental lag, as opposed to a specific deficit, will be found in transparent orthographies. Spanish has a transparent orthography and thus children with RD should not show severe difficulties in the use of the phonological route, as in the English language. A sample of 118 participants was selected and organized into three different groups: 40 with RD, 38 normal readers matched in age with the former, and 40 younger normal readers at the same reading level as those with RD. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of lexicality, word frequency, word length, and positional frequency of syllables on lexical decision making and word-naming performance. While the participants were performing the naming task, we recorded what they read to subsequently analyze the form as well as the frequency of naming errors. The present study provides evidence for a deficit in phonological processing in a transparent orthography, particularly in nonword reading, because there were differences between the reading-level-matched groups.     

Textbooks of doubt: using systemic functional analysis to explore the framing of climate change in middle-school science textbooks

Middle school students are learning about climate change in large part through textbooks used in their classes. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the language employed in these materials frames this topic. To this end, we used systemic functional analysis to study the language of the chapters related to climate change in four sixth grade science textbooks adopted in the state of California. The linguistic variables investigated were: types of nominal groups; processes; circumstances; and the modality system. Our findings showed that these textbooks framed climate change as uncertain in the scientific community – both about whether it is occurring as well as about its human-causation. The implications for science education are discussed in relation to how the current political and public discourses of climate change, rather than the scientific discourse, is influencing how textbooks discuss this topic.     

Gender discourse about an ethic of care: nursery schoolteachers' perspectives

In this paper we will show some of the results of research which took place in the Principality of Asturias (Spain). Its purpose was finding out the gender discourses used by nursery teachers. Although we will not provide an exhaustive list of all the conclusions reached so far, we will put forward one of the aspects which has been developed throughout the investigation; that is, we will discuss some of our observations and hypotheses on the differences observed by the teachers in boys and girls' caring and supporting behaviours. In order to do so, we focus on the type of discourse related to the ethic of care. We consider it a tool which allows teachers to build a type of narrative in which boys and girls are presented as opposites, relational and different from one another.     

The Use of Video Demonstrations and Particulate Animation in General Chemistry

Different visualization techniques have been used for teaching chemistry concepts. Previous studies have shown that when molecular animations and video demonstrations are used, students seem to better correlate all three levels of representation: macroscopic, submicroscopic, and symbolic. This thinking process allows the students to improve their conceptual understanding and ability to create dynamic mental models. In this study, general chemistry students viewed three experiments involving dynamic fluid equilibrium in a graphic design, a video demonstration, and a molecular animation. The study investigated whether video demonstrations or particulate animations helped the students' conceptual understanding, and if the order of visualizations (video or animation first) produced any differences. Students showed improvement after each visualization. Surprisingly, there was significant improvement in responses between the first and second visualization. This work shows the importance of combining both types of visualizations, but it does not indicate a preference toward a specific order.     

DEVELOPING TALENTED CHILDREN: PROBLEMS AND EXPERIENCES

A project in the 7th and 8th grades aimed at providing the best possible school conditions to promote development of the abilities of children aged 13–14. The children's activity was founded on two main psychological and pedagogical principles: adequate motivation, and individual differentiation. The children's development was monitored by means of intelligence and personality tests. The main results were as follows: there was a pronounced improvement in the performance tasks, but no significant development in verbal tasks; the role of inner motives had greatly increased but the pupils had become more tense and impatient by the end of the school year. Necessary alterations in the project are outlined.     

Development of educational software for the teaching of telecommunication engineering by using MATLAB

The characteristics of a set of software tools developed for teaching are exposed in this work. This package is designed for telecommunication engineering students in order to facilitate the study of applied electromagnetism and communication theory concepts: theoretical guided propagation, practical training in radiation and radiocommunication laboratory. The programs are made under a MATLAB environment which provides great capabilities for graphical purposes. The programs are designed as user-friendly and interactive tutorials and they can be used as a powerful tool for improving the teaching process.     

Process of internationalization of business schools in Latin America: the case of EAESP/FGV,Brazil

This article analyzes the theoretical and practical aspects of the academic internationalization process, through the main events and pathways developed over the 60 years of the EAESP/FGV, the São Paulo Business School of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil). A survey was conducted of former directors, coordinators of the main international programs and all school faculty (266 professors) about their training and international activities. EAESP/FGV has developed a diverse and consolidated international career, surpassing the activities related to teaching and student mobility. However, there are some opportunities to deepen internationalization as a strategic brand of the institution.     

Social exclusion in EU lifelong learning policies: prevalence and definitions

ABSTRACT

The aim of the article is to analyse the concept of social exclusion in EU lifelong learning policies: how the concept has evolved from the 1990s in terms of meaning, definitions and closely connected concepts, what are the implications of this evolution, and whether there is coherence between the conceptual evolution and lifelong learning policy. Using a qualitative methodology, this article focuses on policy documents that form the European Union’s legal and political framework of reference in the lifelong learning area in the last two and a half decades. A total of 59 documents issued between 1992 and 2017 have been analysed using content analysis. The analysis of the documents has been complemented by 6 semi-structured interviews with EU lifelong learning experts. The results show that the concept is narrowly defined in terms of specific groups at risk of being socially excluded and in terms of employability, thus individualising the problem of exclusion and distracting attention from structural factors.