Texto y diálogo en el aprendizaje lecto-escritor: Nuevas perspectivas en el estudio de la alfabetizacion de adultos

Resumen

En el presente artículo se intenta abordar un profundo análisis de la alfabetización de adultos que permita suponer los prejuicios desarrollados por la sociedad alfabetizada (ilustrada o «pseudoilustrada») acerca del analfabetismo. Para llevar a cabo este análisis es necesario adoptar una perspectiva que tome en consideración las diversas funciones de la alfabetización y la diversidad de géneros discursivos que se expresan a través del texto escrito. Para ello hay que superar, en primer lugar, las limitaciones de una perspectiva socio-histórica centrada casi exclusivamente en el texto expositivo y, en segundo lugar, prestar gran atención a los textos narrativos creados por los alumnos de los centros de adultos como vía para promover el encuentro de voces (autor y lector) y la toma de conciencia sobre sucesos y práctica de la vida cotidiana.     

Cultura y procesos cognitivos: hacia una psicología cultural

Resumen

Se hace una revisión de las investigaciones cognitivas transculturales de las últimas décadas. De estos estudios se deriva una serie de problemas metodológicos que cuestionan la validez de sus resultados. En el plano teórico, por otra parte, ha prevalecido un enfoque de caja negra que no ha permitido desvelar los mecanismos de influencia de lo cultural sobre lo cognitivo. Se defiende un planteamiento nuevo, que se sitúa en la línea del enfoque sociocultural de la psicología soviética, que centra los análisis en los contextos culturales y que toma las nociones de actividad y zona de desarrollo próximo como herramientas conceptuales para el estudio de la relación entre cultura y procesos cognitivos.     

Combined Analysis of Anti SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM Responses in COVID19 Patients in India

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global health problem, India being the second most affected country. The kinetics of antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in Indian population is not studied yet. To understand serological response in relation to age, gender, time period and severity of disease, Roche Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 test was used which analysed both IgM and IgG. One hundred and three COVID-19 patients were enrolled. Seropositivity was seen in 64% of patients, with 33% at ≤ 7 days, 62% between 8 and 15 days and 81% at ≥ 16 days from the time of admission. Men (65%) showed higher antibody response than women (59%), whereas no difference was observed in seropositivity with respect to age of the patients. Dynamics of antibody responses revealed individual variations. Patients in ICU had higher antibody reactivity with 67% positivity as compared to 60% positivity in non-ICU patients. Kinetics of antibody response during COVID-19 disease varied in relation to gender, age, time period and severity and these factors might play an important role in treatment and control of COVID-19.     

Moments of social inclusion: asylum seekers,football and solidarity

Abstract

Established in 2012, ‘the Seekers’ are a football club in Melbourne, Australia. Initially set up to provide social recreation for various refugees and asylum seekers, the Seekers have more recently entered a team in the mainstream league competition. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this paper considers how football facilitates forms of social inclusion for team members, both in relation to the action of the sport and the political and social context of Australian society more broadly. In many ways the field of sport is highly contested as players engage with the mainstream; however the solidarity forged through playing creates the possibility for moments of social inclusion in other ways. The capacity of sporting interactions to facilitate social inclusion for male team members is vexed, though there is evidence to suggest that, in the correct conditions, sport can contribute to an individual’s capacity to access employment and educational opportunities.     

The development of mental rotation abilities through robotics-based instruction: An experience mediated by gender

The research literature on the topic of “spatial ability” reveals that it has a major influence on achievement in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Additionally, previous studies indicate the existence of a gender gap in spatial ability in favour of males. Mental rotation, one subskill of spatial ability, is an area in which gender differences are greater. At the same time, educational robotics is seen as one of the more promising technologies in educational contexts for the future. We conducted a quasi-experimental study with 142 seven- and eight-year-old students aimed at analysing whether robotics-based instruction may produce greater learning gains on mental rotation abilities compared to traditional instruction. The intervention was developed in the context of map-reading tasks, which are part of the curricular content in Mathematics and Social Sciences at this age. The results showed that for males, the robotics-based instruction promoted a significantly greater improvement in students’ mental rotation abilities compared to the control group. By contrast, no significant differences were observed for females. Although this study provides empirical evidence of the potential of robotics-based instruction, future studies need to deeply analyse the existence of gender differences in the learning gains obtained through educational robotics.     

Modelling the success of learning management systems: application of latent class segmentation using FIMIX-PLS

There is not a unique attitude towards the implementation of digital technology in educational sceneries. This paper aims to validate an adaptation of the DeLone and McLean information systems success model in the context of a learning management system. Furthermore, this study means to prove (1) the necessity of segmenting students in order to fit the model more accurately and (2) the impact of other new Internet tools on students’ perceptions with regard to learning management systems. Partial least squares has been used to analyse the measurement and the structural model. Subsequently, the Finite Mixture Partial Least Squarestechnique has been employed to examine unobserved heterogeneity and to find users’ segments. The results of this research indicate that to segment between two groups of students is especially useful in order to improve the understanding of the success of a learning management system. This segmentation is made according to the importance which the students attribute to the new Internet tools to support their learning.     

Dysregulated Fear,Social Inhibition,and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia: A Replication and Extension

Behavioral inhibition indicates increased risk for development of social anxiety. Recent work has identified a pattern of dysregulated fear (DF), characterized by high fear in low‐threat situations, that provides a more precise marker of developmental risk through early childhood. This study tested a new longitudinal sample of children (n = 124) from ages 24 to 48 months. Replicating prior findings, at 24 months, we identified a pattern of fearful behavior across contexts marked by higher fear to putatively low‐threat situations. DF was associated with higher parental report of social inhibition at 24, 36, and 48 months. Extending prior findings, we observed differences in cardiac physiology during fear‐eliciting situations, suggesting that the neurobiological underpinnings of DF relate to difficulty with regulation.     

An Evaluation of Factors Regarding Students’ Assessment of Faculty in a Business School*

Student faculty ratings are used at most institutions of higher learning for three important reasons. First, the ratings provide direct feedback to the faculty, and this enables faculty to adjust their teaching styles. Second, the ratings provide the administration with information intended to assist in guiding and mentoring faculty toward more effective pedagogical performance in the classroom. Third, the ratings also provide the administration with information to be used in the reappointment, tenure, and promotion processes, as well as for assignment of salary range adjustments and teaching awards. To be of real value, however, all of this is predicated on the use of a valid and reliable faculty‐rating instrument along with a system designed to provide both the faculty and the administration with norming reports that allow for appropriate comparisons of ratings. This article reports such a study conducted within a large department of a business school and recommends that the process used be adapted by other business school departments and other academic units across the university and at other universities to ensure a more universally appropriate usage of students’ ratings.     

Cultural Preservation Program for Alaska

In this technical report, an innovative cultural preservation program for implementation in Athabascan villages is presented. The parameters for success in implementing such a project is discussed based on a workshop with Athabascan elders.     

Advanced displays and natural user interfaces to support learning

Advanced displays and natural user interfaces (NUI) are a very suitable combination for developing systems to provide an enhanced and richer user experience. This combination can be appropriate in several fields and has not been extensively exploited. One of the fields that this combination is especially suitable for is education. Nowadays, children are growing up playing with computer games, using mobile devices, and other technological devices. New learning methods that use these new technologies can help in the learning process. In this paper, two new methods that use advanced displays and NUI for learning about a period of history are presented. One of the methods is an autostereoscopic system that lets children see themselves as a background in the game and renders the elements in 3D without the need for special glasses; the second method is a frontal projection system that projects the image on a table in 2D and works similarly to a touch table. The Microsoft Kinect^© is used in both systems for the interaction. A comparative study to check different aspects was carried out. A total of 128 children from 7 to 11 years old participated in the study. From the results, we observed that the different characteristics of the systems did not influence the children's acquired knowledge, engagement, or satisfaction. There were statistically significant differences for depth perception and presence in which the autostereoscopic system was scored higher. However, of the two systems, the children considered the frontal projection to be easier to use. We would like to highlight that the scores for the two systems and for all the questions were very high. These results suggest that games of this kind (advanced displays and NUI) could be appropriate educational games and that autostereoscopy is a technology to exploit in their development.