Twitter as a tool for citizen engagement: An empirical study of the Andalusian municipalities

This paper provides a general overview of the way local governments use Twitter as a communication tool to engage with their citizens. More concretely, it tries to identify factors associated with both the channel activity and citizen engagement, to understand the relationship between media type and citizen engagement and to analyse whether different content generated different levels of engagement. A sample of the 29 most populated Andalusian local governments is examined. The results show that the majority of Andalusian local governments have an official corporate Twitter account with certain level of activity. There is no, however, a significant relationship between the population of a municipality and its citizen's engagement, and there is a significant negative relationship between audience and engagement and between activity and engagement. The findings of the study also show the particular media and content types generate higher engagement than others. This paper contributes to the literature on social media and has practical implications for local governments.     

Innovation,Organisation and Governance in Spanish Universities

The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of changes introduced to improve efficiency and effectiveness on the way Spanish universities function. Information and opinions collected systematically at a representative sample of Spanish universities are used to study if they can be employed to implement improvements in their organisational structure and management. The obstacles imposed by current regulations and the effect of existing incentives for change in universities’ socio-economic environment is also examined. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Body fat measurement in elite sport climbers: Comparison of skinfold thickness equations with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare equations for estimating percentage body fat from skinfold thickness in elite sport climbers by assessing their agreement with percentage body fat measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Skinfold thickness was measured in a convenience sample of 19 elite sport climbers [9 women and 10 men; mean age 31.2 years (s = 5.0) and 28.6 years (s = 3.6), respectively]. Percentage body fat was estimated using 17 different equations, and it was also measured by DXA. A significant inter-methods difference was observed for all equations, except for Durnin's equation in men (inter-methods difference: ?0.57% and ?0.29%; 1.96 s: 5.56 and 5.23 for Siri's and Brozek's equation, respectively) and women (inter-methods difference: ?0.67% and ?1.29% for Siri's and Brozek's equation, respectively), and for Wilmore's equation using Siri's body fat equation in women (inter-methods difference: ?1.86%). In women, the limits of agreement were lower when using Durnin's equation compared with Wilmore's equation (1.96 s: 3.86% and 5.13%, respectively). In conclusion, of the 17 studied equations, Durnin's equation was the most accurate in estimating percentage body fat in both male and female elite climbers. Therefore, Durnin's equation could be used to assess percentage body fat in elite sport climbers if more accurate methods are not available. The generalizability of the results is limited by the fact that the sample was not selected at random.     

Work‐related adult education: challenges and possibilities in poverty areas

The aim of this article is to talk about the possibilities of work‐related adult education programmes within the context of developing countries. The focus of the analysis is on poor populations, particularly those dwelling in rural and marginal urban areas. The background comprises the challenges for productive incorporation, social exclusion, the relative absence of skill development programmes in these areas and the historical ineffectiveness of adult education programmes. In the light both of lessons drawn form several experiences carried out mainly in developing countries and insights coming from educational and developmental research, the article puts forward some theses that may serve as guidelines when carrying out work‐related adult education programmes, such as the need to stem from integral and inter‐institutional perspectives, to rely on sound strategies that can have a direct impact on both social and economic development, to learn from local contexts (knowledge and opportunities) and evaluate the potential within these spaces, to properly assess the different areas (health, housing, organization etc.) that are related to any social development process, and the importance of taking productive activities—work—as the axis and starting point of programmes.     

Improving professionalism in the engineering curriculum through a novel use of oral presentations

This hypothesis is based on the fact that oral presentations in the context of engineering education could be used not only to develop oral communication skills but also to augment the professionalism in the curriculum. The methodological innovation is first described, which allows encouraging the capacity of summarising ideas, teamwork, assertiveness, listening skills and constructive criticism. Second, the preliminary results from two pilot groups of students during two academic years are analysed. Finally, the paper reflects on the possibilities of expanding this method to pre-university studies.     

Determinants of School Performance Among Quechua Children in the Peruvian Andes

In the rural Andes of Peru, primary school inefficiency ranks higher than in the rest of the country, with a nearly 50 per cent rate of first grade repetition. In 1993 the investigators administered a battery of four psycho-educational tests to 360 schoolchildren in the fourth and fifth grades at ten primary schools in the Andean region of Huaraz. They also recorded the children's individual characteristics, i.e. family background, nutritional status, and educational attainment, and rated the schools according to educational features such as classroom size, time devoted to learning, and student-teacher ratio. A year later, in 1994, children were re-examined in the schools using the same test battery. All subjects were small for their age, had poor diets, spoke mostly Quechua at home (Spanish in school), lived in a rural environment, and walked considerable distances to school. Regression analyses of the 1993 data indicated that the performance of Quechua children on verbal tests was heavily influenced by family background, while their mathematical competence was related to school experience. On the other hand, improvement in test scores from one year to the next appeared to be strongly related to test performance in 1993 and less clearly to the other recorded variables. Finally, the schools' promotion rates were clearly associated with test scores from the previous year but less clearly with grade repetition rates.     

Exploring the Use of Lesson Study to Develop Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Nature of Science

This study explored a modified version of Japanese Lesson Study to determine whether and how it influenced preservice elementary teachers in their abilities to deliver science lessons that included nature of science (NOS) to their own students. We used a case study approach that focused on one subset of a cohort of preservice elementary teachers within their field placement settings. Data sources included lesson plans, lesson feedback forms, videotapes of delivered lessons, and videotapes of lesson study feedback sessions. Early in the semester peers provided feedback on content, and later in the semester peers provided feedback on classroom management as well as content during the lesson study feedback sessions. We found that preservice elementary teachers were able to provide feedback to their peers regarding how to include NOS in their science lessons, yet did not naturally included NOS connections within their own lessons.