Employers’ skill preferences across Europe: between cognitive and non-cognitive skills

This article analyses online job advertisements to identify skills that are demanded in selected low- and medium-skilled occupations. We explore data from the publicly administered cross-European EURES job search portal and quantify the different cognitive and non-cognitive skills requested by employers in small European economies. While we find that the service sector demands non-cognitive skills more than other types of occupation, the skill-mix demanded is very diverse across countries, implying that other domestic factors shape how demand is formulated. Our work shows that online portals can become a useful source for studying employers’ demand at the micro-level to inform employment, education and training policies.     

Service learning as a tool to enhance future teachers’ media competence / Aprendizaje-Servicio como estrategia favorecedora del desarrollo de la competencia mediática en futuros docentes

Abstract

This paper presents a study of service learning (SL) as a methodology to facilitate the development of media competence in future teachers. The SL methodology fulfils a training and service need for two different populations: in our case, a preschool/primary school and students from the Bachelor’s in Education degrees at the Universidad de Jaén. The study involved 193 university students who carried out 63 projects involving new technologies. The goal of these projects was to produce materials to be used on smartboards, advertising materials, picture-reading materials or multimedia resources, among others. These materials were designed and created in the university classes as a part of the practical sessions of a course and were then given away to be used at a preschool/primary school. At the end of the project, the university students filled out a questionnaire that required them to compare SL to traditional activities in terms of how well each type of practice helps them to achieve the 20 competences of the course. The results show that students recognize the value of the SL methodology more than traditional practice, which suggests the relevance of this methodology for university students.     

A reading-level match study of phonemic processes underlying reading disabilities in a transparent orthography

The current study examined the relationship in Spanish (i.e., a transparent orthography) between different levels of phonological awareness and reading disabilities. In addition, the strategies used by the children when they resolved phoneme segmentation and reversal tasks were analyzed. A sample of 133 subjects were selected and organized in three different groups: (1) A group of 45 reading-disabled children, (2) A comparison group of 44 normal readers matched in age with the reading disabled, and (3) A reading level match group of 44 younger normal readers at the same reading level as the reading disabled. Three phonological awareness tasks were used to measure levels of intrasyllabic and phonemic awareness. The reading disabled group was equivalent to the younger reading level-matched control group in the odd-word-out task. However, there were differences in the phonemic tasks (e.g., phoneme segmentation and reversal) because the reading disabled group performed more poorly than the younger children. Overall, the children matched in age with the reading disabled group were superior in all phonological awareness tasks. There were differences between the groups when the strategies used by the children were analyzed.     

Education for children with severe and profound general learning disabilities in Ireland: factors influencing teachers’ decisions about teaching these pupils

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived high turnover of teachers working with pupils with severe and profound general learning disabilities in Ireland. Questionnaires and interviews were used to explore the situations in which teachers worked and their reasons for leaving or staying in teaching this group of pupils. The study found that while teachers were positive about working with this group, their working conditions and the level of support that they received were crucial factors in determining whether they remained in post. These factors and the implications for practice are discussed.     

Representation of the cell and its processes in high school students: An integrated view

This paper presents an integrated view of the ideas and conceptual problems of high school students with respect to the cell, its processes, structure and relation to the functions of multicellular organisms. The theme of cell has divided into eight topics, with a questionnaire for each topic. In these topics, different levels of representation and understanding are distinguished between general considerations about plants and animals, those connected with processes at organ and system levels and, finally, the level of cell processes. Data from 1200 students were analysed. Results show that students have an analogical mechanism that establishes an isomorphism between the representation of the functioning of multicellular organisms of cell processes. A series of problems in understanding was also shown. Results imply that these problems are mainly due to students' lack of differentiation between some processes at organism and organ level, and have important implications for learning this subject. Finally, some suggestions are made for teaching.     

REEARCH REPORT

This paper addresses the concept of geological time as used by students who face tasks that demand three types of skills: to locate events in time, to order them according to time calendar, and to manage time intervals. The empirical study consisted of asking high school students as well as technical school students to carry out tasks that required the use of the three previously mentioned components. It was found, first, that students frequently used erroneous temporal labels, which shows a lack of knowledge that would allow them to locate events within the context of geobiologic data. Second, the students did not store the representation of a succession of events, but were nevertheless able to create it by means of the deductive use of previous knowledge. Finally, the importance of having an appropriate representation of geological time intervals became patent while observing the students' difficulties in understanding geologic changes.     

Patterns of ‘public‐school markets’ in the Finnish comprehensive school from a comparative perspective

The article examines school choice in the context of the Finnish, publicly owned and governed comprehensive school system, the ‘named public‐school markets’, and compares findings to similar studies done in other countries. Parental choice is used in addition to traditional catchment areas and has now settled in the educational policy of big cities since its introduction in Finland in the mid 1990s. The focus of this article is on the extent and direction of pupils' preferences between the schools in relation to the characteristics of the schools in order to understand what kind of patterns have been formed along with the school choice. At the turn of the year 2000, half of the age group transferring to the 7th grade applied for a place in an other than catchment area school in the capital city, and on average one‐third of those in the other four big cities. The local public school markets touched every school in the urban areas. The schools were divided into popular, rejected, and balanced schools on the basis of net gains in request flows. A detailed analysis of the preferences between schools is presented in a map. Patterns of operation of the local school markets in the four case cities showed astoundingly similar features to those reported in studies conducted in other countries.