Teachers as Change‐agents in Special Educational Needs: experience in England

Parallel developments in England, Wales and in Scotland have led to the establishment of posts for teachers which enable them to be effective agents of change. Research, publications and initiatives sponsored by national government, local education authorities and voluntary organisations have led to the identification of ways in which educational provision for pupils with special needs can best be made, and to the enunciation of criteria for evaluating such provision. Teacher trainers have responded with innovative approaches to course development; two case studies are offered.     

Examining teachers’ perceptions of K‐11 students’ 21st century skills and student performance

This study examined the relationship of teachers’ ratings of students’ 21st century skills (i.e., persistence, curiosity, externalizing and internalizing affect, and cognition) via the Human Behavior Rating Scale: Brief (HBRS: Brief; Eaves & Woods‐Groves, 2011) with student performance. Midwestern K‐11 teachers (n = 96) rated students (n = 1,689) via the HBRS: Brief and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997). Students’ academic (i.e., standardized tests) and behavioral (i.e., office discipline referrals [ODRs] and absences) performance was compared with HBRS: Brief ratings. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that teachers’ ratings of students’ 21st century skills were related to the following: (a) Persistence with SDQ conduct problems, academic performance, and absences; (b) curiosity with SDQ emotional symptoms; (c) externalizing affect with SDQ conduct problems, academic performance, and ODRs; (d) internalizing affect with SDQ emotional symptoms and academic performance, and (e) cognition with academics.     

Decentralized neural identification and control for uncertain nonlinear systems: Application to planar robot

This paper presents a discrete-time decentralized neural identification and control for large-scale uncertain nonlinear systems, which is developed using recurrent high order neural networks (RHONN); the neural network learning algorithm uses an extended Kalman filter (EKF). The discrete-time control law proposed is based on block control and sliding mode techniques. The control algorithm is first simulated, and then implemented in real time for a two degree of freedom (DOF) planar robot.     

Getting to the Point: Using Research Meetings and the Inverted Triangle Visual to Develop a Dissertation Research Question

This article contributes to the research training environment literature by presenting a method to guide the development of a dissertation research question. The method relies on 2 essential components: (a) informal doctoral student research team meetings to provide a mentoring environment in which conversation and discussion about dissertation questions takes place and (b) an inverted triangle visual to identify specific steps in the question‐development process. The first author's experience and that of 3 other participants with this method are chronicled to illustrate its efficacy.     

Perceptions of the Bologna process: what do students’ choices reveal?

A major element in the creation of the European area of higher education is the adoption of a common structure of degrees, implying in several countries the reduction of the duration of the first degree to 3 years, which is a controversial change. Cardoso et al. (CESifo Econ Stud 54(2): 229–247, 2008) have analyzed student confidence in the curricula change, quantifying its impact on students’ first choices of academic programs. This paper goes two steps further. First, it concentrates on a variable that better translates total demand for an academic program, namely the total number of students who place the program among their six revealed preferences, instead of just the first option; and, second, an econometric model that better fits the data is estimated. Results confirm a positive impact of the Bologna process on the demand for programs, which varies with program size and across fields of study. Our results complement those in Cardoso et al. (2008), as they uncover that being a program leader, i.e. the only institution in the country that restructured a given program, was associated with higher demand by prospective students, which nevertheless stemmed from their “second best" options and not from their first choices.

Orthographic learning in Spanish children: influence of previous semantic and phonological knowledge

Orthographic learning is one of the steps needed to achieve reading fluency. There are different variables that could influence the formation of orthographic representations. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the previous semantic and phonological knowledge on the formation of orthographic representations. We used a decrease of the length effect as the measure of orthographic learning. We made a reading aloud task that utilised new words with Spanish children from third grade under three different conditions: with prior semantic and phonological training, with prior phonological training and without training. Results showed that knowing the meaning and the phonological form of the words facilitated the formation of orthographic representations, as the length effect was significantly lower than in the other conditions, and it also improved the children's reading performance.     

Sports participation,physical activity,and health in the European regions

In a context of stagnation of the level of health-enhancing physical activity in Europe, this study examines the geographical stratification of sports participation and physical activity (PA) at the regional level in 28 European countries. While previous research has focused on the national approach, this study considers the regional level across 208 European regions. Individual survey data from the Eurobarometer 80.2 is combined with a regional-level approach to the 208 regions to quantify sports participation and PA at the regional level. The results show important differences and a geographical stratification of sports participation and PA among the European regions, albeit following different patterns. In particular, a north–south gap is identified in terms of PA rates and an east–west gap is detected in terms of sports participation levels. Applying the cluster technique, a taxonomy of four different European regions is developed considering both types of indicators. Finally, the existence of sports spatial spillovers among regions is verified, obtaining a positive autocorrelation among neighbouring regions for being involved in PA and sporting activities. The results may have significant implications in terms of policy measures to improve health through PA and sports participation at the regional level in Europe.     

Material Weathering and Structural Damage in Historic Adobe Constructions in Spain: Preliminary Results of a Quantitative Approach

ABSTRACT

This article presents the study of the main phenomena of material weathering and structural damage that affect traditional architecture built in adobe, analysing the damage found in 553 case studies, representative of different technical varieties of adobe construction in Spain. The analysis methodology proposed in this text made it possible to quantify and identify the risks of damage appearing, establishing its impact and identifying its main mechanisms and causes. At the same time, the behaviour of adobe construction systems was further studied, observing how specific modifications in technique can promote or hinder deterioration and establishing the probable causes of the different responses to these phenomena.     

Cognitive-operative model of intelligent learning systems behavior

In this paper behavior during the teaching–learning process is modeled by means of a fuzzy cognitive map. The elements used to model such behavior are part of a generic didactic model, which emphasizes the use of cognitive and operative strategies as part of the student–tutor interaction. Examples of possible initial scenarios for the teaching–learning process are developed, along with the results provided by the model.