The evaluation of computer‐mediated technology by second language teachers: collaboration and interaction in CALL

This study presents the results of a web‐based questionnaire administered to 166 second language teachers and designed to obtain information about their use and needs of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as related to language learning (LL). Analyses revealed that, although teachers believe that second language acquisition is primarily driven by social interaction, they seldom use computers as a means to foster collaboration or interaction. ICTs are thought to be very helpful in individual learning scenarios but not for the interactive dimension of LL. Very few teachers incorporate interaction‐oriented digital tools in their language teaching, probably due to their self‐acknowledged deficient training in ICTs. However, instructors stated that they would like to introduce new interaction tools in their computer‐aided courses, which clearly shows the need for both teachers’ training in ICT and the technological development of proper interactive functionalities.

Die Auswertung computervermittelter Technik von Zweit‐Sprachlehrern: Kollaboration und Interaktion in CALL

Diese Studie zeigt die Ergebnisse einer Umfrage, die dafür entworfen wurde, Information darüber zu erhalten, die etwa Zweit Sprachlehrer verwenden, und den Bedarf an Informations‐ und Kommunikationstechniken (ICTs), die mit Sprachlernen (LL) generell verbunden sind. Analysen ergaben, dass, obwohl Lehrer glauben, dass der Erwerb einer zweiten Sprache in erster Linie von sozialer Interaktion angetrieben wird, sie selten Computer als Hilfsmittel verwenden, um Kollaboration oder Interaktion zu fördern. Es wird angenommen, dass ICTs sehr in einzelnen Lernzenarien, aber nicht für die interaktive Dimension von LL hilfreich sein kann. Sehr wenige Lehrer integrieren interaktionsorientierte digitale Werkzeuge in ihre – möglicherweise durch ihre selbstanerkannte unzulängliche Ausbildung in ICT – eigene Sprachlehre. Jedoch gaben Ausbilder an, dass sie neue Interaktionswerkzeuge in ihren computergestützten Verläufen einführen möchten. Das zeigt den Bedarf nach Ausbildung beider eindeutig: Lehrer in ICT und der technologischen Entwicklung von korrekten interaktiven Funktionalitäten.

L’évaluation dela technologie informatisée chez les professeurs de langue seconde :collaboration et interaction dans l’enseignement des langues assisté par ordinateur (CALL)

Cette étude présente les résultats d’une enquête conçue pour recueillir des renseignements sur la façon dont les professeurs de langue seconde utilisent et ont besoin des TICE spécifiques pour l’apprentissage linguistique.

Des analyses ont révélé que les professeurs utilisent rarement les ordinateurs pour stimuler la collaboration et l’interaction et ce, bien qu’ils croient que l’acquisition d’une langue seconde est avant tout entraînée par l’interaction humaine. Ils pensent que les TICE sont très utiles dans des situations d’apprentissage individuel mais pas pour la dimension interactive de l’apprentissage des langues. Très peu nombreux sont les professeurs qui intègrent des outils numériques à orientation interactive dans leurs cours de langues, ceci étant probablement dÛ à une formation informatique déficiente qu’ils reconnaissent eux‐mêmes. Certains professeurs ont toutefois indiqué qu’ils voudraient introduire de nouveaux outils interactifs dans leurs cours assistés par ordinateur ce qui fait clairement apparaître le double besoin de formation aux TICE pour les professeurs et d’un développement technique de fonctionnalités interactives appropriées.

Una evaluación de la tecnología basada en ordenadores por parte de los profesores de la segunda lengua: colaboración y interracción en aprendizaje de idiomas asistido por ordenador

Esta investigación presenta los resultados de una encuesta diseñada para conseguir información sobre las necesidades específicas para el aprendizaje de lenguas y el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TICs) por parte de 166 profesores de segunda lengua. Los análisis han revelado que, aunque los profesores creen que la adquisición de una segunda lengua está fundamentalmente impulsada por la interacción social, en realidad hacen poco uso del ordenador para incentivar la colaboración y la interacción. Los docentes piensan que las TICs son muy útiles para la modalidad de aprendizaje individual pero no para la dimensión interactiva del aprendizaje de idiomas. Son pocos los profesores que incluyen herramientas digitales con orientación interactiva en sus cursos de idiomas, probablemente, como confiesan ellos mismos, debido a las carencias de su propia formación digital. No obstante, algunos profesores señalan que quieren introducir nuevas herramientas interactivas dentro de sus cursos asistidos por ordenador, lo que claramente demuestra la necesidad tanto de una buena formación en TICs para los profesores como del desarrollo tecnológico de nuevas funcionalidades interactivas adecuadas.     

The measurement of production efficiency in scientific journals through stochastic frontier analysis models: Application to quantitative economics journals

The importance of a scientific journal is usually established by considering the number of citations received by the papers that the journal publishes. In this way, the number of citations received by a scientific journal can be considered as a measure of the total production of the journal. In this paper, in order to obtain measures of the efficiency in the production process, the approach provided by stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) is considered, and econometric models are proposed. These models estimate a frontier production, which is the maximum achievable number of citations to the journal based on its resources. The efficiency can then be measured by considering the difference between the actual production and the estimated frontier. This approach is applied to the measurement of the productive efficiency of the journals of the JCR social sciences edition database, which belong simultaneously to the areas of “economics” and “social sciences, mathematical methods”.     

Analysis of a Quasi-Experimental Design Based on Environmental Problem Solving for the Initial Training of Future Teachers of Environmental Education

Abstract

Many parameters may be used to measure the deterioration of water quality. One very important parameter is total dissolved solids (TDS). An increase in TDS beyond acceptable levels can have a significant impact on municipal, industrial, and agricultural use of water. In this review an overview of the problem of high TDS levels is given. Factors related to TDS which are considered include: (a) laboratory determination, (b) natural and man-influenced sources, (c) adverse effects, and (d) treatment process removal techniques. A brief summary of the TDS problem associated with the Colorado River is also considered.     

Comprensión de la inclusion jerárquica de clases Estudio evolutivo

Resumen

En el presente trabajo se estudia el desarrollo de la comprensión de los principios que rigen la inclusión jerárquica de clases en sujetos de 4 a 14 años. Se presentan y comparan los resultados de tres experimentos en los que se utilizan, respectivamente, cuestiones de tipo piagetiano, problemas deductivos y problemas de inclusión con los cuantificadores «todos» y «algunos». Se examina también el efecto que diferentes variables definitorias de la estructura de las tareas tienen en el éxito o el fracaso en las mismas. Los resultados sugieren un desarrollo lineal progresivo en relación con la comprensión de la extensión diferente de clase y subclase, y la aplicación correcta de los cuantificadores, y un salto entre los 9 y 12 años en relación con la comprensión de la transitividad. Se discuten las implicaciones teóricas y prácticas de estos resultados.     

La aproximación neuropsicológica a la dislexia evolutiva. I: Maduración cerebral

Resumen

En los últimos años se constata un auge singular de la neuropsicología de las dificultades de aprendizaje, en especial de la neuropsicología de la dislexia evolutiva. En este trabajo se estudia, como posible explicación etiológica de la dislexia evolutiva, el fallo en el desarrollo madurativo cerebral; se revisan y analizan, a efectos de poder ofrecer pronósticos y modos de intervención apropiados, la diferencia entre la hipótesis del retraso y la del déficit en la maduración, así como la alternativa de restitución o sustitución en la recuperación funcional. Se examinan también otros problemas relacionados entre sí con la dislexia y con la neuropsicología del desarrollo, a saber, la base neurofistológica para formación de subgrupos disléxicos, la disfunción de secuenciación oculomotora como etiología de dislexia y, por fin, la luz que la dislexia adquirida aporta a la dislexia evolutiva al relacionar lesiones del lóbulo parietal inferior con el subdesarrollo madurativo de estas mismas zonas cerebrales.     

Lifelong learning in public libraries in 12 European Union countries: issues in monitoring and evaluation

Public libraries in Europe have supported lifelong learning for the past 500 years. Since the Lisbon Strategy emphasized the role of lifelong learning in economic policy, public libraries have been repositioning their services to respond to this new context. In some cases, these roles are undertaken with limited legislative or strategic changes and stagnant levels of funding. As a result, the sector receives little recognition of its role in lifelong learning amongst policy-makers. A consortium representing 12 EU countries, ENTITLE, was formed to increase awareness of the role public libraries play in this area. It undertook a survey amongst its members to scope relevant policies, strategies and evaluation efforts. This paper presents an analysis of this survey. It shifts the focus away from debates about the instrumental value of libraries. Instead, it explores the role that evaluation plays in policy implementation. It argues that participatory evaluation can help reduce conflict and ambiguity amongst the stakeholders involved in delivering symbolic implementation of policies. So far, however, current evaluation efforts in most ENTITLE countries have played a limited role in supporting coordination and, for some countries, may in fact remove resources away from more effective development efforts, including pedagogical training.     

Learning in collaborative settings: students building on each other’s ideas to promote their mathematical understanding

The purpose of this study is to contribute insights into how collaborative activity can help promote students’ mathematical understanding. A group of six high school students (15- to 16-year olds) worked together on a challenging probability task as part of a larger, after-school, longitudinal study on students’ development of mathematical ideas in problem-solving settings. The students solved the problem and produced a valid justification of their solution. This study shows that collaborative activity can help promote students’ mathematical understanding by providing opportunities for students to critically reexamine how they make claims from facts and also enable them to build on one another’s ideas to construct more sophisticated ways of reasoning. Implications for classroom teaching and ideas for future research are also discussed. The study helps address a documented need for a better understanding of how mathematical learning evolves in social settings.     

Andalusian teacher centres: in the political crossfire

This article analyses the background of teacher centres (CEPs) in Spain and presents the synthesis of conclusions drawn from the evaluation of such centres and continuous education in Andalusia (Spain), carried out according to the model of democratic evaluation defended by Barry McDonald. Three issues are dealt with: (a) the change of government policies concerning the running of teacher centres, from autonomy to control; (b) the changes in the way teachers' continuous education and advice strategies are understood; and (c) how teacher commitment to innovation and education reform evolved with time. All this takes place within the framework of political confrontations between the two main parties in Spain: the Socialists (PSOE) - who institutionalized the CEPs and created education reform, and who continue to govern in Andalusia - and the Conservatives (PP) - who are currently in power in central government and who neither supported educational reform nor the teacher centres. In this context, the analysis of the use of the CEPs as a political weapon in their confrontation is one of the main objectives of the evaluation.     

Conceptualising gender and violence in research: Insights from studies in schools and communities in Kenya,Ghana and Mozambique

Gender and violence are complex and contested concepts, understood in varying ways in research, policy and interventions in education. Often there has been an emphasis on acts of violence, with much less attention to the social conditions and gender relations behind these acts. This paper discusses the development of a conceptual framework that emphasises not just acts and individuals, but also transformation of gendered power relations and inequities, alongside a focus on addressing the identity conflicts and struggles of everyday life. The framework underpins research, advocacy and community interventions in a multi-partnered project on violence against girls led by ActionAid.     

Schooling and Learning in U.S.-Mexican Families: A Case Study of Households

Recent research indicates that learning and the academic performance of Mexican-American students are influenced by the interplay of economic, cultural, linguistic, and educational factors. In this work, a household analysis is used to illustrate how students' schooling and academic achievement are influenced by household members' activities at home, in the community, and in the schools. The study reports that a household analysis help us understand the relative weight of these factors in shaping students' school performance, and that it also accounts for differential academic achievement in any Mexican-American community. This household analysis indicates that level of family stability and the social and economic conditions of poor communities are the strongest factors affecting students' learning and academic achievement.