Co-designing and piloting an Integrated Digital Literacy and Language Toolkit for vulnerable migrant students in higher education

Education and Information Technologies - This paper presents the process of co-design, co-production, piloting, evaluation and revision of an Integrated Digital Literacy and Language Toolkit for...     

Education returns of wage earners and self-employed workers: Response

This is a response to [Jordahl, H., Poutvaara, P., & Tuomala, J. (2009). Comment on education returns of wage earners and self-employed workers. Economics of Education Review 28]. We acknowledge that econometrics have improved since the time our original paper was written, so that the choice of accurate instruments is now more deeply founded. However, in this note, we argue that the differences in the estimates obtained by Jordahl et al. (2009) has been generated not only because the “sensibility of HT estimators to the choice of instrumental variables”, but also to the estimation metholology followed by them, in which rarely changing variables are considered to be time-varying.     

Simplifying informational text structure for struggling readers

Direct instruction of reading strategies, such as the ‘structure strategy’, is demonstrated to be effective for the development of more mature and skilled reading processes in struggling readers. This instructional intervention approach, aimed at directly improving reading ability, can be used in combination with text simplification. Text simplification is the modification of the text in order to make it more understandable or readable for target groups of readers. In this article, we discuss a theoretically-driven text simplification approach, inspired by cognitive models of reading comprehension. Differently from classical approaches to linguistic text simplification, the aim of cognitive text simplification is not simply to reduce the linguistic complexity of the text, but to improve text coherence and the structure of information in the text. This can be achieved by using rhetorical devices, like signaling or discourse markers, which specify relationships among ideas at a global level (macrostructural) and work as processing instructions for the reader, scaffolding reading comprehension. The goal of this paper is to discuss, in light of the literature, the effectiveness of these adaptations for improving struggling readers’ understanding and learning from informational texts.     

Independent and joint associations of physical activity and fitness with fibromyalgia symptoms and severity: The al-Ándalus project

We examined independent and joint associations of objectively measured physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) with pain, fatigue and the overall impact of fibromyalgia in 386 fibromyalgia women aged 51.2 ± 7.6 years. Levels of PA (light, moderate and vigorous) and PF were measured with triaxial accelerometry and the Senior Fitness Test, respectively. We used the Short-Form health survey-36 pain sub-scale and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory to assess pain and multiple dimensions of fatigue, respectively. The impact of fibromyalgia was studied with the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR). Both, total PA and global PF were independently associated with pain pressure threshold, SF-36 pain, reduced activity, reduced motivation and FIQR total score (all, P ≤ 0.027). The associations between total PA and symptoms were weaker than those observed between global PF and symptoms. Overall, unfit patients with low PA showed a worse profile that fit patients with high PA (all, P ≤ 0.001). In summary, PA and PF are independently associated with pain, fatigue and the overall impact of fibromyalgia in women. Although PF presented greater associations with symptoms, the results suggest that both being physically active and keep adequate fitness levels might be convenient for fibromyalgia women.     

Do self-efficacy,incentives and confidence in public speaking influence how students self-assess? / ¿Influyen la autoeficacia,los incentivos y la confianza para hablar en público en cómo se autoevalúan los estudiantes?

The development of a critical spirit as well as the capacity to self-assess and oral presentation competence are essential in relation to students’ future employability. This study examines the influence of confidence, self-efficacy and the existence of incentives on student self-assessments of their oral presentation competence during an educational activity, taking into account the students’ gender. Data from 201 self-assessments was analysed using different statistical techniques. The results show that the existence of rewards is the only variable that has a significant influence on the self-assessment of male students, while those of female students are determined, above all, by their self-efficacy. The results suggest the need to increase student training on self-assessment, taking these differences into account. They also highlight the need to implement initiatives aimed at improving speakers’ confidence in public speaking as well as self-efficacy levels.     

Nothing to do with me! Teachers’ perceptions on cultural diversity in Spanish secondary schools

One of the key effects of globalisation is the extraordinary increase in migratory movements. Spain, a country traditionally accustomed to emigration, has seen a considerable rise in the influx of immigrant population, with notable demographic, social and cultural transformations. Particularly, since the early 90s, schools have been experiencing increasing ethnic diversity in their student enrolments. Especially, over the last 10 years, their presence has multiplied 10-fold, reaching 9.53% of the total student body. Thus, along with linguistic difference, class, gender or ability, the most characteristic feature of Spanish schools in recent years is their multicultural nature. For these reasons, it seems reasonable to focus on how Spanish schools, and particularly teachers, perceive and manage cultural diversity. This article reports on a multiple case design study concerning the teachers’ views on cultural diversity and the impact on daily practice in their classrooms. Participants included 16 teachers, with experience ranging from 2 to 20 years of teaching, from four Spanish secondary schools. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with the teachers from each school were chosen as the research method. Additionally, the principal and four immigrant student families from each school were also interviewed. Further information was obtained through a focus-group interview with the four school counsellors. Over a six-month period, all the interviews and complementary field work were carried out by a researcher in each school. While recognising the efforts to accommodate ethnic groups and immigrant populations, the results indicated that teachers perceive cultural diversity as a particular problem whose management is marginalised and excluded from the set of school activities and teaching practices. Teachers agree that the issue is one of adaptation, a problem to be solved by the students themselves with the support of school counsellors and other educational specialists. This way, neither school policies nor teaching practices assume the commitments arising from cultural diversity, so we cannot say that teachers incorporate it in their work, putting culturally relevant teaching into practice in their classrooms. While one of the benchmarks achieved in recent years is the presence of educational specialists in schools to address cultural diversity, the next step is to create the conditions to articulate a joint and collaborative effort between the teaching body and these professionals, bringing cultural diversity management closer to the classroom. Another pending challenge would be determining how we can best prepare teachers for organising and managing their culturally diverse classrooms. Teachers in these schools are doing their job without a professional knowledge base concerning multicultural education. Therefore, pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes should consider questions related to multicultural education and classroom management, which are absent or rarely taken into account in teacher training to date.     

Meta‐analyses from a collaborative project in mobile lifelong learning

This paper focuses on the use of mobile technologies in relation to the aims of the European Union's Lifelong Learning programme. First, we explain the background to the notion of mobile lifelong learning. We then present a methodological framework to analyse and identify good practices in mobile lifelong learning, based on the outcomes of the MOTILL project (‘Mobile Technologies in Lifelong Learning: Best Practices’). In particular, we give an account of the methodology adopted to carry out meta‐analyses of published literature and accounts of mobile learning experiences. Furthermore, we present the results of an implementation of our Evaluation Grid and the implications arising from it in terms of management, pedagogy, policies and ethical issues. Finally, we discuss lessons learnt and future work.     

Assistive technology for the inclusion of students with disabilities: a systematic review

Educational technology research and development - The commitment to increase the inclusion of students with disabilities has ensured that the concept of Assistive Technology (AT) has become...     

Emotional education program for adolescents (PREDEMA): evaluation from the perspective of students and effects on socio-affective competences / Programa de educación emocional para adolescentes (PREDEMA): valoración desde la perspectiva de los participantes y sus efectos en las competencias socio-afectivas

The literature reveals multiple benefits of emotional education in adolescents’ development. This study examines the effects perceived by participants in the Emotional Education Programme for Adolescents (PREDEMA), which is based on the ability model of emotional intelligence and assumes a dialogical paradigm geared at meaningful learning. A total of 293 students aged 11 to 15 participated in the programme. A mixed methodology was used to evaluate the intervention, analysing participants’ perceived learning and exploring their subjective experience in depth. The results indicate significant learning in all four emotional competences described by the emotional intelligence model, as well as in related areas. The contribution of the qualitative methodology in combination with quantitative analysis is discussed to explore the effects of emotional education programmes that promote adolescents’ emotional awareness.     

Ageism at university: A comparative analysis of young and older adult students

ABSTRACT

This study undertakes a comparative analysis of the negative stereotypes of older persons described by young and older adult university students at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. This study is innovative in that it compares three analytical perspectives: the perception of young students (18–27 years); the perception of older adult students (50 years and above) regarding older persons (hetero-stereotypes); and, finally, the perception of older adult students with regard to themselves as part of the group of older adult students (self-stereotypes).

The sample is made up of 460 young students and 148 older adult students who completed the Questionnaire on Negative Ageing Stereotypes (QNAS), comprising three dimensions: health; character and personality; and social relationships and motivation. A statistical analysis was subsequently carried out using the independent samples t-test in the IBM Statistics 19.0 program.

Of note among the principal results is the low level of negative stereotypes reported among the groups studied, as well as the existence of significant differences in their means, which indicate that the negative stereotypes of the groups differed. The most stereotyped of the dimensions analyzed was character and personality. In contrast, the least-stereotyped dimension was that of social relationships and motivation. Finally, the dimension of health occupied an intermediate position. With regard to the three perspectives studied, the older adult group (hetero-stereotypes) was the most stereotyped, followed by the young students and, finally, the older adult students with reference to self-stereotypes.