Can telecollaboration contribute to the TPACK development of pre-service teachers?

This study examines the suitability of telecollaboration practices to enhance ICT integration in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)-based units by analysing the number and type of episodes related to students’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) produced in a telecollaboration whose aim was the design of a technology-enhanced CLIL unit. Results revealed a high number of episodes focusing on the domains and intersections of the TPACK framework, that pedagogical content knowledge was the main focus of attention and prompted most of the suggestions for change in the unit and that telecollaboration promoted collaboration and made participation more equal. Consequently, telecollaboration showed a great potential for directing students’ attention to their TPACK even though the scarcity of episodes focusing on the TPACK intersection also indicated there is ample room for more teacher training efforts to prepare pre-service teachers for technology integration.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: The moderating role of resilience in the relationship between academic burnout and the perception of psychological health in nursing students

The objective of this study was to analyse the role of resilience in the dimensions of academic burnout syndrome and psychological health in a sample of nursing students. A battery of questionnaires was administered to 218 nursing students, all of whom were in the second year of their degree at the University of Murcia (Spain). The applied protocol used the CD-RISC 10 scale for the measurement of resilience, the burnout scale MBI, and the GHQ-12 questionnaire to assess psychological health. The findings showed a significant relationship between resilience and burnout, emotional exhaustion and self-efficacy, as well as with psychological health. Moreover, three burnout dimensions were found to be significantly linked to psychological health in the way we had predicted. A stepwise regression analysis indicated the moderating role of resilience on psychological health in emotionally exhausting situations. We conclude that the psychological characteristic resilience moderated the effect of emotional exhaustion on the psychological health of the students. The practical implications of the results are discussed in order to introduce measures for the proper training of nursing students for professional practice; we also make several suggestions for future research in this field.     

Home-based family involvement and academic achievement: a case study in primary education

Does home-based family involvement influence academic performance? To answer this question, a case study research was carried out with 96 children from all six levels of primary education at a public school, and their families. Data regarding home-based family involvement were collected using a questionnaire. Academic achievement was measured from school marks. The results reveal that, apart from two of the factors considered, home–family involvement as a whole is not significantly related to academic achievement. These two factors are access to informal education resources and parents’ employment. Family involvement related to the access of children to informal education resources is significantly related to a better academic achievement. Those students with both parents working perform best, and those with none working, worst. Although gender does not appear to significantly influence academic achievement and family involvement, the results show that girls attain better school performance and receive more family attention than boys.     

The effect of technological knowledge assets on performance: The innovative choice in Spanish firms

The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between Technological Knowledge Assets (TKAs) and performance, in the light of making the ‘innovative choice’ that involves short-term costs of acquiring or generating the assets but aims at longer term benefits through innovation. To that end, a study of 1267 industrial firms in Spain was carried out over a period of 5 years, 1998-2002. The results show that TKAs have a positive indirect effect on financial performance mediated through innovation. They also reveal that TKAs have a negative direct effect on performance, except licences. Thus, the combined effect of TKAs on performance urges the need for innovation to obtain a positive payoff.     

The intangibles’ mindset of CFOs’ and corporate performance

This paper aims to analyze the companies’ view about the financial valuation of intangibles relevance and its influence on corporate performance. Based on the theory of resources, the role of intangibles in business competitiveness is justified. The traditional factors of production have become secondary, while the success is primarily based on the development and utilization of intangible resources. One of the main problems in managing the intangibles appears to be that, there is a general lack of information about them. Therefore, financial valuation of intangibles will result in significant benefits to the organization that will help determine business strategy, process design as well providing competitive advantage. It follows the hypothesis of this work, the greater known about their intangibles and the greater sensitivity to the financial valuation of them, the better performance. To achieve this objective, a field study is done, doing telephone calls to Basque Country companies’ financial managers.     

Perception of conflict in university students. The importance of initial training / La percepción del conflicto en alumnos universitarios. La importancia de la formación inicial

This article analyses the perception of conflict held by students in the Faculty of Education at the three campuses of the University of Granada, and evaluates the different notions held by those who have received specific training in this subject and those who have not during their initial training process. An ad hoc questionnaire has been developed, with an empirical-analytical study and Ex Post Facto correlational design. The sample covers 1,281 subjects. The results indicate a negative perception and conceptualization, poor realization of the educational guides on subjects that include competences related to the theme of Conflict and/or the Culture of Peace, and the influence of previous experiences.     

Books and articles of academic interest

Books and articles of academic interest     

Selection and evaluation of Internet information by adults with intellectual disabilities

Internet offers people with intellectual disabilities (ID) unique opportunities to access information and to participate in society. But concerns have been raised about the potential risks they face when accessing the Internet (e.g. giving credit to false information, being exposed to manipulative content). As part of the current debate between positive risk-taking and overprotection, our study empirically tested the extent to which 43 adults with ID identified and selected topically relevant as well as trustworthy web pages while searching the Internet for several topics (e.g. Can social networks use your pictures for advertisement?). Participants also justified their search decisions. Results revealed that while searching familiar topics (i.e. social networks), participants selected more relevant and trustworthy pages than irrelevant and less trustworthy ones. Searches of less familiar topics (i.e. daily health), were carried out randomly, that is, without applying a specific criterion. Results point to the importance of topic familiarity on people’s with ID performance on Internet searching tasks. This pattern of results suggests that, first, we should avoid overprotection when people with ID search for familiar topics and, second, they need more support when searching for information about less familiar topics.     

How students with intellectual disabilities evaluate recommendations from internet forums

Social networks enable people with intellectual disabilities (ID) to participate actively in society and to promote their self-determination. However, concerns have been raised regarding the potential limitations of people with ID to deal with untrustworthy information sources on the Internet. In an experiment, we assessed how adult students with ID evaluated recommendations in Internet forums authored by either self-reported experts or by users under pseudonyms who supported their claim either with documentary sources or their personal experience. We compared the performances of students with ID to that of students of similar ages but higher educational levels (chronological age-matched control group) and to younger students with similar verbal mental age (verbal mental age-matched control group). Participants were asked to evaluate to what extent a fictitious user should follow particular recommendations given in a forum and to justify their evaluations by writing a message to the fictitious user. Students with ID, as opposed to the two control groups, recommended the forum advice to a higher extent regardless of authorship and evidence used, and they included in their messages to the fictitious user a higher number of opinions and information sources not present in the forum without linking them to the actual discussion. The pattern of results suggested that students with ID have a limited ability to evaluate recommendations in forums and that they do not necessarily present a delay in the development of these abilities, but rather an atypical development. Finally, we discussed the potential implications for teaching digital literacy to students with ID.     

Self-Determination and Goal Aspirations: African American and Latino Males’ Perceptions of Their Persistence in Community College Basic and Transfer-Level Writing Courses

This Grounded Theory study utilized Self-determination Theory to analyze the interview results of 18 community college African American and Latino males. The goal was to learn what helped participants to succeed and persist in developmental and transfer-level writing courses despite the obstacles that they faced. Three major themes emerged: (a) Male students of color continued to take and complete English courses because they were determined to achieve their academic goals; (b) they sought assistance and guidance from their English professors, from the writing lab attached to the basic skills course and from the writing tutoring staff; and (c) when they felt overwhelmed and considered dropping their English classes, their determination to achieve their goals and the assistance they received from faculty and other writing staff ultimately kept them from doing so. Therefore, first, community colleges should encourage students’ ability to be autonomous. Second, they can help students develop a sense of relatedness by providing a better sense of belonging. Third, institutions should develop strong faculty networks within the college to increase student motivation and self-determination by providing mentoring opportunities. Finally, institutions should consider utilizing faculty and other institutional agents to help students by providing information regarding various student support services that may help address issues students may be encountering.