Second Screening Politics in the Social Media Sphere: Advancing Research on Dual Screen Use in Political Communication with Evidence from 20 Countries

The pervasive use of multiple technological tools to engage with media and political content (i.e., TV sets, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.) has deeply altered the way citizens around the world consume information and discuss public affair issues. Many are using 2, or even several “screens” at the same time to do so, a phenomenon known as second or dual screening.

The goal of this article is twofold. First, it introduces a set of novel studies published as a special section devoted to second screening. Second, based on nationally representative original survey data collected in twenty societies (N = 22.033), the study depicts a snapshot of second screening habits for news and politics around the world. Findings reveal that young people tend to second screen more than older counterparts. Similarly, there are also differences in political behaviors between groups of high and low frequency second screen users. More intensive users tend to politically express themselves in social media, and participate more often in offline political activities. On the other hand, results indicate little or no differences between these two groups in terms of their voting behavior.     

Foundational aspects of classroom relations: associations between teachers’ immediacy behaviours,classroom democracy,class identification and learning

This study focused on foundational aspects of classroom relations. Specifically, relationships between teachers’ immediacy (interpersonal) behaviours, classroom democracy, identification and learning were considered. Previous work suggests that these variables can be used as a foundation to shape classroom climate, culture and learning outcomes and, by extension, assist educational institutions to achieve their civic mission. This study examined classroom democracy and class identification as variables that mediate the relationship between immediacy behaviours and learning using data collected from 529 students in six institutions of higher learning in Rwanda. Structural equation modeling revealed that classroom democracy mediates the relationship between immediacy behaviours and that classroom democracy and class identification covary substantially. The significant relationships in the final structural model suggest that immediate teachers are likely to have a positive influence on perceptions of classroom democracy, class identification and learning. Based on the growing scholarship of instructional dissent, this study highlights the foundational and strategic aspects underlying these relationships within the context of relating in the classroom and beyond.     

Perspectives in Hiring Academic Librarians with Frequent Job Changes

Librarian candidates’ frequent job changes can affect the probability of being hired. The aim of this study is to investigate the perspectives of library administrators and other librarians who had made hiring recommendations (e.g., served in search committees) toward librarian candidates with frequent job changes; 230 participants completed the online survey. Age, gender, type of academic institution and the number of libraries that the participant had worked during their career were not predictors of bias. More than half believed frequent job changes reflected unfavorably on candidates. Findings suggested that there is no systematic bias of librarian candidates with frequent job changes.     

Digitization and Business Models in the Spanish Publishing Industry

This paper analyzes how technological change and digitalization in the Spanish publishing sector is challenging existing business models and encouraging publishers to modify their portfolios of products and competencies. A qualitative analysis (case study) of three Spanish publishers is carried out. The practical implications of the research are that digital products and services are still considered secondary to the analog book. On the other hand, the proportion of titles available in digital formats is still small. To all this, the lack of a common dominant design for digital publication is added, which represents an uncertainty for editors, to which must be added the lack of institutional support. For the time being, Spanish publishers are simply selling digital versions of their paper books on digital distribution platforms, trying to minimize risks by betting on positively contrasted works in the traditional paper-based business model.     

Correcting for sample problems in PISA and the improvement in Portuguese students’ performance

The results of large-scale international assessments such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have attracted a considerable attention worldwide and are often used by policy-makers to support educational policies. To ensure that the published results represent the actual population, these surveys go through a thorough scrutiny to ensure their validity. One important issue that may affect the results is the occurrence of different participation rates across groups with heterogeneous average student scores. In this study, we illustrate how problems of representativeness of the samples may be corrected by the use of post-stratified weights. We use the case of Portugal, a country where we uncover a meaningful difference between the actual population and the PISA samples in terms of the distribution of students per grade and track of studies. We show that after post-stratification, the temporal evolution of the PISA scores is quite different from the one reported.     

Primary mathematics teacher education in Australia and China: What might we learn from each other?

The preparation of teachers to teach mathematics to primary school children differs across nations and cultures. This study used mixed methods to examine the basic content knowledge of trainee teachers in Australia and China. A simple test (30 questions) of content based on an international comparative study in mathematics teacher training found that many of the Australian trainee teachers struggled with material that they might be expected to teach, while the Chinese teachers largely demonstrated mastery. The significance of this finding is examined in the context of the teacher preparation programs in two teacher training institutions. Cultural commentary is added by leading academics in each institution. It was found that in the Australian teacher training institution there was a focus on generic skills and relatively limited opportunity to develop trainee teachers’ content knowledge or specific pedagogy. The relevance of the findings is discussed through the framework of different beliefs in the nature of mathematics and mathematics teaching that have been reported to dominate the different educational systems in China and Australia.     

The National Student Survey: validation in Portuguese medical students

The UK National Student Survey (NSS) is a sound and widely used instrument for assessing students’ academic experiences. We aimed to translate the NSS for Portuguese students and to validate the instrument in a sample of medical undergraduates. The research team translated and adapted the NSS for Portuguese students (NSS-P). The survey was administered on an online platform to 1,256 final-year students at eight Portuguese medical schools. A total of 329 medical students (69.9% female) replied to the NSS-P, a response rate of 26.2%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the original six-factor structure had an adequate fit to the data. Adequate internal consistency was observed for all the subscales. Medium to large correlations were found among all the subscale scores and between the subscale scores and the students’ overall satisfaction. Multiple regression showed that the scores on the Teaching, Organization and Management and Personal Development subscales significantly predicted the students’ overall satisfaction. Approximately 64% of the students reported being satisfied with the quality of their courses. Significant differences among the medical schools in their NSS-P scores were found. The NSS-P is a valid and reliable measure for assessing medical students’ perceptions of academic quality.     

The interplay between teachers’ approaches to teaching,students’ approaches to learning and learning outcomes: a qualitative multi-case study

The interaction between approaches to teaching and students’ learning has been the focus of research for more than 20 years. Previous studies concerning approaches to teaching in higher education have identified two broad categories: content- and learning-focused approaches. Some studies indicate that teachers do not always adopt a consonant teaching- or learning-focused approach, but might employ elements of both, which results in a dissonant approach. Research on how dissonant approaches to teaching and students’ quality of learning are related is scant. This study explored relationships between how teachers’ approaches to teaching and undergraduate students’ self-reported approaches to learning and learning outcomes. The data for this study consisted of 33 semi-structured interviews with students from three courses. Interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis. The results demonstrated that, when the teacher used a consonant learning-focused approach to teaching, students’ learning outcomes and approaches to learning were of a slightly higher quality than when the teacher employed a dissonant approach to teaching. However, a dissonant approach to teaching did not always result in a lower quality of approaches to learning and learning outcomes.     

Non-formal education in Cuba

Conclusion In Cuba the sixties coincided with a unique national liberation movement which, supported by such fundamental achievements as agrarian reform and nationalisation, brought about the organisation of a national effort on the part of all the social sectors anxious to play their part in these changes.These unleashed forces have been both protagonists and apprentices in the accelerated campaign against underdevelopment. The work of transformation and social and economic construction has also logically included an educational effort, the success of which can be measured by such achievements as the literacy campaign of 1961 and the doubling of school enrolment during the decade. The first fruits of this drastic educational effort were the establishment of mass education groups in 1961, since when old structures and concepts have been rejected and an action programme has been emerging with ever greater forcefulness aimed at shaping and adapting education to the characteristics and needs of a socialist society.This tremendous undertaking, with service to all society as its major principle, is the fundamental reason for the many novel experiments made at all levels of education. It forms the basis of the search for a new kind of education which will correspond to current educational trends in the world and at the same time meet the exceptional situation of Cuba, where priority is given to education as a duty and a right of all and where everyone, from the humblest worker to the Prime Minister, is aware of the vital need for education and its inseparable links with development plans.Adapted by permission of UNESCO from Innovating Experiments in Education in Cuba by Raúl Ferrer Perez. International Commission on the Development of Education, Series C: Innovations, No. 4. Paris: UNESCO, 1973 (mimeographed).