La enseñanza de la redacción desde el punto de vista didáctico

En este artículo se hace una reflexión en profundidad uniendo el proceso de enseñar en general al proceso específico de enseñanza de la redacción, que se configura como tarea interdisciplinar en torno a la escritura como eje integrador para lograr la unidad curricular. Esta reflexión se concreta en 10 prescripciones o sugerencias para la actuación.     

Let's keep in contact with Europe — a joint European research project about lifelong education for adults with learning difficulties

The authors of this article come from a range of professional backgrounds in agencies across Europe. Samuel Fernandez lectures at the University of Oviedo in Spain; Janos Kovari works at the Kerek Vilag Foundation in Hungary; Paola Vulterini works for Capodarco, a service provider in Italy; and Val Williams is a researcher at the Norah Fry Research Centre at the University of Bristol. Using funding from the European Commission, the team undertook research into the curriculum provided for adults with learning difficulties in a variety of centres in their four home countries. Fernandez, Kovari, Vulterini and Williams find some interesting similarities and some significant differences in provision. They also seek the views of service users about a common core curriculum derived from their research and present a case for further work in this important area.     

If I experience formative assessment whilst studying at university,will I put it into practice later as a teacher? Formative and shared assessment in Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

The aim of this article is to analyse whether having experience of formative assessment during their initial teacher education courses (ITE) influences graduates’ subsequent practice as teachers. That is, if the assessment methods that university students are subject to during their learning process are then actually employed by them during their professional practice as schoolteachers. To address this issue, questionnaires were issued and focus groups were held with a sample of ITE graduates. The main results of the study are that: (1) formative and shared assessment (FSA) is not used a great deal during ITE, but is highly valued; (2) some graduates have implemented FSA in their practice as teachers, following their experience on their ITE course; and (3) significant variables are found regarding the implementation of FSA in schools (possible resistance from colleagues and/or pupils’ parents, etc.).     

Managing misspelled queries in IR applications

Our work concerns the design of robust information retrieval environments that can successfully handle queries containing misspelled words. Our aim is to perform a comparative analysis of the efficacy of two possible strategies that can be adopted.     

The European university landscape: A micro characterization based on evidence from the Aquameth project

This paper provides a new and systematic characterization of 488 universities, from 11 European countries: Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and UK. Using micro indicators built on the integrated Aquameth database, we characterize the European university landscape according to the following dimensions: history/foundation of university, dynamics of growth, specialization pattern, subject mix, funding composition, offer profile and productivity.     

Agreement in activity energy expenditure assessed by accelerometer and self-report in adolescents: variation by sex, age, and weight status

The agreement between self-reported and objective estimates of activity energy expenditure was evaluated in adolescents by age, sex, and weight status. Altogether, 403 participants (217 females, 186 males) aged 13-16 years completed a 3-day physical activity diary and wore a GT1M accelerometer on the same days. Partial correlations (controlling for body mass) were used to determine associations between estimated activity energy expenditure (kcal · min(-1)) from the diary and accelerometry. Differences in the magnitude of the correlations were examined using Fisher's r to z transformations. Bland-Altman procedures were used to determine concordance between the self-reported and objective estimates. Partial correlations between assessments of activity energy expenditure (kcal · min(-1)) did not differ significantly by age (13-14 years: r = 0.41; 15-16 years: r = 0.42) or weight status (normal weight: r = 0.42; overweight: r = 0.39). The magnitude of the association was significantly affected by sex (Δr = 0.11; P < 0.05). The agreement was significantly higher in males than in females. The relationship between activity energy expenditure assessed by the objective method and the 3-day diary was moderate (controlling for weight, correlations ranged between 0.33 and 0.44). However, the 3-day diary revealed less agreement in specific group analyses; it markedly underestimated activity energy expenditure in overweight/obese and older adolescents. The assessment of activity energy expenditure is complex and may require a combination of methods.     

Fostering parents-professional collaboration for facilitating the school inclusion of students with ASD: design of the “ToGather” web-based prototype

Educational technology research and development - In recent years, many psycho-educational technologies were studied to address the school-related difficulties encountered by students with autism...     

A Behind‐the‐Scenes Guide to School‐Based Research

Schools are an important context for both basic and applied scientific research. Unlike the laboratory, however, the physical and social conditions of schools are not under the exclusive control of scientists. In this article, we liken collecting data in schools to putting on a theatrical production. We begin by describing the large cast of characters whose collaborative efforts make school‐based research possible. Next, we address the critics, including the university Institutional Review Board (IRB) and school administrators, whose feedback often improves the final study design. We then turn our attention to set building, stage directions, and rehearsals—key steps in the iterative process of refining study procedures. We end with a discussion of the day of data collection itself and activities that take place after the curtain drops. Throughout, we make recommendations based on our recent experience collecting data at several high schools.     

The Socio-Economic Background of Erasmus Students: A Trend Towards Wider Inclusion?

The article focuses on the financial issues and family background of Erasmus students. It examines the costs of Erasmus study periods in the academic year 2004/05 and the socio-economic background of Erasmus students that year, based on over 15000 survey responses. Results are compared with those of a similar survey undertaken in 1998 to track changes over the last decade. The main question that the article addresses is whether international mobility of higher education students within the Erasmus programme has been expanded to more students from lower socio-economic backgrounds during this period. We find that, in spite of still important socio-economic barriers to the take-up of the programme, access has been moderately widened.