E-Government procurement observatory,maturity model and early measurements

Electronic government procurement (eGP) is quickly becoming an essential piece of national e-government programs, since it enables active transparency and favors efficient vendor relationships; however, little attention has been paid to the need for periodical measurement of eGP portals' performance and goal satisfaction. Although maturity levels schemes have been proposed for other domains, most notably IT-related, to the best of our knowledge no maturity level model of eGP has been widely deployed yet. This article presents the e-Government Procurement Observatory Maturity Model (eGPO-MM), which focuses on both legal and institutional arrangements, and portals' technical aspects; the model consists of two Leverage Domains, seven Key Domain Areas, and 25 Critical Variables, which are valued with a weighted scoring system that produces quantitative indicators about portal capabilities and allows direct comparisons. The model was used to evaluate eGP portals from 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean; the measurements are presented, and fit well with previous rank perception, leading to a good reception by participant agencies. eGPO-MM has already allowed to identify areas for joint action and fostered knowledge-sharing among governments, including identification and dissemination of e-procurement best practices; it also established clear reference points to allow each agency to determine a roadmap to higher e-procurement maturity.     

Psychosocial Attributes and Life Experiences of Disadvantaged Minority Mothers: Age and Ethnic Variations

This study examined age and ethnic differences in psychosocial factors among hispanic (n = 210) and black (n = 73) low-income mothers within 2 days after delivery. The sample included 45 black and 99 hispanic adolescents (less than 19 years) and 139 adult controls (greater than or equal to 20 years) giving birth on the service ward at a large metropolitan hospital, excluding mothers and infants with high parity or adverse perinatal conditions. Multivariate and univariate analyses, with parity covaried, revealed age effects including earlier menarche, more school grade retention, and more perceived social support among teens. No age differences were found in child-rearing attitudes, self-esteem, or depressive symptoms. Black mothers reported more social support, higher self-esteem, and less strict child-rearing attitudes than hispanics. Analyses within the hispanic sample revealed Dominican/Puerto Rican group differences in measures of family structure and child-rearing attitudes, but only small differences in social support. Ethnocultural differences between blacks and hispanics and between the two hispanic subgroups are considered in relation to the process of acculturation.     

Low-Income Central American Immigrant Mothers' Goals and Their Children's Classroom Competencies in Preschool

Research Findings: Unlike other Latino groups, there is little information about the early socialization of children from Central American (CA) immigrant families. This study examined CA immigrant mothers' short-term goals and the implications of these goals for children's behavior in preschool. A total of 47 low-income mothers described their goals for their children's behavior at home/with family and at school. Nearly all mothers described relatedness-oriented goals for their children at home and at school. Mothers emphasized autonomy-oriented goals predominantly for the school context. Mothers' emphases on certain goals in the home, but not goals for school, predicted teacher reports of children's social cooperation and approaches to learning in the classroom. Practice or Policy: Educators should be aware that relatedness-oriented goals are highly salient for CA immigrant parents. Immigrant parents might benefit from more information regarding the general goals of preschool. Educators should encourage mothers to set multiple early goals for their children, including learning-related goals for home. Educators and CA immigrant parents may support home–school continuity for children through mutual understanding of goals and values.     

Feedback on feedback: eliciting learners’ responses to written feedback through student-generated screencasts

Despite the potential benefits of assignment feedback, learners often fail to use it effectively. This study examines the ways in which adult distance learners engage with written feedback on one of their assignments. Participants were 10 undergraduates studying Spanish at the Open University, UK. Their responses to feedback were elicited by means of student-generated screencast (Jing®) recordings in which students talked through the feedback written by their tutors. The recordings were analysed in terms of the students’ cognitive, affective and metacognitive responses to the tutors’ feedback. Results show that, while students do engage with tutor feedback and make active efforts to integrate it, they sometimes use ineffective strategies, especially when tutor and student make different assumptions about the role of feedback. The richness of the data obtained from the Feedback on feedback (F on F) method suggests that it has the potential to promote much needed feedback dialogue between students and tutors.     

An Audio-Visual Approach to the Spanish Transition

Tele-revista was a biweekly Swiss television broadcast for Spanish immigrants living in Switzerland. It dealt with labour and migration-related issues in Switzerland, information about Spanish cultural manifestations, political rights and interviews with committed immigrants and key figures of Spanish politics in transit on Swiss soil. First aired in 1973, in the final years of General Franco's authoritarian regime, the TV magazine, initially broadcast on the three Swiss TV channels, is an unique source of the Spanish transition to democracy, seen through the eyes of Swiss TV-makers with the collaboration of some Spanish journalists. Tele-revista was aimed for a better integration of Spaniards within Swiss society, who were considered worse integrated than the Italians. The paper pursues to present a general portrayal of the broadcast with a special attention to the years of the Spanish transition to democracy by means of focussing on the information about social, cultural and political issues.     

Adult beginner distance language learner perceptions and use of assignment feedback

This qualitative study examines perceptions and use of assignment feedback among adult beginner modern foreign language learners on higher education distance learning courses. A survey of responses to feedback on assignments by 43 Open University students on beginner language courses in Spanish, French, and German indicated that respondents can be classified into three groups: those who use feedback strategically by integrating it into the learning process and comparing it with, for example, informal feedback from interaction with native speakers, those who take note of feedback, but seem not to use it strategically, and those who appear to take little account of either marks or feedback. The first group proved to be the most confident and most likely to maintain their motivation in the longer term. The conclusion discusses some of the pedagogical and policy implications of the findings.     

Analogy in William Rowan Hamilton's New Algebra

This essay offers the first analysis of analogy in research-level mathematics, taking as its case the 1837 treatise of William Rowan Hamilton. Analogy spatialized Hamilton's key concepts—knowledge and time—in culturally familiar ways, creating an effective landscape for thinking about the new algebra. It also structurally aligned his theory with the real number system so his objects and operations would behave customarily, thus encompassing the old algebra while systematically bringing into existence the new.     

Diversity and School Curriculum: the response of the Spanish educational system to the needs of academically highly able pupils

In Spain, there is a growing awareness that diversity, and the special educational needs arising out of it, are not only reflected in the social sphere and the school system but also in legislation. Legal changes since 1990 have had many implications for the education of highly able pupils: the Resolucion of 29 April 1996 extends the principles of integration and diversity to all pupils, not exclusively the handicapped. The present study overviews the possibilities under current Spanish legislation for responding and adapting to the educational needs of highly able pupils. It shows how the legislation and guiding principles of the Spanish educational system make it possible to give an effective response to educating highly able students. However, work is needed on the adaptation of diagnostic tests and curricular material, and the training of specialized professionals.     

Un modelo metodológico alternativo para la enseñanza de una segunda lengua

La creciente importancia que está adquiriendo en nuestro país la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras obliga a los profesores de segundas lenguas a un profundo replanteamiento de la eficacia de sus métodos en la consecución, no sólo de objetivos meramente lingüísticos, sino de los objetivos de autonomía en el uso de la lengua por parte de los alumnos. La autora de este artículo expone los principios y métodos de la expresión libre como una posible alternativa a las tendencias didácticas impuestas por otros enfoques.     

Faith in school: immigrant families’ attitudes towards education in Spain

This paper is based on a preliminary exploration of the in‐depth interviews and focus groups that are part of a more extensive research project on the education of children of immigrants in Spain. In the process of migration, families undergo profound transformations that are often complicated by extended periods of separation—not only from extended family members, but also from the nuclear family. Though many immigrant families are involved in transnational separation and reunion processes of this kind, there has been little research on the impact of these forms of family transformations on the vision of education held by immigrants. This impact seems to be two‐fold. On one hand, family separation and living or work conditions hamper educational support and monitoring; on the other, the experience of migration poses a tremendous faith in the benefits of education and makes families highly motivated in education. The main idea underlying this paper is that an accurate knowledge of the schooling experience of the children of immigrants has to be related to the moral and psychological effects of this adaptive transformation and, in a very special way, to the weave of projects, expectations and frustrations that permeate the life of an immigrant family. The psychosocial consequences of the processes of adjustment and relearning that immigration entails, the need for a comparative perception of success and the willingness to make an effort and work hard make immigrant families strongly meritocratic and—contrary to some common beliefs—able to show a high level of commitment and expectations in relation to the education of their children.