Analysis and evaluation of lecturers’ activity in Learning Management Systems: Subjective and objective perceptions

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become the principal resource for the distribution of educational material and collaboration among lecturers and students in Higher Education. The potential of these platforms does not limit to a simple manager of contents, but they also offer a wide range of tools that support the development of different methodologies according to the learning modality, namely on-campus, blended or online. This work analyzes the use of LMS and the interactions with their different tools from the lecturers’ point of view, in order to detect possible incidents, check the tools’ utility and evaluate their complexity. All these metrics represent valuable information to the Degree Coordinators, if they are presented in a suitable manner, to detect and resolve deficiencies in the methodology. For the analysis of the teaching activity two methods are employed: (1) surveys, to measure the subjective perception of lecturers when using LMS tools; and (2) visual analysis of the real lecturer’s activity through OnlineData, a graphical analytic tool developed as part of our work to monitor LMS tools metrics. The results of both methods show differences among the perceived self-usage and actual usage, especially for the e-learning methodologies     

Early Childhood Services in Ireland

This paper gives background information on early childhood services in Ireland and presents the results of a survey of the preschool experiences of 1065 children. The results of the survey suggest that the majority of children experienced some form of early childhood service before starting school. The most common service was a playgroup although a significant proportion of the children had experienced home‐based care with a relative or family day care provider. The implications of the findings for the development of a policy on early childhood services are discussed.     

The moral dimension of class and gender identity-making: poverty and aggression in a secondary school in the city of Buenos Aires

This paper presents some results of a qualitative study carried out in a secondary school in the city of Buenos Aires (Argentina). It examines how two students from poor families responded to, and viewed, aggression by peers at their school. This paper argues that the examination of students’ narratives about aggression (based on classism and sexism) illustrates the analytical usefulness of the moral dimension of social life to unpack crucial aspects of the micro politics of class and gender and processes of identity-making. Following Sayer, this article maps students’ responses to immoral sentiments and misrecognition: the search for respect and respectability, and moral boundary drawing. It demonstrates that these reactions are entangled in students’ class and gender identity-making. It also shows how ‘victims’ are able to regain respect. However, the individualized nature of these processes and the spirals of aggression they instigate demonstrate the fragile and temporary nature of this achievement.     

Impact of peer mediation programmes to prevent bullying behaviours in secondary schools / El impacto de los programas de mediación entre iguales para prevenir conductas de acoso escolar en los centros de secundaria

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of peer mediation programmes at a secondary school, as compared to another centre that did not have any such programme. The impact would be evaluated by means of three levels of variables: pro-victim attitudes, the roles adopted by the youngsters and the school climate (this last item was analysed from two perspectives: that of the pupils and that of the teachers). In order to attain this goal, students from 12 to 14 years old (N = 323) and 17 teacher-tutors were administered different questionnaires in Time 1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and Time 2 (after programme intervention). Results highlight the validity of peer mediation programmes when it comes to fostering pro-victim attitudes, preventing the increase of negative roles and improving the school climate.     

Pedro Gutiérrez Bueno’s Textbooks: Audiences, Teaching Practices and Chemical Revolution

Pedro Gutiérrez Bueno wrote two editions of a chemistry textbook between 1788 and 1802. The paper offers a comparative view of both editions taking into account Gutiérrez Bueno’s biography, his intended audience and the changes related to the so-called chemical revolution. Some conclusions are at odds with common images about scientific revolutions and the role of textbooks in science. The analysis aims to shed some light on the multiple historical forces shaping textbooks and the way in which scientific change is assimilated by their writers. This research was partially supported by the program BHA2002-04611-CO3-02     

Suitability of school textbooks for 5 to 7 year old children with colour vision deficiencies

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to determine, through colorimetric analysis, whether school textbooks for children aged 5 to 7 years contained tasks requiring normal colour vision discrimination for their resolution. In addition, the performance of a group of observers with diverse colour vision deficiencies was evaluated while conducting the tasks under analysis.

Results

Textbooks of mathematics were found to include 10% of tasks which, to an observer with colour vision deficiency, would be very difficult or impossible to solve. The level of difficulty of each task was influenced by the type and degree of colour vision deficiency and by the actual ambient illumination under which it was observed.

Conclusions

Some school textbooks need to be redesigned through an alternative use of colours and textures to take into consideration colour vision deficiencies. In view of the present findings, many Spanish editorial boards have committed to undertake these changes.     

First‐Generation Undergraduate Students' Social Support,Depression, and Life Satisfaction

First‐generation undergraduate students face challenging cross‐socioeconomic cultural transitions into college life. The authors compared first‐ and non‐first‐generation undergraduate students’ social support, posttraumatic stress, depression symptoms, and life satisfaction. First‐generation participants reported less social support from family and friends, more single‐event traumatic stress, less life satisfaction, and marginally more depression symptomatology than non‐first‐generation participants, but significant generation–gender interactions showed first‐generation women doing worse and first‐generation men doing better than others.     

La adquisición del rol y la identidad sexual? función de la familia

Resumen

Este trabajo examina el proceso de adquisición de la identidad y el rol sexual, así como algunos factores que condicionan esta evolución. Se utiliza el método clínico piagetiano, con la ayuda de imágenes gráficas.

Entre las conclusiones más importantes cabe señalar: 1) La adquisición de la identidad y el rol sexual tiene lugar, en sus aspectos más destacados, entre los dos y tres años de vida, 2) La conservación (autoaplicada) de la identidad no es alcanzada hasta los 5–7 años, aproximadamente, 3) Los roles sexuales reproducen de forma particularmente directa la situación del núcleo familiar.     

Performance in solving arithmetic problems: a comparison of children with different levels of achievement in mathematics and reading

The aim of the present study was to investigate the performance in arithmetic related to achievement levels in reading and mathematics. Basic arithmetical facts and multi‐step calculations were examined. The participants were 941 pupils aged 8 (N = 415), 10 (N = 274) and 13 (N = 252) years. The pupils were divided into four groups by standardized achievement tests. One group showed low achievement in both mathematics and reading (MLRL), a second group showed low achievement in mathematics only (ML‐only), a third group in reading only (RL‐only) and a fourth group showed normal achievement in both mathematics and reading (NA). The ML‐only and the MLRL groups did not differ significantly in basic arithmetical facts at any age level, but both groups performed below the RL‐only and NA groups. The two latter groups also performed similarly at all year levels. In multi‐step calculation all groups differed significantly at the lowest age level, with the NA as the group with the best achievement, followed by RL‐only, ML‐only and the MLRL group. At the two highest age levels the relations between the groups, in multi‐step calculation, were in accordance with the results regarding basic facts. The findings indicate, for both normal and low general mathematical ability, that low achievement in reading to a small extent interferes with the pupils’ development of arithmetic performance