Transcultural analysis of the effectiveness of a program to promote self-regulated learning in Mozambique,Chile, Portugal,and Spain

The current investigation aims at assessing the effectiveness of an intervention program designed to enhance self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies at the university level, with students from different cultural, linguistic, and educational backgrounds. The central tool of the program is a set of letters in which a fictional first-year student describes his experiences as an SRL student. The program was implemented in four universities in different countries and continents (Portugal, Spain, Chile, and Mozambique), with an experimental group and a comparison group at each university (263 students from experimental groups and 247 from comparison groups). Findings display the effectiveness of the program in enhancing a set of motivational variables related to the study process and the use of SRL strategies. Data were consistent across the different cultural and academic contexts in which the program was implemented. The implications of these findings for university administrators and faculty are discussed.     

Do men and women perform academic work differently?

Tertiary Education and Management - Why is the gender gap so large in researchers’ career progression? Do men and women have different priorities in their academic careers? This study...     

Organisational forms of science communication: the UK and Spanish European higher education systems as paradigms

As key elements in research and development systems, higher education institutions have been taking a leading role when it comes to communicating science and technology, but their performance has been inconsistent so far. In this critical and comparative study of the UK public engagement model and the Spanish scientific culture model, eighteen practitioners from higher education institutions across both regions were interviewed. A mixed qualitative data analysis has been performed identifying similarities and differences that unravelled the science communication management model in the two different higher education systems. This article provides evidence on how the institutionalisation of science communication is strongly influenced by key driving forces in the higher education context as well as the policies of administrations and other agents.

     

University students’ strategies and criteria during self-assessment: instructor’s feedback,rubrics, and year level effects

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This study explores the effects of feedback type, feedback occasion, and year level on student self-assessments in higher education. In total, 126...     

Analysis and design for continuous-time string-connected Takagi–Sugeno systems

Distributed systems consist of interconnected, lower-dimensional subsystems. For such systems, distributed analysis and design present several advantages, such as modularity, easier analysis and design, and reduced computational complexity. A special case of distributed systems is when the subsystems are connected in a string. Applications include distributed process control, traffic and communication networks, irrigation systems, hydropower valleys, etc. By exploiting such a structure, in this paper, we propose conditions for the distributed stability analysis of Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy systems connected in a string. These conditions are also extended to observer and controller design and illustrated on numerical examples.     

Critical elements for product innovation at Portuguese innovative SMEs: an intellectual capital perspective

Knowledge Management Research & Practice - The general purpose of this research is to study interaction effects between intangible assets and product innovation. More specifically, the authors...     

Collaborative action research through technologically mediated agoras

The study presented in this article forms part of a wider project promoting collaboration between junior researchers from different universities with the objective of rethinking and improving teaching practice in relation to the use of technology. The article describes research carried out during the 2012/13 academic year aimed at developing collaborative action research through technologically mediated agoras involving students from three Spanish universities. The main results of this study show that junior researchers improved their teaching practice through technologically mediated inside and outside agoras. In addition, the transformation of university classrooms into agoras enabled the negotiated reconstruction of knowledge for the analysis of good practice in the use of technology. Likewise, these agoras helped reduce limitations by breaking down the barriers of time, distance and resources for sharing findings and limitations between junior researchers. Furthermore, they pave the way for improvements and their implementation in learning processes during initial teacher training.     

A Theoretical Model for Preparing Incarcerated Youth for Careers in an Increasingly Technological World: Computational Logic as a Vehicle for Improving Human Decision-making Skills

Most youth in juvenile delinquent systems end up incarcerated due in part to poor decision-making skills. This study describes a theoretical framework undergirding the relationships across delinquency, learning climate, decision-making, and computational logic. This framework will inform a team of educators, criminologists, and psychologists, and their peers in computer science and mathematics, instructional software design, and content experts as they build and test an innovative instructional model for youth in secure care settings. The goal of the system is to improve human decision-making skills, while preparing youth for further education potentially leading to careers in STEM fields.