Evaluating university performance using reference point based composite indicators

In this paper, we propose the application of a novel methodology to build composite indicators, in order to evaluate university performance. We analyse separately the three basic dimensions of our university system (research, teaching and technology transfer), because we are interested in getting a more accurate vision of each of them. In order to build the composite indicators, we use a multi-criteria analysis technique, based on the double reference point method. One advantage of this technique is the possibility to use reference levels, in such a way that the results obtained are easily interpreted in terms of the performance of the university with respect to these levels. Besides, aggregations for different compensation degrees are provided. In order to illustrate the advantages of this method, it has been applied to evaluate the performance of the public universities of the Spanish region of Andalucía, for year 2008. The results show that the performance of the Andalusian public universities in the teaching block is better than in the research and technology transfer blocks. The application lets us conclude that the methodology offers a warning system to assist in strategic decision making, and the values of the indicators allow us to find fields of improvement in all areas.     

Metric multidimensional scaling and automatic message generation applied to the tourism industry: The case of Israel

The present paper demonstrates the use of metric multidimensional scaling analysis to determine messages which could be utilized to enhance tourism for a particular region. An example utilizing the case of Israel is studied here in order to illustrate these techniques. Thirty professors and their spouses were interviewed to obtain ratio estimates of differences among 16 concepts associated with the focal concepts of “Israel” and “my vacation.” Data were analyzed using the metric program GALILEO (T.M.), which rendered a ratio-scaled configuration of the concepts in a multidimensional space. Further, using an algorithm called the Automatic Message Generator (T.M.), messages were formulated which would move “my vacation” closer to “Israel.” The techniques and the results are presented so as to make them relevant to those persons in charge of the generation of messages in the tourism industry. It is argued in this paper that the use of these techniques may facilitate the task of assessing and changing the attitudes of individuals with regard to their vacation preferences.     

Contributions from the Philosophy of Science to the Education of Science Teachers

One of the most important topics on the international agenda in educational research is to gain an understanding of the processes of educational change in teachers and of the factors that favour or hinder it. Such understanding is, for instance, an essential element in planning and putting into practice initial and ongoing teacher education programs. This article reviews the research on science teachers’ educational change. To organize the information, an analogy is made with the process of scientific change, analyzing and evaluating the contributions of the different models taken from the philosophy of science – positivism, Popper’s principle of falsifiability, Lakatos’ scientific research programs, Laudan’s research traditions, Toulmin’s evolutionism, and Kuhn’s relativism. We conclude the article with the implications for science teacher education.     

Rhetoric and Power: The Idealism and ‘Philosophy of Life’ of the Olympic Movement

In this article we analyze from a multidisciplinary perspective some of the philosophical foundations which underpin the theories on Olympism fostered by the current Olympic institutions. We start from the theory that Olympist idealism1 is based on social representations of the modern sport, implicit to which is the ideological justification for the political and social practices of the Olympic Movement (OM) regarding the various historical episodes in which it has been caught up. This idealism has shaped an inherited view of the sport which has moved beyond the ambit of the OM and into the realm of sports science, which has adopted and continues to adopt some of the postulates of the Olympist discourse when undertaking a critical review of the Olympic history and philosophy.     

Efectos del uso del ordenador en educación. Revisión del tema

El ordenador se ha abierto camino en la vida cotidiana con la misma fuerza que la pluma, la calculadora, la carpeta o el teléfono. Debatir su necesidad en educación, resulta hoy innecesario y conocer sus usos actuales y potenciales es cada vez más una necesïdad para actualizar la educación respecto a lo que en el futuro se perfila como su más habitual herramienta.     

Comparison of the reliability and validity of scores from two concept‐mapping techniques*

This paper reports the results of a study that compared two concept‐mapping techniques, one high‐directed, “fill‐in‐the‐map,” and one low‐directed, “construct‐a‐map‐from‐scratch.” We examined whether: (1) skeleton map scores were sensitive to the sample of nodes or linking lines to be filled in; (2) the two types of skeleton maps were equivalent; and (3) the two mapping techniques provided similar information about students' connected understanding. Results indicated that fill‐in‐the‐map scores were not sensitive to the sample of concepts or linking lines to be filled in. Nevertheless, the fill‐in‐the‐nodes and fill‐in‐the‐lines techniques were not equivalent forms of fill‐in‐the‐map. Finally, high‐directed and low‐directed maps led to different interpretations about students' knowledge structure. Whereas scores obtained under the high‐directed technique indicated that students' performance was close to the maximum possible, the scores obtained with the low‐directed technique revealed that students' knowledge was incomplete compared to a criterion map. We concluded that the construct‐a‐map technique better reflected differences among students' knowledge structure. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 260–278, 2001     

Physical activity awareness of European adolescents: The HELENA study

The aim of this study was to assess physical activity (PA) awareness of adolescents and to identify anthropometric and psychosocial factors that can lead to under or overestimation of PA. This study included 2044 adolescents. Participants wore a uniaxial accelerometer for 7 days to measure PA and completed a self-rated questionnaire about PA. Adolescents were classified into four PA awareness subgroups (realistically active, overestimators, underestimators and realistically inactive) according to the self-rated and objective assessment of PA. Characteristics and psychosocial factors of the self-rated physically active groups were compared using bivariate and multivariate mixed logistic regression models. Forty-five percent of adolescents reported their PA levels correctly (34.8% realistically active and 10.1% realistically inactive). Among the 59.4% who were objectively inactive, 82.9% tended to overestimate their PA level. Adolescents who overestimated their PA level were older (P < .05), had more support from mother and a best friend (P < .05) and had higher cardiorespiratory fitness (P < .001) compared with those who were realistically active. A significant number of adolescents believe that they are physically active when they are not. Improving awareness, especially in the high-risk groups identified here, might help to bring about behavioural changes in physically inactive adolescents.     

Metabolic impact of a soccer match on female players

The aim of this study was to examine the metabolic effect of a female soccer match in elite and sub-elite teams. Blood samples were taken (24 h before, immediately after and 18 h after official soccer matches) to determine haematological, electrolytic and hormonal variables, as well as the levels of cell damage and oxidative stress in 14 elite and 14 sub-elite players. Our results show increases in white blood cell count (P < 0.001) and the percentage of neutrophils (P < 0.001), and decreases in the percentage of lymphocytes (P < 0.05), eosinophils (P < 0.001), monocytes (P < 0.001) and basophils (P < 0.05) immediately post-match. Increases were also found in lactate dehydrogenase activity (P < 0.001), uric acid (P < 0.001), albumin (P < 0.001), total antioxidant status (P < 0.001) and free testosterone levels (P < 0.01). Creatine kinase activity significantly increased 18 h post-match (P < 0.01) and the concentrations of several ions, glucose and proteins were found to be altered immediately post-match. Overall, our results show that playing a soccer match exerts specific metabolic effects on female players, resulting in muscle damage, oxidative stress and biochemical and hormonal variations. On the basis of some interesting correlations, we also suggest that exercise-induced cell breakdown may enhance antioxidant capacity of the soccer players.