Análisis de un fragmento de clase de catalán (1.a lengua)

Se presenta aquí un caso de aplicación del «análisis del discurso» para la evaluación, los intercambios lingüísticos de profesores y alumnos en clase y, de este modo, de la calidad didáctica de las clases de lengua. El modelo se propone como técnica para la autoevaluación y optimización de las estrategias de instrucción…     

Herramientas de autor para el desarrollo de software educativo

La gran muralla del ordenador para los educadores ha sido que imponía el juego que Goethe achacaba a los matemáticos: lo traducen todo a su idioma y ya se trata de algo distinto inasequible para la generalidad de los mortales. La informática separaba a los educadores de la informática. Los lenguajes «de autor» que traducen las posibilidades del ordenador a pautas de acción expresadas en códigos sencillos y naturales y que sirven para producir cursos, lecciones o didácticas fácilmente, permiten por primera vez que el educador pase a ser protagonista y no el anfitrión de una visita inoportuna, del papel del ordenador en educación.     

The longitudinal effect of the Aprender a Convivir (learning to live together) programme in childhood: the development of social competence / Efecto longitudinal del programa Aprender a Convivir en la infancia: desarrollo de la competencia social

Abstract

In the context of a changing society, strategies are required to eradicate the phenomenon of antisocial behaviour. The Aprender a Convivir universal prevention programme tries to provide such a response. This study attempts to test the effectiveness of the programme through a quasi-experimental long-term study carried out over three years in some nursery schools. Of the students who participated in this study (N = 784), those from the experimental group showed significant increases in social competence compared to the control group, and behavioural problems decreased, albeit not in any significant way. To draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the programme, further improvements are proposed to the design of the study.     

«¡Pásame la brújula!» Un ejemplo de metodología histórico-cultural en la enseñanza de las matemáticas

La enseñanza de las matemáticas ha estado tradicionalmente condicionada por una visión universalista de las capacidades mentales, que ha tenido poco en cuenta que el lenguaje matemático no es una abstracción aprioristica y acontextual, sino que pasa por la utilización de «metáforas» instrumentales utilizadas por los propios matemáticos a lo largo de la historia y escamoteada al niño en la escuela. En este artículo se expone un diseño didáctico en que se hace una apuesta fuerte por una enseñanza de la geometría que recoja los instrumentos culturales (las «metáforas» materiales) presentes en nuestro entorno y los utilice en sus diseños como mediadores entre la realidad y los conceptos.     

Case Method in the Teaching of Food Safety

One of the fundamental aims of education is the integration of theory and practice. The case method is a teaching strategy in which students must apply their knowledge to solve real‐life situations. They have to analyze the case described and propose the best possible solution. Although the case may be written, the use of new information and communication technologies can develop the case plan in ways that would achieve greater realism and widen the possibilities for discussion. This paper describes our experience in implementing the case method to teach food safety in the Chair of Hygiene. At first this methodology was used to improve the teaching of good practices in food preparation, later practical work was implemented where small groups of students designed and carried out the microbiological analysis of suspected food. This practical work was presented online as a multimedia activity; students were given face‐to‐face and on‐line tutoring. Evaluation was based both on students’ performance and on a survey they had to answer. More than 92% of students regarded the methodology used for the understanding of the unit as sound. Professors collaboration on providing guidance and multimedia presentation were also positively assessed. The bringing together of face‐to‐face and virtual tasks and small‐group discussion of cases under professors guidance contributed to making good use of the positive aspects of this methodology in order to improve the understanding of problems which do not always have a single answer.     

Level of deprivation does not affect degree of discounting in pigeons

Two experiments tested the effects of food deprivation on discounting in pigeons. An adjusting-amount procedure was used to estimate the subjective value of food at delays ranging from 1 to 24 s. Experiment 1 compared pigeons’ discounting of delayed food reinforcers at 75 %–80 % and 90 %–95 % of free-feeding weight. Experiment 2 compared discounting under 1- and 23-h food deprivation. In both experiments at both deprivation levels, discounting was well described by the hyperboloid discounting function. No systematic effect of level of deprivation on degree of discounting was observed in either experiment. This finding is consistent with the view that pigeons’ choices are controlled by the relative, rather than the absolute, value of reinforcers.     

International trends in health science librarianship: Part 4 – Four Southern European countries

This is the fourth in a series of articles exploring international trends in health science librarianship in four Southern European countries in the first decade of the 21st century. The invited authors are from Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Future issues will track trends in Latin America and Central Europe. JM     

Toward a Longitudinal Model of e-Commerce: Environmental,Technological, and Organizational Drivers of B2C Adoption

Despite the important benefits for firms of commercial initiatives on the Internet, e-commerce is still an emerging distribution channel, even in developed countries. Thus, more needs to be known about the mechanisms affecting its development. A large number of works have studied firms' e-commerce adoption from technological, intraorganizational, institutional, or other specific perspectives, but there is a need for adequately tested integrative frameworks. Hence, this work proposes and tests a model of firms' business-to-consumer (called B2C) e-commerce adoption that is founded on a holistic vision of the phenomenon. With this integrative approach, the authors analyze the joint influence of environmental, technological, and organizational factors; moreover, they evaluate this effect over time. Using various representative Spanish data sets covering the period 1996–2005, the findings demonstrate the suitability of the holistic framework. Likewise, some lessons are learned from the analysis of the key building blocks. In particular, the current study provides evidence for the debate about the effect of competitive pressure, since the findings show that competitive pressure disincentivizes e-commerce adoption in the long term. The results also show that the development or enrichment of the consumers' consumption patterns, the technological readiness of the market forces, the firm's global scope, and its competences in innovation continuously favor e-commerce adoption.