Intercultural sensitivity among university students: measurement of the construct and its relationship with international mobility programmes / Sensibilidad intercultural de los estudiantes universitarios: medición del constructo y su relación con los programas de movilidad internacional

The purpose of this study was to validate the IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory) and to assess the impact of international mobility programmes on the intercultural sensitivity of university students. For this, a quasi-experimental study was carried out using a longitudinal design of repeated pre-test and post-test measures, with an experimental group of students who carried out international mobility programmes and a control group of students who did not. The sample consisted of 3,047 university students. The inventory yielded a five-factor structure (negation/defence, minimization, reversion, acceptance/adaptation and encapsulated marginality) with alpha coefficients ranging from .82 to .91, revealing adequate reliability and validity. The results indicate the effectiveness of the IDI to measure intercultural sensitivity. Although the post-test scores are higher than the pre-test scores for both groups, there are significant differences in favour of the experimental group (p = .000) in all factors except the negation/defence stage. The conclusions focus on the implications of this study for curriculum development and policy at an educational level.     

Using blogs to be aware of the development and adoption of professional skills

In view of the challenges facing universities in our days and in accordance with the guidelines of the EHEA, the present article presents the results of a project which aims to unite the use of blogs and a competency approach. Specifically, the project is structured around two basic, complementary aims: 1. The design and implementation of a teaching innovation project which through the use of blogs promotes the development of certain professional competencies and 2. To assess the experiences and comments of students regarding the use of blogs in a university context, in order to appraise how students assess the use of this new learning tool. To achieve the latter aim, we used a methodology that combines a questionnaire with content analysis, using a sample of 82 subjects. The article shows that university students consider the blog as a tool that enables the acquisition of professional competencies, boosts the teaching-learning process, and foments the development of reflection. Based on these results, several proposals are made concerning the use of blogs, including activities related to reflection, provision of training-focused feedback, and the use of labels as an exercise of metareflection, amongst others.     

The Impact of Globalization on Teacher Education: The Philippine Perspective

This qualitative study is an attempt to describe how administrators, teachers and researchers in a select group of teacher education institutions (TEIs) in the capital of the Philippines collectively view globalization. Specifically, concepts of a globalized teacher education, impact of globalization in teacher education, and problems of teacher education in the context of globalization were the delineated factors investigated in this study. A total of 23 respondents comprising 13 university teachers, 6 deans and 4 educational researchers were asked to participate in an audio-taped interview and written responses. Data yielded by the interview were transcribed and categorized based on saliency, meaning and homogeneity. Clearly, this study has disclosed efforts initiated at both pre-service and in-service education levels in response to the challenges of globalization consistent with the collective view of the various sectors. This research segment is part of a research project submitted to the Asia-Pacific Education Policy Research Initiative/KEDI (AP-EPRI/KEDI) and funded by the World Bank/GDN.     

Science identity possibilities: a look into Blackness,masculinities, and economic power relations

This forum paper dialogues with Sheron Mark’s A bit of both science and economics: a non-traditional STEM identity narrative. In her paper, she discusses the development of a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) identity by a young African American male during an informal STEM for Social Justice Program. Here, the discussion focuses on Black masculinities, identity formation, and the role of science educators in making STEM fields a welcoming place for young Black men. Drawing from Mark’s data and discussion, this paper is a dialogue between science identity possibilities in the United States and in Brazil when we look at the intersections of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Using the shared colonial past of both countries a connection is established to address race relations within science education. The main argument in this paper is that racism can no longer be denied and dismissed by the science education community worldwide and that intersectional approaches are needed to face this issue.     

Beyond Mother Education: Maternal Practices as Predictors of Early Literacy Development in Chilean Children from Low-SES Households

Research Findings: To extend findings that are mainly based on North American studies with English speakers, we studied 989 Chilean mothers from households of low socioeconomic status and their prekindergarten children, posing 2 questions: (a) Do mothers’ self-reported practices about literacy development predict early literacy outcomes over and above child characteristics and maternal education? (b) Do these maternal practices mediate the relation between maternal education and these child outcomes? Confirming previous studies, exposure to texts and non-present talk predicted vocabulary, and teaching practices predicted child code-related skills. Contrary to previous studies, exposure to texts also predicted child code-related skills. We also found that maternal practices partially mediated the relation between maternal education and early literacy skills. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the need to target children before prekindergarten with interventions that increase the studied maternal practices and to do so in family, day care, and health care settings with special emphasis on families with incomplete elementary education. The broad effect of exposure to texts on early literacy outcomes and the low social value on reading in Chilean culture suggest that teacher preparation programs need to include ways to engage children in literature as a frequent experience.     

Mathematics Education: A Vision of Its Evolution

Teaching in general and teachingof mathematics in particular are matters ofgreat importance for contemporary society.Over the years, societies have establishedinstitutions in order to incorporatemathematics and science into the culture ofsociety with the clear intention ofencouraging a scientific vision of theworld among the population. This intensesocial process of scientific enlightenment has helped us recognize theneed to implement educational modificationsin the specific field of mathematics basedon designs that are better adapted toschool practices. Mathematics educationdeals with the systematic study of theeffects of such processes; in this paper,we have decided to describe a certainevolution of its research problems. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.