Analysis of the reading and comprehension control in scientific texts in high school students

Students' learning process can be negatively affected when their reading and comprehension control is not appropriated. This research focuses on the analysis of how a group of students from high school evaluate their reading comprehension in manipulated scientific texts. An analysis tool was designed to determine the students' degree of comprehension control when reading a scientific short text with an added contradiction. The results have revealed that the students from 1st and 3rd ESO do not properly self-evaluated their reading comprehension. A different behavior has been observed in 1st Bachillerato, where appropriate evaluation and regulation seem to be more frequent. Moreover, no significant differences have been found regarding the type of text, year or gender. Finally, as identified by previous research, the correlations between the students' comprehension control and their school marks have shown to have a weak relationship and inversely proportional to the students' age.

Are they adicctied to college students social networks?

The development of the Internet and in particular of social networks has supposedly given a new view to the different aspects that surround human behavior. It includes those associated with addictions, but specifically the ones that have to do with technologies. Following a correlational descriptive design we present the results of a study, which involved university students from Social and Legal Sciences as participants, about their addiction to the Internet and in particular to social networks. The sample was conformed of 373 participants from the cities of Granada, Sevilla, Málaga, and Córdoba. To gather the data a questionnaire that was design by Young was translated to Spanish. The main research objective was to determine if university students could be considered social network addicts. The most prominent result was that the participants don’t consider themselves to be addicted to the Internet or to social networks; in particular women reflected a major distance from the social networks. It’s important to know that the results differ from those found in the literature review, which opens the question, are the participants in a phase of denial towards the addiction?

The Cuban school as a context for a proper development of the environmental perception

Environmental Psychology in Cuba is a new discipline that promotes a historical and cultural vision of mankind. Perception is one of the distinct processes that creates environmental consciousness. Depending on the perception of the environment, individuals interact with it, and vice versa. It means that a good perception of the significant elements of the environment also contributes to the formation of an environmental consciousness, in which perception is one of the main processes. In this transformation the school is one of the most important places for creating knowledge, skills, habits, and good attitudes towards the environment. As a result, the evaluation of the environmental perception development in students allows detecting weaknesses in the environmental education and proposing solutions based on specific problems. This study is based on different researches where the subjects were Cuban students from different educational levels and provides a first approach to the dynamic of the environmental perception development in these individuals. Recent researches have used some dimensions of the environment concept as development indicators: material, relational, intrapersonal, behavioural, cognitive, natural or ecological, and cultural. Generally speaking, different investigations show that school is the right context for environmental education.

Impact of the intrinsic motivation on the academic performance through voluntary assignments: An empirical analysis

The students academic performance is a key aspect for all agents involved in a higher education quality program. However, there is no unanimity on how to measure it. Some professionals choose assessing only cognitive aspects while others lean towards assessing the acquisition of certain skills. The need to train increasingly adapted professionals in order to respond to the companies’ demands and being able to compete internationally in a global labour market requires a kind of training that goes beyond memorizing. Critical and logical thinking are amongst written language skills demanded in the field of Social Sciences. The objective of this study is to empirically demonstrate the impact of voluntary assignments on the academic performance of students. Our hypothesis is that students who complete high quality voluntary assignments are those more motivated and, therefore, those with higher grades. An experiment with students from the "Financial Accounting II" during the academic year of 2012/13 at the Business and Economics School of the UCM was carried out. A series of voluntary assessments involving the preparation of accounting essays were proposed in order to develop skills and competencies as a complement to the lessons included in the curriculum of the subject. At the end of the course, the carrying-out or not of the essay together with its critical, reflective quality and style, were compared. Our findings show a relationship between the voluntarily presented papers of quality and the final grade obtained throughout the course. These results show that the students intrinsic motivation is a key element in their academic performance. On the other hand, the teachers role focuses on being a motivating element through the learning process.

¡Abre los ojos! Un proyecto de mejora educativa para la prevención de drogas en adolescentes

La Educación para la Salud (EpS) es un tema transversal del currículo que adolece de propuestas didácticas novedosas para la intervención pedagógica. El objetivo del trabajo que se presenta es poner en marcha un plan de mejora para la prevención de drogadicciones en adolescentes. Para ello, se ha trabajado con un total de 142 estudiantes de 3º de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) con edades comprendidas entre los 14 y los 16 años que cursan estudios en el Instituto “Francisco Salzillo” de la localidad de Alcantarilla (Murcia). Concretamente, este artículo da luz al Proyecto ¡Abre los ojos!, que forma parte del Plan de Acción Tutorial (PAT) y del Plan de Mejora para la Prevención de Drogas (PMPD) propuesto desde el Departamento de Orientación. Se exponen ad hoc las actividades implementadas durante las 3 sesiones trabajadas con cada uno de los 6 grupos-clase escolarizados en este nivel. Haciendo uso de la reflexión-acción, el alumnado ha desarrollado una conciencia crítica acerca de los riesgos que entraña para la salud el consumo de drogas. Asimismo, mediante la técnica de grupos de discusión los discentes han realizado un interesante debate cuyas ideas han sido organizadas en torno a tres aspectos clave: causas por las que se empieza a consumir, cómo evitar caer en las drogas, y alternativas de ocio y tiempo libre para una vida saludable. Finalmente, se especifica la necesidad de abordar tareas de prevención en los centros educativos así como de facilitar información y de resolver las inquietudes de los jóvenes acerca de esta temática.

Experiencia colaborativa de enseñanza y aprendizaje entre estudiantes de diferentes ámbitos universitarios. Narrativa en torno a los Desayunos Donostia-Barcelona

El texto presenta una experiencia socioconstruccionista que une el trabajo entre estudiantes de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Barcelona y de Magisterio de la Universidad del País Vasco. Un trabajo colaborativo entre docentes y estudiantes que conllevó compartir conocimientos y saberes a través del uso de nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (Skype y Blogs). El foco del artículo está situado en las relaciones de enseñanza y aprendizaje propias y singulares de una experiencia concreta, y en lo que se deriva de ello en el desarrollo de identidades de discentes y docentes; en esta línea, surgieron temas vinculados con: las posicionamientos emergentes, los modos de colocarse en los espacios de aprendizaje, las formas de relacionarse con los conocimientos, resistencias y potenciales del uso de nuevas tecnologías, etc. El texto está articulado en dos partes: una primera en la que brevemente se muestra el anclaje teórico que sustentó el trabajo (la investigación narrativa, y el trabajo educativo basado en Leaning by Desing); y una segunda parte que, llevando por título Desayunos Donostia–Barcelona y con una retórica basada en la novela de ficción, presenta experiencias significativas que hablan de los encuentros entre estudiantes y docentes. Dichas experiencias se inscriben dentro de las actividades de los grupos de innovación docente Indaga-t (2010PID-UB/33) y Elkarrikertuz (IT433-10), y es el resultado de trabajos colaborativos entre docentes e investigadores miembros de los mismos.El texto, que parte de la relación entre los grupos de innovación Indaga-t (2010PID-UB/33) y Elkarrikertuz (IT433-10), muestra una experiencia de colaboración que permite a los estudiantes establecer puentes entre diferentes comunidades y entre dos lugares de aprendizaje supuestamente alejados como son las facultades de Bellas Artes y Magisterio. Además nos ha ofrecido la oportunidad de construir experiencias de aprendizaje donde hemos aprendido a trabajar de un modo colaborativo entre docentes y estudiantes.