Evaluation of hybrid and distance education learning environments in Spain

This article describes the adaptation and validation of the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES) for use in investigating the qualities found in distance and hybrid education psycho-social learning environments in Spain. As Europe moves toward post-secondary student mobility, equanimity in access to higher education, and more standardised degree programs across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) the need for a high quality method for continually assessing the excellence of distance and hybrid learning environments has arisen. This study outlines how the English language DELES was adapted into the new Spanish-Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (S-DELES) for use with a Bachelor of Psychology and Criminology degree program offering both distance and hybrid education classes. We present the relationships between psycho-social learning environment perceptions and those of student affect. We also present the asynchronous aspects of the environment, scale means, and a comparison between the perceptions of distance education students and their hybrid education counterparts that inform the university about the baseline health of the information and communication technologies (ICT) environment within which the study was conducted.

Relationship between sociometric types and academic achievement in a sample of compulsory secondary education students

The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between sociometric types, behavioural categories and academic achievement in a sample of 1,349 compulsory secondary education students (51.7% boys), ranging in age from 12 to 16 years. The students’ sociometric identification was performed by using the Programa Socio and academic performance was measured by school marks provided by teachers in the subjects of Spanish language, mathematics and average academic performance. The results show that sociometric types were significant predictors of academic achievement, as students who were rated positively by their peers (popular, leaders, collaborators and good students) were more likely to have high academic achievement (in mathematics, Spanish language and average academic achievement) than students rated negatively by peers (rejected-aggressive, rejected-shy, neglected and bullies).

Development of prospective mathematics teachers’ professional noticing in a specific domain: proportional reasoning

The aim of this research is to identify aspects that support the development of prospective mathematics teachers’ professional noticing in a b-learning context. The study presented here investigates the extent to which prospective secondary mathematics teachers attend and interpret secondary school students’ proportional reasoning and decide how to respond. Results show that interactions in an on-line discussion improve prospective mathematics teachers’ ability to identify and interpret important aspects of secondary school students’ mathematical thinking.

Entornos de programación no mediados simbólicamente para el desarrollo del pensamiento computacional. Una experiencia en la formación de profesores de Informática de la Universidad Central del Ecuador

Este artículo aborda la investigación, realizada con los estudiantes del primer semestre de la titulación de Informática de la Facultad de Filosofía, Letras y Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad Central del Ecuador, cuyo propósito ha sido analizar el uso de entornos de programación no mediados simbólicamente como herramienta didáctica para el desarrollo del pensamiento computacional. Se pretende establecer las posibles ventajas de aplicar este tipo de entorno para que los estudiantes desarrollen habilidades del pensamiento computacional tales como la creatividad, modelación y abstracción, entre otras, consideradas relevantes dentro de la programación. La metodología en que se apoyó la investigación es mixta, con investigación de campo y documental a nivel descriptivo. Se utilizó como instrumento un cuestionario para la recolección de datos entre el alumnado de la titulación. Finalmente, con la información recopilada se procedió al procesamiento de datos a partir de la estadística descriptiva para, así, obtener resultados que permitiesen alcanzar las pertinentes conclusiones y recomendaciones.