Knowledge spirals, situational leadership and informal learning applied on b-learning methodology

The methodology “b-learning” is a new teaching scenario and it requires the creation, adaptation and application of new learning tools searching the assimilation of new collaborative competences. In this context, it is well known the knowledge spirals, the situational leadership and the informal learning. The knowledge spirals is a basic concept of the knowledge procedure and they are based on that the knowledge increases when a cycle of 4 phases is repeated successively.1) The knowledge is created (for instance, to have an idea); 2) The knowledge is decoded into a format to be easily transmitted; 3) The knowledge is modified to be easily comprehensive and it is used; 4) New knowledge is created. This new knowledge improves the previous one (step 1). Each cycle shows a step of a spiral staircase: by going up the staircase, more knowledge is created. On the other hand, the situational leadership is based on that each person has a maturity degree to develop a specific task and this maturity increases with the experience. Therefore, the teacher (leader) has to adapt the teaching style to the student (subordinate) requirements and in this way, the professional and personal development of the student will increase quickly by improving the results and satisfaction. This educational strategy, finally combined with the informal learning, and in particular the zone of proximal development, and using a learning content management system own in our University, gets a successful and well-evaluated learning activity in Master subjects focused on the collaborative activity of preparation and oral exhibition of short and specific topics affine to these subjects. Therefore, the teacher has a relevant and consultant role of the selected topic and his function is to guide and supervise the work, incorporating many times the previous works done in other courses, as a research tutor or more experienced student. Then, in this work, we show the academic results, grade of interactivity developed in these collaborative tasks, statistics and the satisfaction grade shown by our post-graduate students.

Desigualdades de género en la investigación en salud pública y epidemiología en España (2007-2014)

Objetivo: Analizar las desigualdades de género en investigación en salud pública y epidemiología en España, en el periodo 2007-2014. Método: Estudio descriptivo según sexo de posiciones de liderazgo del Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER), especialmente en el área temática de epidemiología y salud pública (CIBERESP) en 2014; de sociedades científicas de salud pública (SESPAS) y epidemiología (SEE), 2009-2014; y de proyectos de investigación solicitados (13.320) y financiados (4699), e importes de convocatorias de Acción Estratégica en Salud (AES), 2007-2013. Resultados: Existe una clara infrarrepresentación de mujeres líderes y contratadas en investigación de excelencia en salud pública (CIBERESP), con predominio de los hombres en puestos de decisión. Aunque los proyectos de investigación de la Acción Estratégica en Salud (AES) liderados por mujeres han crecido ligeramente entre 2007 y 2013, entre los solicitados no alcanzan el 50%, con excepción de los de la Comisión de Salud Pública. La brecha de género es aún mayor en proyectos financiados. Los proyectos liderados por hombres tienen mayor probabilidad de obtener financiación, alcanzando el 29% en los de salud pública. Persiste una segregación horizontal de género en posiciones de reconocimiento científico en congresos de SESPAS y SEE. Conclusiones: La sobrerrepresentación de líderes masculinos en la investigación en salud pública en España debe entenderse como indicador y consecuencia del androcentrismo en las sociedades científicas y los grupos profesionales. Esta situación sexista pone en riesgo la existencia de productos y servicios innovadores desde la perspectiva de género que den respuestas a necesidades y demandas de toda la sociedad. Se necesitan más mujeres en investigación que tengan incorporada esta perspectiva.

The regulation of professional advertising practices in Spain, 1988–2013

From the perspective of the sociology of professions, every professional activity should have its own clearly circumscribed and regulated sphere of action. Such an articulation facilitates the regulation of the production of a given profession as well as the way in which it is practiced. The purpose of the research reported here was to provide a comprehensive review and evaluation of the regulatory framework governing the advertising sector in Spain. To this end, the authors analysed external regulatory legislation and self-regulatory codes extracted from the data base of the Asociación para la Autoregulación de la Comunicación Comercial (Autocontrol) that had been enacted or adopted between 1988, the year that Law 11/1998 on General Telecommunications entered into force, and 2003 as well as other relevant documents retrieved from the Boletin Oficial del Estado (BOE) pertaining to the same period. Findings indicate that although there has been a groundswell of legislation governing advertising practices in Spain since 1988, especially at the regional level, lawmakers have focused on the content of advertising messages and shown very little interest in regulating the professions of advertising and public relations. Furthermore, Spanish legislation enacted in 2003 and EU policies appear to have encouraged the adoption of voluntary codes of ethics. Sectors traditionally subject to mandatory advertising regulation, either due to the vulnerability of their target audiences or the potential impact of their commercial messages on public health or the environment, are more likely to develop self-regulatory codes of conduct than others