A structural model of cognitive-motivational variables as explanatory factors of academic achievement in Spanish Language and Mathematics

In recent years, several explanatory models have been developed which attempt to analyse the predictive worth of various factors in relation to academic achievement, as well as the direct and indirect effects that they produce. The aim of this study was to examine a structural model incorporating various cognitive and motivational variables which influence student achievement in the two basic core skills in the Spanish curriculum: Spanish Language and Mathematics. These variables included differential aptitudes, specific self-concept, goal orientations, effort and learning strategies. The sample comprised 341 Spanish students in their first year of Compulsory Secondary Education. Various tests and questionnaires were used to assess each student, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to study the relationships in the initial model. The proposed model obtained a satisfactory fit for the two subjects studied, and all the relationships hypothesised were significant. The variable with the most explanatory power regarding academic achievement was mathematical and verbal aptitude. Also notable was the direct influence of specific self-concept on achievement, goal-orientation and effort, as was the mediatory effect that effort and learning strategies had between academic goals and final achievement.

An explanatory model of academic achievement based on aptitudes, goal orientations, self-concept and learning strategies

As a result of studies examining factors involved in the learning process, various structural models have been developed to explain the direct and indirect effects that occur between the variables in these models. The objective was to evaluate a structural model of cognitive and motivational variables predicting academic achievement, including general intelligence, academic self-concept, goal orientations, effort and learning strategies. The sample comprised of 341 Spanish students in the first year of compulsory secondary education. Different tests and questionnaires were used to evaluate each variable, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied to contrast the relationships of the initial model. The model proposed had a satisfactory fit, and all the hypothesised relationships were significant. General intelligence was the variable most able to explain academic achievement. Also important was the direct influence of academic self-concept on achievement, goal orientations and effort, as well as the mediating ability of effort and learning strategies between academic goals and final achievement.

Welfare state regimes and gender inequalities in the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards

Background: Gender inequalities in the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards are well established. However, little is known about how welfare state regimes influence these inequalities. Objectives: To examine the relationship between welfare state regimes and gender inequalities in the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards in Europe, considering occupational social class. Methods: We used a sample of 27, 465 workers from 28 European countries. Dependent variables were high strain, iso-strain, and effort-reward imbalance, and the independent was gender. We calculated the prevalence and prevalence ratio separately for each welfare state regime and occupational social class, using multivariate logistic regression models. Results: More female than male managers/professionals were exposed to: high strain, iso-strain, and effort–reward imbalance in Scandinavian [adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) = 2·26; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1·87–2·75; 2·12: 1·72–2·61; 1·41: 1·15–1·74; respectively] and Continental regimes (1·43: 1·23–1·54; 1·51: 1·23–1·84; 1·40: 1·17–1·67); and to high strain and iso-strain in Anglo-Saxon (1·92: 1·40–2·63; 1·85: 1·30–2·64; respectively), Southern (1·43: 1·14–1·79; 1·60: 1·18–2·18), and Eastern regimes (1·56: 1·35–1·81; 1·53: 1·28–1·83). Conclusion: Gender inequalities in the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards were not lower in those welfare state regimes with higher levels of universal social protection policies.

A quantitative assessment of students’ experiences of studying music: a Spanish perspective on the European credit transfer system (ECTS)

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate whether or not the allocation of time proposed in the Music Study Guide, adapted from the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) guidelines, is consistent and adequate for students with minimal musical knowledge. The report takes into account the importance of students’ previous knowledge and the relation this has to the time and effort expended by students in acquiring appropriate knowledge and skills. This is related also to the adequacy of the course specification to meet the demands of university study and the labour market. Results show that those students who enrolled at university without any previous musical knowledge are likely to experience significant difficulty in the acquisition of certain musical and professional competences. This highlights a need to reinforce the music curriculum, or establish zero-level courses, in order to enable such students to succeed in the subject.

Turistas y veraneantes ante el paisaje. La conquista del hábitat residencial turístico

Interpretar el concepto de ‘turismo’ como la colonización de un espacio nos ayuda a entender el fenómeno del hábitat turístico, así como la relación que guardan los turistas y veraneantes con el nuevo territorio conquistado. Desde esa óptica resulta oportuno estudiar estas transformaciones del paisaje a partir de las tipologías residenciales más habituales que las produjeron, especialmente en la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Para ello se analizarán dos modelos de arquitectura turística: los bloques aislados de apartamentos, vinculados directamente con la reinterpretación del movimiento moderno (1945-1975), y los conjuntos de viviendas unifamiliares adosadas, más relacionados con las derivas de la condición posmoderna (1975-2005). Y proponemos ilustrar ambos casos en la costa sur valenciana (desde Alicante hasta Torrevieja) atendiendo a la producción de un arquitecto que dedicó tiempo y esfuerzos a mejorar soluciones y alternativas: se trata de Antonio Serrano Brú. En este estudio podremos encontrar algunas claves que nos permitan, en el futuro, un turismo que haga compatibles las preferencias vacacionales del hombre contemporáneo con la conservación de la esencia de nuestro hábitat natural y antropizado.

Diferencias en las atribuciones académicas en lengua en base al efecto positivo

La finalidad de esta investigación residió en conocer si los individuos pertenecientes a población infantil española con altas puntuaciones en Afecto Positivo (AP) poseían diferencias estadísticamente significativas con los individuos con bajas puntuaciones en AP en las seis dimensiones que componen las atribuciones académicas en el área de Lengua (Éxito: capacidad, esfuerzo y causas externas; Fracaso: capacidad, esfuerzo y causas externas). La muestra estaba compuesta por 862 estudiantes, entre 8 y 11 años. Se utilizó la subescala de lengua de la Sydney Attribution Scale (SAS) y la subescala de AP del Positive And Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C) versión reducida. La prueba t de Student reflejó que los participantes con altos niveles de AP obtuvieron medias significativamente más altas en la atribución al éxito y al fracaso en Lengua a causas externas. Por otro lado, los sujetos con bajas puntuaciones en AP obtuvieron medias significativamente más altas en la atribución del fracaso en Lengua a la capacidad y al esfuerzo. Los resultados obtenidos complementan la literatura previa existente y dejan la posibilidad a seguir ampliando el campo del conocimiento del afecto y de las atribuciones académicas.

Profiling in sport using momentum and perturbations

Examining a team’s performance from a physical point of view their momentum might indicate unexpected turning points in defeat or success. Physicists describe this value as to require some effort to be started, but also that it is relatively easy to keep it going once a sufficient level is reached (Reed and Hughes, 2006). Unlike football, rugby, handball and many more sports, a regular volleyball match is not limited by time but by points that need to be gathered. Every minute more than one point is won by either one team or the other. That means a series of successive points enlarges the gap between the teams making it more and more difficult to catch up with the leading one. This concept of gathering momentum, or the reverse in a performance, can give the coaches, athletes and sports scientists further insights into winning and losing performances. Momentum investigations also contain dependencies between performances or questions if future performances are reliant upon past streaks. Squash and volleyball share the characteristic of being played up to a certain amount of points. Squash was examined according to the momentum of players by Hughes et al. (2006). The initial aim was to expand normative profiles of elite squash players using momentum graphs of winners and errors to explore ‘turning points’ in a performance. Dynamic systems theory has enabled the definition of perturbations in sports exhibiting rhythms (Hughes et al., 2000; McGarry et al., 2002; Murray et al., 2008), and how players and teams cause these disruptions of rhythm can inform on the way they play, these techniques also contribute to profiling methods. Together with the analysis of one’s own performance it is essential to have an understanding of your oppositions’ tactical strengths and weaknesses. By modelling the oppositions’ performance it is possible to predict certain outcomes and patterns, and therefore intervene or change tactics before the critical incident occurs. The modelling of competitive sport is an informative analytic technique as it directs the attention of the modeller to the critical aspects of data that delineate successful performance (McGarry & Franks, 1996). Using tactical performance profiles to pull out and visualise these critical aspects of performance, players can build justified and sophisticated tactical plans. The area is discussed and reviewed, critically appraising the research completed in this element of Performance Analysis.