Las evaluaciones externas en la Ley Orgánica para la mejora de la calidad educativa de España

De acuerdo con la información aportada por el Instituto Nacional de Evaluación (2012), España ha participado en las ediciones de 1990, 2006 y 2011 de PIRLS y en las ediciones de 1995 y de 2011 de TIMSS. Por otra parte, en el año 2009, nuestro país participó por primera vez en el Estudio Internacional de Civismo y Ciudadanía (Instituto de Evaluación, 2010). Finalmente, España participa en el Programa para la Evaluación Internacional de los Alumnos (PISA). Por otra parte, junto a estas evaluaciones internacionales, tanto a nivel estatal como autonómico, se han implementado otras pruebas externas. Esta tendencia se ha visto reafirmada y ampliada por la nueva Ley Orgánica para la Mejora de la Calidad Educativa (LOMCE), aspecto que será analizado en esta comunicación. La proliferación de estas prácticas puede ser analizada desde diversas perspectivas. En esta comunicación se realiza una aproximación sustentada en numerosos escritos recientes (Pérez y Soto, 2011, Perrenoud, 2008; Stake, 2006), que advierten sobre los impactos de los sistemas de evaluación en las prácticas de enseñanza. Por otra parte, desde esta aproximación crítica, se sostiene que las evidencias sobre lo que éstas aportan para la mejora de la educación no parecen ser tan abundantes.

Solid-state Marx based two-switch voltage modulator for the On-Line Isotope Mass Separator accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research

A new circuit topology is proposed to replace the actual pulse transformer and thyratron based resonant modulator that supplies the 60 kV target potential for the ion acceleration of the On-Line Isotope Mass Separator accelerator, the stability of which is critical for the mass resolution downstream separator, at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The improved modulator uses two solid-state switches working together, each one based on the Marx generator concept, operating as series and parallel switches, reducing the stress on the series stacked semiconductors, and also as auxiliary pulse generator in order to fulfill the target requirements. Preliminary results of a 10 kV prototype, using 1200 V insulated gate bipolar transistors and capacitors in the solid-state Marx circuits, ten stages each, with an electrical equivalent circuit of the target, are presented, demonstrating both the improved voltage stability and pulse flexibility potential wanted for this new modulator.

Percolation of colloids with distinct interaction sites

We generalize the Flory-Stockmayer theory of percolation to a model of associating (patchy) colloids, which consists of hard spherical particles, having on their surfaces f short-ranged-attractive sites of m different types. These sites can form bonds between particles and thus promote self-assembly. It is shown that the percolation threshold is given in terms of the eigenvalues of a m x m matrix, which describes the recursive relations for the number of bonded particles on the ith level of a cluster with no loops; percolation occurs when the largest of these eigenvalues equals unity. Expressions for the probability that a particle is not bonded to the giant cluster, for the average cluster size and the average size of a cluster to which a randomly chosen particle belongs, are also derived. Explicit results for these quantities are computed for the case f = 3 and m = 2. We show how these structural properties are related to the thermodynamics of the associating system by regarding bond formation as a (equilibrium) chemical reaction. This solution of the percolation problem, combined with Wertheim's thermodynamic first-order perturbation theory, allows the investigation of the interplay between phase behavior and cluster formation for general models of patchy colloids.

Constraints on leptogenesis from a symmetry viewpoint

It is shown that type I seesaw models based on the standard model Lagrangian extended with three heavy Majorana right-handed fields do not have leptogenesis in leading order, if the symmetries of mass matrices are also the residual symmetry of the Lagrangian. In particular, flavor models that lead to a mass-independent leptonic mixing have a vanishing leptogenesis CP asymmetry. Based on symmetry arguments, we prove that in these models the Dirac-neutrino Yukawa coupling combinations relevant for leptogenesis are diagonal in the physical basis where the charged leptons and heavy Majorana neutrinos are diagonal.

Weaving encounters: towards an art of participation

In the early 21st Century, with the phenomenon of digital convergence, the consecration of Web 2.0, the decrease of the cost of cameras and video recorders, the proliferation of mobile phones, laptops and wireless technologies, we witness the arising of a new wave of media, of an informal, personal and at times “minority” nature, facilitating social networks, a culture of fans, of sharing and remix. As digital networks become fully and deeply intricate in our experience, the idea of “participation” arises as one of the most complex and controversial themes of the contemporary critical discourse, namely in what concerns contemporary art and new media art. However, the idea of “participation” as a practice or postulate traverses the 20th century art playing an essential role in its auto-critic, in questioning the concept of author, and in the dilution of the frontiers between art, “life” and society, emphasizing the process, the everyday and a community sense. As such, questioning the new media art in light of a “participatory art” (Frieling, 2008) invokes a double gaze simultaneously attentive to the emerging figures of a “participatory aesthetics” in digital arts and of the genealogy in which it is included. In fact, relating the new media art with the complex and paradoxical phenomenon of “participation” allows us to, on the one hand, avoid “digital formalism” (Lovink, 2008) and analyse the relations between digital art and contemporary social movements; on the other hand, this angle of analysis contributes to reinforce the dialogue and the links between digital art and contemporary art, questioning the alleged frontiers that separate them.

A director’s approach to art and religion : o quadro, um musical da Paixão segundo o sr. João (The masterpiece, a musical of The passion according to John): trabalho de projecto

Trabalho de Projecto submetido à Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Teatro - especialização em Encenação.