Agglomeration and inequality across space: what can we learn from the European experience?

The purpose of this contribution is to draw a picture of the (uneven) distribution of economic activities across the states of the European Union (EU) and the consequences entailed by it. We will briefly summarize the most salient and recent contributions. Then, in the light of the economic geography theory, we will discuss the economic and social advantages and disadvantages associated with a core- periphery structure. In this sense, particular attention will be addressed to the EU financial system of Structural Funds and the effects they produced. Finally, we will formulate some suggestions, relying on the EU experience, that could be of interest to the current Brazilian regional policy.

Memory in contracts: the experience of the EBRD (1991-2003)

The objective of this paper is to identify the role of memory as a screening device in repeated contracts with asymmetric information in financial intermediation. We use an original dataset from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. We propose a simple empirical method to capture the role of memory using the client's reputation. Our results unambiguously isolate the dominant effect of memory on the bank's lending decisions over market factors in the case of established clients.

Recerca versus docència en una experiència d'internalització dels estudis de Geografia a la Universitat de Girona: The faces of landscape, Catalonia and North Karelia = Research versus teaching in one experience of internationalization of the Geography degree studies in the University of Girona: The faces of landscape, Catalonia and North Karelia

Un dels reptes cabdals de la Universitat és enllaçar l’experiència de recerca amb la docència, així com promoure la internacionalització dels estudis, especialment a escala europea, tenint present que ambdues poden actuar com a catalitzadores de la millora de la qualitat docent. Una de les fórmules d’internacionalització és la realització d’assignatures compartides entre universitats de diferents països, fet que suposa l’oportunitat d’implementar noves metodologies docents. En aquesta comunicació es presenta una experiència en aquesta línia desenvolupada entre la Universitat de Girona i la Universitat de Joensuu (Finlàndia) en el marc dels estudis de Geografia amb la realització de l’assignatura 'The faces of landscape: Catalonia and North Karelia'. Aquesta es desenvolupa al llarg de dues setmanes intensives, una en cadascuna de les Universitats. L’objectiu és presentar i analitzar diferents significats del concepte paisatge aportant també metodologies d’estudi tant dels aspectes físics i ecològics com culturals que s’hi poden vincular i que són les que empren els grups de recerca dels professors responsables de l’assignatura. Aquesta part teòrica es completa amb una presentació de les característiques i dinàmiques pròpies dels paisatges finlandesos i catalans i una sortida de camp. Per a la part pràctica es constitueixen grups d’estudi multinacionals que treballen a escala local algun dels aspectes en els dos països, es comparen i es realitza una presentació i defensa davant del conjunt d’estudiants i professorat. La llengua vehicular de l’assignatura és l’anglès.

How to avoid gender bias in classroom interaction? A cooperative learning experience

This project aims to analyse the kind of questions the teacher asks students in order to encourage them to participate in her classes. Consequently, the researcher has read relevant literature and has analysed a short excerpt of a video recorded during her first practicum. She has also analysed a number of activities carried out during her second practicum in order to find out if she had improved her questioning skills in the classroom

Complementarities between mathematical and computational modeling: the case of the repeated Prisoners' Dilemma

We study the properties of the well known Replicator Dynamics when applied to a finitely repeated version of the Prisoners' Dilemma game. We characterize the behavior of such dynamics under strongly simplifying assumptions (i.e. only 3 strategies are available) and show that the basin of attraction of defection shrinks as the number of repetitions increases. After discussing the difficulties involved in trying to relax the 'strongly simplifying assumptions' above, we approach the same model by means of simulations based on genetic algorithms. The resulting simulations describe a behavior of the system very close to the one predicted by the replicator dynamics without imposing any of the assumptions of the mathematical model. Our main conclusion is that mathematical and computational models are good complements for research in social sciences. Indeed, while computational models are extremely useful to extend the scope of the analysis to complex scenarios hard to analyze mathematically, formal models can be useful to verify and to explain the outcomes of computational models.

Implementing CLIL in a primary school in Spain : the effects of CLIL on L2 English learners' oral production skills

This study presents the results of implementing a CLIL programme in a Catalan primary school three years after the onset of the implementation. The main objective of this investigation was to determine the effects of CLIL on students’ L2 English oral performance in terms of Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency (CAF). The results obtained suggest that CLIL learners outperform non-CLIL learners not only in fluency, but also in syntactic complexity. However, despite the encouraging results, the study concludes that further research which transcends the methodological limitations observed in the study is needed in order to confirm the results

Analisi espacial del canvi climàtic al continent europeu. Incerteses i exposicions principals

El canvi climàtic del segle XXI és una realitat, hi ha moltes evidències científiques que indiquen que l’escalfament del sistema climàtic és inequívoc. Malgrat això, també hi ha moltes incerteses respecte els impactes que pot comportar aquest canvi climàtic global. L’objectiu d’aquest projecte és estudiar la possible evolució futura de tres variables climàtiques, que són el rang de la temperatura diürna a prop de la superfície (DTR), la temperatura mitjana a prop de la superfície (MT) i la precipitació mensual (PL_mes) i valorar l’exposició que poden experimentar diferents cobertes del sòl i diferents regions biogeogràfiques del continent europeu davant d’aquests possibles patrons de canvi. Per això s’han utilitzat Models Climàtics Globals que fan projeccions de variables climàtiques que permeten preveure el possible clima futur. Mitjançant l’aplicatiu informàtic Tetyn s’han extret els paràmetres climàtics dels conjunts de dades del Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, del futur (TYN SC) i del passat (CRU TS). Les variables obtingudes s’han processat amb eines de sistemes d’informació geogràfica (SIG) per obtenir els patrons de canvi de les variables a cada coberta del sòl. Els resultats obtinguts mostren que hi ha una gran variabilitat, que augmenta amb el temps, entre els diferents models climàtics i escenaris considerats, que posa de manifest la incertesa associada a la modelització climàtica, a la generació d’escenaris d’emissions i a la naturalesa dinàmica i no determinista del sistema climàtic. Però en general, mostren que les glaceres seran una de les cobertes més exposades al canvi climàtic, i la mediterrània, una de les regions més vulnerables

The ethnography of study abroad: what is study abroad as a cultural event?

Recent research in the field of study abroad shows that study abroad participation among all U.S. students increased 20% since 2001 and nearly 200,000 U.S. students currently go abroad each year. Additionally, about 8% of all undergraduate degree recipients receive part of their education abroad. Although quantitative studies have dominated research on study abroad, my research project calls for a qualitative approach since the goal is to understand what study abroad is as a cultural event, what authentic cultural immersion is, how program stakeholders understand and perceive cultural immersion, and how cultural immersion in programs can be improved. Following the tradition of ethnographic and case study approaches in study abroad research, my study also pivots on ethnography. As an ethnographer I collected data mainly through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. The study abroad participants were a group of undergraduate native speakers of English studying Spanish for seven weeks in Cádiz, a small costal city in southern Spain, as well as program coordinators, host community members, and professors. I also examined the specific program design features, particularly the in-class and out-of-class activities that students participated in. The goal was to understand if these features were conducive to authentic immersion in the language and culture. Eventually, I elaborated an ethnographic evaluation of the study abroad program and its design features suggesting improvements in order to enhance the significance and value of study abroad as a cultural event. Among other things, I discussed the difficulties that students had at the beginning of their sojourn to understand local people, get used to their host families’ small apartments, get adjusted to new schedules and eating habits, and venture out from the main group to individually explore the new social and cultural fabric and interact with the host community. The program evaluation revealed the need for carefully-designed pre-departure preparation sessions, pre-departure credit-bearing courses in intercultural communication, and additional language practice abroad and opportunities to come in contact with the local community through internships, volunteer or field work. My study gives an important contribution in study abroad research and education. It benefits students, teachers, and study abroad directors and coordinators in suggesting ideas on how to improve the program and optimize the students’ cultural experiences abroad. This study is also important because it investigated how US undergraduate learners studying the Spanish language and culture approach and perceive the study abroad experience in Spain.

Wellposedness of a nonlinear, logarithmic Schrödinger equation of Doebner-Goldin type modeling quantum dissipation

This paper is concerned with the modeling and analysis of quantum dissipation phenomena in the Schrödinger picture. More precisely, we do investigate in detail a dissipative, nonlinear Schrödinger equation somehow accounting for quantum Fokker–Planck effects, and how it is drastically reduced to a simpler logarithmic equation via a nonlinear gauge transformation in such a way that the physics underlying both problems keeps unaltered. From a mathematical viewpoint, this allows for a more achievable analysis regarding the local wellposedness of the initial–boundary value problem. This simplification requires the performance of the polar (modulus–argument) decomposition of the wavefunction, which is rigorously attained (for the first time to the best of our knowledge) under quite reasonable assumptions.

EduFeedr - following and supporting learners in open blog-based courses

In recent years several educators have organized open courses where participants reflect on their personal blogs. With a large number of participants it becomes a challenge to follow all the course discussions. In this paper we present the EduFeedr system that is specifically designed for following and supporting student activities in blog-based courses.

Capturing and Organizing Prior Student Learning with the OCW Backpack

The purpose of this paper is to present an approach for students to have non-traditional learning assessed for credit and introduce a tool that facilitates this process. The OCW Backpack system can connect self-learners with KNEXT assessment services to obtain college credit for prior learning. An ex post facto study based on historical data collected over the past two years at Kaplan University (KU) is presented to validate the portfolio assessment process. Cumulative GPA was compared for students who received experiential credit for learning derived from personal or professional experience with a matched sample of students with no experiential learning credits. The study found that students who received experiential credits perform better than the matched sample students on GPA. The findings validate the KU portfolio assessment process. Additionally, the results support the capability of the OCW Backpack to capture the critical information necessary to evaluate non-traditional learning for university credit.

The deployment of an e-book consultation and loan service : the experience of the Open University of Catalonia Library

La Biblioteca de la UOC (UOC Library) ha ofert durant tres mesos (octubre-desembre 09), en fase de prova pilot, un servei de consulta i préstec de lectors de llibres electrònics (e-readers). Aquest nou desplegament s'ha desenvolupat en consonància amb l'aposta general de la Universitat en innovació en tecnologies aplicades a l'educació, i la voluntat de potenciar les col·leccions de llibres electrònics i l'ús dels dispositius de lectura de llibres electrònics com una extensió més de la tecnologia del Campus 5.0, en el suport a l'aprenentatge dels seus estudiants durant la seva formació a la Universitat. Aquest treball presenta en detall les especificacions de la prova pilot, a més de contenir una anàlisi i avaluació dels resultats obtinguts: punts forts i punts febles, relació dels aspectes a millorar i modificar, de cara a la consolidació final del servei.

Statistical modeling on (α, +∞)

Observations in daily practice are sometimes registered as positive values larger then a given threshold α. The sample space is in this case the interval (α,+∞), α & 0, which can be structured as a real Euclidean space in different ways. This fact opens the door to alternative statistical models depending not only on the assumed distribution function, but also on the metric which is considered as appropriate, i.e. the way differences are measured, and thus variability

Statistical modeling on coordinates

This paper is a first draft of the principle of statistical modelling on coordinates. Several causes —which would be long to detail—have led to this situation close to the deadline for submitting papers to CODAWORK’03. The main of them is the fast development of the approach along thelast months, which let appear previous drafts as obsolete. The present paper contains the essential parts of the state of the art of this approach from my point of view. I would like to acknowledge many clarifying discussions with the group of people working in this field in Girona, Barcelona, Carrick Castle, Firenze, Berlin, G¨ottingen, and Freiberg. They have given a lot of suggestions and ideas. Nevertheless, there might be still errors or unclear aspects which are exclusively my fault. I hope this contribution serves as a basis for further discussions and new developments

Experimental Modeling and Control Strategies on an Open Mobile Robot Platform PRIM

This research work deals with the problem of modeling and design of low level speed controller for the mobile robot PRIM. The main objective is to develop an effective educational tool. On one hand, the interests in using the open mobile platform PRIM consist in integrating several highly related subjects to the automatic control theory in an educational context, by embracing the subjects of communications, signal processing, sensor fusion and hardware design, amongst others. On the other hand, the idea is to implement useful navigation strategies such that the robot can be served as a mobile multimedia information point. It is in this context, when navigation strategies are oriented to goal achievement, that a local model predictive control is attained. Hence, such studies are presented as a very interesting control strategy in order to develop the future capabilities of the system