El desarrollo personal y profesional mediante el aprendizaje reflexivo : una experiencia en el grado de Educación Social

In the last years, an increase of the interest to develop educational practices in higher education, based on the approach of the reflective learning, is observed. Nevertheless, we scarcely find in our context researches or experiences that allow knowing students’ perceptions about this teaching and learning approach. We have developed an experience in the bachelor of Social Education at the University of Girona with the aim to contribute to the personal and professional development of future social educators in their initial training, using reflective learning methodology. In this article we present an evaluation of the experience based on students’ perceptions. They assessed the usefulness they think the module has for their training, the methodology and the activities. This evaluation has been carried out through in-depth interviews to 17 students who participated in the module in 2010-11 academic year. The results show that students assess positively the experience, either its general usefulness or the methodology of reflective learning, although they acknowledge some difficulties to carry out such a process which involves a high degree of introspection and a difficulty to set the boundaries in the narration of personal questions. The study also shows some challenges related on the need, but also the difficulty, to include personal and professional development as a powerful axis in the higher education curriculum, as well as elements linked to reflective learning assessment

Interactive Calculus in a Virtual Learning Environment

The teaching of higher level mathematics for technical students in a virtual learningenvironment poses some difficulties, but also opportunities, now specific to that virtuality.On the other hand, resources and ways to do now manly available in VLEs might soon extend to all kinds of environments.In this short presentation we will discuss anexperience carried at Universitat Oberta deCatalunya (UOC) involving (an on line university), first, the translation of LaTeX written existent materials to a web based format(specifically, a combination of XHTML andMathML), and then the integration of a symbolic calculator software (WIRIS) running as a Java applet embedded in the materials, intending to achieve an evolution from memorising concepts and repetitive algorithms to understanding and experiment concepts and the use of those algorithms.

Mobility Among Social Education Students at the University of Girona: Taking Stock of a Decade of Fieldwork Practice Abroad

The following article is divided into five sections, each one with a specific objective. The first section briefly presents the student mobility experiences obtained basically through the fieldwork practice course in social education studies at the University of Girona. The second section delves more deeply to explore the value of the exchange and the student mobility experience over one semester of intensive fieldwork practice. The third section presents data about the students who have participated in this experience inall ten of the graduating classes. The fourth part offers an assessment of the experience and reports which aspects are considered essential to a good student mobility experience. Finally, various actions to be taken to improve these educational experiences within the social education studies at the University of Girona are specified

Argumentos para los futuros maestros en torno al conocimiento matemático

Departing from initial training on Mathematics teaching, this article analyses several beliefs held by future teachers regarding mathematical knowledge. Some of these beliefs are an authentic obstacle for an advance towards quality Mathematics teaching, therefor, the autors reproduce five arguments given to groups of future teachers in order to tackle some of their beliefs on Mathematics and making them build, modify or consolidate a more complex imatge of mathematical knowledge and Mathematics work in the classroom

La experiencia laboral durante los estudios universitarios: el rol las prácticas en los estudios de turismo

El nuevo Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior, al que dan forma entre otros la Declaración de Bolonia (1999), favorecerá la movilidad de estudiantes y profesionales mediante la armonización de los estudios universitarios en el espacio europeo. Uno de los puntos más estresados en este proceso de convergencia de los estudios es el enfoque práctico que la educación superior tiene que ofrecer. El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar un aspecto de este enfoque práctico: lasprácticas de estudiantes, que son una cooperación universidad - empresa. Habitualmente estas prácticas laborales significan la primera oportunidad para que los estudiantes experimenten un contacto con el mundo de los negocios y también una oportunidad para tomar conciencia de la aplicabilidad de los conocimientos adquiridos en las aulas. En particular, este trabajo expondrá el ejemplo de prácticas de estudiantes durante sus estudios sobre el turismo en la Facultad de Turismo de la Universidad de Girona. El Grado en Turismo estipula pasantías obligatorias para los estudiantes, siendo conscientes de su utilidad para proporcionar una visión del sector profesional y también como una característica positiva para su incorporación en el mercado laboral. Sin embargo, los beneficios de estas experiencias no son sólo para los estudiantes, sino también para las empresas de alojamiento (como fuente de innovación) y de universidades (para posicionarse en sectores específicos)

Aplicació Actual de l’Aprenentatge Cooperatiu a la Universitat de Girona : passos cap a l’elaboració d’una guia sobre aprenentatge cooperatiu

The purpose of the present paper is to analyse the present state of thepractical application of cooperative learning methodologies at the University of Girona,to assess its strengths and weaknesses and to extract from that criteria, ideas andprinciples. These materials will be the basis upon which a guide or manual of use oncooperative learning will be drafted. The guide will be at the disposal of the UdGteaching staff and other people interested in it, with the aim of helping them with theirteaching and foster a higher degree of use of cooperative learning at the University. Thepaper presents the survey already conducted, as well as the methodology followed, thehypotheses of the study and the results obtained

Metodologías de enseñanza y aprendizaje reflexivos en la universidad. Una investigación centrada en la percepción de estudiantes de grado de la Universidad de Girona

The aim of the research presented in this article is to understand undergraduate students’ appraisal of the influence of reflective learning methodology in different aspects of their learning, and to obtain evidence of the main difficulties encountered by students and the main contributions of this kind of methodology into their learning process. The study was conducted in four different degree courses (Social education, Environmental sciences, Nursing, and Psychology) at the University of Girona Through the development of a self-report reflective learning questionnaire and its application to 162 students who participated in the experiences, we conclude that reflective learning can be positively assessed as having great potential to train university undergraduates

Impacto de la interactividad de un entorno virtual, en el fomento del aprendizaje colaborativo en la Universidad Santiago de Cali

En este estudio se analiza el impacto de la interactividad de un entorno virtual, el fomento del aprendizaje colaborativo de un grupo conformado por diez y seis (N=16) estudiantes del segundo semestre del programa de Ingeniería Industrial de la universidad Santiago de Cali. Se planteó como objetivo, establecer un foro virtual con una actividad de aprendizaje colaborativo, basada en un problema a resolver como tarea conjunta.La experiencia se desarrolló mediante un diseño de tipo exploratorio y descriptivo, enfocado en recolectar y analizar información que permitió comprender y valorar el impacto de la interactividad en el aprendizaje colaborativo de los estudiantes. Con el estudio, se apertura un espacio de discusión en torno al impacto real de las interacciones en el fomento del aprendizaje, durante la realización de tareas colaborativas de los estudiantes, utilizando el foro virtual como herramienta de apoyo.

Escritura joven en la red = Young writing online

Changes in written communications brought about by technology have led to a revolution in the concepts of literacy and, as a result, in students’ educational needs. However, teenagers appear to use technologies that involve new channels and text genres in the digital environment much more than in their everyday life than in an academic environment, because there is still too much distance between what schools offer students and their own reality. This article shows part of the findings of ethnographic and qualitative research in the line of new studies on teenagers’ critical literacy and vernacular writing practices in the asynchronous communication spaces online. The idea is to offer data and ideas to help overcome the current inertia and distance between some educational activities and young people’s communicative needs

An Empirical Study on Faculty Perceptions and Teaching Practices of Wikipedia

Some faculty members from different universities around the world have begun to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool in recent years. These experiences show, in most cases, very satisfactory results and a substantial improvement in various basic skills, as well as a positive influence on the students' motivation. Nevertheless and despite the growing importance of e-learning methodologies based on the use of the Internet for higher education, the use of Wikipedia as a teaching resource remains scarce among university faculty.Our investigation tries to identify which are the main factors that determine acceptance or resistance to that use. We approach the decision to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool by analyzing both the individual attributes of faculty members and the characteristics of the environment where they develop their teaching activity. From a specific survey sent to all faculty of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), pioneer and leader in online education in Spain, we have tried to infer the influence of these internal and external elements. The questionnaire was designed to measure different constructs: perceived quality of Wikipedia, teaching practices involving Wikipedia, use experience, perceived usefulness and use of 2.0 tools. Control items were also included for gathering information on gender, age, teaching experience, academic rank, and area of expertise.Our results reveal that academic rank, teaching experience, age or gender, are not decisive factors in explaining the educational use of Wikipedia. Instead, the decision to use it is closely linked to the perception of Wikipedia's quality, the use of other collaborative learning tools, an active attitude towards web 2.0 applications, and connections with the professional non-academic world. Situational context is also very important, since the use is higher when faculty members have got reference models in their close environment and when they perceive it is positively valued by their colleagues. As far as these attitudes, practices and cultural norms diverge in different scientific disciplines, we have also detected clear differences in the use of Wikipedia among areas of academic expertise. As a consequence, a greater application of Wikipedia both as a teaching resource and as a driver for teaching innovation would require much more active institutional policies and some changes in the dominant academic culture among faculty members.

Health-related quality of life assessment in people with multiple sclerosis and their family caregivers. A multicenter study in Catalonia (Southern Europe)

Objectives: To measure the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and their caregivers, and to assess which factors can best describe HRQoL. Methods: A cross-sectional multicenter study of nine hospitals enrolled MS patients and their caregivers who attended outpatient clinics consecutively. The instruments used were the SF-36 for patients and the SF-12 and GHQ-12 for caregivers. Classification and regression tree analysis was used to analyze the explanatory factors of HRQoL. Results: A total of 705 patients (mean age 40.4 years, median Expanded Disability Status Scale 2.5, 77.8% with relapsing-remitting MS) and 551 caregivers (mean age 45.4 years) participated in the study. MS patients had significantly lower HRQoL than in the general population (physical SF-36: 39.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 39.1–40.6; mental SF-36: 44.4; 95% CI: 43.5–45.3). Caregivers also presented lower HRQoL than general population, especially in its mental domain (mental SF-12: 46.4; 95% CI: 45.5–47.3). Moreover, according to GHQ-12, 27% of caregivers presented probable psychological distress. Disability and co-morbidity in patients, and co-morbidity and employment status in caregivers, were the most important explanatory factors of their HRQoL. Conclusions: Not only the HRQoL of patients with MS, but also that of their caregivers, is indeed notably affected. Caregivers’ HRQoL is close to population of chronic illness even that the patients sample has a mild clinical severity and that caregiving role is a usual task in the study context

Online Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, a book review

Peer-reviewed

An empirical study on faculty perceptions and teaching practices of Wikipedia

Peer-reviewed

Health care utilization among immigrants and native-born populations in 11 European countries. Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

Objective: This study examines health care utilization of immigrants relative to the native-born populations aged 50 years and older in eleven European countries. Methods. We analyzed data from the Survey of Health Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from 2004 for a sample of 27,444 individuals in 11 European countries. Negative Binomial regression was conducted to examine the difference in number of doctor visits, visits to General Practitioners (GPs), and hospital stays between immigrants and the native-born individuals. Results: We find evidence those immigrants above age 50 use health services on average more than the native-born populations with the same characteristics. Our models show immigrants have between 6% and 27% more expected visits to the doctor, GP or hospital stays when compared to native-born populations in a number of European countries. Discussion: Elderly immigrant populations might be using health services more intensively due to cultural reasons.

Research and teaching: a holy or an unholy alliance?

Much of the self-image of the Western university hangs on the idea that research and teaching are intimately connected. The central axiom here is that research and teaching are mutually supportive of each other. An institution lacking such a set of relationships between research and teaching falls short of what it means to be a university. This set of beliefs raises certain questions: Is it the case that the presence of such a mutually supportive set of relationships between research and teaching is a necessary condition of the fulfilment of the idea of the university? (A conceptual question). And is it true that, in practice today, such a mutually supportive set of relationships between research and teaching characterises universities? (An empirical question). In my talk, I want to explore these matters in a critical vein. I shall suggest that: a) In practice today, such a mutually supportive set of relationships between research and teaching is in jeopardy. Far from supporting each other, very often research and teaching contend against each other. Research and teaching are becoming two separate ideologies, with their own interest structures. b) Historically, the supposed tight link between research and teaching is both of recent origin and far from universally achieved in universities. Institutional separateness between research and teaching is and has been evident, both across institutions and even across departments in the same institution. c) Conceptually, research and teaching are different activities: each is complex and neither is reducible to the other. In theory, therefore, research and teaching may be said to constitute a holy alliance but in practice, we see more of an unholy alliance. If, then, in an ideal world, a positive relationship between research and teaching is still a worthwhile goal, how might it be construed and worked for? Seeing research and teaching as two discrete and unified sets of activity is now inadequate. Much better is a construal of research and teaching as themselves complexes, as intermingling pools of activity helping to form the liquid university that is emerging today. On this view, research and teaching are fluid spaces, ever on the move, taking up new shapes, and themselves dividing and reforming, as the university reworks its own destiny in modern society. On such a perspective, working out a productive relationship between research and teaching is a complex project. This is an alliance that is neither holy nor unholy. It is an uneasy alliance, with temporary accommodations and continuous new possibilities.