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

Evolución y retos de la educación virtual : construyendo el e-learning del siglo XXI

Las autoras y autores de este libro ofrecen una descripción de la evolución general del e-learning apuntando los elementos clave hacia los que debe ir evolucionando. Parten de la experiencia y la práctica contrastada con las investigaciones sobre el tema. A lo largo de los distintos capítulos nos muestran cómo vive un estudiante virtual, su papel y la manera en que plantea y organiza sus actividades; nos acercan al profesorado analizando su rol en el diseño de la formación y la comunicación con los estudiantes; hablan de la colaboración, analizando cómo diseñar actividades colaborativas y señalando sus ventajas y límites; describen los diferentes recursos de aprendizaje que podemos disponer en el diseño de los cursos y, por último, acompañan nuestra mirada hacia el futuro próximo analizando las tendencias y los retos a los que debemos hacer frente para construir el e-learning del siglo XXI.

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.

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.

The interactional space in CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms

Aquest estudi pretén investigar els intercanvis verbals mestre/a – aprenent(s) en dos contextos d'instrucció diferents: classes amb un enfocament AICLE (Aprenentatge Integrat de Continguts Curriculars i Llengua Estrangera) on s’aprenen continguts no lingüístics a través de l’anglès, per una banda, i classes 'tradicionals' d'anglès com a llengua estrangera, on l’anglès és alhora objecte d’estudi i vehicle de comunicació, per una altra banda. Més concretament, les preguntes que formula el/la mestre/a, la producció oral dels aprenents i el 'feedback' del/de la mestre/a en els episodis d’atenció a la forma s’han estudiat a la llum de les principals teories provinents del camp de l’Adquisició de Segones Llengües (SLA) per tal de demostrar el seu paper en l’aprenentatge de l’anglès. El corpus de dades prové de l’enregistrament de 7 sessions AICLE i d'11 sessions EFL enregistrades en format àudio i vídeo en dos centres públics d’Educació Primària (EP) de Catalunya. A cadascuna de les escoles, el/la mateix/a mestre/a és l’encarregat/da dels dos tipus d’instrucció amb el mateix grup d’aprenents (10-11 anys d’edat), fet que permet eliminar variables individuals com l'aptitud dels aprenents o l'estil del/de la mestre/a.Els resultats mostren un cert nombre de similituds discursives entre AICLE i EFL donat que ambdós enfocaments tenen lloc en el context-classe amb unes característiques ben definides. Tal com apunta la recerca realitzada en aquest camp, la instrucció AICLE reuneix un seguit de condicions idònies per un major desenvolupament dels nivells de llengua anglesa més enllà de les classes ‘tradicionals’ d’anglès. Malgrat això, aquest estudi sembla indicar que el potencial d'AICLE pel que fa a facilitar una exposició rica a l’anglès i una producció oral significativa no s’explota degudament. En aquest sentit, els resultats d’aquest estudi poden contribuir a la formació dels futurs professors d'AICLE si es busca l’assoliment d’una complementarietat d’ambdós contextos amb l’objectiu últim de millorar els nivells de domini de la llengua anglesa.

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

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.

Non-native English-speaking English language teachers: history and research

Although the majority of English language teachers worldwide are non-native English speakers, no research was conducted on these teachers until recently. After the pioneering work of Robert Phillipson in 1992 and Peter Medgyes in 1994, nearly a decade had to elapse for more research to emerge on the issues relating to non-native English teachers. The publication in 1999 of George Braine's book Nonnative educators in English language teaching appears to have encouraged a number of graduate students and scholars to research this issue, with topics ranging from teachers' perceptions of their own identity to students' views and aspects of teacher education. This article compiles, classifies, and examines research conducted in the last two decades on this topic, placing a special emphasis on World Englishes concerns, methods of investigation, and areas in need of further attention.

Coneixement lingüístic i matemàtic d'escolars de nivel sociocultural baix en programes d'immersió = Linguistic and mathematic knowledge in pupils of low sociocultural level in immersiom programmes

This piece of research compares knowledge of Catalan, Castilian and mathematics, as well as the attitudes to these two languages, of a sample of non-Catalan speaking pupils of low sociocultural level in their fourth year of primary school. Some of the pupils had followed an immersion programme in Catalan, whereas others had approached Catalan through their habitual language (Castilian). The findings show that not only did the immersion pupils obtain significantly better results in L2 (Catalan), but their mother tongue (Castilian) competence was undiminished and their performance on the mathematics test was superior to that of the other group. Moreover, the findings indicate that in pupils starting out from less favourable conditions (a low sociocultural level and a low I.Q.) the effect of the educational approach variable is greater than in other cases

Conflicto, colaboración y consenso en la enseñanza de las ciencias sociales = Conflict, collaboration and consensus in the teaching of the Social sciences

This article suggests the study of the key concept of conflict as a means of implementing a critical and communicativecurriculum based on the study of relevant social themes. To this end we put forward the principal characteristics of thecritical/communicative curriculum. We offer a didactic proposal about conflict and explain the results of its application intwo Secondary Education classrooms

A mi què m'expliques?

Els alumnes i les alumnes de primer cicle d'ESO s'enfronten amb les dificultats de la nova etapa i la necessitat de demostrar les seves competències lingüístiques, quant al redactat i la correcció en l'elaboració de textos diversos. Les noves tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació poden ajudar (i han de propiciar-ho) a desenvolupar aquestes capacitats, i han de ser un element motivador perquè els nois i les noies sentin la necessitat de crear produccions escrites pròpies, adequades lingüísticament, coherents i amb les idees ben organitzades.És necessari, a més, que l'avaluació d'aquestes tasques els serveixi per millorar l'expressió en llengua catalana, gramaticalment i ortogràficament, tot ajudant-los a establir sistemes d'autocorrecció i rectificació d'errors.L'exposició pública (en un mitjà com el d'internet) de les seves obres hauria de reblar l'aspecte de la motivació en la creació d'escrits, de manera que els aporti noves expectatives de comunicació i els animi a participar de l'espai virtual que els ofereix aquesta finestra oberta al món. El meu treball té la intenció de ser un projecte educatiu per aconseguir una millora en l'expressió escrita dels alumnes del primer curs d'ESO amb l'ajuda de les eines de les Tecnologies de la Informació i la Comunicació.