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.

Work Organization Practices for Lean Production: A Study in Spanish and Brazilian Manufacturers

This work aims to discuss particular work organization practices in human resources reported as successful by companies adopting lean production principles, and investigate them through real examples observed on manufacturing plants in Spain and Brazil. A set of work organization practices was previously established by one of the authors, through interviews with practitioners of lean production and review of the literature. A series of visits and informal interviews at Spanish and Brazilian automotive parts manufacturers that follow lean production were conducted to verify that the set of policies are indeed practiced.

How Do Aggregate Fluctuations Depend on the Network Structure of the Economy?

[spa] En este artículo, analizamos la volatilidad agregada de una economía estilizada donde los agentes estann conectados en redes. Si hay relaciones estratégicas entre las acciones de los agentes, choques idiosincráticos pueden generar fluctuaciones agregadas. Demonstramos que la volatilidad agregada depende de la estructura de redes de la economía de dos maneras. Por un lado, si hay más conexiones en la economía en su conjunto, la volatilidad agregada es más baja. Por otro lado, si las conexiones están más concentradas, la volatilidad agregada es más alta. Presentamos una aplicación de nuestras predicciones teóricas que utiliza datos de EEUU de conexiones intrasectoriales y de diversificación de las empresas.

How Do Aggregate Fluctuations Depend on the Network Structure of the Economy?

[spa] En este artículo, analizamos la volatilidad agregada de una economía estilizada donde los agentes estann conectados en redes. Si hay relaciones estratégicas entre las acciones de los agentes, choques idiosincráticos pueden generar fluctuaciones agregadas. Demonstramos que la volatilidad agregada depende de la estructura de redes de la economía de dos maneras. Por un lado, si hay más conexiones en la economía en su conjunto, la volatilidad agregada es más baja. Por otro lado, si las conexiones están más concentradas, la volatilidad agregada es más alta. Presentamos una aplicación de nuestras predicciones teóricas que utiliza datos de EEUU de conexiones intrasectoriales y de diversificación de las empresas.

Prevalence of smoking among dentists in Catalonia - Spain (2006). Literature review of smoking cessation practices in the dental office

Objective: The objective of this study was to collect data on the prevalence of smokers among Catalonian dentists (by age and sex) and compare them with existing data on the general population, doctors, registered nurses and pharmacists. The overall prevalence of smokers in Catalonia (2006) was 34.5% of men and 24.3% of women. Data available on the prevalence of smoking among doctors (26.3% men and 22.1% women), pharmacists (19.8% men and 20.6% women) and registered nurses (34.1% men and 35.3% women) relates to the year 2002. Study design: In September 2006, Catalonian dentists (n=3,799) were asked about their habits in relation to tobacco in a self-administered questionnaire, on use and opinions with respect to dental amalgam. Five hundred and seventynine questionnaires were received, of which 538 answered the question on smoking (14.2% of the sample universe). Results: The prevalence of smokers among dentists is lower (24.9% of men and 18.4% of women) than in the general population and other healthcare professionals. In dentists in the age group between 25 and 34 years, the prevalence was 26.1% in men and 14.9% in women, while the prevalence in this age group in the general population was 43.6% and 37.1%, respectively. Conclusion: Catalonian dentists have a much lower prevalence of tobacco use than the general population and lower even than other healthcare professionals. Given that non-smoking healthcare professionals have better awareness for providing recommendations for smoking prevention and cessation, Catalonian dentists may be a valid group for performing this task for which there is scientific evidence.

English as a medium of instruction in teaching other languages: attitudes and practices

Internationalisation of HE and emergence of English as a global academic lingua franca used by people who share neither a common native tongue nor cultural and educational background have not only offered more opportunities but also raised challenges. According to recent European surveys, the percentage of pupils attaining the level of independent user in English varies from 14% to 82%, which evidences the potential and the complexity for English as a medium of instruction at tertiary level. This study aims to present the model of foreign language instruction at Vytautas Magnus University where one third of 30 languages are taught through English. It investigates the attitudes and practices of teachers in delivering their English-medium language courses by discussing the questions whether teaching other languages through English is psychologically, culturally and educationally preferable for teachers and students, whether it can limit the content taught and require a special methodology, how the teaching process changes with multiple languages used in the classroom and what level of English is necessary for teachers and students to ensure high quality of English-medium language teaching. The study is based on qualitative methodology with 12 language teachers participating as respondents. The results reveal areas in need of improvement.

Practices of place-making through locative media artworks

Peer-reviewed

Mentoring in the acquisition of professional skills through practices in companies by degree students

Abstract This work has had as objective to analyze the skills acquired through internships in business companies by students of the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University Pompeu Fabra. The internship is a basic item in order to obtain a hard connection between the University and social-economic world where University and Enterprises develop their activity. In this study we want to know about two aspects. The first one, we want to know the profit that is obtained from the Student as a consequence of internship and mentoring. Also, we want to study about the importance of mentoring as a principal element that establishes the relationship between the Student and the Company. Moreover, it has sought to analyze if certain factors such as the size of the company where the practices has been performed, the study rank level that was achieved or the fact of being a man or a woman, were among the determining factors at the time of acquiring the skills. The results presented here indicate that the size of the company that have been making the practices and the gender of the student are related to the acquisition of certain skills. There was not a statistically significant relationship related to the rank level have by the students in the practice. In the future we are going to study if the labor market Integration is easier if the Student has performed work placement. Keywords Skills; employability; internship; meatoring.

Factors influencing the evolution of e-commerce : an empirical analysis in a developed market economy

Peer-reviewed

From urban political economy to the cultural political economy : rethinking culture and economy in and beyond the urban

Discussions about the culture-economy articulation have occurred largely within theconfines of economic geography. In addition, much attention has been diverted intocaricaturized discussions over the demise of political economy or the invalidity ofculturalist arguments. Moving the argument from the inquiry on the ¿nature¿ of theeconomy itself to the transformation of the role of culture and economy inunderstanding the production of the urban form from an urban political economy (UPE)this paper focuses on how the challenges posed by the cultural turn have enabled urbanpolitical economy to participate constructively in interdisciplinary efforts to reorientpolitical economy in the direction of a critical cultural political economy.

Identifying strategies for mitigating the global warming impact of the EU-25 economy using a multi-objective input-output approach

Global warming mitigation has recently become a priority worldwide. A large body of literature dealing with energy related problems has focused on reducing greenhouse gases emissions at an engineering scale. In contrast, the minimization of climate change at a wider macroeconomic level has so far received much less attention. We investigate here the issue of how to mitigate global warming by performing changes in an economy. To this end, we make use of a systematic tool that combines three methods: linear programming, environmentally extended input output models, and life cycle assessment principles. The problem of identifying key economic sectors that contribute significantly to global warming is posed in mathematical terms as a bi criteria linear program that seeks to optimize simultaneously the total economic output and the total life cycle CO2 emissions. We have applied this approach to the European Union economy, finding that significant reductions in global warming potential can be attained by regulating specific economic sectors. Our tool is intended to aid policymakers in the design of more effective public policies for achieving the environmental and economic targets sought.

An empirical study on faculty perceptions and teaching practices of Wikipedia

Peer-reviewed

Wikipedia in Higher Education: An Empirical Study on Faculty Perceptions and Practices

Peer-reviewed

A qualitative analysis of immigrant population health practices in the Girona Healthcare Region

The research we present here forms part of a two-phase project - one quantitative and the other qualitative - assessing the use of primary health care services. This paper presents the qualitative phase of said research, which is aimed at ascertaining the needs, beliefs, barriers to access and health practices of the immigrant population in comparison with the native population, as well as the perceptions of healthcare professionals. Moroccan and sub-Saharan were the immigrants to who the qualitative phase was specifically addressed. The aims of this paper are as follows: to analyse any possible implications of family organisation in the health practices of the immigrant population; to ascertain social practices relating to illness; to understand the significances of sexual and reproductive health practices; and to ascertain the ideas and perceptions of immigrants, local people and professionals regarding health and the health system. Methods: qualitative research based on discursive analysis. Data gathering techniques consisted of discussion groups with health system users and semi-structured individual interviews with healthcare professionals. The sample was taken from the Basic Healthcare Areas of Salt and Banyoles (belonging to the Girona Healthcare Region), the discussion groups being comprised of (a) 6 immigrant Moroccan women, (b) 7 immigrant sub-Saharan African women and (c) 6 immigrant and native population men (2 native men, 2 Moroccan men and 2 sub-Saharan men); and the semi-structured interviews being conducted with the following healthcare professionals: (a) 3 gynaecologists, (b) 3 nurses and 1 administrative staff. Results: use of the healthcare system is linked to the perception of not being well, knowledge of the healthcare system, length of time resident in Spain and interiorization of traditional Western medicine as a cure mechanism. The divergences found among the groups of immigrants, local people and healthcare professionals with regard to healthcare education, use of the healthcare service, sexual and reproductive healthcare and reticence with regard to being attended by healthcare personnel of the opposite sex demonstrate a need to work with the immigrant population as a heterogeneous group. Conclusions: the results we have obtained support the idea that feeling unwell is a psycho-social process, as it takes place within a specific socio-cultural situation and spans a range of beliefs, perceptions and ideas regarding symptomology and how to treat it

Establishing Zebrafish as a Novel Exercise Model: Swimming Economy, Swimming-enhanced Growth and Muscle Growth Marker Gene Expression

Zebrafish has been largely accepted as a vertebrate multidisciplinary model but its usefulness as a model for exercise physiology has been hampered by the scarce knowledge on its swimming economy, optimal swimming speeds and cost of transport. Therefore, we have performed individual and group-wise swimming experiments to quantify swimming economy and to demonstrate the exercise effects on growth in adult zebrafish.