Defining the criteria for the evaluation of self-study multimedia language learning materials: do they facilitate or inhibit learner autonomy?

Durant els darrers anys, s’han publicat un gran nombre de materials multimèdia destinats a l’aprenentatge de llengües, la major part dels quals son CD-ROM dissenyats com a cursos per l’autoaprenentatge. Amb aquests materials, els alumnes poden treballar independentment sense l’assessorament d’un professor, i per aquest motiu s’ha afirmat que promouen i faciliten l’aprenentatge autònom. Aquesta relació, però, no es certa, com Phil Benson i Peter Voller 1997:10) han manifestat encertadament:(…) Such claims are often dubious, however, because of the limited range of options and roles offered to the learner. Nevertheless, technologies of education in the broadest sense can be considered to be either more or less supportive of autonomy. The question is what kind of criteria do we apply in evaluating them? En aquest article presentem una investigació conjunta on es defineixen els criteris que poden ser utilitzats per avaluar materials multimèdia en relació a la seva facilitat per permetre l’aprenentatge autònom. Aquests criteris son la base d’un qüestionari que s’ha emprat per avaluar una selecció de CD-ROM destinats a l’autoaprenentatge de llengües. La estructura d’aquest article és la següent: - Una introducció de l’estudi - Els criteris que s’han utilitzar per la creació del qüestionari - Els resultats generals de l’avaluació - Les conclusions que s’han extret i la seva importància pel disseny instructiu multimèdia

Political autonomy and independence: theory and experimental evidence

We study the process by which subordinated regions of a country can obtain a more favourable political status. In our theoretical model a dominant and a dominated region first interact through a voting process that can lead to different degrees of autonomy. If this process fails then both regions engage in a costly political conflict which can only lead to the maintenance of the initial subordination of the region in question or to its complete independence. In the subgame-perfect equilibrium the voting process always leads to an intermediate arrangement acceptable for both parts. Hence, the costly political struggle never occurs. In contrast, in our experiments we observe a large amount of fighting involving high material losses, even in a case in which the possibilities for an arrangement without conflict are very salient. In our experimental environment intermediate solutions are feasible and stable, but purely emotional elements prevent them from being reached.

Territorial autonomy and self-determination conflicts: opportunity and willingness cases from Bolivia, Niger, and Thailand

The paradox of autonomy is about whether self-rule accommodates or exacerbates armed conflict. This study attempts to unpack the puzzle examining the effectiveness of territorial autonomy as a state response to self-determination conflicts throughout the world. It challenges the conflict-inducing features of autonomy arguing that territorial autonomy can mitigate armed conflict by channeling group grievances into peaceful forms of protest. Thus, this study aims at arriving at a comprehensive theory that identifies which factors are responsible for violent escalation of conflicts grounded in self-determination demands. By using the concepts of opportunity structures and willingness dimension, this study shows that conflict escalation only takes place when minorities with greater bargaining power vis-à-vis the center, in contexts of high levels of economic inequality within dyad, are mobilized around autonomy and separatist demands.

Avaluació de l'estàndard SQL : 1999 respecte les característiques orientades a l'objecte que suporta i la seva implementació als SGBD object-relational

L'objectiu és estudiar les característiques orientades a l'objecte de l'estàndard SQL: 1999 i posar-les a prova amb un producte comercial que les suporti.

Embodied Autonomy in Digital Ecosystems: From Bio-Inspired Agents to Cognitive Systems

This paper proposes to promote autonomy in digital ecosystems so that it provides agents with information to improve the behavior of the digital ecosystem in terms of stability. This work proposes that, in digital ecosystems, autonomous agents can provide fundamental services and information. The final goal is to run the ecosystem, generate novel conditions and let agents exploit them. A set of evaluation measures must be defined as well. We want to provide an outline of some global indicators, such as heterogeneity and diversity, and establish relationships between agent behavior and these global indicators to fully understand interactions between agents, and to understand the dependence and autonomy relations that emerge between the interacting agents. Individual variations, interaction dependencies, and environmental factors are determinants of autonomy that would be considered. The paper concludes with a discussion of situations when autonomy is a milestone

A Homogeneous Set-Theoretical Frame for Clustering Fuzzy Relational Data

Our purpose is to provide a set-theoretical frame to clustering fuzzy relational data basically based on cardinality of the fuzzy subsets that represent objects and their complementaries, without applying any crisp property. From this perspective we define a family of fuzzy similarity indexes which includes a set of fuzzy indexes introduced by Tolias et al, and we analyze under which conditions it is defined a fuzzy proximity relation. Following an original idea due to S. Miyamoto we evaluate the similarity between objects and features by means the same mathematical procedure. Joining these concepts and methods we establish an algorithm to clustering fuzzy relational data. Finally, we present an example to make clear all the process

An automatic correction tool for relational database schemas

A Web-based tool developed to automatically correct relational database schemas is presented. This tool has been integrated into a more general e-learning platform and is used to reinforce teaching and learning on database courses. This platform assigns to each student a set of database problems selected from a common repository. The student has to design a relational database schema and enter it into the system through a user friendly interface specifically designed for it. The correction tool corrects the design and shows detected errors. The student has the chance to correct them and send a new solution. These steps can be repeated as many times as required until a correct solution is obtained. Currently, this system is being used in different introductory database courses at the University of Girona with very promising results

Determinants of acquisition completion: a relational perspective

The strategic literature on relatedness in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) is extensive, yet we know little about whether or how relatedness has an influence on the announcement to completion stage of the M&A process. Drawing on research on intra-industry competition and relational capabilities, we seek to shed light on the relatedness debate by examining the strategic forces that affect the completion of an announced related M&A, accounting for financial and organizational factors. We also explore additional strategic forces that might amplify or attenuate the negative effect of relatedness on deal completion. We test and find support for our hypotheses using longitudinal data from a sample of the largest M&A announcements in the world from 1991 to 2001.

Debt enforcement and relational contracting

We examine how third-party debt enforcement affects the emergence and performance ofrelational contracts in credit markets. We implement an experiment with finitely repeatedcredit relationships in which borrowers can default. In the weak enforcement treatmentdefaulting borrowers can keep their funds invested. In the strong enforcement treatmentdefaulting borrowers have to liquidate their investment. Under weak enforcement fewerrelationships emerge in which loans are extended and repaid. When such relationships doemerge they exhibit a lower credit volume than under strong enforcement. These findingssuggest that relational contracting in credit markets requires a minimum standard of thirdpartydebt enforcement.

Health care management autonomy: Evidence from the Catalonian hospital sector in a decentralised Spain

The organisation of inpatient care provision has undergone significant reform in many southern European countries. Overall across Europe, public management is moving towards the introduction of more flexibility and autonomy . In this setting, the promotion of the further decentralisation of health care provision stands out as a key salient policy option in all countries that have hitherto had a traditionally centralised structure. Yet, the success of the underlying incentives that decentralised structures create relies on the institutional design at the organisational level, especially in respect of achieving efficiency and promoting policy innovation without harming the essential principle of equal access for equal need that grounds National Health Systems (NHS). This paper explores some of the specific organisational developments of decentralisation structures drawing from the Spanish experience, and particularly those in the Catalonia. This experience provides some evidence of the extent to which organisation decentralisation structures that expand levels of autonomy and flexibility lead to organisational innovation while promoting activity and efficiency. In addition to this pure managerial decentralisation process, Spain is of particular interest as a result of the specific regional NHS decentralisation that started in the early 1980 s and was completed in 2002 when all seventeen autonomous communities that make up the country had responsibility for health care services.Already there is some evidence to suggest that this process of decentralisation has been accompanied by a degree of policy innovation and informal regional cooperation. Indeed, the Spanish experience is relevant because both institutional changes took place, namely managerial decentralisation leading to higher flexibility and autonomy- alongside an increasing political decentralisation at the regional level. The coincidence of both processes could potentially explain why some organisation and policy innovation resulting from policy experimentation at the regional level might be an additional featureto take into account when examining the benefits of decentralisation.

Advance directives as autonomy enhancers: reality or myth?

In the last few decades there has been a wealth of literature and legislation on advance directives. As you all know, it is an instrument by which a person can express their wishes as regards what treatmentthey should be given or, more to the point, not to be given, when he is in a situation when he can not do so himself.Regulations in the western world seem to promote advance directives as a way to enhance patient¿s autonomy in thecontext of human rights, and the media has presented advance directives as another milestone in this era of selfdetermination.However, if we look closely at some of thoseregulations we will see that there are a few elements which may undermine their efficacy, shattering this nicely presentedpicture. I will focus on two elements. First, formal requirements, and secondly, certain limits or what I like to call "escape clauses".

Advance directives as autonomy enhancers: reality or myth?

In the last few decades there has been a wealth of literature and legislation on advance directives. As you all know, it is an instrument by which a person can express their wishes as regards what treatmentthey should be given or, more to the point, not to be given, when he is in a situation when he can not do so himself.Regulations in the western world seem to promote advance directives as a way to enhance patient¿s autonomy in thecontext of human rights, and the media has presented advance directives as another milestone in this era of selfdetermination.However, if we look closely at some of thoseregulations we will see that there are a few elements which may undermine their efficacy, shattering this nicely presentedpicture. I will focus on two elements. First, formal requirements, and secondly, certain limits or what I like to call "escape clauses".

Advance directives as autonomy enhancers: reality or myth?

In the last few decades there has been a wealth of literature and legislation on advance directives. As you all know, it is an instrument by which a person can express their wishes as regards what treatmentthey should be given or, more to the point, not to be given, when he is in a situation when he can not do so himself.Regulations in the western world seem to promote advance directives as a way to enhance patient¿s autonomy in thecontext of human rights, and the media has presented advance directives as another milestone in this era of selfdetermination.However, if we look closely at some of thoseregulations we will see that there are a few elements which may undermine their efficacy, shattering this nicely presentedpicture. I will focus on two elements. First, formal requirements, and secondly, certain limits or what I like to call "escape clauses".

Evaluación del estándar SQL:1999 respecto a las características orientadas al objeto que soporta y su implementación a los SGBD object-relational

Memoria de TFC en el que se analiza el estándar SQL:1999 y se compara con PostgreeSQL y Oracle.

Description of a robotics-oriented relational positioning methodology

This paper presents a relational positioning methodology for flexibly and intuitively specifying offline programmed robot tasks, as well as for assisting the execution of teleoperated tasks demanding precise movements.In relational positioning, the movements of an object can be restricted totally or partially by specifying its allowed positions in terms of a set of geometric constraints. These allowed positions are found by means of a 3D sequential geometric constraint solver called PMF – Positioning Mobile with respect to Fixed. PMF exploits the fact that in a set of geometric constraints, the rotational component can often be separated from the translational one and solved independently.