Teaching metaheuristics in business schools

In this work we discuss some ideas and opinions related with teaching Metaheuristics in Business Schools. The main purpose of the work is to initiate a discussion and collaboration about this topic,with the final objective to improve the teaching and publicity of the area. The main topics to be discussed are the environment and focus of this teaching. We also present a SWOT analysis which lead us to the conclusion that the area of Metaheuristics only can win with the presentation and discussion of metaheuristics and related topics in Business Schools, since it consists in a excellent Decision Support tools for future potential users.

L'ensenyament de la història i el living history

Hi ha diferents estratègies per apropar la història als escolars. La utilització de les fonts primàries (objectes, documents, etc.) esdevé una estratègia important per fer viure els temps passats. Els objectes i els documents del passat ens permeten intervenir a partir del plantejament d'enigmes i preguntes que l'alumnat pot anar resolent a partir d'una veritable recerca històrica. Una de les estratègies utilitzades en el món anglosaxó és el living history. Es tracta de "fer reviure" el passat a través de la representació de fets, estil de vida i personatges propis d'una època determinada. Aquesta estratègia s'empra en espais de presentació del patrimoni, especialment en museus i assentaments històrics i arqueològics. Dos elements són fonamentals en aquest tipus d'intervencions: la preparació del context de presentació del patrimoni i els mediadors entre la institució o espai patrimonial i els visitants. A continuació, es presenta, de manera concreta, el cas de Colonial Williamsburg, institució dels EUA pionera en la utilització d'aquesta estratègia de presentació i interpretació del patrimoni històric i arqueològic.

The promotion and assessment of generic skills from interdisciplinary teaching teams

The paper explains a teaching project financed by the University of Barcelona (UB). It focuses on ageneric skill of the University of Barcelona, which is defined as "the learning capability andresponsibility”, and in which analytical and synthesis skills are included. It follows a multidisciplinaryapproach including teachers of Mathematics, World Economics and Economic History. All of us sharethe same students during the first and the second course of the grade in Economics at the Faculty ofEconomics and Business. The project has been developed in three stages. The first one has beendone during the first semester of the course 2012/13, being applied to first year students on thesubjects of Mathematics and Economic History. The second phase is being to be done during thesecond semester only on the Economic History subject. A third stage is going to be done next course2013/14 to second year students on the subject of World Economics. Each different teaching teamhas developed specific materials and assessment tools for each one of the subjects included in theproject. The project emphasizes two teaching dimensions: the elaboration of teaching materials topromote the acquisition of generic skills from an interdisciplinary point of view, and the design ofspecific tools to assess such skills. The first results of the first phase of the project shows cleardeficiencies in the analytical skill regarding to first year students.

The promotion and assessment of generic skills from interdisciplinary teaching teams

The paper explains a teaching project financed by the University of Barcelona (UB). It focuses on ageneric skill of the University of Barcelona, which is defined as "the learning capability andresponsibility”, and in which analytical and synthesis skills are included. It follows a multidisciplinaryapproach including teachers of Mathematics, World Economics and Economic History. All of us sharethe same students during the first and the second course of the grade in Economics at the Faculty ofEconomics and Business. The project has been developed in three stages. The first one has beendone during the first semester of the course 2012/13, being applied to first year students on thesubjects of Mathematics and Economic History. The second phase is being to be done during thesecond semester only on the Economic History subject. A third stage is going to be done next course2013/14 to second year students on the subject of World Economics. Each different teaching teamhas developed specific materials and assessment tools for each one of the subjects included in theproject. The project emphasizes two teaching dimensions: the elaboration of teaching materials topromote the acquisition of generic skills from an interdisciplinary point of view, and the design ofspecific tools to assess such skills. The first results of the first phase of the project shows cleardeficiencies in the analytical skill regarding to first year students.

The promotion and assessment of generic skills from interdisciplinary teaching teams

The paper explains a teaching project financed by the University of Barcelona (UB). It focuses on ageneric skill of the University of Barcelona, which is defined as "the learning capability andresponsibility”, and in which analytical and synthesis skills are included. It follows a multidisciplinaryapproach including teachers of Mathematics, World Economics and Economic History. All of us sharethe same students during the first and the second course of the grade in Economics at the Faculty ofEconomics and Business. The project has been developed in three stages. The first one has beendone during the first semester of the course 2012/13, being applied to first year students on thesubjects of Mathematics and Economic History. The second phase is being to be done during thesecond semester only on the Economic History subject. A third stage is going to be done next course2013/14 to second year students on the subject of World Economics. Each different teaching teamhas developed specific materials and assessment tools for each one of the subjects included in theproject. The project emphasizes two teaching dimensions: the elaboration of teaching materials topromote the acquisition of generic skills from an interdisciplinary point of view, and the design ofspecific tools to assess such skills. The first results of the first phase of the project shows cleardeficiencies in the analytical skill regarding to first year students.

L'Anatomia artística a l"Escola de Belles Arts de Barcelona. Els casos de Jeroni Faraudo (1823-1886) i de Tiberio Ávila (1843-1932)

[cat] Aquest article se centra en la significació i transcendència de l"assignatura d"Anatomia artística a l"Escola de Belles Arts de Barcelona durant la segona meitat del segle XIX i principis de segle XX. S"empren, com a fil conductor, les figures de Jeroni Faraudo i Condeminas (1823-1886) i de Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), els dos primers professors que impartiren la matèria i que romanen, en l"actualitat, pràcticament inèdits. El coneixement de l"ideari de Faraudo i d"Ávila permet completar el panorama de l"evolució de les idees estètiques a la Catalunya del moment i, alhora, contribueix a la comprensió de l"erosió de la primacia de l"antic en l"aprenentatge oficial de les arts a Catalunya. [spa] Este artículo se centra en la significación y transcendencia de la asignatura de Anatomía artística en la Escuela de Bellas Artes de Barcelona durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX y principios de siglo XX. Se emplean, como hilo conductor, las figuras de Gerónimo Faraudo Condeminas (1823-1886) y de Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), los dos primeros profesores que impartieron la materia y que permanecen, en la actualidad, prácticamente inéditos. El conocimiento del ideario de Faraudo y de Ávila permite completar el panorama de la evolución de las ideas estéticas en la Cataluña del momento y, al mismo tiempo, contribuye a la comprensión de la erosión de la primacía del antiguo en el aprendizaje oficial de las artes en Cataluña. [eng]This article focuses on the subject of Artistic Anatomy at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, discussing its signification. The connecting thread of this article are Jeroni Faraudo i Condeminas (1823-1886) and Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), its first two teachers, who remain nowadays practically unknown. The knowledge of their ideas completes the history of contemporary Catalan aesthetics and also contributes to the comprehension of the erosion in the primacy of the use of ancient models in the official artistic teaching in Catalonia.

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.

La indumentaria como fuente para la didáctica de la historia: problemática y estado de la cuestión

La indumentaria es un objeto de incuestionable valor para la didáctica de la historia y de otras ciencias sociales, ya que posee todas las cualidades de la didáctica del objeto con un atractivo añadido muy vinculado a su aspecto y funcionalidad estética y a su reclamo visual; es fácil vincular períodos históricos con su indumentaria característica, puesto que nuestro imaginario cultural está lleno de películas, pinturas e incluso disfraces que proporcionan datos al respecto. Lo que resulta complicado es dilucidar qué imágenes son las más fidedignas, y esta cuestión no es otra que la relacionada con la veracidad y rigor de las fuentes de la indumentaria. El presente artículo analiza dicha problemática, además de la relacionada con la polisemia de su nomenclatura, con la necesidad de conocer su contexto estético o con la naturaleza de sus cambios y continuidades.

L'Anatomia artística a l"Escola de Belles Arts de Barcelona. Els casos de Jeroni Faraudo (1823-1886) i de Tiberio Ávila (1843-1932)

[cat] Aquest article se centra en la significació i transcendència de l"assignatura d"Anatomia artística a l"Escola de Belles Arts de Barcelona durant la segona meitat del segle XIX i principis de segle XX. S"empren, com a fil conductor, les figures de Jeroni Faraudo i Condeminas (1823-1886) i de Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), els dos primers professors que impartiren la matèria i que romanen, en l"actualitat, pràcticament inèdits. El coneixement de l"ideari de Faraudo i d"Ávila permet completar el panorama de l"evolució de les idees estètiques a la Catalunya del moment i, alhora, contribueix a la comprensió de l"erosió de la primacia de l"antic en l"aprenentatge oficial de les arts a Catalunya. [spa] Este artículo se centra en la significación y transcendencia de la asignatura de Anatomía artística en la Escuela de Bellas Artes de Barcelona durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX y principios de siglo XX. Se emplean, como hilo conductor, las figuras de Gerónimo Faraudo Condeminas (1823-1886) y de Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), los dos primeros profesores que impartieron la materia y que permanecen, en la actualidad, prácticamente inéditos. El conocimiento del ideario de Faraudo y de Ávila permite completar el panorama de la evolución de las ideas estéticas en la Cataluña del momento y, al mismo tiempo, contribuye a la comprensión de la erosión de la primacía del antiguo en el aprendizaje oficial de las artes en Cataluña. [eng]This article focuses on the subject of Artistic Anatomy at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, discussing its signification. The connecting thread of this article are Jeroni Faraudo i Condeminas (1823-1886) and Tiberio Ávila Rodríguez (1843-1932), its first two teachers, who remain nowadays practically unknown. The knowledge of their ideas completes the history of contemporary Catalan aesthetics and also contributes to the comprehension of the erosion in the primacy of the use of ancient models in the official artistic teaching in Catalonia.

Para além das fronteiras da química: relações entre filosofia, psicologia e ensino de química

The concepts of molecule and of molecular structure are so central to understand chemical phenomena that seems to be no doubt about the uniqueness of its meanings. Nevertheless, the idea that the world exhibits a multiform structure and that to different spheres of the world correspond different ways of knowing (Berger & Luckmann, 1967) has received support from different areas of scientific inquiry. Bachelard (1940, 1982) showed that a single philosophical doctrine is not enough to describe all the different ways of thinking when we try to explain a single concept. Wooley's question about the possibility of deducing the concept of molecular structure from quantum theory (Wooley, 1978) strengthened the feasibility of thinking the concept of molecule as a profile that encompasses different meanings. Moreover, research on students' learning of scientific concepts have brought to light that students use several ideas to explain scientific and everyday phenomena which are different from those learned in formal schooling. These ideas are not extinguished or replaced by scientific concepts, despite the efforts to do so in science classes. The common sense and scientific ways of understanding and talking about reality seems to be complementary in the same sense of the Bohr's complementarity (Halliday & Martin, 1993). So, we have to include in our profile of the concept of molecule not only scientific but also common sense zones. Drawing from Bachelard's notion of epistemological profile, from the history of science and from the research on children's ideas in science, we have developed the idea of a conceptual profile and used it to analyse basic scientific concepts, such as the concepts of matter and physical states of matter (Mortimer, 1995) and to investigate new ways to teach them. In the present paper, we will discuss the zones that might constitute a conceptual profile of molecule. The need of complementary views to account for the molecular structure in different contexts bring important issues for understanding and teaching chemistry, which will be discussed further in the article.

The Transformation of Practical Teaching Focusing on Dialogic Learning

This study investigates the transformation of practical teaching in a Catalan school, connected to the design, implementation and development of project-based learning, and focusing on dialogic learning to investigate its limits and possibilities. Qualitative and design-based research (DBR) methods are applied. These methods are based on empirical educational research with the theory-driven of learning environments. DBR is proposed and applied using practical guidance for the teachers of the school. It can be associated with the current proposals for Embedding Social Sciences and Humanities in the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges. This position statement defends the social sciences and the humanities as the most fundamental and important ideas to face all societal challenges. The results of this study show that before the training process, teachers apply dialogic learning in specific moments (for example, when they speak about the weekend); however, during the process and after the process, they work systematically with dialogic learning through the PEPT: they start and finish every activity with a individual and group reflection about their own processes, favouring motivation, reasoning and the implication of all the participants. These results prove that progressive transformations of teaching practice benefit cooperative work in class

Justus Von Liebig, 1803-1873. Parte 1: vida, personalidade, pensamento

This first of two papers allusive to the 200th birthday of Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) deals with the origins, life, education, ideas and influence of one of the great 19th century chemists. The principal characteristics of his "Giessen model of teaching research in chemistry" are presented, as well as the role played by many of his students in the evolution of chemical research in various countries. Liebig's strong personality, his controversies, his contribution to the chemical scene in Giessen and Munich are presented. Although few, the connections with Latin-American chemistry are focused.

Del papel a la pantalla y del aula a la nube: ideas para dinamizar la expresión escrita en secundaria = From paper to the screen and from the classroom to the cloud: ideas to energise written expression at secondary level

The spread of sociocultural focuses and critical literacy studies, which offer an holistic perspective on communicative skills, has reached our country at a time when the commonest environment for writing is the internet, and information technologies have transformed writing with new channels, genres, forms of preparation and languages. Thanks to these changes, educational programmes now include new concepts of literacy related to knowledge and the use of digital environments. This paper explores the impact of introducing these new communicative environments to teaching written expression at secondary level and puts forward some ideas to link learning how to write to present communicative contexts and established practices. Without forgetting the achievements of recent decades, we need to bring about a series of changes to bring new learned writing practices to class and leave behind others we had championed as necessary when the goal was to move beyond exclusively linguistic or grammatical approaches