Evaluation of transversal competencies: pilot project in a maths course for first-year business

The aim of this communication is to describe the results of a pilot project for the assessment of the transversal competency "the capacity for learning and responsibility". This competency is centred on the capacity for the analysis, synthesis, overview, and practical application of newly acquired knowledge. It is proposed by the University of Barcelona in its undergraduate degree courses,through multidisciplinary teaching teams. The goal of the pilot project is to evaluate this competency.We worked with a group of students in a first-year Business Degree maths course, during the firstsemester of the 2012/2013 academic year. The development of the project was in two stages: (i)design of a specific task to share with the same students in the following semester when the subjectwould be economic history; and (ii) the elaboration of an evaluation rubric in which we defined thecontent, the aspects to evaluate, the evaluation criteria, and the marking scale. The attainment of theexpectations of quality on the specific task was scored following this rubric, which provided a singlebasis for the precise and fair assessment by the instructor and for the students' own self-evaluation.We conclude by describing the main findings of the experience. There particularly stood out the highscore in the students' self-evaluation given to one aspect of the competency ��� their capacity forlearning ��� in stark contrast to their instructor's quite negative evaluation. This means that we have towork both to improve teaching practice and to identify the optimal competency evaluationmethodology.

Trastornos de identidad de g��nero: evaluaci��n de la competencia para el cuidado

En este documento se realiza una descripci��n de los trastornos de identidad de g��nero (TIG) y de su situaci��n a nivel nacional e internacional, teniendo en cuenta la legislaci��n y epidemiolog��a, con el objetivo de consolidar as�� una base te��rica para el estudio. Se diferencian tambi��n otras patolog��as similares para evitar confusi��n o errores. Se propone un estudio cuantitativo, observacional, transversal, descriptivo y correlacional que tiene como objetivos principales evaluar los conocimientos, habilidades y actitudes necesarios del personal de enfermer��a para el cuidado de las personas con TIG y comparar las competencias de la enfermer��a de distintos niveles asistenciales. Como m��todo de recogida de datos se utiliza un cuestionario de elaboraci��n propia, de preguntas cerradas con m��ltiples opciones de respuesta. El an��lisis de los datos ser�� inferencial y descriptivo, ya que el objetivo es realizar una estimaci��n a partir de los resultados obtenidos de la muestra sobre el conjunto total de la poblaci��n con la finalidad de realizar el contraste de la hip��tesis formulada; para ello, se realizar�� la prueba no param��trica de Chi-����� cuadrado.

Teaching Motivational Interviewing to Medical Students to Improve Behavior Change Counseling Skills - Results of a Pilot Test

BACKGROUND: Patient behavior accounts for half or more of the variance in health, disease, mortality and treatment outcome and costs. Counseling using motivational interviewing (MI) effectively improves the substance use and medical compliance behavior of patients. Medical training should include substantial focus on this key issue of health promotion. The objective of the study is to test the efficacy of teaching MI to medical students. METHODS: Thirteen fourth-year medical students volunteered to participate. Seven days before and after an 8-hour interactive MI training workshop, each student performed a video-recorded interview with two standardized patients: a 60 year-old alcohol dependent female consulting a primary care physician for the first time about fatigue and depression symptoms; and a 50 year-old male cigarette smoker hospitalized for myocardial infarction. All 52 videos (13 students��2 interviews before and after training) were independently coded by two blinded clinicians using the Motivational Interviewing Training Integrity (MITI, 3.0). MITI scores consist of global spirit (Evocation, Collaboration, Autonomy/Support), global Empathy and Direction, and behavior count summary scores (% Open questions, Reflection to question ratio, % Complex reflections, % MI-adherent behaviors). A "beginning proficiency" threshold (BPT) is defined for each of these 9 scores. The proportion of students reaching BPT before and after training was compared using McNemar exact tests. Inter-rater reliability was evaluated by comparing double coding, and test-retest analyses were conducted on a sub-sample of 10 consecutive interviews by each coder. Weighted Kappas were used for global rating scales and intra-class correlations (ICC) were computed for behavior count summary scores. RESULTS: The percent of counselors reaching BPT before and after MI training increased significantly for Evocation (15% to 65%, p<.001), Collaboration (27% to 77%, p=.001), Autonomy/Support (15% to 54%, p=.006), and % Open questions (4% to 38%, p=.004). Proportions increased, but were not statistically significant for Empathy (38% to 58%, p=.18), Reflection to question ratio (0% to 15%, p=.12), % Complex reflection (35% to 54%, p=.23), and % MI-adherent behaviors (8% to 15%, p=.69). There was virtually no change for the Direction scale (92% to 88%, p=1.00). The reliability analyses produced mixed results. Weighted kappas for inter-rater reliability ranged from .14 for Direction to .51 for Collaboration, and from .27 for Direction to .80 for Empathy for test-retest. ICCs ranged from .20 for Complex reflections to .89 for Open questions (inter-rater), and from .67 for Complex reflections to .99 for Reflection to question ratio (test-retest). CONCLUSION: This pilot study indicates that a single 8-hour training in motivational interviewing for voluntary fourth-year medical students results in significant improvement of some MI skills. A larger sample of randomly selected medical students observed over longer periods should be studied to test if MI training generalizes to medical students. Inter-rater reliability and test-retest findings indicate a need for caution when interpreting the present results, as well as for more intensive training to help appropriately capture more dimensions of the process in future studies.

Cities, skills, and regional change

One approach to urban areas emphasizes the existence of certain immutable relationships, such as Zipf's or Gibrat's Law. An alternative view is that urban changereflects individual responses to changing tastes or technologies. This paper examinesalmost 200 years of regional change in the U.S. and finds that few, if any, growth relationships remain constant, including Gibrat's Law. Education does a reasonable jobof explaining urban resilience in recent decades, but does not seem to predict countygrowth a century ago. After reviewing this evidence, we present and estimate a simple model of regional change, where education increases the level of entrepreneurship.Human capital spillovers occur at the city level because skilled workers produce moreproduct varieties and thereby increase labor demand. We find that skills are associatedwith growth in productivity or entrepreneurship, not with growth in quality of life, atleast outside of the West. We also find that skills seem to have depressed housing supplygrowth in the West, but not in other regions, which supports the view that educatedresidents in that region have fought for tougher land-use controls. We also present evidence that skills have had a disproportionately large impact on unemployment duringthe current recession.

Library-instructional materials center skills, 1968

The School Library-Instructional Materials Center should be designed to serve the total curriculum of a school. Much of a teacher's learning comes when he works with a librarian to provide his students wit the necessary and appropriate skills for a unit of s study.

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.

Univers de Comunicaci�� Audiovisual: un projecte transversal de socialitzaci��

L���Univers de la Comunicaci�� Audiovisual ��s el primer projecte d���innovaci�� docent realitzat pels estudis de Comunicaci�� Audiovisual de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra que incideix en les possibilitats transversals de les xarxes virtuals. Contemplant aquestes xarxes com entorns on tamb�� es poden definir i treballar compet��ncies generals, l���Univers... es defineix com un espai on l���alumnat i professorat comparteixen i poden visualitzar aquells referents ���autors, obres i conceptes- que els propis estudiants i professors han considerat imprescindibles per definir l�����mbit referencial dels Estudis, i per extensi��, del propi camp de coneixement. L���Univers... es presenta als usuaris en dos nivells de profunditat clarament diferenciats; un primer, el mapa de l���Univers, on es mostren de forma visual els ��tems que conformen la constel��laci�� d���autors, obres i conceptes que professorat i alumnat han proposat. I un segon nivell format per fitxes din��miques que amplien les dades dels ��tems m��s significatius del mapa. Aquestes fitxes din��miques recuperen i ordenen la informaci�� que d���aquell ��tem concret es pot resseguir en els materials i Guies Docents de totes les assignatures dels Estudis.

Proyecto Universo de la Comunicaci��n Audiovisual: una representaci��n visual, transversal y participativa en la red

Con el nombre de Universo de la Comunicaci��n Audiovisual presentamos un proyecto que tiene, como elemento m��s significativo, la representaci��n en la red de un mapa conceptual formado por las referencias (autores, obras, conceptos) que el profesorado y alumnado hemos propuesto para definir nuestro campo de estudio. El Universo... incluye, adem��s del mapa conceptual, un espacio para el debate y un conjunto de fichas que interrelacionan el mapa con las asignaturas de la licenciatura. El proyecto busca acercar y potenciar la participaci��n del alumnado en el reconocimiento y lectura cr��tica de aquellos elementos referenciales que, de forma significativa, permiten acotar e identificarse con el propio ��mbito de conocimiento, dando visibilidad al procedimiento y haci��ndolo p��blico. Desde el Universo... proponemos una nueva aproximaci��n a la competencia general descrita como capacidad cr��tica de naturaleza multidisciplinaria que dote al alumnado de capacidad de investigaci��n acad��mica y aplicada. Entendemos esta capacitaci��n cr��tica como un proceso que va desarrollando el alumnado durante todo el grado. Este proceso supone, en una dimensi��n individual, alcanzar objetivos como el reconocimiento, localizaci��n y configuraci��n de un marco referencial propio, y que permite, en su dimensi��n colectiva, participar en la definici��n, concreci��n y trazado de un marco referencial com��n.

Communication skills training in oncology: it works!

While the previous chapter by L. Fallowfield and V. Jenkins focuses on different communication skills training (CST) concepts currently being utilized, this chapter reviews and comments the scientific evidence of the impact of CST on improving communication skills. The aim of this chapter is not to provide a complete review of the evidence-this has already been done in systematic reviews-but to discuss the scientific evidence and reflect on the available results and relevant topics for further investigations.

Rellev��ncia de la compet��ncia transversal Capacitat d'aprenentatge i responsabilitat en l'��mbit de Ci��ncies de la Salut

Se determina la relevancia y la modalidad de trabajo (Presencial, semipresencial o no presencial) del conjunto de las cinco sub-competencias (Capacidad de an��lisis y de s��ntesis - Aplicar conocimientos a la pr��ctica - Resolver problemas y tomar deci-siones - Capacitado para adaptarse a nuevas situaciones - Asumir responsabilida-des), ligadas a la competencia transversal Capacidad de aprendizaje y responsabili-dad, en los estudios de grado de Ciencias de la Salud de la UB y URL.

Formaci��n b��sica y transversal en Ciencias de la Salud (CCSS): el caso de la estad��stica

En la rama de CCSS la Universidad de Barcelona tiene en marcha actualmente diez titulaciones oficiales de grado, dos de ellas en centros adscritos. En este curso 2012/13 la oferta total de plazas de nuevo ingreso fue de 2134, repartidas en siete campus de la ciudad y alrededores. Con la finalidad de dinamizar las relaciones entre los distintos equipos docentes de estad��stica, se elabor�� un proyecto de innovaci��n docente que ha sido reconocido por la UB (2012PIB-UB/098); El primer objetivo era ���valorar qu�� competencias son comunes a las asignaturas que se derivan de una misma materia b��sica, tanto transversales como espec��ficas���.