The european higher education area at work: Lights and shadows defining continuous assessment

The aim of this paper is to analyse how learning assessment, particularly the Continuous Assessment system, has been defined in the Public Administration and Management Diploma Course of the University of Barcelona (Spain). This course was a pioneering experiment at this university in implementing the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and thus represents a good case study for verifying whether one of the cornerstones of the EHEA has been accomplished with success. Using data obtained from the Teaching Plans elaborated by the lecturers of each subject, we are able to establish that the CA system has been progressively accepted to such an extent that it is now the assessment formula used by practically all of the lecturers, conforming in this way to the protocols laid down by the Faculty of Law in which this diploma course is taught. Nevertheless, we find that high dispersion exists in how Continuous Assessment is actually defined. Indeed, it seems that there is no unified view of how Continuous Assessment should be performed. This dispersion, however, seems to diminish over time and raises some questions about the advisability of agreement on criteria, considering the potential which CA has as a pedagogical tool. Moreover, we find that the Unique Assessment system, which students may also apply for, is an option chosen only by a minority, with lecturers usually defining it as merely a theoretical and/or practical test, of little innovation in relation to traditional tests.

Informe Nacional. Políticas de cohesión y equidad de la educación superior en España

Programa Alfa de la Unión Europea para América Latina. Programa Marco Interuniversitario para la política de equidad y cohesión social en la Educación Superior. Red RIAPE 3. 2011. EuropeAid/129877/C/ACT/Multi

The european higher education area at work: Lights and shadows defining continuous assessment

The aim of this paper is to analyse how learning assessment, particularly the Continuous Assessment system, has been defined in the Public Administration and Management Diploma Course of the University of Barcelona (Spain). This course was a pioneering experiment at this university in implementing the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and thus represents a good case study for verifying whether one of the cornerstones of the EHEA has been accomplished with success. Using data obtained from the Teaching Plans elaborated by the lecturers of each subject, we are able to establish that the CA system has been progressively accepted to such an extent that it is now the assessment formula used by practically all of the lecturers, conforming in this way to the protocols laid down by the Faculty of Law in which this diploma course is taught. Nevertheless, we find that high dispersion exists in how Continuous Assessment is actually defined. Indeed, it seems that there is no unified view of how Continuous Assessment should be performed. This dispersion, however, seems to diminish over time and raises some questions about the advisability of agreement on criteria, considering the potential which CA has as a pedagogical tool. Moreover, we find that the Unique Assessment system, which students may also apply for, is an option chosen only by a minority, with lecturers usually defining it as merely a theoretical and/or practical test, of little innovation in relation to traditional tests.

La construcció de la identitat europea: dimensions educatives

Construir una identitat europea es sentir-se membre d'una comunitat culturalment plural. Des d'Europa s'han establert diverses mesures per fomentar aquesta construcció d'una identitat europea. En aquest article s'analitzen de forma crítica alguns dels models proposats, els seus fonaments i les mesures educatives adoptades per fer-los realitat, fonamentalment des de la dimensió europea de l'educació. Es defensa un model de construcció de la identitat europea des de la ciutadaia múltiple, per la qual: "l'espai cívic comú europeu" implica la construcció conjunta d'una representació que té en compte les diferències i en el que els punts de vista diferents aconsegueixen complementar-se uns amb els altres. Per això es necessiten estratègies educatives que promoguin una noció de personalitat emancipadora i transcultural.

European guidelines for the development of mechanisms/tools supporting the individual demand for training through use of training Vouchers

El projecte de TAV es basa en la transferència d'un sistema de vals de capacitació, i en com aquest sistema de vals és adaptable a altres països o regions. En el document s'analitzen diferents conceptes teòrics sobre la conveniència o no de la implantació d'aquest sistema. A més a més, aquest document és una guia per a les organitzacions interessades en l'adaptació del sistema de vals formatius al seu territori, mostrant els passos a seguir i oferint eines útils per aconseguir-ho.

Crisi i pobresa infantil a Catalunya

Aquest treball radiografia la pobresa infantil a Catalunya en el context d"adversitat econòmica que estem vivint. Les anàlisis realitzades posen en relleu que Catalunya presenta nivells de pobresa infantil molt alts quan es compara amb altres països europeus, i les tendències que s"apunten en els darrers anys són negatives. La nostra investigació discuteix, en primer lloc, la magnitud del fenomen, la seva evolució i els principals perfils socials. En segon lloc parem atenció al tipus d"experiències de la privació en les llars on viuen infants, rastrejant els canvis que es produeixen entre l"any 2007 i 2010. Per acabar, analitzem l"impacte de les transferències públiques sobre la pobresa infantil a Catalunya i als països de la Unió Europea 15. Evidenciem les enormes limitacions de les polítiques públiques vigents al nostre país per corregir fenòmens de pobresa i privació. El treball acaba alertant sobre les conseqüències a les quals ens aboca el fet de relegar la inversió social en infància i planteja una sèrie de propostes.

The european higher education area at work: Lights and shadows defining continuous assessment

The aim of this paper is to analyse how learning assessment, particularly the Continuous Assessment system, has been defined in the Public Administration and Management Diploma Course of the University of Barcelona (Spain). This course was a pioneering experiment at this university in implementing the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and thus represents a good case study for verifying whether one of the cornerstones of the EHEA has been accomplished with success. Using data obtained from the Teaching Plans elaborated by the lecturers of each subject, we are able to establish that the CA system has been progressively accepted to such an extent that it is now the assessment formula used by practically all of the lecturers, conforming in this way to the protocols laid down by the Faculty of Law in which this diploma course is taught. Nevertheless, we find that high dispersion exists in how Continuous Assessment is actually defined. Indeed, it seems that there is no unified view of how Continuous Assessment should be performed. This dispersion, however, seems to diminish over time and raises some questions about the advisability of agreement on criteria, considering the potential which CA has as a pedagogical tool. Moreover, we find that the Unique Assessment system, which students may also apply for, is an option chosen only by a minority, with lecturers usually defining it as merely a theoretical and/or practical test, of little innovation in relation to traditional tests.

Informe Nacional. Políticas de cohesión y equidad de la educación superior en España

Programa Alfa de la Unión Europea para América Latina. Programa Marco Interuniversitario para la política de equidad y cohesión social en la Educación Superior. Red RIAPE 3. 2011. EuropeAid/129877/C/ACT/Multi

Informe Nacional. Políticas de cohesión y equidad de la educación superior en España

Programa Alfa de la Unión Europea para América Latina. Programa Marco Interuniversitario para la política de equidad y cohesión social en la Educación Superior. Red RIAPE 3. 2011. EuropeAid/129877/C/ACT/Multi

Els Itineraris educatius dels joves extutelats a Europa

Dins del 7è Programa marc de la Unió Europea, s'ha endegat un estudi, que va del 2008 al 2010 a cinc països –Regne Unit, Dinamarca, Hongria, Suècia i Espanya (centrat a Catalunya)– que té per objectiu explorar els factors que afavoreixen i ajuden els joves tutelats i extutelats a continuar els seus estudis després de l'escolaritat obligatòria. Cada equip de recerca esta duent a terme un estudi de casos que consisteixen a fer, d'una banda, entrevistes amb responsables de serveis socials i de protecció a la infància, i, d'altra banda, entrevistes en profunditat amb joves d'entre 19 i 21 anys que han estat tutelats almenys un any de la seva vida i que ho estaven a l'edat de 16 anys, i, finalment, entrevistes amb educadors, acollidors o persones que han estat claus a les seves vides. Els joves seleccionats seran entrevistats de nou un any més tard per veure en quina mesura s'han pogut fer els seus plans. L'objectiu del present article és doble: d'una banda, aportar algunes de les dades que s'han obtingut de la primera fase ja conclosa sobre revisió dels estudis existents en aquest àmbit i, de l'altra, obrir un debat, poc present encara al nostre país, que pot culminar el proper març del 2010 amb motiu d'unes jornades a Catalunya on es podran presentar, compartir i debatre els primers resultats de la investigació

Energy security of the Baltic States

Energy security is an important topic on the world agenda and has augmented its importance since the term “peak oil” was coined. Energy security is a crucial issue for most countries but some are more dependent on foreign supply than others. Traditionally, the Baltic States have been dependent on Russia for much of their oil and gas supplies, which makes them vulnerable to political pressure. Therefore, energy security, that is ensuring sufficient supply and safe delivery and in this case reduce dependency on a single provider – Russia, entails a conspicuous foreign policy dimension. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been described as energy islands within the EU. This paper tries to answer the question if energy security of the Baltic States has improved since their accession to the EU in 2004. Additionally, it will analyse the prospects of energy security, noting that one of the Lithuanian aims during its European presidency in 2013 is to improve energy security of the Baltic States by fostering cooperation with EU member states.

Referents de l'educació intercultural

La societat en què vivim cada cop és més diversa i complexa. Per això és essencial trobar uns paràmetres comuns que permetin la convivència i la comunicació intercultural entre les diverses cultures que conformen el teixit social actual en el territori de la Unió Europea. En la mesura en què aquestes persones provinents d'altres països tinguin garantits els drets civils essencials, com a ciutadans de ple dret, estarem posant les bases d'una futura convivència productiva per a tothom i estarem deixant un llegat de pau social imprescindible per al progrés de la nostra societat. Un dels pilars bàsics d'aquest accés a la plena ciutadania per part de tots els habitants dels estats europeus és l'educació. Sovint trasbalsada per múltiples canvis legislatius, l'educació ara per ara no té cap altre sortida que ser intercultural, com a reflex fidel d'allò que està passant en la societat. El repte és preparar els professionals i implicar-hi a tots els agents educatius i promoure el desenvolupament ple de totes les capacitats dels alumnes, alhora que els prepara per a una transició al món laboral el més fàcil possible.

Cross-country differences in disclosure quality: a study of fair value disclosures by european real estate companies

Companies are under IAS 40 required to report fair values of investment properties on the balance sheet or to disclose them in the notes. The standard requires also that companies have to disclose the methods and significant assumptions applied in determining fair values of investment properties. However, IAS 40 does not include any illustrative examples or other guidance on how to apply the disclosure requirements. We use a sample with publicly traded companies from the real estate sector in the EU. We find that a majority of the companies use income based methods for the measurement of fair values but there are considerable cross-country variations in the level of disclosures about the assumptions used in determining fair values. More specifically, we find that Scandinavian and German origin companies disclose more than French and English origin companies. We also test whether disclosure quality is associated with enforcement quality measured with the “Rule of Law” index according to Kaufmann et al. (2010), and associated with a secrecy- versus transparency-measure based on Gray (1988). We find a positive association between disclosure and earnings quality and a negative association with secrecy.

Disentangling water usage in the European Union: A decomposition analysis

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) defines common objectives for water resources throughout the European Union (EU). Given this general approach to water preservation and water policy, the objective of this paper is to analyse whether common patterns of water consumption exist within Europe. In particular, our study uses two methods to reveal the reasons behind sectoral water use in all EU countries. The first method is based on an accounting indicator that calculates the water intensity of an economy as the sum of sectoral water intensities. The second method is a subsystem input‐output model that divides total water use into different income channels within the production system. The application uses data for the years 2005 and 2009 on water consumption in the production system of the 27 countries of the EU. From our analysis it emerges that EU countries are characterized by very different patterns of water consumption. In particular water consumption by the agriculture sector is extremely high in Central/Eastern Europe, relative to the rest of Europe. In most countries, the water used by the fuel, power and water sector is consumed to satisfy domestic final demand. However, our analysis shows that for some countries exports from this sector are an important driver of water consumption. Focusing on the agricultural sector, the decomposition analysis suggests that water usage in Mediterranean countries is mainly driven by final demand for, and exports of, agricultural products. In Central/Eastern Europe domestic final demand is the main driver of water consumption, but in this region the proportion of water use driven by demand for exports is increasing over time. Given these heterogeneous water consumption patterns, our analysis suggests that Mediterranean and Central/Eastern European countries should adopt specific water policies in order to achieve efficient levels of water consumption in the European Union. JEL codes: N5; C67 Keywords: Water use, Subsystem input–output model; Water intensity, European Union.

La gobernanza económica de la Zona Euro

La Unión Europea se encuentra actualmente inmersa en un proceso de cambio de su sistema de gobernanza económica. Este artículo analiza por qué los Estados miembros están siendo capaces de cooperar en temas que en los años 1990s eran tabú en la arena comunitaria. En base a una metodología cualitativa y un marco teórico nutrido por los enfoques neofuncionalista e intergubernamental, concluimos que los acuerdos sobre gobernanza económica a los que se está llegando en la actualidad responden más a la necesidad que a la voluntad de hacer avanzar la integración.