WAIS seminar: Computer Science, the Revolution in Schools

Tuesday 22nd April 2014 Speaker(s): Sue Sentance Organiser: Leslie Carr Time: 22/04/2014 15:00-16:00 Location: B32/3077 File size: 698 Mb Abstract Until recently, "computing" education in English schools mainly focused on developing general Digital Literacy and Microsoft Office skills. As of this September, a new curriculum comes into effect that provides a strong emphasis on computation and programming. This change has generated some controversy in the news media (4-year-olds being forced to learn coding! boss of the government’s coding education initiative cannot code shock horror!!!!) and also some concern in the teaching profession (how can we possibly teach programming when none of the teachers know how to program)? Dr Sue Sentance will explain the work of Computing At School, a part of the BCS Academy, in galvanising universities to help teachers learn programming and other computing skills. Come along and find out about the new English Computing Revolution - How will your children and your schools be affected? - How will our University intake change? How will our degrees have to change? - What is happening to the national perception of Computer Science?

Teleconsultation in sexual and reproductive health for young adults through mobile devices: Experience in Colombia

Background: Sexual risk behaviors associated with poor information on sexuality have contributed to major public health problems in the area of sexual and reproductive health in teenagers and young adults in Colombia. Objective: To measure the perception of changes in sexual and reproductive risk behavior after the use of a teleconsultation service via mobile devices in a sample of young adults. Methods: A before and after observational study was designed, where a mobile application to inquire about sexual and reproductive health was developed. The perception of changes in sexual and reproductive health risk behaviors in a sample of young adults after the use of the application was measured using the validated survey “Family Health International (FHI) – Behavioral Surveillance Survey (BSS) – Survey for Adults between 15 to 40 Years”. Non-probabilistic convenience recruitment was undertaken through the study´s web page. Participants answered the survey online before and after the use of the mobile application for a six month period (intervention). For the inferential analysis, data was divided into three groups (dichotomous data, discrete quantitative data, and ordinal data), to compare the results of the questions between the first and the second survey. For all tests, a confidence interval of 95% was established. For dichotomous data, the Chi-squared test was used. For quantitative data, we used the Student’s t-test, and for ordinal data, the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. Results: A total of 257 subjects were registered in the study and met the selection criteria. The pre-intervention survey was answered by 232 subjects, and 127 completely answered the post-intervention survey, of which 54.3% did not use the application, leaving an effective population of 58 subjects for analysis. 53% (n=31) were female, and 47% (n=27) were male. The mean age was 21 years, ranging between 18 and 40 years. The differences between the answers on the first and the second survey were not statistically significant. The main risk behaviors identified in the population were homosexual relations, non-use of condoms, sexual relations with non-regular and commercial partners, the use of psychoactive substances, and ignorance about the symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV transmission. Conclusions: Although there were no differences between the pre- and post-intervention results, the study revealed different risk behaviors among the participating subjects. These findings highlight the importance of promoting educational strategies on this matter and the importance of providing patients with easily accessible tools with reliable health information.

Impact on the quality of learning as a result of the use of computers in schools

The educational software and computer assisted learning has been used in schools to promote the interest of students in new ways of thinking and learning so it can be useful in the reading learning process. Experimental studies performed in preschool and school age population have shown a better yield and a positive effect in reading, mathematics and cognitive skills in children who use educative software for fi fteen to twenty minutes a day periods. The goal of this study was to evaluate the progression in verbal, visual-motor integration and reading skills in children who were using educational software to compare them with a group in traditional pedagogic methodology. Results: All children were evaluated before using any kind of pedagogic approach. Initial evaluation revealed a lower–age score in all applied test. 11% of them were at high risk for learning disorders. There was a second evaluation that showed a significant positive change compared with the fi rst one. Nevertheless, despite some items, there were no general differences comparing the groups according if they were using or not a computer. In conclusion, policies on using educational software and computers must be revaluated due to the fact that children in our public schools come from a deprived environment with a lack of opportunities to use technologies.

Analysis of the alveolar recruitment maneuvers applied at seven intensive care units

Introduction: During the past years, alveolar recruitment maneuvers (RM) have produced growing interest due to their beneficial potential in pulmonary protection, and have been introduced in clinical practice. Objective: To describe and analyze the knowledge of MR and its application at seven intensive care units in the city of Cali, Colombia. Methods and materials: Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study with an intentional sample of 64 professionals working in seven intensive care units and who apply MR. The self-completed survey was made up of thirteen questions, and the application period was two months. Results: Out of 64 professionals surveyed, 77.8% of them follow a protocol guide; 54.7% employes during RM the ideal Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), which maintains a saturation > 90% and a PaO2 > 60 mmHg; 42.1% tolerates airway pressures between 35 and 50 cmH2O; 48.4% perform RM with a progressive increase of the PEEP and a low tidal volume. Conclusions: Regarding the knowledge related to RM, heterogeneity was found in the answers. There is currently no consensus about which is the most effective and secure way to implement an MR. This study can be the starting point to create awareness towards the revision of knowledge, capacities and abilities that are required to perform RM.

Combatant recruitment and the outcome of war

Why do some civil wars terminate soon, with victory of one party over the other? What determines if the winner is the incumbent or the rebel group? Why do other conáicts last longer? We propose a simple model in which the power of each armed group depends on the number of combatants it is able to recruit. This is in turn a function of the relative ëdistanceíbetween group leaderships and potential recruits. We emphasize the moral hazard problem of recruitment: Öghting is costly and risky so combatants have the incentive to defect from their task. They can also desert altogether and join the enemy. This incentive is stronger the farther away the Öghter is from the principal, since monitoring becomes increasingly costly. Bigger armies have more power but less monitoring capacity to prevent defection and desertion. This general framework allows a variety of interpretations of what type of proximity matters for building strong cohesive armies ranging from ethnic distance to geographic dispersion. Di§erent assumptions about the distribution of potential Öghters along the relevant dimension of conáict lead to di§erent equilibria. We characterize these, discuss the implied outcome in terms of who wins the war, and illustrate with historical and contemporaneous case studies.

La participación de padres en la elección de centros en Gran Bretaña : el caso de las Grant-Maintained Schools.

Resumen tomado de la revista

The role of Spanish schools in providing environmental knowledge in science. 'El papel de las escuelas españolas en proporcionar conocimientos sobre el medio ambiente en la ciencia'.

Resumen basado en el de la publicación

La investigación sobre los efectos de las single sex vs. coeducational schools.

Resumen tomado del autor

Religious diversity and intercultural education : a reference book for schools.'Diversidad religiosa y educación intercultural : un libro de consulta para las escuelas'.

Resumen tomado de la publicación. El manual es el resultado de un proyecto del Consejo de Europa llevado a cabo entre 2002 y 2005 titulado 'The Challenge of intercultural education today: religious diversity and dialogue in Europe' (El reto de la educación intercultural hoy: diversidad religiosa y diálogo en Europa)

Second language students in mainstream classrooms : a handbook for teachers in international schools.

Este manual está diseñado como una ayuda a los profesores que enseñan una segunda lengua a niños de colegios internacionales. En este entorno, se aprecia una variada gama de estudiantes, cuyas familias tienen grandes expectativas para sus hijos. El papel de los profesores es el de crear un ambiente en clase, en el que los niños prosperen social y académicamente, y se conviertan, además, en usuarios competentes del idioma inglés; para ello se les ofrece una gran riqueza de sugerencias prácticas que abarcan todos los aspectos de la segunda lengua, la vida de los niños, y también factores sociales, emocionales y pedagógicos.

Teaching and learning in multicultural schools : an integrated approach.

Este texto proporciona detallados consejos prácticos y sugerencias para los educadores de escuelas pertenecientes a comunidades muy diversas, culturalmente y lingüísticamente. Algunos capítulos se centran en las necesidades de los estudiantes de comunidades de inmigrantes, especialmente los que están aprendiendo la lengua de enseñanza, aunque también se incluyen otros grupos minoritarios.

Handbook for inspecting primary and nursery schools : with guidance on self-evaluation.

Este manual ha sido publicado para marcar las directrices que han de seguir tanto las inspecciones escolares, como los inspectores en sus visitas a las escuelas de primaria y jardínes de infancia, aunque, también es de utilidad para la autoevaluación escolar.Con él,se garantiza que el proceso de inspección es de la más alta calidad y que las decisiones sobre una escuela son a la vez justas y rigurosas. Incorpora los requisitos del sistema de control diferenciado, por el que se establecen dos tipos de inspecciones. Una inspección corta para las escuelas más eficaces, y una inspección completa o intensiva para el resto; ambas llevan un resumen de los informes para los padres, escritos en el mismo formato estándar. Este nuevo sistema de inspección se aplica desde enero de 2000.

Handbook for inspecting secondary schools : with guidance on self-evaluation.

Este manual ha sido publicado para marcar las directrices que han de seguir tanto las inspecciones escolares, como los inspectores en sus visitas a las escuelas de secundaria, aunque, también es de utilidad para la autoevaluación escolar.Con él,se garantiza que el proceso de inspección es de la más alta calidad y que las decisiones sobre una escuela son a la vez justas y rigurosas. Incorpora los requisitos del sistema de control diferenciado, por el que se establecen dos tipos de inspecciones. Una inspección corta para las escuelas más eficaces, y una inspección completa o intensiva para el resto; ambas llevan un resumen de los informes para los padres, escritos en el mismo formato estándar. Este nuevo sistema de inspección se aplica desde enero de 2000.

Sc1 investigation for key stage 1 and key stage 2 : a bank of differentiated investigations for primary schools.

Este documento es un intento de dar orientación y apoyo a los profesores en la organización de la enseñanza de las ciencias de investigación, en el nivel primario. Se presentan distintas actividades, flexibles para los docentes, a fin de que los niños participen en las distintas etapas del proceso de investigación: planificación, obtención y visualización de resultados y, conclusión y evaluación. Así, desarrolla unos conceptos que permitan la progresión en los conocimientos y en las pruebas prácticas de los alumnos, a nivel individual y, para los diferentes niveles educativos. Se incluyen hojas en blanco para ser rellenadas por los alumnos con sus conclusiones de cada uno de los procesos investigados.

Global lines : a citizenship teaching resource for secondary schools.

Con la finalidad de concienciar e involucrar a los estudiantes de secundaria en los problemas mundiales,la Cruz Roja Británica ha desarrollado este recurso que introduce a los alumnos en el concepto de ciudadania del mundo, y les ayuda a comprender mejor el mundo que les rodea y su lugar en él. También, conocen el significado de conceptos como la diversidad, los derechos humanos, la democracia, la justicia social y la participación activa. Las actividades propuestas exploran algunas de las dificultades y los dilemas morales a los que se enfrentan personas en situaciónes violentas y de conflicto, y estudian la respuesta a estas crisis por parte de organizaciones como la Cruz Roja y la Media Luna Roja. Se estudian, en concreto, los casos de Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ruanda e Irlanda del Norte.