La ense??anza de m??todos de estudio y estrategias de aprendizaje en el aula en el marco de la Reforma de las Ense??anzas

Conocer cu??l es el efecto que la implantaci??n de un programa de t??cnicas de estudio, en l??nea con la Reforma del Sistema Educativo, tiene sobre el rendimiento de los alumnos en general y, sobre sus actitudes en particular. Alumnos de EGB sexto, s??ptimo y octavo y de primero de BUP. En la fase inicial fue de 952 alumnos. La definitiva fue de 496 alumnos. La intervenci??n se realiz?? a 3 niveles: formaci??n del profesorado al que se le dio un curso sobre c??mo impartir t??cnicas de estudio. Programa de t??cnicas a los alumnos durante 8 sesiones de una hora, en algunos grupos se llegaron a impartir 10 sesiones. Charla a los padres con el fin de hacerles part??cipes de la experiencia que se estaba llevando a cabo con sus hijos y pedirles colaboraci??n en aquellos aspectos que ayudar??an a mejorar el trabajo de los alumnos. Para la medida de las variables se han utilizado las siguientes pruebas: de tipo intelectual: factor G de Catell y Catell; bater??a de aptitudes diferenciales y generales de Yuste Hern??nz, estilos cognitivos Geft; autoconcepto; de personalidad HSPQ; de clima social; de h??bitos de estudio CETI y CHTE y ansiedad STAI. Como materiales para la intervenci??n se ha utilizado el libro 'aprendiendo a aprender' de F. Hern??ndez Pina. En general ha habido una mejora del rendimiento en el grupo experimental respecto al grupo de control. En lo que respecta a las actitudes y motivaciones, el grupo experimental ha sufrido un empeoramiento respecto al grupo de control. Aunque existe una tendencia a correlacionar de forma positiva el CI y el uso de m??todos y t??cnicas de estudio, esta relaci??n no aparece de forma sistem??tica. Este dato confirma que la forma de trabajar de los alumnos no depende tanto de su capacidad intelectual sino de otros factores externos a ??l, como pueden ser las tareas a realizar o la forma en que son ense??ados. Las chicas parecen beneficiarse m??s de las t??cnicas de estudio que los chicos. La relaci??n entre la independencia y la dependencia de campo y los modos y t??cnicas de estudio ha resultado en t??rminos generales nula. En lo relacionado con el autoconcepto ha habido una mejora relativa al finalizar el tratamiento. Las relaciones profesor-alumno han mejorado en t??rminos generales, especialmente desde el punto de vista del profesor y a nivel de EGB. En cuanto a la participaci??n de los padres, ??sta no ha sido muy grande, pero los que han participado se han implicado hasta el punto de pedirnos que les imparti??semos un curso de t??cnicas a ellos mismos con el fin de ayudar mejor a sus hijos en las tareas escolares.

Posibilidades cognitivas y educativas de la inform??tica en EGB, EEMM y Universidad

Investigar las claves organizativas que se establecen en los centros para la introducci??n de la inform??tica y los ordenadores. Analizar las actitudes hacia la inform??tica y su relaci??n con una serie de dimensiones: sexo, edad, nivel de estudio, formaci??n recibida, presencia de un ordenador en casa, etc. Analizar la relaci??n entre las actitudes hacia la inform??tica y el rendimiento acad??mico. Estudiar las posibles repercusiones cognitivas del lenguaje de programacion Basic en los estilos DIC y RI. Estudiar la problem??tica del dise??o de software inform??tico educativo y las variables a considerar. Alumnos de EGB, EEMM y Universidad; profesores, directores y responsables inform??ticos. Comprende cinco investigaciones que giran en torno al medio inform??tico. La metodolog??a var??a en funci??n de la problem??tica. En la primera se recoge informaci??n de 123 centros de EGB y EEMM, se aplican 707 cuestionarios a profesores, y 99 a directores y responsables inform??ticos, y se realizan 20 entrevistas. En la segunda, tras construir, validar y fiabilizar un instrumento de diagn??stico de las actitudes hacia la inform??tica y los ordenadores con construcci??n diferencial sem??ntico de Osgood para alumnos de EGB, EEMM y universidad, se aplican 845 escalas. La tercera con un dise??o preexperimental del tipo pretest-posttest, analiza a 233 universitarios que cursan estudios relacionados con la inform??tica, al principio de comenzar dichos estudios y al finalizar los mismos. En la cuarta, se lleva a cabo un dise??o grupo control y experimental con 40 alumnos de EEMM. Y en la ??ltima, sobre los contenidos de la suma de n??meros enteros, se realizan dos programas de software, movilizando en grado determinados elementos t??cnicos-instrumentales y sem??nticos-conceptuales de organizaci??n de la informaci??n, los cuales se aplican con el objeto de conocer cu??l de las dos versiones es m??s eficaz de cara al aprendizaje. Se eval??an las dos versiones de software mediante un cuestionario de evaluaci??n pasado a profesores y expertos en inform??tica. Instrumento de diagn??stico de las actitudes, diferencial sem??ntico de Osgood, escalas de actitudes hacia la inform??tica. Baja formaci??n t??cnica y did??ctica de los profesores y directores respecto al medio inform??tico. Ausencia de criterios organizativos para la inserci??n de la inform??tica. Limitadas repercusiones de los ordenadores en la mejora de la ense??anza. Validaci??n de un instrumento de diagn??stico. Influencia del sexo, presencia de un ordenador en casa, el dominio que expresan tener, etc. en las actitudes hacia la inform??tica. Influencia del lenguaje de programaci??n Basic en la modificaci??n de los estilos cognitivos DIC y RI. La significaci??n de las actitudes hacia la inform??tica en el rendimiento adquirido en contenidos referidos hacia los mismos. La identificaci??n de diversos elementos para el dise??o de software.

Problemas de salud y absentismo por incapacidad laboral en el profesorado de la enseñanza no universitaria (período 1989-1994).

Conocer el impacto de las licencias por enfermedad y embarazo del profesorado público no universitario en el ámbito del territorio del MEC. Confirmar o no la hipótesis de la relación entre los ciclos de estrés y las bajas oficiales por enfermedad. Ofrecer una información veráz que sea útil para la toma de decisiones, repercutiendo de manera clara en la gestión y planificación de medidas preventivas en materia de salud laboral de los profesores. Personal funcionario docente no universitario propietario o interino que haya estado en activo en los cursos 89-90 al curso 94-95 y dependa del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. Método epidemiológico-descriptivo. Índice de frecuencia, tasas de incidencia, índice de gravedad, índice de incapacidad riesgo relativo. Análisis estadísticos de datos referidos a sexo, edad, bajas por enfermedad, duración de las bajas, etc. Análisis comparativo de los resultados. Las bajas por enfermedad más numerosas son las que duran menos de 15 días. Las causas por las que se producen son clasificadas dentro se los siguientes grupos diagnósticos: embarazo, reumatología, traumatología, psiquiatría y otorrinolaringología. No se puede demostrar la correlación de los ciclos de estrés con el aumento de la incidencia de las bajas, aunque el perfil del profesor que sufre mayor estrés y el del que sufre enfermedad son iguales. El coste del absentismo en el MEC durante el curso 94-95 fue de 12.371.384.710 pts., los autores plantean una serie de medidas de actuación encaminadas a evitar este gasto y mejorar la salud laboral de los profesores lo que redundará en una mejora de la calidad de la enseñanza.

Cualidades del docente para la planificaci??n curricular desde la perspectiva de los propios docentes y de sus estudiantes universitarios

Resusmen basado en el de la publicaci??n

Dunford-Pettis properties, Hilbert spaces and projective tensor products

We study complete continuity properties of operators onto ℓ2 and prove several results in the Dunford–Pettis theory of JB∗-triples and their projective tensor products, culminating in characterisations of the alternative Dunford–Pettis property for where E and F are JB∗-triples.

Equitability revisited: why the “equitable threat score” is not equitable

In the forecasting of binary events, verification measures that are “equitable” were defined by Gandin and Murphy to satisfy two requirements: 1) they award all random forecasting systems, including those that always issue the same forecast, the same expected score (typically zero), and 2) they are expressible as the linear weighted sum of the elements of the contingency table, where the weights are independent of the entries in the table, apart from the base rate. The authors demonstrate that the widely used “equitable threat score” (ETS), as well as numerous others, satisfies neither of these requirements and only satisfies the first requirement in the limit of an infinite sample size. Such measures are referred to as “asymptotically equitable.” In the case of ETS, the expected score of a random forecasting system is always positive and only falls below 0.01 when the number of samples is greater than around 30. Two other asymptotically equitable measures are the odds ratio skill score and the symmetric extreme dependency score, which are more strongly inequitable than ETS, particularly for rare events; for example, when the base rate is 2% and the sample size is 1000, random but unbiased forecasting systems yield an expected score of around −0.5, reducing in magnitude to −0.01 or smaller only for sample sizes exceeding 25 000. This presents a problem since these nonlinear measures have other desirable properties, in particular being reliable indicators of skill for rare events (provided that the sample size is large enough). A potential way to reconcile these properties with equitability is to recognize that Gandin and Murphy’s two requirements are independent, and the second can be safely discarded without losing the key advantages of equitability that are embodied in the first. This enables inequitable and asymptotically equitable measures to be scaled to make them equitable, while retaining their nonlinearity and other properties such as being reliable indicators of skill for rare events. It also opens up the possibility of designing new equitable verification measures.

Binding of pentagalloyl glucose to two globular proteins occurs via multiple surface sites

The interaction between pentagalloyl glucose (PGG) and two globular proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (rubisco), was investigated by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). ITC data fit to a binding model consisting of two sets of multiple binding sites, which reveal similarities in the mode of binding of PGG to BSA and rubisco. In both cases, the interaction is characterized by a high number of binding sites, which suggests that binding occurs by a surface adsorption mechanism that leads to coating of the protein surface, which promotes aggregation and precipitation of the PGG-protein complex. This model was confirmed by turbidimetry analysis of the PGG-BSA interaction. Analysis of tryptophan fluorescence quenching during the interaction of PGG with BSA suggests that binding of PGG leads to some conformational changes that are energetically closer to the unfolded state of the BSA structure, because small red shifts in the resulting emission spectra were observed.

Unpaid work and conformity: why care?

We study the supply of unpaid eldercare (in particular caring for parents) in the UK, focusing on both the division of care and caring tasks by gender and the effect of conformity to social norms in relation to caring. We then investigate the effect of the amount of care on the well-being of caregivers and whether agreeing with the care norm enhances their well-being. Our results suggest that the eldercare reform neglects important aspects underlying the distribution of care hours and care tasks between caregivers and may potentially worsen intrahousehold inequality in earnings and well-being, in particular, between men and women.

Vertical ion flow in the polar ionosphere

Outflowing ions from the polar ionosphere fall into two categories: the classical polar wind and the suprathermal ion flows. The flows in both these categories vary a great deal with altitude. The classical polar wind is supersonic at high altitude: at ∼3 RE geocentric, the observed polar wind is H+ dominated and has a Mach number of 2.5–5.1. At 400–600 km, thermal and suprathermal upward O+ ion fluxes frequently occur at the poleward edge of the nightside auroral oval during magnetically active times. Above 500 km, ions are accelerated transverse to the local geomagnetic field. At 1400 km, transversely accelerated ions are frequently observed in winter nights but rarely appear in the summer. In the dayside cleft above ∼2000 km, ions of all species are transversely heated and upwell with significant number and heat fluxes, forming a cleft ion fountain as they convect across the polar cap. Upwelling ions are observed most (least) frequently in the summer (winter). At yet higher altitudes, energetic (>10 eV to several kiloelectron volts) upflowing H+ and O+ ions are frequently observed, their active time occurrence frequency being as high as 0.7 at auroral latitudes and 0.3 in the polar cap. Their composition, intensity, and angular characteristics vary quantitatively with solar activity, being O+ dominant and more intense near solar maximum. Their resulting ion outflow is dominated by ions below 1 keV and reaches 3.5×10^26 O+ and 7×10^25 H+ ions s^{−1} at magnetically active times (Kp≥5) near solar maximum. In comparison, the estimated polar wind ion outflow at times of moderate solar activity is 7×10^25H+ and 4×10^24 He+ ions s^{−1}. The estimated <10-eV cleft ion fountain flow is 3.8×10^25 O+ and 8.6×10^23 H+ ions s^{−1} near solar maximum.

Observing interactions between children and adolescents and their parents: the effects of anxiety disorder and age

Parental behaviors, most notably overcontrol, lack of warmth and expressed anxiety, have been implicated in models of the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders in children and young people. Theories of normative development have proposed that different parental responses are required to support emotional development in childhood and adolescence, yet age has not typically been taken into account in studies of parenting and anxiety disorders. In order to identify whether associations between anxiety disorder status and parenting differ in children and adolescents, we compared observed behaviors of parents of children (7–10 years) and adolescents (13–16 years) with and without anxiety disorders (n=120), while they undertook a series of mildly anxiety-provoking tasks. Parents of adolescents showed significantly lower levels of expressed anxiety, intrusiveness and warm engagement than parents of children. Furthermore, offspring age moderated the association between anxiety disorder status and parenting behaviors. Specifically, parents of adolescents with anxiety disorders showed higher intrusiveness and lower warm engagement than parents of non-anxious adolescents. A similar relationship between these parenting behaviors and anxiety disorder status was not observed among parents of children. The findings suggest that theoretical accounts of the role of parental behaviors in anxiety disorders in children and adolescents should distinguish between these different developmental periods. Further experimental research to establish causality, however, would be required before committing additional resources to targeting parenting factors within treatment.

Do arbuscular mycorrhizas or heterotrophic soil microbes contribute toward plant acquisition of a pulse of mineral phosphate?

Aims: We investigated the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and heterotrophic soil microbes in the uptake of phosphorus (P) by Trifolium subterraneum from a pulse. Methods: Plants were grown in sterilised pasture field soil with a realistic level of available P. There were five treatments, two of which involved AMF: 1) unsterilised field soil containing a community of AMF and heterotrophic organisms; 2) Scutellospora calospora inoculum (AMF); 3) microbes added as filtrate from the field soil; 4) microbes added as filtrate from the S. calospora inoculum; 5) no additions, i.e. sterilised field soil. After 11 weeks, plants were harvested: 1 day before (day 0), 1 day after (day 2) and 7 days after (day 8) the pulse of P (10 mg kg−1). Results: There was no difference among treatments in shoot and root dry weight, which increased from day 0 to day 8. At day 0, shoots and roots of plants in the colonised treatments had higher P and lower Mn concentrations. After the pulse, the rate of increase in P concentration in the shoots was slower for the colonised plants, and the root Mn concentration declined by up to 50 % by day 2. Conclusions: Plants colonised by AMF had a lower rate of increase in shoot P concentration after a pulse, perhaps because intraradical hyphae accumulated P and thus reduced its transport to the shoots.