Matching Software and Context in Open Learning Scenarios

We describe the use of log file analysis to investigate whether the use of CSCL applications corresponds to its didactical purposes. Exemplarily we examine the use of the web-based system CommSy as software support for project-oriented university courses. We present two findings: (1) We suggest measures to shape the context of CSCL applications and support their initial and continuous use. (2) We show how log files can be used to analyze how, when and by whom a CSCL system is used and thus help to validate further empirical findings. However, log file analyses can only be interpreted reasonably when additional data concerning the context of use is available.

Specific skills assessment learned by students of building engineering and technical architecture in topics relating to durability and control of concrete structures

In many university courses such as Building Engineering or Technical Architectural, the high density of the contents included in the curriculum, make the student, after graduation, unable to develop the skills already acquired and evaluated in the disciplines of the first courses. From the Group of Educational Innovation at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) "Teaching of Structural Concrete" (GIEHE) we have conducted a study in which are valued specific skills acquired by students after the first courses of career. We have worked with students from UPM fourth-year career and with Technical Architecture students who have completed their studies and also have completed the Adaptation Course of Technical Architecture to the Building Engineer. The work is part of the Educational Innovation Project funded by the UPM "Integration of training and assessment of generic and specific skills in structural concrete" We have evaluated specific skills learned in the areas of durability and control of structural concrete structures. The results show that overall, students are not able to fully develop the skills already acquired earlier, even being these essential to their professional development. Possibly, the large amount of content taught in these degrees together with a teaching and assessment of "flat profile", ie, which are presented and evaluated with the same intensity as the fundamental and the accessory, are causes enough to cause these results.

College of Engineering.

Cover title.

Gender and subject in higher education

This thesis is concerned with the issue of gender inequality in higher education. It examines the relationship between gender and subject specialisation, looking in particular at the reasons for the predominance, at undergraduate level, of men in the physical sciences, and of women in the humanities. It investigates ideas of `masculinity' and `femininity' and how these relate to constructions of `science' and `arts'. The thesis argues that students choose which subject to study on the basis of certain qualities these subjects are seen to hold, and that these qualities have close connections with beliefs about `masculinity' and `femininity'. It examines this through an interview study of male and female students on six higher education courses: two university courses of physics, two university courses of English, a polytechnic course in communications and a polytechnic course in physical science. The interview study demonstrates that the science subjects are perceived by science students as more certain, more useful and more important than the humanities, and emphasise the value of their degree in gaining a well-paid and important job. Female science students, however, experience conflict between being `a good scientist' and being `feminine'. English and communications students emphasise the breadth, uncertainty and individuality of their subjects, and find science restrictive and narrow. They make little link between their degree and their future career. Men, however, feel no conflict between their identity as men and their chosen subject. It is argued that there is a close link between the construction of masculinity and the construction of physical science, but that English and communications are more ambivalent: in some senses `masculine', in some `feminine'. Men are advantaged in these subjects because of their greater visibility and assertiveness. The thesis concludes that the division between `science' and `arts' reinforces ideas of masculinity and femininity, and argues that female `failure' in education is in part the result of higher education's inability to transcend that division.

Nonlinear Waves: An Introduction

This book deals with equations of mathematical physics as the different modifications of the KdV equation, the Camassa-Holm type equations, several modifications of Burger's equation, the Hunter-Saxton equation, conservation laws equations and others. The equations originate from physics but are proposed here for their investigation via purely mathematical methods in the frames of university courses. More precisely, we propose classification theorems for the traveling wave solutions for a sufficiently large class of third order nonlinear PDE when the corresponding profiles develop different kind of singularities (cusps, peaks), existence and uniqueness results, etc. The orbital stability of the periodic solutions of traveling type for mKdV equations are also studied. Of great interest too is the interaction of peakon type solutions of the Camassa-Holm equation and the solvability of the classical and generalized Cauchy problem for the Hunter-Saxton equation. The Riemann problem for special systems of conservation laws and the corresponding -shocks are also considered. As it concerns numerical methods we apply the CNN approach. The book is addressed to a broader audience including graduate students, Ph.D. students, mathematicians, physicist, engineers and specialists in the domain of PDE.

Using bottles to study shade responses of seedlings and other plants

We briefly review the nature of light and its effects on plants, and then describe an inexpensive experimental system for studying the effects of shade, specifically the contributions of reduced intensity ("quantity") and the altered spectral distribution of foliage shade ("quantity") on the development of seedlings and other plants. This system has been devised to be safe to construct, inexpensive in its use of readily available materials, and appropriate for a range of student grade levels, from ~grade six to university courses in botany. We conclude by suggesting a range of experiments this system will allow. An advantage of this system is that it promotes the study of the responses of a large range of plants, most completely unstudied for these responses.

Análisis de una política universitaria : El caso del ProProE en la FCNyM de la UNLP

Este trabajo apunta al análisis del programa denominado ProProE (Programa de Promoción de Egreso de las Carreras de Grado), como política pública, implementado en la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata con el objetivo de acompañar hasta la graduación a los alumnos avanzados que han tenido demoras o detenimientos hacia la finalización de sus trayectorias. Se exponen los antecedentes existentes en la UNLP, las características del programa, con sus diferentes etapas, y evaluación final, el material considerado de interés para su investigación, y se desarrolla el marco teórico metodológico con el que se abordó la investigación. El estudio de las políticas universitarias como herramientas que apuntan al progreso y egreso de todos los estudiantes, sus aplicaciones y los resultados de las mismas es fundamental para comprender de qué modo las autoridades universitarias enfrentan fenómenos como el de la heterogeneización y masificación matricular. Se describe la experiencia desarrollada en la FCNyM, considerando los diferentes desempeños y vivencias vinculados a los gestores del programa, los alumnos incorporados, y los docentes que trabajaron en el mismo. Respecto a sus resultados se exponen los progresos y el objetivo futuro de rediseño y aplicación del programa considerando lo relevado en la primera experiencia de aplicación

Análisis de una política universitaria : El caso del ProProE en la FCNyM de la UNLP

Este trabajo apunta al análisis del programa denominado ProProE (Programa de Promoción de Egreso de las Carreras de Grado), como política pública, implementado en la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata con el objetivo de acompañar hasta la graduación a los alumnos avanzados que han tenido demoras o detenimientos hacia la finalización de sus trayectorias. Se exponen los antecedentes existentes en la UNLP, las características del programa, con sus diferentes etapas, y evaluación final, el material considerado de interés para su investigación, y se desarrolla el marco teórico metodológico con el que se abordó la investigación. El estudio de las políticas universitarias como herramientas que apuntan al progreso y egreso de todos los estudiantes, sus aplicaciones y los resultados de las mismas es fundamental para comprender de qué modo las autoridades universitarias enfrentan fenómenos como el de la heterogeneización y masificación matricular. Se describe la experiencia desarrollada en la FCNyM, considerando los diferentes desempeños y vivencias vinculados a los gestores del programa, los alumnos incorporados, y los docentes que trabajaron en el mismo. Respecto a sus resultados se exponen los progresos y el objetivo futuro de rediseño y aplicación del programa considerando lo relevado en la primera experiencia de aplicación

Análisis de una política universitaria : El caso del ProProE en la FCNyM de la UNLP

Este trabajo apunta al análisis del programa denominado ProProE (Programa de Promoción de Egreso de las Carreras de Grado), como política pública, implementado en la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata con el objetivo de acompañar hasta la graduación a los alumnos avanzados que han tenido demoras o detenimientos hacia la finalización de sus trayectorias. Se exponen los antecedentes existentes en la UNLP, las características del programa, con sus diferentes etapas, y evaluación final, el material considerado de interés para su investigación, y se desarrolla el marco teórico metodológico con el que se abordó la investigación. El estudio de las políticas universitarias como herramientas que apuntan al progreso y egreso de todos los estudiantes, sus aplicaciones y los resultados de las mismas es fundamental para comprender de qué modo las autoridades universitarias enfrentan fenómenos como el de la heterogeneización y masificación matricular. Se describe la experiencia desarrollada en la FCNyM, considerando los diferentes desempeños y vivencias vinculados a los gestores del programa, los alumnos incorporados, y los docentes que trabajaron en el mismo. Respecto a sus resultados se exponen los progresos y el objetivo futuro de rediseño y aplicación del programa considerando lo relevado en la primera experiencia de aplicación

"It's Equal but It's not Fair": The experiences of Teacher Candidates of Color in a Predominantly White Institution

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Universitäre Lehre im Spannungsfeld globaler Kontexte. Exemplarische Befremdungen beim Lernen über Afrika

Mit diesem Beitrag werden Vorüberlegungen, Lehrerfahrungen und Konsequenzen aus zwei Universitätsseminaren, in denen Bildungsverhältnisse in Afrika thematisiert wurden, vorgestellt. Eines der Seminare ist in der Bachelorphase, eines in der Masterphase des Studiengangs der Bildungs- und Erziehungswissenschaft an der Helmut-Schmidt-Universität, Universität der Bundeswehr angesiedelt. Ein Ergebnis der Betrachtung ist, dass Studierende der Bachelorphase in einem solchen Seminar wenig Anknüpfungspunkte finden und zur Verstetigung vorausgehender Vorstellungen neigen. In der Masterphase gelingt es eher, tragfähige Arbeitsergebnisse zu erzielen. (DIPF/Orig.)

Tweeting the lecture : how social media can increase student engagement in higher education

Approximated Poncelet configurations

In this short note we present the approximate construction of closed Poncelet configurations using the simulation of a mathematical pendulum. Although the idea goes back to the work of Jacobi, only the use of modern computer technologies assures the success of the construction. We present also some remarks on using such problems in project based university courses and we present a Matlab program able to produce animated Poncelet configurations with given period. In the same spirit we construct Steiner configurations and we give a few teaching oriented remarks on the Poncelet grid theorem. (DIPF/authors)