Evaluation of online tools as didactic resource in the university education

Recently, many efforts have been made in the academic world to adapt the new degrees to the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA). New technologies have been the most important factor to carry out this adaptation. In particular, the tools 2.0 have been spreading quickly, not just the Web 2.0, but even in all the educational levels. Nevertheless, it is now necessary to evaluate whether all these efforts and all the changes, carried out in order to obtain improved academic performance among students, have provided good results. Therefore, the aim of this paper is focused on studying the impact of the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in a subject belonging to a Master from the University of Alicante in the academic year (2010-2011). In special, it is an elective course called "Advanced Visual Ergonomics" from the Master of Clinical Optometry and Vision. The methodology used to teach this course differs from the traditional one in many respects. For example, one of the resources used for the development of this course is a blog developed specifically to coordinate a series of virtual works, whose purpose is that the student goes into specific aspects of the current topic. Next, the student participates in an active role by writing a personal assessment on the blog. However, in the course planning, there is an attendance to lessons, where the teacher presents certain issues in a more traditional way, that is, with a lecture supported with audiovisual materials, such as materials generated in powerpoint. To evaluate the quality of the results achieved with this methodology, in this work the personal assessment of the students, who have completed this course during this academic year, are collected. In particular, we want to know their opinion about the used resources, as well as the followed methodology. The tool used to collect this information was a questionnaire. This questionnaire evaluates different aspects of the course: a general opinion, quality of the received information, satisfaction about the followed methodology and the student´s critical awareness. The design of this questionnaire is very important to get conclusive information about the methodology followed in the course. The questionnaire has to have an adequate number of questions; whether it has many questions, it might be boring for the student who would pay no enough attention. The questions should be well-written, with a clear structure and message, to avoid confusion and an ambiguity. The questions should be objectives, without any suggestion for a desired answer. In addition, the questionnaire should be interesting to encourage the student´ s interest. In conclusion, this questionnaire developed for this subject provided good information to evaluate whether the methodology was a useful tool to teach "Advanced Visual Ergonomics". Furthermore, the student´s opinion collected by this questionnaire might be very helpful to improve this didactic resource.

Construcción de conocimiento y desarrollo de una mirada profesional para la práctica de enseñar matemáticas en entornos en entornos en línea

Este trabajo sintetiza en tres ámbitos algunos de los resultados de las investigaciones sobre la construcción del conocimiento de la enseñanza de las matemáticas en entornos de aprendizaje multimedia que integran espacios de interacción social en contextos b-learning. Estos ámbitos son (i) el papel de la interacción y la negociación de significados en la construcción del conocimiento; (ii) el proceso de instrumentalización del conocimiento de Didáctica de la Matemática en procesos de formación; y (iii) las características de las estructuras argumentativas en los procesos de aprender a conceptualizar la enseñanza de las matemáticas. Finalmente, se identifican nuevas cuestiones de investigación que emergen desde estas investigaciones.

Is Maths everywhere? Our students respond

Mathematics expresses itself everywhere, in almost every facet of life - in nature all around us, and in the technologies in our hands. Mathematics is the language of science and engineering - describing our understanding of all that we observe. In fact, Galileo said that Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe. Aristotle defined mathematics as "the science of quantity", i.e., “the science of the things that can be counted”. Now you can think that counting has a vital role in our daily life; just imagine that there were no mathematics at all, how would it be possible for us to count days, months and years? Unfortunately, people usually ignore the connection between mathematics and the daily life. Most of university degrees require mathematics. Students who choose not to take seriously mathematics or to ignore it in high school, find several difficulties when they come up against them at the university. This study explores the perceptions of how mathematics influences our daily life among our students and how teachers can use this information in order to improve the academic performance. The used research instrument was a questionnaire that was designed to identify their understanding on learning mathematics.

Innovación en la educación matemática: más allá de la tecnología

La relación entre el desarrollo de la competencia matemática de los estudiantes y la innovación en la enseñanza hace emerger la necesidad de nuevas prácticas matemáticas en el aula. Uno de los aspectos que definen estas nuevas prácticas es la emergencia de nuevos patrones de interacción en el aula que deben caracterizar el discurso matemático. Desde esta perspectiva, la relación entre innovación y desarrollo de nuevas prácticas define ámbitos para el desarrollo profesional del profesor de matemáticas.

Developing pre-service teachers’ noticing of students’ understanding of the derivative concept

This research study examines the development of the ability of pre-service teachers to notice signs of students’ understanding of the derivative concept. It analyses preservice teachers’ interpretations of written solutions to problems involving the derivative concept before and after participating in a teacher training module. The results indicate that the development of this skill is linked to pre-service teachers’ progressive understanding of the mathematical elements that students use to solve problems. We have used these results to make some suggestions for teacher training programmes.

Students’ understanding of the function-derivative relationship when learning economic concepts

The aim of this study is to characterise students’ understanding of the function-derivative relationship when learning economic concepts. To this end, we use a fuzzy metric (Chang 1968) to identify the development of economic concept understanding that is defined by the function-derivative relationship. The results indicate that the understanding of these economic concepts is linked to students’ capacity to perform conversions and treatments between the algebraic and graphic registers of the function-derivative relationship when extracting the economic meaning of concavity/convexity in graphs of functions using the second derivative.

Development of multidisciplinary workshops between different subjects as an innovative teaching methodology for the acquisition of professional skills of the future architect

The implantation of the new Architecture Degree and the important normative changes in the building sector imply the need to use new teaching methodologies that enhance skills and competences in order to response to the increasing requirements demanded by society to the future architect. The aim of this paper is to present, analyze and discuss the development of multidisciplinary workshops as a new teaching methodology used in several Construction subjects of the Architecture Degree in the University of Alicante. Workshops conceived with the aim to synthesize and complement the technical knowledge acquired by the students during the Degree and to enhance the skills and competencies necessary for the professional practice. With that purpose, we decided to experiment on current subjects of the degree during this academic year, by applying the requirements defined in the future Architecture Degree in a practical way, through workshops between different subjects, superposing the technical knowledge with the resolution of constructive problems in the development of an architectural project. Developing these workshops between subjects we can dissolve the traditional boundaries between different areas of the Degree. This multidisciplinary workshop methodology allows the use of all the global knowledge acquired by students during their studies and at the same time, it enhances students’ ability to communicate and discuss their ideas and solutions in public. It also increases their capacity of self-criticism, and it foments their ability to undertake learning strategies and research in an autonomous way. The used methodology is based on the development of a practical work common to several subjects of different knowledge areas within the "Technology Block" of the future Architecture Degree. Thus, students work approaching the problem in a global way discussing simultaneously with teachers from different areas. By using these new workshops we stimulate an interactive class versus a traditional lecture. Work is evaluated continuously, valuing the participative pupil´s attitude, working in groups in class time, reaching weekly objectives and stimulating the individual responsibility and positive interdependence of the pupil inside the working group. The exercises are designed to improve students’ ability to transmit their ideas and solutions in public, knowing how to discuss and defend their technical resolutions to peers and teachers (Peer Reviewing), their capacity for self-criticism and their capacity to undertake strategies and autonomous learning processes at the same time they develop a personal research into new technologies, systems and materials. Students have shown their majority preference for this teaching methodology by the multidisciplinary workshops offered in the last years, with very satisfactory academic results. In conclusion, it can be verified nowadays the viability of the introduction of new contents and new teaching methodologies necessary for the acquisition of the skills in the future Architecture Degree, through workshops between several subjects that have had a great acceptance in students and positive contrasted academic results.

Medical Curriculum Change at Queen's-affiliated Medical Colleges: 1881 – 1910

This study explores the curriculum at Queen’s-affiliated medical colleges, specifically The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Kingston, the Kingston Women’s Medical College, and Queen’s Medical College, from 1881 to 1910, using the textbooks prescribed by these institutions as primary sources. The central question encompasses what factors primarily motivated the curriculum at Queen’s-affiliated medical colleges to change. Within the historiographical scholarship on Queen’s College, this question has not yet been addressed and, to my knowledge, this is the first medical education history to specifically address textbooks as part of a medical school curriculum. During this period, these institutions experienced reorganizational shifts, such as the reunification of Queen’s Medical College with The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Kingston, as well as the introduction and subsequent exclusion of female students. Within this context, this study examines how the forces of scientific innovation and co-education impacted the curriculum during the period under study, as measured by textbook change, specifically in the courses of obstetrics and gynaecology, the theory and practice of medicine, and surgery. To what degree was curriculum in these courses responsive to scientific inventions and discoveries, changing therapeutic practices, and possible gender biases? From 1881 to 1910, innovations such as x-ray and anaesthesia became commonplace within medical practice. Some technologies gained acceptance in the curriculum, while others fell out of favour. This study tracks these scientific discoveries through the textbooks used at Queen’s-affiliated medical colleges in order to demonstrate how the evolving nature of medicine was represented in the curriculum. To address how gender influenced the curriculum, textbooks from the Kingston Women’s Medical College and The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Kingston, were compared. For two out of the three examined courses, it was found that sections of textbooks discussing various topics at the Kingston Women’s Medical College contained significantly more detail than their corresponding sections within The Royal College’s textbooks. It was speculated that the instructors preferred to teach their female students through textbooks, rather than lectures.

Prática de ensino supervisionada em Educação Pré-escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

O presente relatório foi realizado no âmbito da unidade curricular de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, inserida no plano de estudos do curso de Mestrado em Educação Pré- Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, da Escola Superior de Educação do Instituto Politécnico de Bragança. A intervenção em contexto de Educação Pré- Escolar teve a duração de 180 horas, das quais 24 horas foram em contexto Creche. A intervenção em contexto de 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico teve, igualmente, a duração de 180 horas. Na Educação Pré- Escolar, trabalhamos com um grupo de 19 crianças, de 3 e 4 anos de idade, e no 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, com um grupo de 23 crianças que integravam o 3.º ano de escolaridade, com 9 anos de idade. Ambos os contextos pertenciam à rede pública. Para proporcionar um conhecimento mais alargado das instituições e da realidade de cada contexto e grupo de crianças, foi elaborada a caracterização dos dois contextos. Ao longo da prática procurámos desenvolver atividades que respondessem às necessidades e interesses das crianças, de forma a criar momentos de participação ativa, de partilha de saberes e de cooperação no âmbito das Orientações Curriculares para a Educação Pré-escolar, das Metas Curriculares e do Programa do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Tendo em conta que o tema autonomia se revelou uma preocupação no decorrer da nossa Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, surgiu uma questão que nos fez refletir: Como é que o professor estagiário perceciona a construção da autonomia da criança, em contexto educativo? Tentando dar resposta a esta questão definimos três objetivos que orientaram o nosso percurso investigativo: (i) perceber de que forma é que a rotina diária influência na autonomia (ii) perceber a importância da organização do espaço no desenvolvimento da autonomia das crianças nos contextos do Educação Pré-Escolar e do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. e (iii) perceber como as experiências de ensino/aprendizagem ajudam na construção da autonomia; Como instrumentos de recolha de dados recorremos à observação participante, registo de notas de campo e de fotografias (sempre que possível). A metodologia utilizada foi a investigação qualitativa de natureza interpretativa. Este tipo de investigação apresenta os resultados através de narrativas com descrições contextuais e citações dos participantes, e que desta forma transmitem as ações e reações que os mesmos tiveram ao longo da prática em ambos os contextos. Os resultados recolhidos nesta investigação, referem que o estagiário perceciona a construção da autonomia da criança como um percurso longo, gratificante e com evoluções mais significativas na Educação Pré-Escolar.

A expressão e educação dramática : uma área transversal no pré-escolar e no 1º ciclo do ensino básico

Relatório final apresentado para a obtenção do grau de mestre em Educação pré-escolar e 1º ciclo do ensino básico.

Towards moldable development tools

Developers commonly ask detailed and domain-specific questions about the software systems they are developing and maintaining. Integrated development environments (IDEs) form an essential category of tools for developing software that should support software engineering decision making. Unfortunately, rigid and generic IDEs that focus on low-level programming tasks, that promote code rather than data, and that suppress customization, offer limited support for informed decision making during software development. We propose to improve decision making within IDEs by moving from generic to context-aware IDEs through moldable tools. In this paper, we promote the idea of moldable tools, illustrate it with concrete examples, and discuss future research directions.

Bibliographies on nursing; books, pamphlets, articles, audio-visual materials.

A replacement for, rather than an addition to, the bibliographies of the former National Organization for Public Health Nursing, the National League of Nursing Education, 1952, and the National League for Nursing, 1954-55.

Knowledge development activities, fiscal year 1978-1979.

Mode of access: Internet.

On the development of mathematical thought during the nineteenth century

Mode of access: Internet.

United Nations Asia and the Far East Seminar on Training for Community Development and Social work, Lahore, West Pakistan, 9-20 December 1957.

"21 July 1958."