Using Creative methodologies to help adult students understand equality issues: findings from the Literacy & Equality in Irish Society Project.(LEIS)

Literacy perspectives often reflect the ideological perspectives of their creators as well as social, cultural , political and economic environment of the time.This article examines ways in which adult tutors can use non- text creative methods in their teaching. to help learners understand equality issues.

Consulting pupils in Assessment for Learning classrooms: the twists and turns of working with students as co-researchers

This is an invited paper to a special issue on pupil voice focusing on methodological issues arising from the ESRC/TLRP project on consulting pupils about assessment practices in their classrooms. The issue of consulting pupils about assessment has rarely been researched before but what this article illustrates are some of the difficulties, tensions and positive outcomes of engaging with students as researchers within a nationally funded (and therefore externally driven), university-based project. This study adds considerably to the body of knowledge in this area by engaging students in the process as researchers in different capacities within the project. Issues discussed include the use of student advisory groups, ethical negotiation, students undertaking videotaped classroom observations and their subsequent role in co-interpreting video excerpts and visual images. The paper has attracted considerable interest already through the ESRC pupil seminar series forum and also from a prior paper presentation to the European Educational Research Association in September 2006 in Switzerland to the Childrens' Rights SIG becasue of researchers' current interests in embedding democratic principles and practices within research with children and young people.

Use and access to ICT in students of public secondary schools in Chihuahua City, Mexico: inclusion in teaching and digital literacy

This paper addresses the issue of the digital divide in students of public secondary schools at Chihuahua City, Mexico. It seeks to identify potential inequality of opportunities with regards to subjects’ access to information, knowledge and education through the ICT (internet, mobile telephony, broadband and television). The study takes three schools as investigative stage, using the survey as a data collection instrument, identifying patterns of behavior regarding: general knowledge of them, access to computer equipment and internet, and characterization of their use. Other aspects of analysis are the identification of the educational level of parents and access to technology resources available for academic and non-academic purposes in various application areas (home, school and social environment). The proposal concludes, that it is through the recollection of alternatives suggested by the teachers themselves to incorporate ICT for teaching purposes in a systematic and planned fashion, whose greatest reflection manifests in better digital literacy indicators.

University students with disabilities in Universities. A study of their inclusion

Access to higher education has increased among students with disabilities, and universities are adopting different alternatives which must be assessed. The purpose of this study was to identify the situation of a sample of students with disabilities (n=91) who attend a university in Spain, through the design and validation of the “CUNIDIS-d” scale, with satisfactory psychometric properties. The results show the importance of making reasoned curriculum adaptations, adapting teacher training, improving accessibility and involving all the university community. Different proposals were provided which support the social dimension of the EHEA.

Students perceptions about attention to diversity in Secondary Education Teachers Initial Training

This work aims to analyze the perceptions of students enrolled in the Master's Degree in Secondary Education Teaching, Training and Language Teaching at the University of Jaen, about the initial training received on attention to diversity. A descriptive methodology has been followed using an ad hoc questionnaire as data collection instrument. The results show favorable attitudes of future secondary teachers for diversity, having received an adequate training in curricular and organizational aspects, making it able to fully achieve inclusion of students with special educational needs in the classroom.

Conscientiousness and laboriousness as academic achievement predictors in a Spanish students sample

To understand academic performance of students, the variable of conscientiousness from personality inventory Big Five, has been recognized as an important key. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship established between the personality factor conscientiousness itself and two of its facets, laboriousness and planning, with academic performance, and observe if there are genre differences in consciousness personality factor. A total of 456 Spanish students of high school and college participated in the study. They were requested to answer a personality report and a self inform questionnaire. The results show that both conscientiousness as a personality dimension and the consideration of laboriousness facet are able to predict academic performance, especially with regard to student’s exam marks, classroom attendance and dedication to study. The genre variable pointed out that feminine genre is more conscious than male in that personality factor. From a practical perspective, these results indicate that the establishment of a routine of continuous work is suitable for improving student grades and their adaptation to the educational environment.

Predictors of attitudes toward inclusion of students with special educational needs in future education professionals

One of the main pillars in the development of inclusive schools is the initial teacher training. Before determining if it is necessary to make changes (and of what type) in training programs or curriculum guides related to the attention to diversity and inclusive education, the attitudes of future education professionals in this area should be analyzed. This includes the identification of the relevant predictors of inclusive attitudes. The research reported in this article pursued this objective, doing so with a quantitative survey methodology based on the use of cross-sectional structured data collection and statistical analyses related to the quality of the attitude questionnaire (factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha), descriptive statistics, correlations, hypothesis tests for difference of means, and regression analysis in order to predict attitudes towards inclusion in education. Firstly, the results show that the participants held very positive attitudes toward the inclusion of students with special educational needs. Particularly, older respondents, those with a longer training and, to a lesser extent, women and those who had been in touch with disabled people stood out within this attitude. Secondly, it is evidenced that self-transcendence values ​and, more weakly, contact, function as robust predictors of attitudes of future practitioners towards the inclusion of students with special needs. Some applications for the initial professionalization of educators are suggested in the discussion.

Analysis of the reading and comprehension control in scientific texts in high school students

Students' learning process can be negatively affected when their reading and comprehension control is not appropriated. This research focuses on the analysis of how a group of students from high school evaluate their reading comprehension in manipulated scientific texts. An analysis tool was designed to determine the students' degree of comprehension control when reading a scientific short text with an added contradiction. The results have revealed that the students from 1st and 3rd ESO do not properly self-evaluated their reading comprehension. A different behavior has been observed in 1st Bachillerato, where appropriate evaluation and regulation seem to be more frequent. Moreover, no significant differences have been found regarding the type of text, year or gender. Finally, as identified by previous research, the correlations between the students' comprehension control and their school marks have shown to have a weak relationship and inversely proportional to the students' age.

Teachers’ perception of visual deficiencies and their impact on students

The sense of vision is people’s main source of information acquisition, hence the importance of a right diagnosis and correction, if necessary, of any faults for proper learning, especially in the early years of schooling. This article discusses the results of a survey of teachers in Andalusian schools that aimed at highlighting their knowledge of their students’ possible visual deficiencies, and its possible impact on school performance. The results indicate that such knowledge is generally limited to the type of refractive anomalies, and that they think that such anomalies are well treated in their students. Despite the importance they attach to these deficiencies on school learning, they think that other factors may have a greater role. They also consider that better training on this topic is necessary.

Social Networks Usage Profile: Descriptive study with students in the University of Murcia

Telematic tools are very important for our lives in the present era and moreover this idea is made more evident if we analyse young people behaviours. However, it seems that the possibilities that these tools allow subjects from a professional point of view, beyond the purely playful aspects, are still not fully exploited both by subjects, neither by educational institutions where they learn. Our work studies the uses of social media in the context of university students. In order to this we have designed a research based on quantitative methodology with a survey. We have applied a questionnaire to students in the University of Murcia. The questionnaire was answered by 487 students in the first half of 2014. The survey results confirm our hypothesis that social networks are part of the basic and habitual tools of communication between the youth of our university and eminently used for leisure purposes, and that the tools used for more academic activities are those allowing greater control of privacy.

Students with disabilities in a Chilean university

The purpose of this article is to give a report about a research related with the conditions of inclusion of students with disability in a Chilean university. This research is a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study. To collect the data required, a survey was developed, which was applied to 38 students with disability. The main results reveal a high retention rate of students, who exhibit a positive perception of their inclusion in their university life and also a high level of satisfaction with most of the services provided. Seven out of ten students surveyed recognize having received some sort of education care from their programs to pursue their studies. However, there still exists a lack of connection between the current initiatives developed at the university to support the enrollment and permanence of students. Added to this fact, there is a lack of protocols and training for teachers and staff. In this study it is proposed that the university must establish a management system that defines objectives, strategies and actions that contribute to improve inclusion of people with disabilities.

Are they adicctied to college students social networks?

The development of the Internet and in particular of social networks has supposedly given a new view to the different aspects that surround human behavior. It includes those associated with addictions, but specifically the ones that have to do with technologies. Following a correlational descriptive design we present the results of a study, which involved university students from Social and Legal Sciences as participants, about their addiction to the Internet and in particular to social networks. The sample was conformed of 373 participants from the cities of Granada, Sevilla, Málaga, and Córdoba. To gather the data a questionnaire that was design by Young was translated to Spanish. The main research objective was to determine if university students could be considered social network addicts. The most prominent result was that the participants don’t consider themselves to be addicted to the Internet or to social networks; in particular women reflected a major distance from the social networks. It’s important to know that the results differ from those found in the literature review, which opens the question, are the participants in a phase of denial towards the addiction?