Índice de Bienestar Socio-Económico (IBSE) para el Área Metropolitana de San Salvador. Propuesta Metodológica y su Aplicación

El objetivo principal de la presente investigación es elaborar un Índice de Bienestar Socio-Económico para el Área Metropolitana de San Salvador y para los municipios que lo integran, a partir de una metodología multidimensional que refleje íntegramente las condiciones socio-económicas de la población en estudio; sustentado en la base de la identificación de variables representativas, la construcción de indicadores fidedignos de las dimensiones económica y social, así como la aplicación metodológica en el área citada. La población en estudio está constituida por 14 municipios que representan el Área Metropolitana de San Salvador, se localiza en la zona central del país, se extiende en una superficie que cubre 589.91 Km², equivalentes al 3% del territorio nacional. En términos de población al 2014, concentra 1,760,057 habitantes, (es el 27.50% del total de habitantes a nivel nacional), posee una densidad de 2,984 Hab/Km² y un área urbana de 175.28 Km². El tipo de investigación de la presente se constituye básicamente a partir del análisis descriptivo de las condiciones económicas y sociales de las familias que residen en el área estudiada; aplicada en la medida que busca la recopilación de información para su interpretación; sincrónica, al estudiarse un periodo de tiempo corto, cuyos resultados no pueden generalizarle para otros años fuera del periodo de estudio; y cuantitativa al hacer uso de las herramientas de la matemática y la estadística. Se intenta buscar respuesta a las interrogantes de ¿Cómo elaborar una metodología de un índice que permita cuantificar el bienestar socio-económico adecuado a la realidad salvadoreña para la formulación y ejecución de políticas económicas y proyectos sociales para el desarrollo de la población de las localidades? Asimismo, ¿Cuál es el grado de bienestar de la población que vive en el Área Metropolitana de San Salvador en base al Índice de Bienestar Socio-Económico elaborado en esta investigación? .Temporalmente, el periodo de estudio de la investigación es de seis años, desde el año 2009 hasta el año 2014 y la fuente principal de la información es la Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples elaborada anualmente por la Dirección General de Estadísticas y Censos. Particularmente, la propuesta metodológica que se presenta en este estudio constituye una herramienta distinta y fiable ya que se intentan adaptar las características de la población a partir de una lección específica de las variables e indicadores adaptadas a la realidad del área investigada. A diferencia de las propuestas metodológicas que se utilizan de diferentes organismos multinacionales, donde las metodologías se vuelven rígidas y en dependencia de la disponibilidad y confiabilidad de información local y nacional de las regiones, volviéndose en el principal problema de estudio para investigaciones en las que se intenta describir y comparar los niveles de desarrollo y bienestar de las regiones. En términos generales, la presente investigación busca convertirse en un recurso metodológico que se pueda emular en otras regiones de El Salvador y fuera del país; acoplando las particularidades de la población a estudiarse y representando una herramienta de análisis y base de políticas locales y nacionales para el mejoramiento del bienestar socioeconómico de la población.

Multipurpose identity-based signcryption : a Swiss army knife for identity-based cryptography

Identity-Based (IB) cryptography is a rapidly emerging approach to public-key cryptography that does not require principals to pre-compute key pairs and obtain certificates for their public keys— instead, public keys can be arbitrary identifiers such as email addresses, while private keys are derived at any time by a trusted private key generator upon request by the designated principals. Despite the flurry of recent results on IB encryption and signature, some questions regarding the security and efficiency of practicing IB encryption (IBE) and signature (IBS) as a joint IB signature/encryption (IBSE) scheme with a common set of parameters and keys, remain unanswered. We first propose a stringent security model for IBSE schemes. We require the usual strong security properties of: (for confidentiality) indistinguishability against adaptive chosen-ciphertext attacks, and (for nonrepudiation) existential unforgeability against chosen-message insider attacks. In addition, to ensure as strong as possible ciphertext armoring, we also ask (for anonymity) that authorship not be transmitted in the clear, and (for unlinkability) that it remain unverifiable by anyone except (for authentication) by the legitimate recipient alone. We then present an efficient IBSE construction, based on bilinear pairings, that satisfies all these security requirements, and yet is as compact as pairing-based IBE and IBS in isolation. Our scheme is secure, compact, fast and practical, offers detachable signatures, and supports multirecipient encryption with signature sharing for maximum scalability.

Competence in research planning in the fourth level of Spanish Secondary Education: a case study

In the last years, “Inquiry-Based Science Education” methodologies (IBSE) are being recommended by European institutions in order to improve the competence levels and the attitudes towards science of primary and secondary school students. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of an IBSE methodology, the Methodology of Problem Solving as an Investigation (MPSI), for the teaching-learning process of planning of experiments in the fourth level of Spanish Secondary Education. By means of the students’ solutions for a series of open problems, the progress in the learning of the competences related to the planning of experiments has been analyzed, along with the influence of the methodology on the development of these competencies. The results show a students’ command from higher to lower levels on: emission of hypothesis, design of the experiment, qualitative analysis, identification of variables and reformulation of the open problem. Furthermore, the Methodology has contributed to an improvement of the scientific competence in the area of planning experiments.

Early detection and intervention for infants at risk of autism spectrum disorders

Autism is a developmental disorder that is characterized by abnonnal social interactions and communications as well as repetitive and restricted activities and interests. There is evidence of a genetic component, as 5% of younger siblings are diagnosed if their older sibling has been diagnosed. Autism is generally not diagnosed until age 3 at the earliest, yet it has been shown that early intervention for children with autism can greatly increase their functioning. Because of this, it is important that symptoms of autism are identified as early as possible so that diagnosis can occur as soon as possible to allow these children the earliest intervention. This thesis was divided into two parts. The first looked at the psychometrics of two proposed measures, the Parent Observation Checklist (POC), administered monthly, and the Infant Behavior Summary Evaluation (mSE), administered bimonthly, to see if they can be used with the infant population to identify autistic symptoms in infants who are at high risk for autism or related problems because they have an older sibling with autism. Study 1 reported acceptable psychometric properties of both the POC and IBSE in terms of test-retest reliability, internal consistency, construct validity and predictive validity. These results provide preliminary evidence that parent report measures can help to detect early symptoms of ASD in infants. The POC was shown to differentiate infants who were diagnosed from a matched group that was not diagnosed by 3 years of age. The second part of this thesis involved a telephone interview of parents who reported developmental and/or behavior problems in their high-risk infants that may be early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). During the interview, a service questionnaire was administered to see what interventions (including strategies recommended by the researchers) their at risk infants and affected older siblings were receiving, how satisfied the parents were with them and how effective they felt the interventions were. 3 Study 2 also yielded promising results. Parents utilized a variety of services for at risk infants and children with ASD. The interventions included empirically validated early intervention (e.g., ABA) to non-empirically validated treatments (e.g., diet therapy). The large number of nonempirically validated treatments parents used was surprising, yet parents reported being involved and satisfied, and thought that the services were effective. Parents' perceptions of their stress levels went down slightly and feelings of competence rose when they accessed services for their infants. Overall, the results of this thesis provide new evidence that parent-report methods hold promise as early detection instruments for ASD in at-risk infants. More research is needed to further validate these instruments as well as to understand the variables related to the parents' choice of early intervention for their at risk and affected children.

Addressing rural social exclusion through African social purpose ventures

Objectives. The overarching aim of this paper is to consider the relationship between social entrepreneurship and rural development, and as a mechanism to address social exclusion in the Global South, with specific reference to Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing upon a number of case examples of social purpose ventures in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia the objectives of this paper are: - To provide a synthesis of existing literature on the interaction between social purpose ventures and rural BoP communities in the developing world; - To explore extant social exclusion literature including economic, political and international development dimensions; and - To analyse the case study examples to consider the channels through which social purpose ventures contribute to tackling social exclusion amongst the rural BoP. Prior Work. There is growing interest in the role that social enterprises and wider social purpose ventures can play in sustainable development in the Global South. In many developing countries the majority of the population still reside in rural areas with these areas often particularly marginalised and underdeveloped. Previous studies have provided anecdotal examples where social purpose ventures have the potential to provide innovative solutions to the development challenges faced by rural households and communities. Yet research in this area remains relatively nascent and fragmented. In depth empirical studies examining social purpose ventures and rural development in the Global South are furthermore limited. Approach. Data was collected during in-depth case study research with social purpose ventures in Zambia, Kenya and Mozambique. Cases were selected through a purposive sample with access negotiated to rural BoP communities through gatekeeper partners. Qualitative research methods were primarily employed including interviews, stakeholder focus groups and observational research. Results Six channels through which social purpose ventures contribute to tackling social exclusion amongst rural BoP communities are identified. These include ventures with the BoP as employees, producers, consumers, entrepreneurs, service users and shareholders. A number of shared characteristics for successful social purpose ventures are also outlined. Finally implications for policy, practice and research are discussed. Implications. Despite the increasing attention being given to social purpose ventures as a mechanism for global sustainable development many questions remain unanswered. Limited empirical work has been undertaken on such ventures operating in rural settings in the developing world, particularly Africa. The paper will add to academic and practitioner knowledge in this area especially in relation to up-scaling impact, the long term sustainability and viability of social purpose enterprise ventures, and effective supporting interventions. This paper adds to knowledge in the field of social purpose venturing in the developing world. It identifies various channels through which such ventures help tackle rural social exclusion and also factors influencing their success. The paper provides insights for practitioners and policy makers, particularly in relation to facilitating successful social purpose venturing. Value This paper will provide insights relevant to both academic and practitioner audiences. It addresses a subject area and geographical region that has received limited research attention to date. The paper adds to knowledge on social purpose ventures and social entrepreneurship in Africa and wider developing world environments, and contributes to debates on its potential and present limitations as a vehicle for development and societal transformation

Resources to introduce Inquire Based Scientic Education in Secondary and High School

The global Hands-on Universe association is producing and distributing free resources world- wide to implement Inquire Based Scienti?c Education (IBSE) at secondary and high school levels. The materials are inspired in astronomical research and space exploration. The association is implementing the Galileo Teacher Training Program world-wide. In this contribution, a summary on the most recent resources being implemented by HOU-Espa~na and developed with Spanish participation is presented.

Investigação e Inovação Responsáveis em contexto educativo: perceções de alunos e professores quanto às potencialidades e limitações das atividades propostas no âmbito do Projeto IRRESISTIBLE

O Projeto IRRESISTIBLE surge com o intuito de envolver professores, alunos e o público no processo de Investigação e Inovação Responsáveis. O projeto visa o desenvolvimento, em sala de aula, de módulos sobre temas científicos relevantes, desenhados segundo a abordagem Inquiry Based Science Education. Tendo como finalidade conhecer as perceções de alunos e professores quanto às potencialidades e limitações das atividades sobre tópicos científicos segundo uma perspetiva de Inovação e Investigação Responsáveis em contexto sala de aula, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas aos alunos e professores envolvidos na implementação dos módulos desenvolvidos pelo parceiro português, cujas transcrições se submeteram a análise de conteúdo. Recorreu-se ainda a um questionário do tipo Likert para medir as atitudes dos alunos acerca da investigação e inovação na sociedade atual.

Atividades de investigação mediadas pelas TICE : estudo das conceções, interações e discussões desenvolvidas por crianças e jovens dentro de um contexto de ensino de ciências ativo e colaborativo

A temática de discussão neste trabalho é o Ensino de Ciências através da Investigação (ENCI) [inquiry-based science education (IBSE)] que utilisa das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) para o ensino de Ciências (TICEC). Deste modo, esta pesquisa tem o objetivo de identificar as conceções sobre a Natureza da Ciência e Tecnologia, além de compreender as interações, relações e discussões de crianças e jovens ao realizarem atividades de investigação através das TIC, dentro de um contexto de ensino de Ciências ativo e colaborativo. Organizamos esta investigação em três partes com diferentes estudos para alcançar este objetivo. A primeira parte apresenta estudos, a partir de uma revisão sistemática, de como se ensina e aprende Ciências utilizando as TICEC. Realizamos ainda uma revisão sobre o papel da argumentação no ensino de Ciências e elaboramos um instrumento para analizar a argumentação dos participantes numa atividade investigativa baseada em TICs. A segunda parte deste trabalho caracteriza a metodologia utilizada e os elementos da investigação: aspetos metodológicos (pesquisa qualitativa e estudo de caso), cenário (espaço não-formal de ensino de ciências ativo e colaborativo), sujeitos (crianças e jovens provenientes de um meio económico vulnerável), instrumentos de coleta de dados (questionário, filmagem de entrevistas, focus group e observações) e análise de dados (sistema de categorias). Também é apresentada a elaboração de uma atividade de investigação de ensino de Ciências (AIEC) mediada por recursos digitais, denominada de Módulo Temático Virtual (MTV). A terceira parte caracteriza-se pela apresentação dos resultados. No primeiro momento identificamos as conceções dos participantes sobre a Natureza da Ciência (Nature of Science – NOS), Natureza da Tecnologia (Nature of Technology - NOT) e o papel dos cientistas na sociedade. O último estudo vem caracterizar as interações, relações e discussões desenvolvidas pelos participantes quando realizam AIEC através das TICEC. Verificamos que dentro de um contexto ativo de ensino de Ciências e mediado pelas TIC, os participantes tendem a manifestar quatro aspetos ou domínios: social, técnico, afetivo e cognitivo. Os quatros domínios referidos caracterizam os processos que surgem durante o desenvolvimento de atividades científicas num cenário específico complementar à educação tradicional e são indicadores de como planear e analisar o ensino de Ciências quando se utiliza recurso digitais.