Search

The study of employability aims to analyze the skills developed by students and their relevance for obtaining a job. It is about reducing imbalances between labor supply and demand. Carrying out internships in companies has proven to be an important factor in improving employability, because it improves the capabilities of university graduates. This paper has analyzed the role of internships in improving student skills and, consequently, their role in the employability of graduates. For doing the analysis, a questionnaire has been prepared, based on the four employability dimensions derived from the theoretical analysis, which includes ítems referring to: instrumental and interpersonal skills, as well as those related to motivation and the adequacy of the internships to the student’s university training. The questionnaire has been sent to 580 Business Administration and Management (ADE) students at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEE) at the University of Barcelona (UB). A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was carried out with the results of the survey. The model obtained divided the employability into the four factors previously defined according to the theory: two kind of competences, instrumental competences and interpersonal competences, student’s motivation and the adequacy of the practices. Additionally, the model shows the existence of gender differences related to the motivation of students in carrying out the internships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher training and innovation in the academic field are basic processes for improving the quality of education. This paper presents an innovative didactic experience for students of the Master’s Degree in Teacher Training in Secondary Education and bachelor’s degree, of an online university, in the specialty of mathematics. The educational innovation arises after the detection of difficulties in the assimilation of the contents taught in the subject of Teaching Innovation and Initiation to Educational Research by the participating students. The experience consists of a real simultaneous interaction (online) between the students of the Master’s Degree in Mathematics and the students of bachelor’s degree of a public center of Secondary Education, in Spain, while they receive classes in their center in a face-to-face way. The didactic methodology used in this experience is based on the principles of the Flipped Classroom and, at all times, the material necessary for its understanding and assimilation has been shared with the Master’s students. To analyze this experience, a questionnaire was used to collect information before and after the experience, a satisfaction survey and a focus group. The results indicate that the students of the online Master’s program consider this experience very necessary, since it favors the perception of the environment to which they must adapt and, in addition, the visualization of real cases provides a significant vision that completes and complements the theoretical training received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new student generation, denominated generation Y emerged as a consequence of structural changes in a higher education globalization context as well as the social and technologic development. Some of the generation Y characteristics are: digital natives, the most diverse generation, at once more connected and more isolated, facing the worst economy in recent memory, more immature and dependent, with a pragmatic vision of studies and with useful searching information skills. This paper focused a comprehensive and structural vision of generation Y college students. This vision, multidimensional and multilevel, has been constructed with two types of evidence: the first one it's about some secondary evidence sources (research studies, institutional reports), with special focus on strong methodological issues; the second one is founded on primary evidence from a group of junior faculty of University of Barcelona. The multidimensional vision included such aspects as: social and academic background, transition to higher education, modes and types of studies, and learning styles. The multilevel analysis focuses on students of several countries (especial attention on European students), national Spanish students, and student from some specifics universities. A singular objective of this paper is to have the possibility of contrasting the similitude of the double vision generated from the two typologies of examined evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current University is challenged to design and configure processes of teaching more meaningful and experiential learning, it must continue investing in the development of methodologies and learning experiences that meet the demands of a new culture of learning competence integrated into the European Higher Education Area (EEES). The nocturnal gymkhana "Gymkhaexpress yourself throught sports" presented in this paper, refers to a nonformal educational event performing for several academic courses, with students from various promotions of Bachelor Degree in Physical Education of the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Seville University. Through this teaching proposal, faculties from the Departments of Physical Education and Sport and Theory and History of Education of this University, offers to different groups of students the opportunity to experience the potential and utility of the evenings night of camp in the natural environment, which will have to develop and launch sometime in their careers. This paper presents a number of patterns and reflections, related design, implementation and description of a nocturnal gymkhana developed in the Alamillo Park of Seville, which may well result in personal and professional interest, particularly for current practitioners of Physical Education and the future ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Could be easy to find interesting studies about the influence of some factors (personal, social, institutional, etc.) as facilitators or inhibitors of adequate academic transition from student's perspective. This paper describes the process of academic adjustment to high education college from the perspective of first-year teachers. Underlies also the relationship between faculty motivation and satisfaction and students retention. Collect opinions of first-year teachers could result of particular interest. They can have an important influence on students, being a reference for them. Could be possible to identify some profile of first year teachers, not only in terms of the characteristics of the discipline to be taught, but also the student's profile and the characteristics of the class groups. A statistical survey has been done to all first-year teachers at grades of Administration and Management (ADE) and Education studies, at the University of Barcelona. This survey was done at the end of the 2010-11 academic year, obtaining a rate 45% response. Sample includes "online comments" from faculty members. Statistical techniques as descriptive analysis and regression analysis, based on a principal components analysis, let identify relationships between variables. The study also collected qualitative results of the opinions of higher education teachers to incorporate personal aspects. Factors relating to teaching context are those that have a higher influence in faculty satisfaction. On the other hand, student previous academic preparation has a negative effect on it. Four factors were identified through a dimensional reduction of variables: teaching coordination and operation, teaching conditions, teaching experience and teacher gender. This paper would remark this point and suggest some improving needs for a first year teachers and those who have responsibilities on it. Results show how teachers' motivation and involvement decline slightly throughout the academic year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is twofold: first, it aims at presenting the operation of the Law Degree's final dissertation at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra; and second, it seeks to analyze the experience accumulated over the past two years and to draw some lessons that – specially with regards to its organization and coordination– may prove helpful to other institutions and universities. After a short introduction, the paper sketches the complex normative framework surrounding the course "Degree's final dissertation" at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Following this, the paper describes those constrains and initial considerations that informed its design. This brief analysis provides the necessary context to the following pages, which focus on the several stages the course includes and the main coordination activities attached to them. The paper concludes with a reflection on the main lessons that can be drawn after two years of experience and with some suggestions. Among others, three deserve special attention: first, the need to adopt a flexible, proactive, close, continued and anticipatory style of coordination to ensure the success of the course; second, the convenience to elaborate a course guide as clear and concise as possible; third, the relevance of creating a brief manual that helps professors in their tutorial activities and the ulterior evaluation of papers, particularly in those cases that involve a large number of professors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method used to allow the joint acquisition of generic skills such as teamwork, design creative proposals, select information, oral and written communication to University students from different study programs is presented in this paper. To achieve this goal, first, a project using the methodology of Project Based Learning (PBL) was designed and, second, it was tested carrying out two pilot plans which involved different numbers of students and courses. The students had the challenge of converting an episode of the television show of a famous Spanish cook (Karlos Arguiñano) into a scientific radio program. For this reason, the project was called Arguiñano Project. The radio show had to be filled with a testable scientific content and to do so students had to work collaboratively and share their own knowledge background. The project was reorganized after the evaluation of the first pilot plan and it was developed again in a second pilot project, which involved more students and allowed to compare scores between students that work under PBL and others of the same course and study program that performed a similar task but without following the PBL method. The results show that PBL-based activities have a great potential for the acquisition of generic skills and also improve the achievement of specific skills and a higher degree of satisfaction when compared to a more traditional learning method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological advances and Web applications have allowed extending the use of simulators or business games at university teaching. This is an active methodology to develop student skills that are included in curricula of administration and business management degrees and masters. In this paper, we describe the use of SIMBRAND simulator as a teaching methodology at Master in Marketing and Market Research at the University of Extremadura. The results were positively assessed by the students and teachers involved in the project. The experience also reveals the need of considering some key aspects for the proper use of this tool, such as the planning and definition of the evaluation system, continuous monitoring and guidance from teacher to students and learning that students should have received previously from both the simulator and the teams' management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the results on the perception of the students on formative assessment processes carried out in the university are presented, focusing on understanding the system and monitoring conducted throughout the course in relation to this work students enrolled subjects, first, 1st and 2nd year and, second, 3rd and 4th. The sample used is 3460 students, corresponding to 51 subjects of 17 Spanish universities; in all were conducted formative evaluation processes. The students were divided in 2 groups, one called "initial training" (1764 students) and one called "final course" (1696 students). We used a validated questionnaire on evaluation methodology and initial training, in which different items related to formative assessment specified. It has employed a quantitative analysis, divided into descriptive: frequencies and percentages and inferential: contingency tables and χ2 and ANOVA, using this latter technique based on the positive perception of the assessment based on learning processes items and the number of times the student is enrolled in courses. The findings of this research show: a) formative assessment systems are perceived positively by students; b) the quality of the tasks required increases, recognizing that greater involvement is needed for work and an understanding of the system from the beginning does not build; c) the number of times the student is enrolled in the course not directly affects their perception of this type of process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the students' point of view about the competencies of a good university teacher, obtained from a questionnaire based on the teaching competencies stated and validated according to the REDU2012 Project. 10302 undergraduate students and 1700 master students from 15 universities answered through an online formulary suitable also for mobile devices. The importance that has been given to the 16 characteristics defined in the questionnaire is remarkably high: all of them are qualified either as good or as excellent. That the teacher explains clearly the subject's content is the best-scored characteristic, followed by the motivation encouragement. Both characteristics are highly rated by students, with no regard of their original areas of knowledge, their year or their sex. The lowest rated skills in order to be a good teacher are the encouragement of participation and of collaborative work and the coordination with teachers of other subjects, although their scores exceed also 7.5 (in a scale from 0 to 10). When relating the research results with the teaching competencies we observe that the highest assessment goes to communicative competencies, interpersonal relationship competencies and methodological competencies. Instead, competencies of planning and management of the teaching and teamwork competencies are less rated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The teacher degrees at the Teaching College of Bilbao from Basque Country University UPV/EHU have a four-monthly modular structure. In each module students have to perform an interdisciplinary task that includes all subjects of the module. This paper presents the proposal that a team of six teachers from different fields of knowledge has designed to address the tutoring of that task. The tutoring has been carried out with students that are studying the second module of the Primary Education Grade, which belongs to the first year of the degree. In this module the task consists in working in groups following the PBL methodology (Problem-Based Learning). The objectives were to redesign the initial scenario, design a plan of tutoring for students, and socialize results among other teachers of the module. The initial scenario has been written up taking into account the objectives and the activities of the Modular Interdisciplinary Task (TIM). The tutoring plan, organized in several sessions, includes the objectives to be achieved, tasks to be performed, the methodology -which is based on cooperative learning-, and the assessment. Besides, the results have been shared with other teachers of the module so that the results of this work have effect in the practice of all teachers. Finally, and in order to determine the satisfaction level of students about the changes proposed, a questionnaire has been designed, which has been answered by 61 students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at USC has been a pioneer in the implementation of the undergraduate dissertation in the Spanish university. In this paper we analyze the valuation of the stakeholders (students and supervisors). The study is structured around five key elements of the teaching-learning method: support (supervision, information, training activities); the procedure to assign both the issue and the supervisor; the competences acquired; the dedication and the student assessment procedure. The analysis is supported by data coming from a survey of 115 students and 56 supervisors, in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 in the degrees in Business Administration and Economics. The results show that the undergraduate dissertation is perceived as a subject with an appropriate methodology for achieving the suitable skills and competences. Besides, 82.6% of the students say that the complementary training activities were unnecessary. The assessment criteria are considered suitable (78.6% of teachers and 44.3% of students, although the remaining 55.7% propose changes which are not significant). By contrast, the opinions about the procedure to assign issues and supervisors are widely dispersed. Supervisor plays a crucial role in the transmission of information to the student. We conclude that the undergraduate dissertation is a subject with a suitable methodology to achieve the objectives and competences raised. However, the level of effort required is high, and is scarcely acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the educational actions of success highlighted by the most recent research (Includ-ed Consortium, 2011) is the participation and training of the families of schoolchildren and other members of the community who work in schools. One way to realize such training in Learning Communities is through dialogic gatherings in which they participate together with the teachers of the schools. Although it is relatively common to find publications that inform how the formation of the families it has an impact on the improvement of school learning, not so much find references that realize the benefits that the dialogic gatherings provide another type of volunteering. In this paper we contribute to fill this gap so that its objective is to determine the perceptions of university students contributors in Learning Communities about the impact that they have had their participation in dialogic gatherings. Using a qualitative methodology based on the analysis of the discourse, in this article we present the assessment that the dialogic gatherings make 23 psychology students who have participated in them, as well as the benefits that they say have obtained of such participation. In their contributions, the students highlight many positive aspects (90,36% of the contributions), both referred to the dialogic gatherings as to his participation in them, confirming what he says regarding the scientific literature and the experience of other centres that implement educational practices of success in improving performance and overcoming the problems of coexistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of developing a description of students attending universities today leads us to deal with a problem that supports and demands different perspectives of analysis. We believe that any study on this line will require a definition -or at least one previous explanation- of the parameters that will be addressed to undertake the identification of the distinctive features of this population. In other words, what we want to know about college student?, which data should be collected and what could it being told?, what is the relevance of this knowledge and what kind of actions could it impulse? According to these problems, three main purposes encouraged the development of this paper: first, discriminate analysis lines that can contribute to a better research on college students; secondly, to advance the understanding of the psychological aspects that influence the construction of identity during the years of university education and, finally, identify actions that from universities surroundings, accompany and support the share process of building professional identities. The three sections that comprise the written deals with the three aims before mentioned. Results emphasize the relevance of focusing the research about educational problems according with a work perspective that decidedly implies an engagement with diversities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic and scientific research requirements that university demands, requires students to manage, analyze and integrate information from multiple sources, to build knowledge significantly. Thus, academic reading practices play a key role in the development of learning and discipline knowledge. Current studies in this field have found that the level of reading comprehension is related to the type of strategies involved in the management of written information. Therefore, selfregulated learning strategies from academic texts are essential to enable a more thoughtful and committed approach to reading, contributing to greater learning. The purpose of this paper is to analyze some personal aspects that promote self-regulated learning in academic texts understanding in college students, such as prior knowlegde and academic goals. 364 college students participated (69.5% men and 30.5% women) in their first semester of Engineering, with a mean age of 19.77 (SD=1.20). Through regression analysis it was found that prior knowledge and academic learning goals favor self-regulated learning strategies in understanding academic texts. These findings might guide the teaching practice to promote learning goal orientation and a skalfolding for the use of self-regulation strategies for meaningful learning in higher education students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focused on the selfassessment trough e-rubrics. Rubrics as an instrument of self-assessment involve a process of reflection that can contribute to increase the involvement and awareness of their own achievements. Here we wanted to engage students from the design and creation of rubric through a collaborative process of building an e-rubric by the students and the teacher. In this study, undergraduate students of Pedagogy participated in an elective subject in their third year. It was developed in several stages in a semester: training for using e-rubrics, designing and construction of e-rubrics, using the e-rubric as a tool for self-assessment and filling a final questionnaire to collect their views. It's important to consider that when we work with innovative strategies of assessment, students have to know not only the features of the instrument but also they have to know the influence to improve their learning processes and they have to achieve the ability to incorporate it to their own skills as education professionals. As main result, students highlighted the importance of rubrics to guide their learning processes and to reflect about it and the capacity of rubric to predict their performance in the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effect of massive access to higher education on teaching at a public Argentine Law School. It describes the general background of the phenomenon and outlines the main consequences of teaching Law in overcrowded classrooms. Then, it defines the underlying epistemology, the theories of learning and the predominant educational approach applied by law school professors. Next, it observes how expanded access to Law School defies the educational goals of the institution. It concludes by offering an alternative educational proposal to still achieve the objectives in overcrowded classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the new challenges which, in the context of the European Space of Higher Education, the legal studies are facing at the present moment, specifically Roman Law. The different ways, through a teaching resource like the group tutorial classes can be very useful for this project, have been studied. Very special attention has been dedicated to its role in the preparation of the Final Project. Many competences, generic and specific, acquired during years of study must be used in his development. In consequence, from which its importance as a thermometer of the quality of the given formation and the learning actually achieved. Tutoring developed in small groups of four or five students as maximum, in accordance with the methodological structure of a seminar, increases each of the papers and allows the tutor to make a more realistic evaluation of the educational proceedings. The necessity of proposing appropriate instruments for a more efficient management of the Final Project has led us to adopt this resource, based on previous experience of innovation teaching that we have successfully been applying for more than ten years. The results obtain greatly benefit both the students, who learn to work in a cooperative way, and the tutor, who is therefore able to provide them counselling of a more integral and complete nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Law students as well as the companies that recruit recent graduates have identified a gap between what is taught in the classrooms and the actual practice of law as a professional. Although there has been much written about the transition between law school and the labor market, there is a lack of literature on how recent graduates are to acquire and develop skills to better prepare them for their entry into the labor market. Developing authentic performances and simulations, this paper presents an innovative pedagogical approach which seeks to address this issue by creating a greater synergy between what is taught in universities and the actual processes that a lawyer that has specialized in the administrative field will be undertaking. We found that students were able to build knowledge departing from their own experience, as they faced problems related to their everyday life that involved role assumption. This allowed them to develop the skills required to excel at the workplace as well as to get motivated to study law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical legal education has become relevant in the training of lawyers in law schools around the world. In particular, the clinical element can be used to balance the aims of legal education: to educate trained and competent lawyers, valuable professionals and good citizens. In this paper, from experiences at universities around the world and recently in Spain, some suggestions are explored for inclusion in the learning process of lawyers and to promote future sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]