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Copyright of Revista Española de Documentación Científica is the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper is a study about the MOOC experience at the Spanish National University of Distance Education (UNED), where we have collected initial and final information about learners' profiles and opinions, as well as enrolment, completion and certification rates. It is a survey-based study covering 17 MOOCs offered in UNED's own platform, and collects information from a sample of more than 24000 learners (initial survey) and 2003 learners (final survey). The paper first presents an overview of the MOOC experience at UNED, introducing the main features of these courses. Afterwards, it focuses on the methodology used in the study and in the information gathered in the second edition of UNED MOOCs, which took place from November 2013 until March 2014. Learners' average profile is a Spanish female, approximately 37 years old, with a University degree, and generally employed. For many of the participants, UNED MOOCs were their first experiences with these sorts of courses, and the main reasons for enrolment were the course topic and the perceived usefulness for professional development. The expectations regarding completion and certification where initially very high, but completion rates remain below 14%. In the final survey, the overall experience in the MOOCs and the different tools used in the courses were highly valued by learners, except the support figures (curator, facilitator, peers), which received lower ratings. These findings are of interest for the institution and further research, refining learning analytics, is encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competence evaluation promoted by the European High Education Area entails a very important methodological change that requires guiding support to help lecturers carry out this new and complex task. In this regard, the Technical University of Madrid (UPM, by its Spanish acronym) has financed a series of coordinated projects with the objectives of developing a model for teaching and evaluating core competencies and providing support to lecturers. This paper deals with the problem-solving competence. The first step has been to elaborate a guide for teachers to provide a homogeneous way to asses this competence. This guide considers several levels of acquisition of the competence and provides the rubrics to be applied for each one. The guide has been subsequently validated with several pilot experiences. In this paper we will explain the problem-solving assessment guide for teachers and will show the pilot experiences that have been carried out. We will finally justify the validity of the method to assess the problem-solving competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the steps followed at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (ETSII) at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) to progressively implement an outcomes assessment framework. This assessment is understood as the integral process to guide and guarantee that graduates, when they finish their studies, have acquired the knowledge, abilities and skills established in the program (i.e. outcomes). This is a process linked to the entire program (and not to a single course or activity) and to the cohort of students (and not to the evaluation of each student individually). At the ETSII, the outcomes assessment process has been designed in accordance with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) criteria which establishes 11 outcomes that must be fulfilled by the students as a necessary step in the accreditation process and as a preparation to attain the educational program objectives. The implementation of these 11 outcomes is intentionally unspecified by ABET to encourage each engineering program's faculty to achieve its own specificity considering its idiosyncrasy. This paper describes the approach followed in the ETSII to develop an integral strategy for the institution and to progressively evolve to an outcomes assessment culture. From this experience, some quite generalizable learned lessons are extracted that can be useful for other faculties involved in similar processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arrival of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has brought about intense methodological restructuring in the participating countries. These changes, along with the development of ICT, are reshaping the Higher Education system. The emergence of advanced technological tools like the Moodle platform has altered the teaching-learning process at every educational cycle. This paper springs from the work undertaken as part of the ongoing project for Educational Excellence in collaboration with three Andalusia universities: Seville, Cadiz and Huelva. The study was entitled Tele-education Platforms for Virtual Instruction. Since work at the University of Huelva has taken into consideration the students at some point, and the University of Córdoba lacks research on this area, we decided to examine the role of the student at the University of Cordoba as side-work to the original project. To this purpose, we designed an instrument to determine the students' rate of use, level of satisfaction and level of knowledge of the Moodle platform. Thus, with this paper we would like to emphasize the relevance of students as key elements in the education system, as recipients of the teaching process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality assurance of online Higher Education online programmes is one of the great challenges faced by Spanish universities. Regular assessment of these programmes is essential in order to take actions to improve their quality. The said assessment should be complex and include all of the components of the programme, as well as its planning and implementation stages and its effects. The purpose of this paper is to present a model designed to assess the quality of online Higher Education online programmes that includes the assessment of the quality of the programme itself, as well as its continuous assessment. In order to design the model, the author conducted a bibliographical analysis of different standards, models, and guides developed in Spain and other countries to assess online education. The model was validated by 23 international online education experts. The results of the validation were triangulated with specialized literature, thus allowing the author to make decisions regarding whether to change the model by keeping, reformulating, or removing a dimension or indicator. As a result, two variables, fourteen dimensions, and 81 indicators were obtained. In order to verify the utility of the model it was applied in the assessment of four online programmes. The model guides the persons in charge of the implementation of online programmes and allows to conduct a more comprehensive assessment of the programme in order to discover its strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities for its improvement. The model can be also applied by online programme designers as a guideline for creating other, high quality programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Electrónica Interuniversitaria De Formación del Profesorado is the property of Asociacion Universitaria de Formacion del Profesorado (AUFOP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista NERA is the property of Revista NERA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Interuniversitaria de Formación del Profesorado is the property of Asociacion Universitaria de Formacion del Profesorado (AUFOP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to demonstrate the feasibility of fusing systematic process re-engineering methods, which are in general use in the industrial and service sectors, in the university environment. By using these methods it is possible to make an in-depth analysis of the processes used, compare the results with those that are required for the organisation where the processes are run to achieve its goals and, depending on this comparison, set up a series of proposals for improvement, so that activities that do not lead to achieving the goals can be eliminated and thus" make more effective those that do lead to success. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of this, a process to improve operations has been completed at the Mechanical Engineering Department at Madrid Technical University. The aim is to optimise performance regarding the achievement of the goals, which are to maximise the learning of its students, both with regard to learning and attitude curiosity, entrepreneurship and a firmness of character oriented towards continuous improvement and individual responsibility. In particular, the methodologies of K J, Ishikawa were used as well as those of Relevant Actions, and concepts from the Toyota Production System. Improving the teaching-learning processes is extremely necessary today, taking into account the paradigm change involved due to the Bologna declaration and the European Higher Education Area. Given the reduced scale of the work, the results are very encouraging and show the potential for improvement that may be obtained on a large scale. Above all, this paper aims to provide a list of the causes of typical problems that arise in the university that will be of use to the reader and puts forward ideas for possible ways to improve the everyday running of the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present a dynamic system for the automatic and dynamic generation of CV documents in an academic and research environment. In particular, this system has been developed in the FES Department of the University of La Laguna, Spain. For that purpose, the authors have integrated Multiagent Systems (MAS) with XML and Apache Cocoon, designing a web portal where the users -- in this case, professors and research students- can manage their CV data. Regarding to the use of Apache Cocoon and apart from showing its great potential, one of the main contributions of the work presented in this paper consists of the dynamic generation of the web environment, since the forms presented to the user change as soon as the structure of the XML files is modified. In other aspect, the agents will ensure the privacy and safety of the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues the role of the University in the Smart City transformation strategy. The theoretical structure takes as reference the recent Complexity theory for city development and their application to the networks of the Connected city. The approach is based on a justified selection of Barcelona and its four universities. We carry out a deductive and interpretivist method interviewing 19 senior experts whole profiles represent the different forces of the Triple Helix model. Our results show the Barcelona city hall has the objective to implement five main innovative services which are fuelled by six main emerging technologies. Nevertheless, we demonstrate that the universities curriculum is not aligned with the city hall's objectives and a gap exists to prepare the undergraduates to the professions required for the Smart City. We recommend six propositions to reshape the University program curricula and leverage the application of Complexity theory to network. The originality of this study is to propose a 3-phases method along with a framework with pre-filled templates and protocols of interviews to analyze universities that pursue the objective to support Smart Cities implementation in a new context of science of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emerging new interdisciplinary area, biomedical education has been recently paid a growing attention to its curriculum design. Creativity has been suggested as a key element in its pedagogy development. This paper will focus on a research question: how do the senior teaching and research staff conceptualize 'creativity' in relation to their daily working experience and based on such conceptualizations, what are the implications for pedagogy development in biomedical education? Theoretically, we will take a departure from social-cultural approach to creativity that emphasizes shaping roles of environmental influences on creativity in a specific context of interdisciplinary teaching and learning, such as biomedical education. An empirical study by qualitative interviews (n = 15) with senior research and teaching staff at different Spanish institutions will further help to provide evidence that guides to answer the research question. The data analysis shows that creativity should be an essential element in curriculum and there are needs of creativity training programmes in biomedical education. Meanwhile, pedagogical changes should be towards encouraging collaborative work, critical thinking, problem solving by creative problem-based learning scenarios, promoting autonomy in applicable and useful projects, working with creative articles in their specific field with students, fostering students' skills in experiment design at university, and developing new evaluation systems, which underpins the necessity of providing a systematic educational environment for creativity development in future biomedical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to present evidence that there are different types of supportive faculty members. We conducted a case study on a sample of Croatian and Spanish universities by using an already tested ENTRE-U scale for measuring the faculty members' attitudes. These two scenarios are quite different in terms of their innovation systems, economic context and university system. We tested and found no evidence of any statistically significant difference due to the country. These two facts suggest the possible existence of an isomorphic trajectory when implementing entrepreneurial universities regardless the context. University managers should be aware of the existence of three different types of supportive individuals. Each of these groups requires a certain program of human resource development. This shifts the debate to how entrepreneurial universities should manage the tensions arising from the need of some degree of specialization in any of the three roles of the faculty members, namely teaching, researching and transfer of the knowledge stemming from research results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate attitude towards work is a generic competency developed in the Bachelor's Degree in Computing Engineering at the Barcelona School of Informatics. This competency includes: the ability to work in teams with responsibility and respect, a proactive attitude, motivation for quality and the continuous improvement in processes and results, as well as the adaptability to organizational and technological changes. In order to develop this competency into a comprehensive integrated experience, a definition in terms of dimensions, which are further defined according to three-level objectives, is required. A set of activities to achieve each objective is proposed. The goal is to define this set in a way that makes it easily integrated into the contents of each course where the competency is involved. The evaluation of the competency can be obtained tracking the progress of students developing these activities. This paper presents a proposal to develop and assess this competency, with a six semester experience integrating activities in the degree program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ETSEIAT (Escola Técnica Superior d'Enginyeries Industrial i Aeronáutica of Terrassa) recently executed pilot programs to introduce generic and specific skills into its study plans. As these pilots are now concluding, an evaluation of their efficiency has been conducted. This paper analyses the answers given by professors who were interviewed (via inperson interviews and online tests) to determine how they developed and evaluated their students' skills. The results of these interviews offer clear data about the progress obtained by the pilot programs, how the professors understood the recently added dynamics and tools, and how the new skills are integrated into the various subjects and courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new degrees in Spanish universities generated as a result of the Bologna process, stress a new dimension: the generic competencies to be acquired by university students (leadership, problem solving, respect for the environment, etc.). At Universidad Politécnica de Madrid a teaching model was defined for two degrees: Graduate in Computer Engineering and Graduate in Software Engineering. Such model incorporates the training, development and assessment of generic competencies planned in these curricula. The aim of this paper is to describe how this model was implemented in both degrees. The model has three components. The first refers to a set of seven activities for introducing mechanisms for training, development and assessment of generic competencies. The second component aims to coordinate actions that implement the competencies across courses (in space and time). The third component consists of a series of activities to perform quality control. The implementation of generic competencies was carried out in first year courses (first and second semesters), together with the planning for second year courses (third and fourth semesters). We managed to involve a high percentage of first-year courses (80%) and the contacts that have been initiated suggest a high percentage in the second year as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along their professional career, nurses can find patients who require palliative care (PC). It is necessary to have at least a basic education in this area, that should be acquired during their university education. The objective of this descriptive online-survey set in five nursing Colleges was to analyze Spanish nursing students' knowledge in PC, offering an image of the status of education in PC. 619 students took an online questionnaire with the Spanish version of the Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses (PCQN-SV), which also collected information about their education in the field of PC. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed, and a predictive binary logistic regression model was developed. Students obtained an average 45.65% of right answers in PCQN-SV, with differences related to the college and academic year in which they were enrolled and to their education in PC. In the regression model having theoretical education in PC (OR = 1.70) and academic year (OR = 1.35) showed to be both predictors of getting a result in PCQN-SV over 45% of correct answers. This study showed that Spanish nursing students have a medium-low level of knowledge in PC, and it also supports the need to develop a common framework for nurses' education in PC. • This paper offers a picture of the heterogeneity of palliative care education received by nursing students in Spain. • Theoretical and practical education in palliative care is necessary for students to acquire adequate levels of knowledge. • This paper evinces the need for an homogenous education in palliative care in the different Spanish nursing colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we look into the role of mentors in student training given it is of paramount importance and at times both unknown and undefined. We studied this issue through research conducted in three Spanish universities using Creswell's biphasic model along with sequential data triangulation. We obtained information by interviewing mentors and applying an electronic questionnaire. The results show that basically mentors are available for students in student training, facilitate their integration in the center. The study indicates that conceptualizing and operationalizing mentoring functions is difficult, however, they set up a reference for the development of student training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to present empirical evidence of the influence of the use of active didactic methodology on satisfaction with regard to teaching received by engineering students in Spain. Student satisfaction is one of the result indicators established, based on student opinion, to measure the quality of the Spanish university system. It is an important index and is directly related to facilitating the learning process, because a satisfied student is likely to be more receptive in the teaching/learning process and therefore, less likely to abandon university studies. This problem is particularly relevant in certain areas of knowledge, like, for example. Engineering and Architecture. We present here the results obtained in an experimental type study carried out in the Escuela Politécnica Superior de Zamora, University of Salamanca, Spain. Our aim is to discover the influence of satisfaction level in relation to the application of active methodologies. In order to do so, we carried out a comparative study and repeated experiment (with student samples from two academic years) of the results of satisfaction levels obtained for students following a course based on traditional methodology consisting of lectures and evaluation by means of a final examination (control group), and for students who followed a course based on a student-focussed teaching/learning methodology consisting of constructive learning, collaborative work, bLearning resources and learning process integrated evaluation (experimental group). 218 students from four engineering degree courses took part in the experiment. Based on the variables selected, a satisfaction survey was designed and carried out and, using a multiple regression multivariate statistical technique, the joint relationship of a series of predictor variables was analysed in relation to the criterion or dependent variable. The results obtained reveal the existence of different relationships between predictor variables and criterion, depending on the didactic methodology used. This paper focuses mainly on the stages of the statistical process used to obtain results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of RED - Revista de Educación a Distancia is the property of Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Assessment in education allows for obtaining, organizing, and presenting information about how much and how well the student is learning. The current paper aims at analysing and discussing some of the most state-of-the-art assessment systems in education. Later, this work presents a specific use case developed for the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, which is an online university. An automatic evaluation tool is proposed that allows the student to evaluate himself anytime and receive instant feedback. This tool is a web-based platform, and it has been designed for engineering subjects (i.e., with math symbols and formulas) in Catalan and Spanish. Particularly, the technique used for automatic assessment is latent semantic analysis. Although the experimental framework from the use case is quite challenging, results are promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Calidad en la Educación is the property of Consejo Nacional de Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Orientación Educacional is the property of Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias de la Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This communication presents a collaborative experience between four Spanish centers: the School of Engineering (ETSE) and the Sports Services Area (SAF) both from the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) jointly with two centers of the Technical University of Catalonia, the Technical school from Vilanova i la Geltru (EPSEVG) and the Technical school in Terrassa (ETSEIAT). The idea behind this collaboration is to explore the possibility of role playing in engineering education and project development for engineering students. The basic principle of such projects is the identification of the corresponding roles associated with the different parts that can be found on current social/industrial activity. In this paper the role playing model is presented: the first part, the role of the partners, and the second part the students' role developing applied projects in human-automation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Electronic Journal of Educational Research, Assessment & Evaluation / Revista Electrónica de Investigación y Evaluación Educativa is the property of RELIEVE - Revista Electonica de Investigacion y Evaluacion Educativa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: This paper describes what are the main actors in internacional development cooperation in Andalucía and the role they play in shaping public policy that performs the Junta de Andalucía in this area. Local governments, through the Andalusian Fund for International Solidarity, the Andalusian Coordinator NGO Development and Andalusian Universities are the most prominent actors, recognized in the different structures and laws of the Andalusian Government as agents of development cooperation in the autonomous community of Andalucía. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Formación Universitaria is the property of Centro de Informacion Tecnologica (CIT) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Electrónica Interuniversitaria De Formación del Profesorado is the property of Asociacion Universitaria de Formacion del Profesorado (AUFOP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of @tic.revista d'innovació educativa is the property of @Tic. Revista D'Innovacio Educativa i Tics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Electrónica Interuniversitaria De Formación del Profesorado is the property of Asociacion Universitaria de Formacion del Profesorado (AUFOP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a challenging, integrated, multicourse, project-based learning (IMPBL) methodology that offers a global formative view and allows a major interrelationship among all the compulsory subjects of the second course of Electronic Engineering degree (EE) of the Higher Technical School of Design Engineering (ETSID) at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV). The global view offered by the IMPBL to students allows them to take on the design and implementation of projects in a more realistic way and to apply this knowledge for solving real industrial projects. Furthermore, some of the most important engineering skills required nowadays such as the ability to communicate effectively, to work in a team, to think both critically and creatively and to manage projects are also introduced through the IMPBL method. The challenges of IMPBL can be stated as: the organization of pedagogical activities that are planned for each of the compulsory subjects involved, the synchronization of the knowledge delivered by each subject, the coordination of the twenty lecturers and the supervision of the 240 students per year performing the IMPBL project. The design and development of a robot arm control project based on the IMPBL methodology is presented. The experience of applying the IMPBL methodology to the EE degree has been successfully rated by student surveys. Likewise, the assessment of the twenty lecturers involved in IMPBL has been very positive. These opinions have lead to continued application and improvements to the IMPBL methodology in the EE degree at ETSID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Adaxe: Revista de Estudos e Experiencias Educativas is the property of Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Copyright of Papers: Revista de Sociologia is the property of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)