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The 2008 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, a joint conference with the Michigan World Language Association, focused on learning about the diverse backgrounds and needs of today's students and discovering new ways to help them succeed in reaching the goal of language proficiency. A wide variety of workshops and sessions offered practical advice on how to deal with reluctant learners on a variety of levels. Immersion-type workshops and sessions were offered to help participants brush up on their language skills, and participants were brought up-to-date on topics such as foreign language advocacy, advanced placement, technology, assessment, culture, brain-based learning, and much more. In addition to "Best of" presentations from 15 states, the program included several encore presentations from last year's "All-Star" presenters. This volume offers the reader a wealth of research based approaches and strategies to language teaching and learning designed to assist the language educator in creating a learning environment that will motivate and engage all students in the language classroom. These articles focus on best practices representing theory-based instruction designed to optimize language communication skills and cultural knowledge for all learners.

This document consists of the 24 papers delivered at a conference that had five workshops examining various dimensions of the social and occupational transition of young people. The papers are arranged by workshop/session. A summary report precedes the other papers presented during a session. The papers in the session on perspectives on systems, institutions, and change are as follows: "Summary Report" (Karl Ulrich Mayer); "Understanding Change in Youth Labour Markets" (David Ashton); "Different Systems of Vocational Training and Transition from School to Career" (Hans-Peter Blossfeld); "Tracks and Pathways" (David Raffe); "On the Interest of Longitudinal Approaches in the Analysis of Vocational Transitions" (Jose Rose); and "Education and Training in Transition" (Karen Schober). Session 2 on labor market itineraries of secondary school leavers contains the following: "Summary Report" (Jose Rose); "Entry into Employment of Young People Who Have Successfully Completed Their Secondary Technical and Vocational Education in French-Speaking Brabant and Charleroi" (Simon Cabitsis, Adinda Vanheerswynghels); "Explaining the Differences in the Occupational Insertion of Educationally Lesser Qualified Young People" (Didier Demaziere, Brigitte Monfroy); "Transition to the Labour Market of Vocational and Technical Secondary School Leavers" (Jan Denys); "Complex Training Routes and the Results of Insertion among Young People" (Jordi Planas); "Time Spent in Education and Lack of Job Security" (Simon Cabitsis, Nouria Ouali, Andrea Rea); and "Analysis of the Use of Government Integration Measures Made by Young People Leaving Secondary Education" (Thomas Couppie, Patrick Werquin). The session on transitions in youth--social and household dimensions--includes these papers: "Summary Report" (Alessandro Cavalli); "Transition Behaviour and Career Outcomes in England and Germany" (Walter R. Heinz); "French Women Entering the Labour Process and Setting Up Households in the 1980's" (Annick Kieffer, Catherine Marry); "From Youth to Adulthood Project" (Matti Vesa Volanen); and "Main Features of the Structure of the Working Population" (Luis M. Larringa, Ascen M. F. de Landa). Session 4 on the process and consequences of education differentiation contains the following: "Summary Report" (Walter Mueller); "Transition from Education to the Labour Market for Young People in Sweden" (Karin Arvemo-Notstrand, Ingegerd Berggren); "Secondary Technical Education Qualifications" (Marcelo Ossandon, Pol Dupont); "Transition from School to Work" (Wim Groot, Hans Rutjes); "Returns to Education" (Richard Breen, Damian F. Hannan); and "Competition on the Labour Market" (Rolf van der Velden, Lex Borghans). Session 5 on labor market itineraries of higher education graduates consists of the following: "Summary Report" (Francois Pottier); "'How Does a Changing Labour Market Affect the Transition from Higher Education to Work?'" (Clara Aase Arnesen, Jane Baekken, Terje Naess); "Training and Employment in Hospitals" (Mateo Alaluf, Adinda Vanheerswynghels); "Family Social Status and Paths of Youths in the Systems of Education and on the Labour Market" (Lea Battistoni); and"Training and Occupational Routes of New University Graduates in Catalonia" (Josep M. Masjuan, Helena Troiano, Jesus Vivas, Miguel Zaldivar). (YLB)

This report focuses on social protections of teachers in Europe, synthesizes responses to a questionnaire by 18 European members of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP), and provides an overview of a variety of situations in European countries. The report includes a list of organizations/countries which replied to the questionnaire and information provided by each country. Eight topics are examined as follows: (1) health insurance contributions, reimbursement, sick leave, and legislation; (2) maternity insurance, leave, adoption, paternity, and work conditions; (3) family allowances and what assistance is for; (4) handicapped in the profession; (5) pensions; (6) unemployment protection; (7) death rights and benefits to beneficiaries; and (8) the position of trade union policy in relation to existing social systems, and persons in charge of social protection. Also included are: a draft recommendation on the social protection of teachers; reports on "The Social Protection Role and Economy" in Denmark, France, and Hungary; "Social Protection from a State Perspective" (Norway); "The Right of Teachers" (Poland); and reports on "The Social Protection of Teachers" in Russia, Sweden, and Turkey. (LL)

Eleven working papers are provided from a meeting to enable national training research and development organizations to present their current and future research and development priorities and exchange information and experience on projects of mutual concern. They cover a wide range of subjects in 11 of the 12 European Community Member States, but all the programs include work on changing qualification profiles needed to work effectively with new technologies. The papers include: "Summary of Major Research and Development Projects--AnCo (the Industrial Training Authority)--Ireland"; "Training Research Projects--The Centre for Studies and Research on Qualifications--France"; "Government Sponsored Research and Development on Vocational Training and New Technology--United Kingdom";"Work Results of the Federal Institute for Vocational Training--Federal Republic of Germany"; "Development of Research in the Field of Vocational Training--French- and German-Speaking Community, Onem, Belgium"; "Vocational Training by the National Manpower Service--Flemish Community, RVA, Belgium"; "Outline for Action in 1986--Institute for the Promotion of Workers' Vocational Training (ISFOL)--Italy"; "Summary Progress Report on the Training Research Programmes in Greece"; "Research Methods for the Investigation of Problems in the Linkage with the Labour Market in the Netherlands--University of Utrecht and PCBB"; "Vocational Training in Spain"; and "Development of Vocational Training in Small and Medium Craft Enterprises in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg." (YLB)

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conference e-Learning 2016, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society, 1-3 July, 2016. This conference is part of the Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems 2016, 1-4 July. The e-Learning (EL) 2016 conference aims to address the main issues of concern within e-Learning. This conference covers both technical as well as the non-technical aspects of e-Learning. These proceedings contain keynote lecture, "Twenty-First Century Skills, Technology and Open Learning: Re-Designing Teaching for the Digital Age" (Tony Bates) [abstract only] and workshop, "Making Sustainable Online Learning a Reality Informed by the Community of Inquiry Framework" (Susi Peacock and Lindesay Irvine). Full papers in these proceedings include: (1) Determining Factors of Students' Perceived Usefulness of e-Learning in Higher Education (Aleksander Aristovnik, Damijana Keržic, Nina Tomaževic and Lan Umek); (2) EvalCOMIX®: A Web-Based Programme to Support Collaboration in Assessment (María Soledad Ibarra-Sáiz and Gregorio Rodríguez-Gómez); (3) A Holistic Approach to Scoring in Complex Mobile Learning Scenarios (Marcel Gebbe, Matthias Teine and Marc Beutner); (4) Content Development for 72,000 Learners: An Online Learning Environment for General Practitioners. A Case Study (Dirk Pilat); (5) First Stages of Adult Students' Relationship to Scientific Knowing and Research in the Open University's Web-Based Methodology Course (Leena Isosomppi and Minna Maunula); (6) A Quantitative Analysis of the Role of Social Networks in Educational Contexts (Azam Shokri and Georgios Dafoulas); (7) Care Management: On Line-Based Approaches to Nurse Education in Ultrasound Imaging (Elena Taina Avramescu, Mitrache Marius and Adrian Camen); (8) Can e-Learning Change Work Practices? (Signe Schack Noesgaard); (9) A Practice of Mobile Learning Bases on Cloud Computing (Heng Wu and Zhong Dong); (10) Guidelines for Conducting a Post-Graduate Module within a Blended Synchonous Learning Environment, Facilitator and Student Perspectives (Christopher Upfold); (11) IT Tools in Initial Teacher Training (Dorin Herlo); (12) Application of a Reference Framework for Integration of Web Resources in DOLTRN--Case Study of Physics--Topic: Waves (Fabinton Sotelo Gomez and Armando Ordóñez); (13) Creating Micro-Videos to Demonstrate Technology Learning (Mark Frydenberg and Diana Andone); (14) An Analysis of Students Enrolled to an Undergraduate University Course Offered Also Online (Nello Scarabottolo); (15) How Do We Know What is Happening Online: A Triangulated Approach to Data Analysis (Marina Charalampidi and Michael Hammond); (16) Analysis of 3D Modeling Software Usage Patterns for K-12 Students (Yi-Chieh Wu, Wen-Hung Liao, Ming-Te Chi and Tsai-Yen Li); and (17) A Distributed Intelligent e-Learning System (Terje Kristensen). Short papers in these proceedings include: (1) Using Cognitive Maps to Promote Self-Managed Learning in Online Communities of Inquiry (Susi Peacock and John Cowan); (2) Automation in Distance Learning: An Empirical Study of Unlearning and Academic Identity Change Linked to Automation of Student Messaging within Distance Learning (Hilary Collins, Hayley Glover, Fran Myers and Mor Watson); (3) Developing the 1st MOOC of University of Porto: Challenges and Strategies (Isabel Martins, Nuno Regadas and Margarida Amaral); (4) Informal Language Learning in Authentic Setting, Using Mobile Devices and SNS (Ruthi Aladjem and Bibiana Jou); (5) Enhancing Third-Year Medical Clerkships: Using Mobile Technology for Teaching and Learning (Janette R. Hill, Michelle A. Nuss, Ronald M. Cervero, Julie K. Gaines and Bruce Middendorf); (6) Statistical Measures of Integrity in Online Testing: Empirical Study (Tom Wielicki); (7) The Complexities of Digital Storytelling: Factors Affecting Performance, Production, and Project Completion (Peter Gobel and Makimi Kano); (8) Collegewide Promotion on e-Learning/Active Learning and Faculty Development (Nobuyuki Ogawa and Akira Shimizu); (9) Training Portuguese Teachers Using Blended Learning--A Different Approach (Bertil P. Marques and Paula Escudeiro); (10) Gamify and Recognize Prior Learning: How to Succeed in Educators' Further Professional Training with Open Badges (Esko Lius); (11) How Do K-12 Students' Manage Applications on Their Mobile Devices? (Ruthi Aladjem and Sharon Hardof); (12) Digital Storytelling for Inclusive Education: An Experience in Initial Teacher Training (Marco Lazzari); and (13) Learning Factory--Assembling Learning Content with a Framework (Peter Steininger). Reflection papers in these proceedings include: (1) Equalizing Educational Opportunities by ICT (Ana María Delgado García and Blanca Torrubia Chalmeta); (2) The Acceptability of MOOC Certificates in the Workplace (Christina Banks and Edward Meinert); (3) Orchestration of Social Modes in e-Learning (Armin Weinberger and Pantelis M. Papadopoulos); (4) Information Competencies and Their Implementation in the Educational Process of Polish Universities. Exploratory Studies (Anna Tonakiewicz-Kolosowska, Iwona Socik and Monika Gajewska); (5) Virtual & Real Face to Face Teaching (Romeo Teneqexhi and Loreta Kuneshka); and (6) Virtual Scaffolding--Constructivism in Online Learning (Lachlan MacKinnon and Liz Bacon). The following poster is included: Active Learning Methods in Programming for Non-IT Students (Olga Mironova, Irina Amitan, Jüri Vilipõld and Merike Saar). An author index is included. Individual papers contain references.

The 22nd EUROCALL conference was held at the University of Padova from the 26th to the 29th of August 2015, the first time that EUROCALL has been held in Italy. The event was organized in collaboration with the University Language Centre and the support of the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies. Over 300 delegates travelled from over 37 different countries to attend. The theme of the conference this year was Critical CALL, drawing inspiration from the work carried out in the broader field of Critical Applied Linguistics. The term "critical" has many possible interpretations, and as Pennycook (2001) outlines, has many concerns. It was from these that the conference theme was decided, in particular the notion that assumptions that lie at the basis of a field's praxis should be questioned, ideas that have become "naturalized" and are not called into question. Another concern of Critical Applied Linguistics is the relationship between the macro and the micro, an engagement with issues of power and inequality and an understanding of how classrooms and conversations are related to broader social, cultural and political relations. Over 200 presentations were delivered in 68 different sessions, both in English and Italian, on topics related specifically to the theme and also more general CALL topics. 94 of these were submitted as extended papers and appear in this volume of proceedings. An author index is included. (Individual papers contain references.)

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Conference on Education and New Developments 2013, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 1 to 3 of June. Education, in a global sense, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the human being, in the way one thinks, feels and acts. One of the most important contributions resides in what and how we learn through the improvement of educational processes, both in formal and informal settings. Our International Conference seeks to provide some answers and explore the processes, actions, challenges and outcomes of learning, teaching and human development. Our goal is to offer a worldwide connection between teachers, students, researchers and lecturers, from a wide range of academic fields, interested in exploring and giving their contribution in educational issues We take pride in having been able to connect and bring together academics, scholars, practitioners and others interested in a field that is fertile in new perspectives, ideas and knowledge. We counted on an extensive variety of contributors and presenters, which can supplement our view of the human essence and behavior, showing the impact of their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. This is, certainly, one of the reasons we have many nationalities and cultures represented, inspiring multi-disciplinary collaborative links, fomenting intellectual encounter and development. END 2013 received over more 267 submissions, from 35 different countries, reviewed by a double-blind process. Submissions were prepared to take form of Oral Presentations, Posters, Virtual Presentations, Workshops and Round Table. The conference also includes a keynote presentation from an internationally distinguished researcher Professor Peter Jarvis Emeritus Professor at the University of Surrey, UK, to whom we express our most gratitude. This volume is composed by the proceedings of the International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2013), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.) and co-sponsored by the respected partners we reference in the dedicated page. This conference addressed different categories inside the Education area and papers are expected to fit broadly into one of the named themes and sub-themes. To develop the conference program we have chosen four main broad-ranging categories, which also covers different interest areas: (1) In TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: Teachers and Staff training and education; Educational quality and standards; Curriculum and Pedagogy; Vocational education and Counseling; Ubiquitous and lifelong learning; Training programs and professional guidance; Teaching and learning relationship; Student affairs (learning, experiences and diversity; Extra-curricular activities; Assessment and measurements in Education. (2) In PROJECTS AND TRENDS: Pedagogic innovations; Challenges and transformations in Education; Technology in teaching and learning; Distance Education and eLearning; Global and sustainable developments for Education; New learning and teaching models; Multicultural and (inter)cultural communications; Inclusive and Special Education; Rural and indigenous Education; Educational projects. (3) In TEACHING AND LEARNING: Educational foundations; Research and development methodologies; Early childhood and Primary Education; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Science and technology Education; Literacy, languages and Linguistics (TESL/TEFL); Health Education; Religious Education; Sports Education. (4) In ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES: Educational policy and leadership; Human Resources development; Educational environment; Business, Administration, and Management in Education; Economics in Education; Institutional accreditations and rankings; International Education and Exchange programs; Equity, social justice and social change; Ethics and values; Organizational learning and change. The proceedings contain the results of the research and developments conducted by authors who focused on what they are passionate about: to promote growth in research methods intimately related to teaching, learning and applications in Education nowadays. It includes an extensive variety of contributors and presenters, who will extend our view in exploring and giving their contribution in educational issues, by sharing with us their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. (Individual papers contain references.)

Although some research has been conducted on the importance of mediation in language learning and teaching (Dendrinos, 2006; González-Davies, 2020; Piccardo, 2012, 2020; Scarino, 2016), there is still scarce research on the integration of plurilingualism, mediation, and technology. Through qualitative and quantitative methodology, this paper investigates teachers' abilities in Italy and Spain to integrate plurilingualism, mediation, and technology. A survey has been distributed in order to explore teachers' attitudes towards the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their awareness of the definition and importance of mediation. Furthermore, some mediation tasks performed by teachers in which they had to integrate mediation, plurilingualism, and technology were analysed. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

There is no doubt that telecollaboration currently plays an important role in foreign language learning and, not less so, in the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Guth (2020) highlighted how telecollaboration has rapidly evolved in the past years as an innovative approach, and how it has brought together a whole community of academics and researchers interested in the field. In this paper, a brief overview of the various presentations that took place in the EuroCALL Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) Special Interest Group (SIG) Symposium is offered. The paper introduces four projects based on telecollaboration contextualised within an ESP classroom in higher education. The first one focuses on a collaborative debate project using English as a lingua franca; the second elaborates on improving learners' pragmatic skills through telecollaborative roleplays; the third describes an immersive Virtual Exchange (VE) aiming to foster the students' civic and entrepreneurial competence, while enhancing their intercultural communicative competence. The fourth project aimed at improving students' business communication and management skills in English in a multicultural environment. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

This paper explores and reports on teacher attitudes toward online assessment in foreign language teaching and learning in Spain and Finland. During the pandemic, teachers have had to face serious challenges, such as the method to be adopted, task design or handling student feedback, in order to ensure effective student assessment. They have had to find completely new ways to assess their students. A qualitative approach was adopted and data were gathered from a questionnaire shared on Google form, which was completed by 23 teachers from Spain and 11 from Finland. The aim was to examine: (1) the advantages and disadvantages of using online assessment tools to measure students' progress; and (2) the participants' perceptions of their experience of assessing their students online. The findings show that while online assessment tools, especially quiz apps, provide instant feedback and correction for students and teachers, it is difficult to control what tools students might be using to support their learning and/or assessment assignments. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

This paper presents a six-week telecollaborative project carried out between B2 (Common European Framework of Reference for languages -- CEFR) level learners of English from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Spain, and B1 (CEFR) level students of Spanish as a foreign language from the University of Bath (UK). The aim of the project was to help Spanish-speaking students develop their Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). Students carried out asynchronous discussions focusing on two cultural topics in groups of four through the social network MeWe and participated in synchronous Zoom sessions in pairs. To conclude the project, students completed a collaborative task with their overseas partners. Qualitative data was gathered through the analysis of the transcripts of the Zoom sessions, the students' posts on MeWe, as well as a final project questionnaire. Results revealed that the students who engaged the most in the synchronous sessions and felt curiosity about their partners' culture were also the same ones who contributed the most to the cultural discussions on MeWe. At the end of the course all participants felt they had learnt something about their partners' culture. [For the complete volume, "CALL and Professionalisation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2021 (29th, Online, August 26-27, 2021)," see ED616972.]

Augmented reality (AR), a cutting-edge technology, has the potential to change the way students learn by superimposing virtual items and information onto the real environment. Through more immersive and interesting interactions with digital content, AR might help students better understand difficult concepts and boost their drive to learn. As a result of its contribution to student learning, AR has become increasingly appealing to educational researchers. This study aimed to descriptively explore the characteristics of AR studies in education and to qualitatively analyze the most influential ones indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) between 2000 and 2022. A scoping review was conducted to determine the sample of the AR studies in education based on the inclusion criteria. Accordingly, descriptive analyses were conducted to identify the characteristics of the AR studies in education between 2000 and 2022 in terms of publication year, country, affiliations, journals, funding agencies, and citation trends. Then, the research methodologies and implications were found among the most influential AR studies in education between 2000 and 2022 by synthesizing qualitatively. The overall results indicated that AR studies in education have been conducted since 2008, with an increasing number of studies over time. Based on the implications of the most influential studies identified in terms of citation numbers, it was detected that AR has the potential to enhance education and training by providing interactive and engaging environments, linking real-world contexts with digital resources, and promoting efficiency and effectiveness in learning. [This paper was published in: "EJER Congress 2023 International Eurasian Educational Research Congress Conference Proceedings," Ani Publishing, 2023, pp. 273-291.]

The beekeeping sector is demanding, requires knowledge and updated information to be able to deal with the challenges related with climate change, food scarcity, stress, pollution, and other harmful effects from the surrounding environment. Hence, this work intended to make a characterization of the needs in professional training in the beekeeping sector and how these needs can be fulfilled through courses and other actions to help beekeepers to maintain updated. The work was carried out in seven European countries (Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Total), and the data was collected through a questionnaire survey, translated into the native languages in all the participating countries. The results revealed that the topics of highest interest for the beekeepers were apiary health and pest control and also colony management throughout the year. The most relevant sources of information were family and professional training/courses. The most valued forms of training were in-person and in workplace/internships, although the digital supporting resources were preferred instead of printed material. The learning materials most valued were videos but also books/paper manuals were considered relevant. The field visits were also greatly appreciated by the participants, and the most preferred assessment format was the realization of practical exercises. In conclusion, this work produced valuable information that can be utilized to design training actions and courses to the professionals in the beekeeping sector to enhance their knowledge and better prepare them to manage successfully their activities. [For the full proceedings, see ED654100.]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a number of problems of which the implications for the future are not minor. The main consequence of the COVID-19 breakout was that almost 100% of the Spanish population had to be confined from March to June. Despite the progressive normalisation of learning, the effects of the pandemic are expected to last for many years. This paper suggests the implications of those side effects that will require not few efforts to become overcome through a descriptive methodology. These effects are not only educational but may also have, according to several studies hereby addressed, an economic effect on the youth. The paper concludes that remedial measures should include additional teaching staff to increase the number of teaching hours in the academic year 2021-2022. [This paper was published in: "New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences." Volume 8, Issue 3, pp 30-36, 2021.]

There is no doubt that Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and mobile mediated communication are linked as technology continues to transform the way we communicate with each other. Campbell (2019) analyzed how mobile communication evolved into portable devices to form a complete system of mobile media, reshaping the fabric of our social lives via 'sociality' and 'spatiality'. In this short paper, we would like to offer a brief overview of the diverse oral presentations which took place in the joint CMC and MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) Special Interest Group (SIG) symposium at the online conference this year. This short paper will introduce various online apps which are available for free in both computer-based and mobile versions and can be adapted to foreign language learning in various ways. [For the complete volume, "CALL for Widening Participation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2020 (28th, Online, August 20-21, 2020)," see ED610330.]

Due to the scarcity of studies analysing Spanish-speaking students' acquisition of pragmatic competence in English, this paper focuses on the preliminary stage of a longitudinal study on the impact that Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication (SCMC) has on the use of apologies and the acquisition of intercultural communicative competence. In other words, this paper presents the type of explicit instruction that students from Spain need in order to improve their ability to express apologies, and how interaction with English-speaking students through Skype will help them to acquire the strategies that L1 speakers use in everyday conversations. Spanish-speaking students will complete a pre- and post-test questionnaire to measure their level of pragmatic knowledge before and after the interaction with English-speaking students. Additionally, a control group will carry out the task via face-to-face interaction. It is envisaged that after the telecollaborative exchanges, Spanish students in the experimental group will experience greater improvement in the performance of apologies than those in the control group and, subsequently, in their pragmatic competence. [For the complete volume, "CALL for Widening Participation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2020 (28th, Online, August 20-21, 2020)," see ED610330.]

This paper examines and reports on ways of promoting teaching presence in foreign language online learning environments in Finland and Spain. 'Teaching presence' refers to all the tools and resources teachers use during online courses to deliver teaching, guidance and feedback, or situations in which they are present for their students. A qualitative approach was adopted, and data were collated from questionnaires completed by 34 teachers and 16 students involved in different online language courses at different educational levels. The aim was to examine (1) the extent to which students' views on feedback and teaching presence in online courses differ from those of teachers, and (2) the impact teaching presence has on student engagement and behaviour in online courses. Based on the polling data, both teachers and students find student engagement to be significant in fostering learning in an online environment. Students tend to be generally satisfied with teacher feedback. [For the complete volume, "CALL for Widening Participation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2020 (28th, Online, August 20-21, 2020)," see ED610330.]

This study addresses interculturality and Intercultural Competence (IC) by connecting university students in Spain and Sri Lanka through the use of the Soqqle app, an education-based video app. The students were asked to create five videos independently using English as a lingua franca and upload each video to the app related to the assigned tasks. The goal of this study is to determine whether creating videos increases the IC of the students and whether the video creation activities enhance the students' English as a Foreign Language (EFL) listening and speaking skills. The students were given a pre-questionnaire at the onset and post-questionnaire at the conclusion of this study. The results show that the students increased in their cultural knowledge from the pre- to post-questionnaire. Additionally, the students reported that their Foreign Languages (FL) skills increased, and they generally enjoyed participating in this study. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

Within the parameters of the new Erasmus programme, this Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) combines virtual exchange with physical mobility. There were three institutions involved in this project: Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Ireland, Hochschule Bremerhaven, Germany, and Malaga Healthcare College, Spain. The virtual exchange ran for five weeks from November to December 2021 and the physical mobility took place in Bremerhaven in the first week of April 2022. Twenty-seven participating students from diverse academic backgrounds engaged in shared tasks during the virtual exchange on a Blackboard platform, hosted by Letterkenny Institute of Technology and were awarded two ECTS credits, which was embedded into their local curricula. Content was delivered using both synchronous and asynchronous tools. The topic was global citizenship and students collaborated in multicultural teams to create presentations on their chosen topics. In addition to this team work, they also shared their individual insights into the course content by posting to a discussion forum in Weeks 1, 3, and 4. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

Live Fuel Moisture Content (LFMC) describes the amount of water present in any type of vegetation and helps quantify the amount of fuel available in a wildfire. In this paper, a multivariate linear regression model was built to estimate the LFMC of the weighted average of all shrub-type species present, using the fraction of canopy cover (FCC) of each forest species as weights. Sample training was conducted with field data obtained during the fire season of the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 in 15 plots of a Mediterranean area where vegetation composed of the shrub-type species dominates. Different spectral indices extracted from Sentinel-2 together with the mean surface temperature, the accumulated precipitation and the seasonal parameters were considered as predictors. The results were compared with the extrapolation of another model trained with field data collected in the year 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This reflective practice will examine and report on students' experiences of three different bilingual (English-Spanish) task-based telecollaborative projects. The observations indicate that throughout these different projects the students were able to develop their intercultural awareness and their critical thinking skills via different online tools and learning contexts like a videoconferencing platform and Facebook. This paper employs both a qualitative and quantitative approach and data were collected from various sources, namely, the questionnaires administered at the beginning and end of the projects. As a conclusion, it is argued that the projects helped students to exchange views about cultural aspects and ask and clarify questions that arose during their interactions, which provided them with the opportunity to develop their critical thinking skills. Sharing thoughts and views on Facebook and videoconferencing has been a meaningful learning experience and students have been able to discover and reflect on useful information about each other's cultural traits. [For the complete volume of short papers, see ED590612.]

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, high-schools in Spain are having both online and in-class lectures. As a result, the students can use not only the information provided by the teachers in class, but they can also use several other methods such as videos and online examples that allow the students to have materials from different places. In this paper, we analyse the Mathematics results of the first two terms in a secondary school from Andalusia. This analysis can help find the central units of the subject found, that is, giving enough background knowledge to keep up with the module. When these are found, the teachers can improve the learning and the results in the following years. [For the full proceedings, see ED621892.]

Since 1987, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC) has been engaged in mobility programs, making efforts to encourage and support the internationalization of its students. Mobility programs are designed to strengthen the dimension and quality of the Higher Education, to encourage transnational cooperation between Universities, to improve transparency and academic recognition of studies and qualifications. The objective of this paper is to present a report on the evolution of mobility of the FMUC undergraduate students in the period between 2009 and 2019. A descriptive report was carried out. During this last decade, the FMUC has dealt with mobility applications from 1,500 incoming and 1,350 outgoing students to attend both classes and clinical traineeships as part of their Master's Degrees in Medicine. In the academic year 2015-2016 there was an increase in the number of applications, coinciding with the introduction of clinical internships in hospitals. The top countries where the FMUC sent students (538); and from where it received students (978) were, Italy, Spain and Brazil. In Portugal, the FMUC is one of the main medical schools with the largest number of students attending mobility programs, which has contributed to fostering the internationalization of undergraduate medical students' training. [For the full proceedings, see ED626585.]

The paper presents the aims and the design of the international e-learning course for teacher training "International Project" / Internet and Competence to work on the Project"/IPC/, organized with students from the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (Bulgaria) and universities from Germany, USA, Spain, Japan, Sweden and Poland (http://www.internationalproject-ipc.com/en/). The project has a long tradition and is developed in co-operation from university teachers by using different methods and approaches. The project is based on an inquiry-based learning. The topics of the student's investigations are connected with the school education and with the children's perspective on school, teaching and learning. Coached by university teachers and tutors the students work in many international groups using different research methods and web tools as wikis, chat forums or blogs. By working on topics selected from the teacher training curriculum the students improve their expertise related to the curriculum and develop awareness of cultural differences. At the end of the course the students from the different universities present the results of the comparative international research and do conclusions about the differences and similarities in the curriculum and the education in different countries and continents. The IPC project fosters the development of many competences for teacher students because of working and doing educational research in international team. [For the full proceedings, see ED622227.]

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and English as a medium of instruction (EMI) are emerging as the preferred contexts of language learning. CLIL and EMI classes continue to proliferate in schools around the globe. The aim of this paper is to investigate the current research trends in studies of motivation to learn within EMI and CLIL settings. We sought to identify the current countries of research, educational levels, and themes that prevail in EMI and CLIL motivation research. We performed a topic search of the keywords "CLIL" or "EMI" and the keyword "motivation" in the "Web of Science" database for Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) articles published in 2020. We analyzed 17 articles related to motivation within EMI or CLIL contexts. The results showed that European countries produced the most research, with Spain being the most prolific. A majority of the studies took place at the secondary and tertiary levels of education. Comparative studies of CLIL or EMI contexts with that of traditional classrooms emerged as the prevailing theme. Future research could include more studies regarding the impact of CLIL on students at the primary level of education, in addition to studies of students from varied socio-economic backgrounds. [For the complete Volume 19 proceedings, see ED613922.]

This study reports on the 2019-2020 October-February cycle of the project, Blending Massive Open Online Courses in English Teacher Education with Telecollaboration (BMELTET). The project blends the MOOC "Understanding Language" (Futurelearn) with telecollaboration -- or Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) or Virtual Exchange (VE). It involves students enrolled on teacher education courses at both undergraduate level (from Spain) and postgraduate level (from the UK and China). This work discusses some of the challenges encountered in this 2019-2020 pre-COVID cycle and proposes, in line with other previous related studies, that telecollaboration is troublesome for students as it takes them out of their comfort zone. It does not align with what they were expecting to study at university. At the same time, BMELTET illustrates the gains that students and staff can make when engaging in such a project and its transformational impact on their beliefs. [For the complete volume, "CALL for Widening Participation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2020 (28th, Online, August 20-21, 2020)," see ED610330.]

Due to the increasing use of technology to enhance Foreign Language (FL) education, research on learners' emotions in new learning environments is calling for more attention (Beirne, Mac Lochlainn, Nic Giolla, & Mhichíl, 2018). In this study, we focus on Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA), a debilitating emotion; and e-Tandem learning, a telecollaborative Foreign Language Learning (FLL) practice. e-Tandem has a vast potential to foster learners' FL skills (Cziko, 2013), although it might trigger learners' FLA as well. Since little research has been carried out, hitherto, on FLA in e-tandem learners, this investigation aims to gain new insights into this topic. First, we want to analyze the appropriateness of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) ( Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) to assess e-tandem learners' FLA. Second, we want to observe to what extent e-tandem contributes to reduce learners' FLA over time. Descriptive statistics are carried out and results are discussed. [For the complete volume, "CALL for Widening Participation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2020 (28th, Online, August 20-21, 2020)," see ED610330.]

This paper presents an analysis of the classroom events that a group of future teachers of Secondary Education mathematics identified from their own experience when using GeoGebra to solve problems. The data analyzed are from the written materials by twelve mathematics majors who were studying the Mathematics for Teaching course. The students, in pairs, solved three problems using GeoGebra. They were then asked to posit three events that could arise if their students were to use GeoGebra to solve problems. After analyzing the events presented, they were classified in terms of mathematical reasoning, mathematical creation and techno-mathematical ability. [For the complete proceedings, see ED629884.]

This paper reports our preliminary observations of a pilot project carried out from February to April 2019 with a group of students learning Spanish at the University of Central Missouri and students learning English at the University of León. The project combines challenging escape room activities with intercultural and interlinguistic interaction in a virtual exchange. Students learned of the premise of the activity through a video that set the context in a dystopian future with an authoritarian dictator who had hidden and controlled access to knowledge. The contextual narrative also explained that a hacker was leaking information that the students could retrieve. Therefore, they needed to collaborate with their partners in order to save the world by solving different types of enigmas that involved knowledge about geography, culture, and language. In addition to these problem-solving activities, they were also required to discuss cultural topics and comment on different habits, traditions, and stereotypes. This combination might enhance the students' motivation, foster their communication skills, and help them develop critical thinking skills and learn more about each other's language, country, and culture. [For the complete volume, see ED609298.]

Machine learning (ML)-based data-driven modelling is an efficient approach for good estimates of flow and maximum discharge at certain points within a basin. This paper is mainly aimed at evaluating the predictive capability of ML algorithms for daily streamflow modelling in the Besós River Basin (Spain), based on open source flow discharge and rainfall historical time series. In this sense, two modelling scenarios, without and with consideration of the antecedent hydrologic conditions, were evaluated, and three ML algorithms—support vector machines, random forest (RF) and gradient boosting (GB)—were compared to multiple linear regression (MLR), and were implemented. The prediction results revealed that the SVR model outperformed the other suggested models. Additionally, it was deduced that taking into account preceding hydrologic conditions clearly improves prediction results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building and especially improving a classification kernel represents a challenging task. The works presented in this paper continue an already developed semi-supervised classification approach that aimed at labelling transcripts from educational videos. We questioned whether the size of the ground-truth data-set (Wikipedia articles) or the quality of the keywords used in the semi-supervised labelling have a significant impact on the accuracy metrics of the final obtained data model. Experimental results took into consideration three Wikipedia data-sets of "Small," "Medium" and "Large" sizes. For each data-set there were used three sets of keywords: offered by video authors, determined by "rake-nltk" on available transcripts and determined by "rake-nltk" on Wikipedia articles that serve as training and testing data for the LDA [latent Dirichlet allocation] model that determine keywords on the transcripts. Experiments show that the size of the data-set has little importance, while the quality of the keywords has a more significant impact. Therefore, an improved version of the previously developed classifier has been obtained by improving the quality of the keywords involved in semi-supervised training. This result paves the way towards further improvements that may finally be deployed as within a recommender system of educational videos at the Universitat Politècnica de València. [For the full proceedings, see ED607784.]

One crucial function of a classroom, and a school more generally, is to prepare students for future learning. Students should have the capacity to learn new information and to acquire new skills. This ability to "learn" is a core competency in our rapidly changing world. But how do we measure ability to learn? And how can we measure how well a school has prepared their students to learn? In this paper we formally pose the problem, and introduce a grounded theory of how to measure ability to learn. Using simulations of students learning we provide initial evidence that this theory provides an elegant solution to this problem. We further validate our ideas using real world data from 70k middle-school students and show that our theory is more accurate and interpretable than current state-of-the-art models of learning gains. We consider our results a modest yet interesting first step for a novel type of test. [For the full proceedings, see ED607784.]

Since the emergence of COVID-19, online teaching and e-Learning has become essential in education. Actually, in at our University, we have had to move to a complete online teaching framework through the Moodle e-learning system. As a result, we have had to deploy new material as videos in Youtube channels, new exercises, tasks, live teaching, etc that have generated a huge amount of data that contains interesting information. In particular, we have used randomly generated exams from a bank of quizzes to evaluate the students. In this paper, we analyze the results of these quizzes using Formal Concept Analysis tools in order to check the hidden knowledge in the assessment process with the goal of improving the developed material for next years. In addition, we will analyze how the different exercises and tests relate to each other so that we can use this information in the following courses to improve our lectures. [For the full proceedings, see ED621620.]

When organising TeleCollaboration (TC) encounters at primary or secondary schools, especially technological and organisational complexity, alongside pedagogical issues, plays an essential role in the degree of success of the exchanges. Within the European TeCoLa project, pilot experiences have been organised using innovative but 'simple' technologies, like Padlet or Voki to more demanding and complex ones like 3D virtual worlds in OpenSim. The present paper presents the experiences of three pilot exchanges differing in complexity and reports on learners' experiences.[For the complete proceedings, see ED600837.]

New technologies are changing the way of learning foreign languages. However, one of the main challenges for software developers and mobile assisted language learning designers remains the creation of learning environments for students' language immersion in and outside the classroom. This paper describes the design and evaluation of a VR-based mobile app called "Let's date!." The app enables Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) A1 level German language learners to interact with an immersive environment and to practise several language skills. The results have proven that the use of 360° videos based on realistic situations and combined with a conversational agent is suitable to reinforce students' foreign language competencies. [For the complete proceedings, see ED600837.]

In language learning today, students from different geographical locations are able to interact online in a more authentic environment, share their views with their partners, create profiles as well as build online communities enjoying common interests. With this in mind, this paper examines and reports on a study about how students from two different countries, Finland and Spain, developed intercultural competence through the use of a videoconferencing platform, Adobe Connect, as a telecollaborative learning context. Eleven Spanish and seventeen Finnish participants were provided with the opportunity to interact with each other outside the classroom with a view to exploring the target culture and, consequently, experiencing intercultural learning. The findings suggest that the students' learning experience was positive and to some extent they had enhanced their knowledge of each other's cultural traits, such as their lifestyle, hobbies and traditions. [For the complete volume of short papers, see ED572005.]

This paper examines university students' views about a Cypriot-Spanish telecollaboration project through which participants used Google+ Communities for intercultural exchange over the course of one semester. The project was established through the UNICollaboration platform and it involved first-year students at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) and the University of Valencia (UV). The telecollaboration tasks and activities were embedded in the students' English for Specific Purposes modules. The project aimed at developing students' cultural awareness and competence learning, as well as at enhancing their motivation to learn English at university level. This paper outlines the pedagogical goals of the project, the design of tasks, the communication modes, the digital tools used for interaction and task completion, and the targeted competences. Using qualitative data through focus groups interviews with the students who participated in the project, the paper aims at exploring telecollaboration from the student experience perspective, demonstrating the benefits and challenges of online intercultural exchanges. [For the complete volume, see ED571330.]

This paper attempts to provide evidence of cross-cultural videoconferencing affordances with reference to a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) context at the tertiary level. At the core of CLIL lie student-centered paradigms of teaching methodologies that invite task and project work and authentic and meaningful communication, while also providing numerous opportunities for intercultural learning. The aim of this paper is to discuss the results of collaboration that took place in spring 2015 between two cohorts, namely post-primary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher trainees at two universities: the University of Bielsko-Biala in Poland and the University of León in Spain. The main objective of the task was to develop lesson plans and EFL teaching materials that included Polish and Spanish cultural content, respectively, and in addition, to provide feedback on the work sent by the partner university team during videoconferencing sessions. The results of the project illustrated in the self-reported data suggest that within the CLIL methodological framework it was the cultural and cognitive dimension that appeared to benefit most from incorporating the cross-cultural videoconferencing into the course. [For the complete volume, see ED571330.]

This work addresses the importance of innovation in entrepreneurial and business education to ensure that students develop the ability to make complex decisions and solve complex challenges. The intention was to incorporate the complexity theory in decision-making and problem-solving in business and entrepreneurship. To achieve this, we present the results of the first phase of our project, aiming to scale the levels of complex thinking in university students, discuss the need for business and entrepreneurship students to develop complex thinking competency (including its sub-competencies of critical, systemic, scientific, and innovative thinking) in the complexity of the business environment, analyze the relevance of system elements, apply their inductive and deductive reasoning, and create appropriate and relevant solutions. Our findings suggest that an educational model focused on developing complex thinking and its four sub-competencies can enable entrepreneurs to integrate sustainable development, increase their social engagement and critical thinking, develop their imaginative intelligence and discursive and reflective skills, and thus improve their decision-making and problem-solving processes. In the future, we plan to extend this analysis to the behavior of real-life entrepreneurs. [For the full proceedings, see ED654100.]

In this paper the methodological steps taken in the conception of a new mobile application (app) are introduced. This app, called VISP (Videos for Speaking), is easily accessible and manageable, and is aimed at helping students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to improve their idiomaticity in their oral production. In order to do so, the app invites the user to make the Audio-Description (AD) of a clip, as part of a communicative task. This paper gives an account of the processes followed after creating and testing VISP, until arriving at the conception of its second version, VISP 2.0. This was accomplished by carrying out several empirical tests to evaluate the app and the learning outcomes it contributes to achieve. The data obtained to date have led to the proposal of some pedagogical guidelines that can be applied to a Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) app in order to make it enjoyable and, above all, effective. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]

In the last two decades there have been many attempts to integrate all kinds of mobile devices and apps to support formal as well as informal learning processes. However, most of the available apps still support mainly individual learning, using mobile devices to deliver content rather than providing learners with the opportunity to interact with each other. To address this we have designed an app based on a highly interactive, ubiquitous and constructive learning approach. The app is called "Guess it! Language Trainer" and allows learners to share, assess and co-construct their foreign language knowledge. Learning contents are no longer delivered but integrated into versatile tasks. Even though these tasks are being performed individually by each player, the players' interaction with the app performed affects the whole community of learners. The current research paper presents the first results of an ongoing research project using mobile apps to enhance the Foreign Language Learning in a compulsory German language course at a Spanish University. In our paper we will firstly describe a specific app (Guess it! Language Trainer) which has been used to support students' independent language learning outside the classroom. Secondly, we will describe how the app encouraged students to get actively involved in their own learning processes and thirdly, how the teacher can use the information stored in the system to retrace and assess students' language learning. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]

The aim of this paper is to provide an objective overview of the impact of teacher salaries on the educational achievements of students. It is often debated about teacher salaries and improvement or jeopardizing their standard, but educational consequences that may ensue as a result of these intentions are rarely addressed. Teacher's role in student's achievement outcomes is unquestionable. There are many factors that have an impact on student achievement, but this paper will analyze only the impact of teacher's income on student's achievement. A hypothesis for further study has been set by collecting and analyzing pedagogical documentation on teacher salaries and student's educational achievements. Qualitative approach to statistical results of PISA study published in 2013 analyzes following categories: reading, mathematics and science, student's sense of belonging to school and student's personal opinion on does school prepare them for adult life. The study of these elements in selected countries gives us a concrete insight into their interrelationship. The comparative analysis compared the educational achievements of students with the level of teacher's salaries in the following countries: Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland. The results of the research show that the level of teacher's income has an impact on student's achievements. The paper confirms the facts that the teaching profession is more popular as incomes increase and therefore attracts more motivated and skilled individuals. [This paper was published in the SGEM2014 Proceedings, ISBN-978-619-7105-24-7 / ISSN 2367-5659, September 1-9, 2014, Vol. 3, pp. 383-390.]

Fluid Mechanics is one of the most complex branches of science to learn. Traditionally, it has been taught from a positivism point of view. However, the latest technologies have led to the creation of new educational tools based on a constructivism approach as a complement to conventional teaching. This paper addresses the development of a course to spread knowledge related to Fluid Mechanics. It combines theoretical explanations with interactive applications to allow the student to assimilate the information easier. Computational Fluid Dynamic simulations have been performed to create the educational content shown in the applications. Users will be able to select from different boundary conditions, and the program will display the corresponding simulation results. Therefore, motivation is generated through gamification, retention is generated based on the Multimedia Learning Theory and transfer is generated by inductive teaching. A preliminary version of this course has been launched to a group of users with previous knowledge in Fluid Mechanics. The results indicate how users support the inclusion of multimedia and interactive tools in conventional teaching, because they help them to assimilate complex concepts. Furthermore, the created tool has been endorsed by the users in terms of organization and quality. The adaptation of current resources, such as CFD, to teaching Fluid Mechanics is an evident need that enriches both the student and the teacher. Thus, the educational goals of motivation and knowledge transfer are promoted under the auspices of a constructivism approach. [For the full proceedings, see ED621557.]

Videoconferences are a perfect scenario for autonomous Foreign Language (FL) and intercultural speaking practices. However, it is also a threatening context as learners communicate in an FL, often with a stranger and about personal information and experiences. That may lead to increase Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) among participants, affecting students' learning experiences and even provoking drop-outs (Bailey, Onwuegbuzie, & Daley, 2003). This study aims to explore the relationship between FLA and Self-Disclosure (SD) as personality traits. The first indicators of the potential relationship between FLA and SD in online speaking practice were found by Fondo and Erdocia (2018) in which anxious learners showed a tendency to self-disclose as a means to manage their discomfort using the FL. Data was gathered in the first stage of a nine-week-synchronous oral Online Intercultural Exchange (OIE) project between undergraduate business students from the United States, Ireland, Mexico, and Spain. [For the complete volume of short papers, see ED590612.]

Computer based testing has become a prevailing tendency in education. Each year, a large number of students take online language tests everywhere in the world. In fact, there is a tendency to make these tests more and more used due to their low cost of delivery. However, many students are forced to take them despite their interests, feelings and cognitive style. This paper describes a study with the fairly new APTIS Test (British Council). 35 students took the test and responded to a structured questionnaire on their feelings while taking it. Results indicate that the test brings a considerable amount of anxiety along with it. [This paper was published in: "New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences." [Online]. Issue 7, pp 44-46.]

This paper analyzes the adequacy of mobile chatting via Whatsapp for the enhancement of a type of spontaneous and colloquial written interaction which has a strong connection with oral discourse. This is part of a research project undertaken with Spanish students of German as a foreign language with a beginner's or quasi-beginner's level. The paper presents the context and parameters of this learning experience and the methodology followed. Then, an analysis of the results is undertaken in terms of student response, attitude and participation, and also in terms of the meaning negotiation strategies and language used. Finally, conclusions are drawn regarding the adequacy of the Whatsapp technology for the practice and improvement of interactive skills for foreign language students at the initial learning levels. [For the complete proceedings, see ED557171.]

This paper describes a multiple criteria approach based on a hybrid method of Collaborative Filtering (CF) and ContentBased Filtering (CBF) for discovering the most relevant criteria which could affect the elective course recommendation for university students. In order to determine which factors are the most important, it is proposed a genetic algorithm which automatically discovers the importance of the different criteria assigning weights to each one of them. We have carried out an in-depth study using a real data set with more than 1700 ratings of Computer Science graduates at University of Cordoba. We have used different proposals and different weights for each criterion in order to discover what is the combination of multiple criteria which provides better results. [For the full proceedings, see ED593090.]

This paper focuses on the development of videogame-like applications in a 3D virtual environment as a complement to the face-to-face teaching and learning. With the changing role of teaching and learning and the increasing use of "blended learning," instructors are increasingly expected to explore new ways to attend to the needs of their students. In recent years many educational institutions have started integrating into their teaching protocol the use of e-Learning platforms such as Moodle, WebCT, Blackboard or Virtual Worlds (VWs) such as Second Life (SL). The aim is not only to provide students with motivating and meaningful content and media, but also to provide them with attractive learning tools, able to enhance and guarantee a successful autonomous learning process. Nevertheless, based on our own teaching experience over the past years, we would argue that neither traditional e-Learning platforms such as Moodle, WebCT or Blackboard, nor VWs, completely meet the expectations and needs of (our) students with regard to autonomous learning. This is why the purpose of our analysis is to explore further possibilities by designing highly interactive and motivating online learning materials, including the use of videogame-like applications and a specific 3D virtual platform (OpenSim). We thus intend to provide students from the very first stage of their foreign language acquisition process with highly interactive learning environments, not only in the face-to-face learning, but also in autonomous online learning. The latter is considered to be complementary to, rather than different from the dynamics involved in face-to-face learning. Furthermore the paper includes an empirical evaluation of five language learning sessions during which several sets of students played the videogame-like application we had designed for the purposes of our research. (Contains 1 table.) [Support for this research was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.]

Games are fully accepted by students, as they stimulate memory, activate reasoning capacities in brain, improve the knowledge and keep out the stress. Our innovation teaching group is interested in using games for teaching Biochemistry of the Chemistry degree. Most of the individual games found in Internet are classified in numerical games (sudoku, calculation games, a grid to paint black squares depending on the file and column numbers, …) and word games (anagrams, crossword puzzles, word search puzzles, connecting dots, mazes, labyrinths, matching two sets, amidakuji, logic games, or knight's tour games). Biochemistry books often contain glossaries and word index, and usually students must learn many difficult words, including biomolecules. In Chemical degree, it is important that students also know the structure of these biomolecules. In this work, we present some examples of chained-words games. Some of these games can be difficult to prepare, as most of the biomolecules end in -ose (most carbohydrates), -ase (most enzymes), whereas not many biomolecules begin with e-. Thus, domino games can be a good option to learn two aspects of biomolecules: structure and nomenclature. Dominoes tiles contain two zones (one with a structure of a molecule, and the other with the name of another molecule). Student must fit the structure of one molecule with its name, thus learning both structure and name. Depending on the dominoes, this game can be played individually or in groups of students. The game was very appreciated by all our students. [For the full proceedings, see ED630948.]

As a nation strives to meet the challenges posed by globalization, which is an issue of the information economy, its strength relies heavily on its citizens' intellectual prowess and critical thinking skills. Thus, institutions of teacher education play a key role in producing teachers who will be able to meet the needs of the time, with empathy, while promoting critical thinking, creative ability and the value system as a priority. Educating teachers to incorporate soft skills is critical for the profession's success. The term 'soft skills' refers to a wide range of personal and interpersonal attributes that are aimed at transforming the individual as well as society as a whole (Apple, 1996). The purpose of this research is to highlight the degree of preparation of future teachers in four large primary education universities in respective European countries. To achieve this, a mixed-mode technique was used by the researcher (questionnaires and semi-structured interviews) to gather information. The target group came from the teaching staff at the faculties of education in four European countries (Spain, Romania, France and Greece). Ten academics from each nation were handpicked to participate in face-to-face interviews. At the same time, the teaching staff of the teacher training departments participated in a focus group, in groups of 5 people each. The most crucial soft skills in their teaching profession were identified to be social skills. [For the complete Volume 20 proceedings, see ED622631.]