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The collection of teaching evaluation questionnaires in the traditional paper-and-pencil format is a costly and time-consuming process and yet it is a common assessment practice in many university systems. Web-based data collection would reduce costs and significantly increase the efficiency of the overall evaluation process in numerous ways. Results for both types of surveys are reported from two years of progressive introduction of the web-based survey by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. In the first year, two faculties representing scientific and humanistic fields were selected for a web-based survey. In the second year, eight out of 12 faculties took part in the web survey. This data collection strategy allowed for responses from non-attending students and facilitated a comparison of attitudes between attending and non-attending students. (Contains 1 note and 8 tables.)

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an easy-to-use yet powerful tool to assess the organizational readiness to adopt effective Smart Working (SW). In light of this main objective, based on the current state of research, the study develops a maturity model to assess the SW organizational readiness (SWOR). The SWOR maturity model consists of three dimensions, each of them further detailed into two sub-dimensions. A tool was developed to make use of the model. Design/methodology/approach: The SWOR maturity model was converted into a Web-based questionnaire that includes 54 questions based on 44 items to operationalize the model sub-dimensions. The questionnaire was used in a survey conducted at the Local Health Authority (ASL) of the province of Bari (Italy). Findings: Several implications derive from the present study. From a managerial perspective, the SWOR maturity model supports companies in the as-is analysis of processes, technologies and human resources, which are the enablers of an effective SW, and in the development of a roadmap to achieve a desired "to-be" situation. Originality/value: Despite recent studies on SW have identified the key drivers that affect the success of SW implementation, there is a lack of models and tools that help companies become aware of the actions and investments to be taken to move towards an effective SW adoption. Even the analysis of the literature on maturity models reveals a gap in the research related to the assessment of SW organizational readiness. The present paper tries to overcome these limitations.

This paper makes available to the broader educational community the instruments which have been originally designed and validated within the European project "CLIL for all: Attention to diversity in bilingual education" ("ADiBE") to determine how diversity is being catered to across a broad array of CLIL contexts in European Secondary Education (Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). They include three sets of questionnaires, interviews, and observation protocols and are qualitative and quantitative instruments whose design has been based on the latest research and which have undergone a carefully controlled double-fold pilot process for their validation (external ratings approach and pilot phase with a representative sample of 264 subjects). The questions included in the three sets of instruments are initially characterized, together with their format and main categories. The paper then details the steps undertaken for their research-based design and the double-fold pilot process followed for their validation. The questionnaires and interview and observation protocols are then presented in a format which is directly applicable in any CLIL classroom in order to determine the accessibility of bilingual programs for all types of achievers and to identify the chief difficulties and best practices in promoting inclusion in bilingual education.

This paper describes the author's experience with a pilot course of Italian in SL®[superscript 2]. The course is part of a PhD research on "Exploring the potential of virtual worlds to promote Intercultural Awareness in students learning Italian as a Foreign Language." In the paper the author will justify her choice of virtual worlds for the development of language competence and Intercultural Awareness and will present some results of her activity theoretical analysis of the data. Problematic areas and potential moments for the development of Intercultural Awareness were highlighted during the analysis. [Paper presented at the European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL) Annual Conference (Nottingham, United Kingdom, Aug 31-Sep 3, 2011).]

The growing numbers of mobile students over the years made the provision of student services a key topic of interest for higher education institutions. In order to offer a better experience for international students, it is important to be aware of and assess their needs in relation to different sets of support services. The data used in this paper were gathered through the ESNsurvey 2016 project, a research venture focused on the experiences of participants in short-term student mobility in Europe. Responses were collected from 12,365 international students, who have participated in a short-term (3-12 months) study period abroad mostly through Europe's most promoted mobility program called ERASMUS+. For the purpose of this paper, the focus was only on the aspect of host university support services. The comments of 2,012 students about their experiences were analyzed using a probabilistic methodology known as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). The findings reveal that some international students' concerns are not fully addressed by higher education institutions. The main problem areas identified with respect to host support services were admission, living costs, including accommodation and money concerns, and IT and bank issues. It is strongly recommended that universities address the problematic areas through student support services by assessing international students' opinions and needs.

Objective. To evaluate the validity, in terms of the patients’ acceptance, preference, feasibility and reliability of an innovative, interactive computerized system for collection of patient-reported outcome (PRO) data on axial SpA against the paper-and-pencil version.Methods. Fifty-five patients with axial SpA completed both the touch screen and the paper-and-pencil set of questionnaires. A computerized touch-screen system, SPEAMonitor, was developed to capture PRO data. Variables recorded included demographic data, patient’s assessment of general health status, BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI and acute-phase reactant levels. In order to assess the patient’s acceptance of, preference for and feasibility of computer-based questionnaires, the participants filled in an additional questionnaire. The time taken to complete both formats was measured. In a further test–retest study, 25 patients were re-evaluated.Results. The agreement between the paper-administered and computer touch-screen format of the BASFI, BASDAI questionnaires and the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Scores was excellent. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between data ranged from 0.90 to 0.96. Additionally the test–retest study showed a very good agreement between the scores for the two administrations (ICC ≥ 0.90). Age, computer experience and education level had no significant impact on the results. The computerized questionnaires were reported to be easier to use. The mean time spent completing the questionnaires on a touch screen was 5.1 min and on paper 7.9 min.Conclusion. Our newly developed computer-assisted touch-screen questionnaires for PRO in axial SpA were well accepted by patients, with good data quality, reliability and score agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aim: The aim of this paper is to share the initial experiences on a European Union (EU) Lifelong Learning Programme Leonardo Da Vinci Transfer of Innovation Project related to the use of simulation-based learning with nursing students from Turkey. The project started at the end of the 2010 involving 7 partners from 3 different countries including Turkey, England, and Italy. Methods: This project is divided into 7 work packages (WP). In this paper, experiences from the first three WPs (WP1: Preparation and dissemination of the project. WP2: Regulation of the project management. WP3: Development of the evaluation tools used to evaluate the impact of the innovative practice within the coordinating partner's institution) are shared. Results: In the WP1 and WP2: the kick-off meeting was organized in Turkey, the coordinating partner's country. During the meeting project-related events were planned and the steering committee of the project was formed. A strong team spirit within the partnership was established. For the dissemination of the project, a poster and flier of the project were prepared and placed on corporate boards visible to students and teaching staff and put on the partners' institutional websites. Regular bulletins of the project were also prepared and posted on the project website. In the WP3, student data sheet, items for students' satisfaction questionnaire and confidence scale were created based on the literature. Trauma patient scenarios (abdominal trauma, thoracic trauma, pelvic fracture and traumatic amputation) were created to test the target group's knowledge. Ethical approval was obtained from the coordinating partner institution. A pilot study to test the cases was conducted. Following the pilot study, the final version of the student data sheet and scenario cases was created. The second meeting was organized in Italy. In this meeting, the results of the pilot study, the scenario cases, and the Patient Intervention Self Confidence/Competence Scale were evaluated. Conclusion: The work on this EU project is still in progress. Considering that learning from experience is an important part of nursing education, sharing experiences on such a project related to using simulation as an innovative teaching strategy in nursing education in Turkey should provide an example to others who want to develop other EU projects in nursing education.

With the advent of web 2.0 and the ease of use of many hand-held devices, access to the internet has never been easier. This has been accompanied by a growing range of sites available for learning an L2. These sites offer lessons, explanations, exercises, corrections and feedback. It now becomes time once again to question whether physical bricks and mortar language centres are necessary any longer, or whether the language centre can now be held in the palm of our hands. With special regard to English, this paper reports on a survey carried out at a university language centre in the south of Italy, where students are regularly involved in face-to-face lessons, but whose courses also involve guided use of websites and independent use of websites outside of the confines of the language centre. The survey is designed to investigate how students react to these different EFL learning scenarios and what they feel the future holds in store for us concerning the use of language centres. Finally, by uniting the strands of the student's perspective of one particular case and ideas from the literature, this paper attempts to give a clear picture of what a language centre contributes to academic life, with the aim of contributing to the discussion of what the future holds for these centres.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how educators can teach the key competence of a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship (SIE) as a cross-curricular subject in compulsory education. It draws both on the literature relating to entrepreneurial education and on competence-based education to set out five features of entrepreneurial teaching. For illustrative purposes, these five characteristics are explored in a questionnaire put to a small group of teaching staff. Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a qualitative approach, seeking to understand the personal perspectives of participants, and drawing out the complexities of their behaviour, whilst also providing a holistic interpretation of such behaviour. Findings: The literature review identifies five features of entrepreneurial teaching--embedding learning outcomes for an SIE within taught subjects; active entrepreneurial teaching; educating for entrepreneurial attitudes; networking activities; being entrepreneurial as part of lifelong learning. It can be hypothesised that teaching staff teach different aspects of the SIE depending on the subject they teach (vocational or more traditional) and their role (teacher or workshop assistant). Originality/value: Development of the SIE and the five characteristics of entrepreneurial teaching is a first step towards understanding how secondary vocational teachers and workshop assistants understand and teach the SIE as cross-curricular subject. In line with Fayolle and Gailly who called for deeper investigation of the most effective combinations of objectives, content and teaching methods, the paper seeks to establish a relationship between teaching methods, development of entrepreneurial attitudes and assessment.

The increasing complexity of the new breed of distributed intelligent systems, such as the Internet of Things, which require a diversity of languages and protocols, can only be tamed with design and programming best practices. Interest is also growing for including the human factor, as advocated by the "ambient intelligence" (AmI) research field, whose focus is on transparently and intelligently supporting people. These new design methodologies are increasingly needed in the toolbox of new electronic and computer engineers, and teaching strategies should be devised that allow students to acquire a systems-level view instead of getting lost in technology-oriented approaches. This paper describes a study carried out over two academic years, in a course in AmI at Politecnico di Torino, Italy. In the course, a project-based learning approach was adopted, in which students design and prototype an AmI system, and their progress is closely monitored throughout the semester. This paper presents the learning goals and teaching strategies, analyzes the learning outcomes from the qualitative and quantitative points of view, and highlights the lessons learned in the process.

The aim of this paper is to explore how a shift in the language of teaching and learning can lead university lecturers of a range of disciplines to reflect on and innovate their teaching approaches. The paper is based on a case study of a single university in the north of Italy which is gradually becoming a bilingual higher education institute. Through a thematic analysis of questionnaire and interview data gathered from 53 lecturers who attended professional development courses designed to support them in this move, the authors show how for many lecturers this language shift has offered an opportunity to collectively reflect on their pedagogic approach and become more aware of student needs, as well as their own. This study focuses on a single university, but it helps to shed light on the challenges, implications and also the potential that a language shift can bring. The findings suggest that professional development to support lecturers should be designed to address not only language needs but also to offer space for reflection on practice and to raise awareness of the "inherent multilingualism" of higher education (van der Walt, Christa. 2013. "Multilingual Higher Education: Beyond English Medium Orientations." Bristol: Multilingual Matters.).

The aim of this paper is to focus reader's attention on "mobile" use of iTunesU and USiena model, as future compensatory tools. Starting from multimedia learning theories, a mobile course model has been designed (USiena model) and the experimental method has been used to carry out a "pilot study" with 32 dyslexic students. The goal of experimentation was to investigate how iTunesU associated with USiena model influences learning. The experimental hypothesis was that the proposed design solution would favor the contents transmission compared to the "talking book" improving learning and proposing (iTunesU and USiena model) as a possible compensatory tool for the future. Two audio contents have been recorded, two video contents have been produced (with USiena model) and the learning level has been compared. The obtained results confirmed the experimental hypothesis.

Purpose: This paper aims to propose an explorative metamodel of the key organizational competences management and presents a Web-based tool (Co.S.M.O.© Competences Software Management for Organizations) for all-around assessment of the identified competences. Design/methodology/approach: Building on the Great Eight Competencies Model- GEC, the European Qualifications Framework-EQF and focus group feedback, an online questionnaire was developed to manage the key organizational competences and to adapt the competence metamodel to the Italian context. Findings: The competence metamodel described in this study and its newly designed tool (software with online questionnaire) could be used at the organizational level to improve productivity and efficiency by allowing an easy identification of key organizational competences and facilitating their acquisition and sharing. Research limitations/implications: Currently, the metamodel is mainly theoretical and the software sustained only a partial validation. Practical implications: The developed tool is a dynamic, easy to use and interactive Web-based software useful for managing the competences in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Social implications: European official documents invite companies and institutions to work together and share human capital: the European Qualifications Framework-EQF, at the base of this model, facilitates a common organizational language for human resources management. Originality/value: Managerial competence literature indicates that a comprehensive model capturing a link between the EQF and a managerial competence model has not yet been considered in the literature.

This paper is based on work done at IdeaSquare, a new innovation experiment at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The paper explores the translation of fundamental research into societal applications with the help of multidisciplinary student teams, project- and problem-based learning and design thinking methods. The theme is approached through challenge based innovation (CBI), a pilot course coordinated by IdeaSquare in 2013-2014 in collaboration with three universities. The approach, including a visit to CERN, appears to motivate the participating students to really strong, self-directed learning and can produce new, innovative concepts for societal applications with an inspirational connection to CERN. As a result of their iterative development, the student teams created two concepts: EDUMIND to help autistic kids to communicate through augmented reality technology, and CMPRSSD to use advanced data processing to record and compress project meetings. Both of the projects were also developed further by their stakeholders after the course.

English-medium instruction (EMI) is increasingly being introduced not only in universities in northern Europe but also in central and southern countries, such as Italy. However, the competences and concerns of the lecturers involved are not always considered when such developments are introduced, and support or training may not be offered. This paper reports on a survey on EMI to which 115 lecturers in a public university in northern Italy responded. The survey was carried out by the university's Language Centre as part of the LEAP (Learning English for Academic Purposes) Project, which was developed to support lecturers in EMI. The survey sought to identify what the lecturers perceived as their strengths and weakness in English, their concerns, and also their evaluations of the experience of teaching through English if they had any. The findings discussed in this paper shed light on the needs of lecturers who are involved in EMI, which relate to methodology as well as language issues. The implications of this for European university language centres intending to support EMI at their universities are discussed in the conclusion.

The problem of taking a data set and separating it into subgroups, where the members of each subgroup are more similar to each other than they are to members outside the subgroup, has been extensively studied in science and mathematics education research. Student responses to written questions and multiple-choice tests have been characterised and studied using several qualitative and/or quantitative analysis methods. However, there are inherent difficulties in the categorisation of student responses in the case of open-ended questionnaires. Very often, researcher bias means that the categories picked out tend to find the groups of students that the researcher is seeking out. In this paper, we discuss an example of application of a quantitative, non-hierarchical analysis method to interpret the answers given by 118 Tenth Grade students in Palermo (Italy), to six open-ended questions about algebraic thinking. We show that the use of non-hierarchical analysis allows us to interpret the reasoning of students solving different mathematical problems using Algebra, and to separate them into different groups, that can be recognised and characterised by common traits in their answers, without any prior knowledge on the part of the researcher of what form those groups would take (unbiased classification).

The ECO European Project funded by the European Commission is dedicated to bringing MOOCs to a new dimension by taking advantage of the new possibilities offered by the Social Web (O'Reilly, 2005). This paper focuses on the intercreative aspects of MOOCs. It takes a look at the characteristics of the new ECO MOOCs to see if they are designed and implemented within an intercreative environment. The methodology is quantitative and data collection was conducted using self-administered questionnaires with closed or semi-closed questions. This study includes the so-called sMOOCs, which stress intercreativity to work towards collective intelligence.

This paper presents the framework of an intensive programme (IP) organised by UNESCO and addressed to young graduate professionals to prepare them for a career in fields related to sustainability. The aims of the IP were to address participants' environmental awareness and to develop attitudes and skills related to environmental planning and management. This paper focuses on the methodological aspects of the educational activities and on the setting in which the activities were delivered. Teaching methods based on a learner-centred approach were used in the training. During the activities, 17 participants were provided the opportunity to experience various aspects of environmental integration and sustainability principles in key sectors of planning procedures in the Lonjsko Polje Nature Park (Croatia). The activities were evaluated using quantitative and qualitative tools such as the environmental education questionnaire, the training quality and involvement questionnaire and two focus groups with participants. The results showed the relevance of the setting and the methods applied to develop environmental awareness and skills related to managing sustainability issues. Implications for future research about educational programmes based on the development of sustainability principles are discussed.

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to analyse the use of Communities of Practice and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance knowledge sharing between researchers and advisors. The associated research question is to what extent ICT supported a virtual Community of Practice and has been effective in counteracting fragmentation between research and advisory systems in terms of knowledge sharing between these two pillars of the Italian Agricultural Knowledge System (AKS). Design/Methodology/approach: The paper uses a mixed methods approach: a questionnaire submitted to the Community of Practice participants on their experiences, observation of interaction between Community of Practice participants and data on the use of the ICT platform. Findings: The ICT supported Community of Practice approach appears to improve knowledge sharing between researchers and advisors, and also draws in other actors of the broader Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System in which the AKS is embedded. However, ICT based tools alone are not sufficient and need to be complemented with face-to-face (non-virtual) interactions. A clear theoretical implication of this study is that this is an iterative process in which virtual and non-virtual interaction mutually reinforce each other: ICT interaction spurs real life and face-to-face interaction, and ICT supports follow-up on real life face-to-face interaction. Practical Implications: Communities of Practice can be a useful tool for knowledge sharing between research and advisory systems, but should have a degree of flexibility in terms of the topics they address and should accommodate new members when appropriate. ICT is supportive, but should be complemented by real life meetings. Originality/Value: The paper connects recent frameworks of the use of Communities of Practice with literature on ICT in agriculture and adds insights on the contribution of combining virtual and non-virtual interaction in Communities of Practice aimed at knowledge sharing.

This paper focuses on a generational change taking place in the Polish academic profession: a change in behaviors and attitudes between two groups of academics. One was socialized to academia under the communist regime (1945-1989) and the other entered the profession in the post-1989 transition period. Academics of all age groups are beginning to learn how tough the competition for research funding is, but young academics ("academics under 40"), being the target of recent policy initiatives, need to learn faster. Current reforms present a clear preferred image for a new generation of Polish academics: highly motivated, embedded in international research networks, publishing mostly internationally, and heavily involved in the competition for academic recognition and research funding. In the long run, without such a radical approach, any international competition between young Polish academics (with a low research orientation and high teaching hours) and their young Western European colleagues (with a high research orientation and low teaching hours) seems inconceivable, as our data on the average academic productivity clearly demonstrate. The quantitative background of this paper comes from 3704 returned questionnaires and the qualitative background from 60 semi-structured in-depth interviews. The paper takes a European comparative approach and contrasts Poland with 10 Western European countries (using 17,211 returned questionnaires).

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the user experience of young people with video content accessed through different technological artefacts. Design/methodology/approach: To this purpose, an essay has been assigned to the pupils of two lower secondary school classes (mean age 12 years) to know their diverse types of usage of multimedia content in their everyday lives. These compositions have been analysed using a plurality of text analysis tools to find out both the preferred artefacts and their mutual relationships. Findings: The results are here presented giving emphasis to qualitative and methodological aspects. Practical implications: The analysis is to be intended as a preliminary field research study mainly oriented to testing the visualization power of the selected technical tools, primarily network text analysis, in the context of children exposure to video content made available by today's information and communication technologies. Originality/value: The originality of the paper is characterized by methods used to analyse quantitative data derived from textual compositions of children.

The present paper explores the transformative learning of five pre-service teachers participating in a two-week study abroad program to Reggio Emilia, Italy. The study was conducted in order to understand how a study abroad program could contribute to pre-service teachers' content knowledge, teaching practices, and global competence. Through a phenomenological research design, participants' lived experiences and the meanings they made of those experiences during study abroad were collected, analyzed, and coded. Conclusions, discussions, and recommendations for further research are also included.

The present paper describes an experience of science theatre addressed to children of primary and secondary school, with the main purpose of making them acquainted with a topic, the interior of the Earth, largely underestimated in compulsory school curricula worldwide. A not less important task was to encourage a positive attitude towards natural hazards that are here presented as an expression of our planet vitality. We conducted the experience with the help of a theatrical company specialized in shows for children, trying to merge scientific accuracy, entertainment and ethical issues. Several performances have been reiterated in different context, giving us the opportunity of conducting a preliminary survey with a public of different ages, skills and expectations. Results suggest that science theatre, while relying on creativity and emotional learning has the potential to raise children interest on the process of making science, on natural phenomena and may trigger a positive attitude on natural disasters reduction best practices.

The CEFR encourages teachers to resort to task-based activities in the language classroom. However, some resistance has been offered to this approach, due to lack of appropriate training and difficulty in meeting some basic practical conditions, as well as in finding resources and examples of good practices, as shown in a survey conducted within the scope of ETALAGE. PETALL (Pan European Task-based Activities in Language Learning [2013-2016]) seeks to construct a transnational strategy for ICT-based task design management and aims to design tasks that can be implemented in different educational contexts. This paper offers an overview of the internal evaluation procedures to be followed at different levels and stages of the project, and discusses the objectives, underlying principles and criteria applied.

This paper describes three case studies, where language learners were invited to use "LingoBee" as a means of supporting their language learning. LingoBee is a mobile app that provides user-generated language content in a cloud-based shared repository. Assuming that today's students are mobile savvy and "Digital Natives" able to engage in language learning autonomously using technology, initial studies were conducted with little or no intervention by the language teachers. However, the support and guidance provided within a teacher-led context can impact positively on learner engagement and use of LingoBee. The authors discuss this hypothesis using three case studies conducted in three European countries, within the EU LLP project SIMOLA, Situated Mobile Language Learning. This paper answers the research question: Does the level of the support and guidance, pedagogical approach and prior learning impact on learners' engagement and use of LingoBee? An earlier version of this paper was presented at the IADIS Mobile Learning 2013 conference.

The paper aims at detecting the association between students' bullying victimization at school and some psychological dimensions, referred to academic self-concept (for both Mathematics and Reading), learning motivation (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, commitment to study) and test anxiety. A questionnaire including these measures was completed by 3372 students (51.1% boys and 48.9% girls, mostly aged from 11 to 14 years) at grade 6 (n = 1082), 7 (n = 1113) and 8 (n = 1177), coming from 54 middle schools of Southern Italy. T-tests are used for establishing differences in psychological dimensions between groups of students that experienced bullying and those who did not. In order to check the robustness of our findings and evaluate whether bullying victimization could be actually considered a determinant of these psychological measures, linear regression is used to predict each variable, also controlling for gender and grade level. Results confirm most of the research findings on the correlates of bullying victimization: being victim of peer bullying strongly reduces academic self-concept (both in Mathematics and Reading) and commitment to study, whilst tends to increase both extrinsic motivation and test anxiety rates, independently from gender and grade level. No impact, indeed, is revealed on both Math and Reading intrinsic motivation.

This paper has as its aim to analyze how CityVille, a videogame hosted on Facebook and oriented to the construction of a virtual city, can favor collaboration between gamers along with the exchange of strategies, equally contributing to learning transfer and skill acquisition. The first step consists in identifying the opportunities which the said game can offer in order to develop skills and promote learning formats linked with planning and resource management, after which a presentation is made of the opinions expressed by a sample of gamers (N = 105)--belonging to the Fans-CityVille community--about the priorities established by them to communicate with their neighbors and the skills that they believe to have acquired playing this game. 85.7% of them state that they communicate with others to share strategies and expand their city. Unlike women, who value collaboration, men prioritize competition. Designing their city has enhanced a number of gamer skills in different proportions: creative skills (71.4%); organizational ones (68.0%); skills associated with decision-making and problem-solving (67.0%); and interpersonal skills through interaction with others (61.9%). The CityVille game mode favors skill development and helps to create a ludic atmosphere of collaboration and optimal strategy exchange through communication between neighbors by strengthening their mutual relationships. Its formula moves away from the often-criticized competitive practices of other games.

A relevant aim of research in education is to find and study the reasoning lines that students deploy when dealing with problematic situations. This can be done through an analysis of the answers students give to a questionnaire. In this paper, we discuss some methodological aspects involved in the quantitative analysis of a questionnaire by means of two different clustering methods, a hierarchical one and a nonhierarchical one. We start from the coding procedures needed to obtain analyzable data from the questionnaire and from a definition of a correlation coefficient suitable for measuring student similarity in the case of binary coding of student answers. Then, criteria to choose the optimal number of clusters are discussed, and for the same purpose a new coefficient is introduced that measures the total amount of information we can obtain from a clustering solution. We show that each cluster can be characterized by its centroid that summarizes the answers most frequently given by the cluster students to the questionnaire. Finally, an example of the application of these procedures to a student sample is given, and a comparison between the two clustering methods is discussed.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the difference between formal and real school autonomy in the Italian educational system. The Italian case is characterised by low levels of school autonomy. It is interesting to consider whether heterogeneity of patterns is possible in this context. A description of this heterogeneity is provided through archetypes. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is a qualitative survey conducted among school principals. A non-standardised questionnaire was completed by 35 principals. The collected data were examined in accordance with the framework dimensions (different features of school autonomy) and three archetypes were identified. Findings: The three archetypes of schools identified are: first, entrepreneurial (the strategies followed and the tools used are broader than those that the law prescribes); second, chaotic (different actors express their opinions but, ultimately, there is no shared decision at the school level); and third, bureaucratic (the school's principal thinks that nothing can be done without legal prescription). Originality/value: Through a new case (the Italian educational system), this paper contributes to the stream of literature on the disconnect between formal and real school autonomy. This paper can help policy makers to improve understanding of the characteristics and internal heterogeneity of the educational system. (Contains 2 figures, 3 tables, and 1 note.)

This paper investigates the potential of mobile learning for creativity in and out of school with a focus on media production. In doing so it attempts to move beyond binary choices around the nature of creativity (e.g., individual vs social) and the role of technologies for creative learning. To this end, it presents the literature on how creativity has been conceptualized, especially in education, and provides the theoretical underpinnings that supported the study by referring to the Vygotskyan perspective of creativity as a transformative process of culture and the self. It then moves to a description of three experiences addressing young people and entailing the creation of digital artifacts through mobile devices. It also presents some results, exploring learners' and teachers' perspectives and showing how mobile devices serve as cultural resources that young people use for meaning making and transforming themselves. The paper concludes with some recommendations for future research.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of governance and managerial characteristics of schools. More specifically, the aim is to individuate the factors that are associated to higher schools' performances, as measured through student achievement. Design/methodology/approach: The research is conducted by means of a survey in the private junior-secondary schools in one Italian region (Lombardy). Findings: The results show that some features characterize the group of "high-performing" schools: the presence of structured tests to measure student' achievement; specific services for disabled and foreign students; a high level of principal's autonomy in strategic decision making; the use of assessment for defining strategies; and a high collaborative attitude among teachers. Research limitations/implications: The present paper focused only on the private sector, because non-public schools benefit from a substantial autonomy in their organizational and managerial profile. Some of the indicators collected in this study could be included in the Italian standardized tests' protocol, by creating an "ad hoc" school's questionnaire. Originality/value: This paper answers to the call by educational research, applied economic research and present institutional assessment activities for a renewed desire to build reliable indicators about schools' performance in Italy. In this paper an analytical framework is developed to collect relevant information about schools' characteristics. (Contains 10 tables, 1 figure and 1 note.)

Metacognition is a good predictor of University students' achievement and should be more systematically considered since it might also help reduce student drop outs. In particular drop out is a dramatic problem for Italian Universities since it may concern more than 40% of students. The identification of factors that lead to academic failure and of remedial programs seems, therefore, necessary. The present paper examines the role of metacognitive aspects in more than 1,000 freshmen who participated in a project at the University of Calabria, in the South of Italy. Students at the beginning of the academic year completed two Questionnaires, concerning their study skills and other personal characteristics, and then followed a 10-hour metacognitive training course on the study and personal skills necessary for succeeding at university. A few months later, students again completed the Study Skills Questionnaire and, at the end of the year, information was collected on their achievements. Results showed that significant predictors of the students' achievement were perceived self-efficacy, and other self-regulatory and motivational constructs. Furthermore, the training was able to change the students' perceived ability to use study strategies and to process study material in a more in-depth manner.

Digital Storytelling (DST) is a powerful tool for teaching complex concepts. DSTs are typically used in the humanities but several papers have shown that they are also a wonderful tool for the sciences because they are more involving, contextualized and can easily lead to deeper understanding. In the classical use of DST the story is the content, while the digital medium is the way of telling it. Our approach is slightly different: the story is not the content but a glue for the main contents, while the digital medium remains the way to tell the story. We propose the use of DST as a means to teach surgeons the basics of robotic surgery, by using a story that should be involving for them, i.e. a surgical operation, within which we will illustrate specific concepts on robotics in surgery.

Purpose: This paper aims to measure students' perceptions of value that are influenced by differences in costs (monetary and non-monetary), students' attitudes and socio-demographic features. It seeks to investigate the components of the university value that affects students' choice. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was developed in order to measure students' beliefs and perceptions about the offer and service attributes of the university. All variables, primarily drawn from the literature, were measured using multiple items. ANOVA and a PLS regression was used to investigate the effects of the various value dimensions as perceived by students. Findings: The findings suggest that, although universities could improve student retention by attempting to increase their level of satisfaction, their efforts will be more effective if focussed on demonstrating the way that the service provided has helped their customers to achieve their objectives, highlighting the strategic importance of the social value. Research limitations/implications: Despite the limitations, such as the sample size and the convenience sampling strategy, future research should be addressed to define the student lifetime value from both the university and the student point of view. Additionally, it could be interesting to investigate a kind of "student equity" as a function of: student satisfaction, student sacrifice and word-of-mouth. Originality/value: Since little empirical research concerning student value and its formation exists, this paper develops a value approach that measures the total student experience. Moreover, very few studies exist in the Italian context, which proves to be interesting due to the recent changes in the university system structure. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper concerns an empirical study carried out with a group of high school physics teachers engaged in the Module on relativity of a Master course on the teaching of modern physics. The study is framed within the general research issue of how to promote innovation in school via teachers' education and how to foster fruitful interactions between research and school practice via the construction of networks of researchers and teachers. In the paper, the problems related to innovation are addressed by focusing on the phase during which teachers analyze an innovative teaching proposal in the perspective of designing their own paths for the class work. The proposal analyzed in this study is Taylor and Wheeler's approach for teaching special relativity. The paper aims to show that the roots of problems known in the research literature about teachers' difficulties in coping with innovative proposals, and usually related to the implementation process, can be found and addressed already when teachers approach the proposal and try to appropriate it. The study is heuristic and has been carried out in order to trace the "appropriation path," followed by the group of teachers, in terms of the main steps and factors triggering the progressive evolution of teachers' attitudes and competences.

This paper deals with the potential failure of evaluation in Italian universities and shows how it risks slipping towards ritual behaviour. The study uses empirical data collected with a closed answer questionnaire and a series of open interviews with top-level university representatives and evaluators to examine the real and potential influence of six critical factors that literature indicates as being responsible for the failure of evaluation systems. The three most significant elements shown by our data are internal governance, which is disinclined to use evaluation output; the presence of conflicts of interest among evaluators; and the limited scope of the methodologies used for producing effective evaluation output. In conclusion, the paper gives some indications for preventing and keeping at bay crisis phenomena and the degeneration of evaluation. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)

Background: Involvement in research activities is complex in pediatric nursing and allied health professionals (AHPs). It is important to understand which individual factors are associated with it to inform policy makers in promoting research. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to describe the level of participation in research activities over the last ten years of nurses and AHPs working in a tertiary pediatric hospital. A large sample of nurses and AHPs working in an Italian academic tertiary pediatric hospital completed an online self-report questionnaire between June and December 2018. Three multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to predict participation in research projects, speaking at conferences, and writing scientific articles. Results: Overall, data from 921 health professionals were analyzed (response rate = 66%), of which about 21% (n = 196) reported participating in a research project, while 33% (n = 297) had attended a scientific conference as a speaker, and 11% (n = 94) had written at least one scientific paper. Having a Master or a Regional Advanced Course, working as an AHP or a ward manager, as well as regularly reading scientific journals and participation in an internal hospital research group or attendance in a specific course about research in the hospital, significantly predicted participation in research projects, speaking at conferences and writing scientific papers. It is important to foster research interest and competencies among health professionals to improve participation in research projects, speaking at conferences, and writing scientific papers. Conclusions: Overall, we found a good level of attendance at conferences as speakers (33%), a moderate level of participation in research (21%), and low levels for writing scientific papers (11%). Our study highlighted the need to support participation in research activities among nurses and AHPs. Policymakers should identify strategies to promote research among nurses and AHPs, such as protected rewarded time for research, specific education, strengthened collaboration with academics, and financial support. Moreover, hospital managers should promote the development of research culture among health professionals, to improve their research competencies and evidence-based practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate career change intention and its predictors among career change seekers interested in a career opportunity in the information technology (IT) industry. Design/methodology/approach: Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to predict career change intention in this group. In addition, we examined the role of professional identity in predicting career change intention. Data were collected in a sample of 225 aspiring IT professionals from four European countries: Austria, Greece, Italy and The Netherlands. Findings: The findings showed that among four variables assumed to predict career change intention, only professional identity appeared to be a significant predictor. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited by the use of career change seekers registered in one web-based recruiting system. Originality/value: The paper suggests a higher importance of professional identity in prediction of career change intention compared to other factors that constitute Ajzen's theory of planned behavior. (Contains 4 tables.)

This paper presents the main results of a recent survey of private higher education institutions from twelve selected European countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia) [in the framework of the UNESCO-CEPES project on "Private Higher Education in Europe and Quality Assurance and Accreditation from the Perspectives of the Bologna process Objectives," designed and implemented in collaboration with "Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management (LKAEM) and the World Bank"]. After a brief review of the current incidence of private education in the selected European countries, the authors give a description of the survey. Then the main findings are structured according to the nine goals of the Bologna Process and their corresponding level of implementation in private higher education institutions, and also to provide comparisons with public higher education institutions. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results and with some general remarks about the role of private higher education institutions in building the EHEA. (Contains 14 tables, 12 footnotes and 3 figures.)

This paper presents the experienced difficulties of students participating in the multidisciplinary, remote collaborating engineering design course challenge-based innovation at CERN. This is with the aim to identify learning barriers and improve future learning experiences. We statistically analyse the rated differences between distinct design activities, educational background and remote vs. co-located collaboration. The analysis is based on a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire (N = 37). Our analysis found significant ranking differences between remote and co-located activities. This questions whether the remote factor might be a barrier for the originally intended learning goals. Further a correlation between analytical and converging design phases was identified. Hence, future facilitators are suggested to help students in the transition from one design phase to the next rather than only teaching methods in the individual design phases. Finally, we discuss how educators address the identified learning barriers when designing future courses including multidisciplinary or remote collaboration.

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] Several decades of research have contributed to our understanding of students' reasoning about astronomical phenomena. Some authors have pointed out the difficulty in reading and interpreting images used in school textbooks as factors that may justify the persistence of misconceptions. However, only a few studies have investigated to what extent usual textbook images influence students' understanding of such phenomena. This study examines this issue, exploring 13-14 year old students' explanations, drawings, and conceptions about three familiar phenomena: change of seasons, Moon phases, and solar or lunar eclipses. The research questions that guided the study were (RQ1) how are students' explanations and visual representations about familiar astronomical phenomena affected by different image-support conditions? (RQ2) How are students' conceptions about familiar astronomical phenomena affected by different image-support conditions? (RQ3) Which features of the used images most affected the students' visual representations and explanations of familiar astronomical phenomena? To answer our research questions, we designed three instructional contexts under increasing support conditions: textbook images and text, teaching booklets with specially designed images and text, only text. To analyze students' drawings, we used exploratory factor analysis to deconstruct drawings into their most salient elements. To analyze students' explanations, we adopted a constant comparison method identifying different levels of increasing knowledge. To investigate students' conceptions, we used a mixed multiple-choice and true false baseline questionnaire. For RQ1, results show that the specially designed images condition was effective in helping students producing informed drawings in comparison to text-only condition for all phenomena, and more effective than textbook images condition when one considers seasonal change drawings. Concerning RQ2, the specially designed images condition was the most effective for all phenomena. Concerning RQ3, prevalent elements of astronomy images that affected students' explanations and visual representations were Earth's elliptical orbit; the position of the Sun with respect to the Moon orbit; and Sun, Moon, and Earth alignment. Our findings confirm concerns about textbook astronomy images, whose features may interfere with the identification of the relevant factors underlying the phenomena. Moreover, findings of this study suggest that affordances of the specially designed images may play an essential role in scaffolding meaningful understanding of the targeted phenomena. Implications for teaching through and learning from visual representations in astronomy education are briefly discussed.

Research in Science Education has shown that often students need to learn how to identify differences and similarities between descriptive and explicative models. The development and use of explicative skills in the field of thermal science has always been a difficult objective to reach. A way to develop analogical reasoning is to use in Science Education unifying conceptual frameworks. In this paper we describe a 20-hour workshop focused on Feynman's Unifying Approach and the two-level system. We measure its efficacy in helping undergraduate chemical engineering students explain phenomena by applying an explanatory model. Contexts involve systems for which a process is activated by thermally overcoming a well-defined potential barrier. A questionnaire containing six open-ended questions was administered to the students before instruction. A second one, similar but focused on different physical content was administered after instruction. Responses were analysed using k-means Cluster Analysis and students' inferred lines of reasoning about the analysed phenomena were studied. We conclude that students reasoning lines seem to have clearly evolved to explicative ones and it is reasonable to think that the Feynman Unifying Approach has favoured this change.

The underrepresentation of women in academe has been the focus of both academic literature and European policy-makers. However, albeit the number of female scientists has increased, true gender equality has yet to be achieved. When examining the reasons for this, we have to consider the interconnection between the expectations surrounding gender and what it means to work in the scientific profession, operating at individual, interactional, and institutional levels. This paper presents the results (and methods) of a survey exploring work-life interfaces from a gender-sensitive perspective. Our survey focused on the researchers and professors working in the medicine and engineering departments of the University of Pisa, where the gradient of female exclusion is most pronounced. The results allow for an interpretation of the "leaky pipeline" (macro level), through a gender-sensitive analysis of gender-based social obligations and those associated with the scientific profession (micro perspective), by integrating said reading through a description of the dynamics of continuous negotiation in private and public life (university) (meso level). Essentially, science is a greedy institution, as is family life, which is a problem for a woman's career, unless she is willing to make considerable concessions at home.

Although recent research has highlighted that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youths represent a resilient population, they still suffer from social stigma and oppression, being potentially at additional risk of developing negative mental health outcomes. One of the main environments where violence and harassment against this population are present is the school. Within school contexts, the impact that teachers can have on the educational experiences of LGBT youths seems to be a crucial point. This paper explored sexist, homophobic and transphobic attitudes among 438 pre-service teachers in relation to specific socio-demographic features. Results indicated that being male, heterosexual, conservative and currently religious were positively associated with sexist, homophobic, and transphobic attitudes and feelings, and having a LGBT friend was negatively associated with homophobic and transphobic attitudes and feelings. These results suggest the need to introduce specific training on the deconstruction of gender and sexual stereotypes and prejudices, to provide teachers with efficient tools to address diversity in the classrooms and to implement inclusive school policies. Suggestions for the implementation of good practices are provided.

In this paper we present the results of a research-based teaching-learning sequence on introductory quantum physics based on Feynman's sum over paths approach in the Italian high school. Our study focuses on students' understanding of two founding ideas of quantum physics, wave particle duality and the uncertainty principle. In view of recent research reporting the fragmentation of students' mental models of quantum concepts after initial instruction, we collected and analyzed data using the assessment tools provided by knowledge integration theory. Our results on the group of n = 14 students who performed the final test indicate that the functional explanation of wave particle duality provided by the sum over paths approach may be effective in leading students to build consistent mental models of quantum objects, and in providing them with a unified perspective on both the photon and the electron. Results on the uncertainty principle are less clear cut, as the improvements over traditional instruction appear less significant. Given the low number of students in the sample, this work should be interpreted as a case study, and we do not attempt to draw definitive conclusions. However, our study suggests that (i) the sum over paths approach may deserve more attention from researchers and educators as a possible route to introduce basic concepts of quantum physics in high school, and (ii) more research should be focused not only on the correctness of students' mental models on individual concepts, but also on the ability of students to connect different ideas and experiments related to quantum theory in an organized whole.

We compared the respective attitudes of pre-service teachers (PST) and in-service teachers (IST) towards bullying. A questionnaire survey was administered to 110 PST and 128 IST. Self-efficacy beliefs, external locus of causality and empathy for the victims were higher in IST than PST. Perceived seriousness of bullying and likelihood of intervention were higher in IST, but only in the case of overt bullying. In both PST and IST the perceived seriousness of the episode, whether overt or covert, was associated with greater empathy for the victim and greater propensity to intervene. In IST, only in the case of covert bullying, the perceived seriousness of the episode, empathy with the victims, and likelihood of intervention were negatively related to the recommendation of maladaptive strategies. These results, and their consequences on teachers' training programmes and school preventive intervention, are discussed.

Despite its relevance to all scientific domains, the debate surrounding the teaching of energy is still open. The main point remains the problems students have in understanding some aspects of the energy concept and in applying their knowledge to the comprehension of natural phenomena. In this paper, we present a research-based interdisciplinary approach to the teaching of energy in which the first and second laws of thermodynamics were used to interpret physical, chemical and biological processes. The contents of the three disciplines (physics, chemistry, biology) were reconstructed focusing on six basic aspects of energy (forms, transfer, transformation, conservation, degradation, and entropy) and using common teaching methodologies. The module was assessed with 39 secondary school students (aged 15-16) using a 30-question research instrument and a treatment/control group methodology. Analysis of students' learning outcomes suggests a better understanding of the energy concept, supporting the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary approach in the teaching of energy in physics and science in general. Implications for the teaching of energy are briefly discussed.