Search

This paper reports an exploratory, descriptive study on the emotions of content and language-integrated learning preservice teachers. The study, carried out in a Spanish university, aimed at analysing the internship experience of 19 preservice teachers in the context of a master's degree in bilingual education (Spanish-English) for primary and secondary school teachers to determine the emotions experienced and the causative factors. The participants completed a questionnaire which showed that positive emotions were more frequent than negative ones. The variable causing such feelings included the subject taught, the sex of the teaching staff, previous experience, attitudes of educational centre tutors, and the students themselves. Therefore, the study highlights the affective dimension of teaching content and language-integrated learning.

The use of technology in education has modified teaching and learning processes. New concepts such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are changing traditional learning. The purpose of STEM education is to prepare students for university engineering courses and higher technical education. The main aim of the study reported on here was to understand the influence of a STEM-based teaching process in different socio-educational dimensions. This was done by comparing the results achieved with a traditional expository teaching process with different groups of students. A quasi-experimental design was applied. A sample of 231 Spanish students from the first year of secondary education (ESO) was chosen. The results show that the STEM approach was significant in all the dimensions of study and, according to teachers, was more influential for student motivation and grades. The results also show that the STEM teaching approach was significant in all the dimensions of study. These dimensions are motivation; teacher-student, student-content and student-student interactions; autonomy; collaboration; depth of content; resolution of problems; class time, student ratings; and teacher ratings. According to teachers, the strongest influence was on the students' motivation and qualifications.

Introduction: The main objective of this research was to analyze the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and victimization and aggression through social networks in adolescents. Bullying causes situations of conflict between students and teachers, being currently a phenomenon of great importance in the socio-educational environment requiring special attention, where EI acts as a protective mechanism against such situations, which differs in relation to gender and socio-family environment. Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and ex post facto study was carried out. The sample consisted of 126 students between 15 and 17 years of age, 51.6% male and 48.4% female; differentiations are established according to this as part of the study method. The instruments used were the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Inventory, the School Victimization Scale, and the Scale of aggressions through cell phones and the Internet (CYB-AG), using IBM SPSS software for statistical analysis. Results: The results obtained confirmed that the subjects who had suffered bullying or cyberbullying had a slightly lower level of EI and that, although traditionally the relationship between bully-bullied was emphasized, there are more factors that affect these cases with gender. Given that a higher score in EI is presented in the case of the female gender than in the male gender, being more significant in the stress management dimension. Discussion or Conclusion: The school and the family must work together to prevent peer violence, because it has serious consequences on those who suffer it. School bullying not only influences to a great extent the EI of the victims, but also bullying is determined by the low EI of the aggressors, certainly in relation to the management of stress.

A diagnosis of autism typically depends on clinical assessments by highly trained professionals. This high resource demand poses a challenge in low-resource settings. Digital assessment of neurodevelopmental symptoms by non-specialists provides a potential avenue to address this challenge. This cross-sectional case-control field study establishes proof of principle for such a digital assessment. We developed and tested an app, START, that can be administered by non-specialists to assess autism phenotypic domains (social, sensory, motor) through child performance and parent reports. N = 131 children (2-7 years old; 48 autistic, 43 intellectually disabled and 40 non-autistic typically developing) from low-resource settings in Delhi-NCR, India were assessed using START in home settings by non-specialist health workers. The two groups of children with neurodevelopmental disorders manifested lower social preference, greater sensory interest and lower fine-motor accuracy compared to their typically developing counterparts. Parent report further distinguished autistic from non-autistic children. Machine-learning analysis combining all START-derived measures demonstrated 78% classification accuracy for the three groups. Qualitative analysis of the interviews with health workers and families of the participants demonstrated high acceptability and feasibility of the app. These results provide feasibility, acceptability and proof of principle for START, and demonstrate the potential of a scalable, mobile tool for assessing neurodevelopmental conditions in low-resource settings.

The attitude of the teaching staff is positioned as a fundamental aspect for the development of good training practices. These good practices are essential when applied within an innovative techno-pedagogical methodology: augmented reality in education. The objectives of this study are to analyze the development of good teaching practices with augmented reality and to discover the factors that influence their quality. A descriptive and correlational design has been carried out. A total of 1490 Spanish Secondary Education teachers have participated. The instrument used was the adaptation to the Spanish context of the questionnaire of the Attitude Scale of Augmented Reality Applications. The results reveal that teachers show a positive attitude towards the use of augmented reality. As for the aspects that influence the good attitude of teachers are age, the number of devices teachers use, the time they dedicate to technological resources and teaching experience. However, ICT training is what determines a direct influence on the attitude of teachers, as well as satisfaction with reliability.

Gamification is a training model that encourages the inclusion of active methodologies into learning environments. The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of a gamified experience through virtual and face-to-face escape rooms as well as to determine the generated levels of fun, absorption, creative thinking, mastery, activation, absence of negative effects and student grades. A descriptive and correlational experimental design has been used. In total, 105 Spanish university students participated. The data was collected using a scale validated in the Spanish context called Gameful Experience in Gamification (GAMEX). The results reveal significant variability according to the training environment. In face-to-face environments, students' fun and activation were promoted, generating pleasant entertainment experiences. In virtual environments, influence, autonomy, creativity, and exploration by students increased. Similarly, these environments shared high levels of spatio-temporal absorption and an absence of negative effects. Regarding the ratings, no statistically significant results that confirm their effectiveness depending on the environment were determined, but good scores were obtained. It is concluded that the choice of the gamified environment will depend on the dimensions and the goals that the teacher intends to achieve during the learning process.

Notwithstanding the importance and relevance of gamification as a topical methodology in education, and after a literature review, there are just a few studies using role-playing games. In order to motivate and facilitate English as second language (ESL) learning of first year of Bachillerato (year 12) students at a public high school in the Region of Murcia (Spain) and following an action research methodology, we design, implement and evaluate a role-playing game, which consists of the creation and management of a company, The Tik Tok School. The results confirm that students felt more comfortable speaking in English because they were more motivated. They also state that during the experience they were more focused on learning rather than winning the game and that they prefer a gamification approach over traditional settings. Furthermore, they have been participating constantly using more English than Spanish. After the data analysis, we conclude that this methodology positively impacts motivation and the acquisition of a second language.

The inclusion of people with disabilities, intellectual in the case that concerns this research, has been one of the main concerns of society in recent years. The University of Murcia has launched the "We are all Campus" program in order to facilitate the inclusion of this group from a training perspective. Being aware of the influence of self-concept in such inclusion, this research aims to analyze the influence of the self-concept of people with intellectual disabilities in their expectations of inclusion. For this purpose, 18 subjects were asked to carry out a SWOT analysis, assessing the situation in which they find themselves through a qualitative perspective and a phenomenological design. The research reveals, among other conclusions, how important personal development is to them, especially by generating autonomy in their daily routines, and also the relevance of their relationships to feel socially included.

Flipped learning is a didactic method that requires the teacher to have a series of competences for its application. The aim of this research is to analyse the abilities of Spanish teachers of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) to develop good practices in flipped learning and to discover the factors which influence the development of good practices in these teachers. The research method is based on a quantitative methodology with a descriptive and correlational design. A total of 1,743 teachers in Spain participated in the study. The instrument used was the Flipped Classroom Teacher Scale (FCTS) questionnaire. The results show that 758 teachers, less than half the teachers surveyed, show competences to adequately develop a methodology based on flipped learning, where age, use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education, time spent using them in the personal sphere, number of devices and teaching experience have an influence on the application of the method. The conclusion reached is that there is a linear relationship between institutional support, technological self-efficacy, teaching beliefs and teaching strategies for the development of good practices in flipped learning in the teachers analysed, so these factors are postulated as conditioning factors.

Flipped learning has emerged as a method that can facilitate practical learning supported by technology. This study analyzes the impact of the flipped approach on students' learning of prevention guidelines and socio-health regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 585 Spanish secondary education students participated, and three validated instruments were used to obtain information about their self-regulation, social competence, and decision-making. The results showed that the average scores achieved by all groups, both in the pre-test and the post-test measures, were similar, except those achieved by the experimental post-test group, where the average scores were higher than the rest. The study concludes that both traditional and flipped learning pedagogical applications for training students in the measures to prevent COVID-19 generate knowledge and improved skills. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, including the insight that active teaching methods promote greater improvement in student learning than traditional, expository methods.

The use of mobile devices in classrooms is becoming more and more common. The introduction of these resources to produce learning is part of the mobile learning methodology. Among the possibilities of these devices provide we can find, as an emerging technology, augmented reality, which combines elements of the real world with virtual images. The purpose of this paper is to know the impact of the augmented reality in the educational cooperatives of Andalusia. In this regard, educational cooperatives are centers characterized in their origin by promoting the development of methodologies based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The data collection instrument used in this questionnaire is a quantitative methodology of a descriptive nature. The questionnaire was prepared ad hoc according to the existing literature and the answers coded on a Likert scale. The results show that only a minority of teachers implement the augmented reality in their classes. In addition, there are statistically significant differences in terms of professional experience, so that younger teachers tend to implement methodologies based on the use of emerging mobile technologies such as augmented reality. Finally, it is emphasized that despite the constant technological advance of mobile devices in society, their application in the classroom occurs slowly.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are immersed in the teaching and learning processes. Specifically, educational robotics is a technology with great projection in learning spaces. This educational technology has revealed great potential in educational processes in the scientific literature. In this study, the Makey Makey device has been used to carry out a methodological contrast at the instructional level. The objective of this study is to verify if the use of the Makey Makey robotic device influences various psycho-social and educational dimensions in the subject of physical education. A quasi-experimental research design has been used in a sample of 177 students from secondary education. A questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument. The results show the ratings made by the control group students are lower than those of the experimental group in all dimensions, although there is no relationship of significance in all dimensions. This fact only occurs in motivation, teacher-student, student-content, collaboration, resolution, and teacher-rating dimensions. Conclusions show that the teaching method in which robotics is used leads to more success in the field of physical education if we compared it to the more conventional method. The outstanding data show the teaching-learning process has the highest influence on motivation, teacher-student, student-content, collaboration, resolution, and teacher rating.

The progress of technology in the field of education has led to the development of new professional skills in the teaching community, such as digital competence. Likewise, it has propagated the appearance of new learning environments mediated by technological resources that favor the generation of a large volume of data, known as Big Data, derived from the interactions of educational agents in virtual environments. This study aims to determine the level of digital competence in the informational area of teachers and to determine the projection of Big Data in them. For this study, a descriptive and correlational quantitative method was followed. The study sample consists of 832 Spanish teachers, with data collected through a questionnaire. The results reveal that the teaching staff have a medium level of digital competence in the informational area. The teachers obtained better valuations in the dimensions concerning storage and recovery, postulating themselves as connoisseurs of the Big Data concept to a large extent. In some instances, the teachers affirmed that sometimes they access and interpret the data generated by the digital interactions, transforming it into useful information to improve their teaching processes. Finally, our research shows that the level of digital competence in the informational area influences the degree of knowledge about Big Data.

Technological impact and immigration have resulted in ICT playing a significant role in educational adaptation to multicultural environments. This study focuses on flipped learning as an innovative teaching method. The overall objectives of this research are, on the one hand, to carry out a review of the scientific literature about flipped learning, and, on the other hand, to know the extent of its scope amongst teaching staff in cross-border regions. To achieve these objectives, a quantitative method has been developed through a descriptive model. 316 teachers from different educational centres of the Spanish Autonomous City of Ceuta (Spain) were selected as a sample, and an ad hoc questionnaire was used as an instrument for collecting personal data. Statistical procedures were performed through SPSS software, using location and scattering parameters (median and standard deviation), measurements (Pearson's asymmetry coefficient and Fisher's pointing coefficient) and association tasks between variables. The results show that teachers claim to have the necessary knowledge to implement flipped learning in their programmes, but they still have certain deficiencies in their specific training. A significant number of these teachers do not use it because they lack training and digital assets, and also because of a certain apprehension towards innovative practices. The main benefits include the improvement in the student's autonomy, their participation, interaction and motivation, as well as the teachers' satisfaction. Regarding the teachers' perception, it therefore follows that flipped learning contributes to the attention towards diversity created by the multicultural environments, which in this case is a result of the migration phenomenon.

Social change towards inclusion is a very common topic, but progress is slow. Because of its importance in the current educational context, knowing how to speed up this transformation is fundamental. A multiple regression analysis with a transversal quantitative designed survey (n = 245) was conducted. The aim was to identify internal and external factors predicting attitudes towards people with intellectual disability in undergraduate students at the University of Murcia (Spain). According to the expected estimate, the variables 'empathic concern' and 'chosen degree' predict good attitudes towards people with intellectual disability among university students. On the other hand, external variables such as 'previous knowledge about disability' or 'contact with people with disabilities' are not explanatory factors. These findings contribute to the existing knowledge about predictive variables for attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities in the future Spanish education professionals.

Introduction: The furtherance of educational, social and occupational inclusion has led to increasing acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities as full members of the community. However, attitudes and behaviors towards these people are not always positive. Method: Taking the model of the FUNDOWN School of Life as the theoretical basis, the aim of this research was to validate a simple instrument for collecting information on how adolescents and young people position themselves towards people with intellectual disabilities. For this purpose, an initial questionnaire was developed, submitted to the judgment of experts, and applied to 276 secondary education students at a school in Murcia (Spain), using a non-experimental, quantitative research method. Results: By carrying out exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and applying the structural equation model, a two-factor questionnaire was obtained. Discussion and conclusions: Construct validity and reliability were acceptable.

Autistic children and adults who are non-verbal/minimally verbal or have an intellectual disability have often been excluded from Autism Spectrum Disorder research. Historical, practical and theoretical reasons for this exclusion continue to deter some researchers from work with this underserved population. We discuss why these reasons are neither convincing nor ethical, and provide strategies for dealing with practical issues. As part of a randomised controlled trial of an intervention for children with profound autism, we reflected as a multi-disciplinary team on what we had learnt from these children, their families and each other. We provide 10 strategies to overcome what appeared initially to be barriers to collecting data with this population. These hurdles and our solutions are organised by theme: interacting physically with children, how to play and test, navigating difficult behaviours, selecting suitable outcome measures, relating with parents, managing siblings, involving stakeholders, timing interactions, the clinician's role in managing expectations, and recruitment. The aim of this article is to provide researchers with the tools to feel motivated to conduct research with children with profound autism and their families, a difficult but worthwhile endeavour. Many of these lessons also apply to conducting research with non-autistic children with intellectual disabilities.

The importance of religious questioning in establishing and maintaining religious affiliation is well recognised. Questions and how teachers respond to them is also a critical aspect of strong pedagogy and is an important part of teacher training and formation. Many curriculum documents in religious education assume that student questions are an important part of the teaching and learning process. This study seeks to examine the questions that students in Catholic schools raise in religious education class. This has been overlooked in the research literature and it is hoped that work will generate further interest in the topic. The study utilises a mixed methodology incorporating interviews with religious education coordinators as well as focus groups of experienced teachers. Results are discussed for infants (K-grade 2), primary (grades 3-6) and for secondary students (grades 7-12). For secondary and primary students, questions are categorised under three descriptive headings; metacognitive; thematic content; 'Why does the Church … ?' Infant questions are described using different categories. A range of implications are drawn from the findings including how to better prepare teachers to facilitate, encourage and respond to questions and the demands the student questions place on those involved in teacher formation and in the ongoing support of teachers.

This article is a qualitative study of the practice of leadership in Catholic schools in Australia. Within an interpretivist framework, a multiple case study of six lay principals was employed. Findings suggest that successful leadership in Catholic schools is highly influenced by the cultural and spiritual capital that a principal brings to a school, signifying a fundamental importance of appointing principals who are not only professionally competent, but who are spiritually competent as well. The relationship between the lay Catholic principal in the parish and the parish priest emerged as a challenging issue in many contexts. Indeed, it was highly problematic for some principals. (Contains 2 figures, 1 table, and 1 footnote.)

For each person studying music in formal institutions in Spain, there are at least five others learning and performing in "informal" schools and settings. Choirs and "estudiantinas" or "tunas" are two examples of these informal schools found both in Ibero-America and worldwide. Their place in society and their importance in the (musical) life stories of their members are analysed in this article from an anthropological perspective to provide a contribution to the theoretical debate on choir studies and to raise awareness about and interest in the study of tunas in the international scientific literature. In complex contemporary societies, choirs are one of the most common informal adult music schools and "estudiantinas" or "tunas" are also widespread in Ibero-America and the Netherlands. However, while choirs are a subject commonly covered in the academic literature, tunas have received less scholarly attention, despite their importance as a shared musical heritage for these cultures. This article uses an anthropological approach to analyse how these socio-cultural institutions implement music education and sensibility and play an extremely important role in the lives of choristers. Even though the field scenario is Spain, the research insights and findings are perfectly comparable and applicable to many other countries.

In this paper, we present BH-ShaDe, a new software tool to assist architecture students learning the ill-structured domain/task of housing design. The software tool provides students with automatic or interactively generated floor plan schemas for basic houses. The students can then use the generated schemas as initial seeds to develop complete residential projects. The main goal of our research was to obtain evidence about whether or not such schemas can be useful to architecture students. A first prototype of the tool was evaluated with 78 students, with positive results. However, the students seemed to demand increased user participation, so they could contribute to generating better quality starting points. A second prototype was therefore implemented, allowing a higher degree of interactivity. The second prototype was evaluated with a new group of 50 students. From the two evaluations performed, it can be concluded that both versions of the tool were able to generate useful starting points (either automatically or interactively) that expedited the design process. Additionally, in the second experiment, we found that neither the nature (automatic or interactive) nor the quality of the starting point seems to have any effect on the perceived quality of the final projects.

This paper seeks to gain a better understanding of religious education coordinators (RECs) in contemporary Catholic schools. This is done by using life history narratives to explore how participants came to be RECs. This study takes place in a wider cultural context that sees strong religious commitment, manifested by taking leadership positions in Catholic schools, as becoming increasing contested.

Objective: This study addresses if deficits in cognitive, attention, and inhibitory control performance in adults with ADHD are better explained by the disorder itself or by comorbid conditions. Method Adult patients with ADHD ("n" = 352) and controls ("n" = 94) were evaluated in the ADHD program of a tertiary hospital. The diagnostic process for ADHD and comorbidities was based on "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed.; "DSM-IV") criteria. Stepwise regression analyses evaluated the effect of ADHD, demographics, and comorbidities on the scores from Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, Continuous Performance Test, and Stroop Color and Word Test. Results: Patients with ADHD of both genders had worse performance on neuropsychological domains, even after adjustment for comorbidities. The presence of comorbid bipolar disorder and specific phobia are associated with more Stroop errors, whereas patients with generalized anxiety disorder present a longer execution time in Stroop. Conclusion: Neuropsychological deficits in adults with ADHD go beyond comorbidity. Specific comorbid disorders may influence the neuropsychological functioning in adults with ADHD. (Contains 2 tables.)

Objective: To assess long-lasting effects of childhood trauma on the functional outcome of adult patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Method: Ninety-nine stable patients with schizophrenia followed in an outpatient program at a public university hospital in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, were investigated for childhood traumatic experiences by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and for functional impairment by the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO/DAS). The schizophrenia diagnosis was assessed by ICD-10 and DSM-IV criteria according to the Operational Criteria Checklist for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT). Results: Childhood trauma in general was associated with increased disability in adulthood, reflected by impaired Overall Behavior (p = 0.023) and Global Evaluation (p = 0.032). Analysis of specific traumatic domains revealed that increased childhood physical neglect was associated with functional impairment in Overall Behavior (p less than 0.000), Social Role Performance (p = 0.037) and Global Evaluation (p = 0.014). Higher emotional abuse was associated with impaired Overall Behavior (p = 0.026), and higher emotional neglect with poor Global Evaluation (p = 0.047). Additionally, earlier onset of illness was associated with lower level of functioning evidenced by impairment in Overall Behavior (p = 0.042). Linear regression using WHO/DAS sections (Overall Behavior, Social Role Performance and Global Evaluation) as dependent variables and CTQ subscales indicated that only physical neglect had an effect on adult functionality. Conclusions: Childhood trauma was associated with functional and social impairment in adult patients with schizophrenia. Specific types of abuse and neglect, such as physical neglect and emotional abuse and neglect, influenced disability, and the most robust association was physical neglect. Studies involving more patients, with normal controls and additional measurements of biological liability, should be conducted to confirm this association and to increase the understanding of gene-environment relationship in schizophrenia and pathways to disability. Practice implications: Further investigation is warranted to clarify the association between childhood trauma and disability in schizophrenia, as well as to develop standardized instruments for the assessment of trauma and earlier detection of risk along with education of patients and families about adequate care, in an effort to reduce the incidence of disability in schizophrenia. (Contains 4 tables.)

This paper examines the effects that digital stories may have on the understanding of spoken English by a group of 6-year-old Spanish learners. To accomplish this aim, a quasi-experimental research study was launched in six state schools in Madrid. A pre-post test design was used to investigate whether internet-based technology could improve listening comprehension in English as a Foreign Language (henceforth, EFL). Findings indicate that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the final test administered. These results raise interesting issues related to the use of technology in the context of foreign language learning. Future research which includes other age groups and digital materials and which explores other linguistic areas could further substantiate the link between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) rich environment and improved language learning. (Contains 8 tables and 6 figures.)