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Multiculturalism is increasingly present in schools, especially in Melilla (Spain), where cultural diversity is one of its defining features due to its geographical location on the border between Africa and Europe. In the light of the importance of educational leaders in dealing with this diversity, this research proposes two main objectives. First, to analyze initial and ongoing training in terms of interculturality, skills, and knowledge that an educational leader must have in their position, and second, to determine the impact of COVID-19 on school management in education centers. We used a qualitative methodology with semi-structured face-to-face interviews to collect data, and content analysis as a data analysis method. The participants (school leaders) represent the six districts that comprise the city of Melilla, nine infant and primary education and six secondary education school leaders. The results reveal that the training received by educational leaders is rather limited and not very useful in practice. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the inequality gap between families from the schools, given that the situation exacerbated their economic status.

Internationalization in higher education is essential, and although active learning methodologies are increasing and allow students to develop transversal skills, most still have a very local scope. In this context, the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) methodology is an interesting approach to benefit the students' development. It consists of an online program that involves creating multicultural teams to develop a specific learning project. Although this methodology is expanding, its use in physiology is still scarce. This paper aims to show an example of applying COIL methodology in physiology topics to enhance higher-education students' innovation and business skills. Our example project developed a sports-assessment service concept focused on physiology and biomechanics assessments. The program involved teams from Brazil, Germany, and Spain, comprising undergraduate and master students. Over 7 weeks, these teams, mentored by professors and researchers, engaged in workshops covering COIL methodology, business model design, executive summary planning, economic analyses, and communication techniques. Key outcomes included learning new concepts, developing soft skills, building confidence in innovative solution proposals, and experiencing diverse cultures. Challenges faced were language barriers, scheduling, task complexity, and logistical issues. This experience confirms the effectiveness of incorporating programs using COIL methodology into educational curriculums. Doing so exposes physiology students to innovation, entrepreneurship, and business creation while strengthening their professional connections and opening up postgraduation opportunities.

In a historical moment, where the future is considered a threat, it seems highly relevant to teach the ability to imagine desirable futures. Education for the Future (EF), from the Anglo-Saxon tradition, represents a reference to give a response to negative images about the idea of the future. The competences for democratic culture defined by the Council of Europe provide the basis for the elaboration of a theoretical framework that includes the imagination of democratic and sustainable futures as one of its main conceptual axes. This study analyses official documents of public policies carried out in the Iberian context, to examine the treatment of the idea of future in education systems. Three levels of policies have been studied: state educational laws, primary education curricula and institutional teacher training policies. The public policies have been analysed using the normative method of content analysis, with a syntactic sampling strategy, calculating the absolute and relative frequency of the units of analysis. Results show that there are few references to the construction of the concept of the future in public policies and suggest that the opportunity to educate others on the imagination of desirable futures may be being wasted.

This case study was undertaken to characterise the interventions made by a kindergarten teacher during a multiplicative structure problem-solving lesson. The study findings show that when she realised the children were having difficulty, she provided assistance to enable them to find the right answer. When the children gave an incorrect response, she did not prompt them to reason their ideas, but either ignored their response or guided them to the right answer with manipulatives. Moreover, less varied and simpler problem-solving strategies were employed when the teacher gave instructions than when she gave help or clues. From this, we conclude that the intervention determined the type of strategy used by the children and the teacher varied their discourse depending on the children's performance.

Disinformation has become a core concept in communications research, related to media, technological and political phenomena that complexify its definition and diagnosis. Although its approach has been mainly quantitative, focus groups have also been used to understand the perception of the audience of this particular issue. This research is part of this second group of studies, and attempts to investigate the notions and discourses on disinformation in the case of Spain. For this purpose, seven discussion groups were conducted, with a structural sample constructed according to employment situation, ideology and age. The results show a perception of the communicative ecosystem structured in two chronological poles, which contrasts a past of reduced information supply -- associated with traditional media -- with a current informational environment where there is more media diversity, but also less trust in them. The groups point to the overabundance of information and associated disinformation with decontextualisation, low-quality journalism and the economic and political interests of different actors. Discourses outline a scenario of decline in journalism and the public sphere, which is perceived as polarised and emotional. Disinformation is therefore perceived as a multidimensional phenomenon that is associated with issues of major democratic transcendence rather than merely sending hoaxes through the Internet.

The assessment process in higher education considers four aspects: assessment agents, procedure, content, and scoring. In this study, we delve into the who. We analyze the role of transversal competence assessment agents in the framework of professional internships in university master's degree programs, comparing the suitability of their assessment based on their degree of experience in each master's program. Four university master's degree programs, in the field of human and social sciences, were analyzed. To ensure the degree of expert competence among the participating judges, the K coefficient was used. Two expert and two nonexpert judges independently assessed the critical incidents narrated by the students and inquired about the competences described in the curricula. The reliability index between the assessments from expert and nonexpert judges was analyzed. The results show greater reliability among the assessments of expert judges compared to nonexperts. As a result, we conclude the importance of basing the selection of assessors on objective expert competence and not on criteria more linked to academic management. It is also necessary to include the critical incident method as a systematic information collection system to explicitly assess transversal competences.

This systematic review examined the effects of distinct physical activity interventions on the academic achievement of school students based on an analysis of four distinct outcomes: mathematics, language, reading, and composite scores. This study was performed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines and the QUORUM statement. A literature search was conducted using the PubMed-MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Peer-reviewed studies published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish were considered. A random-effect meta-analysis was employed to determine the effect of interventions on academic performance. The effects between interventions and control groups were expressed as standardized mean differences. Thirty-one studies were included in the meta-analysis based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The exercise programs were not capable of significantly improving language, reading skills, and composite scores. Conversely, performance in math tests increased significantly after the interventions compared with the control groups. Regarding the overall effect, a significant improvement in academic achievement was detected after physical activity programs compared with controls. In conclusion, the positive effects of school-based physical education on academic performance are not uniform and may be higher for math skills. The implementation of evidence-based exercise programs in school settings emerges as a promising strategy to increase overall academic achievement in school-aged students.

The increase in childhood obesity requires the incorporation of nutritional competence into school programs through appropriate activities, starting in the early years. In addition, it is important to promote scientific and cognitive skills during childhood education. The main objective of this study was the implementation of an instructional sequence focused on the learning of skills such as observation, measurement, or interpretation of data related to plants, their germination, and their growth, as well as its relation with the development of food competence. To do so, a set of differentiated activities, organized into several stages, was designed, starting from simple and concrete situations and progressively increasing in complexity and abstraction. The aims were to express ideas about known fruits, vegetables, and legumes in order to expand them by learning new information through student-centered activities, in which children were able to practice and talk about science. The activities were carried out in a class of 24 students aged 4-5 years and data were compared with a control group. The results revealed that the children were motivated in all the activities, which provided an excellent opportunity to initially develop an interest in science and to start to develop food competence in the early years.

The Spanish autonomous city of Melilla, located in northwest Africa, has one of the highest academic failure and abandonment rates in Europe. An effective way to improve this situation would be to improve students' digital competence. In order to do so, teachers must have competent digital skills themselves and also be able to teach them. To determine teachers' level of digital competence, the Spanish adaptation of the European Framework for Digital Competence of Educators was used to analyse the self-assessment responses of teachers in training at the Faculty of Education and Sport Sciences in Melilla, Spain. Several quantitative techniques were used to analyse data collected from a questionnaire based on the items in the framework. Indicators were given to each competence using a factor analysis to contrast differences between undergraduate and postgraduate students. Correlations between some of the students' characteristics and the competences were estimated using OLS. The results show students' self-assessment level of digital competence in different areas and differences between the bachelor's and master's programmes. Digital competence gaps were also detected in teacher training, especially in security. The conclusions highlight the need to improve digital security and facilitate a higher level of digital skills in line with the framework. Indeed, more hours of training in digital competence are required while taking into account the educational context and the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge needed to teach. Equally, the same skills must be developed by educators in order for them to transmit digital competence to their students and support them in educational centres.

Successful results of all types of professional activities largely depend on the quality of training. At present, however, the acquired knowledge does not guarantee a university graduate stability of success throughout his/her career. Thus, the concept of lifelong education was gradually formed. From the previously established stereotype "education for life", society is moving to the "education throughout life". The traditional division of a person's active life into the period of professional activity and study is blurring. There is a need for a transition to continuing professional education throughout life. One of the most important tasks for the management is to ensure the continuous development and survival of the organizations. Such a task is also vital for the institutions of additional professional education. With the transition to the newly established market relations, in the Russian Federation, the conditions for the operation of the system of additional professional education have changed significantly. First of all, a market for services in the field of additional professional education has emerged, where a large number of organizations of various forms of ownership operate, creating strong competition. In these conditions, the maximum consideration of different factors influencing on the additional professional education institutions, as well as the choice of a management strategy, is an important condition for their successful development and competitiveness. The demand of society for an effective system of additional vocational education determines its place and role in the state policy in relation to the development of human resources. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the challenges of the labor market, the increasing needs of production, the real sector of the economy, the non-production sphere in qualified workers, specialists, managers, as well as training and re-training of unemployed citizens.

Although Error Analysis (EA) has been broadly used in Foreign Language and Mother Tongue learning contexts, it has not been applied in the field of engineering and by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students in a systematic way. In this interdisciplinary pilot study, we applied the EA methodology to a wide corpus of exercises and essays written by third-year students of mechanical engineering, with the main purpose of achieving a precise diagnosis of the students' strengths and weaknesses in writing skills. For the analysis to be as exhaustive as possible, the errors were typologized into three main categories (linguistic, mathematical, and rhetorical-organizational), each of which is, in turn, subdivided into 15 items. The results show that the predominant errors are rhetorical-organizational (39%) and linguistic (38%). The application of EA permits the precise identification of the areas of improvement and the subsequent implementation of an educational design that allows STEM students to improve their communicative strategies, especially those related to the writing skills and, more precisely, those having to do with the optimal use of syntax, punctuation, rhetorical structure of the text, and mathematical coherence.

Although there is consensus in the literature that writing skills are important in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) studies, they are often neglected. However, some efforts have been made to correct this deficiency, one of them being the development of assessment rubrics. This study seeks to contribute to the discussion by presenting the results of the application of a rubric designed to assess the writing skills of a group of 3rd year engineering students. This rubric, which includes linguistic and rhetorical-organizational criteria alongside the mathematical and technical, was used to assess a number of written exercises and essays submitted by students in a 15-week course. The main interest of this study was to test the efficacy of the rubric as a diagnostic tool, conceived to detect the areas of improvement in the students' written performance and, ultimately, to also help them to achieve higher levels of competence. This goal was achieved, as one of the main conclusions of the study is that, although students usually master the technical aspects of the course, they must improve the linguistic and rhetorical aspects of their written communication. It can likewise be said that all the participants involved in the study profited in one way or another from the application of the rubric and contributed to identifying the ways in which the rubric itself can be improved for future application.

Children's career exploration is a critical aspect of career development. Through it, children explore the interplay between their different life roles, including those related to work (in a broad sense), learning, and education. Through career exploration, children can (re)construct the emotions derived from the interactions between personal and contextual factors by giving meaning to life experiences. This process involves cognitive and affective activities. Evidence suggests that children from low-income contexts are more likely to drop out of school and show lower educational aspirations. Providing career exploration interventions introduces an intentional learning that allows children to develop a higher level of career awareness and increase their aspirations for the future. The sample analyzed consisted of students between 6 and 8 years old from a low-income school in Seville (Spain). The data collection methods used have been those of collaborative ethnography (e.g., unstructured interviews, student productions, and photographs). Co-analysis was the chosen method for systematizing the information used in this research. Our results have revealed a system of influences which plays an important role in the different contexts and emotions that the children derive from their interactions with different spaces and socialization agents. In short, through career exploration, children mobilize exploratory behaviors, providing emotional responses. Collaborative ethnography has been shown to be a valid process for research on career exploration as social and emotional learning.

The alignment with the Bologna process and the subsequent creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) framework, principles, and guidelines have significantly changed Spanish doctoral education. In this article, we identify the critical drivers for that change in Spain and address their implications for doctoral education summarised around three significant trends: changes and diversification of research-related environments, the ones referred to the doctoral curriculum changes to enhance doctoral success, and the professionalisation of doctoral studies. For each of these trends, we discuss the challenges, their implications, and the practices and regulations designed to overcome them. Conclusions are drawn about the emerging landscape and future of doctoral education in Spain.

Background: The development of prosocial competencies in university students can be attained through the implementation of Service-Learning (S-L) methodology by carrying out a community service to groups of foreign unaccompanied minors (FUM). Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) and Sport Science (SS) students involved in an S-L experience normally develop a critical way of thinking as they face social conflicts. Besides, social justice education and S-L attempt to help in favour of social inclusion of vulnerable groups. Purpose: This study aims to assess the development of prosocial competencies in PETE and SS students taking a Dual Degree Program in Physical Activity (PA) and SS and Primary Education. This is done through S-L methodology, by carrying out a community service to groups of FUM. Method: A total of 21 male and 9 female PETE and SS students participated in this study. The methodology used is of a qualitative nature. Reflective diary is used as an instrument for data collection, and content analysis as an information analysis technique. Results: It has been observed an improvement in the prosocial competencies of the PETE and SS students involved in the S-L experience. The competencies with the greatest number of references and, therefore, those with a greater presence in their testimonies, include organisation, proactivity and optimism, self-esteem, and tolerance and respect. Conclusion: The S-L is capable of undertaking a transformative role which enables PETE and SS students to acquire prosocial competencies in contexts relating to cultural diversity and social justice.

Increasingly, school principals face unique challenges to improve the educational quality of their schools. Given the vital role of educational leaders in this process, this study presents the case of a city with distinctive features due to its geographical location bordering Africa and Europe: Melilla, Spain. Based on a literature review and in-depth interviews with primary and secondary school principals, this study analyses the initial and continuing training, requirements, and procedures to become a school principal, as well as the motivations, skills, and knowledge required of educational leaders in principalship positions. The results reveal that the training school principals receive in educational leadership is often scarce and not very useful for addressing the realities they encounter in their schools. In addition, the interviewees highlight the multitude of administrative tasks they are required to perform, which often precludes them from engaging in pedagogical practices and exercising educational leadership.

Background: Game-based science learning (GBSL) provide an alternative route for learning genetics, but its effects on students' conceptual learning is contested. In this paper we assess the utility, in primary teacher education, of Recal - a game designed to promote participants' learning of key genetic concepts through acting as detectives investigating a case. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to analyse and compare teacher students' learning of genetics through the game, and both their attitudes towards and experiences of it. Tests were conducted in Spanish and Swedish contexts to assess its potential utility in contrasting cultural and educational contexts to obtain indications of the potential breadth of its application. Samples: Participants included 120 pre-service teacher students from a university in north-eastern Spain and 51 from a university in western Sweden. Design and methods: The research involved an intervention, in which students played the game, and assessment of its efficacy by questionnaires designed to investigate students' knowledge of genetics before and after the game, their expectations and experience of it, and their satisfaction with it. The results were analysed statistically. Results: The game appeared to enhance both Spanish and Swedish participants' knowledge of genetics, and they reportedly found it both educationally beneficial and engaging. It was also assessed in terms of the following characteristics of GBSL, based on experiential data: contextualisation, authenticity, collaboration, problem-solving, guided paths and competition. Conclusion: The results clearly indicate that the game has utility in different countries and educational contexts. The article discusses how the six characteristics of GBSL facilitate or hinder learning, and implications (for educational professionals and researchers) of the findings.

Previous work in English has found that the spelling difficulties of children with dyslexia affect the overall quality attributed to their written compositions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether different processes related to transcription, translation and ideas proposing/planning are affected in developmental dyslexia and to what extent potential deficits are associated to poor spelling. Compositions handwritten by Spanish-speaking children with and without dyslexia aged 9-12 years-old (n = 42) were compared on measures of productivity, spelling accuracy, legibility, lexical diversity, punctuation, sentence structure and grammar, organisation, ideas quality, and readability. Children with dyslexia performed worse in spelling, lexical diversity, syntax and grammar and ideas quality. Interestingly, in the group with dyslexia spelling accuracy contributed to lexical diversity, while lexical diversity was the only significant predictor of syntax and grammar, organisation and ideas quality. This pattern of results was absent in typically developing children. This evidence suggests that spelling difficulties reduce the lexical diversity of the texts of children with dyslexia, which may affect the activity of the translator and the proposer, diminishing the perceived quality of their written compositions.

There is now extensive theoretical and empirical literature on the place of the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) in the foreign language (FL) classroom. Although this body of work includes related teacher beliefs and practices, less attention has been paid to the factors that may influence these practices across different national contexts. Through an extensive survey of secondary school teachers of a FL in Spain and England we investigated teachers' reported L1/L2 practices and the possible influence of pre-service training on these practices. We found that teachers in England reported greater use of the L1 than teachers in Spain across virtually all language functions. In both groups there was no evidence of the influence of advocated teaching approaches within pre-service training courses on teachers' reported L1 and L2 use. Differences in teachers' reported practices seem to be better explained by contextual factors influenced by and derived from national policy and the social value of the L2.

Education mediated by video games is a way of working that is increasingly more evident. Along this line we present the results obtained from a group of pre-service teachers (N=169), who through a quasi-experimental study and the use a questionnaire with 62 items, with a scale to answer to 5 Likert-type, created from Marín and Martín (2014) and Marín (2016), have reflected that previous experience in the utilisation of video games, which are not educational, is a key element to gaining a position of acceptance for their use and for developing the curriculum at the Primary Education level. It has also been possible to conclude the existence of some significant differences regarding gender in some aspects related to the curricular mediation of video games in which males are more inclined towards their use, as well as in regard to their personal relationship with this theme. Therefore, it can be inferred that video games can be used in the education of children at the primary stage.

The speed of development of biotechnology within agriculture, industry, and medicine has changed our lives, and we need a biotechnological literacy to understand it. This implies that teachers in primary schools need to be biotechnologically literate in order to educate future generations. The aim of this study was to investigate Swedish pre-service primary school teachers' knowledge of and attitudes towards biotechnology and contextualize the results by comparing them with a corresponding group of Spanish teachers. Data was collected using the established questionnaire instrument Biotech XXI and analyzed statistically. The findings demonstrate that Swedish pre-service primary school teachers have knowledge gaps relating to the basic genetic concepts that underpin biotechnology, although they are aware of biotechnological applications. Their attitudes are quite positive towards biotechnological applications in health, but less so to buying and using genetically modified products. Higher levels of knowledge were correlated with more positive attitudes, indicating an attitudinal basis for expanding the knowledge of and teaching practices for biotechnology among primary teachers. The level of knowledge and attitudes in the Swedish sample were similar to those of the Spanish teachers, suggesting a similar situation may be prevalent in many countries. The results indicate a need to reconsider the science curricula within pre-service primary school teacher training programs in order to better prepare primary teachers for teaching biotechnological literacy.

This study presents the use of automated data analysis procedures in the teaching-learning process, mediated by telematics platforms. It is based on the application of the principles of virtual learning, the use of the Internet and the automation of data analysis of information collected in Moodle. The application of analysis procedures for the assessment of music competences is proposed based on the data collected in an exam administered at the end of the course. The sample of the study consists of 1327 students (n = 1327) in the first year of Compulsory Secondary Education in Spain and measures the level of acquisition of the key competences denominated "cultural and artistic". The results are subjected to the K-means classification technique. This technique is used to obtain homogeneously distributed conglomerates which allow for an objective evaluation of the levels of acquisition of the key musical competences.

The ability to work in a team is currently one of the most demanded competencies of professionals and, therefore, constitutes one of the key transversal aspects to be targeted by educational systems. This is especially important at stages prior to job insertion. The aim of the present study was to validate a scale measuring perceptions of teamwork skills within a sample of students undertaking vocational training in the south of Spain. For this, both exploratory (n = 879) and confirmatory (n = 1,843) factor analyses were performed using the IBM SPSS® 26 and IBM Amos Graphics® 23.0 software packages. This permitted a scale to be developed which was formed of ten indicators of teamwork skills. These indicators were grouped into three dimensions, namely, teamwork behaviors, ratings the importance of teamwork and self-perceptions of teamwork capabilities. Adequate fit indices were obtained (KMO = 0.845; CFI = 0.984; NFI = 0.978; IFI = 0.984; RMSEA = 0.037; and SRMR = 0.044). Thus, a robust and reliable scale is presented that rates student perspectives of essential aspects of Vocational Training, such as teamwork skills.

The aim of the present study was to provide a comprehensive model for assessing family context and to explore the reliability and factor structure of the Haezi Etxadi-Family Assessment Scale (HE-FAS 4), an exhaustive measure covering variables related to family context influencing child development, described over the past two decades. A sample of 346 Spanish families (51.5% girls; M = 4.47; years old; SD = 0.91) completed the instrument, along with the McCarthy Scales. The psychometric evaluation revealed that the HE-FAS 4 showed a good fit, good reliability (alpha values of between .62 and 80), good stability and predictive validity. The FCA confirmed a four subscales structure: Stimulation of cognitive and linguistic development, Stimulation of social and emotional development, Parental context and Organization of the social context and physical environment. Potential uses of the measure for family assessment in several settings are discussed along with its implications for evidence based policies.

Purpose: Although researchers have explored parental perspectives of childhood speech and language disorders, most studies have been conducted in English-speaking countries. Little is known about parental experiences across countries, where procedures of language screening and services for language disorders differ. The authors participated in the COST Action network IS1406, "Enhancing Children's Oral Language Skills Across Europe and Beyond," which provided an opportunity to conduct cross-country qualitative interviews with parents. The aim of this pilot study was to explore ways in which parents construed and described speech and language disorders across countries. Method: Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with parents from 10 families in 10 different countries. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: The overall theme was "acknowledging parental expertise." The parents described, in detail, ways in which their children's speech and language (dis)abilities had an impact on the children's everyday life. Three subthemes were identified: impairment, disability, and changes over time. Conclusions: The findings suggest that, across a range of countries, parents demonstrated contextualized understandings of their children's speech and language (dis)abilities, along with the everyday functional implications of the disorders. Hence, despite not holding professional knowledge about language disorders, the voices, views, understandings, and personal experiences of parents in relation to their child's disorder should be listened to when planning therapy services.

The present paper explores the role the private university plays in the horizontal stratification of the university system in Catalonia, a context where, like in the rest of Spain, there has been little tradition of private universities but there has been a strong expansion in recent years. From a sample of 807 students who have accessed university and who we have been following since the last year of compulsory secondary education, we measure the importance attributed to two horizontal stratification criteria, the degree programme and whether the university is private. We then explore which socio-demographic and academic variables can explain the different assessments students make of the private university, differentiated by fields of study. The results show that in the Catalan university system, the degree programmes are more important than university ownership. Furthermore, students from higher sociocultural backgrounds and those with better marks do not value the prestige of the private university highly, except in the area of the social sciences and, to a small degree, the sciences. Thus, there has been a slight advance in the private university within the context of the university field in recent years, showing a weak capacity to generate horizontal stratification.

In multicultural contexts, school principals and educators face unique challenges integrating disadvantaged and immigrant youth. We investigate how these leaders advocate, design and implement social justice pedagogies for inclusion. Drawing on an interdisciplinary literature and in-depth interviews with school principals in Melilla (Spain), we further explore the social justice ideologies and practices of leaders in culturally diverse, minority-majorityschools. The findings reveal that intercultural education and ICT both enhance the inclusion of students and families, transforming schools into more open, democratic, learning environments. However, scarce funding resources, exacerbated by Melilla's remote location from its Central Ministry of Education and the limited bargaining power of leaders, often truncate social justice initiatives.

This article examines factors that promote active multilingualism. For this purpose, the "Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test" was used with 48 children. Their results were linked to a parental questionnaire designed to evaluate the children's linguistic input in their immediate environment. The study shows that, besides a minimum amount of linguistic input, the language constellation (i.e. presence/absence of the majority language at home) is also decisive. At the same time, it seems irrelevant for active bi- and trilingualism which family language policies are chosen (e.g. One person-One Language), as long as the promotion of the minority language does not only take place institutionally, but also at home. Overall, the results indicate that attending a bilingual kindergarten/school alone does not lead to active multilingualism. Family factors and family support seem to be decisive. These include the creation of a linguistically stimulating environment through cultural contact and the language constellation within the family.

Purpose: Scientific inquiry is a leading methodology that promotes science process skills to acquire scientific knowledge. There is evidence that primary school teachers have difficulties introducing inquiry-based activities in their classrooms. Hence, adequate teacher instruction in inquiry methodology is important to apply inquiry-based activities in school science lessons. This work aims to analyse if pre-service teachers succeeded in developing scientific knowledge and scientific skills through the application of an inquiry laboratory activity. Design/methodology/approach: This article is presented as a case study developed in a group of 82 pre-service teachers. This research methodology involved qualitative and quantitative data. Findings: The results demonstrate that pre-service teachers could improve their scientific skills and knowledge through inquiry-based laboratory activity. Originality/value: The present study assesses not only the scientific knowledge but also if students can acquire scientific skills by doing the inquiry laboratory activity and if these skills are related to low-order cognitive skills or high-order cognitive skills.

In today's industry, employers are looking for civil engineering graduates who have acquired not only substantial technical and scientific knowledge, but who also have good life-long learning skills such as problem-solving, creativity and communication skills. Therefore, it is necessary to leave behind the pedagogical approaches exclusively sustained in master classes in favour of active, experiential and reflective curricula. Thus, a Project-Based Learning (PjBL) strategy has been developed as part of two geotechnical courses within a civil engineering degree in Spain to promote these skills. A qualitative analysis of the implemented PjBL strategy is performed by means of questionnaires and interviews with the aim of considering the participants' perceptions. The results of the analysis are presented under the following headings: benefits and difficulties of the PjBL, teacher role, traditional teaching methods and measures of improvement. The results suggest a satisfactory implementation, and they have allowed the authors to share the lessons learned from this experience by generating some 'tips' for future implementations.

While research about the significance of parent participation in school is expanding, research about the role of Parent Associations (PA)/Parent and Teacher Associations (PTA) in the integration and participation of immigrant families in schools is limited. This is still the case in Spain and the U.S. despite the continued growth of the immigrant population and that of a scholarship linking parental involvement in school with the improved educational outcomes of their children. This study explores the role of PA/PTAs leaders in the school integration and participation of immigrant families, many of whom are considered 'hard-to-reach.' The objectives are twofold: to contribute new insights with a description of immigrant families' participation in PA/PTAs in two different national contexts; and to bring new insights from the views of PA/PTAs leaders about how to engage and improve the participation of 'hard-to-reach', immigrant families in schools. We compare results derived from in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with PA/PTAs leaders in 26 public schools in Granada and New York City. The study yields two main findings: the importance of immigrant families' active participation in the enrichment of schools; and the strategies used by PA/PTAs leaders in the participation and integration of parents in their children's schools.

The action research process initiated in 2015 to make a thorough reform of the CASA-Sevilla study-abroad programme not only produced significant pedagogical developments but also brought about a profound change in the way of working and relating within the programme work organisation itself and with Cornell University colleagues. This section focuses on organisational changes in each of the units involved, and reflects a path full of transitions, diplomacy, exchange of perspectives and inter-institutional as well as intercultural learning. To make these pedagogical reforms work in practice required significant organisational change and support efforts on the part of both CASA-Sevilla and the supporting organisations at Cornell University.

The aim of this article is to analyse the conditioning factors and opportunities that influence teamwork among teachers at a Catalan university. The creation of new academic identities based on a culture of mutual and continuing learning are essential if teacher teams are to be encouraged. A descriptive methodology was used, based on a case study approach. Conditioning factors and opportunities were examined from a structural, organisational and functional perspective. The data were obtained through analysis of the literature, semi-structured interviews and a survey with five levels of response. Application of these data collection techniques permitted both a qualitative and quantitative (SPSS) use of data for evaluation purposes. The results derived from individual perceptions of the internal functioning of teacher teams within the faculty show that insufficient importance is attached to these teams as functional management units. This has a direct impact on the tasks and quality of the processes they implement, and consequently on team and faculty objectives.

Studies have emphasized that career adaptability and future orientation are important factors in one's ability to deal with difficulties and achieve life satisfaction. This study examines the relationships among future orientation, career adaptability resources, and life satisfaction. Survey data from 373 Italian and Spanish university students were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that future orientation fully mediated the relationship between career adaptability and life satisfaction in the Italian and the Spanish students. These findings suggest that university students who are confident in their career adaptability are satisfied with life because they are confident about their future prospects. The implications of these observed relationships for counseling interventions and further research are discussed.

The hospitality industry serves millions of people globally and is a multibillion-dollar industry with a significant growth expectation in the upcoming years. The Spanish tourism industry is one of the most developed sectors of the nation, being one of the main contributors to the country's GDP. On a world wide scale, and specifically in the European context, there is a rising awareness for firms' actions to be responsible towards the environment and the community in which they operate. Based on "triple bottom line" guidelines, companies' mission in such a context is achieving competitive advantage by means of a business model considering three key aspects: people, profit, and planet. Considering the hospitality industry's characteristics, it becomes essential to fulfill these new requirements to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. This exploratory study will outline which are the best practices of two main Spanish hotel corporations: NH Hotels and Meliá Hotels International. By pointing out actions undertaken by the most important firms of the sector, they can serve as an example and be replicated by other firms, thus increasing sustainability practices, improving understanding of triple bottom line, minimizing negative social as well as environmental footprint, and enhancing positive firms' impacts in their operating contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the nature of change processes and dynamics at Catalan universities. A multidimensional approach was adopted to examine the change processes and to analyse organizational innovation in higher education. The paper draws involved in each particular innovation. Analysis of these innovations has led to the identification of common characteristics and a proposal for a multidimensional framework for future innovation analysis. Finally, the innovation cases analysed highlighted interactions between three innovation characteristics, defined as scope (number of people involved), nature (organizational or curricular) and term (short, medium or long). (Contains 4 tables.)

Background: Little is known about the relation between satisfaction, commitment and motivation among employees with mild intellectual disabilities. The present research analyses the moderated effect of commitment on the relation between satisfaction of employees with intellectual disabilities and their motivation. Method: Employees with legally recognized intellectual disabilities, following the Spanish law, answered a questionnaire. The present authors examined bivariate relations across all variables in the model. Subsequently, a moderator model was tested, using the Johnson-Neyman and the pick-a-point approximation. Result: There was a direct effect between employees' satisfaction and motivation (b = 2.4621; p < 0.0001). Commitment had a moderator effect on this relation (b = [-3.36 to -0.30]; p < 0.001), especially for those employees with lower levels of commitment. Conclusions: Our research focuses on the antecedents of work motivation of employees with mild intellectual disabilities as full employees. So, our results help HR managers to increase employees' motivational levels, as one of the main objectives of healthy organizations.

It is commonly found that deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students experience delayed mathematical achievement. The present study used two nonsymbolic comparison tasks to explore the basic numerical skills of DHH students. Nine prelocutive DHH students with cochlear implants and nine hearing students, matched on nonverbal IQ, visual short-term memory, and verbal comprehension, were recruited. The participants performed two different collection comparison tasks with different ratios and under different perceptual conditions. Analyses by task showed similar response times, accuracy, and ratio effects for both groups on the Low Perceptual Condition task, a finding suggesting that the two groups accessed similar representations of quantity. Differences in performance on the simpler High Perceptual Condition task, on which the DHH group showed slower response times, probably were strategic in origin. The results suggest that DHH students have no deficits in basic numerical skills.

This article is part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) and aims to analyse the success factors of two Spanish secondary school principals working in the line of social justice in challenging contexts. The factors are arranged in traits and beliefs of principals and in the strategies they used to bring successful leadership. The article concludes by showing a model of leadership that emphasizes both personal and professional characteristics of principals and their central role as agents of social change.

An analysis of the phenomenon of combining work and study amongst university students is made using data obtained from surveys of graduates carried out four years after finishing their degrees. First, the article reviews the evolution of the phenomenon over the last ten years, taking into account the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU) labour market insertion surveys for 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014. Second, the 2008 and 2014 waves are compared to analyse the impact of the economic crisis. In this case, how combining work and study affects academic results and labour market insertion is studied, in addition to whether or not differences occur according to the family's educational background. A random stratified two-stage sampling is used to obtain the results; descriptive and ANOVA analyses with different factors are performed. The evolution shows how the numbers of students who combine work and study has increased, especially among those whose parents have little education. Furthermore, this means that lower marks are obtained and that there is a greater degree of inequality in labour market insertion, depending on the educational background of the family of origin. In general, the relationship between the different variables shows how combining work and study has negative effects on marks but positive effects on labour market insertion, especially if the work experience whilst at university is related to the studies.

In this paper we discuss an activity through which students learn basic concepts in genetics by taking part in a police investigation game. The activity, which we have called Recal, immerses students in a scientific-based scenario in which they play a role of a scientific assessor. Players have to develop and use scientific reasoning and evidence-based decision-making to solve the given enigmas along the game. The activity aims to improve students' knowledge of genetics and show them how genetic evidence can be applied in forensic science. The activity (known as "the Recal case") uses a problem-based learning educational methodology. It is learner-centred and students play an active collaborative role. The methodology requires students to structure their knowledge, and develop their reasoning processes and self-directed learning skills. The activity has been developed for a range of audiences, including high school students, undergraduates engaged in pre-service teaching and adults of all ages. A case study has also been carried out with a group of 120 pre-service student teachers from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain) to check whether the coherence in the running of the game, whether its effectiveness as a learning activity and whether its dynamics and motivational aspects are acceptable.

On behalf of the International Test Commission and the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations a world-wide survey on the opinions of professional psychologists on testing practices was carried out. The main objective of this study was to collect data for a better understanding of the state of psychological testing worldwide. These data could guide the actions and measures taken by ITC, EFPA, and other stakeholders. A questionnaire was administered to 20,467 professional psychologists from 29 countries. Five scales were constructed relating to: concern over incorrect test use, regulations on tests and testing, internet and computerized testing, appreciation of tests, and knowledge and training relating to test use. Equivalence across countries was evaluated using the alignment method, four scales demonstrated acceptable levels of invariance. Multilevel analysis was used to determine how scores were related to age, gender, and specialization, as well as how scores varied between countries. Although the results show a high appreciation of tests in general, the appreciation of internet and computerized testing is much lower. These scales show low variability over countries, whereas differences between countries on the other reported scales are much greater. This implies the need for some overarching improvements as well as country-specific actions.

The aim of this study is to characterise the scientific production in higher arts education, to identify the universities with the highest production, the most researched topics, the directors of the theses, as well as the gender distribution of authors and directors. The production of doctoral theses in the period 1987-2021 was analysed from the TESEO database, identifying 387 doctoral theses, their distribution by university, number of directors and codirectors, and gender distribution of authors and directors. In addition, the Bradford areas of production by university were identified. The University Complutense of Madrid is the institution with the highest production of theses in higher arts education, being in general larger universities the ones with the highest production. Theses predominantly centered on music and performing arts, with less attention to plastic and visual arts. Women are more present than men as authors and directors. The importance of higher arts education as a field of research in Spain is highlighted and the need to promote thematic diversity and equal gender participation in scientific production is evident. The observed decrease in production since 2015 suggests the need to continue fostering research in higher arts education and to support researchers in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a practical activity focusing on two main goals: to give learners the opportunity to experience how the scientific method works and to increase their knowledge about enzymes in everyday situations. The exercise consists of determining the amylase activity of commercial detergents. The methodology is based on a qualitative assay using a colorimetric process. Quantitative results are also obtained by measuring the halo formed. This activity is suitable for and adaptable to learners at different levels of education: primary school, secondary education or even for pre-service teachers, which is the group the version described in this paper was intended for. This laboratory activity was designed to include the scientific method as a learning outcome. This was especially important in pre-service teachers, as increasing scientific literacy is one of the primary goals of science education. Through the activity, students also learn about micro-organisms and their applications in their daily lives, which is one of the tenets of Science-Technology-Society-Environment programs. A case study was conducted with a group of learners made up of 75 pre-service teachers from Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, in order to verify whether this lab activity is well designed and can be satisfactorily implemented.

Due to the important impact that biotechnology has on current Western societies, well-informed critical citizens are needed. People prepared to make conscious decisions about aspects of biotechnology that relate to their own lives. Teachers play a central role in all education systems. Thus, the biotechnological literacy of preservice teachers is an important consideration as they will become an influential collective as future teachers of the next generation of children. The attitudes toward science (and biotechnology) that teachers have affect their behavior and influence the way they implement their daily practice of science teaching in school. This study analyzes the attitudes and knowledge of Spanish preservice teachers toward biotechnology. We designed a new survey instrument that was completed by 407 university students who were taking official degree programs in preschool and primary education. Our results point out that although they are aware of biotechnology applications, topics concerning the structure of DNA, management of genetic information inside the cell, genetically modified organism technology and the use of microorganisms as biotechnological tools were not correctly answered. According to our attitude analysis, Spanish preservice teachers could be defined as opponents of genetically modified product acquisition, supporters of biotechnology for medical purposes and highly interested in increasing their knowledge about biotechnology and other scientific advances. Our results show a positive correlation between better knowledge and more positive attitudes toward biotechnology. A Spanish preservice teacher with positive attitudes toward biotechnology tends to be a student with a strong biology background who scored good marks in our knowledge test.

University expansion in higher education has been hierarchically differentiated. There is some concentration of certain social profiles in some degrees of study, so social composition between degrees can vary considerably. This article describes in terms of social composition 10 degrees of four public universities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. We analyse 857 questionnaires filled in by mid-career students. From the perspective of agent's decision on the choice of studies, we explore what were the factors that made them choose a concrete degree. We examine several variables that can indicate whether their expectations have been met or not. The results show that the factors predicted by the theory by which working-class (WC) students choose degrees--instrumental motivations and conditions that minimize the risk--are often met. In this regard, the recent structural reform related with the implementation of the European Higher Education Area that removes short-cycles degrees (3 years) could lead to a problem of access for WC students.

This article describes the transition from a traditional instructor-centered course, based on lectures, to a student-centered course based on active learning methodologies as part of the reform of the Spanish higher education system within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Specifically, we describe the use of active learning methodologies to teach metabolism to students of nutrition and dietetics during the first year of their professional training in a 4-year undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Human Nutrition and Dietetics). In the new course design, the number of didactic lectures was largely reduced and complemented with a series of activities (problems/case studies, discussion workshops, self-assessment quizzes) aimed to get students actively engaged, to encourage self-learning, and to promote sustained work throughout the length of the course. The article presents quantitative data demonstrating a clear and significant improvement in students' performance when an active approach was implemented. Importantly, the improved performance was achieved without work overload. Finally, students' responses to this new teaching methodology have been very positive and overall satisfaction high. In summary, our results strongly argue in favor of the teaching model described herein. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)