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Research on improving engineering skills in students advocates for high-quality teaching practices as well as the implementation of digitally enhanced management systems, such as e-Learning. Furthermore, COVID-19 led to several changes in education, such as switching drastically from face to face to emergency remote and later hybrid teaching. This study has focused on the proposal, the application and the evaluation of a new e-Learning teaching method. "FastTest PlugIn" has been used for the creation of large sets of questions, to develop parameterised and individualised exercises in Moodle. The method has been applied since COVID-19, considering different types of teaching: completely remote, hybrid and face to face. It has been implemented in some courses of the bachelor's and master's degree in engineering at the University of Cadiz (Spain). The academic performance and students' feedback on the method have been obtained. During remote teaching, students presented lower scores than before the pandemic. However, as students became familiar with the method and at least face-to-face exams were carried out, the scores and students' perception of the difficulty of the courses improved. The main novelty of this method is the reliability of creating different exercises for a consistent level of difficulty; the ability to avoid dishonest actions of students; and the time saved by instructors, as exercises are automatically corrected. This study provides the advantages and benefits of digitally enhancing university teaching. Furthermore, it is the first to investigate the integration of "FastTest PlugIn" to enhance teaching quality and engineering skills.

The main objective of this study is the design and validation of an educational methodological model based on the use of immersive technological resources (Augmented Reality -- AR) to improve learning processes in secondary education science subjects (Biology and Geology). The process was developed based on three main quantitative studies: an exploratory study, a study of performance divided into three cases studies, and an attitudinal study. The information obtained was completed with a fourth qualitative study of the training of teachers who participate in educational technology. This research provides empirical evidence that allows validation of the methodological model developed to explain key concepts and to improve the level of motivation and acceptance of AR technology by students. The proposed model can induce improvements in educational processes in the field of STEAM when used with an immersive AR technological resource and an adapted digital evaluation system. It also demonstrates that teachers require specific training in connection with the creation and the adequate use of AR educational resources, and of digital evaluation systems as well. The results of this study have important implications for the field of education, demonstrating the potential of AR technology to improve learning outcomes and the need for teacher training in its use.

Cyber-victimization, understood as the suffering of aggressions through electronic media, is undoubtedly the greatest concern of socio-educational communities. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of cyber-victimization in adolescents and to analyze the relationship between cyber-victimization and several demographic variables. We administered the Cyber-Victimization Questionnaire and an "ad hoc" demographic questionnaire to a sample of 866 Compulsive Secondary Education (CSE) students aged 12 to 16 years (M = 13.81, SD = 1.25). The data revealed a percentage of cyber-victimization of 22.18% with a greater presence of verbal-written cyber-victimization. Among the most common actions of cyber-victim/ization are receiving calls with the intention of annoying or making fun of the victim and sending unpleasant photos or videos through mobile phone or the Internet. Likewise, the variance and post hoc analysis show that personal (gender), family (type of family) and school variables (type of center, course, and academic record) are statistically significant risk factors in cyber-victimization. In conclusion, this study identifies relevant personal, family and school variables to help structure prevention and intervention strategies in cyber-victimization from educational communities.

The paper aims to explore how head teachers and other education service leaders and their teams have been experiencing shifts in their identities during the last decade of education cuts in Catalonia (Spain), and the possible effects during the current COVID-19 crisis on educational leaders. Our exploratory hypothesis covers the crisis years (2008-2015) and on into the nonrecovery years (2015-2020) until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these years, through what Ball (2008) describes as a "ratchet effect," education cuts and their everyday effects in schools produced learned helplessness (LH) in head teachers and leaders. Theoretically, we propose to examine this malaise from a political angle, seeing it as a disciplinary technology to transform education leaders' identity and practices. To corroborate this, we conducted four interviews with head teachers of different public primary, secondary, and special education schools, and a psychopedagogical service leader in the same semi-rural area in Catalonia. The exploratory results show that the incremental and selective cuts soon became a new normal and created feelings of (political) learned helplessness that may be seen not as negative side effects but as a disciplinary technology that reshaped leaders' subjectivity. At the same time, education leaders carried out some (ir)responsible practices of resistance that can be understood as care of the self and others. More research needs to be done with different agents to capture the complexity and ambiguity of cuts and LH as a political phenomenon.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers had to face different teaching and assessment challenges. This study aims to analyse the relationship between the assessment practices of teachers (related to their assessment conceptions) with their self-perceived level of teachers' digital competence (TDC) and their received TDC and assessment training courses. For this, the authors applied an online questionnaire that analysed the case of secondary school teachers in Catalonia (Spain) (n = 278). Results show that participating teachers who have the highest self-perception of TDC are the ones who perceive themselves as integrating mainly formative assessment. Significant correlations were also found between recent teacher training and the kind of assessment practices carried out by participants. Official certification of TDC also has a statistically significant association with different assessment characteristics and purposes. Finally, the implications of these findings for pre-service and in-service teacher training are discussed, both regarding the TDC and the assessment competence.

This paper aims to examine the role of management programmes in students' development of management competences. Data were drawn from supervisors' assessments of the actual achievement of these competences among students on the IQS Undergraduate Programme in Tourism and Hospitality Management. The results over a sample of 121 students show that students develop management competences excellently. Furthermore, mean comparison analyses carried out to explore possible differences in students' achievement of management competences show that students' gender and internship subsector are in some cases significant. These findings indicate that the degree programme's academic curriculum fulfills its core objective of adequately preparing future leaders for management roles in the sector.

Background: It is widely recognised internationally that participation in higher education is likely to lead to increased opportunities and resources. However, only a minority of learners from Roma backgrounds continue into post-compulsory education. As important research into inclusion continues, more attention must be paid to the identification of practices that can help break down barriers and support the participation of Roma students in post-compulsory education. Purpose: The research sought to gain insight into particular factors influencing the decision-making processes of three students from Roma backgrounds who chose to pursue an academic pathway. Method: The setting for this qualitative study was a school in Spain located in a socioeconomically disadvantaged and predominantly Roma neighbourhood whose students had never previously participated in pre-university studies (courses preparing students for university entrance). In-depth interviews were conducted with three Roma students in their last year of compulsory education who were about to move on to pre-university studies, as well as with three significant adults: a Roma mother, a Roma role model working at the school, and the school principal. Findings: The analysis of participants' narratives suggested that, according to their views, the implementation of a set of successful educational actions involving high expectations, the involvement of Roma families, the influence of positive Roma role models and engagement with dialogic interactions contributed to the continuation of these three Roma students on a trajectory towards post-compulsory education. Conclusions: The study highlights some noteworthy factors that can be involved in transforming a context from one where access to university is not considered to be an option and towards a new one in which university becomes a real choice.

While creativity is a primary focus in music education, its exploration within the realm of music studio teaching is considerably less extensive compared with other educational contexts. Moreover, the related research is predominantly focused on creativity in developing music skills. In the present study, we explore how Spanish instrumental music teachers (n = 10) perceive creativity and its development among students in the music studio, in the absence of predefined limitations (i.e., with respect to various forms and definitions of creativity inherent in the music studio as perceived from their viewpoint). By means of a case study methodology, we gathered data over a one-year period through a questionnaire, in-depth interviews, participants' written essays, and researchers' journal entries following observations of the participants' teaching practices. Subsequently, qualitative analysis was conducted using thematic analysis. Among our main results, we found tensions between our participants' theories and their practices, evidence for an underlying individual-centered theory of creativity, both positive and negative attitudes toward the development of creativity among their students, and ignorance of creativity in music listening. Our study implications emphasize the urgency of implementing strategies to enhance teacher self-awareness and underscore the need for further investigation into music studio teaching with a specific focus on creativity.

Research on experiences of gender and racial discrimination among young, racialized college women in Europe is scarce, particularly in Spain where Black women have traditionally had a minority presence in universities. As a result of processes of social mobility, these women are now occupying higher education spaces to an unprecedented extent, where they are becoming increasingly visible. These women's experiences of gender and racial discrimination throughout the education cycle are invisible. The aim of this article is to explore the personal experiences of racialization and discrimination among Black female college students in southern Spain. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted and analysed to shed light on the experiences of young Black female students in predominantly white educational institutions. The stories of these women show that gender and race intersect and are constructed simultaneously through interactions with their mostly white peers. These women display responses of significant resilience.

This article presents an experience of teaching innovation based on the application of active methodologies in economics and business education at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). The proposal builds on a competency teaching approach, whose objectives were to verify the effectiveness of these methodologies in the area of economics in order to reconnect the university with its social environment and enhance the competency and student-learning values. During the 2019-2020 academic year, a multidisciplinary process based on the Problem-Based Learning methodology was developed in the Introduction to Economics II: Principles of Macroeconomics course. Various teaching techniques were applied to encourage participation, autonomous student work, group work, as well as elements of social responsibility and values education. The results of the process collected quantitatively and qualitatively show improvements in the acquisition of knowledge by students and greater appropriation levels linked to greater motivation. However, reluctance and misgivings about the process also arose, which would require further work in class and a leading role by students. Greater planning, time and coordination requirements were also limiting factors for the teaching staff; however, the relevance of applying the methodology sequentially is suggested.

Given the ubiquity of digital technologies in all sorts of academic contexts, it is generally assumed that many undergraduates' writing tasks will include verbal and visual modes these days. The interweaving of different modes allows students to express different multidisciplinary and individual identities while they become agents and designers of different L2 learning tasks. Using an interpretative qualitative approach, the present study explores the authorial voice and stance that four engineering undergraduates enacted in their presentation slides for an in-class oral presentation. Data sources included screen capture, classroom observation, and interview transcripts. Findings revealed that behind students' collaborative compositional processes there are complex multimodal decisions that help them express their identities and enhance their engagement in the L2. Students perceived their presentation slides as artefacts to accommodate their audience and as means through which they were able to represent themselves as agents and designers of the discipline of engineering. Based on the results, this study highlights different pedagogical implications and ideas for English for specific purposes (ESP) contexts.

Learning a foreign language implies a lot more than learning grammar and vocabulary. Language learners should also acquire the necessary social and cultural skills that would allow them to interact within the context where the target language is expected to be used. As a result, EFL teachers face the challenge of selecting and explaining the cultural contents that their students could employ when communicating with other English speakers; especially the speakers from those countries where EFL learners would more likely travel to either for academic or working purposes. In the case of Spanish EFL learners, the United States of America is among the most popular destinations in this regard. Therefore, exploring to what extend the American Culture is being addressed in EFL textbooks might help educators to improve their own teaching approach. This paper addresses research into the presence of American culture in textbooks used in Spain. The results indicate the limited importance of American Culture in the ELT books used in Spain.. The paper concludes by including some suggestions to address American Culture in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language in Spanish EFL Classrooms.

Team project-based learning (TPBL) combines two learning techniques: 1) project-based learning (PBL) and 2) teamwork. This combination leverages the learning outcomes of both methods and places students in a real work situation where they must develop and solve a real project while working as a team. TPBL has been used in two advanced database subjects in Jaume I University (UJI)'s Computer Science degree program. This learning method was used for four years (academic years from 2018/2019 to 2021/2022) with positive outcomes. This study presents the project development, which includes teamwork formation, activities, timetable, and exercised learning competencies (both soft and specific). Further, the project's results were evaluated from three different perspectives: 1) teamwork evaluation by teammates; 2) students' opinions on the subject and project; and 3) subject final grades.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic might negatively impact the quality of life and functional autonomy of Spanish adults with intellectual disability, and meaningful activities could prevent this negative progression. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study in Spanish adults with intellectual disability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quality of life, functional autonomy and functional independence were measured. The meaningful activities studied were structured-leisure, community self-management, and occupational and physical activities. Results: Seventy-three participants were included in the study. Quality of life and functional autonomy significantly deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic (all p > 0.001). Greater participation in community self-management activities before COVID-19 was associated with less detriment to quality of life ([beta] = -0.312; p = 0.008), while greater participation in occupational and physical activities was associated with less detriment to the performance of instrumental activities ([beta] = -0.317; p = 0.016; and [beta] = -0.285; p = 0.030, respectively). Conclusion: People with intellectual disability living in residential homes experienced a decrease in their quality of life and functional autonomy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their involvement in community self-management activities and physical and occupational activities before the pandemic had preventive effects on the detriment to the quality of life and functional autonomy.

The current offer of training courses for university teachers is due, among other needs, to the implementation of an educational model based on student learning, promoting the use of active methodologies for their motivation and academic performance. An exploratory-descriptive and ideographic study is presented where the main technique is the analysis of content. To this end, 15 Spanish universities with the greatest prestige were analyzed according to the parameters of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) in relation to the topics related to active methodologies and the profile of university teachers. The results show the different teacher training courses that have been carried out during the 2019/2020 academic year. We find that there are more universities that present more training of this type than others, and who this type of training is aimed at: new teachers and teachers with professional experience. The conclusions are related to the importance of the courses for the professional development of university teachers, since they should not be anchored in the same methodology, but should be open to new challenges and always taking into account the students, enhancing their motivation and academic performance.

Purpose: The main goal of this investigation is to analyze the implementation of a forced blended-learning program in social sciences higher education in a post-pandemic COVID-19 context. To reach that target, the authors suggest two specific objectives (S.O.): S.O.1 To analyze the motivation, the resources and the learning effectiveness of the program. S.O.2 To establish the differences emerged between the participants. Design/methodology/approach: The blended-learning program selected was based on the flipped-classroom model (Krasulia, 2017). The implementation consisted of a 20-min flipped classroom to flexibly follow the theoretical contents through self-elaborated videos uploaded on YouTube and adapted to all kinds of devices, two online theoretical hours driven by the teacher on the Zoom application per week with the whole group to augment explanations and solve doubts and two hours of face-to-face interaction to work cooperatively in small groups of 4-5 students per week. During these practical lessons, the students completed exercises, research reports, oral presentations and a gamification quiz developed each week through the Socrative application to keep the students engaged. Findings: All the participants agree in very positively valuating the small-group seminars and the teacher's role in the process. This is surely caused because of the pandemic fatigue and the restrictions (Mali and Lim, 2021) that were running during the fall semester of year 2020/2021 when in Spain lived the in-between of the second and third wave of SARS-CoV2. So, as educators and investigators, the authors encourage teachers to incorporate face-to-face interaction elements in forced blended-learning programs, to include seminars in small groups to work cooperatively and to provide the students support and a quick resolution of doubts. Originality/value: This study provides a significant value in support of a number of studies cited in the study. The study highlights the need for a standardised application of active methods in a standardised way.

The integration of digital technology into educational settings is expanding rapidly. One emerging didactical approach is flipped learning (FL), which leverages digital, internet-based technologies to deliver key instructions prior to classes. It then uses active learning opportunities during face-to-face meetings that encourage students to apply what they previously learned online. The format of FL naturally expands active learning during classes, which aligns well with the movement-based foundations of physical education (PE). Given the relative novelty of the approach within this subject, however, the purpose of this scoping review was to identify existing research, offer an initial FL approach for PE, and suggest directions for future study. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews guidelines directed this review, and four databases were searched. A total of 16 studies qualified for inclusion. Study contexts and methods varied widely, but a majority focused on motivation and learning as the primary outcome measures. Ten studies reported how the use of FL positively impacted student motivation, while nine studies illustrated how FL might be able to support student learning. Other studies indicated the potential of FL to increase motor skill development opportunities and autonomy during classes, although further research is necessary. Overall, FL in PE appears to have a positive impact on student variables. Research on the design and implementation of both the digital and in-class instructional components will be necessary to guide best practice more appropriately. Further, rigorous research is also necessary to extend understanding of the influence of FL on student outcomes.

The challenge of creating more inclusive public schools addressing the needs of the 21st century Knowledge Society is a major one. In this paper, we focus on inclusion as a dialogical process to be adopted and developed by teachers and students alike in any classroom. The idea of inclusive dialogic teaching is explained and operationalised in an inclusive dialogic curriculum focusing on cultural literacy learning dispositions. In this study, which is part of a multi-country European project, eight Spanish and Portuguese secondary school teachers and their students participated in eight sessions performing dialogic lesson plans. Teachers attended two professional development sessions, one at the beginning of the project and another one later on. Classroom discourse data from sessions #3 and #8 were collected and analyzed using a pre-constructed coding scheme. The findings show a slight improvement in dialogicity from session #3 to session #8 with a persisting resistance from teachers to be more cumulative in their discourse. These findings confirm previous work showing that dialogic teaching is acquired gradually, and even when there are changes in teachers' stance being more inclusive and inviting towards students, these changes do not necessarily represent a radical shift in the teaching methods towards being more student-centered.

Background: The present study investigates the possible differences between neurotypical children (NT), autistic children, and adults with intellectual disability (ID) related to (i) morality of the agent, (ii) morality of the action, and (iii) culpability in inappropriate situations. Method: Eighty-four Spanish participants (32 NT, 30 autistic children, and 22 adults with ID) responded to a task of moral transgression with an unambiguous structure (bad intention -- bad outcome), where the stories were classified as first-order Theory of Mind (ToM) (based on simple desires) and second-order ToM (based on revenge). Results: Autistic group judged similarly to NT group. However, adults with ID had greater difficulty judging the (ii) morality of the action (compared with the autistic and NT group) and (iii) culpability (compared with the NT group). Also, ID adults encountered problems responding the moral questions in the balloon story (second-order ToM) and ice-cream story (first-order ToM). Conclusions: Autistic and NT children were able to make similar moral judgements, however adults with ID did not respond in the same way -- as they were more benevolent in their judgements.

Purpose: In today's ever-evolving digital job market, soft skills are increasingly important for university students to succeed in their future careers. This study identifies the soft skills that universities should prioritize the most due to their significance in the digital employment market. Design/methodology/approach: Using natural language processing (NLP) techniques, this study analyzed 226 student writings that described their experiences of failure in academic, personal and professional settings. Zero-shot classification was utilized to identify the presence of soft skills and sentiment analysis was used to determine the expressed sentiment toward these skills. Findings: The findings suggest that students are most deficient in social intelligence, stress management and self-intelligence skills, which are essential soft skills for success in academic and professional environments and for the transition to the digital employment market. Research limitations/implications: The article acknowledges limitations related to the writing proficiency of resumes from a few non-English speaking students and the potential influence of students' emotional states on the content of their writings. Practical implications: The study provides valuable insights into the soft skills that are mostly lacking among university students and their significance in the digital employment market. Originality/value: The study highlights the importance of universities in promoting and practicing essential soft skills and sheds light on the issue of soft skill deficiency among university students. Educators can use these insights to develop strategic proposals aimed at promoting the acquisition of key soft skills among students. The study provides valuable insights into the soft skills that are mostly lacking among university students and their significance in the digital employment market.

The Civic Competence has been acknowledged essential to support sustainable societies, economies and ecosystems for the development of responsible active citizens in today's increasingly connected world. In this regard, telecollaboration seems to help enhance related media literacy and intercultural skills. However, despite the development of key competences for lifelong learning with telecollaboration has already been the focus of some studies, the measurement of Civic Competence in teacher education with telecollaboration remains still a question for investigation. Following this line of research, this study aimed to explore the own perception of FL student teachers in Civic Competence, and if this competence can be developed working the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with telecollaboration. The participants of this study were two groups of student teachers at two different European universities. Both groups completed a survey and proposed collaborative strategies to improve the global and Civic Competence. Educational proposals and digital collaborative tools were analysed to measure the improvement of the student teachers´ perception. Forum, e-portfolios and evaluation forms together with pre- and post-questionnaires were used to explore the outcomes. Results indicated that most Civic Competence domains can be enhanced by working SDG and that adopting a reflective, experiential and safe collaborative online international learning approach can help promote further knowledge, skills and attitudes in specific contexts.

Foreign language bilingual education has been common in many countries all over the world for many years after the Quebec issue in the 1970s. However, after all these years, bilingual education still remains as a criticized way of education. This research essay examined the most significant criticism by summarizing it into seven common misconceptions of the bilingual education schooling system in Spain in general education English-Spanish 1st-12th grade. A lot of criticism has been directed towards the differences between regular mainstream classes and bilingual classes especially in Primary education. This paper looks at seven commonly addressed issues. The paper especially focuses on Primary education but most revision matters also relate to secondary and even higher education. Special interest is paid to cognitive, social, economic, mode of bilingual education, role of the immigrant students and parents' attitudes. The conclusion leads to the understanding that English-Spanish bilingual education is not pernicious but, on the contrary, benefits the cognitive a linguistic development of most school children.

University plays a vital role in the social development of students, and, in line with this premise, the main foundations for the creation of the European Higher Education Area are based on the social perspective for its promotion. The introduction of the Spanish university system into the European Higher Education Area has had an impact on initial teacher training. In order to maintain a balance from the social perspective, this work analyses the student's perception of a bachelor's degree in early childhood education and primary education and a master's in secondary education on the implications of the European convergence process for their initial training. It is a descriptive study that uses an "ad hoc" scale as an instrument for data collection, addressed to students from two Spanish universities (n=682). Results show the positive evaluation of the student towards the practicum, understood as a complement to their academic training, as well as the coherence between the theoretical and practical contents in the different subjects, among other aspects. However, it also criticizes the development of subjects taught by several professors, as well as the lack of information disseminated by the university on the implications that this European process has generated in the teaching-learning process. These perceptions are more favorable in master's students than in undergraduate students. This allows the identification of the potentialities and limitations of the European process for the initial teacher training.

The COVID-19 pandemic worldwide evidenced the need to revise and strengthen the current perspective of the role of technology in nontechnology- based classes. The current situation requires the revision of practices and basic knowledge of computer literacy and use. Traditionally, technology in the process of language learning has been considered anecdotal. As a result, many teachers do not have the necessary skills to implement proper technology-supported classes. Being that the case at Universidad de Alcalá (Spain), we looked at the students' needs in integrating a number of different applications in the classroom in order to provide them with additional technological skills. Twenty-two pre-service teachers enrolled in the College of Education prepared a whole package of applications for computer and mobile phones by working cooperatively. This paper looks at their attitudes towards technology learning and implementation. A Likert-scale questionnaire was developed to assess their attitudes. Results indicated that students do not evidence as much interest as expected despite their limited ability to implement the package.

The growing use of technology for mathematics in higher education opens new pedagogical and technological challenges for teachers. The objective of this study was to analyze the teaching approaches and technology-related pedagogical competencies of 29 mathematics teachers (15 females and 14 males) from nine European countries. After conducting semi-structured interviews, the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI-16) and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework survey were applied. The results show large individual variations in teaching approaches, technological competencies, and institutional support. One-third of teachers apply a more student-centered approach, one-third a more teacher-centered approach, and one-third a mixed approach. Educating and supporting teachers in embracing educational technologies thus needs to be tailored strongly to individual needs and the available institutional support resources and infrastructure.

In this chapter we analyzed lecturers' attitudes towards using English in European Higher Education settings. Twenty-eight university teachers were brought together from thirteen universities across six European countries for an online training for teachers in English Medium Instruction (EMI) settings. The lecturers' written exchanges about English as an academic Lingua Franca (ELF) in one of the training modules were the target of our study. These exchanges (110 posts) were coded and analyzed using Martin and White's (2005) Appraisal Theory, which is a model of evaluation within the general theoretical framework of systemic functional linguistics. In this framework, affect, judgement and appreciation are regarded as regions (types) of feelings in interpersonal language that reflect attitude (positive or negative). The results showed that teachers' exchanges about ELF are interwoven with other types of English, in which they discussed different stakeholders and aspects of English, towards which their attitudes vary, which points to the multidimensionality of attitudes towards EMI. The results also show that appreciation and judgment regions were used more than affect in their language when discussing the use of English in Higher Education (HE).

Introduction: Basic employability competences are key for young people to access and remain active in the labour market, especially in a context of job scarcity. This study presents the criteria validation of a test designed to assess the Development of Basic Employability Competences (DCBE) among young people of pre-employment age during compulsory education. The aim of the article is to provide evidence of the relationship between the scores on the DCBE test and some external criteria such as classroom behaviours, which are considered indicators of good competence levels and can be observed and assessed by the peer group. A further aim is to evaluate the relevance of maintaining the test's unifactorial structure or including the eight original competences. Method: The participating sample comprised 326 students from three state-run secondary schools in Catalonia. The DCBE situational test and a questionnaire to assess observable behaviours that required high levels of basic employability competences were applied. The relationship between test scores and students' nominations of their peers' competences, age and gender was examined. Results: The results of the study support the criterion validity of the test based on peer evaluation, since the students with the best scores on the DCBE test were also identified by their peers as displaying behaviours representative of having a command of employability competences. Furthermore, students nominated as displaying behaviours indicative of good competences obtained better scores on the different scales of the test, while differences by gender were found for both the test results and the nominations received, but not for age. Discussion and conclusions: The data support the criterion validity of the DCBE in measuring employability competences in early pre-employment stages. The results support the use of the general employability factor, although all eight competences can be used for educational purposes.

The participation of citizens in democratic societies depends on their ability to understand scientific knowledge and apply it to everyday life situations. Thus, promoting scientific literacy from an early age should be among the main priorities in democratic societies. Dialogic Scientific Gatherings (DSGs) have successfully promoted scientific literacy among adults. This research intends to take a step forward in studying DSG implementation's transferability in promoting scientific literacy in primary school children from a culturally diverse school placed in a low socioeconomic neighborhood in Spain. Drawing upon Communicative Methodology, this case study has collected data through semi-structured interviews and communicative observations. The results show that: (1) DSG enhance scientific literacy, specifically instrumental learning, analytical and critical thinking and social abilities; and (2) the promotion of scientific literacy has an impact on decision-making and participation in society. Furthermore, although this research is a case study implemented in one school, it shows that DSG can be transferred to a culturally diverse school.

Purpose: The transfer of training has been identified with the effectiveness of training. The purpose of this work is to analyse the impact of training stages (training needs analysis, application and evaluation) as they relate to training transfer. Design/methodology/approach: The study participants correspond to a sample of 116 teachers with managerial responsibilities (management teams and department heads) from 17 secondary schools in Spain. This work hypothesises five significant relationships: needs analysis and application of training, application and transfer of training, evaluation and analysis of training needs, evaluation and application of training and evaluation and transfer of training. The hypotheses were tested using structural equations, namely, the partial least squares-structural equation modelling technique and SmartPLS version 3.2.9. Findings: The relationships between application and transfer of training, between evaluation of training and needs analysis, application and transfer of training are positively contrasted. The relationship between the analysis and application of training is not contrasted. Originality/value: This work analyses the relationship between the training process's different phases (analysis, application and evaluation) in the training output (training transfer) and emphasises the role of evaluation in the training process.

Objectives: To gain insight into children's health-related knowledge and understanding of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) and COVID-19, and measures adopted to mitigate transmission. Design: A child-centred qualitative creative element embedded in an online mixed-methods survey of children aged 7-12years. Setting: Children participated in the study in six countries -- the UK, Australia, Sweden, Brazil, Spain and Canada. Method: A qualitative creative component, embedded in an online survey, prompted children to draw and label a picture. Children were recruited via their parents using the researchers' professional social media accounts, through known contacts, media and websites from health organisations within each country. Analysis of the form and content of the children's pictures took place. Results: A total of 128 children (mean age 9.2 years) submitted either a hand-drawn (n = 111) or digitally created (n = 17) picture. Four main themes were identified which related to children's health-related knowledge of (1) COVID-19 and how it is transmitted; (2) measures and actions to mitigate transmission; (3) places of safety during the pandemic; and (4) children's role in mitigating COVID-19 transmission. Conclusion: Children's pictures indicated a good understanding of the virus, how it spreads and how to mitigate transmission. Children depicted their actions during the pandemic as protecting themselves, their families and wider society.

This study investigated the effects of the use of Augmented Reality (AR) on the academic performance of students, as well as perceptions that were following the use of this new technology resource. The participants were students of primary education in Spain, which were assigned to an experimental group and a control group. Contents related to the topic Representation Earth were created, and were held with the collaboration of teachers using tablets to display bookmarks. To analyze the results collection tools of quantitative and qualitative data are used, a pre-test and post-test on the subject explained. I was done and Likert questionnaire on aspects of the use of the AR was given and an in depth interview was done teachers. Used tools of collection of data quantitative and qualitative to the deal are of a design quasi-experimental. In order to analyze the data, the statistical software SPSS 23 was used. The use of the AR as a teaching tool sheds results that reveal that the performance and the acquisition of knowledge of students improves significantly, being reflected in the ratings that were higher. The process of teaching and learning is perceived as positive, incentive and facilitator in the acquisition of knowledge.

The aim of this investigation is to assess the correlation among different competencies-assessment systems available on the market to measure social skills in the university environment. In order to carry out the research, three self-perception competency tests were used, and 30 competencies were evaluated in a Likert scale with several response levels: the LPA-Q, the ESCI-U, and the CompeUEM. The three questionnaires were completed by 57 university students. The results show a low degree of agreement among the different questionnaires in relation to measuring the same competencies, as well as an unclear factor structure.

Mentoring programmes targeting young people in residential care need to promote long-term mentorships. Youth in residential care are a sensitive population that can be particularly affected by the ending of a mentorship relationship, due to their troubled bonding history. However, little is known about the difficulties mentors may encounter in such programmes, how to help mentors overcome problems, have a good mentoring experience and, ultimately, how to retain mentors. Within the framework of a pilot mentoring program aimed at youth in residential care carried out in five European countries, a two-phase study was designed to (1) explore positive factors and difficulties faced by mentors and (2) analyse the perceived benefits of participating in such a program. This article reports on findings from sixteen interviews with mentors in Spain and a survey of 62 mentors in Austria, Croatia, France, Germany and Spain. Factors that contribute to promoting a better mentoring experience and longer-term mentorships include taking care of the relationship between mentor and youth in residential care, encouraging youth in residential care to participate in decision-making and promoting collaboration between stakeholders. Minimising the impact of negative external factors from different contexts is also important. Finally, a key role is played by reinforcing mentor well-being, personal growth, socialisation and social awareness.

Families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience much more negative perceptions of their family quality of life (FQoL). To investigate key factors that may shape these experiences, we conducted a case-control study of sixty-one Spanish families (29 with a child with ASD) using a broad psychosocial assessment (e.g., ASD severity, social support, demographics), including the first direct test of the relationship between FQoL and parental risk literacy (i.e., the ability to evaluate and understand risk, as measured by numeracy). Results revealed that numeracy was associated with differences in perceived FQoL among families of children with ASD (R[superscript 2] = 0.10), a finding that held across several models statistically controlling for the influence of other variables. Findings suggest that parental risk literacy skills may generally be associated with differences in decision making vulnerabilities (e.g., risk evaluation and interpretation) that influence family outcomes including FQoL.

This paper presents a case study of the co-design process for an online course on Sustainable Development (Degree in Tourism) involving the teacher, two students, and the project researchers. The co-design process was founded on an inquiry-based and technology-enhanced model that takes shape in a set of design principles. The research had two main objectives. Firstly, to identify the moments of change that occur during the co-design process and secondly, to describe the causes and agents that motivate them. This study applied design-based research methodology and used a qualitative approach to collect, analyse, and interpret data. The results show that the co-design methodology led to moderate changes consisting of the progressive construction and refinement of the activities, seeking a sense of continuum throughout by including students' collaboration. The findings also reveal the main role of each of the actors involved. Thus, the teacher focused on basic instructional design related aspects while students focused on improving the use of resources and learning aids. Researchers helped them to embody and achieve the proposed changes and also acted as mediators of pedagogical concepts and vocabulary. CompendiumLD software was a helpful tool to graphically represent and share the prototyping of the activities and to help analyse the design process.

Teachers participate in social networking sites to share knowledge and collaborate with other teachers to create education-related content. In this study we selected several communities in order to better understand the networks that these participants establish in Twitter and the role that the social network plays in their activity within the community, especially related with peer production. We analyzed the topology of these networks in two ways: a) the indirect relations by counting "followers" and "followed" people; and b) the conversational networks by counting mentions in "tweets." We also analyzed the communities' websites in order to elucidate whether their production was lightweight or heavyweight peer production. Results indicate that teacher networks adopt a community clusters archetype in which some teachers act as bridges between several groups. Although these networks do not form a tight crowd, their degree of tightness is superior to that of the general networks established in Twitter. Our results also indicate that the degree of tightness is important for sustaining heavyweight peer production and strong leadership can play a crucial role in establishing long-term commitment to a collective task.

Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory (MIT) can be a cognitive and emotional improvement if is taken into account in the standard development of the Technology lessons. This work presents a preliminary evaluation of the performance enhancement in two concomitant aspects: contents acquisition and emotional yield. The study was made on up to 150 students with ages of 12-13 years old. The control group was submitted to traditional transmission-reception lessons, whereas the experimental one was submitted to novel educational techniques that included specific activities which took into account the different intelligences styles (IS) inside the classroom. The results clearly depicted that both studied variables underwent a statistical significant enhancement through the application of the MIT-based educational method.

The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in physical education students' perception on an educational innovation based on formative and peer assessment through the blogosphere. The sample was made up of 253 students from two Spanish universities. Data was collected using a self-reported questionnaire and t tests were employed in order to find differences among students' groups. Results show significant differences in almost all of the items on which the students were questioned. Basque students were more satisfied with the assessment tool used than the Valencian students. Students found the blogosphere more active, meaningful, functional and motivating and that it made for collaborative learning in comparison to other traditional evaluation methods. They also showed disapproval related to the demands on attendance, continuity and the greater effort required. For future occasions, negotiation about assessment criteria with the students should be implemented right at the very start of the course.

The present study investigates whether learner set up in interaction, namely in pairs or small groups, influences the frequency and outcome of lexical language-related episodes (LREs) and L2 vocabulary learning. Thirty Spanish English as a foreign language (EFL) university learners took part in the study. They worked in four groups and seven pairs on the same collaborative writing task. Research was carried out on the course of five weeks as a pre- and post- vocabulary task and an individual writing task were administered to assess vocabulary learning and retention. The quantitative analysis of the data showed that there was no significant difference between the performance of pairs and groups, although the latter produced slightly more lexical LREs than pairs and were able to solve most of them correctly. However, from a qualitative point of view, the findings suggest that small group work leads to slightly better results than pair work as the different members obtain benefits from their peers' linguistic knowledge.

The combination of two macro trends, Information and Communication Technologies' (ICT) proliferation and novel approaches in education, has resulted in a series of opportunities with no precedent in terms of content, channels and methods in education. The present contribution aims to describe the experience of using an automatic spreadsheet corrector, its perceived benefits as well as its impact on academic results. A total of 179 students coursing technical studies attended a basic course on business administration in the framework of which the field work was conducted. Perception assessment of students demonstrates a very good opinion about the learning experience using the proposed ICT tool. The user perception evaluation also shows that it is a valuable learning tool, while students who obtain a high final qualification are the ones that have been positively evaluated in the sessions using the automatic spreadsheet corrector. Beyond these highlighted benefits for students, teachers gain time, effort and workload reduction. The validity of the proposal is tested in the Polytechnic School of the University of Girona in Catalonia (Spain). [Paper presented at the International Conference on University Teaching and Innovation (CIDUI): Learning and Teaching Innovation Impacts (9th, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain, Jul 5-7 2016.)]

One of the main aims of diverse education systems is the development of key competences to improve citizens' capacity for lifelong learning. However, some authors have signalled the challenge their measurement entails, among them the Learning to Learn (LtL) competence, which has also been shown to be complex to define and is under research. With a pre-post-test design and a variety of assessment instruments, this study compares the effect having an educational technology course and using telecollaboration has on the development of the LtL competence in a content and language integrated (CLIL) learning environment. Four groups of teacher trainees at two different universities took initial and after treatment surveys on LtL. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicated that technology boosts LtL but that telecollaboration helps develop LtL reflective concepts further in the form of processes by constructing or accomplishing learning goals in similar contexts.

Soldier newspapers on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War constitute a source of around 500 publications, 228 of which are illustrated. This article is the result of a visual and textual analysis of these 228 publications. Our aim was to discover how photography of cultural and educational events was used in this type of press publication to not only inform but also educate soldiers by building visual discourses that were more striking and effective than the texts. After analyzing the images, we concluded that through these publications visual strategies were developed. The images, by themselves, were capable of transmitting to the soldiers the ideas about culture and education that the Republican side wanted to implement during the war. The photographs convey the idea to soldiers that comprehensive training was required not just to defeat fascism but also to start and achieve social revolution itself. Taking into account that around 80% of those in the People's Republican Army were illiterate, these visual narratives comprised an important tool for cultural promotion amongst combatants.

Following remarks about the nature and significance of values and values education, generally and more specifically in China, England, Mexico and Spain, we explain the methods used to analyse official policies that apply to moral education, citizenship education and character education. We find similarity across the documents regarding five values-related themes: justice and the rule of law; harmony and tolerance; diversity and non-discrimination; international understanding; and equality. These themes emphasise understanding and knowing, with limited consideration of implementation and privileging of dominant values and contextually relevant considerations. We suggest that across countries there are attempts to develop personally responsible citizens and that further work is needed on how these documents are interpreted in practice by educators.

Purpose: The aim of this article is to propose and test a structural model of relationships between generic and specific competencies and entrepreneurial competencies in order to assess students' learning. Design/methodology/approach: The study was carried out on a sample of 337 students enrolled on the entrepreneurship specialisation of the final bachelor's degree project course on the Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. A questionnaire was designed to gather information on students' perception of their level of acquisition of the different groups of competencies. The partial least squares (PLS) multivariate technique was used to analyse the model. Findings: The results confirm that there are significant relationships between the different groups of competencies. Specifically, it shows that generic competencies influence specific competencies and that there is a strong relationship between systemic and professional competencies and entrepreneurial competencies. It also shows that the experience variable contributes positively to different competency groups, while the gender and age variables have no effect on the development of entrepreneurial competencies. Practical implications: The study provides relevant information to the academic world on different factors that affect competency development. Originality/value: The analysis provides an innovative research and contributes knowledge on entrepreneurial competency acquisition, providing an answer to whether generic and specific competencies influence entrepreneurial competencies.

This paper aims to analyse whether the entrepreneurial competencies acquired by students when they work on a business plan have any kind of influence on student learning process results in terms of gender. To do so, we used data obtained from questionnaires distributed among 425 students on the Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Comparing men and women, we performed exploratory factor analyses on competencies and learning process results, and linear regression analyses to determine the influence of gender and competencies on learning. Our findings indicated that women reported poorer learning results than men using the business plan methodology. Another key finding was the highly positive influence on learning process results of time-management and entrepreneurial competencies in particular. Finally, we found no significant differences between men and women in terms of the impact of competencies on learning process results.

In this paper, we will describe, justify and critique a participatory approach that we have developed in order to evaluate the success of a participatory research project that was exploring ways of making museum learning experiences more inclusive for adults who have a diverse range of access preferences. Because we were researching in a unique space at the intersection of inclusive museum education, inclusive technologies and participatory research, we have needed to develop an original evaluation approach, informed by methods and frameworks derived from other fields. We present examples of the kind of evaluation information that the framework elicited and use this as a basis to critique the strengths and weaknesses of the framework. Our experience of using creative methods for eliciting evaluation data suggest that useful information about participation can be revealed but that further improvements can be made in order to make the research experience more participatory.

Online courses have benefited from the adequate use of digital resources that allow learners to be the center of their own learning process. More often online instructors not only aim at what students have to individually do but learners are also engaged in interacting with the educational community by means of a variety of metacognitive activities, which can be planned, thought and accomplished anywhere and at any time (ubiquitous learning). This article proposes a debate on the awareness of strategic knowledge acquisition to particular situations providing interactive scenarios among students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in online courses. Without communicative activities, the successful production of any foreign language is not complete since knowledge building and the understanding of the foreign language, either in written or spoken form, are the key points of an adequate performance of communication. The findings of this study will provide information about useful online tasks for the adequate performance of communicative metacognitive skills required in an EFL language distance course. Finally, some future research paths inclined to improve EFL distance learners from a metacognitive and ICT-based collaborative perspective are also suggested.