Search

One of the most important changes in the syllabus improvement is to achieve a more qualitative and comprehensive final evaluation in all disciplines, where interdisciplinary term papers are projected. Therefore, it was considered opportune to unify the term papers of Methodology of Investigation and Health Prevention subjects in the Medical Sciencies Faculty of Holguín, what imposes that professors of both matters act in the same way towards the orientation, follow-up and evaluation of this activity, reason why a guide that facilitates the orientation for work development to the students and criteria uniformity in the teaching staff to evaluate and diminish the subjectivity when granting a qualification was elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a topic of particular relevance in the current academic dynamics and in the process of training of undergraduate and graduate students, as it is directly related to the teaching and evaluation processes. That is why this text addresses these two processes directly related to research activities, given that it focuses on the teaching of research methodology and evaluation of research papers and doctoral theses, as well as in the skills and competencies that teachers must develop for carrying out these activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Languages have undergone a wide variety of evaluations, which have triggered many value-judgements about their worth, i.e. about the better or worse nature of some languages as opposed to others. Currently, this situation still persists, in such a way that the thesis of linguistic egalitarianism is being challenged by several proposals. This paper critically discusses the task of evaluating languages, and it argues that any scientific attempt to rate languages from a linguistic approach should fulfill the basic condition of bringing objective criteria to the fore. However, the paper contends that this condition is not met, and it analyzes four different problems language evaluation is endowed with. The problems convert the proposals of rating languages according to their different worth into arbitrary and decontextualized. We conclude that to construct language rankings (through very different parameters) based on the different worth of languages adds nothing to the scientific knowledge of languages, and, in most cases, it expresses or promotes linguistic prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a gender analysis of the main scientific and technological activities carried out by specialists linked to nuclear applications in the nuclear sector and the Cuban nuclear science and technology program. All existing information regarding participation and leadership in science and innovation projects was collected, including projects implemented with the International Atomic Energy Agency, scientific publications, the Nuclear Energy and Advanced Technologies Agency (AENTA) Awards, Cuban Academy of Science Awards, National Innovation Awards, AENTA Branch Forum, international awards, state scientific-technological protection services - radiological surveillance and specialized productions. The analysis has been carried out for the period between 2000-2022, corresponding to the last 22 fiscal years in which there has been an increase in the active participation of women in the nuclear sphere, with the aim of contributing to the decisions in the design of policies and their implementation in the nuclear field for the empowerment of Cuban women in this sector, and with special contribution to the future actions of the Network of Cuban Women in the Nuclear, known as WiN Cuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Various authors cited in the international research literature have pointed out that empathy shown by the physician during contact with patients benefits them and the health professional him/herself. Such sources pose difficulties for generalization since empathic behavior is affected by the culture and nationality of both the physician and the patient. Furthermore, not all authors consider the relevance of empathy as key in the healthcare context. Empathy is sometimes assumed as a matter of course due to the absence of consensus on measuring and operationalizing it. Objective. The present study aimed at examining the results ofa review of the national and international research literature. Method. The scrutiny included original articles reporting a beneficial effect of empathy or its relationship to improvement for the patient or the health professional. The analysis also describes the instruments used to evaluate the construct in studies reporting benefits. The search included six years (2014-2020) from the following databases: Pubmed, Cochrane, Scielo, Latindex, and Redalyc. Results. A total of420 articles appeared, but only nine covered the search requirements. Also, seven measuring instruments emerged. Discussion. The present paper discusses some implications on the evaluation of empathy based on current research. We include relevant information aimed at healthcare professionals interested in evaluating the benefits of empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread perception of corruption and the correlative disaffection of citizens towards politics and institutions have generated the implementation of public policies aimed at tackling and preventing these inappropriate practices. The Administration of Castilla y León is no exception in this panorama, and in the absence of observatories or opinion studies that evaluate its situation, it is acuratte to carry out an analysis of the institutional integrity policy developed by the Junta de Castilla y León. This paper tries to answer the following question: do the instruments of democratic regeneration that the Administration of Castilla y León has adopted between 2007 and 2021 make up a true «system of institutional integrity»? As a main result of this research, it is concluded that in Castilla y León numerous measures of democratic regeneration have been implemented that can form a system of institutional integrity, but they are still in the process of formation and development, and there is a lack of a continuous evaluation system that provides the denomination of «integral». [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategical learning "how to learn" responds to improve the teaching of the architectural design, recognizing to the mental functions that intervene in this process and that are those in charge of processing, organizing, coordinating, and integrating the information interacting with the environment that surrounds us, which is part in the student's integral education. The evaluation of a teaching-learning process is vital for the effectiveness of the process, because it allows us the correction of any current error and to reinforce the successes, which is inherent to all dynamic process. This paper aims to offer an evaluative model of the architectural teaching that is represented with the support of the Description Logics. They are formed by a family of logics that allow us the representation of the knowledge on a certain domain, in a structured way and formally well-defined. The advantages offered by the proposed model, besides representing the knowledge, is that it is possible the evaluation and self-evaluation, the socialization of the knowledge, as well as to carry out logical inferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies trends in development evaluation that emerged during the last decade, such as the use of randomized control trials, the renewed emphasis on complexity, the creation of national, regional and global evaluation networks and associations, the increasing diffusion of ICTs in monitoring and evaluation practice and the interest in using evaluation to inform scaling-up decisions. The paper considers opportunities and risks associated with these trends, proposing ways to deal with them, including a key role for knowledge management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to present the activities and projects carried out by the Spanish Test Commission, established by the Spanish Psychological Association to improve the quality and use of tests. The most relevant projects of the commission during its twenty-five years of existence are reviewed, describing the work carried out: a) to understand the opinions and attitudes of psychologists towards the tests, b) to evaluate the quality of the tests published in Spain, and c) to develop standards, guidelines, and ethical and deontological codes to improve testing practices. The commission's other activities of a formative nature are also highlighted, as well as its relationships with other international organizations with similar purposes. Finally, several reflections on the future challenges of the Test Commission are shared, emphasizing the key role new technologies will have in psychological assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the evaluation of specialized phraseological units extraction from a corpus in Spanish. After briefly reviewing the literature on the concepts of terminological unit and specialized phraseological unit, their detection and their extraction, an evaluation protocol is presented and applied to three corpus software interfaces. The evaluation focuses on precision and usability aspects. The results partially confirm the hypothesis that term extractors allow users to extract specialized phraseological units. Finally, a series of suggestions are made to improve such systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper is concerned with the implementation of innovation techniques in the process of learning and teaching foreign languages. Adapting contents to twenty-first century students’ mentalities implies information has to be used collectively. Our main aims are the assessment of informal learning through stimuli and alternative dynamics which connect selfassessment and co-assessment, as well as developing and carrying out competences and strategies which facilitate learning. For the experimental process we worked with Italian and Spanish language students. In order to accomplish our goal, we delivered a series of collaborative courses in which qualitative and quantitative studies related to learning through Facebook as a social network were conducted. Besides, we distributed work among communities which adopted a constructive dimension of knowledge through the shared use of information. The process facilitated both the production and the exchange of knowledge based on the pragmatic and sociocultural nature of the contents, while also taking into account the enhancement of basic competences such as know how to be and how to do. Results were very encouraging, although quite controversial during the collection process, due to the fact that students had been educated for generations in individualistic learning systems. However, learning communities strongly motivated them and, in the end, positive results were reported thanks to the implementation of informal learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the current panorama of science evaluation, the limitations of citation indexes to study the social sciences and humanities have been the subject of wide debate. To resolve this situation, different products have been created for use in national contexts, since they cover certain aspects not contained in more international indices. An example is the In-RECS family, where an indicator such as the impact factor of Eugene Garfield is defined, but its contribution lies in the ability to evaluate research in Spain by obtaining citation indicators. This paper thus highlights the need to create new products for research evaluation in general, but particularly in the social sciences and humanities. The context in which different alternatives arise and are developed to evaluate existing journals is presented, along with Dialnet Metrics, a citation index developed by the Dialnet Foundation in collaboration with the EC3 Group and dozens of Spanish universities. Based on an analysis of the citations of source journals from different subject areas, Dialnet Metrics provides indicators to evaluate the research impact at different levels. This bibliometric product enables contextualized analysis at the micro (researchers), meso (journals), and macro (areas and universities) levels. Finally, the content, data volumes, and structure of this citation index are described quantitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of learning in literature in English language teacher education (ELTEd) has mainly taken place at random instead of as a planned action. We seek for an answer here, then, to what we assess when we assess literature in English language teacher education. For that sake, we examined our assessment proposals and the answers provided by the students of English Speaking Literature II at the ELTEd program at the National University of La Pampa, Argentina, in 2015. The data were collected from mid-term exams, correction forms, and final papers, and analyzed qualitatively in view of their correspondence with the cultural, linguistic, or personal-growth models of teaching literature. The results show that our working tasks display a tendency to value processes that are in tune with the personal-growth model, although in the assessment in general there is a strong tendency to give particular relevance to linguistic precision. Nevertheless, our final considerations in the students' papers did aspire to a contextualized integration of the models of teaching at stake. To find answers to our initial question will allow us to determine to what extent our assessment meets our teaching practices, which in forms our role of socially and pedagogically responsible professors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 25.3% of the Spanish population was at risk of poverty and / or social exclusion in 2019, in Asturias 24.6%. The COVID-19 virus triggers a social crisis, which intensifies this structural situation. In this context, European Anti-Poverty Network in Asturias (EAPN-AS) develops a device for intersectoral and multilevel coordination to respond to the social emergency in Asturias (northern Spanish region with approximately 1 million population). The device articulates the action of the civil society organizations and the competent public administrations. With actionresearch methodology, this paper presents the design and implantation of the device during the quarentine period, and the evaluation of its development. Thus, it is shown that the resource has facilitated collaboration and coordination between actors involved in the social emergency, favoring scenarios of certainty in a situation of instability. It shows the cohesive role of organized civil society, and its capacity for innovation in crisis contexts. Finally, highlights the potential of socio-educational based interventions to achieve pragmatic and flexible proposals. Also the need to move forward to guarantee integral social policies, instead of conditioned formulas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, sustainable development in the management of natural and cultural heritage has been a topic of growing interest. Numerous documents highlight the important role of heritage in processes towards sustainability. However, the articulation between sustainability and heritage is relatively incipient as recent is this notion of development in the heritage agenda. This paper seeks to outline a set of legal-political sustainability indicators for the management of assets that have become part of Argentina's heritage and that involved more than one jurisdiction along the process. Legal-political sustainability emphasizes the actors' freedom, entailing the incorporation of diverse perspectives, the ability to express themselves and make decisions, in a context of strengthening democratic processes. Based on previous studies that selected and built indicators applicable to cultural and natural heritage and the review of two cases, four categories are defined. Each one includes indicators that can be evaluated from a qualitative-quantitative approach. The research provides a methodological instrument to assess the efficiency of heritage management, particularly when they involve more than one jurisdiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impulsivity-reflexivity construct refers to a cognitive style. Two dimensions have been proposed for their evaluation: Impulsivity, when responses are generated with a number of errors and short latency period, and reflexivity, when responses are generated with a few mistakes and long latency time. This study aims to compare the reliability coefficients obtained by applying computerised version (MFF-O) of the Matching Figures Test-20 (MFF-20) against a paper-based version (MFF-P). Three independent samples were obtained with participants aged from 6 to 11 years. The first sample consisted of 50 children who were evaluated with the MFF-P version, and 6 months later they were evaluated with the MFF-O version. The second sample included 52 children who were evaluated with the MFF-P version, and then re-evaluated with the same version 6 months later. Subsequently, a third sample including 298 children was evaluated with the MFF-O. The results showed a comparison between the psychometric properties and conditions of the computer-based version. It was concluded conclude that the computer-based MFF-20 version has adequate reliability and psychometric properties that are similar to the paper-based MFF-P version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an educational proposal for the teaching of geology developed for a group of high school students: a urban trip as a resource to learn about rocks and petrogenetic processes. The aim of the activities related to the field trip (activities made before, during, and after the outing) is that the students achieve the competences and contents on the curriculum, and, in order to accomplish that goal, a method of problem solving has been used. The intervention has taken place in Orduña (Biscay), with pupils from the school Ntra. Sra. de la Antigua located in that city; and this paper includes the description of the didactic sequence used and the discussion about the results obtained by different assessment tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was written as it was felt there was a need to create a simple but exhaustive system of assessment to evaluate the narrative skills of students doing Spanish as a foreign language and those studying it as their mother tongue. The main aim of this paper is to create and appraise a model capable of producing and evaluating written and oral skills of Italian B2 level students learning Spanish as a foreign language and Spanish students studying Spanish as part of their B2 level curriculum. What distinguishes this paper is its innovative semiotic approach which crossfertilizes the relationships between cinema and literature. Although two different narrative techniques are employed, these two elements develop the same semantic reference. Another original feature is that this study is not based on a simple comparison between the two genres but rather on the correlation between them. To this extend, a model called C.O.E.N was created. This didactic model concentrates on oral and written competency in Hispanic texts which can be evaluated once students learning Spanish as a second language have reached a B2 level, but also on mother tongue Spanish students who have reached the same level. This method links production and evaluation of oral and written competency in narrative texts. Due to length restrictions, this paper presents only the results of the analysis of Spanish learners' written productions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the fundamental purposes of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) information is to serve as an input for decision-making in order to promote more effective and efficient public policies. However, empirical evidence shows that this kind of information is mostly used for other purposes than this mentioned above. To analyze this behavior, this paper develops a basic model using the tools offered by game theory. This exercise make possible to find that the relationship between supply and demand for M&E information behaves like a typical problem of prisoner's dilemma with high stability. This paper also shows the importance of analyzing this relationship in a comprehensive and not fragmented way. Finally, specific recommendations are suggested to break the strong stability that displays this type of game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When examining various evaluation prescriptive theories comparatively, we find it helpful to have a frame-work showing how they are related that highlights features that distinguish theoretical perspectives, thus a «theory» about theories. The evaluation theory tree that we presented in Alkin's recent book, Evaluation Roots [Eisner, E. (2004). The roots of connoisseurship and criticism: A personal journey. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Evaluation roots: Tracing theorists' views and influences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Guba, E., & Lincoln, Y., (2004). The roots of fourth generation evaluation: Theoretical and methodological origins. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Evaluation roots: Tracing theorists' views and influences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Stake, R. (2004). Stake and responsive evaluation. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Evaluation roots: Tracing theorists' views and influences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Wholey, J. S. (2004). Using evaluation to improve performance and support policy decision making. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Evaluation roots: Tracing theorists' views and influences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage], is such a framework. Just as theorists modify their views over time, in this paper we suggest modifications to the theory tree presented in the Roots book, including a repositioning of a few theorists, the addition of theorists, and a reconceptualization of the valuing branch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study conducted at a public university. It discusses self-regulation as a strategy adopted by 30 English language learners as the target group. Mixed methods research was carried out. The questionnaire by Brown, Miller, and Lawendowski (1999) was piloted, and then the target group was surveyed by using it. The learners kept semi-structured diaries for weekly records. Finally, learners were interviewed for obtaining information about their self-regulation skills. The results suggest that the learners consider these to be moderate. There are no distinct or diverse learning self-regulation strategies; learners are not capable of recognizing self-regulation strategies adopted by themselves for attaining their academic goals and/or learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union wants to know if its funds for territorial planning are being invested correctly. This is confirmed by the European 2020 Strategy, which requires monitoring and evaluation of EU policies and the Territorial Agenda of the European Union 2020 (which proposes the application of impact evaluations of plans that affect territories). But before monitoring and evaluating territorial plans, it is necessary to discuss the best methodology and model to apply. To begin the search for a methodology and a model to be applied in Spain, this paper proposes some of the preliminary questions that should be considered. The methodology is based on the selection of some of the main questions proposed by certain specialists, as well as legal, administrative and professional works. These questions are considered from the point of view of the life cycle of public policies (formation of the agenda, formulation, implementation, effects, evaluation and feedback) while following a comprehensive and adapted model for territorial plans. Thus, the result is the proposal of a specific questionnaire for the monitoring and evaluation of supramunicipal territorial plans in Spain. The questionnaire has been subjected to a critical process to verify its viability, consisting in its application to three territorial plans of different entities (regional/provincial, sub-regional, and supralocal), as well as time of evaluation (ex post, in itinere and ex ante), and type of plan (general, partial and sectorial). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first section of this paper focuses on the importance of negotiation processes related to research and evaluation. This importance is based on five issues: ethics in production processes, knowledge scope, rigorous inquiry, efficiency of development- oriented findings and strategy to maintain contexts in which research and participant learning can take place. The different phases of the negotiation process are also presented: initial, processing and reporting, the last one of special importance. The requirements, types, characteristics and operation processes of the reporting phase are discussed. The second section of this paper provides in the form of an example a specific case of negotiation from a qualitative investigation about immigrant familie's participation at school. Its different phases, demands and virtualities are discussed. The paper finished with some final considerations and references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impulsivity-reflexivity construct refers to a cognitive style. Two dimensions have been proposed for their evaluation: Impulsivity, when responses are generated with a number of errors and short latency period, and reflexivity, when responses are generated with a few mistakes and long latency time. This study aims to compare the reliability coefficients obtained by applying computerised version (MFF-O) of the Matching Figures Test-20 (MFF-20) against a paper-based version (MFF-P). Three independent samples were obtained with participants aged from 6 to 11 years. The first sample consisted of 50 children who were evaluated with the MFF-P version, and 6 months later they were evaluated with the MFF-O version. The second sample included 52 children who were evaluated with the MFF-P version, and then re-evaluated with the same version 6 months later. Subsequently, a third sample including 298 children was evaluated with the MFF-O. The results showed a comparison between the psychometric properties and conditions of the computer-based version. It was concluded conclude that the computer-based MFF-20 version has adequate reliability and psychometric properties that are similar to the paper-based MFF-P version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current paper is to show the main results obtained by the WANT Research team on the HERO Model (HEalthy & Resilient Organizations) to conceptualize, evaluate and intervene in the development of healthy and positive people, groups and organizations. First, we present the theoretical model, methodology and tools to evaluate HEROs. These tools are collectively administered and applied to different stakeholders in the organization: interviews with CEOs, and questionnaires aimed at employees distributed in natural groups, supervisors and clients. Secondly, we present the main results obtained from the application of the HERO methodology in different socio-economic contexts. The last part of the paper is dedicated to highlighting the different options of positive interventions, as well as recent experiences in the HERO's intervention carried out by WANT based on Positive Organizational Psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of the academic efficiency of the universities is a practice in the institutional evaluation, closely related to the quality and performance of the educational process and a starting point for the decision making that allows drawing the policies for the development of the university system. In this paper, is analyzed the experience in the evaluation of academic efficiency in the Ministry of Higher Education universities, and also, the studies related, carried out in Cuba, are approached with a critical analysis. As a goal, a model is proposed for its evaluation that may contribute to the elevation of its results in MES universities, which represents an alternative to improve the bases to carry it out, which was favorably valued by the experts consulted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argentine Patagonia was incorporated to the national State late in the last decades of the 19th century, after the end of the bloody military campaign that sought state control of the indigenous territory of the south. From then until the 1930s the process of providing educational institutions to the vast Patagonian territory was discontinuous, slow and very uneven in the different regional spaces, intensifying in the urban nuclei and becoming invisible in the Patagonian mesetaria zone. In this context, it is the purpose of this paper to analyze the trajectories of female students and teachers in the first half of the 20th century from the perspective of those who exercised direct authority over them: principals -mostly males- and school inspectors. We are interested in analyzing, from a gender perspective, the presence of teachers in the classrooms, the desired behaviors and the goals to be met according to pedagogical and axiological considerations, within the framework of a normalizing and prescriptive process. For this purpose, we have used a vast array of sourcesreferring to the National Territory of Rio Negro, including school historical books, inspection reports, school concepts teachers, school visit books, school reports, regional and national press articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Getting higher education programs accredited by recognized national and international accrediting organizations is an endeavor made by persons and bodies involved to improve higher education. In this paper, the process of getting the Mechatronic Engineering Program at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León accredited by the Consejo de Acreditación de la Enseñanza de la Ingeniería (CACEI) - Accreditation Council for Engineering Education - is presented. Actions, in particular, are described. The results of this process clearly show the strengths of the Program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment can not be limited to a test focused on the repetition of content that aims to assess the degree of student learning, assessment should provide another horizon in relation to the traditional rating, ie must be a valid tool for teaching-learning process. In this paper we design a proposal as an evaluation tool for the subject of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the University EIA. the rubric based on learning objectives, aspects to be evaluated, descriptors, criteria and rating scale, was implemented during the 2015-2 and 2016-1 academic year, the proposal facilitated the performance rating of freshmen engineering, not only about what they learned, but also how they learned and skills developed in the process demonstrating statistically significant difference (p-value <0.05) in the number of students who passed the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The business commitment to sport, although not in a new way, is increasingly present in managerial decisions due to the great importance and relevance of this discipline in today's society, where we find ourselves leading, in many cases, the information and interests of citizens. On the other hand, public relations techniques must be increasingly sophisticated and precise, in a media environment in which it is increasingly difficult to impact the consumer in the search for their response and action. A consumer wanting to get involved in their environment and participate in companies, through their brands, which also echoes the responsibility of brands in their day to day and in the actions closest to them. Therefore, the present work examines how the company decides the investment in sponsorship and how it carries out the evaluation of sports sponsorship in its struggle to take responsibility actions that provide intangible values difficult to achieve with the only use of advertising campaigns to the use. In order to meet the objective set out in this paper, a theoretical review has been carried out from the company's perspective and what the application of different disciplines means to achieve its objectives, reviewing concepts such as the activation of sponsorship and the evaluation of sponsorship. lay the foundations for a practical investigation that offers an image of what is happening nowadays with companies and sports. The theoretical revision has served to carry out a fieldwork by applying two techniques in two different and consecutive phases; On the one hand, in the first phase a quantitative technique has been used, such as the completion of a survey with a structured questionnaire, sent to more than 100 companies selected according to objective criteria, obtaining a response from 40 Spanish companies that develop sponsorship actions Within their communication strategies, both large organizations and SMEs have been included in the selection of the sample, in view of the need to review whether they act in the same way although with different investments or their behavior changes to different needs. The second phase has had a more qualitative technique such as the realization of a focus group to a group of specialists in sponsorship and advertising techniques, as well as public relations, with the aim of assessing and validating or not, the quantitative results and to be able to draw general conclusions, this has been a convenience sample in which the experience and knowledge have been sought in order to deepen in the treated topic. The data obtained shows how the company maximizes its sponsorship actions and its evaluation actions. The results are presented broken down, considering the two types of companies with which they have worked; for large companies and SMEs, so that the information is relevant for understanding the communicative challenge of sponsorship, taking into account the type of company and its objectives. Among the main conclusions is the need to evaluate sponsorship through strategic measures such as notoriety, image and, of course, sales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brief review of the historical record provided in this paper makes it apparent that each community, Palestinian and Jordanian, has concrete reasons to be wary of one another. But there are strong affinities exist between Palestinian-Jordanians and Transjordanians. Palestinian-Jordanians believe that the interaction between the two communities had molded them into one people. This study appears to imply that despite numerous differences between the two groups, Palestinians have come to call Jordan home-albeit not their homeland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to share the progress of a research project in development within the framework of the thesis corresponding to the "Master's Degree in Education Policy and Management" (UNLu), entitled "The teacher evaluation policies in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (Argentina), the Metropolitan Region of Santiago (Chile) and Montevideo (Uruguay) in the period 2003-2014". The research project starts from the need to know and understand the educational political conceptions that underlie the teacher performance evaluation systems contained in the official regulations, reports and recommendations of international organizations, evaluation criteria and instruments and those expressions declared by the actors involved in the three jurisdictions. The collection of empirical evidence, its analysis and the enunciation of conclusions of the study is based on the adoption of a qualitative methodology. The analyzes consider the specificity of the information sources. In the case of information from normative documents (laws, resolutions, communications, evaluation criteria, regulations, statutes) and evaluation instruments, a documentary analysis was carried out. In the case of interviews conducted, non-standardized interviews, their analysis is based on the identification of common theoretical categories, special and theoretical issues in the discourse of key informants, which allows the triangulation of information sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the innovation promotion programs carried by the National Research and Innovation Agency (ANII). A combination of non-experimental methods was used to quantify the effects of public support to innovation in three dimensions o f the firms' behavior: innovation investment, innovation results and economic peiformance. The results show evidence o f crowding-in of public support to innovation. Also, beneficiaries of the programs show larger probability o f successfully introducing new products and processes. We do not find impact in the economic peiformance indicators o f the firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a research study aimed to explore the main beliefs and conceptions that have teachers who teach mathematics at the secondary level in Honduras (students 13 to 18 years), in relation to the teaching /learning and assessment of mathematics. The results show, among other elements, that for Honduran teachers the learning of mathematics is achieved by the active participation of the students. This belief is highlighted by teachers with a bachelor in Mathematics; and that the evaluation is a process that improves teaching and learning, providing useful results but, they must be taken with special scrutiny due to mistakes and inaccuracies that always exist. As conclusions highlight the need to improve initial training and continuous training of teachers so that use resources that promotes active student participation and improve the evaluation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the necessity of reviewing the context of the evaluation of academic work in order to understand the difficulties faced by Latin American academic journals in order to comply with evaluation requirements through the use of an impact factor and interaction with companies that make use of it. It further describes the influence exercised by commercial publishers over the production and circulation of knowledge. It examines some of the strategies followed by Latin American journals to increase visibility of the knowledge, while presenting the situation condition of Mexican educational research journals in international and regional databases. Finally, the paper analyses the national evaluation criteria and policies of Mexican research journals in order to reveal the mechanisms employed to overcome obstacles that a process of this nature entails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to measure the impact of a range of social, environmental and economic initiatives on the opinion of the membership base of CoopeAnde N°1 R.L, as well as the members' perception and assessment of socio-economic and environmental issues. The pursuit of this general objective is based on fieldwork conducted at national level between the months of December 2013 and February 2014, with a total sample of 2223 cases. Overall, the study provides empirical evidence on the relevance of CSR actions in the perception of the membership base. Additionally, the results reflect the relevance of a strategic and cross-cutting approach to CSR in the organization. The Costa Rican cooperative movement began early in the nineteenth century, with its first expressions pursuing the satisfaction of the needs of farm workers. In 1943, when 23 cooperative enterprises were already in existence, the first legislation for the sector was adopted. Currently there are 594 adult and school cooperatives and 887,335 people associated with them. According to the latest National Census of Cooperatives (Instituto Nacional de Fomento Cooperativo - INFOCOOP, 2012), 22.2% of Costa Rican cooperatives belong to the finance and insurance sector, which top the ranking of cooperatives by main economic activity. They include CoopeAnde N°1 R.L, the focus of this research. CoopeAnde N°1 R.L is a cooperative that was founded in 1965 with the aim of providing a financial solution for people related to the education sector. It started business and built its capital base with 160 members. Currently, it has 57,000 members nationwide and is the leading cooperative in its sector. In 2002, CoopenAnde N°1 R.L began establishing branches and decentralizing its services. Currently it has 21 branches around the country. Since the reform of the Organic Law of the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) in 1995, CoopenAnde N°1 R.L is audited and supervised by the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (SUGEF) under the same prudential regulation scheme as for banks in Costa Rica. In addition, it is governed by the Law of Cooperative Associations, Regulatory Law for Financial Intermediation Cooperative Organizations, Organic Law of the Central Bank, regulations of the National Council of Financial System Supervision (CONASSIF) and the Labour Code, all of which provide backup and security to the members by allowing them to verify the strength and stability of the institution. In recent years, CoopeAnde N°1 R.L has been seeking to adapt to a new context of increasingly complex financial markets through diverse social, economic and environmental initiatives. The general result of this process has been the presence of multiple actions targeting different stakeholders, although there is a lack of coordination among them as well as of a strategic focus. Aware of this situation, the cooperative decided to undertake an integral strategic Corporate Social Responsibility - CSR process. As part of that process, it was important to measure the impact of a range of social, environmental and economic initiatives on the opinion of its members, as well as their perception and assessment of socioeconomic and environmental issues. The results of this measurement would allow the cooperative to confirm to what extent it is promoting actions that are relevant to the needs of its membership base, as a definitive stakeholder (Mitchell et al, 1997). Such results are important for different reasons. Primarily, as stated above, so that the cooperative may identify those actions that meet the needs of its members. Additionally, because the cooperative will assign its resources and capabilities strategically to the highest priority actions. Moreover, the cooperative may identify different strategies according to the needs of the local community where its offices are located. Last but no less important than the above is so that the cooperative may know its members' perception of its CSR trajectory. The different scenarios in which economic and financial evolution is taking place are highly complex. In consequence, multiple stakeholders generate a variety of interrelationships with each other, which, in turn, affect the enterprise-stakeholders-CSR links. Note also both that the scope and importance of CSR itself have gradually evolved and that CSR has particular peculiarities in the cooperative sector. The importance of CoopeAnde N°1 R.L in the local cooperative movement and its presence around the country constitute important practical motives for this research. Equally important, several major gaps in the scientific literature related to the socioeconomic impact of cooperatives have come to light. Given the practical interest aroused by CoopeAnde N°1 R.L as well as the weaknesses in the literature, this paper addresses the following main research objective: to measure the impact of a range of social, environmental and economic initiatives on the opinion of the membership base, as well as the members' perception and assessment of socio-economic and environmental issues. The main objective was pursued on the basis of fieldwork conducted at national level between the months of December 2013 and February 2014, with a total sample of 2223 cases. The population is the membership base. It was segmented into mutually exclusive sub-groups, according to stratified sampling, based on 11 branches. The data collection tool was a semi-structured questionnaire with 17 open and closed questions. In order to lay the foundations for the analysis, the paper examines the following: specific elements of the local cooperative movement and overview of the financial sector, as well as Corporate Social Responsibility, its definitions for conventional firms and cooperative firms, and its relationship to business strategy. The paper concludes by providing empirical evidence on the relevance of CSR actions in the perception of the membership base. Additionally, the results reflect the importance of a strategic and crosscutting approach to CSR in the organization. In other words, multiple actions have been taken in each branch, focusing on different stakeholders. However, particularly in the social dimension, 5 out of 10 members claimed not to know the social projects of the cooperative. This was despite having found that the attributes of this dimension are those they most value. The paper fulfils its main objective, but also identifies certain limitations, in particular related to sample size for the statistical analysis of demographic variables. These limitations and other questions that emerged during the study combine to suggest interesting directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex and relationships education is, and has been, the great absent in Spanish both school curriculum and the sociological research on it. Some relevant theoretical and methodological developments have been needed for the construction of the research topic, in order to produce sociological knowledge within this field. This paper continues with this methodological task. It describes the process of design of an evaluation questionnaire to portray the initial state of the issue. In turn, it enables the research on sex and love relationships. In so doing, the paper offers a useful well-founded tool to produce sociological knowledge on this research topic, emerging in Spain. In this process of design, the paper sets a dialogue between a double process of categorisation: on the one hand, the themes involved in the revised literature on the topic; on the other hand, the themes offered by the adolescent voices of the subjects participants in the research. Along the paper, some key debates in contemporary social theory are addressed, such as the appeal to action research, education for democratic citizenship and human rights, the visibilisation of minors' agency and voices, the use of participatory and critical evaluation, and the reflection on power as inherent to social relations.

The main challenges for the evaluation of the transfer of training both historically and at present are presented in this paper. A bibliographical search reveals the absence of studies on the subject. Some papers on training transfer processes are analyzed to identify their main contributions and findings regarding the factors that both facilitate and hinder the transfer of training to the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper presents the validation of an adaptation of the Defining Issues Test, short version (DIT-SF), to measure the moral development around corruption. Method: The sample was 232 university students of various professions and levels between the ages of 15 and 33 of both genders. The validated instrument (DIT-C) has 3 subscales where each one corresponds with a dilemma and associated items from which a score is obtained. Results: The results indicate that: 1- There are significant correlations between the 3 subscales of the DIT-C, 2- All subscales explain a percentage of the variance and, 3- External validation with another instrument of moral development presented statistically significant correlations. Cronbach's alpha was 0.809. Conclusions: The DIT-C is an instrument to measure the individual expectation of corruption that meets several of the minimum conditions of reliability and validity to measure the moral development around corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the issue of public policy evaluation based on the authors who have worked in this trans - disciplinary field in the social sciences. Therefore, it seeks to account for the evaluation of public policy as a relevant object in research. The corpus of the work studies the purposes, types and levels of public policy evaluation. Its application is presented through an example. In the end, the main research conclusion points to the complementary use of qualitative and quantitative methods for the sake of scientific rigor as a key to the dialogue of knowledge. Above all, it should be borne in mind that this article is reflective in nature. PT O documento analisa a temática da avaliação de políticas públicas com base nos autores que têm trabalhado este campo transdisciplinar nas ciências sociais. Portanto, busca - se abordar a avaliação de política pública como objeto relevante em pesquisa. O corpus do trabalho estuda as finalidades, os tipos e os níveis sobre a avaliação de políticas públicas. Apresenta - se sua aplicação através de um exemplo. Ao final, a principal conclusão investigativa aponta para a utilização complementar dos métodos qualitativos e quantitativos em vista de um rigor científico em termos de diálogo de saberes. Sobretudo, deve - se levar em consideração que este artigo é de caráter reflexivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays it is common to speak of inclusive classrooms without providing evidence of the true meaning of the term. In this paper we propose to present the process of development and validation of the ACOGE scale whose objective is to evaluate the quality of school classrooms to address diversity from an inclusive approach. In the development process we have used quantitative and qualitative analysis procedures in the following phases: (1) construction of a pool of items based on the theoretical construct and previous research; (2) consultation with expert judges in inclusive education; (3) organization of discussion groups with education professionals: center directors, teachers of early childhood education, compensatory education and therapeutic pedagogy; and (4) pilot scale. The results allowed establishing a theoretical frame of reference from which to build the scale according to the postulates offered by the literature and the experience contributed by the professionals of the education. We provide evidence of content validity based on the Educational Inclusion construct through observable indicators associated with quality inclusion and provide guidance on the usefulness of the scale for teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This objective of this paper is the characterization of actual situation of the performance evaluation for superior techniques at National Assembly of Angola, as outstanding the actual conceptualizations and principal tendencies about the assessment performance by competencies. There were utilized the observation and documental analysis methods, together the survey and interview. As results was obtained the actual characterization of these techniques in assessment performance, where in predominant the inexistence of entail between strategy, human resource management and their indicators. And the strategy that arrived concluded search the establishment of these entail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Time-Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) mode for medium access control (MAC) included in the standard IEEE 802.15.4 has been designed as the multichannel MAC protocol for Low-power and lossy networks (LLNs), a key component of the Internet of Things (IoT). Its flexibility makes the TSCH mode a very promising candidate for the future of the MAC layer in LLNs. As such, its performance under different conditions must be assessed, so that accurate guidelines for its application can be drawn. In this paper, we present an experimental evaluation of the protocol based on simulations on ContikiOS Java Simulator (COOJA). The experimental setup is based on the 6TiSCH architecture for LLNs. Results show that TSCH performs better under conditions of medium traffic load than under low or high traffic load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the results of the study of the economic and social environmental impacts of concrete blocks production in Eco-materials workshop in Manicaragua city. This is an experimental area of local production in Villa Clara, which belongs to Habitat project. The Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) tool is used through the use of SIMAPRO 7.3 program. For the measurement of environmental impacts, the Eco indicator 99 methodology is applied, and the Life Cycle Cost Analysis (CCV) for the economic ones. The functional units evaluated are the 10 and 15 cm blocks manufactured with two alternatives: natural aggregate and recycled aggregate. The results show that the production of blocks of 10 and 15 cm with recycled aggregate have a greater environmental impact due to the fact that more cement is used than those made with natural aggregate, although they have less impact on the exploitation of the quarries. The economic effect indicates that the blocks with recycled aggregate are more economical at $ 0.16 for those of 10 cm and $ 0.23 for those of 15 cm because they reduce transportation costs and materials. The social impact reveals that the block manufactured with recycled aggregate tends to have a negative influence on health, since it uses more cement, but an additional production of two units is achieved in the case of the 10 cm blocks and three in the 15 cm blocks using the same amount of aggregates from the quarries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romantic jealousy is one of the most complex emotions people experience in their relationships; people may reach high levels of violence as a result of pathological jealousy. This paper sought to adapt to Spanish language use and examine the psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Jealousy Scale (IJS). This scale evaluates the negative emotion resulting from actual or threatened loss of a loved one to a rival. We used a Colombian sample of 603 Colombian adults (59,03% women). Factor models were tested by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), in order to confirm the stability of the internal structure of the scale. The CFA supported the robustness of a one-dimensional structure with 18 items. Good internal consistency and evidence of external validity were found, as well as adequate adjustment parameters under the item response theory. In the analysis of the differential functioning of the items by sex, five items measured the different latent trait in men and women. The data indicate that the revised Spanish version of the IJS is a useful instrument to assess romantic jealousy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elaborates on the theoretical principles that have oriented the design of reading and writing programs and on the strategies that have been followed in their implementation. It aims to offer generalizations that can be useful to different institutional and geographical contexts. Different relevant issues are theoretically discussed: Literacy programs' teaching objects; appropriate methodologies for effective learning and teachers' role in this process; professional teams to whom assign this responsibility; and, consequently, the institutional place of a program of this kind. Additionally, the fundamental strategies that contribute to the implementation of these programs are explored, specially taking into account the need to sustain in time these initiatives across the different degrees in the universities and higher educational institutions where they would be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is no systematic evaluation of teaching performance in the clinical area at UNAM Faculty of Medicine. The study purpose is to assess the teaching competence level in the Undergraduate Medical Internship (UMI). Methods: The paper describes the process of psychometric validity for the instrument designed to evaluate teaching competence in the UMI. This instrument was constructed from two previously developed instruments. The final version with 54 items in a Likert scale was studied with exploratory factorial analysis. Four dimensions were obtained: Solution of clinical problems, Psychopedagogy, Mentoring, and Evaluation. The instrument had a reliability of 0.994, with an explained variance of 77.75%. Results: To evaluate the teaching competence level, we administered 844 questionnaires to a sample of students with a response rate of 89%. We obtained an overall global score of 89.4 ± 9.6 (mean ± SD). The dimension Solution of clinical problems was the one with a greater value, in contrast with the dimension of Evaluation, which had a lower score. Conclusions: The teachers of the UMI are considered educators with high level of teaching competence, according to the perceptions of the undergraduate internal doctors. The evaluation of teaching competence level is very important for institutions that look for the continuous professional development of its faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to assess the levels of statistical literacy and perception of Early Teaching Training (ITE) students and teachers working in the Chilean schooling system. Two measuring tools were applied: (1) statistical literacy and (2) perception, both validated statistically. The results of this analysis show that, in general, ITE students and working teachers present low achievement percentage on decoding textual situations, delivering unlikely arguments with little basis on basic statistical concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses two issues that are key to Mexico's violence and crime prevention policy. The first part reviews how the prevention policy has been shaped over the past 10 years. In the second, the effects of Mexico's Programa Nacional de Prevención del Delito (PRONAPRED, National Crime Prevention Programme) is analysed using Propensity Score Matching. Using data at the municipal level and taking the homicide and gun-related injuries rates as output variables, we found that PRONAPRED only significantly affects the homicide rate; however, that effect is the opposite of what is expected. The results of this research show that, in order to achieve the intended results, violence and crime prevention policies in Mexico require significant changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, some ideas about the nature of evaIn this paper, I advance some claims about the nature of evaluation in natural sciences and the importance of understanding the role of error in the long and difficult road that leads us to postulate scientific theories that are bolder and better. I take this metaphor to the field of teaching in general and to that of epistemology, in particular, and I try to dispel some misunderstandings on the nature of truth and its role as a regulatory ideal for science, from Popper's perspective. Lastly, I give some recommendations to apply the results of this analysis to the evaluation of abilities of higher order thinking in the practice of teaching in college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]