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This study used sequential exploratory, mixed-method research that explored the influence of authentic tasks on adult language learners' interactions in e-forums. The participants belonged to a blended-flipped program of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). E-Forum posting in the course aimed at encouraging beginner learners to exchange experiences; however, participation in the e-forums did not evolve into spontaneous interactions. Therefore, authentic tasks were designed and implemented in the e-forum. Data were gathered from learners' participation registers, surveys, and interviews and by executing a content-analysis procedure. After analyzing the data, one main category and three subcategories emerged. The main category showed that implementing authentic tasks on students' e-forums interactions led to the collaborative construction of a cognitive-social e-learning environment. The main category comprised three subcategories: (a) building a learning community by interweaving affective-communicative actions, (b) promoting an online learning environment through authenticity, and (c) moving from individual to collective knowledge construction. Findings suggest that the implementation of authentic tasks on e-forums: (a) increased learners' meaningful interactions mediated by social, cognitive, and teaching presences; (b) helped to construct significant and lifelong knowledge collectively; and (c) fostered a stronger learning community through participants' affective-communicative actions.

Background: The study of myths in psychology has conceptual and educational relevance: How to adapt the teaching of psychology to confront myths with grounded knowledge? A first step is to know which myths prevail and its relation to training in psychology. Objective: To explore myth's prevalence among Spanish first-year university students of Social (SS) and Engineering Sciences (ES) (Study 1), and among different levels of expertise in psychology (Study 2). Method: Questionnaire including 21 myths. Study 1: 175 first-year SS and ES undergraduates. Study 2: 102 lay, semi-experts and experts in psychology. Results: Lower prevalence of myths among Spanish students than in other countries (approx. 37% vs. 60%), with SS students performing better than ES students. Experts performed significantly better (14% myths endorsed) than lay students (33%), but not than semi-experts (19%). Conclusions: The lower prevalence of myths compared to other countries may be due to methodological and sociocultural aspects. University training in psychology helps to better identify myths but does not eradicate them. Teaching Implications: Need to reflect on the little progress beyond a medium level of expertise. Teachers and students must identify their own myths and work on them in classroom, promoting critical thinking.

Based on our definition, social participation as a central dimension in inclusive education implies knowing whether students, especially the most vulnerable, "form part" of the group by relating in a positive and beneficial way with their peers and, consequently, can "feel part", which will be reflected in their well-being. This study aims to evaluate the social participation through of peer support and peer victimisation (taken as positive and negative indicator respectively), and its relationship with the perceived well-being of students belonging to schools where there are schoolmates with ASD enrolled throughout different educational stages. To this end, 404 students from Primary Education to Baccalaureate participated in this study. To collect the information, three questionnaires were adapted and used. The results show that the frequency of social support is higher than average in all courses although more girls than boys care about their peers. The frequency of peer abuse is in line with that found in similar studies, but social exclusion is higher in groups with students with ASD of Year 11, coinciding in this course a lower well-being perceived. This underlines the need to pay special attention to the secondary stage and go beyond seeking the acceptance of the other.

The wars of the 21st century are not the first media wars, and many tropes and schema have long histories, particularly propaganda and the othering of a purported enemy. What is new today is that although mass media remains a central and hegemonic source of insight and perspective, citizen journalism, social media, spreadable media, and surveillant, data-driven media have grown in significance at an exponential level, adding a layer of complexity. In this article, we focus on disparity in media coverage and make the point that media and information literacy provide a valuable set of lenses from which to view a cluster of news and social media accounts taken from the government, mainstream media, alternative media, and the DIY mediasphere of the social media. It centers on two conflicts that receive little media exposure--the Nagorno-Karabash conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the internal Anglo-Francophone conflict in Cameroon. It also offers examples of classroom activities that could be adapted and modified to most educational settings.

Graduate higher education coverage has expanded worldwide due to globalisation, the demand for more specialised human resources and online education, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article validates an evaluation model of academic service quality in graduate studies that integrates HiEduQual instruments with the Kano method for graduate students at a Peruvian university. A survey was conducted among graduate students (masters programmes and continuing education) at Universidad Continental, obtaining 326 responses. The study found that the attributes that have the greatest impact on student satisfaction include the presence of foreign professors, international activities, continuous improvement of university infrastructure and constant evaluation; the dimension associated with internationalisation plays an essential role in the satisfaction of graduate students, particularly in a globalised context.

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is still a growing area of research. In this study, we investigated the effect of a one-semester CLIL intervention combined with English language instruction on university students' general English skills the associations between institutional and individual factors and views on CLIL. A total of 105 students from two academic programs (biology-chemistry, and physic-informatics) at a private university in Kazakhstan participated in the study. Quantitative data were collected through two different instruments. MANOVA and correlation analyses were carried out to analyze the data. A large effect of CLIL combined with language instruction was observed on language gains. Additionally, the study identified two factors that are significantly associated with student recognition of higher language and disciplinary knowledge learning, more positive attitudes to and higher satisfaction with CLIL: being a non-first-year student and having CLIL experience in pre-university education. In light of the results obtained, our findings reinforce the case for integrating language instruction that includes general, academic, and subject-specific goals in English-medium programs and courses in higher education.

There are different strategies to analyze teacher and student performance when they interact with each other in class. The most used strategies are direct observation and verbal reports. Even though what is observed or reported depends on theoretical frameworks regarding didactic interactions, these must be related to teacher functions such as supervision, providing feedback, and evaluation of student performance. In this study, instruments for observational recording and verbal reports were developed and validated considering teacher functions and their student performance counterparts to compare the degree of correspondence or divergence between data gathered from both strategies. 135 students enrolled in a science class and their teachers participated. The class was taught in a public high school located in center/south Mexico. Classes were videotaped and the corresponding observational records were analyzed. Two months later, verbal reports were administered to students and teachers. Coincidences and differences that were found revealed that observer-observe interaction is conditioned by social norms. These results were interpreted considering the notion of silence as a communicative element.

The goal of this small-scale qualitative study was to investigate the reasons and factors that may demotivate a group of university EFL students from participating in class, in the context of a school of language in the central part of the state of Veracruz in Mexico. While previous studies conducted, in this same setting, have focused on factors that affect classroom participation in general, this study involved interviews and observations to gain a comprehensive overview of the demotivating factors that impact these EFL students' participation levels in terms of oral production. The study focuses on the participation habits of the interviewed students, their perceptions of the factors that may inhibit them, that discourage them from participating fully in class, and that affect learning. The findings suggest that the participants' perceptions of what participation means, and their self-esteem and confidence affect their level of involvement. They also indicate that the teacher's role is an important variable in why students decide to remain silent.

Teaching professional practice and thesis development are usually two independent and unrelated processes. However, some concerns arose at Universidad SEK (USEK) Chile Department of English. Students declared to be overloaded and that working on their theses did not contribute to solving real in-class problems. Professors considered that training was not achieving all the expected results and that theses quality of some students were below expectations. To address these concerns, the English department decided to create a direct and strong bond between these two vital processes through Action Research (AR). Studying this innovation process appears to be relevant as it may lead to a better understanding of its impact and the complexities involved. Consequently, the author aims to value the results of this innovation after five years of its implementation. How do involved agents such as students, professors, supervisors, and mentors ponder this experience? Qualitative information gathered through interviews evidenced some contentment regarding thesis and training improvement, a decrease in the students' overload perception, renewed motivation, and a positive thesis-training connection. Despite this promising perception, there are still some pending challenges, such as enhancing the spreading of the innovation and the quality of the feedback provided to school mentors.

The current study inquires about the students' perception regarding their English classes at Escuela Dra Eloísa Díaz, an at-risk public school in Santiago de Chile. How do students value their English classes? What are the difficulties they have to face, and how can teachers increase students' participation are the research question that lead this investigation. Accordingly, the main objectives are to determine the students' perception regarding their English classes, to comprehend the main difficulties they have to face and to provide recommendations to enhance the weaker areas. To achieve the intended aims, the researchers use a mixed-method data collection procedure to gain meaningful information. A quantitative survey to obtain a broad vision regarding several aspects of the English classes at the targeted school, complemented by a focus group and a series of interviews aiming to get more in-depth knowledge qualitatively. After the analysis process, the authors conclude that oral participation is one of the main obstacles students have to overcome in their English language learning processes. Students are conscious of the importance of learning English and the difficulties they have to face. Among them, they recognize a low level in oral participation and the lack of personal effort. Reading is for them the easiest skill to develop, while speaking appears to be the most difficult one. Their perception of the English language learning process seems to be limited, and students clearly associate learning with having fun.

This paper reports on a study aimed to investigate students' development in English proficiency over a four-year partially English-taught programme that did not integrate any explicit language learning goals. Additionally, the study investigated their perceptions concerning language gains and experiences in the programme. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed. Paired-sampled t-tests indicated statistically significant differences from pretest to posttest for listening but not for grammar. Repeated measures ANOVA determined that the least proficient (B1) students obtained the highest language gains over the 4-year period, particularly in listening. In contrast, advanced (C1) students performed worse in the listening and grammar posttests than in the pretests. Further findings indicated that the students perceived a positive impact on their English competence. No significant differences were found across self-rated proficiency groups regarding their perceptions of language improvement as a result of participating in the programme. The study also found that the higher the students' proficiency in the language, the less satisfied they were with the programme. In the focus group interviews, the students attributed their language improvement to being exposed to English and having to produce output, mainly in oral presentations and written tasks, and demanded English language instruction within the curriculum.

Uncertain times require prompt reflexes to survive and this study is a collaborative reflex to better understand uncertainty and navigate through it. The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic hit hard and interrupted many dimensions of our lives, particularly education. As a response to interruption of education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this study is a collaborative reaction that narrates the overall view, reflections from the K12 and higher educational landscape, lessons learned and suggestions from a total of 31 countries across the world with a representation of 62.7% of the whole world population. In addition to the value of each case by country, the synthesis of this research suggests that the current practices can be defined as emergency remote education and this practice is different from planned practices such as distance education, online learning or other derivations. Above all, this study points out how social injustice, inequity and the digital divide have been exacerbated during the pandemic and need unique and targeted measures if they are to be addressed. While there are support communities and mechanisms, parents are overburdened between regular daily/professional duties and emerging educational roles, and all parties are experiencing trauma, psychological pressure and anxiety to various degrees, which necessitates a pedagogy of care, affection and empathy. In terms of educational processes, the interruption of education signifies the importance of openness in education and highlights issues that should be taken into consideration such as using alternative assessment and evaluation methods as well as concerns about surveillance, ethics, and data privacy resulting from nearly exclusive dependency on online solutions.

The consolidation of smartphones as dominant devices for access to digital information and entertainment has redefined the processes of production and commercialization of cultural communication industries. The nature of these screens, which prioritize the visual content over the sound, decisively influences distribution strategies in the audio market: radio operators, streaming music platforms and podcast creators need to adapt their value chains to the habits derived from this mediation, especially in the younger audience. This research identifies the practices of mobile use as an audio receiver among adolescents in Colombia, Spain and Mexico--the most representative countries of Spanish-speaking digital sound consumption--based on a descriptive study on a thousand subjects from 13 to 19 years of age. The results confirm the overwhelming dominance in this music menu in the face of low penetration of radio and podcast word content. The selection is based on personal criteria, with little margin for the prescription of family or friends. There is evidence of the roots of individual listening, linked to the brand and the visibility of audio providers, who are obliged to develop diffusion logics based not only on thematic or genre preferences, but also on the user experience.

The internet has become a key environment for children's learning and leisure at an increasing early age. Yet, little is known about what children understand about the internet. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 111 children aged five to nine to assess their notions about the internet, the authorship of online content and the trustworthiness they attribute to it. Considering the socio-cognitive advances throughout these ages, we expected a significant improvement in children's concept of the internet. However, the results showed modest age differences, and only in some basic notions (e.g., internet functions). Misconceptions about the internet and naïve ideas about the reliability of its content were present at all ages. Only a very few older children envisaged the risk of finding malicious information online and the need to consult other sources in case of doubt. We discuss the necessity to address children's misconceptions at least from the beginning of primary school, when most of them are cognitively ready to understand many of the issues addressed in this study, provided they receive guided instruction.

This study investigated primary students' perceptions of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Natural Science and Social Sciences and variations in perceptions by individual and social factors. The sample comprised 524 Spanish-speaking students aged 9-13 years from bilingual Spanish-English schools in Andalusia (Spain). The study obtained two measures, namely one of satisfaction with CLIL and one of perception of CLIL linguistic difficulty, and investigated the relationships between them and with individual and social factors. The findings indicate that, on average, the participants' satisfaction with CLIL is relatively high and that they do not find it particularly challenging from a linguistic point of view. However, around 20% of the participants experienced mild to severe difficulty regarding the language of instruction. A moderate to strong relationship was found between CLIL satisfaction and linguistic difficulty, and these were both statistically associated with mother's level of education, availability of help with homework at home, and relatives' use of English at work. These findings suggest that socioeconomic status factors are associated with primary students' perceptions of CLIL and may underlie their success and continuation in CLIL secondary education. It is argued that investment in language support is needed for the most disadvantaged students.

This study aims to begin accounting for variation in parents' perceptions concerning CLIL at a particular context by focusing on a major component of socioeconomic status: education level. The study is set in Andalusia, a Spanish region with an ongoing bilingual CLIL programme that, according to official estimates, will reach 1,573 schools by 2020. A questionnaire was designed to obtain information on perceptions about the teaching and learning of Natural Science and Social Sciences in English. A total of 200 parents from three primary schools participated in the study. Findings indicate that educational attainment has a differential effect on parents' perceptions on the bilingual programme, on its impact on student learning, on their own capacity to help their children's school learning and on children's need for out-of-school support. The lowest educated parents are the most satisfied with the programme and the least concerned about its potential detrimental effect on content learning even though they find that their children are struggling in English-taught subjects the most. Findings suggest that this group in particular may associate English with upward social mobility more strongly than the others. Implications of findings concerning egalitarianism in CLIL education are also discussed.

This study draws on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) proposed by Ajzen to explore the existing relationships between entrepreneurial intentions and the proposed determinants, as well as the mediation of advantages, limitations and individual values in entrepreneurship. For empirical work, a questionnaire was designed and validated using Likert scales, applied to university students in Colombia. The basic constructs were measured using 56 variables. The findings show a positive relationship between the main constructs of the TPB as well as variables that indirectly mediate entrepreneurial intentions.

Countries' scientific systems are a key element of the knowledge economy. This paper explores the convergence pattern of the scientific systems of a wide range of countries around the world during the period 2003-2016. Drawing on data on national scientific production from a sample of 121 developed and developing countries, the log t test methodology has been used to detect whether there has been an overall convergence in knowledge creation among countries, if they have converged in clubs, or if there have been divergent countries. The results show the absence of overall convergence; on the contrary, the presence of five groups of countries that converge together has been detected, showing differentiated knowledge production growth trajectories among them. A divergent country (UK) has also been identified. Furthermore, the paper examines the scientific structure of these clubs and the countries that form them, identifying in which scientific fields the scientific systems of countries have a comparative advantage/disadvantage in relation to the world average.

Education should be considered as one of the mechanisms for governments and nations to succeed in a post-conflict process. The purpose of this Review Article is twofold: to explain the importance of education in a post-conflict setting, and to describe a few strategies that post-conflict societies have implemented. In terms of research design, a multiple case study approach has been implemented. The paper reviews a unique topic with specific reference to education plans implemented in post-conflict societies such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. Each of them has experienced violent conflicts and has used education as a tool to succeed in their post-conflict process. In sum, there are several educational programs that involve children, young people, survivors, parents, teachers, and local communities as well as curriculums focused on teaching of cultural values and technical skills to improve the quality of life in a post-conflict setting.

The aim of this article is to review five years (2014-2018) of research in English language teaching (ELT) in Argentina. In this overview, 115 publications (conference proceedings, journal articles, and edited collections) were analysed in terms of topic and research methodologies to map out the major areas of interest and developments in ELT in Argentina. The publications are reviewed according to nine topics: (1) interculturality and citizenship, (2) language teacher education and professional development, (3) technology-enhanced language learning, (4) learner differences, (5) language skills development, (6) language systems, (7) English for academic and specific purposes, (8) assessment, and (9) language curriculum development. The review discusses trends in research practices identified in the 2014-2018 period and suggests implications and further areas of inquiry to advance research skills as well as knowledge of ELT.

EFL teachers' beliefs, a constituent of teacher cognition, influence their instructional practices. In vocabulary teaching, the relationship between teachers' beliefs and practices has not been much studied so far, so further research in a variety of geographical and educational contexts is necessary to compare findings and observe both established and emerging trends. In this article the researchers analyze two teachers' vocabulary teaching beliefs and their pedagogical procedures based on data from two different educational settings in Argentina, collected by a questionnaire and classroom observations, and from class materials and the progress tests used in class. Data triangulation allowed insights into the characteristics of both teachers' vocabulary instruction, whereby the choice and amount of vocabulary taught, the aspects of lexical knowledge promoted, and the teaching and assessment techniques deployed revealed different degrees of coincidence with the stated beliefs. Results are in line with studies conducted in other geographical contexts and provide further evidence for the influence of the context of the lesson and the class on teachers' decisions.

This study aimed at exploring the processes of teacher socialization and identity formation of nine English as a foreign language teachers at public schools in central Mexico. These teachers began their careers in the National English Program in Basic Education. Qualitative research and narrative inquiry were used as a basis for this research. The data revealed that the teachers' socialization was somewhat informal in that little was required from them to gain entrance into the program. Once teaching, the participants dealt with challenges in their teaching contexts and the program. From these challenges, the teachers were able to make decisions concerning their future as teachers, forming and imagining their identity.

The use of a computer and internet connection allows high school and university students to access more relevant information. However, there is no consensus on the effects of the use of these tools on academic results. This work evaluates the impact of computers and the internet at home on the results of the Saber 11 test, a national exam taken by all students finishing their secondary education in Colombia, between 2017 and 2019. This impact was estimated from a pooled two-stage least squares (pooled 2SLS) model, applied to data from 1,578,460 Colombian high school students. We found that computers and the internet at home had a positive impact on English language performance in the Saber 11 test in Colombia. This work allows a better understanding of the technological effects on educational achievement and provides information for the design of public policies for education in developing countries.

To identify the concordance between the nutritional status of preschoolers and the maternal perception of the children's nutritional status and physical appearance, a cross-sectional study was conducted and included 165 randomly selected preschoolers. The BMI-for-age was calculated in the preschoolers and their mothers were asked to give their verbal and visual perception of the nutritional status of their children. The BMI status of the preschoolers was low weight in 2.4%, normal weight in 87.3%, and overweight in 10.3%. Mothers erroneously perceived well-nourished children as being low-weight, both verbally (p = 0.71) and visually (p = 0.61), but their perception of overweight was adequate in most cases. Children with normal weight are mistakenly perceived by their mothers as having low weight, both verbally and visually. The maternal perception of overweight children was better than low weight and mothers of children with high BMIs had adequate perception.

This paper presents an investigation into stakeholder perspectives on the methodology, materials and resources and assessment procedures employed in a bilingual (CLIL) programme in a monolingual context. A total of 873 respondents (544 students, 92 teachers and 237 parents) in Andalusia, Spain (more specifically, in the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz) took part in the study. Questionnaires and focus groups were used to gauge stakeholder perspectives on important curricular issues, which were then interpreted within the framework of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. The most commonly reported methodological strength of the programme was its use of innovative pedagogical practices, which seem to be spreading from the CLIL programme into the mainstream programme. Inadequate teacher training in the CLIL methodology was the most commonly reported weakness by teachers. To provide a more comprehensive picture of stakeholders' views of the programme between-group comparisons were also performed. These indicated that there were group differences in perceptions of numerous CLIL-related issues, which emphasises the need to pay attention to how the different groups involved interpret the CLIL educational experience.

A holistic distribution of leadership, where the entire community is committed both to learning and the organisation's development, is considered an important factor in educational success. Initial teacher education should contribute towards building teachers' identities as leaders (teacher-leaders). Our research examines how teaching competences are built with regard to coordination, leadership, and collaboration with the community during teacher training. In this paper, we present the results of a questionnaire comparing the vision and perception of these competences in the context of student teachers, university lecturers, and teachers in state school. The results show visions aligned with a holistic form of leadership distributed amongst the three groups. Moreover, they reveal a close link between the construction of the identity of teacher-leaders and the practical and specific challenges of students' teachers, university lecturers, and teachers. This implies that the initial training must expressly include the distributed leadership competences in the teacher education course, while also providing situations in which students, together with their tutors, gain these competences.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which hope and perceived goal attainment can be developed in subsistence entrepreneurs through the right training tools. Design/methodology/approach: A longitudinal study of a subsistence entrepreneurship training program in three Central American countries was carried out. Participants were divided on the basis of their exposure to training (yes, no), and of the type of training received (none, business plan, business model). The authors carried out three assessments (just before the program, six months and one year after the program) of participants' business goals and their hope of attaining them. Information was analyzed using linear regression. Findings: Participants exposed to training reported significant increases in perceived goal attainment and in their hope levels. Training based on the business plan affected hope agency in the short term, as predicted by the logic of causation theory. Training based on the business canvas affected hope pathways, as predicted by the logic of effectuation theory. Research limitations/implications: Given the data collection process (a non-random sample and selection of participants), the findings are not generalizable without stringent procedures and further replication. Practical implications: If hope is a reliable predictor of goal attainment, it should be promoted and measured. Given the limited means of gathering data and making reliable projections that most entrepreneurs endure, the business canvas' contribution to entrepreneurs' "emotional equipment" "ceteris paribus" should be more valuable for subsistence entrepreneurs. Originality/value: This is the first study comparing the short- and long-term effects of two entrepreneurial learning devices on entrepreneurs' hope and business goal attainment.

In this article we review research on English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching and learning published in Argentina between 2007 and 2013. This is the first review of a Latin American country in this series. Argentina has a century-long tradition of training EFL teachers but a comparatively shorter though fruitful history of foreign language (FL) research. The article examines 88 articles that appeared in locally published peer-reviewed conference proceedings, academic journals and one edited collection. The contributions cover a wide spectrum of topics that illustrates prominent research interests in the country, such as the role of imagination, emotion and affect in language comprehension and production, intercultural dimensions, FL teacher education and development, content and language integrated learning (CLIL), computer-assisted language learning (CALL), the teaching of English for academic or specific purposes, testing, assessment and evaluation, and materials design and course development. The review includes work by specialists whose research may not be known outside the boundaries of Argentina but who produce high-quality situated research that accounts for the specificity of the local educational setting.

This article presents a research project that began three decades ago in the Faculty of Teacher Training on the Cáceres Campus of the University of Extremadura (Spain) and that continues opening new prospects through new interconnected approaches. Many researchers from different universities throughout Spain and Latin America have joined this process in the Group for Musical Heritage and Education (MUSAEXI). It began with the clear premise that music and cultural history have been traditionally centred around the study of the great composers, while other faraway cultures are considered exotic. In order to develop meaningful learning in which musical heritage is not exclusively that of the "grand masters," it is necessary to understand what music has meant in the life of a given community, starting from our closest surroundings. This meaning is defined in three interconnected and cyclical blocks, always considered alongside the study of heritage and its educational application. The first studies local heritage. The second deals with shared heritage, from the local to the global, whether by geographic proximity or the ups and downs of history. The third, the global from the local; local heritage shows us cultures that we see as far away, but that nevertheless are direct descendants.

Objectives: In comparison to other traumatic events, the impact of a childhood during war on resilience later in life has been seldom examined. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the long term outcomes of post-traumatic responses and resilience of a sample of adult Indigenous Quechua women, who were girls or adolescents during the Peruvian armed conflict (1980-1995). Methods: The study instruments (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire Part I and IV; Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale; Life Stress Questionnaire) were translated to Quechua and cross-culturally validated. A cross sectional survey design was used in 2010 to collect data from a convenience sample of 75 participants (25-45 years old) in Ayacucho, Peru, the region most affected by the conflict. Data was examined using hierarchical regression analyses. Results: Participants reported extreme exposure to violence (e.g., sexual violence, torture, combat, death of family members, and forced displacement) during the armed conflict, but surprisingly, only 5.3% reported a current level of symptoms that may indicate a possible post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Resilience scores and number of years exposed to conflict as a child were not associated with PTSD symptoms; instead only the degree of exposure to violence, and current level of stress contributed to the variance of PTSD-related symptoms. Conversely, resilience and current stress contributed to the variance of trauma symptoms when measured by local idioms of distress. Conclusions: Findings should be interpreted with caution, due to limitations in the content validity of instruments, risk of inaccurate recall, use of individual explanations of distress (such as PTSD) for collective experiences of violence, use of non-indigenous frameworks to examine Indigenous resilience, and other methodological concerns. The study however highlights the high degree of traumatic exposure of these former war children. While the prevalence of potential PTSD was astonishingly low in this sample, a number of women still suffer from significant distress two decades after the traumatic events. Therefore, post-conflict interventions should renew efforts to foster the resilience of marginalized populations disproportionately targeted by violence and advocate for enhanced protection of women and children in current armed conflicts. (Contains 4 tables.)

In this paper, the authors analyse the conceptual contents related to plant nutrition in the widely-used school texts of six Spanish publishers. An analysis dossier was elaborated based on the epistemological and pedagogical study of this subject. The publishers deal with the issue of plant nutrition at three different levels (multicellular, cellular and ecosystem) and they establish a conceptual progression. Furthermore, they include a great number of concepts which they deal with in the texts. However, not all of the texts promote the development of a global conception of plant nutrition. (Contains 4 tables.)

The intention of this article is to present the way in which a proposal was put forward for a national basic curriculum for the lower level of secondary education in Guatemala, within a general curricular reform of the education system. In this process, the International Bureau of Education and UNESCO's national office in the country provided technical advice. The article examines the socio-cultural and educational context, some conceptual foundations for the curricular reform, the construction of the curriculum for lower secondary education, some features of the proposed curriculum and the outlook for the future. The process of curriculum construction included a diagnosis, drawing up a strategy for reforming the first cycle of secondary education and preparation of the proposed curriculum. Likewise, the authors present the steps that must be taken in order for the national basic curriculum to be adopted, subject, amongst other factors, to the availability of funding.

We present the results of a survey on the use of electronic journals by the academic staff of the universities belonging to the Consortium of Academic Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC). The results show that a high proportion of teaching and research staff are aware of the collection of electronic journals and that there is an increasing preference for the electronic to the detriment of the printed format. The collection of electronic journals is highly valued and most users expect to increase their use of them during the next few years. The results also confirm the importance of discipline and age as explanatory factors of the use of electronic journals.

In recent years in Spain there has been a growing popular concern as well as research interest in the study of social relations pertaining to coexistence at school, including a desire to know the real incidence and nature of conflicts involved. Thus, a great variety of school interventions have been underway, with the aim of reducing the incidence of conflicts and of improving the interventions themselves. In the realm of educational innovation, programmes based on "peer education" and help between peers, mainly from the Anglosaxon tradition, have become increasingly widespread at schools around our country. The following paper addresses first year assessment of a peer helper program implemented in a secondary school in Madrid. The qualitative methodology applied for data collection was the group discussion, reflecting opinions of the students directly involved in the program, both the student helpers themselves and other students at the school, based on their own experience as the protagonists or beneficiaries of the program. They underscore positive aspects as well as make critical judgments about their own performance and about the program, they show how direct involvement in the program is effective in developing social skills, and they open the way for improving the intervention itself. (Contains 4 tables and 2 footnotes.)