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Copyright of Educación XX1 is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Hachetetepé: Revista Científica de Educación y Comunicación is the property of Universidad de Cadiz and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Digital competence, the ability to use and understand technology effectively, is fundamental in today's society. For this reason, several programs have been launched in recent years to develop and improve it. DigiCraft, an educational program of the Vodafone-Spain Foundation that aims to give Spanish children access to quality training in digital literacy, is one of the most important initiatives to develop this skill among students aged 6-12 in Spain. In addition to developing digital competence, it contributes to meeting the challenges of educational sustainability, which is particularly in line with Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the results of the DigiCraft educational program, taking into account the perspective of the different agents who participated in it, after three years of development. In this research, a qualitative methodology was chosen, using a semi-structured interview with open-ended questions as a tool to collect the evaluation of students and teachers involved in the program. Sixteen centres from different contexts and Autonomous Communities were selected. The results obtained show the success of this program in developing digital competence in children aged 6-12. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inclusion of ethical competence in the training of master's degree students remains a challenge. It has important links to the professionalization process, but unevenness has been found in its development and implementation, and this appears to generate shortcomings in training processes. The aim of this study is to understand the meaning of ethical competence and to identify factors that facilitate its inclusion in master's degree programs. A multicentre phenomenological study was carried out at universities in Spain and Argentina. Students and faculty from ten master's degree programs in different subjects participated. Three broad overall categories emerged from our analysis: competencies related to the professional profile; factors in the professionalizing process; and training in ethical competence. These categories suggest that ethical competence is a core rather than an added value for any professional, thereby stressing the need to address its pedagogical importance in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of RED - Revista de Educación a Distancia is the property of Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Educación XX1 is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research in teaching innovation encourages leveraging the evolution of digital technologies from using the device to learning with the device, which means a change from using information and communicational technologies to learning and knowledge technologies. Nevertheless, although the feasibility of implementing active and interactive methodologies to improve education is widely recognised, more research is needed to obtain evidence on the subjects and contents with the most significant potential for success. In addition, the most recent literature claims greater attention to the improvement of transversal skills, as they are critical in the student's professional future. Thus, the main objective of this study is to contribute to the development of immersive learning aimed at improving the cross-cutting skills of university students. Developing a teaching activity where the student acts as an entrepreneur in electronic distribution channels faces the research question. The student-company-university collaboration is the basis for enhancing the transversal skills of the Degree in Marketing and Market Research at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). The student participates in each step of the program as an active agent. The teacher tutors the work teams in each process step, and the Palbin Company provides the necessary technical support. The students give the information to analyse the success of the experience through two surveys -pre and post-workshop, following the methodology used in previous literature. While the activity planning is complex, the students show an excellent mood during the experience. The comparison between expectations and performance offers significant success from the student's point of view. As a result, the student improves cross-cutting competencies and gains confidence, satisfaction with their learning at university, and professional experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last ten years, many different innovative learning methodologies have been proposed for engineering education. In those new approaches, students learning, and evaluation are usually supported by a catalogue of creative activities, practices, and presentations which may be very numerous if competencies to be acquired are heterogeneous and must cover a large knowledge area, such as in cybersecurity courses. In addition, when a high number of students are enrolled in the course, deadlines must be strict, to enable professors to evaluate all students and activities properly and on time. Due to this requiring schedule, students often cannot work all competencies with the expected depth, and their learning decreases. New instruments are needed to facilitate the learning of the students and the evaluation process are needed. Therefore, in this paper we proposed a new automated scheduling tool, based on graph theory, to fill this gap. The tool employs graph coloring algorithms to calculate all possible schedules for evaluation activities. Students may freely choose the schedule that best fits their personal situation, learning progress, background, etc. using a web portal where all solutions from the coloring algorithm are displayed. This tool was deployed in the Computer Engineering degree at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain. A pilot experience was conducted for three years (2020-2022) in the context of a cybersecurity course to analyze how this new tool improves the learning and the evaluation process of students. Results show both academic results and the students' and professor' satisfaction improve in a significant manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a provisional proposal of a model of teacher competence (TC) for Translation Studies (TS) in Spain. To this end, we analyse and summarise the literature published on TC in Higher Education in Spain, and on TC within TS. We subsequently develop a proposal of a model of translation teacher competence (TTC) based on the main elements found in the existing literature, and we add other relevant facets that remain largely unexplored in existing TC and TTC models. A description of the constituent competencies of this model of TTC is being used in an ongoing study as a diagnostic tool to assess the current state of TTC development among teachers of translation courses in undergraduate Translation and Interpreting programmes in Spain. This will enable to identify potential strengths, weaknesses, and shortcomings in current translation teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers’ digital skills is an essential factor in current teaching-learning processes, especially when it comes to the teaching of additional languages. To date, previous research on the digitalization processes the teaching profession has undergone has tended to focus on the contexts of early childhood, primary, secondary and higher education, but few studies have examined Official Language Schools. In the case of Andalusia (Spanish Southern region), these educational centres are participating in the so-called Educational Digital Transformation (TDE) process, a project promoted by the Ministry of Education. In this study, 104 teachers have completed the Spanish version of the DigCompEdu Check-In questionnaire. The main results show a moderate level of Digital Competence. In addition, the results also show a lack of statistically significant differences in terms of gender variable but, on the other hand highly significant differences in terms of age. In light of these findings, possible pathways for competency development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Datafication in today’s communicative ecosystem poses a challenge to media and digital literacy, especially with regard to young people’s participation and civic and democratic engagement. We address this issue using the notion of digital citizenship, in order to study the gender digital divide as it relates to competence (i.e., skills and knowledge) and the possibility of leveraging said competence to promote civic education grounded in gender equality in the digital environment. For this study, we surveyed a representative sample of 600 young people between the ages of 16 and 18 in Spain to gauge their digital competence through three variables: technical skills, informational skills and critical knowledge. We then performed a descriptive analysis resulting in percentages, means and standard deviations and a bivariate analysis using significance testing (T-tests) between the above variables and the gender variable. Results show a relative balance between men and women in technical and informational digital skills, albeit tipped slightly in favour of women. By contrast, men claim to have more critical knowledge. Based on these results, we discuss the need to consider the contributions of feminist theories in the field of technology to develop proposals for teaching digital competence that encourage active digital citizenship based on gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Electrónica Interuniversitaria De Formación del Profesorado is the property of Asociacion Universitaria de Formacion del Profesorado (AUFOP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Electrónica Interuniversitaria De Formación del Profesorado is the property of Asociacion Universitaria de Formacion del Profesorado (AUFOP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Etic@net: Revista científica electrónica de Educación y Comunicación en la Sociedad del Conocimiento is the property of Universidad deGranada, Editorial Universidad de Granada and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper aims to investigate in detail the strategies and efforts of children consumer protection national policies in order to conduct a comprehensive review of ongoing practices. Through content analysis, the paper investigates four dimensions of national policies: general elements of children consumer protection policies, marketing communication restrictions, harmful product-specific restrictions, and empowerment and education in five different countries of diverse cultural dimensions: Germany, the USA, the UK, Spain, and Croatia. The paper fills an existing research gap by emphasizing practices of children consumer protection strategies that should be encouraged and those that should be avoided, thereby formulating the recommendations needed to prevent the negative consequences of marketing communication. The findings confirm that successful strategies have strong national legislations, market self-regulation, and education on media literacy. Advertisement for all potentially harmful product categories should be strictly regulated in order for children to be fully protected. According to the results, Germany and the UK are the most efficient in children consumer protection policies, followed by Spain, Croatia, and the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minors are exposed to various contents when browsing the Internet, this study specifically explores those created by influencers, who stand out for sharing advertising in a hybrid format and represent a greater challenge to be identified as such. The objective of the research is to find out the criteria by which minors process information when they consume advertising content shared by influencers, paying special attention to those elements of the publication that arouse their questioning. To answer the questions raised, 12 discussion groups were held where 62 minors between 11 and 17 years of age from private, concerted and public schools in Spain participated during the first semester of 2021. The results show that in general minors identify a commercial link between brands and influencers, however, and especially with the youngest, they are not able to identify when paid content is presented to them, if it is not marked as such; For their part, adolescents have certain resources that activate their critical attitude towards influencer marketing: the profile of the influencer and their degree of affinity with the promoted product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Complutense de Educación is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Campus Virtuales is the property of Campus Virtuales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In today’s information society, digital competence is an essential tool in teaching and learning processes. The aim of this comparative study was to identify differences in initial and in-service ICT (Information and Communication Technology) training and in the use of these tools in the classroom between teachers in Spain and in France. Data from the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey- TALIS 2018, which collects information on different aspects of teacher training, were used for the analysis. After merging the databases, a final sample of 19,088 primary (ISCED 1) and lower secondary (ISCED 2) teachers was used. The results of this study showed parity in the level of initial training among primary school teachers and a lower level of initial training among Spanish secondary school teachers compared to their French counterparts. In-service training and application of digital resources and tools in classroom were significantly higher in the case of Spanish teachers. No significant variations were found according to years of teaching experience. It is concluded that there is a need to strengthen ICT training at the initial stage and modify in-service training in Spain so that it can lead to increased application of these tools in teaching and learning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to study the viability of the European Union's DigCompEdu model, which suggests that teachers' digital competence depends on professional commitment, pedagogical competencies, and the ability to develop students' digital competence. The method of analysis was based on the modeling of structural equations with a PLS (partial least squares) approach. A questionnaire was completed by 2,262 teachers from nine public universities in Andalusia, Spain. The results show the effectiveness of the European model, the possibilities offered by the methodology of structural equations, and the validation of an instrument to analyze teachers' digital competence in the university context. In this area of study, the proposed model can serve to define itineraries of teacher training, establish selection criteria, and analyze the professional development needs of university professors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of REiDoCrea: Revista Electrónica de Investigación y Docencia Creativa is the property of REiDoCrea: Revista Electronica de Investigacion y Docencia Creativa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses Romani mentors' mixed experiences, views and coping practices in an intra-ethnic 'natural mentoring' project targeting young Romani (more commonly known as 'Gypsy') students in Spain. The intervention transforms already existing intra-ethnic bonds into mentorships in local Spanish Romani communities. To meet the aims of this research, observations were conducted at mentors' follow-up meetings and other project activities, and individual semi-structured interviews were held with three female and three male mentors. The mentors' mixed views and experiences are analysed in four dimensions: competence, commitment, project operation and sociocultural change. From a critical stance, the results suggest that mentoring remains highly apolitical, having as its primary object 'people to be developed' and not the structure that is to do the developing. In this endeavour, mentoring is instrumentalized to create self-regulated 'active' citizens desiring to be acted upon through 'technologies of the self'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with how technological change and digitization in the Spanish printing sector are challenging existing business models and encouraging printing houses to modify their product portfolio and core competencies. This research has as a general objective to understand the impact of digitization on the business models of printing houses. Both the case studies and the survey conducted conclude that (a) printing houses, although aware of the necessary digital transformation, continue to maintain the traditional business model alongside the new one, (b) customers are the main driver of the digital transition of their business models, (c) there is a trade-off between cultural and environmental policies as drivers of the paradigm shift in printing houses and (d) the digital context is a motivating factor for vertical integration downstream of printing houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics and current situation of pediatric neuropsychologists across Spanish-speaking countries was examined. A total of 409 self-identified professionals working in child neuropsychology from 12 Latin American countries and Spain completed an online survey between June and October 2018. Results revealed that pediatric neuropsychology as a related but distinct discipline within neuropsychology presents with a series of unique challenges to practitioners in Spanish-speaking countries. Efforts and initiatives are required to increase awareness of the field, define the core competencies, foster more opportunities for training, and conduct research to understand sociocultural characteristics and develop culturally specific tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the results of Progress in International Reading Literacy Study in 2006, 2011 and 2016, as well as the difficulties found by teachers implementing the core competences, have led to the need to reflect on new assessment models. The objective of our research was to design a communicative competence assessment model and verify its effect on primary education teachers. The method applied was a focus group study. Participants came from four primary education schools in the province of Seville (Spain). The data were gathered through discussion groups. The COREQ checklist was followed. Qualitative thematic analysis of the data was carried out using Atlas-ti. An inductive coding scheme was established. The results have enabled the construction of a communicative competence assessment model and its application in primary education classrooms with HERACLES. The effects of the assessment model and the computer software were different according to teachers' profiles. On the one hand, teachers open to educational innovation remained positive when facing the systematic and thorough assessment model. On the other hand, teachers less receptive to changes considered the model to be complex and difficult to apply in the classroom. In conclusion, HERACLES had a beneficial effect on communicative competence assessment throughout the curriculum and made teachers aware of the different dimensions of communicative competence (speaking, listening, reading and writing) and discourse levels (genre, macrostructure and microstructure). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Spain, School Social Work has had an uneven, non-linear record, with periods of stagnation. This situation still takes place nowadays, partly due to the lack of regulation of their competences and functions, and, above all, due to the fact that the figure of the social worker is not well settled in educational centres yet. The purpose of this article is to find out whether the figure of the social worker has been correctly incorporated into the educational system, as well as to assess the regulation of their competences and functions for the best development of their professional duties. The base of this article is the information obtained from a national ad hoc research, using as data collection technique a structured and self-administered online questionnaire designed by the author and distributed to social workers through 36 professional associations, thanks to the coordination with the Social Work National Council in Spain. Finally, a sample of 146 cases has been obtained. The conclusions show an approximation to the current actual reality of the professional exercise of social workers within the Spanish educational system and, in particular, to the strengths and weaknesses for an effective exercise of their competences and skills according to regulations which include and protect their professional activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education of social workers in the Spanish university is structured around the professional competencies that will subsequently be applied in the labour market. As social work is a profession focused on the provision of social welfare and the prevention of social exclusion, it is expected of social workers that they become analytical, thoughtful professionals within their environment and that they play an active role in preventing social exclusion and inequality. However, there are important splits and contradictions between the official recognition of such competencies by universities and their effective implementation in the labour market. In this paper we analyse the main constraints and contradictions involved in the acquisition of the professional skills of social workers in their transition to the labour market. To do this, we focus on the specific case competencies in professional field of the third sector in Andalusia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose In this paper, the results of an investigation aimed at analysing and comparing the environmental competences of future teachers undergoing training in two universities are presented. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the difference in the acquisition of environmental competences amongst two groups of students enrolled in two universities with different levels of introduction of the environmental education (EE) and sustainability contents in their curriculums. This objective is inserted into a wider finality: to provide recommendations regarding the redesign of pre-service teacher training curricula and learning programmes.Design/methodology/approach A specifically designed questionnaire was used in this study to analyse the environmental competencies of students in the final year of their degree in primary education in two Spanish universities. One of them had a highly environmentally oriented programme, and the other had a scarcely environmentally oriented programme.Findings Results show that no significant differences were observed in the results related to the greening level of the training programmes. Pre-service teachers have insufficient environmental knowledge, but with quite positive, responsible attitudes towards environmental issues, and pro-environmental actions that could be categorised as moderate. Results point to the need for further and better pre-service teacher training in environmental issues.Originality/value One of the main factors in the appropriate treatment of EE in schools is teacher training. Despite this principle being widely recognised, not all pre-service teacher training programmes adequately address EE. The added value of this paper is the comparison established between the students that followed a degree with a high impact of the environmental competences in its curriculum and another one that has very few references to these competences in the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current tendencies in Education highlight the need to consider pupils' personal characteristics and skills and encourage their integral development. Thus, the teacher ceases to be simply someone who transmits knowledge. Teachers are expected to be able to accompany their students in their learning process, identify their skills, and help them to cope with the difficulties and situations that may emerge. In order to perform this new role, teachers need not only specific knowledge but also personal skills that are not necessarily directly related to academic achievement. The present chapter analyses the teaching profession and the requirements to become a teacher in Spain and compares them with those required to become a teacher in Finland (as Finland is the educational system with the best OECD reports). The chapter concludes presenting some specific proposals to improve the selective process for studying to be a teacher and gaining access to the teaching profession in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competence evaluation promoted by the European High Education Area entails a very important methodological change that requires guiding support to help lecturers carry out this new and complex task. In this regard, the Technical University of Madrid (UPM, by its Spanish acronym) has financed a series of coordinated projects with the objectives of developing a model for teaching and evaluating core competencies and providing support to lecturers. This paper deals with the problem-solving competence. The first step has been to elaborate a guide for teachers to provide a homogeneous way to asses this competence. This guide considers several levels of acquisition of the competence and provides the rubrics to be applied for each one. The guide has been subsequently validated with several pilot experiences. In this paper we will explain the problem-solving assessment guide for teachers and will show the pilot experiences that have been carried out. We will finally justify the validity of the method to assess the problem-solving competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate attitude towards work is a generic competency developed in the Bachelor's Degree in Computing Engineering at the Barcelona School of Informatics. This competency includes: the ability to work in teams with responsibility and respect, a proactive attitude, motivation for quality and the continuous improvement in processes and results, as well as the adaptability to organizational and technological changes. In order to develop this competency into a comprehensive integrated experience, a definition in terms of dimensions, which are further defined according to three-level objectives, is required. A set of activities to achieve each objective is proposed. The goal is to define this set in a way that makes it easily integrated into the contents of each course where the competency is involved. The evaluation of the competency can be obtained tracking the progress of students developing these activities. This paper presents a proposal to develop and assess this competency, with a six semester experience integrating activities in the degree program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the steps followed at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (ETSII) at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) to progressively implement an outcomes assessment framework. This assessment is understood as the integral process to guide and guarantee that graduates, when they finish their studies, have acquired the knowledge, abilities and skills established in the program (i.e. outcomes). This is a process linked to the entire program (and not to a single course or activity) and to the cohort of students (and not to the evaluation of each student individually). At the ETSII, the outcomes assessment process has been designed in accordance with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) criteria which establishes 11 outcomes that must be fulfilled by the students as a necessary step in the accreditation process and as a preparation to attain the educational program objectives. The implementation of these 11 outcomes is intentionally unspecified by ABET to encourage each engineering program's faculty to achieve its own specificity considering its idiosyncrasy. This paper describes the approach followed in the ETSII to develop an integral strategy for the institution and to progressively evolve to an outcomes assessment culture. From this experience, some quite generalizable learned lessons are extracted that can be useful for other faculties involved in similar processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ETSEIAT (Escola Técnica Superior d'Enginyeries Industrial i Aeronáutica of Terrassa) recently executed pilot programs to introduce generic and specific skills into its study plans. As these pilots are now concluding, an evaluation of their efficiency has been conducted. This paper analyses the answers given by professors who were interviewed (via inperson interviews and online tests) to determine how they developed and evaluated their students' skills. The results of these interviews offer clear data about the progress obtained by the pilot programs, how the professors understood the recently added dynamics and tools, and how the new skills are integrated into the various subjects and courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new degrees in Spanish universities generated as a result of the Bologna process, stress a new dimension: the generic competencies to be acquired by university students (leadership, problem solving, respect for the environment, etc.). At Universidad Politécnica de Madrid a teaching model was defined for two degrees: Graduate in Computer Engineering and Graduate in Software Engineering. Such model incorporates the training, development and assessment of generic competencies planned in these curricula. The aim of this paper is to describe how this model was implemented in both degrees. The model has three components. The first refers to a set of seven activities for introducing mechanisms for training, development and assessment of generic competencies. The second component aims to coordinate actions that implement the competencies across courses (in space and time). The third component consists of a series of activities to perform quality control. The implementation of generic competencies was carried out in first year courses (first and second semesters), together with the planning for second year courses (third and fourth semesters). We managed to involve a high percentage of first-year courses (80%) and the contacts that have been initiated suggest a high percentage in the second year as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to information on competencies demanded by companies may be performed by a prospective study of job offers posted by employers. But, these include a large amount of quantitative and qualitative but mainly textual data, so an appropriate approach should be chosen in order to obtain a detailed knowledge of competencies in certain areas and professional profiles. The aim of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of the competencies required to HR professionals both generally and in terms of different job profiles in this area. The identification of competencies is accomplished by the application of statistical methods to automatically processed texts, which dispenses with previous categorization of competences in order to preserve the texts in their native format. The research is based on a textual corpus on 'Soft Competencies', which has been built from hundreds of job offers for HR professionals, posted by either recruitment consultants or direct employers within the labor Spanish market. After a process of standardization and lemmatization of the textual corpus, the key terms on HR soft competencies has been drawn and thus the overall most requested competencies. Likewise, combining the textual information about competencies with qualitative data concerning job profiles, modal texts may be determined and different competency profiles can be outlined. Finally, the visualization of the associations between soft competencies and HR job profiles has been carried out by means of a Correspondence Analysis of an aggregated lexical table. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will provide a general and synthetic framework of the Italian and Spanish situation regarding the significance of the presence (more or less explicit) digital and media competences in the school curriculum and, secondly, suggest some didactic and methodological proposals aimed at a real opening towards the integration of media and technology in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the work-based competences associated with better career prospects in the Spanish labour market. Design/methodology/approach – The relationship between employee-based competencies and employment prospects is investigated through the lens of the competence-based approach. The partial least squares (PLS) methodology is applied on a sample of over 5,000 Spanish employees. Findings – The analysis establishes that skill, motivation, participation in decision-making and the performance of non-routine and complex tasks are associated with more favourable career prospects. Finally, it has also been found that human capital dimensions valued by firms vary with occupation, as clear differences have been observed between white- and blue-collar occupations. In particular, social skills and motivation appear to be more relevant for blue-collar workers than for white-collar workers. Originality/value – For the first time, this paper analyses employees' career prospects using work-based competences as predictors. Additionally, the analysis is based within a very uncertain labour market, Spain, where high unemployment and an extensive use of temporary contracts seriously hinder workers' career prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The working group on Competencies of Internal Medicine from the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI) proposes a series of core competencies that we consider should be common to all European internal medicine specialists. The competencies include aspects related to patient care, clinical knowledge, technical skills, communication skills, professionalism, cost-awareness in medical care and academic activities. The proposal could be used as a working document for the Internal Medicine core curriculum in the context of the educational framework of medical specialties in Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Papers: Revista de Sociologia is the property of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper analyses the difficulties which Spanish student teachers have in solving the PISA 2003 released items. It studies the role played by the type and organisation of mathematical knowledge in the activation of competencies identified by PISA with particular attention to the function of contextual knowledge. The results of the research lead us to conclude that the assessment of the participant’s mathematical competencies must include an assessment of the extent to which they have school mathematical knowledge (contextual, conceptual and procedural) that can be productively applied to problem situations. In this way, the school knowledge variable becomes a variable associated with the PISA competence variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how universities can attain knowledge of the generic competences demanded by society. The paper discusses to what extent this knowledge should be used in the design of tourism programmes and presents a critical approach to the role played by the labour market in tourism education, while the survey and its methods act as a practical tool for those developing the tourism curriculum. The research findings of this study indicate that, in the case of the Balearic Islands, generic competences are relevant for most organisations and that tourism graduates meet the expectations of the employer, although at a lower level than desired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to identify the professional competencies that teachers working in the autonomous community of Madrid consider necessary in their educational practice. With this aim, a questionnaire was designed to analyze the importance of such competencies to teachers in the practice of their profession, the employment of these competencies, and training the teachers received in how to carry these competencies. Next, our compiled results are compared with those of other research in this field, and finally some proposals for initial training are put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse the effect of promoting workers’ employability on labour productivity. To this end, we adapt a simple efficiency-wage model that includes the employer’s decision on the provision of opportunities for enhancing workers’ employment prospects in a context of job insecurity. We show that (i) by facilitating workers’ employability, the firm increases its labour productivity; and (ii) the higher the job uncertainty the higher the productivity gains due to the increase in employability. One of the advantages of our model is that it is simply enough to allow us to formulate two testable hypotheses, namely (i) the increase of jobs’ potential to enhance workers’ employability results in higher level of workers’ effort, and (ii) the provision of employability is more profitable for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) than for large firms. More precisely, SMEs should obtain higher effort levels from employees by fostering workers’ employability than large firms. We provide some evidence supporting these hypotheses from a highly representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the role of language learners in the global society and the extent to which interaction between different language communities can be regarded as possible without intercultural competence. It moves on to review the skills and competencies that can be taught to undergraduates in an attempt to enable them to engage more effectively with the target language culture while on their Year Abroad. After discussing the merits of various activities that can be worked on and ways of assessing student performance, it reports on the reactions of students undergoing intercultural training in readiness for their period of residence abroad. As a final measure of student engagement, it explores the kind of projects students feel able to undertake as a result of the training received, while on placement in universities and companies and teaching as assistants in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of 'strategic moves' (or strategic change) on the likelihood of organizational survival in a population of firms which has undergone radical transformations in its environment. To this end, we propose and test two competitive hypotheses which are the result of two other theoretical perspectives about the consequences of strategic change: the adaptation view (classic strategic management and dynamic capabilities) and the ecological approach. While from the former, in general, it is assumed that strategic change has a positive effect on the likelihood of organizational survival, from the ecological approach, it is frequently argued that attempts at reorganization in general and strategic change in particular tend to be associated with an increase in the likelihood of organizational extinction. The sample used to test the two proposed hypotheses is the Spanish bank population over the period 1983-97. The results confirm the positive and significant effect of strategic moves (or strategic change) on the likelihood of organizational survival, in line with the conclusions of the adaptive perspective and other empirical research carried out in different settings. This paper introduces two important methodological innovations: (a) the definition and measurement of 'strategic moves' (or strategic change) by using a new cluster algorithm, the MCLUST; and (b) the control of the non-observable heterogeneity using panel data models for 'probit' regression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between organisational structure and the accumulation of technological assets in Spanish telecommunications equipment manufacturing companies. In order to do this, the methods of asset acquisition have been analysed and a model presented which enables us to evaluate 1) the availability of technological assets (asset endowment) and 2) the degree to which they are utilised by the organisation (asset leverage). Following this, the effect of the parameters that define the organisational structure on the endowment and leverage of assets within the R&D departments has been studied. Five companies in this sector were analysed over the period 1996-2000. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nurses who are capable of developing their competencies appropriately in the field of management are considered fundamental to the sustainability and improvement of health outcomes. These core competencies are the critical competencies to be developed in specific areas. There are different core competencies for nurse managers, but none in the Spanish health system. The objective of this research is to identify the core competencies needed for nurse managers in the Spanish health system. The research was carried out using the Delphi method to reach a consensus on the core competencies and a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to determine construct validity, reducing the dimensionality of a dataset by finding the causes of variability in the set and organizing them by importance. A panel of 50 experts in management and healthcare engaged in a four-round Delphi study with Likert scored surveys. We identified eight core competencies from an initial list of 51: decision making, relationship management, communication skills, listening, Leadership, conflict management, ethical principles, collaboration and team management skills. PCA indicated the structural validity of the core competencies by saturation into three components (α Cronbach >0.613): communication, leadership and decision making. The research shows that eight competencies must be developed by the nursing managers in the Spanish health system. Nurse managers can use these core competencies as criteria to develop and plan their professional career. These core competencies can serve as a guideline for the design of nurse managers' development programs in Spain.