21,428 research outputs found

    A life ‘in and with nature?’ Developing nature engaging and nature enhancing pedagogies for babies and toddlers

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    The holistic relationship between children and nature is at the heart of Froebel’s philosophy and practice: he took for granted that young children would grow up ‘in’ and ‘with’ nature. This paper explores the contemporary relevance of this thinking to babies and toddlers in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. It is based on a research project funded by the Froebel Trust which explores outdoor provision in English settings. Our findings suggest that whilst the pedagogic potential of the outdoors for babies and toddlers appears to be generally recognised, there is little emphasis on supporting them to engage with the natural characteristics of the outdoor environment. Concerns about safety and an emphasis on physical activity mean that natural elements may be discouraged in favour of manufactured alternatives such as artificial grass or commercially produced resources. We argue that Froebelian philosophy offers a much-needed theoretical lens that can illuminate the limitations of such practices for both the human and non-human world. Importantly, we highlight the interconnectedness of human and environmental health and suggest the need to develop nature engaging and nature enhancing pedagogies from birth

    Modelo de gestión de factores asociados al rol de los servidores públicos, que influencian en la adopción ciudadana de servicios de e-government

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    El e-government es una innovación en el sector público que muchos gobiernos alrededor del mundo han implementado con el fin de prestar mejores servicios, aumentar la eficacia y la eficiencia, mejorar el relacionamiento con sus ciudadanos y aumentar la confianza y transparencia en la gestión pública. El éxito de este tipo de iniciativas depende en gran medida de la adopción por parte de los ciudadanos (Carter & FraBelanger, 2005, p. 57). Sin embargo, la adopción ciudadana de servicios de e-government es baja en los países de América Latina, y en Colombia a pesar de que los porcentajes son relativamente mayores comparados con otros países de la región, la adopción sigue considerándose baja, especialmente en las regiones menos desarrolladas (OCDE, 2018, p. 3). El propósito de este trabajo es enfocarse en uno de los actores claves del éxito de proyectos de e-government y que ha sido poco investigado, como los son los servidores públicos. Por lo anterior, se propone un modelo para gestionar los factores asociados al rol de los servidores públicos, que influencian en la adopción ciudadana de servicios de e-government. Esta investigación es de enfoque cualitativo, en la que se llevaron a cabo seis entrevistas semi estructuradas a expertos de un proyecto de e-government en Medellín, Colombia con el fin de validar el modelo propuesto y obtener insumos para la definición de estrategias y acciones que se recomiendan llevar a cabo para mejorar la adopción de servicios de e-government y por ende la prestación de los servicios a los ciudadanos.E-government is an innovation in the public sector that many governments around the world have implemented in order to provide better services, increase effectiveness and efficiency, improve the relations with their citizens, and increase trust and transparency in public management. The success of these types of initiatives depends to a large extent on citizen adoption (Carter & FraBelanger, 2005, p. 57). However, citizen adoption of e-government services is low in Latin American countries, and in Colombia, despite the fact that the percentages are relatively higher compared to other countries in the region, the adoption is still considered low, especially in less developed regions (OCDE, 2018, p. 3). The purpose of this work is to focus on one of the key actors in the success of e-government projects that has been underinvestigated, such as public servants. Therefore, a model is proposed to manage the factors associated with the public servants’ role, which influence in e-government services citizen adoption. This research has a qualitative approach, in which six semi-structured interviews were carried out with experts from an e-government project in Medellín, Colombia; in order to validate the proposed model and obtain inputs for the definition of strategies and actions that they recommended to be carried out to improve the adoption of e-government services and therefore the provision of services to citizens

    Does international patent collaboration have an effect on entrepreneurship?

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    .Entrepreneurship is one of the main pillars of growth in any economy. Achieving a high rate of entrepreneurship in a region has become the priority objective of governments and firms. However, in many cases, new firm creation is conditioned by relations or collaboration in innovation with agents from other countries. Previous literature has analyzed the mechanisms that foster entrepreneurship. This paper attempts to shed light on the influence of international patent collaboration (IPC) on entrepreneurial activity at country level taking into account the timing of this relationship. An empirical study is proposed to verify whether IPC leads to greater entrepreneurship and to analyze the gestation period between international patenting actions and firm creation. Using the Generalized Method of Moments, the two hypotheses proposed were tested in a data panel of 30 countries for the period 2005–2017. Results show the influence of IPC in promoting entrepreneurship in the same year, but especially in the following year. The study offers implications for entrepreneurs and public agents. IPC affects the integration and interaction of international agents in a country, favors the production of new knowledge, and increases positive externalities in a territory. All this facilitates the creation of new companies with a high innovative component.S

    Gamification in E-Learning: game factors to strengthen specific English pronunciation features in undergraduate students at UPTC Sogamoso

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    Appendix A Characterization survey (104), Appendix B. EFL Students’ questionnaire (109), Appendix C. Characterization survey: data treatment question (113), Appendix D. Informed consent letter, English version (114), Appendix E. Carta de consentimiento informado, versión en español (117), Appendix F. Time Schedule (120), Appendix G. Sample Challenges at Moodle (126), Appendix H. Participants’ questionnaire results (128).La gamificación es un término que suele denotar el uso de componentes del juego en situaciones no relacionadas con el juego en sí para crear experiencias de aprendizaje agradables, divertidas y motivadoras para los estudiantes (Werbach y Hunter, 2012). Por lo tanto, el análisis de los factores básicos de los juegos se convierte en algo esencial a la hora de definir y utilizar la gamificación como estrategia de mediación del inglés como lengua extranjera para fortalecer rasgos específicos de pronunciación en los estudiantes de pregrado de la UPTC Sogamoso. El procedimiento de estudio se basa en la investigación acción mediante la implementación de la estrategia de gamificación para la mediación en la pronunciación del inglés, orientada a treinta estudiantes de diferentes programas de ingeniería, administración y tecnología con niveles heterogéneos de dominio del inglés. Las actividades se centran principalmente en la producción de sonidos, el ritmo, el acento y la entonación, los rasgos de pronunciación segmental y suprasegmental. Los resultados arrojaron una evidente mejora en las características segméntales y suprasegmentales de la percepción en la pronunciación de los participantes así como la contribución del objetivo de los juegos a la instrucción fonética y fonológica, la sensación en el juego a la motivación para mejorar la pronunciación, el reto establecido en los juegos a la actitud positiva de los participantes, y la sociabilidad a la exposición practica de la pronunciación inglesa.Gamification is a relatively new term that often denotes the use of game components in situations unrelated to the game itself to create enjoyable, fun, and motivating learning experiences for students (Werbach and Hunter, 2012). Therefore, analyzing the games' basic factors becomes essential when defining and using gamification as a strategy for English as Foreign Language mediation to strengthen specific pronunciation features in UPTC Sogamoso undergraduate students. The study procedure is based on action research by implementing the gamification strategy for mediation in English pronunciation, oriented to thirty students from different engineering, management, and technology programs at heterogeneous levels of English proficiency. The activities mainly focus on sound production, rhythm, stress, and intonation, segmental and suprasegmental pronunciation features. The results showed an evident improvement in the segmental and suprasegmental features of the participants' pronunciation perception as well as the contribution of game goals to phonetics and phonological instruction, the game sensation to the motivation for pronunciation improvement, the game challenge to the participants' positive attitude, and the sociality to the English pronunciation exposure practice

    Twitter posts on English language learning in Japan: Attitudes towards 'Neitibu'(‘native speakers’

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    To critically explore the ideological nature of English and English learning/teaching in Japan, this study, as part of a multifaceted project, explores how attitudes towards English (or learning/teaching English) are displayed on the social media platform Twitter. First, I examined the results of the thematic analysis of Twitter discourse with an analytical viewpoint of native-speakerism, illustrating the underlying assumptions and inconsistencies in attitudes towards English learning. Then, I applied van Dijk’s (2004) analytical framework and explored the recreation of the power relationship between ‘native speakers’and ‘non-native speakers’ in the social media discourse. This study argues that hegemonic ideology is recreated by ‘ourselves’ by unintentionally applying inverted ‘ideological squares’. This study focuses on Japanese society as a case study of learning English as a foreign language, revealing a self-defeating attitude towards ‘native-speakers’, which potentially reinforces their own subjugation, in turn having implications for future studies in global contexts

    Comportamientos de agilismo en un equipo de una organización financiera de la ciudad de Medellín

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    Objetivo. Este estudio pretende promover comportamientos de agilismo en un grupo de líderes de una organización financiera de la ciudad de Medellín. Método. Intervención comportamental no experimental de tipo transversal, desarrollada en un grupo de líderes de una organización financiera de la ciudad de Medellín, basada en sesiones individuales de feedback y envío de mensajes tipo nudge informativos por medio de correo electrónico, en la cual se hizo un diagnóstico previo a la intervención que dio insumos para su diseño. Posterior a la implementación de la intervención se evaluó el efecto de esta. Resultados. Se pudo evidenciar un cambio en la percepción del agilismo en una etapa posterior a la intervención, representada en una perspectiva más positiva frente al agilismo como forma de trabajo y una mayor motivación frente a la misma. Conclusión. Implementar acciones que motiven los líderes desde su quehacer, como el reconocimiento de sus habilidades y actos frente a la forma de trabajo, pueden propiciar un mayor compromiso frente al agilismo. Los mensajes tipo nudge pueden llegar a ser una herramienta útil si contienen información que genere valor para los líderes y que sea clara y aplicable

    Towards a more just refuge regime: quotas, markets and a fair share

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    The international refugee regime is beset by two problems: Responsibility for refuge falls disproportionately on a few states and many owed refuge do not get it. In this work, I explore remedies to these problems. One is a quota distribution wherein states are distributed responsibilities via allotment. Another is a marketized quota system wherein states are free to buy and sell their allotments with others. I explore these in three parts. In Part 1, I develop the prime principles upon which a just regime is built and with which alternatives can be adjudicated. The first and most important principle – ‘Justice for Refugees’ – stipulates that a just regime provides refuge for all who have a basic interest in it. The second principle – ‘Justice for States’ – stipulates that a just distribution of refuge responsibilities among states is one that is capacity considerate. In Part 2, I take up several vexing questions regarding the distribution of refuge responsibilities among states in a collective effort. First, what is a state’s ‘fair share’? The answer requires the determination of some logic – some metric – with which a distribution is determined. I argue that one popular method in the political theory literature – a GDP-based distribution – is normatively unsatisfactory. In its place, I posit several alternative metrics that are more attuned with the principles of justice but absent in the political theory literature: GDP adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity and the Human Development Index. I offer an exploration of both these. Second, are states required to ‘take up the slack’ left by defaulting peers? Here, I argue that duties of help remain intact in cases of partial compliance among states in the refuge regime, but that political concerns may require that such duties be applied with caution. I submit that a market instrument offers one practical solution to this problem, as well as other advantages. In Part 3, I take aim at marketization and grapple with its many pitfalls: That marketization is commodifying, that it is corrupting, and that it offers little advantage in providing quality protection for refugees. In addition to these, I apply a framework of moral markets developed by Debra Satz. I argue that a refuge market may satisfy Justice Among States, but that it is violative of the refugees’ welfare interest in remaining free of degrading and discriminatory treatment

    Las elasticidades de comercio internacional como una teoría general sobre el desarrollo económico

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    El trabajo analiza los enfoques teóricos de Thirlwall y Houthakker-Magee-Krugman que han sido considerados como modelos opuestos o sustitutos en lugar de complementarios, basados en las elasticidades de comercio internacional. Mientras que el primero se apoya en la demanda el segundo lo hace desde la oferta. A través de una descripción general sobre ambos modelos, el artículo señala que existen muchos puntos en común y que una teoría general sobre el desarrollo económico puede construirse sobre las elasticidades de comercio. El éxito asiático y la trampa del ingreso medio que enfrenta América Latina tienen como fundamento las elasticidades ingresos de exportaciones, elevadas en la primera región y reducidas en la segunda (lo opuesto sucede con las elasticidades ingresos de importaciones). Finalmente, se ofrecen algunas lecciones para países en desarrollo sobre el rol de las elasticidades de comercio para explicar las divergencias y convergencias en los niveles de renta de las nacione
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