The use of computers for graduate education in Project Management. Improving the integration to the industry.

This paper presents an initiative for monitoring the competence acquisition by a team of students with different backgrounds facing the experience of being working by projects and in a project. These students are graduated bachelor engineering are inexperienced in the project management field and they play this course on a time-shared manner along with other activities. The goal of this experience is to increase the competence levels acquired by using an structured web based portfolio tool helping to reinforce how relevant different project management approaches can result for final products and how important it becomes to maintain the integration along the project. Monitoring is carried out by means of have a look on how the work is being done and measuring different technical parameters per participant. The use of this information could make possible to bring additional information to the students involved in terms of their individual competencies and the identification of new opportunities of personal improvement. These capabilities are strongly requested by companies in their daily work as well as they can be very convenient too for students when they try to organize their PhD work

Clarification related to the commentary titled “The inappropriate use of formulae and references and the possible domino effect of spurious results” written by Gautam et al. 2019

info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Competence Monitoring in Project Teams by using Web based portfolio management systems

This paper reports a learning experience related to the acquisition of project management competences. Students from three different universities and backgrounds, cooperate in a common project that drives the learning-teaching process. Previous related works on this initiative have already evaluated the goodness of this multidisciplinary, project-based learning approach in the context of a new educative paradigm. Yet the innovative experience has allowed the authors to define a rubric in order to measure specific competences in project management. The study shows the rubric’s main aspects as well as competence acquisition evaluation alternatives, based in the metrics defined. Key indicators and specific reports obtained from data base fields in the web tool will support this work. As a result, new competences can be assessed, such ones like teamwork, problem solving, communication and leadership. Final goal is to provide an overall competence map to the students at the same time they improve their skills

Project Management Learning in a Collaborative Distant Learning Context - An Actual On-going Experience

The goal of this paper is to show the results of an on-going experience on teaching project management to grade students by following a development scheme of management related competencies on an individual basis. In order to achieve that goal, the students are organized in teams that must solve a problem and manage the development of a feasible solution to satisfy the needs of a client. The innovative component advocated in this paper is the formal introduction of negotiating and virtual team management aspects, as different teams from different universities at different locations and comprising students with different backgrounds must collaborate and compete amongst them. The different learning aspects are identified and the improvement levels are reflected in a rubric that has been designed ad hoc for this experience. Finally, the effort frameworks for the student and instructor have been established according to the requirements of the Bologna paradigms. This experience is developed through a software-based support system allowing blended learning for the theoretical and individual?s work aspects, blogs, wikis, etc., as well as project management tools based on WWW that allow the monitoring of not only the expected deliverables and the achievement of the goals but also the progress made on learning as established in the defined rubri

Production écrite à l'université : processus ou résultat?

Le travail dont nous allons vous faire part a été réalisé auprès des étudiants de la deuxième année de la Faculté des Langues (UNC) dans le cadre du projet de recherche « La compétence écrite en FLE : textes argumentatifs, repérage des difficultés, stratégies d’apprentissage et propositions pédagogiques ». Notre but principal est d’améliorer la compétence scripturale de nos apprenants et de faire face à la complexité qu’implique cette activité langagière. Il s’agit d’une expérience menée par deux chaires – Grammaire Française I et Langue Française II – dans le cadre du projet de recherche mentionné ci-dessus. La mise en place d’un test diagnostic à visée formative sera le point de départ de notre démarche pédagogique. Cette évaluation diagnostique sera accompagnée de trois phases de production comportant des rétroactions de remédiation. Notre intention est de réfléchir sur les stratégies, les ajustements et les modifications qui s’imposent sur le plan des compétences scripturales à développer chez nos étudiants.Fil: Moreyra, Ana Inés Alba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.Fil: Ferreira Centeno, Ana. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Downward Wage Rigidities and Other Firms’ Responses to an Economic Slowdown: Evidence from a Survey of Colombian Firms

This paper uses a wage setting survey of 1,305 Colombian firms to explore the nature and sources of wage rigidities. This is the first study of a non-European emerging economy that uses evidence from a survey of firms to analyse this topic. The survey was carried out during the first half of 2009, when the Colombian economy was showing signs of a slowdown in economic activity and increasing unemployment. The sample is fully representative of the population under study. The results provide evidence of nominal and real downward wage rigidities in the country. The most important factor in not reducing base wages during an economic slowdown is to avoid the loss of more experienced and productive workers, which is related to the efficiency wage theory in its adverse selection version. In addition, ordered logit regressions were used to determine what factors are related to wage rigidities. The findings indicate that, in general, permanent contracts, workforce composition, labour intensity and the presence of collective agreements play an important role in explaining wage rigidities in the country.Wage rigidities, survey evidence, efficiency wages, Colombia, labour market, ordered logit. Classification JEL: C25, J30, J50

Cultura corporal y estereotipos en las imágenes de libros de texto de Educación Física publicados bajo el periodo de la Ley Orgánica de Educación (LOE)

This research presents a content analysis of images of Physical Education textbooks published under the legal framework of the LOE - Organic Law of Education - 2/2006, 3rd May - . The aim was to identify the stereotypes in the body culture that is transmitted across the photographs of these copies for the stage of the Secondary Obligatory Education - ESO -. The sample is formed by a total of 539 images from two different publishing houses. For the data processing we have used the SPSS 15.0. Data have been subjected to univariate and bivariate descriptive analyses and Pearson's Ji-square test. The results show a clear inequality in favor of the presence of the masculine figure opposite to the feminine one and also there is different assignation of physical activities for men and women. The representation of the different racial groups is scanty and associated with the performance sport. The images perpetuate the invisibility of the handicapped people and also the elders.Esta investigación presenta los resultados del análisis de contenido de las imágenes de los manuales de Educación Física - EF - editados bajo el marco legal de la LOE " Ley Orgánica 2/2006, de 3 de mayo, de Educación" . El objetivo fue identificar los estereotipos en la cultura corporal que se transmite a través de las fotografías de estos ejemplares para la etapa de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria - ESO-. La muestra está formada por un total de 539 imágenes pertenecientes a dos editoriales diferentes. Para el tratamiento de la información se utiliza el software SPSS 15.0. Se realiza un análisis descriptivo univariable y bivariable y se solicita el test Ji-Cuadrado de Pearson. Los resultados muestran una clara desigualdad en la presencia de la figura masculin a frente a la femenina y una distribución de actividades físicas diferentes para hombres y mujeres. La representación de los diferentes grupos raciales es escasa y asociada con el deporte de competición. Las imágenes perpetúan la invisibilidad de las perso nas con discapacidad y de las personas mayores

Democracy in the European Union: Examining Gender (Im)balance in the European Parliament

This project examines political representation in the European Union (EU) from a gender-balance perspective. A justification for gender-balance representation mechanisms will be drawn in order to set a base for explaining the different methods used in the Member States of the European Union in order to conclude what is the best stream of action to take in the road to achieving gender-balanced representatio

Wage Adjustment Practices and the Link between Price and Wages: Survey Evidence from Colombian Firms

The aim of this paper is to explore firms’ wage adjustment practices in the Colombian formal labor market; specifically, the timing and frequency of wage increases, as well as the link between wage and price changes. To this end, we use an ad hoc survey of 1,305 small, medium and large firms belonging to all economic sectors, except the public sector. The results show most of the firms adjust base wages annually, mainly during the first quarter, which suggests wage changes in Colombia are time-dependent. Also, wage increases were concentrated around observed inflation and none of the firms cut wages. Moreover, factors associated with the performance of firms and workers alike are the main determinants of wage adjustments. Regarding the link between wages and price changes, econometric results indicate this relationship is stronger in sectors where labor costs represent a higher share of total costs and in firms operating in sectors with higher labor productivity.Wage increases, labor market, survey evidence, logit models, Colombia. Classification JEL: D22, J30, C25.

Are wages rigid in Colombia?: Empirical evidence based on a sample of wages at the firm level

This paper uses Colombian data at the firm level for the period 1999 to 2006 to provide microeconomic evidence on the existence and extent of downward nominal wage rigidity. To conduct the analysis, we use a rich panel of firms for white and blue collar workers, consisting of 1517 firms for the former and 781 firms for the latter. The presence of wage rigidity is determined by means of three statistic techniques used in recent literature, such as the analysis of the histograms of the distribution of wage changes, the LSW statistic and the Kahn test. The results suggest the existence of downward nominal wage rigidities; it is worth mentioning that rigidity is higher for blue collar workers than white collar workers, since the increase in the wages of the blue workers is generally done by taking into account the change in the minimum wage, which is why a higher rigidity would be expected.Wage rigidity, Kahn test, LSW Statistic, Colombia. Classification JEL: J31, E24, C23