The international traineeships network at UPF

This work is a preliminary study aimed at assessing the impact of international traineeships at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme. The deployment of post-EHEA traineeships has already been studied in previous works, and a comparison is performed between local and international traineeships. The study is based on a survey among students taking part in these international traineeships, by adapting the previous questionnaire and including contextual aspects.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Towards a Practicum that guarantees the quality: design and implementation of a monitoring protocol of the Practicum

[ES] Este artículo presenta un proyecto que se está llevando a cabo en la Universitat Pompeu Fabra para garantizar la calidad de las prácticas externas que se han de realizar en el contexto de los nuevos grados adaptados al EEES. Un aspecto fundamental para esta garantía de calidad radica en un seguimiento adecuado del desarrollo de las prácticas en organizaciones y empresas. Por ello, uno de los objetivos de nuestro proyecto es la definición de un protocolo de seguimiento del Practicum basado en las competencias a desarrollar durante las prácticas. También forma parte del proyecto la implementación de este protocolo de seguimiento mediante el uso de las TIC, concretamente a través de un módulo integrado en la plataforma Moodle que permite la gestión del Practicum conjuntamente con el resto de asignaturas.[EN] This article presents a current project of the Pompeu Fabra University which aims at assuring the quality of the external practices that undergraduate students have to do in the context of the European Higher Education Area. A fundamental aspect to guarantee the quality stems from an adequate monitoring of the practices development in the companies and organizations. For this reason, one of the objectives of our project is to define a Practicum monitoring protocol based on the competences to be developed during the practices. This project, also, includes the implementation of this monitoring protocol using ICT, specifically through an integrated block in the Moodle platform that permits to manage the Practicum together with others subjects.Alemany Costa, J.; Perramon Tornil, X. (2011). Hacia un Practicum que garantice la calidad: diseño e implementación de un protocolo de seguimiento del Practicum. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 9(3):161-179. https://doi.org/10.4995/redu.2011.6159OJS16117993Bas Peña, E. (2007). Practicum y "buenas prácticas": la evaluación como instrumento de mejora. En A. Cid, M. Muradás, M.a. Zabalza, M. González, M. Raposo y L. Iglesias (Coord.), Buenas prácticas en el practicum. Santiago de Compostela: Imprenta Universitaria.Cid, A., Pérez, A. y Sarmiento, J. A. (2011). La tutoría en el Practicum. Revisión de la literatura. Revista de Educación, 354, 127-154.Domínguez Prieto, E., Fernández López, L. (2005). La calidad vista desde el practicum. En M. Raposo, A. Cid, M. Sanmamed et al. (Coord.), El practicum en el nuevo contexto del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior. Santiago de Compostela: Imprenta Universitaria.Erkizia Olaizola, A. (2007). El efecto de la implementación de las nuevas tecnologías en los procesos de gestión de prácticas en empresas. En A. Cid, M. Muradás, M.A. Zabalza, M. González, M. Raposo y L. Iglesias (Coord.), Buenas prácticas en el practicum. Santiago de Compostela: Imprenta Universitaria.Jaques, D., Gibbs, G. y Rust, C. (1993). Designing and Evaluating Courses. New South Wales: Educational Methods Unit, Oxford Brooke University.Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential Learning. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.Martínez Figueira, E., Raposo Rivas, M. (2011). Funciones generales de la tutoría en el Practicum: entre la realidad y el deseo en el desempeño de la acción tutorial. Revista de Educación, 354, 155-181.Molina, E. (dir.) (2004). Formación práctica de los estudiantes de Pedagogía en las Universidades españolas. Profesorado, revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 8 (2). Recuperado el 13 de octubre de 2011, de www.ugr.es/local/recfpro/Rev82.htmlMoodle. Open source community based tolos for learning. Recuperado de: http://moodle.org/Raposo Rivas, M., Sarceda Gorgoso, M. C. (2007). La integración de las TIC en la supervisión del practicum. En A. Cid, M. Muradás, M.A. Zabalza, M. González, M. (Coord.), Buenas prácticas en el practicum. Santiago de Compostela: Imprenta Universitaria.Raposo y L. Iglesias (Coord.). Buenas prácticas en el practicum. Santiago de Compostela: Imprenta Universitaria.Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Facultat de Ciències Econòmiques i Empresarials. Recuperado de: http://www.upf.edu/facecon/Zabalza, M. A. (2011). El Practicum en la formación universitaria: estado de la cuestión. Revista de Educación, 354, 21-43

Out-of-classroom experiences: a survey of students’ perceptions of the learning process during internships

[EN] A survey has been conducted during the 2013-2014 academic year among the first graduating class after the EHEA in the Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), with the aim of comprehending the students’ perception of the learning process developed through the out-of-classroom activities of professional internships. In this work such activities are considered an integral part of the knowledge acquisition process, on the basis of the constructivism paradigm of learning-by-doing. The results of the survey show that, in general, student’s perceptions are positive about the overall process, although the weakest point is in the perceived connexion between the theory explained in the classroom and its practical application in the workplace. The conclusion is that from the students’ point of view the introduction of the new post-EHEA internship courses at UPF has been successful in many aspects, while in some other aspects, particularly in the relationship between theory and practice, some further analysis is recommended.Alemany-Costa, J.; Perramon Tornil, X. (2015). Out-of-classroom experiences: a survey of students’ perceptions of the learning process during internships. En 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION ADVANCES (HEAD' 15). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 370-377. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd15.2015.48437037

The internship in the EHEA adaptation process. The UPF’s first year of graduate students’ opinion.

[ES] Para evaluar el proceso de adaptación de las prácticas a los nuevos grados en la Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) se está realizando un estudio en tres fases: una primera de análisis de la situación antes de la implementación del EEES, una segunda para conocer las previsiones de cambios en la implementación desde el punto de vista de los coordinadores-responsables, y una tercera, actualmente en curso, para comprobar el nivel de satisfacción de los estudiantes. El trabajo que se presenta en este artículo se centra en la metodología para obtener estas opiniones de los estudiantes dirigidas a detectar los aspectos susceptibles de mejora en la realización de las prácticas externas. Como primeras conclusiones podemos destacar que la incorporación de las prácticas externas como asignatura curricular en los estudios de grado ha sido un acierto, pues ha aumentado el grado de satisfacción de los primeros estudiantes de grado. La satisfacción del estudiante es aceptablemente alta en lo que se refi[EN] A three-stage study is being performed in order to assess the adaptation of the traineeships to the EHEA Degrees at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). First, the situation previous to the EHEA deployment was considered. Second, the necessary changes due to the EHEA as forecasted were considered. Third, the current research, which is still in progress, aims to check student satisfaction in traineeships. This working paper describes thoroughly the methodology, and identifies room for improvement in traineeship performance. As a first conclusion we have found that the incorporation of the traineeships as a curricular subject in the degree studies has been a success, because the students’ satisfaction level has increased. Their satisfaction is acceptably high with technical aspects (assignment process, preliminary information, monitoring, etc.) and it is very high with their motivation. Four out of five students believe it has been very important for them do the internships well. Furthermore,Alemany Costa, J.; Perramon Tornil, X.; Panadès Estruch, L. (2014). Las prácticas externas en el proceso de adaptación al EEES. El punto de vista de la primera promoción de grado en la UPF. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 12(4):115-139. https://doi.org/10.4995/redu.2014.5617OJS11513912

Context-aware assessment in out-of-classroom activities by means of mobile technologies

[EN] This paper proposes a framework for context-aware assessment of out-ofclassroom subjects with the support of mobile technologies. The paper discusses: (a) the principles and implications of out-of-classroom activities, e.g. internships, outdoors practicals of topography, of agricultural or marine engineering, virtual university courses, etc.; and (b) context-aware assessment, in which some context elements (location, date and time, environmental circumstances) may be incorporated into the assessment by means of mobile technology. The aim of this framework is to provide the tools that will allow for an enhanced evaluation, by taking into account the context of the activities being carried out. Given the characteristics of the activities, the assessment will be based on submissions prepared by the students, which will automatically incorporate context information that can be relevant for the assessment. The framework will be tested with several groups of students participating in internships and/or international mobility programmes, from different universities (public, private, semi-public).Perramon, X.; Alemany Costa, J.; Torres Kompen, R.; Kenneth, C. (2016). Context-aware assessment in out-of-classroom activities by means of mobile technologies. En 2nd. International conference on higher education advances (HEAD'16). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 92-99. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD16.2015.2556OCS929

6th International Accounting Congress of Barcelona (1929) organised by the Association of Accountants of Catalonia

Purpose: the work presented is a descriptive, contextual and detailed analysis of the activity, and the conclusions developed in the first international accounting conference held in Barcelona. The 6th International Conference on Accounting which took place in Barcelona coinciding with the International Exhibition of 1929, was organised by the Association Internationale de Comptabilité of Brussels. This association proposed holding regular meetings to discuss and study technical accounting and economic issues related to that time. Approach: the originality of the work lies in being an analytical description of the original documents prepared by the Association of Accountants of Catalonia about the conference. Findings/Originality: this study allows redoing assumptions made in previous works, because the documents before this work were contradictory regarding dates, facts and some of the content covered. Limitations: the biggest limitation of the work comes from the lack of written documentation existing on this conference. Value: the present study continues the research on topics of history of accounting in Catalonia. It is expected to complement this work by a deeper analysis of the contents and the topics covered in the papers presented at the conference, and by linking them with the theoretical accounting lines existing at that time

The impact of the EHEA in the professional internships: interviews with the academic coordinators

Purpose: This paper presents a study of the professional internship models in each Faculty at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) of Barcelona, Spain; their relationship to the idiosyncrasy of each type of studies, and their evolution from 2009, before the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), until the 2013-2014 academic year. This study is part of a larger project that comprises the point of view of the three agents involved in the internships: students, academic tutors and in-company tutors. Design/methodology/approach: This paper provides the data obtained from one of the three agents involved, namely the academic supervisor-tutors. We present the methodology used to compile the data before and after EHEA implementation: firstly, by means of deep individual and face-to-face interviews, and in a second stage by means of e-surveys, jointly with quantitative and objective data related to the internships activity during the period of the study. Findings: Following the conclusion of the first part of the study related to the internships before the EHEA, we found four different models of monitoring and assessing the internships; we anticipated the four models would converge into two, and eventually into one. The final model expected was focused on more intensive monitoring. In the second part of the study, even though we found fewer changes in the models than we expected, the impact of the EHEA deployment has been very important in quantitative aspects and in the breadth of the changes. Also, for some Faculties, the internship has become one of the most important subjects of the curricula. Originality/value: This is the first study of the EHEA impact on the professional internships in a Spanish University

The international traineeships network at UPF

This work is a preliminary study aimed at assessing the impact of international traineeships at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme. The deployment of post-EHEA traineeships has already been studied in previous works, and a comparison is performed between local and international traineeships. The study is based on a survey among students taking part in these international traineeships, by adapting the previous questionnaire and including contextual aspects.Peer Reviewe

Context-aware assessment in out-of-classroom activities by means of mobile technologies

Peer Reviewe

Trets comuns de les Start up amb èxit a Catalunya

Objecte: El treball que presentem en aquest document és la primera part d’una investigació realitzada per el Grup de Treball de la Comissió de Valoració d’Empreses de l’ACCID, que té com a objectiu analitzar els factors d’èxit de les empreses de nova creació. En concret en aquest primera part del treball hem analitzat els factors financers que defineixen l’èxit de les empreses que han estat creades a Catalunya en els últims cinc anys. Disseny/metodologia: Per la realització de l’estudi s’han analitzat determinats ratis financers de les empreses que han estat creades a Catalunya en els últims cinc anys. Les dades s’han obtingut a partir de la base de dades SABI. El període de referència han estat el 2010-2012. Aportacions i resultats: Els resultats obtinguts mostren que el sector on hi ha un major nombre d’empreses amb èxit és el de comerç tan a l’ engròs com al detall. Però el que mostra uns millors ratis financers és el sector sanitari. Valor afegit: Determinar quins son els factors d’èxit de les empreses de nova creació catalanes.Purpose: This present work is the first part of an investigation made by the Companies Assessment Commission in the Associació Catalana de Comptabilitat i Direcció (ACCID), the aim of this paper is to analyze the key success in the start up companies. Specifically we are going to analyze the financial factors in the Catalonian start up companies created in the last five year. Design/methodology/approach: To make the study we have analyze the financial ratios from the companies creates in Catalonia in the last five years. Data has been obtained from the data base SABI. The period of the study has been from 2010-2012. Findings and originality/value: The results show the fact that the sector where most of the successful companies are is the commerce sector, both wholesale and retail. Specially the most successful one is the heath sector. Originality/value: To determine which are the successful agents in the Catalonian star up companies