Aprendiendo jugando fundamentos de sistemas digitales

El problema del abandono en asignaturas de primer curso de las ingenierías, hace que en los últimos años se haya puesto un cierto énfasis en estudiar nuevas metodologías para incentivar a los alumnos a seguir las asignaturas. En este artículo describimos una experiencia docente en una asignatura de fundamentos de sistemas digitales donde metodologías relacionadas con la gamificación se han puesto en marcha para aumentar el seguimiento de la evaluación continua. El artículo muestra su diseño y los resultados obtenidos después de su aplicación.The high drop-out on initial courses in engineering degrees is a critical problem. Therefore, in recent years, multiple approaches to increase the engage-ment of students have appeared. In this paper, a teaching experience is described related to a fundamental course of digital systems. A game-based methodology has been designed to increase the engagement in the continuous assessment. The paper presents its design and experimental results after the instructional period

e-Authentication for online assessment: A mixed-method study

Authenticating the students’ identity and authenticity of their work is increasingly important to reduce academic malpractices and for quality assurance purposes in Education. There is a growing body of research about technological innovations to combat cheating and plagiarism. However, the literature is very limited on the impact of e-authentication systems across distinctive end-users because it is not a widespread practice at the moment. A considerable gap is to understand whether the use of e-authentication systems would increase trust on e-assessment, and to extend, whether students’ acceptance would vary across gender, age and previous experiences. This study aims to shed light on this area by examining the attitudes and experiences of 328 students who used an authentication system known as adaptive trust-based e-assessment system for learning (TeSLA). Evidence from mixed-method analysis suggests a broadly positive acceptance of these e-authentication technologies by distance education students. However, significant differences in the students’ responses indicated, for instance, that men were less concerned about providing personal data than women; middle-aged participants were more aware of the nuances of cheating and plagiarism;while younger students were more likely to reject e-authentication, considerably due to data privacy and security and students with disabilities due to concerns about their special needs

First case of lordosis in a wild- caught European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis)

Even though osteological abnormalities are very rare in wild reptiles (Telemaco et al. 2013, Löwenborg & Hagman 2017), they are more frequent in captivity as a consequence of a deficient care, especially related to nutrition and UV deficiencies (Mendyk 2008). In chelonians, in some cases, it is also related to soft shell and pyramidism (Museti et al. 2014). Kyphosis and lordosis are problems related to the vertebral column, namely kyphosis when the column is extruded and lordosis when the column is intruded. There are several cases of both anomalies described in lacertids (Garin-Barrio et al. 2011), skinks (Arrivillaga & Brown 2019) and sea turtles (Drenen 1990). Nevertheless, in freshwater turtles only kyphosis is relatively common (Saumure 2001, Trembath 2009, Moldowan et al. 2015), with few documented lordosis cases (Mitchell 2014; Selman 2019). In wild Emys orbicularis several deformities have been described such as microophtalmia (Escoriza 2012), axanthism (Cavalcante & Bruni 2018), pholydosis abnormalities as accessory scutes (Cordero et al. 2008) or accessory and absent scutes (Lada & Voldireva 2018). Here, we report the first case of lordosis in a European freshwater turtle (Emys orbicularis), being the first reported case of a lordotic wild turtle in Europe. The turtle was captured on the 22th July 2011 in “Río Areta”, which is a Special Area of Conservation (ES2200013), in Navarre (Spain), in a little cattle pond (42º42’N; -1º16’E), where the majority of turtles were juveniles (Table 1), including the lordotic turtle, showing a differential habitat selection among juveniles and adults ..

An embedded approach to plagiarism detection using the TeSLA e-authentication system

Plagiarism continues to remain an ever-present issue throughout academia. It is an anathema to scholarly enterprise, where the proper attribution of the work of others is of fundamental importance. Teaching students the importance of citing and referencing the work of others, and how to correctly do so, is therefore an important role for academic institutions. It is insufficient to teach these things without assessing students’ learning. Effective and accessible tools that can assist in teaching and assessment are sought and are increasingly being developed. This paper describes a new tool designed to assess levels of plagiarism in students’ submitted work and considers its affordances alongside other established tools. TeSLA is an EU funded project that brings eighteen partners together for the development of an embedded suite of tools to deliver the seamless e-authentication of students as they complete online assessments. Within the suite is a plagiarism detection tool that analyses documents and text on submission and provides immediate output. We show that the TeSLA plagiarism detection tool highlights potential collusion, a form of plagiarism. Also, we discuss whether the embedded nature of the TeSLA system could be used to improve constructive alignment between teaching and assessment within modules

Herramienta de soporte a la evaluación de la calidad docente de los estudios universitarios

Resumen: El proceso de monitorización y evaluación de un grado o máster oficial se fundamenta en un informe anual ajustado a los requerimientos dictaminados por las agencias externas de calidad docente, ya sean tanto europeas como nacionales, las cuales serán las responsables de evaluar dicha calidad. Teniendo en cuenta que estos informes se realizan a partir de un conjunto de indicadores que se deben recoger a partir de la docencia realizada, se propone la utilización de una herramienta de soporte al colectivo docente para mejorar de forma global la eficiencia del proceso y facilitar la evaluación de la calidad docente. En este artículo, se describe el proceso de evaluación que se utiliza en nuestro departamento y cómo la herramienta de soporte ayuda a optimizar este proceso de evaluación.Abstract: The monitoring process and evaluation of a degree or master is performed by an annual report based on a set of requirements defined by the quality agencies which are responsible to evaluate such quality. Taking into account that these reports are made up by a set of evidences that are gathered during the whole instructional process, we propose the use of a supportive tool. This tool will allow the improvement of the efficiency of the process and will facilitate the quality evaluation. This paper describes the evaluation process employed in our faculty and how the supportive tool helps to optimize the evaluation process

Potenciando el compromiso social de la universidad mediante las TIC

Una educación de calidad y al alcance de todos es parte del compromiso social que tienen las universidades en el contexto cambiante en que vivimos. Las TIC constituyen un elemento estratégico para que las universidades puedan plantear respuestas a las necesidades de los sectores de la sociedad en riesgo de exclusión y aumentar las oportunidades de desarrollo y acceso al conocimiento de las personas y las comunidades. Desde el año 2013, nuestra universidad viene desarrollando diversas iniciativas con el propósito de acercar las TIC a la sociedad en general y a la educación en particular como una herramienta para el aprendizaje permanente. Uno de estos proyectos tiene como finalidad promover una mejor adaptación de los niños y adolescentes ingresados en diferentes instituciones hospitalarias para favorecer su estancia mediante la realización de un conjunto de actividades lúdicoeducativas basadas en el aprendizaje de la programación de aplicaciones informáticas. Dichas actividades pueden llevarse a cabo dentro del recinto hospitalario o en el mismo domicilio del enfermo. El objetivo del presente artículo es presentar la experiencia desarrolladaA quality educational system for all the audiences belongs to the main social commitment that universities have with the current and ever-changing society. The ICT are a strategic key element for the universities in order to promote solutions for sectors of the population which suffer social exclusion and to increase its access to the knowledge. Our university has developed several initiatives with the objective to approach the technology to the general audience. Moreover, these activities promote the lifelong learning using the technology as a tool. One of these projects focuses on encouraging a better adaptation of inpatient young people to facilitate the stay by doing several leisure-educational activities based on learning of a programming language. These activities could be done in the hospital grounds or in the inpatient residence. The aim of this paper is to show the experience of this initiativ

Thermal and chemical unfolding and refolding of a eukaryotic sodium channel

Voltage-gated sodium channels are dynamic membrane proteins essential for signaling in nervous and muscular systems. They undergo substantial conformational changes associated with the closed, open and inactivated states. However, little information is available regarding their conformational stability. In this study circular dichroism spectroscopy was used to investigate the changes in secondary structure accompanying chemical and thermal denaturation of detergent-solubilised sodium channels isolated from Electrophorus electricus electroplax. The proteins appear to be remarkably resistant to either type of treatment, with "denatured" channels, retaining significant helical secondary structure even at 77 degrees C or in 10% SDS. Further retention of helical secondary structure at high temperature was observed in the presence of the channel-blocking tetrodotoxin. It was possible to refold the thermally-denatured (but not chemically-denatured) channels in vitro. The correctly refolded channels were capable of undergoing the toxin-induced conformational change indicative of ligand binding. In addition, flux measurements in liposomes showed that the thermally-denatured (but not chemically-denatured) proteins were able to re-adopt native, active conformations. These studies suggest that whilst sodium channels must be sufficiently flexible to undergo major conformational changes during their functional cycle, the proteins are highly resistant to unfolding, a feature that is important for maintaining structural integrity during dynamic processes. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

WP2-Deliverable: Training Needs Analysis [Public Part]

Orrego, C., Secanell, M., Mora, N., Baneres, J., Maher, B., Stieger, L., Druener, S., Henn, P., Stoyanov, S., Sopka, S., & Drachsler, H. (2013). WP2-Deliverable: Training Needs Analysis [Public Part]. PATIENT project. Heerlen, The Netherlands.The PATIENT project aims to provide pioneering solutions to improve training on handover practices in undergraduate medical education. The Training Needs Assessment (TNA) is considered as a first step in the design and delivery of training in the medical schools. The primary goal of the TNA is to identify and prioritize the skills needed to be developed in medical training and to determine the specifications and resources necessary to make this training successful. The objective of this work package was to design and conduct a systematic survey of knowledge and practice in handover learning and teaching, as well as assessment of innovative teaching approaches in medical schools across three EU countries (Germany, Ireland, Spain,). The TNA survey was built up upon the information gathered from a variety of resources, which contributed to control the content and construct validity of the instrument. The final sets of questions were selected according to relevance and frequency of inclusion resulting from expert opinions and literature review. The final survey was structured under the umbrella of 4 handover related dimensions assessing the opinion of the respondents about the importance and skill abilities related to handover, their experience in clinical practice, curriculum content and preferences about handover and level of confidence related to learning environment. The primary goal of the Training Needs Assessment (TNA) is to identify and prioritize the skills that need to be developed in training and to determine the specifications and resources necessary to make this training successful (14). Our purpose was to design and conduct a systematic survey of knowledge and practice in handover learning and teaching, as well as assessment of innovative teaching approaches in medical schools across three EU countries (Spain, Germany and Ireland).EU LLP PATIENT-project.e

Experiencias en la evaluación de estudiantes residentes en el extranjero

Actualmente existe un problema creciente en nuestras universidades debido a la coyuntura económica del país: hay estudiantes que emigran a otros países. Algunos de estos estudiantes están interesados en continuar los estudios desde el extranjero siempre y cuando la universidad les ofrezca esta oportunidad. Nuestras universidades no siempre están preparadas para estos nuevos retos ya que algunos sistemas de evaluación actuales son demasiado restrictivos. En este artículo se presenta la experiencia de nuestra universidad frente a este problema y qué sistemas se han utilizado en la evaluación de estudiantes residentes en el extranjero.Nowadays, there is a growing problem in our universities because of the economic situation of the country: there are students that emigrate to other countries. Some of these students are interested in continuing their studies as long as the university offers them the opportunity. Our universities are not always prepared for these new challenges since some current evaluation systems are too restrictive. In this article, we present how our university has tackled this challenge and which evaluation systems have been used on students residing abroad