A Model for developing an academic activity index for higher education instructors based on composite indicators

The assessment of the teacher performance is a subject of criticism due to the lack of a well-establish methodology. This study develops an overall score to measure the dimensions that encompass the academic activities. To that end, a Benefit-of-the-doubt model is proposed. The advantage of this technique is the flexibility in the weights, so that the model selects for each teacher the most favourable set of weights. Furthermore, the paper proposes the barycentric coordinate system as a method to classify the teachers in clusters depending on their contribution to the dimensions. A specific pie chart has been proposed as an efficient way to report the contribution of the teachers to the dimensions and the overall teacher performance

Self-perception about emerging digital skills in higher education students

The current labor market demands new qualities and knowledge from recent university graduates, including digital skills, and there is not enough research on the self-perception of students in this regard. The objective of this study was to measure student self-perception about their own 21st century digital skills related to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Higher Education. A questionnaire was generated and applied to 356 students with the stratified random sampling technique. A principal component analysis was carried out, supported by adequate values of the Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin coefficient and the Bartlett sphericity test. The data indicate that students primarily use digital technology in academic projects and are quite skillful when using ICT for information management, to develop critical thinking and to solve problems, as well as to manage mobile devices. However, their self-perception in the use of ICT in teaching classes is low. The results suggest that the students do not believe that the use of ICT in the classroom is useful for developing this type of emerging digital skills. On the other hand, they think that carrying out academic projects does strengthen the acquisition and development of such skills in relation to the use of ICT

Improvement of manufacturing process quality according to final inspection results

Final inspection represents the last inspection operation of production line before the product reaches a customer. If nonconformities are not detected within the production process, final inspection has to ensure their detection. This contribution focuses on the final inspection results of the manufacturing process of automobile’s front seats. The outputs of final inspection are prepared by means of quality management tools (Pareto analysis). Inspection items, their changes, remedies and precautions leading to seat quality improvement are defined. The evaluation of final inspection for the following period confirms the improvement of the manufacturing process or control quality for selected inspection items.Andrassyova, Z.; Hrubec, J.; Bas Cerdá, MDC. (2013). Improvement of manufacturing process quality according to final inspection results. Acta Technologica Agriculturae. (2):47-50. doi:10.2478/ata-2013-0012S4750

Instrumentos para medir la habilidad de comunicación: una revisión sistemática

Existe un amplio consenso respecto al hecho de que hay una brecha entre las habilidades propias del siglo XXI que el mercado laboral demanda a los nuevos profesionales y las habilidades que estos adquieren en el ámbito de la educación superior. Diversos estudios demuestran que la habilidad de comunicación es de las más demandas por los empleadores, a la vez que una de las más precarias entre los recién egresados. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue establecer el estado actual de la investigación respecto a instrumentos de medición de la habilidad de comunicación en estudiantes de educación superior. Se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura especializada en instrumentos para medir la habilidad de comunicación en estudiantes con base en el método Prisma. Fueron revisados textos publicados desde 2014 a la fecha en las bases de datos Scopus y Web of Science. Se hizo énfasis en el análisis del riesgo de sesgo, realizado con la herramienta de la colaboración Cochrane. Así, se obtuvieron 243 artículos y se analizó el texto completo de aquellos que cumplieron los primeros criterios de selección, a saber, 130 artículos, de los cuales se eligieron 12 por cumplir con todos los criterios establecidos. A partir de ello, se obtuvo, entre otros, datos de población y muestra, número de ítems, proceso de validez y riesgo de sesgo. Un hallazgo relevante es que en el área médica se han diseñado más instrumentos para medir la habilidad de comunicación, además, se basan en dimensiones comunes y cuentan con procesos de validez de contenido bien descritos; sin embargo, la validez de constructo se realizó con más detalle en un instrumento del área de ingeniería. Otro hallazgo importante es que parece que el éxito del proceso comunicativo depende, en gran medida, de la preparación del mismo por parte de los participantes. La combinación de las dimensiones del área médica y los procesos de validez de constructo de otras áreas podría generar instrumentos más precisos para medir tanto las habilidades de comunicación como las habilidades digitales de comunicación, hoy en día necesarias en una economía del conocimiento

Evaluation of a multiple linear regression model and SARIMA model in forecasting 7Be air concentrations

[EN] Forecasting the 7Be air concentration is a target value in analyzing fluctuations that could reveal important information on the motions of atmospheric air masses. In this study we first propose a Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model with a historical data time window of eight years (2007-2014) to forecast 7Be activity. The other proposal is a Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model for the same time period, in which the atmospheric and meteorological variables are used to forecast 7Be air concentrations. The forecasting performance of both models is evaluated by comparison with real 7Be air concentrations by out-of-sample tests for the 12 months of the year 2015. Considering the high explicative power and the consistently low accuracy of the measurements in the out-of-sample year, the proposed SARIMA model provides good forecasts of 7Be air concentrations. In contrast, the MLR model provides information on the significant meteorological variables that affect 7Be concentrations and could be useful to identify meteorological or atmospheric changes that could cause deviations in these concentrations.This study has been partially supported by the REM program of the Nuclear Safety Council of Spain (SRA/2071/2015/227.06). We are also grateful to the UPV's weather station for providing the atmospheric information used in this study.Bas Cerdá, MDC.; Ortiz Moragón, J.; Ballesteros Pascual, L.; Martorell Alsina, SS. (2017). Evaluation of a multiple linear regression model and SARIMA model in forecasting 7Be air concentrations. Chemosphere. 177:326-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.03.029S32633317

Forecasting 7BE concentrations in surface air using time series analysis

[EN] 7Be is a cosmogenic radionuclide widely used as an atmospheric tracer, whose evaluation and forecasting can provide valuable information on changes in the atmospheric behavior. In this study, measurements of 7Be concentrations were made each month during the period 2007-2015 from samples of atmospheric aerosols filtered from the air. The aim was to propose a Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model to develop an explanatory and predictive model of 7Be air concentrations. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and the Adapted Mean Absolute Percentage Error (AMAPE) were selected to measure forecasting accuracy in identifying the best historical data time window to explain 7Be concentrations. A measure based on the variance of forecast errors was calculated to determine the impact of the model uncertainty on forecasts. We concluded that the SARIMA method is a powerful explanatory and predictive technique for explaining 7 Be air concentrations in a longterm series of at least eight years of historical data to forecast 7 Be concentration trends up to one year in advance.This study has been supported partially by the REM program of the Nuclear Safety Council of Spain (SRA/2071/2015/227.06).Bas Cerdá, MDC.; Ortiz Moragón, J.; Ballesteros Pascual, L.; Martorell Alsina, SS. (2017). Forecasting 7BE concentrations in surface air using time series analysis. Atmospheric Environment. 155:154-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.02.021S15416115

An Evaluation of the environmental factors for supply chain strategy decisions using grey systems and composite indicators

The purpose of this work is to assess the importance of environmental factors in a supply chain with four partners as a preliminary step to select the competitive strategies and objectives. To achieve this purpose, a real case study was carried out in a footwear supply chain, in which two approaches were used: the grey system theory and uncertainty analysis tools for composite indicators. In order to validate both approaches, a seven-phase research methodology was developed and applied to our case study. In addition, the priorization of environmental factors was calculated individually for each partner. The results allow managers to establish the competitive strategy that best suits the prioritization of the most relevant factors and to define the most appropriate objectives where the supply chain should invest its efforts and resources

Satisfaction analysis of 'food safety and quality management' master degree's students with the 'comunicat' methodology for the enhancement of the 'effective oral comunication' student outcome

The main goal of the present study is to analyze the satisfaction level of the students from the master degree "Food Safety and Quality Management" with the "ComunicaT" methodology, which was applied to improve the mastery level of the "Effective Oral Communication" student outcome. This methodology is being developed under an innovative and educational improvement research project funded by the Universitat Politècnica de València, and the general idea behind it is that the student, after performing an auto-diagnosis test, becomes capable to autonomously improve its oral communication skills. Thereby, the student, starting from his initial mastery level on this student outcome, follows a selfformative, adapted learning itinerary with proper learning activities for him/her to enhance his masterliness on this topic. The methodology has been carefully designed by several university lecturers coming from different universities, with a wide range of different profiles. It is mandatory to retrieve feedback from the students that participated in this methodology, in order to make it better, simpler and more efficient in further applications. With the results obtained in this work we assess the satisfaction level of the students with the "ComunicaT" methodology, and we identify improvement opportunities that can be exploited in the future

Analysis of the main weaknesses of university students regarding the 'effective oral communication' student outcome

The 'Effective oral communication' is one of the most demanded student outcomes in the workplace, since being a good communicator is essential in any field. Inefficient communication can lead to misinterpretations and erroneous conclusions. Therefore, it is a very important student outcome both in the university and in the workplace. The student or graduate must know how to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, appropriately using the necessary resources and adapting to the characteristics of the situation and the audience. However, despite its importance, the disparity in the mastery level of the oral communication student outcome by students makes it difficult to work this ability in the classroom through collective activities. For this reason, to properly develop this student outcome in a subject, it is important to have an idea of the main weaknesses that students have in terms of effective oral communication, to be able to establish and carry out actions and training activities that can improve that transversal student outcome. This article presents the analysis of the main weaknesses that students of a university subject have. This analysis is made based on a self-assessment survey, a self-diagnosis, which allows the student to detect their weaknesses and strengths in the domain of effective oral communication, and at the same time, gives information to the teacher about the main deficiencies of their students, so the teacher can devise and launch training activities appropriate to the level of their student