Acerca de la información de las gráficas de datos

La interpretación de gráficas y la búsqueda de relaciones entre ellas representa una dificultad para los estudiantes, pues extraer información de ellas requiere un manejo conceptual. Relacionar diferentes gráficas implica habilidad para encontrar patrones o características comunes. La tecnología contribuye en el sentido de hacer que el estudiante, ante la variedad y simultaneidad de las representaciones gráficas, logre determinar atributos en cada una y establezca relaciones cuando se le presentan en forma paralela

Desarrollo profesional docente: perspectivas y enfoques internacionales

Nations around the world are currently embarked in deep reforms of their education systems. There is widespread agreement among policymakers, scholars, and educators that one of the keys for success during these reforms is promoting the professional development (PD) of in-service teachers. Every year, governments invest astronomical amounts of money on teacher continuous learning. However, the literature shows that much of the PD offered to teachers is inefficient, having small or no effect on teaching practices and/or student learning. This monograph describes the perspectives and approaches to teacher PD of five nations heavily committed to research and/or practice in this field. Understanding how PD is structured in these nations may guide others in designing more favorable learning opportunities for their teachers. The article from United States provides a general framework regarding the features of high-quality PD and offers examples of recent effective initiatives. The four following articles describe the PD models of Australia, Hong Kong, Finland, and Singapore, among the highest-achievers in education presently. Because teacher continuous learning is a high priority in these nations, strong infrastructures for high-quality PD have been built to meet teachers’ needs and interests. The monograph closes with a contribution from Spain, the country where the journal Psychology, Society and Education is edited. The author discusses the five prior articles and reflects on how the ideas presented could improve the PD currently offered to teachers in other nations, particularly Spain.En la actualidad, numerosas naciones en el mundo se encuentran embarcadas en profundas reformas de sus sistemas educativos. Existe un acuerdo generalizado entre políticos educativos, académicos y educadores en que una de las claves para el éxito de dichas reformas es fomentar el desarrollo profesional docente (DPD). Cada año, los gobiernos invierten cantidades astronómicas de dinero en el aprendizaje continuo de los profesores. Sin embargo, la literatura indica que buena parte del DPD ofrecido a los profesores es ineficaz, teniendo un efecto reducido o incluso nulo sobre sus prácticas y/o sobre el aprendizaje de los alumnos. Este monográfico describe las perspectivas y enfoques de DPD en cinco naciones altamente comprometidas con la investigación y/o la práctica en este campo. Conocer cómo el DPD se estructura en tales naciones puede ayudar a otras a diseñar oportunidades de aprendizaje más favorables para sus profesores. El artículo de Estados Unidos ofrece un marco general respecto a las características del DPD de alta calidad y ofrece ejemplos de recientes iniciativas eficaces. Los cuatro artículos siguientes describen los modelos de DPD en Australia, Hong Kong, Finlandia y Singapur, algunos de los países con sistemas educativos más exitosos. Dado que el aprendizaje continuo del profesorado se considera una prioridad, estas naciones han desarrollado sólidas infraestructuras de DPD para responder a las necesidades e intereses de los profesores. El monográfico concluye con una contribución de España, el país donde se edita la revista Psychology, Society and Education. La autora discute los cinco artículos anteriores y reflexiona sobre cómo las ideas presentadas podrían mejorar el DPD ofrecido actualmente a los profesores de otras naciones, en particular de España

Transcriptions, Mathematical Cognition, and Epistemology

The epistemologies researchers bring to their studies mediate not only their theories but also their methods, including what they select from their data sources to present the findings on which claims are based. Most articles reduce mathematical knowing to linguistic/mathematical structures, which, in the case of embodiment/enactivist theories, undermines the very argument about the special nature of mathematical knowing. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how different transcriptions of mathematics lessons are generally used to support different epistemologies of mathematical knowing/competence. As part of our third illustration, we provide embodiment/enactivist researchers with an innovative means of representing classroom interactions that are more consistent with their theoretical claims. We offer a comprehensive transcription, which, when treated by readers in the way musicians treat their scores, allow them to enact and feel the knowledge that the article is about

Desarrollo profesional docente en Singapur: describiendo el panorama

This article depicts the landscape of teacher professional development (PD) in Singapore, one of the world’s top-performing countries in education. We provide an overview of the resources available to the approximately 30,000 teachers within the 350 primary and secondary schools run by the Ministry of Education (MOE). We focus on the three main PD providers: the National Institute of Education, the Academy of Singapore Teachers and six Centers of Excellence, and schools themselves. Guided by the “Teacher Growth Model,” these providers aim at making PD coherent with teachers’ interests, the needs of schools, and the national curriculum. Teachers in Singapore are given the exceptionally high allotment of 100 voluntary hours of PD per year. There are multiple types of activities teachers can engage in, ranging from formal/structured courses and programs to more informal/reform-based initiatives (action research, lesson study). Teachers with different levels of expertise and career paths have access to different PD opportunities. Most PD is subject-specific and provides teachers with opportunities for networked learning, collegial sharing, and collaboration. In fact, all MOE schools have been recently mandated to become Professional Learning Communities (PLC). We conclude that this comprehensive set of PD resources, considered as a whole, presents the features of “high-quality” PD described in the international literature. However, we suggest that more research is needed to examine the extent to which such an ambitious PD model is enhancing teachers’ knowledge and pedagogies, and ultimately students’ learning.RESUMEN: Este artículo describe el modelo de desarrollo profesional docente (DPD) en Singapur, uno de los países con mejor desempeño en educación a nivel mundial. Ofrecemos una visión general de los recursos disponibles para los aproximadamente 30.000 profesores de las 350 escuelas primarias y secundarias gestionadas por el Ministerio de Educación (MOE). Nos centramos en los tres principales proveedores de DPD: el Instituto Nacional de Educación, la Academia de Profesores de Singapur y los seis Centros de Excelencia, y las propias escuelas. Guiados por el “Modelo de Crecimiento Docente”, el objetivo de dichos proveedores es fomentar un DPD coherente con los intereses de los profesores, con las necesidades de las escuelas, y el con el currículo nacional. Los profesores disponen de una asignación de DPD excepcionalmente alta (hasta 100 horas voluntarias anuales). Hay varios tipos de actividades en las que los docentes pueden participar, desde cursos formales y estructurados hasta iniciativas innovadoras de naturaleza informal (investigación-acción, “lesson study”). Profesores con diferentes niveles de experiencia y perfiles profesionales tienen acceso a diferentes oportunidades de DPD. La mayor parte focaliza en contenidos disciplinares específicos y proporciona a los profesores oportunidades para el aprendizaje colaborativo, el intercambio y la colaboración. De hecho, recientemente se ha requerido a todas las escuelas de Singapur adoptar el modelo de Comunidades de Aprendizaje Profesional (CAP). Concluimos que este abanico de recursos de DPD, considerados en conjunto, presenta las características del DPD de “alta calidad” descrito en la literatura internacional. Sin embargo, sugerimos que es necesaria más investigación que examine el grado en que este ambicioso modelo de DPD está mejorando el conocimiento y las prácticas docentes de los profesores, y en última instancia del aprendizaje de los alumnos

Contraceptive Methods and the Subsequent Search for a Pregnancy

Many women are concerned about their future fertility, about pregnancy complications and about the health of their future child when choosing a contraceptive method and sometimes women want to interrupt the contraception – maybe after years of use – in order to attempt pregnancy. Return to fertility, has been thoroughly analyzed in the literature. This chapter provides evidence-based information and discusses the potential doubts of women. Return to fertility has been consistently found to be sure, albeit sometimes slightly slow in the short term: pregnancy rates after 1 year of contraceptive interruption are 79–95% for oral contraceptives, 79–96% for levonorgestrel IUD, 71–91% for copper IUDs, around 80% for implants and 75–80% for injectable contraceptives. About 50% women are pregnant 3–6 months after contraceptive discontinuation; around 90–95% of women had achieved pregnancy 2 years after stopping their contraceptive method. Some studies have found associated risks of fetal malformations when women take oral contraceptive pills after conception (though other studies disputed these results). However the offspring of women who used oral contraceptives before conception does not show an increased risk of fetal death, miscarriage, gestational hypertension, major newborn structural defects or hypospadias. The effect on birth weight seems small and inconclusive

Global Perspectives on Teacher Professional Development: Navigating the Pandemic

Educational researchers, policymakers, and administrators agree that providing in-service teachers with high-quality professional development (PD) opportunities is essential to educational success. Despite the substantial sums invested in teacher PD by countries and jurisdictions, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious challenges to teacher learning around the world. As conventional face-to-face initiatives became impracticable (e.g., workshops, conferences, school-based PD) and the need to prioritize pandemic-specific topics intensified (e.g., emergency remote teaching), teacher PD was recast both formally (where and how teachers engaged in PD) and substantively (what teachers sought to learn from PD). Amidst the international upheavals caused by COVID-19, how have teacher PD infrastructures (policies, practices, theories) responded? For this Special Issue, we put this and other questions before a panel of PD scholars in six contexts: United States, Scotland (United Kingdom), Uruguay, Australia, United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong (SAR China). In their respective contributions, authors discuss issues such as the limitations of PD systems based on compliance and external accountability mechanisms, the need to center teacher motivation in existing PD frameworks, matters of access and equity, the importance of developing technological infrastructures for online and hybrid learning, problems of online safety and wellbeing, and more. The Special Issue shows that the uncertainty of today’s times requires new, global perspectives on PD design, implementation, evaluation, theory, and scholarship. To nurture agentic, highly motivated, and effective teachers for the pandemic era and beyond, countries and jurisdictions should think more creatively about how to best support teacher learning. Keywords: Teacher professional development, in-service teachers, COVID-19, comparative educatio