A literature review of the anthropometric studies of school students for ergonomics purposes: are accuracy, precision and reliability being considered?

BACKGROUND: Despite offering many benefits, direct manual anthropometric measurement method can be problematic due to their vulnerability to measurement errors. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this literature review was to determine, whether or not the currently published anthropometric studies of school children, related to ergonomics, mentioned or evaluated the variables precision, reliability and/or accuracy in the direct manual measurement method. METHODS: Two bibliographic databases, and the bibliographic references of all the selected papers were used for finding relevant published papers in the fields considered in this study. RESULTS: Forty-six (46) studies met the criteria previously defined for this literature review. However, only ten (10) studies mentioned at least one of the analyzed variables, and none has evaluated all of them. Only reliability was assessed by three papers. Moreover, in what regards the factors that affect precision, reliability and accuracy, the reviewed papers presented large differences. This was particularly clear in the instruments used for the measurements, which were not consistent throughout the studies. Additionally, it was also clear that there was a lack of information regarding the evaluators’ training and procedures for anthropometric data collection, which are assumed to be the most important issues that affect precision, reliability and accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results it was possible to conclude that the considered anthropometric studies had not focused their attention to the analysis of precision, reliability and accuracy of the manual measurement methods. Hence, and with the aim of avoiding measurement errors and misleading data, anthropometric studies should put more efforts and care on testing measurement error and defining the procedures used to collect anthropometric data

The value creation wheel– a meta-framework to create value for avantgarde, deimos engenharia, nextgeoss, and pangaea

In today’s rapidly changing environments, companies face emerging challenges in creating value for their firm, shareholders, and stakeholders. In order to stay innovative, this work introduces the application of the Value Creation Wheel (VCW), a meta-framework that creates value for organizations facing challenges to stay competitive in local and global markets. This work is concerned with the concept of value and value creation that leads to an explanation of the VCW and a comparison with other frameworks. Four case studies illustrate how the VCW was applied to successfully deal with real challenges firms face in different industries: 1) Pangaea’s challenge to define and target a market, 2) Avantgarde’s challenge to innovate brand experiences to acquire multinational clients, 3) NextGEOSS' challenge to define a marketing strategy to attract new users to the platform, and 4) Deimos Engenharia’s challenge to define a high potential market to expand a service

Prácticas virtuales en Second Life: telecolaboración entre profesores nativos en formación y estudiantes de ELE

Este artículo presenta una experiencia docente en la que se ha usado el mundo virtual Second Life (SL) para implementar las habilidades comunicativas orales de alumnos extranjeros aprendientes de español en un contexto de no inmersión. Con la ayuda de estudiantes españoles de posgrado, profesores en formación en el ámbito del español como lengua extranjera (ELE), y con la participación de un grupo de profesionales de las dos instituciones implicadas (London School of Economics and Political Science y Universidad de Málaga), se ha llevado a cabo un proyecto de innovación educativa que ha arrojado muchas luces (la flexibilidad y la adaptabilidad al tiempo y al espacio, el acceso gratuito a la aplicación, el feedback individualizado, su utilidad para estudiantes de perfil introvertido, el ambiente relajado y de inmersión, y su carácter motivador y lúdico) y algunas sombras (la complejidad de la plataforma y las dificultades técnicas). Los profesores en el mundo virtual, alumnos en prácticas, han conseguido desarrollar las competencias profesionales y docentes como una forma de acercamiento al mundo laboral a través de las prácticas tutorizadas en SL. Los alumnos de ELE han mejorado las competencias orales mediante prácticas virtuales, que han sido complementarias a sus clases presenciales en Londres. Gracias a este recurso se ha podido cumplir con éxito el objetivo marcado y se ha demostrado la validez de la herramienta como espacio de interacción entre docente y discente en un contexto de no inmersión

Analysing teamwork in higher education: an empirical study on the antecedents and consequences of team cohesiveness

Uno de los factores más importantes del trabajo en equipo es la cohesión entre sus miembros. Sin embargo, escasos trabajos analizan sus antecedentes y consecuencias. El presente estudio utiliza el modelo Input-Process-Output para analizar el impacto de factores individuales y de la tarea sobre la cohesión del equipo, así como la influencia de la cohesión del equipo sobre la eficacia del mismo. En base a una encuesta a 160 alumnos que realizaron trabajos en grupo, los resultados muestran que el grado de cooperación y el comportamiento colaborativo tienen una influencia positiva en la cohesión del equipo, mientras que la carga de trabajo y la complejidad de la tarea tienen una influencia negativa en la misma. Además, la cohesión del equipo influye positivamente en el aprendizaje percibido, la satisfacción con el trabajo en equipo y la calidad esperada. Finalmente, tanto el aprendizaje percibido como la calidad esperada predicen la satisfacción con el trabajo en equipo.One of the most important components of effective teamwork is cohesiveness. However, few empirical studies on the antecedents and consequences of group cohesiveness exist. In response to this gap, the current study draws on the Input-Process-Output model of team effectiveness to investigate the impact of individual and task factors on team cohesiveness, as well as the influence of team cohesiveness on students’ perceived learning, satisfaction with teamwork, and expected quality in the outcome. Based on a survey of 160 undergraduate students who worked in groups, the findings show that cooperativeness and collaborative behaviour have a positive influence on team cohesiveness, while workload and task complexity have a negative influence on it. Additionally, team cohesiveness is positively related to perceived learning, satisfaction with teamwork, and expected quality. Finally, both perceived learning and expected quality predict satisfaction with teamwork

Intergenerational differences in customer engagement behaviours: An analysis of social tourism websites

This paper explores differences among Generations X, Y, and Z in customer engagement behaviours. Specifically, it analyses differences in customer behaviours in social tourism websites and the effects of self-efficacy and satisfaction on these behaviours. On the basis of an empirical study with a sample of 346 social tourism websites users, the results show that, in Generation X, self-efficacy exerts a higher effect on word of mouth than in the other generations. In Generation Y, satisfaction influences information searches and hotel bookings more than for the others. Generation Z is more prone to give referrals than are the other two generations

The impact of gamified loyalty programmes on customer engagement behaviours. A hotel industry application

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the differential effects of gamified loyalty programmes and conventional loyalty programmes on customer engagement behaviours. Design/methodology/approach: A 2 × 2 × 2 experiment was conducted that manipulated gamification (gamified vs non-gamified), reward levels (high vs low) and reward type (economic vs social). Data collected from a sample of 315 individuals were analysed through partial least squares and tests of means. Findings: Gamification can improve the attractiveness of loyalty programmes by influencing perceptions of playfulness and reward satisfaction. In fact, gamification lowers the importance that customers attach to reward levels. As a result, customers perceive higher hedonic and utilitarian value, which positively influences their engagement behaviours. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies to attempt to empirically analyse whether incorporating gamification into loyalty programmes influences customer engagement behaviours in the hospitality context

Acción moduladora de marcadores cardiovasculares y de obesidad en café verde y yerba mate

Peer Reviewe

La importancia de fomentar la educación de calidad en Instituciones de Educación superior, en las áreas de Salud en el nuevo milenio

Fomentar la educación de calidad en Instituciones de Educación Superior, especialmente en el ámbito de la salud, es perentorio en el nuevo milenio ya que permite proporcionar a los futuros profesionales desenvolverse con grandes habilidades no solo por sus conocimientos teóricos, sino también, por sus destrezas prácticas. Una educación de calidad a su vez, permite que los profesionales tengan mejores oportunidades de acceder a programas de posgrados y/o maestrías que le permitan ampliar su formación académica y con ello brindar un mejor servicio no solo al individuo, sino también, a su familia y a la comunidad en general. Por ello la importancia de que las instituciones de educación superior se encuentren a la vanguardia con los avances tecnológicos y científicos, metodologías de aprendizaje, accesibilidad a la globalización, pero sobre priorizar la Innovación e Investigación. 

Lucha de poder en la reestructuración del posgrado en pedagogía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 1996-1998

This work was elaborated as a product of a broader investigation, where one of the objectives of the investigation was to reconstruct and comprehend the process of academic integration experienced by academics, postgraduate professors from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (FFyL), the Center of Studies on the University (today IISUE) and the National School of Professional Studies Aragón (today FES Aragón), all academic entities of the National Autonomous College of Mexico (UNAM), in the creation of the Postgraduate One Program in Pedagogy as a consequence of the reform's provisions to the General Regulations for Postgraduate Studies of 1996. A semi-structured interview was conducted as a methodological device to approach key informants, members of the 1997-98 Postgraduate Restructuring Committee, and members of the Academic Committee, who would help me to reconstruct the history of the creation of UNAM's Postgraduate One Program in Pedagogy, its objectives, guidelines, orientations, participants, strategies, central ideas, conflicts, positions, agreements, disagreements, etc. The reconstruction of the reform process required identifying and describing the framework of the relations that interweaved during this period, and that allows us to build and rebuild the process of change, based on the academic's experience and story. This process is analyzed from the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu's field theory for the power struggle that the protagonists face. Analyzes the elements which permit their incorporation to the field, the abilities brought into play to position inside the Restructuring Committee and the power dispute for belonging and conforming the new Postgraduate Program; a process of rivalry reform, knowledge, and ignorance between their participants, where it can finally be revealed how the correlation of forces in the academic integration process changed.The study started from the assumption that the institutional intentions of the 1996 postgraduate reform were one thing, regarding the integration of entities with related fields of knowledge with the purpose of potentiating resources, specifically enriching the academic establishment, through its permanent interaction between schools, faculties, centers, and research institutes; and how they assumed it, how they understood it and what implications the articulation of these academic entities had.Este trabajo fue elaborado como producto de una investigación más amplia, donde uno de los objetivos de la indagación fue reconstruir y comprender el proceso de integración que vivieron los académicos que dieron origen al Programa Único de Posgrado en Pedagogía, como consecuencia de la reforma al Reglamento General de Estudios de Posgrado de 1996 en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). La reconstrucción histórica de la reestructuración del posgrado requirió identificar y describir el entramado de relaciones que se entretejieron durante este periodo de cambio, a partir de la experiencia y relato de los académicos, por lo que, se utilizó la entrevista semiestructurada como dispositivo metodológico para acercarme a informantes clave y reconstruir la historia de la creación del Programa Único de Posgrado en Pedagogía de la UNAM, sus objetivos, directrices, orientaciones, actores, estrategias, ideas centrales, conflictos, posicionamientos, acuerdos, desacuerdos, etc. Esta etapa de transformación es analizada desde la perspectiva de la teoría de los campos de Pierre Bourdieu, por la lucha de poder que enfrentan los protagonistas, se analizan los elementos que les permitieron su incorporación al campo, los haberes que pusieron en juego para posicionarse dentro del Comité de Reestructuración y la disputa de poder por pertenecer al nuevo programa de posgrado; fue un proceso de reforma, rivalidad, conocimiento y desconocimiento entre las distintas entidades, donde finalmente se puede develar cómo cambió la correlación de fuerzas durante la integración académica

Os Académicos Teatinos no Tempo de D. João V – Construir Saberes enunciando Poder

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em História Moderna e dos Descobrimentos.Nesta dissertação tenta-se identificar e conhecer as diferentes dimensões de saber e de poder ligadas a uma Ordem Religiosa na primeira metade do século XVIII – A Ordem dos Clérigos Regulares de São Caetano ou Teatinos – pensando os seus membros no interior de diversos sistemas de comunicação enquanto agentes receptores, difusores e produtores de cultura, integrados num conjunto pluridimensional de redes. O ponto de partida centra-se na articulação deste Instituto Religioso com a Academia Real da História