Strategie per promuovere la presenza sociale in gruppi di apprendimento online

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A study of the relationship between regulatory systems, assessment e locomotion, and online learning groups

The present paper examines the relationship between assessment, locomotion and attitudes and learning outcomes in a Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) framework. Results showed that regulatory mode predicted exam marks, numbers of tasks completed, messages sent and attitudes towards the course and the ingroup. The theoretical implications and some reflections about CSCL and Regulatory-mode Theory (RMT) are presented

Robust information for effective municipal solid waste policies : identifying behaviour of waste generation across spatial levels of organization

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MExisting studies have studied influencing factors of MSW generation behaviour at different spatial levels of organization, but always one at a time and not simultaneously. Income is a strong influencing factor, affecting MSW generation from the individual to the country level, capable of hiding the effects of the others. This study shows that when MSW generation behaviour is holistically analysed across multiple levels of organization (individuals, households, and communities) hierarchically organized as functional units of MSW generation within a specific study area, it is possible to identify influencing factors in addition to income (education, demographic, health, ethnic, economic activity and financial types) as explanatory variables. Increasing the number of influencing factors of MSW generation makes it possible to create a robust knowledge base for MSW management policies in fast-growing urban areas of developing countries, improving the information used to select proper policies and plans within their MSW management systems and avoiding overlapping policies causing legal gaps. Betania, an urban area of the Panama City district, has been chosen as a case study area. The results show that the household income explains 86% of its memberś MSW generation and the community indigenous population explains 21% of householdś MSW generation. It is concluded that MSW generation is not linear across levels, it has as many degrees of freedom as influencing factors shaping the levels of organization where functional units generating waste exist. Influencing factors appearing at each spatial level affects MSW generation in an interdependent manner in variable degrees of magnitude

Identification of inference fallacies in solid waste generation estimations of developing countries. A case-study in Panama

Altres ajuts: Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICUnidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MThe absence of sound sampling procedures and statistical analyses to estimate solid waste generation in many developing countries has resulted in incomplete historical records of waste quantity and composition. Data is often arbitrarily aggregated or disaggregated as a function of waste generators to obtain results at the desired spatial level of analysis. Inference fallacies arising from the generalization or individualization of results are almost never considered. In this paper, Panama, one of the fastest-growing developing countries, was used as a case-study to review the main methodological approaches to estimate solid waste generation per capita per day, and at different hierarchical levels (from households to the country). The solid waste generation intensity indicator is used by the Panamanian waste management authority to run the waste management system. It was also the main parameter employed by local and foreign companies to estimate solid waste generation in Panama between 2001 and 2008. The methodological approaches used by these companies were mathematically formalized and classified as per the expressions suggested by Subramanian et al. (2009). Seven inference fallacies (ecological, individualistic, stage, floating population, linear forecasting, average population and mixed spatial levels) were identified and allocated to the studies. Foreign companies committed three of the seven inference fallacies, while one was committed by the local entity. Endogenous knowledge played an important role in these studies to avoid spatial levels mismatch and multilevel measurements appear to produce more reliable information than studies obtained via other means

A Cross-Sectional Survey on Burnout Prevalence and Profile in the Sicilian Population of Ambulance Driver-Rescuers

Introduction: Burnout is present at a high rate in emergency medicine. The ambulance driver-rescuers, who furnish first aid to the victims, are the non-medical part of the Italian 118-service staff. There is a lack of research on burnout risk in Italian Emergency Medical Services and, particularly, for this category of workers. The two Italian studies, including a little group of ambulance driver-rescuers, reported inconsistent findings. Hypothesis: This survey investigated for the first time the prevalence and exact profile of burnout in a large sample of Italian driver-rescuers. As a secondary aim, the study described how the items of the Italian version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) cluster in components in this sample. Methods: This cross-sectional census survey was conducted from June 2015 through May 2016 and involved all the driver-rescuers operating in Sicily, the biggest and most southern region of Italy. The subjects received a classification according to different profiles of burnout by using the Italian version of the MBI-HSS (burnout, engagement, disengagement, over-extension, and work-inefficacy). In order to explore the existence of independent factors, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted on the survey to obtain eigenvalues >one for each component in the data. Results: The final sample comprised 2,361 responders (96.6% of the initial sample). Of them, 29.8% were in burnout (95% confidence interval [CI], 27.8% to 31.8%) and 1.7% presented a severe form (95% CI, 1.1% to 2.3%); 30.0% were engaged in their work (95% CI, 21.0% to 34.8%), 24.7% of responders were disengaged (95% CI, 22.9% to 26.5%), 1.2% presented an over-extension profile (95% CI, 0.8% to 1.7%), and 12.6% felt work-inefficacy (95% CI, 11.3% to 14.1%). The factors loaded into a five-factor solution at PCA, explaining 48.1% of the variance and partially replicating the three-factor structure. The Emotional Exhaustion (EE) component was confirmed. New dimensions from Personal Accomplishment (PA) and Depersonalization (DP) sub-scales described empathy and disengagement with patients, respectively, and were responsible for the increased risk of burnout. Conclusions: These results endorse the importance of screening and psychological interventions for this population of emergency workers, where burnout could manifest itself more insidiously. It is also possible to speculate that sub-optimal empathy skills could be related to the disengagement and work-inefficacy feelings registered

Exploring the effect of an augmented reality literacy programme for reading and spelling difficulties for children diagnosed with ADHD

AbstractChildren diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience a variety of difficulties related to three primary symptoms: hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The most common type of ADHD has a combination of all three symptom areas. These core symptoms may negatively impact the academic and social performance of children throughout their school life. The AHA (ADHD-Augmented) project focused specifically on the impact of digital technologies' intervention on literacy skills of children that participated in the pilot study and were diagnosed with ADHD prior to the intervention. Existing research has shown that augmented reality (AR) can improve academic outcomes by stimulating pupils' attention. AHA project aimed at implementing an evidence-based intervention to improve ADHD children's reading and spelling abilities through the enhancement of an existing literacy programme with AR functionality. The present paper reports preliminary findings of the pilot study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the AHA system in promoting the acquisition of literacy skills in a sample of children diagnosed with ADHD compared to the literacy programme as usual. Background information on the main characteristics and difficulties related to the teaching and learning process associated with children diagnosed with ADHD are first introduced; the design and methodology of the AHA project intervention are also described. The preliminary findings have shown that AHA project succeeded in delivering an AR solution within an existing online literacy programme, which integrates a set of specific technologies and supports interactive educational content, services, assessment, and feedback

A Project to Foster Behavioural Monitoring in the Field of ADHD

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The design of an e-learning module centered in the use of an innovative web health application for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder monitoring

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparison of anti-transglutaminase ELISAs and an anti-endomysial antibody assay in the diagnosis of celiac disease: A prospective study

Background: Most studies of anti-transglutaminase (anti-tTG) assays have considered preselected groups of patients. This study compared the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of an immunofluorescence method for anti-endomysial antibodies (EmAs) and two anti-tTG ELISAs, one using guinea pig tTG (gp-tTG) and the other human tTG (h-tTG) as antigen, in consecutive patients investigated for suspected celiac disease (CD). Methods: We studied 207 consecutive patients (99 men, 108 women; age range, 17-84 years) who underwent intestinal biopsy for suspected CD. Patients presented with one or more of the following: weight loss, anemia, chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, dyspepsia, alternating bowel habits, constipation, pain in the joints, and dermatitis. At entry to the study, an intestinal biopsy was performed and a serum sample was taken for IgA EmAs, anti-gp-tTG, and anti-h-tTG. Results: Intestinal histology showed that 24 patients had partial or total villous atrophy; in these patients the diagnosis of CD was confirmed by follow-up. The remaining 183 patients had villous/crypt ratios that were within our laboratory's reference values and were considered controls. Serum EmAs, anti-gp-tTG, and anti-h-tTG were positive in all 24 CD patients; in the control group, none were positive for serum EmAs, but 15 of 183 (8.2%) were positive for anti-gp-tTG, and 6 of 183 (3.3%) were positive for anti-h-tTG. Sensitivity was 100% for all assays, whereas specificity was 100% for the EmA, 92% for the anti-gp-tTG, and 97% for the anti-h-tTG assay. The negative predictive value was 100% for all assays; the positive predictive value was 100% for the EmA, 80% [95% confidence interval (CI), 65-95%] for the anti-h-tTG (P = 0.03 vs EmA) and 60% (95% CI, 44-76%) for the anti-gp-tTG assay (P = 0.0002 vs EmA). Areas (95% CIs) under the ROC curves were 0.987 (0.97-1.0) for anti-h-tTG and 0.965 (0.94-0.99) for anti-gp-tTG. Most of the patients testing false positive for anti-tTG had Crohn disease or chronic liver disease. Conclusions: Although both anti-tTG ELISAs showed optimum sensitivity, their lack of specificity yielded positive predictive values significantly lower than those for the EmA assay. © 2002 American Association for Clinical Chemistry

THE BASE SYSTEM: A SCHOOL-WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT TOOL TO FACILITATE EVIDENCE-BASED DIGITAL INTERVENTION PRACTICES

The Positive Behaviour Intervention and Support system is a framework aimed to introduce a change at school-wide level. It promotes a disciplinary system change process, from a reactive punishment- based strategies of specific student misbehaviours to a proactive system, where different behavioural principles such as the modelling and reinforcement of positive prosocial students’ behaviours are applied to improve school values and to create a positive climate. This paper presents the Behavioural Assessment to improve School Environment (BASE) system and the BASE repository. The BASE system supports evidence-based digital intervention practices for stimulating the academic, social, emotional, and behavioural competencies of all students. The BASE repository is a collection of good practices, tools, and instructional contents. Both of the tools are able to support and facilitate, through the use of mobile devices and a web-based responsive system, different prevention and instructional practices at the three-tiers PBS model. At the first level of prevention (Tier 1) the system allows to the school PBS team to define the Expectation Matrix, a set of positive behaviours grouped according to predefined school values and locations. Moreover, the PBS team members are able to define the list of problem behaviours, classifying them in minor and major. The matrix and the list of minor and major problem behaviours are at the base of the development of a screening tool for identifying behavioural risk problems, the Positive Office Referral and the Office Disciplinary Referral tools. At the target prevention level (Tier 2) the BASE application provides the Check-in/Check-out (CICO) tool, as PBIS recommends. It is addressed to a targeted group of students, resulted unresponsive to the Tier I, and implements the practice of ‘Positive reinforcement contingent on meeting behavioural goals’ throughout a reward system. At the intensive prevention level (Tier 3) the system allows users to perform Functional Behaviour Assessment for students considered unresponsive to Tier I and II and to create customized measurement tools for designing single case studies. The measure can be assigned to the observers able to collect data and organize them in phases. A TAU analysis algorithm is applied to the gathered data for showing the effectiveness of intervention. In the BASE application, each student can access to the system with personal credentials and to visualize his significant progresses into a smart dashboard. The BASE repository represents a hub for digital resources collection concerning both theoretical and methodological aspects of the PBIS approach. The Internet users interested to know the European experience of the involved partner schools, and to enlarge their knowledge about the principles to implement the PBIS in their own school, can find a first set of multimedia contents, webinars, collection of good practices gathered during the lifespan of the European Erasmus+ BASE project. The repository facilitates the finding of high-quality contents and represents a learning corner and an important knowledge repository for teachers and health professionals to understand and apply this approach