Development of an evaluation performance scale for social educators in child protection centers

Objeto: En un contexto de crisis económica, como es el caso de España, la evaluación del rendimiento de los empleados de cualquier ámbito resulta una herramienta clave para mejorar la eficiencia de los trabajadores. En el caso de aquellas profesiones que se desarrollan con el fin de ofrecer un servicio social básico a las personas su importancia es aún mayor. Por ello, nuestro estudio se ha centrado en elaborar una Escala de Evaluación del Desempeño de Educadores Sociales mediante la técnica BARS Diseño/metodología: se solicitó a 11 expertos que enumeraran aquellas competencias que creían necesarias para desempeñar de forma eficiente esta labor. Posteriormente, se seleccionaron aquellas en que coincidieran con un acuerdo interjueces de al menos 3. A continuación se asoció a cada competencia con 2 incidentes críticos y se elaboraron sus correspondientes anclajes conductuales. Además, la escala cuenta con una recogida de datos personales como la antigüedad y las bajas, indicadores frecuentemente utilizados como definitorios de buen desempeño. Por último, la escala fue administrada a una muestra de 128 Educadores Sociales que ejercen en Centros de Acogida y de Reforma. Aportaciones y resultados: Los resultados muestran que la escala cumple los criterios psicométricos necesarios para ser validada (α= 0,873) y su posible factorización (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin=0,810), obteniéndose 3 dimensiones (trabajo en equipo, habilidades interpersonales y competencias individuales del trabajo). Limitaciones: La falta de idoneidad de estos criterios externos puede ser debida a la frecuente confusión entre antigüedad y experiencia y bajas y absentismo laboral. Implicaciones prácticas: Puede apreciarse la falta de covariación entre los criterios externos (antigüedad y nº de bajas) y la competencia del empleado. Esto confirma la falta de idoneidad de los mismos para usarse como criterios externos. Siendo necesario el desarrollo de herramientas de evaluación del rendimiento que incluyan absentismo y experiencia como medidas predictoras de rendimiento óptimo. Valor añadido: El estudio contribuye a definir la figura y las competencias del Educador Social, figura académica de reciente aparición en nuestra sociedad y que está difusamente definido.Purpose: In a context of economic crisis, as in the case of Spain, the evaluation of the performance of employees in any field is a key tool for improving worker efficiency. For those professions that are developed in order to provide basic social services to the people of its importance is even greater. Thereby, this study is focused on developing a Performance Rating Scale of Social Workers using BARS technique. Design/methodology/approach: We asked 11 experts to list those competencies they believed necessary to perform this task efficiently. Thereafter, we selected competencies what coincide with an Interjudge arrangement of at least 3. Then each competency was associated with two critical incidents and developed corresponding behavioral anchors. In addition, the scale has a collection of personal data such as age and time off work, often used as indicators defining performance. Finally, the scale was tested to a sample of 128 Social Workers working in interim child care centers and children and youth correctional centers. Findings and Originality/value: The results show that the scale meets the criteria required for validation psychometric (α= 0,873). Also, the scale could be factored (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin=0,810). Three dimensions were obtained: team work, interpersonal skills and competencies of the work). Research limitations/implications: An appreciation of the lack of covariation between external criteria used as identifiers of good performance (age and number of sick leave) and the employee's competence. This confirms the inadequacy of these criteria to predict performance. Necessitating the development of performance evaluation tools that include absenteeism and experience as predictors of performance measures. Practical implications: The inadequacy may be due to the usually confusion between work experience - seniority and sick leave - absenteeism. Originality/value: The study helps define the figure and the competences of social educators, academic figure emerging in our society and that is vaguely defined.Peer Reviewe

Conocimiento de los comportamientos y las consecuencias de las catástrofes entre los estudiantes de psicología

It does not exist many studies on the perception that people have about behavioral consequences and psychological health of having experienced a catastrophe. However, those who have focused on it, along with this research, have found that the different groups studied present distortions about catastrophes, having topical beliefs about the occurrence of behaviors such as panic, looting, disorders, etc. Method: This study was performed with a sample of 544 psychology students and other disciplines. The design corresponds to a retrospective study or ex post facto where it has been used a scale of collective behavior in disasters and risk situations. Results: It has appeared significant differences in the mean scores between the group of psychology students regarding the correction key and in comparison with non-psychologists. Conclusions: These results could indicate that the training given to students of psychology distorts their perceptions about the occurrence of behavioral myths in catastrophes.No existen muchos estudios sobre la percepción que se tiene sobre las consecuencias comportamentales y para la salud psicológica por haber experimentado una catástrofe. Sin embargo, los que se han centrado anteriormente y esta misma investigación han encontrado que los distintos grupos estudiados presentan distorsiones sobre la misma teniendo creencias tópicas sobre la aparición de conductas como el pánico, saqueo, trastornos, etc. Método: El presente trabajo se ha realizado con 544 participantes estudiantes de psicología y de otras carreras. El diseño corresponde a un estudio retrospectivo o ex post facto en el que se ha utilizado una escala sobre comportamiento colectivo ante catástrofes y situaciones de riesgo Resultados: Han aparecido diferencias significativas de las puntuaciones medias del grupo de psicólogos respecto a las claves de corrección y el grupo de no-psicólogos. Conclusiones: Estos resultados podrían indicar que la formación que se les da a los alumnos de psicología distorsiona la percepción que tienen sobre la ocurrencia de conductas-mito en las catástrofes

Knowledge of the behaviors and consequences of catastrophes among psychology students

Background: It does not exist many studies on the perception that people have about behavioral consequences and psychological health of having experienced a catastrophe. However, those who have focused on it, along with this research, have found that the different groups studied present distortions about catastrophes, having topical beliefs about the occurrence of behaviors such as panic, looting, disorders, etc. Method: This study was performed with a sample of 544 psychology students and other disciplines. The design corresponds to a retrospective study or ex post facto where it has been used a scale of collective behavior in disasters and risk situations. Results: It has appeared significant differences in the mean scores between the group of psychology students regarding the correction key and in comparison with non-psychologists. Conclusions: These results could indicate that the training given to students of psychology distorts their perceptions about the occurrence of behavioral myths in catastrophes.La Revista Publicaciones se edita en la Facultad y cuenta con los siguientes patrocinadores: Consejería de Educación, Juventud y Deportes (Ciudad Autónoma de Melilla) Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia de la Universidad de Granada Facultad de Educación y Humanidades de Melill

Guía práctica para la elaboración del perfil profesional y la evaluación de competencias. Versión 4. La base de la gestión de competencias en la empresa eficiente

Se trata de una guía para elaborar perfiles profesionales y evaluaciones de desempeño basados en las competencias

Development of a Competence Profile and Performance Assessment for Care Assistants from a Labor Pool at a Nursing Home

This article presents the development of a competence-based professional profile and thesubsequent performance assessment, which were built on behaviors that represent thecompetences in a sample of care assistants working in a nursing home. Nine employeeswho knew the tasks performed by care assistants were asked to select and rank thecompetences in order of significance, considering their importance for performing the jobefficiently. Based on the weights obtained, the selected competences are transformed intobehaviors and, finally, into a five-point Likert scale used to assess the sample of careassistants (a total de 16 employees) and classify them using overall and specific scores oneach of the competences

EEG abnormalities and clinical phenotypes in pre-school children with autism spectrum disorder

Abnormalities on electroencephalography (EEG) results have been reported in a high percentage of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of EEG abnormalities in a clinical population of pre-school children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and the differences in terms of the following phenotypic characteristics: adaptive behavior, executive functioning, severity of Autism Spectrum Disorder core symptoms, and comorbidity symptoms.The first author have been supported by Alicia Koplowitz Foundation and University of Málaga to carry on the present study. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

Responding to the need of postgraduate education for Planetary Health : Development of an online Master's Degree

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MAltres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de CatalunyaPlanetary Health has emerged as a new approach to respond to the existential risks that the clime and global environmental crises pose to human societies. As stated by various stakeholders, the challenges involved in Planetary Health are of such magnitude that education must be at the forefront to obtain a meaningful response. Universities and higher education institutions have been specifically called to embed the concept of planetary stewardship in all curricula and train the next generation of researchers and change makers as a matter of urgency. As a response to this call, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) developed the first online and asynchronous Master in Science (MSc) in Planetary Health. The aim of the programme is to train a new generation of academics and professionals who understand the challenges of Planetary Health and have tools to tackle them. This article describes the development of the curriculum of this MSc, presents the main characteristics of the programme and discusses some of the challenges encountered in the development of the programme and its implementation. The design of this MSc was based on: the alignment of the programme with the principles for Planetary Health education with a focus on human health; a multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary approach; the urgency to respond to the Anthropocene challenges; and the commitment to the 2030 Agenda. The MSc was recognized as an official degree by the Agency for Quality of the Catalan University System, included in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education, and the Spanish National Academic Coordination body in April 2021 and launched in October 2021. There are currently more than 50 students enrolled in the program coming from a broad range of disciplines and geographic locations. The information presented in this article and the discussion on challenges encountered in developing and implementing the programme can be useful for those working in the development of similar programs

Toenails as biomarker of exposure to essential trace metals: A review

Health problems associated with essential trace metals can result from both inadequate (i.e., low intake) and excessive exposures (i.e., from environmental and/or occupational source). Thus, measuring the exposure level is a real challenge for epidemiologists. Among non-invasive biomarkers that intend to measure long-term exposure to essential trace metals, the toenail is probably the biological matrix with the greatest potential. This systematic review collects the current evidence regarding the validity of toenail clippings as exposure biomarker for trace metals such as boron, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, silicon, vanadium and zinc. Special attention was paid to the time-window of exposure reflected by the toenail, the intraindividual variability in exposure levels over time in this matrix, and the relationship of toenail with other biomarkers, personal characteristics and environmental sources. Our search identified 139 papers, with selenium and zinc being the most studied elements. The variability among studies suggests that toenail levels may reflect different degrees of exposure and probably correspond to exposures occurred 3–12 months before sampling (i.e., for manganese/selenium). Few studies assessed the reproducibility of results over time and, for samples obtained 1–6 years apart, the correlation coefficient were between 0.26 and 0.66. Trace metal levels in toenails did not correlate well with those in the blood and urine and showed low-moderate correlation with those in the hair and fingernails.This work was supported by FIS grants PI12/00150, PI17CIII/00034 & PI18/00287 (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, State Secretary of R + D + I and European Union (ERDF/ESF, "Investing in your future"))