A new way of teaching different subjects in a foreign language in the Building Engineering Degree at the Universidad Politécnica.

The European Union has been promoting linguistic diversity for many years as one of its main educational goals. This is an element that facilitates student mobility and student exchanges between different universities and countries and enriches the education of young undergraduates. In particular, a higher degree of competence in the English language is becoming essential for engineers, architects and researchers in general, as English has become the lingua franca that opens up horizons to internationalisation and the transfer of knowledge in today’s world. Many experts point to the Integrated Approach to Contents and Foreign Languages System as being an option that has certain benefits over the traditional method of teaching a second language that is exclusively based on specific subjects. This system advocates teaching the different subjects in the syllabus in a language other than one’s mother tongue, without prioritising knowledge of the language over the subject. This was the idea that in the 2009/10 academic year gave rise to the Second Language Integration Programme (SLI Programme) at the Escuela Arquitectura Técnica in the Universidad Politécnica Madrid (EUATM-UPM), just at the beginning of the tuition of the new Building Engineering Degree, which had been adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) model. This programme is an interdisciplinary initiative for the set of subjects taught during the semester and is coordinated through the Assistant Director Office for Educational Innovation. The SLI Programme has a dual goal; to familiarise students with the specific English terminology of the subject being taught, and at the same time improve their communication skills in English. A total of thirty lecturers are taking part in the teaching of eleven first year subjects and twelve in the second year, with around 120 students who have voluntarily enrolled in a special group in each semester. During the 2010/2011 academic year the degree of acceptance and the results of the SLI Programme have been monitored. Tools have been designed to aid interdisciplinary coordination and to analyse satisfaction, such as coordination records and surveys. The results currently available refer to the first and second year and are divided into specific aspects of the different subjects involved and into general aspects of the ongoing experience

Life-time redistribution effects of the Spanish public pension system

The paper analyses the inter and intragenerational redistribution effects of the public pensions system in Spain. This is achieved by first comparing the expected present value of life-time income transfers (PVT) and internal rates of return (IRR) of different population cohorts. Secondly, we study the intragenerational aspects of the Spanish public pensions by calculating PVTs the IRRs for workers of different categories, grouped by earnings, gender and marital status. The results obtained show the nature of the important intergenerational effects of the Social Security System in Spain. The oldest 1935 cohort clearly benefits in relation to the youngest 1965 cohort. This is basically due to the gap between current wages and the contribution bases established in the 60s and 70s in Spain during the early stages of the Social Security System, and to the worsening shortfall in Social Security funding, combined with the longer of life expectancy. In addition, intragenerational effects exist by income levels. For contributors who pay between the minimum and the maximum allowable contribution bases, net transfers and rates of return are higher in actuarial terms for high income contributors. The social security `dealï is again more profitable for high income individuals since they contribute at the maximum basis, with respect to low income contributors at the minimum basis. This is due to the late entry and a higher survival rate for high income contributors. The system tends to favour women, given that they generally live longer than men and this factor is only partially offset by their lower wages. Married males, given the fact that they have longer life expectancy and leave a pension to their spouse, obtain higher present net transfers too than do single contributors. We close the paper with some comments on the slight impact and moderate effects of proposals for Social Security reform and on how these may change the previously observed redistribution effects.Social Security in Spain, Life-time contributions and retirement

Bullying in students belonging to immigrant families in Primary Schools

Ponencia de 6th International Conference on Intercultural Education “Education and Health: From a transcultural perspective”The bullying has affected many educational systems. The scientific community has studied the phenomenon and has developed many studies attempting to explain their etiology and operation. Administrations have developed policy and legislative initiatives, to sort out this need and social problems. This paper tries to investigate the bullying phenomenon in Andalusia. Students who are immigrants and who are in the 4th level of Elementary Education, do not know the Spanish language The study took data from Andalusian students who participated in the 2011 edition of the PIRLS assessment (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study). This evaluation has involved more than 4300 students in 150 selected schools. The data are about the level of reading comprehension. Previously, their mother tongues have been identified. The results show a higher rate of bullying in immigrant students than in the rest of the population, a lower yield. However the results don’t imply that the student had been victims of bullying. There is a need to sort out these problems and we must continue investigating them in order to understand and provide solution

Modelling tax decentralisation and regional growth

The aim of this paper is to determine a theoretical linkage between tax decentralisation and regional growth. For this purpose a two fiscal tiers growth model is specified. First, working on Zou (1996) analytical framework, which account for the potential effects of intergovernmental policies on regional growth, a tax decentralisation process is brought in. Next its original model is expanded taking into account such process. It is shown that the effect of tax decentralisation on regional growth depends on the existing relationship between private and regional public capital productivities ratio and their stocks ratio square root. Finally a hypothesis for the Spanish economy is obtained. It will be checked empirically in subsequent work. Keywords: tax decentralisation; general equilibrium analysis; regional growth JEL classification: H70; O40; R13

Evolutionary Algorithms for Community Detection in Continental-Scale High-Voltage Transmission Grids

Symmetry is a key concept in the study of power systems, not only because the admittance and Jacobian matrices used in power flow analysis are symmetrical, but because some previous studies have shown that in some real-world power grids there are complex symmetries. In order to investigate the topological characteristics of power grids, this paper proposes the use of evolutionary algorithms for community detection using modularity density measures on networks representing supergrids in order to discover densely connected structures. Two evolutionary approaches (generational genetic algorithm, GGA+, and modularity and improved genetic algorithm, MIGA) were applied. The results obtained in two large networks representing supergrids (European grid and North American grid) provide insights on both the structure of the supergrid and the topological differences between different regions. Numerical and graphical results show how these evolutionary approaches clearly outperform to the well-known Louvain modularity method. In particular, the average value of modularity obtained by GGA+ in the European grid was 0.815, while an average of 0.827 was reached in the North American grid. These results outperform those obtained by MIGA and Louvain methods (0.801 and 0.766 in the European grid and 0.813 and 0.798 in the North American grid, respectively)

La realización de formación continua desde la perspectiva de la organización de aprendizaje

Les organitzacions d’aprenentatge desenvolupen una cultura que facilita l’adquisició de coneixements a tots els seus membres. Un mitjà significatiu d’aprenentatge en aquestes organitzacions és el desenvolupament de formació contínua. A més, la realització de formació contribueix a garantir l’assimilació de conceptes nous al llarg de tota la vida. En el present treball, estudiem les hores d’instrucció anuals que duen a terme els empleats del sector vinícola del Rioja. Ho fem basant-nos en la informació que faciliten les empreses del sector i la que assenyalen els seus treballadors. La tècnica de recollida de dades ha estat l’enquesta. Es realitzen dos tipus de qüestionaris, l’un va destinat als directius i l’altre, als treballadors. A més, es duen a terme dos tipus d’estudis, una anàlisi descriptiva i un contrast d’hipòtesis. L’anàlisi descriptiva assenyala que els empleats del sector realitzen un elevat nombre d’hores de formació, superior a la mitjana nacional. El contrast d’hipòtesis mostra que les funcions que realitzen els empleats al celler i el seu nivell d’educació són les variables que mostren unes diferències més significatives.From the learning organization perspective, organizations are learning contexts as they develop a culture that facilitates learning for all members of the organization. A learning tool in organizations is training, which in turn promotes lifelong learning. This work aims to analyze the continuous training of workers in the Rioja wine sector. Using information provided by the wineries and the workers themselves, we determine the hours these employees dedicate to training. Data was collected by means of a survey comprising two types of questionnaires: a first questionnaire for Rioja winery managers and a second questionnaire for workers. Descriptive analysis and hypothesis testing were conducted. The descriptive analysis reveals that wine industry employees dedicate a large number of hours to training, higher than the national average. Hypothesis testing shows that the tasks performed by the winery employees and level education are the variables that show most significant differences.Las organizaciones de aprendizaje desarrollan una cultura que facilita la adquisición de conocimientos a todos sus miembros. Un medio significativo de aprendizaje en dichas organizaciones es el desarrollo de formación continua. Además, la realización de formación contribuye a garantizar la asimilación de conceptos nuevos a lo largo de toda la vida. En este trabajo, estudiamos las horas de instrucción anuales que llevan a cabo los empleados del sector vinícola del Rioja. Nos basamos en la información que facilitan las empresas del sector y la que señalan sus trabajadores. La técnica de recogida de datos ha sido la encuesta. Se realizan dos tipos de cuestionarios, uno de los cuales va destinado a los directivos y otro, a los trabajadores. Además, se llevan a cabo dos tipos de estudios, un análisis descriptivo y un contraste de hipótesis. El análisis descriptivo señala que los empleados del sector realizan un elevado número de horas de formación, superior a la media nacional. El contraste de hipótesis muestra que las funciones que realizan los empleados en la bodega y su nivel de educación son las variables que muestran unas diferencias más significativas

Intervenció psicopedagògica per a la millora d’aspectes socioafectius i conductuals a l’aula

Treball Final de Màster Universitari en Psicopedagogia. Codi: SAW020. Curs: 2013/2014Actualment, cada vegada són més les persones amb diversitat funcional escolaritzades en centres educatius ordinaris. Donar una resposta educativa adequada a les característiques de cada alumne, és una tasca que correspon als agents educatius del centre. Aquesta, lluny de pretendre emmascarar la situació de l’alumne, ha de fer front a la realitat i s’ha de vertebrar sobre mesures que milloren la seua presència, participació i aprenentatge. A banda de les adaptacions d’accés o curriculars que pugue requerir qualsevol alumne, també cal tindre presents altres mesures per tal que l’alumnat es trobe inclòs dintre del sistema educatiu. Un dels aspectes que cal cuidar són les actituds dels iguals i del propi professorat cap a la diversitat. En el següent treball es recull un procés d’investigació-acció realitzat en una aula de 2n d’educació primària on es troba escolaritzat un alumne amb diversitat funcional. El treball es fonamentat en dos àmbits. Per una banda, s’ha indagat sobre l’àmbit socioafectiu, la qual cosa ha requerit reflexionar envers les actituds submergides en les pràctiques docents utilitzades pel tutor de l’aula, així com les actituds dels iguals. El segon aspecte que s’aborda en el treball, està vinculat als problemes de regulació del comportament que presenta l’alumne sobre el qual s’ha originat la intervenció

Tunable ring resonator filter for OFDM Transmission systems

A novel tunable filter is theoretically demonstrated. It is based on a ring resonator with an amplifier and a noise filter in the loop. This optoelectronic device has potential as a high-sensitivity receiver and as a tunable demultiplexer in OFDM transmission systems.Publicad

The learning organization in secondary education context

La Organización de Aprendizaje (OA) se ha señalado como un modelo que se ajusta a las exigencias y características de las organizaciones escolares. La literatura ha indicado distintos modelos de OA, así como de características que las identifican. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar las dimensiones básicas de una OA (cultura de aprendizaje, liderazgo hacia el aprendizaje, estructura de aprendizaje y oportunidades de aprendizaje) en un contexto de educación secundaria. Los datos se recogen mediante cuestionario a una muestra de profesorado de educación secundaria. Los resultados comprueban la fiabilidad y validez del instrumento de medida. Se resalta la importancia de la creación y desarrollo de OA en el contexto escolarThe Learning Organization (LO) has been identified as a model that fits the demands and characteristics of school organizations. The literature has identified different models of LO, as well as characteristics that identify them. This work aims to analyze the basic dimensions of a LO (learning culture, leadership towards learning, learning structure and learning opportunities) in a context of secondary education. The data are collected through a questionnaire to a sample of secondary education teachers. The results make evident the reliability and validity of the measuring instrument. The importance of the creation and development of LO in the school context is highlighte