Deberes escolares, aprendizaje y rendimiento académico en estudiantes de educación primaria

[Resumen] Los deberes escolares son una de las actividades educativas que mayores controversias ha generado en los últimos tiempos y aún hoy no tenemos muy claro cómo, cuándo y cuántos deben ser prescritos. Es un tema de constante actualidad y de continuos debates en el ámbito educativo. La presente investigación se ha realizado como un compendio de tres publicaciones en revistas de reconocido prestigio donde se tienen en cuenta una serie de variables relacionadas con el alumno (rendimiento académico, implicación en los deberes escolares, enfoque de trabajo utilizado al hacer los deberes, motivación) y otras variables más relacionadas con el propio contexto (implicación de los padres en los deberes escolares y feedback del profesor). Se incluye un primer estudio con 326 estudiantes de los últimos tres cursos de Educación Primaria y en el segundo y tercer estudio, la muestra asciende a 535 estudiantes pertenecientes también a 4º, 5º y 6º de Educación Primaria. Con esta investigación se pretendió conocer en primer lugar la relación existente entre deberes escolares y rendimiento académico, en segundo lugar, la relación entre perfil motivacional del estudiante y la implicación en los deberes escolares y rendimiento académico y, en tercer lugar, qué variables personales y contextuales vinculadas con los deberes escolares determinan el tipo de enfoque de trabajo que utilizan los estudiantes al hacer los deberes. Con esta Tesis Doctoral se pretende contribuir a un mayor conocimiento sobre los deberes escolares y aportar un poco más de luz a los debates y polémicas en torno a la mayor o menor utilidad de los deberes escolares para el progreso académico de los estudiantes. Se analizó la influencia que tienen distintas variables relacionadas con los deberes (cantidad de deberes realizados, tiempo dedicado, tiempo aprovechado de los deberes, motivación hacia los deberes, enfoques de trabajo en los deberes escolares, curso y género) en el rendimiento académico de los alumnos y del análisis de los resultados de los trabajos que componen esta Tesis Doctoral se extraen una serie de conclusiones: la cantidad de deberes realizados de los prescritos y el aprovechamiento del tiempo predicen positiva y significativamente el rendimiento académico porque son beneficiosos pero la clave no es la cantidad porque la clave está en la calidad de los deberes y en cómo los estudiantes hacen sus deberes o cómo es la gestión del tiempo invertido. El feedback del profesorado es fundamental y el apoyo parental en los deberes es importante pero dependiendo de la calidad. Las conclusiones aquí obtenidas tendrán una serie de implicaciones relevantes en educación.[Resumo] Os deberes escolares son unha das actividades educativas que maiores controversias xerou nos derradeiros tempos e aínda hoxe non temos moi claro cómo, cando e cantos deben prescribirse. É un tema de constante actualidade e de continuos debates no ámbito educativo. A presente investigación realizouse como un compendio de tres publicacións en revistas de recoñecido prestixio onde teñen en conta unha serie de variables relacionadas co alumno (rendemento académico, implicación nos deberes escolares, enfoque de traballo empregado ao facer os deberes, motivación) e outras variables máis relacionadas co propio contexto (implicación dos pais nos deberes escolares e feedback do profesor). Inclúese un primeiro estudo con 326 estudantes dos últimos tres cursos de Educación Primaria e no segundo e terceiro estudo, a mostra ascende a 535 estudantes pertencentes tamén a 4º, 5º e 6º de Educación Primaria. Con esta investigación pretendeuse coñecer en primeiro lugar a relación existente entre deberes escolares e rendemento académico, en segundo lugar, a relación entre perfil motivacional do estudante e a implicación nos deberes escolares e rendemento académico e, en terceiro lugar, qué variables persoais e contextuais vinculadas cos deberes escolares determinan o tipo de enfoque de traballo que empregan os estudantes ao facer os deberes. Con esta Tese Doctoral preténdese contribuir a un maior coñecemento sobre os deberes escolares e aportar un pouco máis de luz aos debates e polémicas sobre a maior ou menor utilidade dos deberes escolares para o progreso académico dos estudantes. Analizouse a influencia que teñen distintas variables relacionadas cos deberes (cantidade de deberes feitos, tempo dedicado, tempo aproveitado dos deberes, motivación cara os deberes, enfoques de traballo nos deberes escolares, curso e xénero) no rendemento académico dos alumnos e da análise dos resultados dos traballos que compoñen esta Tese Doctoral, extráense unha serie de conclusións: a cantidade de deberes realizados dos prescritos e o aproveitamento do tempo predicen positiva e significativamente o rendemento académico porque son beneficiosos pero a clave non é a cantidade porque a clave está na calidade dos deberes e en cómo os estudantes fan os seus deberes ou cómo é a xestión do tempo invertido. O feedback do profesorado é fundamental e o apoio parental nos deberes é importante pero dependendo da calidade. As conclusións aquí obtidas terán unha serie de implicacións relevantes en educación.[Abstract] Homework is one of the educational activities that has generated major controversies in recent times and there is still no way of knowing about how, when and how many should be prescribed. This is a topic of constant present and continuous debates in education. This research was performed as a compendium of three publications in prestigious journals where there are an important number of variables related to the student (academic achievement, involvement in homework, work approach used to do homework, motivation) and other variables more related context itself (parental homework support and teacher feedback). A first study included 326 students of the last three courses of primary education and in the second and third study, the sample totaled 535 students also belonging to fourth, fifth and sixth of Primary Education. With this research, it was intended to meet first the relationship between homework and academic achievement, second, the relationship between motivational student profile and involvement in homework and academic achievement and, thirdly, what personal variables and contextual linked with homework determine the type of work approach used by students to do homework.With this thesis, we will contribute to a better understanding of homework and bring a little more light to the debates and controversies surrounding the degree of usefulness of homework for academic progress of students. The influence of different variables related with homework (amount of homework completed, amount of time spent on homework, homework time management, homework motivation, approaches to homework, course and gender) in the academic achievement of students was analyzed and there are a number of conclusions with the analysis of the results of the works that make up this thesis: the amount of homework done and the optimization of the time dedicated at homework significantly and positively predicted academic performance because they are beneficial but the key is not the quantity because the key is in the quality of homework and how the students do their homework or how is the homework time management. Teacher feddback on homework is fundamental and parental homework support is important but depending on the quality. The findings obtained here will have a number of important implications in education

Light scattering observations of spin reversal excitations in the fractional quantum Hall regime

Resonant inelastic light scattering experiments access the low lying excitations of electron liquids in the fractional quantum Hall regime in the range $2/5 \geq \nu \geq 1/3$. Modes associated with changes in the charge and spin degrees of freedom are measured. Spectra of spin reversed excitations at filling factor $\nu \gtrsim 1/3$ and at $\nu \lesssim 2/5$ identify a structure of lowest spin-split Landau levels of composite fermions that is similar to that of electrons. Observations of spin wave excitations enable determinations of energies required to reverse spin. The spin reversal energies obtained from the spectra illustrate the significant residual interactions of composite fermions. At $\nu = 1/3$ energies of spin reversal modes are larger but relatively close to spin conserving excitations that are linked to activated transport. Predictions of composite fermion theory are in good quantitative agreement with experimental results.Comment: Submitted to special issue of Solid State Com

Partially spin polarized quantum Hall effect in the filling factor range 1/3 < nu < 2/5

The residual interaction between composite fermions (CFs) can express itself through higher order fractional Hall effect. With the help of diagonalization in a truncated composite fermion basis of low-energy many-body states, we predict that quantum Hall effect with partial spin polarization is possible at several fractions between $\nu=1/3$ and $\nu=2/5$. The estimated excitation gaps are approximately two orders of magnitude smaller than the gap at $\nu=1/3$, confirming that the inter-CF interaction is extremely weak in higher CF levels.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Privacy markets in the Apps and IoT age

@TechReport{UCAM-CL-TR-925, author = {Pal, Ranjan and Crowcroft, Jon and Kumar, Abhishek and Hui, Pan and Haddadi, Hamed and De, Swades and Ng, Irene and Tarkoma, Sasu and Mortier, Richard}, title = {{Privacy markets in the Apps and IoT age}}, year = 2018, month = sep, url = {https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-925.pdf}, institution = {University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory}, number = {UCAM-CL-TR-925} }In the era of the mobile apps and IoT, huge quantities of data about individuals and their activities offer a wave of opportunities for economic and societal value creation. However, the current personal data ecosystem is fragmented and inefficient. On one hand, end-users are not able to control access (either technologically, by policy, or psychologically) to their personal data which results in issues related to privacy, personal data ownership, transparency, and value distribution. On the other hand, this puts the burden of managing and protecting user data on apps and ad-driven entities (e.g., an ad-network) at a cost of trust and regulatory accountability. In such a context, data holders (e.g., apps) may take advantage of the individuals’ inability to fully comprehend and anticipate the potential uses of their private information with detrimental effects for aggregate social welfare. In this paper, we investigate the problem of the existence and design of efficient ecosystems (modeled as markets in this paper) that aim to achieve a maximum social welfare state among competing data holders by preserving the heterogeneous privacy preservation constraints up to certain compromise levels, induced by their clients, and at the same time satisfying requirements of agencies (e.g., advertisers) that collect and trade client data for the purpose of targeted advertising, assuming the potential practical inevitability of some amount inappropriate data leakage on behalf of the data holders. Using concepts from supply-function economics, we propose the first mathematically rigorous and provably optimal privacy market design paradigm that always results in unique equilibrium (i.e, stable) market states that can be either economically efficient or inefficient, depending on whether privacy trading markets are monopolistic or oligopolistic in nature. Subsequently, we characterize in closed form, the efficiency gap (if any) at market equilibrium

A new applicator design for endocavitary brachytherapy of cancer in the nasopharynx

Introduction: In attempting to improve local tumor control by higher doses of radiation, there has been a resurgence of interest in the implementation of brachytherapy in the management of primary and recurrent cancers of the nasopharynx. Brachytherapy with its steep dose fall-off is of particular interest because of the proximity of critical dose limiting structures. Recent developments in brachytherapy, such as the introduction of pulsed-dose-rate and high-dose-rate computerized afterloaders, have encouraged further evolution of brachytherapy techniques. Materials and methods: We have designed an inexpensive, re-usable and flexible silicone applicator, tailored to the shape of the soft tissues of the nasopharynx, which can be used with either low-dose-rate brachytherapy or high (pulsed)- dose-rate remote controlled afterloaders. Results and conclusions: This Rotterdam nasopharynx applicator proved to be easy to introduce, patient friendly and can remain in situ for the duration of the treatment (2-6 days). The design, technique of application and the first consecutive 5 years of clinical experience in using this applicator are presented

Visualization and validation of twin nucleation and early-stage growth in magnesium

The abrupt occurrence of twinning when Mg is deformed leads to a highly anisotropic response, making it too unreliable for structural use and too unpredictable for observation. Here, we describe an in-situ transmission electron microscopy experiment on Mg crystals with strategically designed geometries for visualization of a long-proposed but unverified twinning mechanism. Combining with atomistic simulations and topological analysis, we conclude that twin nucleation occurs through a pure-shuffle mechanism that requires prismatic-basal transformations. Also, we verified a crystal geometry dependent twin growth mechanism, that is the early-stage growth associated with instability of plasticity flow, which can be dominated either by slower movement of prismatic-basal boundary steps, or by faster glide-shuffle along the twinning plane. The fundamental understanding of twinning provides a pathway to understand deformation from a scientific standpoint and the microstructure design principles to engineer metals with enhanced behavior from a technological standpoint

Motivación e implicación en los deberes escolares: diferencias en función del rendimiento académico y del curso

The current work aims to study and find out any possible variations concerning homework motivation and involvement among students with different achievement levels. The sample consists of 535 students attending the three last year levels of Elementary School. Findings suggest that as achievement grows higher the better the intrinsic homework motivation, the more the perceived homework instrumentality, the bigger the amount of homework completed and the better the homework time management are. However, homework interest, attitude towards homework and time spent on homework show no significant statistic variation relating to the different levels of achievement. On the other hand, as students progress along the elementary school year levels their intrinsic homework motivation, their homework interest and their attitude towards homework deteriorate. Although students spend longer time completing homework, their homework time management becomes worse. No statistic differences have been found among the several school year levels studied relating to the amount of homework completed.El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo comprobar si hay diferencias en la motivación e implicación en los deberes escolares en función del curso y del nivel de rendimiento académico de los estudiantes. La muestra está integrada por 535 estudiantes de los tres últimos cursos de Educación Primaria. Los resultados indican que a medida que el rendimiento académico es más alto, también aumenta progresivamente la motivación intrínseca hacia los deberes, la percepción de utilidad de esos deberes, la cantidad de deberes realizados y el aprovechamiento del tiempo dedicado a los deberes. Sin embargo, tanto el interés, como la actitud y el tiempo dedicado a los deberes no varían significativamente en función de los distintos niveles de rendimiento académico. Por otro lado, según van avanzando los estudiantes de curso, disminuye progresivamente su motivación intrínseca, su interés y su actitud hacia los deberes, así como la percepción de utilidad de estos deberes. Aunque se incrementa el tiempo que dedican a los deberes, el aprovechamiento de ese tiempo disminuye. En cambio, no hay diferencias significativas en función del curso en la cantidad de deberes realizados

Diferencias en la implicación en los deberes escolares en función del rendimiento académico en estudiantes de primaria

The present study aims to find out whether there are differences in homework involvement (in terms of amount of homework completed, time spent on doing homework and homework time management) among students with various levels of achievement. Gender and school level have been controlled as they may impact on the relation intended to be studied and this way they have been included in the covariate performed in the design. The sample consisted of 535 students from the three last years of Elementary School. Findings suggest that the more students achieve higher the more they improve their level of involvement relating to the amount of homework completed and the quality of homework time management. On the other hand, although no statistic significant differences have been found concerning the relation between achievement and time spent on homework, students who achieve lower tend to spend more time completing homework compared to those achieving higher who prove to spend less time completing the assignments. Furthermore, as students go from fourth to sixth forms their time spent on homework increases however, the quality of their homework time management deteriorates.El objetivo de este trabajo fue comprobar si hay diferencias en la implicación en los deberes escolares (en términos de cantidad de deberes escolares realizados, tiempo dedicado a los deberes y aprovechamiento del tiempo) en función de los distintos niveles de rendimiento académico de los estudiantes. Debido al posible efecto que pueden tener en esta asociación el género y curso, se controló sus efectos incorporándolas como covariables en el diseño. La muestra está integrada por 535 estudiantes de los tres últimos cursos de Educación Primaria. Los resultados indican que a medida que los niveles de rendimiento académico de los estudiantes son más altos, hay un aumento progresivo en la cantidad de deberes realizados y en el aprovechamiento del tiempo dedicado a los deberes. Por otra parte, aunque no parece haber diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el tiempo dedicado a los deberes en función de los distintos niveles de rendimiento, la tendencia que se observa es que cuando el rendimiento es bajo, el tiempo dedicado a los deberes es mayor, mientras que cuando el rendimiento es alto, el tiempo que dedican los estudiantes a los deberes es menor. Además, otro resultado destacado es que según van avanzando los estudiantes de 4º a 6º curso de Primaria se produce un aumento progresivo del tiempo que dedican a hacer los deberes escolares y, sin embargo, el aprovechamiento que hacen de ese tiempo va siendo cada vez menor.