Towards a more sustainable viticulture: Foliar application of N-doped calcium phosphate nanoparticles on Tempranillo grapes

The use of nanomaterials for the efficient delivery of active species in viticulture is still an unexplored opportunity. Nitrogen, an essential nutrient for grapevine development and wine quality, is commonly provided in the form of urea. However, the application of conventional fertilisers contributes to nitrate leaching and denitrification, thus polluting groundwater and causing a serious environmental impact. Nanotechnology is offering smart solutions towards more sustainable and efficient agriculture. In the present work, we assessed the efficiency of nontoxic amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) nanoparticles as nanocarriers of urea (U-ACP) through field experiments on Tempranillo grapevines. Four treatments were foliarly applied: U-ACP nanofertiliser (0.4 kg N/ha), commercial urea solutions at 3 and 6 kg N/ha and a control treatment (water)

Effectiveness of flip teaching on engineering students' performance in the physics lab

[EN] The progressive introduction of the flip teaching (FT) instructional model into higher education has accelerated in recent years. The FT methodology seems to be especially suitable for laboratory practice sessions: before the lab session the students are given documents and videos that explain the theoretical contents and the experimental procedure. When this material is studied in advance, the practice session can be devoted to the discussion, clarification and practical application of the acquired knowledge. This paper describes the effect of the FT methodology on the students¿ academic performance when it was applied to the laboratory practice in two subjects, Physics and Electricity, of a technical degree. The laboratory and final grades of these subjects were compared in four consecutive years. The characteristics of all four years were quite similar, except that the traditional teaching method (TM) was used in two, while FT was applied in the other two. The statistical analysis shows that the academic results of the students were better in both subjects under FT than those obtained using TM, and that the difference was statistically significant.This work was supported by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia [Project PIME/2018/B25 Convocatoria de Proyectos de Innovacion y Convergencia de la UPV].Gómez-Tejedor, J.; Vidaurre, A.; Tort-Ausina, I.; Molina Mateo, J.; Serrano, M.; Meseguer Dueñas, JM.; Martínez Sala, RM.... (2020). Effectiveness of flip teaching on engineering students' performance in the physics lab. Computers & Education. 144:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103708S111144Akçayır, G., & Akçayır, M. (2018). The flipped classroom: A review of its advantages and challenges. Computers & Education, 126, 334-345. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2018.07.021Ardid, M., Gómez-Tejedor, J. A., Meseguer-Dueñas, J. M., Riera, J., & Vidaurre, A. (2015). Online exams for blended assessment. 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