Paving the road for flipped teaching in Spanish universities

Spanish university lecturers have traditionally spent most of their contact time with students explaining theory in the classroom. Once the theoretical contents have been presented, lecturers demonstrate (with little or no student participation) several reinforcing examples and practical exercises. Student involvement only occurs when they are asked to perform a series of tasks and exercises after the lesson and generally outside the classroom. Active learning methodologies have been proven to significantly enhance the teaching-learning process, and fortunately, Spanish universities are increasingly promoting these approaches. Among these active learning methodologies, flip teaching is one of the most frequently adopted teaching strategies. However, the introduction of flip teaching poses challenges and requires a radical change of mentality from lecturers and students. To succeed, participants must abandon former work habits and work on the theoretical concepts outside the classroom, while significantly increasing the degree of interaction inside and outside the classroom. Lecturers must spearhead this process of change, but success can only be achieved with student involvement. This paper shows how flip teaching was implemented in a subject within the MSc in Project Management course at the Universitat Politècnica de València. Emphasis is given to active teaching strategy and the three basic components on which it relies: students, faculty, and the teaching learning methodology. Results and conclusions extend the discussion and provides some guidelines on facilitating the (necessary) adoption of this and other active learning methodologies in Spanish universities

Analysis of the distribution of the number of bidders in construction contract auctions

The number of bidders, N, involved in a construction procurement auction is known to have an important effect on the value of the lowest bid and the mark-up applied by bidders. In practice, for example, it is important for a bidder to have a good estimate of N when bidding for a current contract. One approach, instigated by Friedman in 1956, is to make such an estimate by statistical analysis and modelling. Since then, however, finding a suitable model for N has been an enduring problem for researchers and, despite intensive research activity in the subsequent 30 years, little progress has been made, due principally to the absence of new ideas and perspectives. The debate is resumed by checking old assumptions, providing new evidence relating to concomitant variables and proposing a new model. In doing this and in order to ensure universality, a novel approach is developed and tested by using a unique set of 12 construction tender databases from four continents. This shows the new model provides a significant advancement on previous versions. Several new research questions are also posed and other approaches identified for future study

The architecture of the first garages of Valencia

El desarrollo y la expansión del automóvil a principios de siglo XX originó la necesidad de lugares de guarda y custodia: los garajes, que, además, servían como talleres, lavaderos, venta de accesorios y gasolina, y, en ocasiones, funcionaron también como agencias de exposición y venta de vehículos.Las construcciones destinadas a garaje se diseñaban con un programa de necesidades bien definido y con una estética acorde a los edificios de tendencias eclécticas, modernistas y post-modernistas de la época. En este trabajo se aborda el nacimiento de estas instalaciones en la ciudad de Valencia, hasta finales de los años veinte, y se muestra la evolución en el emplazamiento, la distribución y la arquitectura.The development and expansion of the automobile in the early 20th century resulted in the need for the places of custody: garages, which also served as workshops, laundry, accessory and gasoline sales, and sometimes as agencies of exhibition and sale of vehicles.The buildings were designed garage aimed at a well-defined program needs and aesthetic buildings according to the eclectic tendencies, modernist and post-modernist era. This paper deals with the birth of these facilities in the city of Valencia, to the late twenties, and shows the evolution in the location, distribution and architecture