“Zombie attack” a new way to teach Chemistry

The Higher Education requires new models which allow training people able to adapt and survive in changing environments. It is based on the use of technologies and the adaptation of knowledge to people. It is about an education according to circumstances, which is adapted to context and virtual behaviour of people. One of the main difficulties that lecturers find in the classroom is how to maintain students' attention and interest in their subject, especially when students also think that the subject is not important for their training. In order to motivate these students, innovation in educational techniques and methodologies, such as experiential learning, are progressively being imposed to and/or coordinated with the traditional ones. Escape Room is a very modern concept in education, based on the development of mental skills for the solution of enigmas and problems. It is a tool to develop the cooperative, cognitive, deductive and logical reasoning skills of the students. In this work, an educational gamification experience based on the escape room concept is presented. The students have 1 hour and 30 minutes to carry out this activity. They will have to solve four puzzles and enigmas that will give them the key to open a treasure chest and finally let them escape from the classroom. Logic, ingenuity and teamwork will allow participants to develop not only chemical competence, but also other basic skills. The story that is told throughout the escape room is a zombie attack: the city has been infected (with a virus) and only the occupants of the room where the activity takes place have not been infected. In addition, they can all protect themselves if they are able to open the chest where the antidote is located. The aim of this activity is to enhance the knowledge acquired throughout the semester as well as the development of skills.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Dolor y Angustia: Creative Practice and Arts-Based Advocacy and Activism

This practice to press article discusses how arts-based advocacy and activism can be used to raise awareness about human rights violations. Inspired by the work of my mother, Dr. Morella Davilla, a physician of obstetrics and gynecology in Venezuela, and the arts-based activist work of London-based artist, Aida Silvestri, my arts-based advocacy and activism work, Dolor y Angustia [Pain and Anguish], illustrates the creative process of a visual representation of Female Genital Mutilation, one of the most oppressive and horrific acts enforced upon women and girls

The Integration of HBIM-SIG in the Development of a Virtual Itinerary in a Historical Centre

[EN] The continuous increase in cultural tourism, together with the deficient planning of public use, increases the risk of heritage resource degradation. Currently, there are collaborative methodologies enabling all the agents involved in the conservation of a heritage site to work in a coordinated way (HBIM), such as in the management of public use. However, in this study, through a review of the scientific literature, the lack of a method and tool that allows sustainable conservation management and the planning of cultural tourism of heritage assets in a specific geographical environment is demonstrated. The objective of this research is thus to explore and identify the possibilities of interoperability between HBIM and GIS for the development of a protocol aimed at synchronizing the information concerning heritage architecture across the management and cultural tourism planning and preventive conservation. This protocol was implemented for three monumental buildings in the historic centre of the city of Valencia (Spain). This novel protocol provides a new technological system that fosters the cultural development and preservation and conservation of heritage assets through a single tool integrating HBIM and GISWe thank the Cathedral Chapter and the Rectorate and managers of the Royal Seminary College of Corpus Christi and the rectory church of San Juan del Hospital for their availability so that this research could be carried out. We thank Junshan Liu and Danielle Wilkens for their collaboration in collecting data from the Real Colegio Seminario.López González, MC.; G-Valldecabres, J. (2023). The Integration of HBIM-SIG in the Development of a Virtual Itinerary in a Historical Centre. Sustainability. 15(18):1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813931119151

La evaluación del desempeño docente en la educación superior

The purpose of this article is to present a critical review of the ways in which the performance of university teachers are usually evaluated. Generally, the institutions state proposal of evaluation that usually coincide with what is evaluated and the use of the results. It includes the review of the different evaluation models to show the discrepancies between the objectives and the practices, that is, the poor relationship between the model used and what is done. Universities usually declare that the focus of the evaluation is improvement of practice. One of the most used instruments is the questionnaire, with which an accurate measurement can be made, but generally it does not evaluate the teaching performance, but, in the best-case scenario, the opinion of the students. If universities state that the evaluation should serve to improve the teaching practice, it would be advisable to favor the constructivist model that promotes changes required through the reflection that arises from the review of the self-evaluation, the hetero-evaluation and the co-evaluation.El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar una revisión crítica de las maneras en que se tiende a evaluar el desempeño de los docentes universitarios. Por lo general, las instituciones enuncian propósitos de la evaluación que suelen no coincidir con lo que se evalúa y con el uso que se hace de los resultados. Se incluye la revisión de distintos modelos de evaluación Para mostrar los desfases entre objetivos y prácticas, es decir, la pobre relación de lo que se hace, con el modelo del declarado. Se tiende a enunciar que el objetivo de la evaluación está centrado en la mejora continua. Uno de los instrumentos más utilizados es el cuestionario, con el que se pretende hacer una evaluación precisa, pero que, por lo general, no evalúa el desempeño docente, sino, en el mejor de los casos, la opinión de los estudiantes. Si se declara que la evaluación debe servir para mejorar la práctica docente, convendría privilegiar el modelo constructivista que permitiría favorecer los cambios que se requieren a través de la reflexión que surja de la revisión de la autoevaluación, la hetero-evaluación y la co-evaluación

La evaluación del desempeño docente en la educación superior

The purpose of this article is to present a critical review of the ways in which the performance of university teachers are usually evaluated. Generally, the institutions state proposal of evaluation that usually coincide with what is evaluated and the use of the results. It includes the review of the different evaluation models to show the discrepancies between the objectives and the practices, that is, the poor relationship between the model used and what is done. Universities usually declare that the focus of the evaluation is improvement of practice. One of the most used instruments is the questionnaire, with which an accurate measurement can be made, but generally it does not evaluate the teaching performance, but, in the best-case scenario, the opinion of the students. If universities state that the evaluation should serve to improve the teaching practice, it would be advisable to favor the constructivist model that promotes changes required through the reflection that arises from the review of the self-evaluation, the hetero-evaluation and the co-evaluation.El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar una revisión crítica de las maneras en que se tiende a evaluar el desempeño de los docentes universitarios. Por lo general, las instituciones enuncian propósitos de la evaluación que suelen no coincidir con lo que se evalúa y con el uso que se hace de los resultados. Se incluye la revisión de distintos modelos de evaluación Para mostrar los desfases entre objetivos y prácticas, es decir, la pobre relación de lo que se hace, con el modelo del declarado. Se tiende a enunciar que el objetivo de la evaluación está centrado en la mejora continua. Uno de los instrumentos más utilizados es el cuestionario, con el que se pretende hacer una evaluación precisa, pero que, por lo general, no evalúa el desempeño docente, sino, en el mejor de los casos, la opinión de los estudiantes. Si se declara que la evaluación debe servir para mejorar la práctica docente, convendría privilegiar el modelo constructivista que permitiría favorecer los cambios que se requieren a través de la reflexión que surja de la revisión de la autoevaluación, la hetero-evaluación y la co-evaluación

Introduction to the teaching of Spanish to immigrants: didactic and intercultural dimensions

Título, resumen y palabras clave también en inglésResumen basado en el de la publicaciónEl trabajo forma parte de un proyecto I+D del Plan Nacional, titulado La formación de los docentes de español para inmigrantes en diferentes contextos educativos (Referencia: EDU2013-43868-P) en el que se han planteado las necesidades de formación especializada de profesores de español como segunda lengua (EL2) a inmigrantes. El punto de partida ha sido la revisión de algunos conceptos básicos relacionados con la enseñanza del español al colectivo inmigrante desde el prisma de la diversidad. El objetivo principal es la orientación para futuros profesores de español; por lo que, se parte de unas nociones de base descriptiva en las que se cuestionan las dimensiones didácticas e interculturales del tipo de enseñanza. Para ello, se hace una reflexión sobre los conceptos básicos que atañen a la enseñanza del español a inmigrantes en contextos escolares y de adultos alfabetizados (tipos de enseñanza de español como segunda lengua, EL2) y se han apuntado algunas medidas de apoyo lingüístico. Finalmente, se hace una reflexión sobre la diversidad cultural y los factores interculturales que inciden sobre el colectivo educativo con objeto de profundizar en los elementos más notables para la iniciación de los futuros docentes en el campo profesional.ES

Effects of Selective Deafferentation on the Discharge Characteristics of Medial Rectus Motoneurons

Medial rectus motoneurons receive two main pontine inputs: abducens internuclear neurons, whose axons course through the medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF), and neurons in the lateral vestibular nucleus, whose axons project through the ascending tract of Deiters (ATD). Abducens internuclear neurons are responsible for conjugate gaze in the horizontal plane, whereas ATD neurons provide medial rectus motoneurons with a vestibular input comprising mainly head velocity. To reveal the relative contribution of each input to the oculomotor physiology, single-unit recordings from medial rectus motoneurons were obtained in the control situation and after selective deafferentation from cats with unilateral transection of either the MLF or the ATD. Both MLF and ATD transection produced similar short-term alterations in medial rectus motoneuron firing pattern, which were more drastic in MLF of animals. However, long-term recordings revealed important differences between the two types of lesion. Thus, while the effects of the MLF section were permanent, 2 months after ATD lesioning all motoneuronal firing parameters were similar to the control. These findings indicated a more relevant role of the MLF pathway in driving motoneuronal firing and evidenced compensatory mechanisms following the ATD lesion. Confocal immunocytochemistry revealed that MLF transection produced also a higher loss of synaptic boutons, mainly at the dendritic level. Moreover, 2 months after ATD transection, we observed an increase in synaptic coverage around motoneuron cell bodies compared with short-term data, which is indicative of a synaptogenic compensatory mechanism of the abducens internuclear pathway that could lead to the observed firing and morphological recovery. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Eye movements rely on multiple neuronal circuits for appropriate performance. The abducens internuclear pathway through the medial longitudinal fascicle (MLF) and the vestibular neurons through the ascending tract of Deiters (ATD) are a dual system that supports the firing of medial rectus motoneurons. We report the effect of sectioning the MLF or the ATD pathway on the firing of medial rectus motoneurons, as well as the plastic mechanisms by which one input compensates for the lack of the other. This work shows that while the effects of MLF transection are permanent, the ATD section produces transitory effects. A mechanism based on axonal sprouting and occupancy of the vacant synaptic space due to deafferentation is the base for the mechanism of compensation on the medial rectus motoneuron

Análisis proteómico de la vía de señalización de CLEC-2 en plaquetas humanas mediante 2-D-DIGE y 2-DE combinado con tinción con SyproRubi: comparación de ambas aproximaciones experimentales

Comunicaciones a congreso

Saltation transport on a silt loam soil in northeast Spain

16 Pags., 4 Tabls., 4 Figs. The definitive version is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-145XThe Ebro River valley in Northeast Spain experiences regularly strong west-northwest winds that are locally known as cierzo. When the cierzo blows, wind erosion may potentially occur on unprotected agricultural lands. In this paper the first results of field measurements of soil characteristics and saltation transport in the Ebro River valley near Zaragoza are presented. An experiment was conducted on a silt loam soil in the summers of 1996 and 1997. Two plots of 135×180 m were both equipped with a meteorology tower, three saltiphones (acoustic sediment sensors) and ten sediment catchers. The plots were different with respect to tillage practices. One plot received mouldboard ploughing followed by a pass of a compacting roller (conventional tillage—CT), whereas the other plot only received chisel ploughing (reduced tillage—RT). Soil characterizations indicated that soil erodibility was significantly higher in the CT plots than in the RT plots. Consequently, no significant saltation transport was observed in the RT plots during both seasons. In the CT plot, four saltation events were recorded during the 1996 season and nine events during the 1997 season. Most events were preceded by rainfall during the previous one or two days, which reduced saltation transport significantly. It is concluded that the occurrence of wind erosion in the Ebro River valley depends on the timing and type of tillage, distribution of rainfall and soil-surface crusting.The WELSONS project is funded by the European Union under Contract No. ENV4‐CT95‐0182. Peer reviewe