Teleological structure of scientific and mathematical education

One of the main educational objectives in the current Spanish curricula is to develop mathematical and scientific competences, understood as the set of skills and abilities needed to apply Mathematics and Science in situations where are required. This is therefore closely related, on one hand, to the functionality of the knowledge, in the sense of its usefulness in problem solving and in mathematical and science modeling problems. And, on the other hand, is related to the understanding of disciplinary knowledge, a cognitive phenomenon that enables and gives competence to the individual to elaborate contextualized and accurate answers. These answers involve the use of mathematical and scientific knowledge in some of the categories of their phenomenological and epistemological dimensions. For this reason, in this work we carry out a theoretical and reflexive analysis that tries to determine which aspects of the Mathematics and Science Education should be promoted in order to optimize the formative dimension of an individual in these disciplines. This dimension, frequently forgotten in learning and teaching processes, turns out to be, in conjunction with the functional and instrumental dimensions, necessary to acquire the appropriate knowledge in Mathematics and Science that will enable future citizens to permanently adapt to the environment and eventually transform it positively. The results of the analysis show the components of this dimension that should be prioritized in the Science and Mathematics Education: the intellectual autonomy, understood as the ability to think for ourselves and to put in use our abilities and skills to generate information to solve real life problems and to make the right decisions; the moral autonomy, defined as the capacity to face with real life problems with ethical implications; and the social autonomy, understood as the aptitude to make decisions using social abilities and skills.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech.“Criterios e instrumentos de evaluación de unidades de enseñanza y aprendizaje” (PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/16) financiado por la Universidad de Málaga en la convocatoria de 2017-2018

Influence of in vitro growth conditions in the production of defence compounds in Mentha pulegium L.

The content in secondary metabolites greatly affects the quality of plants used for food consumption. Specifically, the production of defence secondary metabolites is triggered by a number of biotic and abiotic stress factors. Commonly studied biotic factors include insects and other herbivores that cause wounding and tissue damage due to microorganisms. Among abiotic factors, mechanical stress induced in the roots has yet to be studied in depth. Such studies are of interest because of the influence of this factor on plants grown under in vitro conditions. Herein, we present our results on essential oil production and other defence-related morphological traits in terms of the effect of mechanical stress induced in the roots of Mentha pulegium plants grown under different conditions: greenhouse using soil as support and non-soil in vitro conditions using gelose and glass beads. A positive correlation has been found between secondary metabolites production, i.e. essential oil and growth conditions. The presence and development of morphological characteristics linked to their storage and lixiviation into the environment – trichomes and glandular hairs in the leaves; lateral roots and fibrous roots – has also been positively related to an increase in penetration resistance on the roots by the substrate – mechanical impedance. Pulegone is the major defence compound in pennyroyal essential oil. Pulegone production and other essential oil constituents present in trichomes have been quantified under different growth conditions and the results have been correlated with morphological characteristics and growth conditions

Assessment of reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the Nursing Students’ Perception of Instructor Caring (S-NSPIC)

The care that clinical instructors demonstrate to students is essential for their education, considering the strong impact it has on their future relationships with patients, relatives, and other health professionals. Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Instructor Caring (NSPIC) is an instrument designed to assess nursing students’ perceptions of instructor’s caring behaviors. A trans-cultural, conceptual, and psychometric validation study was conducted with 315 nursing students at the University of Seville during their clinical practices in three regional hospitals. The NSPIC was translated and adapted to Spanish. The content validity was established by a panel of experts. To assess concurrent validity the culturally adapted Spanish version of the Clinical Placement Evaluation Tool (CPET) was used as a gold standard. The construct validity was determined by an exploratory factor analysis to identify the internal structure of the NSPIC-S. The internal consistency was established by Cronbach’s α and the intra-observer reliability for each item was established by test-retest. The content validity index varied between 0.53 and 0.93 and the correlation to the CPET was moderate. The factor analysis revealed a structure of five factors, one of which differed from the original scale. The value of Cronbach’s α was 0.95 and intraclass correlation coefficients varied between 0.5 and 0.89. Our study provided a culturally adapted version of the NSPIC, valid and reliable to be used in the Spanish context, the NSPIC-S

Pensarse como docente. Una experiencia de formación del profesorado desde la pedagogía de la experiencia

Desde trabajos orientados a una pedagogía de la experiencia se plantea la necesidad de desarrollar prácticas formativas en la formación docente que se orienten a cultivar un saber de la experiencia. Se trata de propuestas que buscan fomentar la reflexión del alumnado sobre su experiencia y la vinculación de los saberes constituidos y teorías con ella. El propósito de esta comunicación es compartir una experiencia concreta en la formación docente en la que tratamos de acercarnos a ese enfoque de la pedagogía de la experiencia. Esta experiencia tuvo lugar entre dos asignaturas (Formación y Desarrollo Profesional del Grado de Pedagogía y Didáctica de la Aritmética del Grado en Educación Primaria) en que se puso al alumnado de pedagogía en la situación de tener que diseñar y llevar a cabo una propuesta formativa acerca de conceptos relativos a la divisibilidad con el alumnado de Didáctica de la Aritmética. Se narra en este texto el proceso vivido por el alumnado de pedagogía, así como las diversas actividades que se les propuso, orientadas a fomentar la reflexión sobre su propia experiencia y su relación con determinados textos teóricos. Finalmente, se señalan algunos de los hilos a los que apunta el análisis del estudio

Flipped classroom como estrategia metodológica para mejorar la competencia en trabajo grupal en didáctica de la matemática

En este artículo se presentan los resultados de una investigación cuasi-experimental llevada a cabo en una asignatura del área de Didáctica de la Matemática, en la que se comparan la calidad de los trabajos grupales realizados en un grupo experimental, donde se ha implementado la metodología “flipped classroom”, con los desarrollados en un grupo control, en el que se han impartido clases de forma tradicional. Tras el análisis, se evidencia que la metodología “flipped classroom” favorece y fomenta el trabajo colaborativo y cooperativo. Se obtienen trabajos de mayor calidad, que se corresponden con la adquisición de competencias propias y necesarias del futuro profesorado de educación primaria

Gender perspective in the mathematics class: a challenge for teacher training

Una educación matemática de calidad debe poner el énfasis en el carácter formativo que esta disciplina puede aportar a la sociedad del siglo XXI, sociedad que necesita una ciudadanía capaz de adaptarse, dar respuesta y actuar de manera responsable ante los cambios y desafíos de un mundo cada vez más globalizado. Los responsables de formar al futuro profesorado deben hacer hincapié en la educación STEM (Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology). El aprendizaje de los contenidos de distintas disciplinas, como pueden ser la científica y la matemática, se debe plantear desde un enfoque interdisciplinar e integrador (Moore y Smith, 2014; Shernoff, Sinha, Bressler y Ginsburg, 2017). Se debe además situar la perspectiva de género en el epicentro, con la finalidad de fomentar la presencia de mujeres en carreras universitarias de áreas de Ciencia y Tecnología.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. PIE 17-02

Flipped classroom as a methodological strategy to improve competences in grupal work in the didactics of mathematics

En este artículo se presentan los resultados de una investigación cuasi-experimental, llevada a cabo en una asignatura del área de Didáctica de la Matemática, en la que se comparan la calidad de los trabajos grupales realizados en un grupo experimental, donde se ha implementado la metodología “flipped classroom”, con los trabajos desarrollados en un grupo control, en el que se han impartido clases de forma tradicional. Tras el análisis, se evidencia que la metodología “flipped classroom” favorece y fomenta el trabajo colaborativo y cooperativo. Se obtienen trabajos de mayor calidad, que se corresponden con la adquisición de competencias propias y necesarias del futuro profesorado de educación primaria.This article shows the results of a quasi-experimental research carried out in a subject within the Didactics of Mathematics area, in which the quality of the group work carried out in an experimental group, is compared with the one done in a control group. This will highlight where the flipped classroom model has been implemented, against those developed in a control group, where classes have been taught in a traditional way. After the analysis, it is evident that the “flipped classroom” methodology, favors and encourages collaborative and cooperative work. Higher quality work is obtained, which corresponds to the acquisition of competences necessary for the future teachers of primary education

Synthesis, antibacterial and antifungal activities of naphthoquinone derivatives: a structure–activity relationship study

The synthesis of 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives is of great interest since these compounds exhibit strong activity as antimalarial, antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer agents. A series of 50 naphthoquinone derivatives was synthesized and evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis and Cryptococcus neoformans using the broth microdilution method. The Candida species were the most susceptible microorganisms. Halogen derivatives of 1,4-naphthoquinone presented strong activity, e.g., 2-bromo-5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone, which exhibited inhibition at an MIC of 16 lg/ mL in S. aureus, and 2-chloro-5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone, with an MIC of 2 lg/mL in C. krusei. These compounds showed higher activity against fungi, but the antibacterial activities were very low. The study of structure–activity relationships is very important in the search for new antimicrobial drugs due to the limited therapeutic arsenal

Factors Associated with the Differential Distribution of Cetaceans Linked with Deep Habitats in the Western Mediterranean Sea

Deep-habitat cetaceans are generally difficult to study, leading to a limited knowledge of their population. This paper assesses the differential distribution patterns of three deep-habitat cetaceans (Sperm whale—Physeter macrocephalus, Risso’s dolphin—Grampus griseus & Cuvier’s beaked whale—Ziphius cavirostris). We used data of 842 opportunistic sightings of cetaceans in the western Mediterranean sea. We inferred environmental and spatio-temporal factors that affect their distribution. Binary logistic regression models were generated to compare the presence of deep-habitat cetaceans with the presence of other cetacean species in the dataset. Then, the favourability function was applied, allowing for comparison between all the models. Sperm whale and Risso’s dolphin presence was differentially favoured by the distance to towns in the eastern part of the western Mediterranean sea. The differential distribution of sperm whale was also influenced by the stability of SST, and that of the Risso’s dolphin by lower mean salinity and higher mean Chlorophyll A concentration. When modelling the three deep-habitat cetaceans (including Cuvier’s beaked whale), the variable distance to towns had a negative influence on the presence of any of them more than it did to other cetaceans, being more favourable far from towns, so this issue should be further investigated.Postprint2,92