The Implementation of a TBLT Didactic Unit and its Effect on Student Motivation in 4th of ESO

Màster Universitari de Formació del Professorat de Secundària Obligatòria i Batxillerat, Facultat d'Educació, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2021-2022. Tutora: Anna Marie Zanatta[eng] This paper aims to analyse a didactic unit specifically designed and carried out in a 4th of ESO group in l’Institut 9 located in Santa Coloma de Gramenet. One of the main objectives of the didactic unit was to increase student motivation by using the TBLT approach in the classroom. To this purpose, the present study is focused on analysing the effect that the final task, the role of the teacher and the use of group work – had on students’ motivation. Before designing and implementing the didactic unit, an observation phase took place and a pre-questionnaire was administered to the students. Both the pre-questionnaire and the observation phase were key to determine that the students’ motivation was rather low. Therefore, the didactic unit had the aim to tackle this issue. Finally, a post-questionnaire was administered to the students to check the effectiveness of the unit in terms of motivation. Findings support the continued use of TBLT since it results in an improvement in students’ motivation.[cat] El present treball té com a objectiu analitzar una unitat didàctica dissenyada per a un grup de 4t d'ESO a l'institut 9 ubicat a Santa Coloma de Gramenet. Un dels principals objectius de la unitats didàctica augmentar la motivació dels alumnes utilitzant la metodologia TBLT. Per aconseguir aquest propòsit, el present estudi analitza l’efecte que – la activitat final de la unitat didàctica, el rol del professor i l’ús de treball col·laboratiu va tenir en la motivació de l’alumnat. Abans de la seva implementació, una fase d'observació i un pre-qüestionari van ser administrats als estudiants. Tots dos –el pre-qüestionari i la fase d'observació– van ser clau per determinar que la motivació dels alumnes era més aviat baixa. Per tant, la unitat didàctica tenia com a objectiu abordar aquest tema. Finalment, es va administrar un post-qüestionari als alumnes per comprovar l'eficàcia de la unitat en relació amb la motivació de l’alumnat. Els resultats suggereixen que seria recomanable continuar aplicant la metodologia TBLT perquè té un resultat positiu en la motivació dels estudiants

Songs and young language learners: vocabulary and motivation

Treballs Finals del Grau d'Estudis Anglesos, Facultat de Filologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2019-2020, Tutora: Elsa Tragant Mestres De La Torre[eng] The use of songs as a technique in teaching is appreciated for their linguistic, cultural, pedagogical and entertaining features. Songs are valuable learning materials which can be used to teach and develop every aspect of a language. This paper aims to review different classroom-based studies focused on the effects of songs on Young Learners’ vocabulary development and motivation. This review has the aim of, firstly, exploring the effectiveness of using songs as a means to improve Young Learners’ English language vocabulary and, secondly, as a means of influence Young Learners’ motivation towards English. Moreover, the paper also contains a theoretical framework of Young Learners in relation to both vocabulary and motivation. It also deals with how areas such as vocabulary and motivation might be related to songs. Finally, bearing in mind the findings on motivation and vocabulary, the paper includes a pedagogical proposal for an EFL class based. The analysis of the different studies show that songs have a positive influence on vocabulary of Young Learners. Furthermore, findings conclude that songs undoubtedly improve Young Learners’ motivation and create a positive learning environment. Students motivated with songs feel happy, active and eager to learn.[spa] Hoy en día, el uso de las canciones como técnica en la enseñanza está valorado por sus características lingüísticas, culturales, pedagógicas y de entretenimiento. Las canciones son valiosas herramientas de aprendizaje que se pueden usar para enseñar y desarrollar cada aspecto de un idioma. Este documento tiene como objetivo analizar diferentes estudios de aula sobre los efectos de las canciones en el vocabulario y motivación de los niños de Educación Primaria. El análisis tiene como objetivo, en primer lugar, confirmar la efectividad del uso de las canciones como un medio para mejorar el vocabulario Inglés y, en segundo lugar, como un medio para influir en la motivación de los niños hacia el Inglés. Además, el documento también contiene una parte teórica centrada en el vocabulario y la motivación de los niños de Educación Primaria. También explica la relación entre las canciones y vocabulario, la motivación. Finalmente, teniendo en cuenta los resultados obtenidos previamente sobre la motivación y vocabulario, se incluye una propuesta didáctica para una clase de estudiantes de Inglés como lengua extranjera. El análisis de los diferentes estudios muestra que las canciones tienen una influencia positiva en el desarrollo del vocabulario de los niños de educación primaria. Además, los resultados también indican que las canciones indudablemente mejoran la motivación de los jóvenes y crean un ambiente de aprendizaje positivo. Cuando se trabaja con canciones, los niños se sienten felices, activos y ansiosos por aprender

Functional Characterization of Circulating Tumour Cell (CTC) Clusters in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Most cancer-related deaths are due to metastasis, a process by which tumour cells spread to secondary sites. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are those tumour cells that are released into the bloodstream, and they are the responsible for the formation of metastases. CTCs can be found as individual cells, or as small groups of cells, called CTC clusters. CTC clusters have a higher metastatic potential than individual CTCs. However, there is little knowledge about the biology of CTC clusters due to their low frequency in the blood of BC patients. The objective of this thesis project is to conduct a comparative study between individual CTCs and CTC clusters, to further study the biology of CTC clusters and to determine the differential characteristics that provide them with greater metastatic potential. The isolation of CTC clusters from samples of BC patients not only allowed us to confirm the prognostic value of CTC clusters but also to optimize workflows that maximise the detection of CTC clusters. The development of in vitro models of CTC clusters and their later functional/molecular characterization showed that these models properly recapitulated the phenotypic features of the CTC clusters isolated from patient samples. The combination of the tools presented in this thesis can contribute to overcome the restrictions derived from the low frequency of CTC clusters in patient samples and allow a deeper understanding about the role of CTC clusters during metastasis

NiMo syntax: part 1

Many formalisms for the specification for concurrent and distributed systems have emerged. In particular considering boxes and strings approaches. Examples are action calculi, rewriting logic and graph rewriting, bigraphs. The boxes and string metaphor is addressed with different levels of granularity. One of the approaches is to consider a process network as an hypergraph. Based in this general framework, we encode NiMo nets as a class of Annotated hypergraphs. This class is defined by giving the alphabet and the operations used to construct such programs. Therefore we treat only editing operations on labelled hypergraphs and afterwards how this editing operation affects the graph. Graph transformation (execution rules) is not covered here.Postprint (published version

Spanish validation of the Shorter Version of the Workplace Incivility Scale: An employment status invariant measure

Workplace Incivility (WI) occurs worldwide and has negative consequences on individuals and organizations. Valid and comprehensive instruments have been used, specifically in English speaking countries, to measure sucadverse process at work, but it is not available a validated instrument for research carried out in Spanish speaking countries. In this study we aim to test the psychometric properties of the Matthews and Ritter’s four-item Workplace Incivility Scale (2016) with Spanish workers (N = 407) from different sectors. Participants’ mean age was 38.73 (SD = 10.45) years old and the percentage of female employees was 59.2%. Confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS 19.0 was carried out, presenting a good fit. The internal consistency, convergent and concurrent validity of the scale were examined. Results show good scale reliability and expected high correlations with social undermining. Moreover, the scale related to propensity to leave a job, job satisfaction, and psychological well-being in the expected way. After configural invariance across groups was established, testing for metric invariance and scalar invariance was performed. Considering Δχ2 and ΔCFI tests for two nested models, the 4-item scale was invariant when the employment status is considered (permanent vs. temporal, full-time vs. part-time, and supervisor vs. non-supervisors). Overall, our findings showed good psychometric properties of the shorter version of the WIS in Spain. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España PSI2015-64894-PFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) Portugal SFRH/BPD/121748/201

Influence Pattern Effectiveness

Los superiores utilizan diferentes tácticas de influencia para conseguir que los subordinados realicen las actividades encomendadas. Para comprender la dinámica existente en este proceso de influencia es importante considerar la combinación de diversas tácticas y no sólo el estudio separado de cada una de ellas. El presente estudio ha analizado la efectividad de los patrones de influencia empleados por los superiores jerárquicos con sus empleados. Se han identificado cuatro patrones de influencia empleados por los superiores: patrón fuerte, patrón racional, patrón activo y patrón pasivo. Su efectividad se ha analizado en términos de satisfacción, compromiso y bienestar de los empleados. Los superiores que recurren a una mayor combinación de tácticas de influencia resultan más efectivos que aquellos que utilizan una única categoría de tácticas. Se analizan las implicaciones del estudio para la práctica directiva.Influence pattern effectiveness. Managers apply different influence tactics to get subordinates to perform their tasks. For a better understanding of the influence process dynamics, it has been recommended to consider the combination of different tactics instead of analyzing them separately. (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004). The present study has analyzed the effectiveness of various influence tactics combinations used by superiors with their subordinates. We identified four influence patterns: hard pattern, rational pattern, active pattern and passive pattern. Pattern effectiveness was analyzed in terms of subordinates’ satisfaction, commitment and well-being. We found that superiors who used a broader range of tactics were more effective than those using a single range of tactics. Practical implications are discussed

Especificación de Componentes MDA para Patrones de Diseño

The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) promotes the use of models and model transformations for developing software systems. The idea behind MDA is to manage the evolution from Platform Independent Models to Platform Specific Models that can be used to generate executable components and applications. The concepts of metamodels and metamodel-based model transformations are critical in MDA. In this paper, we analyze how to specify reusable components for design patterns in a way that fit MDA very closely. To define families of reusable components we describe a “megamodel” that refers to metamodels and model transformations organized into an architectural framework. We propose an integration of formal and semiformal specifications to specify MDA mega-components. Our formalization focuses on interoperability of formal languages in Model Driven Development (MDD).La Arquitectura Model Driven (MDA) promueve el uso de modelos y transformaciones de modelos para desarrollar sistemas de software. La idea central de MDA es manejar la evolución de modelos independientes de la plataforma a modelos específicos a la plataforma que pueden ser usados para generar componentes ejecutables y aplicaciones. En el contexto MDA los metamodelos y las transformaciones basadas en metamodelos son esenciales. En este artículo describimos como especificar componentes para patrones de diseño alineados a MDA. Para definir familias de componentes reusables presentamos un “megamodelo” que integra metamodelos y refinamientos organizados en un framework arquitectural. Proponemos integrar especificaciones semiformales y formales para especificar mega-componentes MDA. Nuestra formalización se centra en la interoperabilidad de lenguajes formales en el desarrollo Model Driven (MDD)

Unraveling the origin of the cultivar ‘Bonarda’ in Argentina using microsatellite molecular markers

‘Bonarda’ es una variedad de vid que en Argentina se cultiva principalmente en las provincias de Mendoza y San Juan, representa el segundo cepaje tinto en superficie nacional cultivada y es considerada con gran potencial para la elaboración de vinos tintos de alta calidad. Existe incertidumbre respecto a su origen en el país. La descripción ampelográfica de la ‘Bonarda’ cultivada en Argentina remarca gran nivel de similitud con la variedad italiana ‘Bonarda Piemontesa’ y con la variedad francesa ‘Corbeau’. En un trabajo previo, basado en el uso de marcadores moleculares, se demostró que ‘Bonarda’ se diferencia de ‘Bonarda Piamontesa’ y es idéntica a ‘Corbeau’. El objetivo de este trabajo fue confirmar la identidad de esta variedad empleando un gran número de loci microsatélites de tal manera de cubrir -en lo posible- la mayor parte del genoma. Se analizaron 17 accesiones de ‘Bonardas’ procedentes de distintos puntos geográficos de las provincias de Mendoza y San Juan, y de la variedad francesa ‘Corbeau’. Para las reacciones de PCR se usaron 13 loci microsatélites. Todas las accesiones de ‘Bonarda’ fueron idénticas entre sí e idénticas a la variedad francesa Corbeau, por lo que se concluye que se trata de la misma variedad. Se propone que la variedad ‘Bonarda’ cultivada en Mendoza y San Juan sea denominada ‘Bonarda-Argentina’, para diferenciarla de las italianas, pero a sabiendas, con un alto nivel de confianza, que corresponde a la variedad noble francesa ‘Corbeau’.'Bonarda' is the second most cultivated red variety in Argentina, mainly in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. In the past few years it has been valued for its great potential for the production of high quality wines. The origin of this variety was uncertain. The ampelographic description of the Argentine 'Bonarda' shows high level of similarity to the Italian variety 'Bonarda Piemontese,' and the French variety 'Corbeau'. However, recent work using molecular markers has shown that 'Bonarda' differs from ‘Bonarda Piedmontese’ and is identical to 'Corbeau'. The aim of this study was to confirm the identity of this variety using a larger number of microsatellite loci in such a way to cover, if possible, the entire genome. We analyzed 17 accessions of 'Bonarda' from the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan, Argentina, and the French variety 'Corbeau' with 13 microsatellite loci. All accessions of 'Bonarda' were identical to each other and to the French variety ‘Corbeau’, confirming that it is the same variety. It is proposed that the variety 'Bonarda' grown in Mendoza and San Juan is called 'Bonarda from Argentina' to distinguish it from the Italian Bonarda, but knowing, with a high confidence level, that corresponds to the noble French variety 'Corbeau'.Fil: De Rosas, María Inés. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Ciencias BiológicasFil: Martínez, Liliana. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Ciencias Biológica

Analysis of tuition fees in the Spanish Public University System as a consequence of the economic crisis

La crisis de las finanzas públicas ha tenido consecuencias muy importantes en lo que ha pasado a representar la financiación privada en los presupuestos de las universidades públicas españolas. Estos cambios vienen influidos básicamente por dos decisiones de origen autonómico, la reducción de la subvención nominativa que reciben las universidades públicas por parte de los gobiernos de sus respectivas Comunidades Autónomas (CC.AA.) y el aumento del monto correspondiente a las matrículas que abonan los estudiantes y sus familias. Ante esta situación, el presente artículo se concentra en analizar que ha ocurrido con los precios públicos de las enseñanzas oficiales de grado y máster en las universidades públicas españolas en el periodo de la crisis económica (2008/09-2015/16). Se han llevado a cabo tres tipos de análisis de los precios de matrícula para cuantificar las diferencias “intra” o dentro de la propia comunidad autónoma (en referencia a los diferentes precios por grado de experimentalidad), las diferencias “entre” CC.AA. y, por último, si se ha producido convergencia (o divergencia) regional de los precios de matrícula, tanto en grado como en máster, a raíz de la crisis económica. Las autoras concluyen que con el esquema de precios tan asimétrico que existe actualmente, se producen grandes diferencias a nivel autonómico, lo que afecta directamente a los estudiantes que acceden a universidades públicas en las diferentes CC.AA., especialmente a aquellos que proceden de Comunidades con precios más altos y que provienen de familias con menores niveles de renta. Finalmente, se recogen en las conclusiones algunas propuestas de reformaThe crisis of public finances has had very important consequences in the private funding of the Spanish public universities budgets. These changes are mainly influenced by two decisions of regional governments, the reduction of the block grant that public universities of their territories have obtained and the increase in the amount of tuition fees that students (and their families) have payed. In this context, the aim of the paper is to analyze what has occurred with the public fees for the Bachelor and Master programs in Spanish public universities in the period of the economic crisis (2008/09-2015/16). Three types of analysis of tuition fees have been made to quantify differences "intra" or within the own Spanish region (in reference to the different prices per type of study), the differences "between" Spanish regions and, finally, if there has been convergence (or divergence) at regional level, both in Bachelor and Master fees, as a result of the economic crisis. The authors conclude that with the current tuition fees scheme, there are important regional differences, which directly affect university students , especially to those who come from Spanish regions with higher fees and who come from families with lower levels of income. Finally, some reform proposals are reflected in the conclusion