Project-based learning: Perceived differences on the acquisition of skills by university students

El presente estudio explora el rendimiento académico y los niveles de satisfacción percibida, tanto en discentes como docentes, ante cambios metodológicos en las estrategias pedagógicas implementadas en el aula. Se ha seleccionado de forma aleatoria de una muestra de 97 alumnos a 30, que han formado el grupo experimental, los 67 restantes han participado como grupo control. El grupo experimental se ha caracterizado por resultados más elevados e incluso un rendimiento más homogéneo en comparación con el grupo control, en el que observamos resultados académicos más diversos y un promedio más bajo en sus calificaciones. Por otra parte, el grado de satisfacción con el desarrollo de la asignatura para el grupo experimental es elevado, mientras que las puntuaciones del grupo control presentan una tendencia central. Estos resultados aportan evidencia empírica a la hipótesis de que métodos pedagógicos participativos mejoran tanto el rendimiento como la satisfacción del alumnado.This study explores academic performance and perceived satisfaction levels, in both learners and teachers, towards methodological changes in teaching strategies implemented in the classroom. Method: We randomly selected 30 students from a sample of 97, to create the experimental group. The remaining 67 have participated as control group. Results: The experimental group was characterized by higher results and an even more consistent performance compared to the control group, in which we observed most diverse academic results and a lower grade point average. Moreover, the degree of satisfaction with the development of the subject matter in the experimental group is high, while these levels in the control group show a central tendency. Conclusion: These results provide empirical evidence to the hypothesis that participatory teaching methods improve both performance and satisfaction in students

Acogimiento familiar en familia educadora en la provincia de Alicante, España: características de los recursos disponibles

Foster care is a determining resource for the child protection system. The scientific evidence shows that the psychosocial benefits of foster care for minors within the protection system are superior to those that can be provided by residential resource centres. Hence, during the last decade in Spain, work has been done to establish foster care as a priority resource. The objective of our work is focused on describing what type of families make up the Family Foster Care resource of the Province of Alicante and their parenting styles. A total of 207 people (72 minors and 132 foster parents) were evaluated, applying the following: 1) an ad hoc questionnaire composed of 12 questions; and 2) The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire consisting of 42 items (Spanish adaptation from Servera, 2007). More than 50% of the families are nuclear families and do not have biological children, with the duration of the foster care exceeding two years. The reconstituted families stand out due to its parental involvement and positive upbringing, while the nuclear and single-parent families show higher scores in consistent discipline. It is essential to know the profile of the foster families in order to achieve an adequate foster care process for minors

Self-assessment and peer assessment as a strategy for skills development. Teaching experience in teacher certification

El panorama educativo actual se presenta inmerso en un contexto en cambio, donde los estudios superiores están viviendo probablemente la renovación estructural más importante de las últimas décadas. Estos cambios exigen a los docentes universitarios la incorporación de nuevos métodos de evaluación, que permitan valorar la adquisición por parte del alumnado de las competencias establecidas en su Grado. Con este fin la evaluación tiene que ganar en contenido, ya que debe convertirse en una herramienta de enseñanza que sirva tanto al docente como al discente, desarrollando funciones básicamente formativas. Las estrategias de evaluación que se apliquen para conseguir los objetivos de trabajo planteados en los nuevos planes de estudio, han de desarrollarse con un marcado carácter pedagógico, que ofrezca la respuesta adecuada a una educación centrada en la adquisición de competencias profesionales. El enfoque metodológico a potenciar debe fomentar la adquisición de habilidades para el aprendizaje autónomo y permanente, a partir de un trabajo colaborativo, al mismo tiempo que facilitar que el estudiante se convierta en el protagonista del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Bajo estos principios pretendemos desarrollar y aplicar unas estrategias de evaluación, que entendemos responden mejor a las necesidades encontradas durante este proceso de renovación de nuestra práctica docente, que metodologías tradicionales de uso más ampliamente extendido.The current educational landscape appears immersed in a context however, where higher education is experiencing probably the most important structural renovation in recent decades. These changes require university professors to incorporate new assessment methods for evaluating the acquisition by students of the powers provided in its degree. To this purpose, the assessment has to win in content, since it has become a teaching tool that serves both the teacher and the learner, developing basic formatting functions. Assessment strategies are applied to achieve work objectives outlined in the new curricula must be developed with a strong educational, offering the correct answer to an education focused on professional skills. The methodological approach should be encouraged to enhance learning skills for independent learning and continuing from a collaborative work, while providing the student becomes the protagonist of the teaching and learning. Under these principles our goal is to develop and implement assessment strategies which we believe best meet the needs identified during this process of renewal of our educational practice that traditional methodologies more widespread use

ADHD Symptomatology, Executive Function and Cognitive Performance Differences between Family Foster Care and Control Group in ADHD-Diagnosed Children

Children in foster care have a high prevalence of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, together with other difficulties in inattentive/hyperactive behaviors, executive and cognitive processes. Early exposure to adversity is a risk factor for developing ADHD via neurodevelopmental pathways. The goal of this research is (a) to study the cognitive and executive performance and inattentive/hyperactive behavior of ADHD-diagnosed children living in foster families in Spain, and (b) to analyze the role of placement variables in their performance. The sample was composed of 102 ADHD-diagnosed children aged 6- to 12-years-old, divided into two groups: 59 children living with non-relative foster families and 43 children not involved with protection services. Children’s executive function–inhibition, working memory, flexibility, attention, intellectual capacity, verbal comprehension, perceptive reasoning, working memory and processing speed were assessed using objective testing measures. At the same time, parents and teachers reported on children’s inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive behaviors. Children in foster care obtained lower scores in the general ability index than the control group after controlling the age at assessment. However, no differences were found in executive processes. Regarding placement factors, children with shorter exposure to adversities in their birth families and more time in foster care showed better executive performance. Professionals should consider the placement history of children in foster care and its influence on their symptomatology and cognitive capacities

Detección de perfiles cognitivos mediante WISC-IV en niños diagnosticados de TDAH: ¿Existen diferencias entre subtipos?

El presente estudio explora si se puede obtener un perfil cognitivo específico para niños/as con TDAH a partir de la Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler para Niños Cuarta Edición (WISC-IV), y si ese perfil es capaz de diferenciar entre los subtipos clínicos de TDAH. Se seleccionó un grupo de control de 47 niños/as y otro grupo clínico de 86 niños/as diagnosticados/as con TDAH, éste último dividido a su vez en dos subgrupos de acuerdo a sus características clínicas. El grupo clínico se caracterizó por una puntuación ICG>ICC respecto al grupo de control. Los subgrupos clínicos no obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente diferentes en ninguno de los índices, pero sí lo hicieron respecto a la distancia entre el Índice de Memoria de Trabajo y el Índice de Velocidad de Procesamiento. Para el subgrupo TDAH predominantemente inatento esta distancia fue positiva, mientras que para el subgrupo TDAH-combinado fue negativa. Estos resultados aportan evidencia empírica a la hipótesis de la existencia de un perfil cognitivo específico del TDAH, con potencial para discriminar entre subtipos clínicos de TDAH.El presente estudio explora si se puede obtener un perfil cognitivo específico para niños/as con TDAH a partir de la Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler para Niños Cuarta Edición (WISC-IV), y si ese perfil es capaz de diferenciar entre los subtipos clínicos de TDAH. Se seleccionó un grupo de control de 47 niños/as y otro grupo clínico de 86 niños/as diagnosticados/as con TDAH, éste último dividido a su vez en dos subgrupos de acuerdo a sus características clínicas. El grupo clínico se caracterizó por una puntuación ICG>ICC respecto al grupo de control. Los subgrupos clínicos no obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente diferentes en ninguno de los índices, pero sí lo hicieron respecto a la distancia entre el Índice de Memoria de Trabajo y el Índice de Velocidad de Procesamiento. Para el subgrupo TDAH predominantemente inatento esta distancia fue positiva, mientras que para el subgrupo TDAH-combinado fue negativa. Estos resultados aportan evidencia empírica a la hipótesis de la existencia de un perfil cognitivo específico del TDAH, con potencial para discriminar entre subtipos clínicos de TDAH

Movement Patterns in Students Diagnosed with ADHD, Objective Measurement in a Natural Learning Environment

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is the most common neuropsychological disorder in childhood and adolescence, affecting the basic psychological processes involved in learning, social adaptation and affective adjustment. From previous research, the disorder is linked to problems in different areas of development, with deficiencies in psychological processes leading to the development of the most common characteristics of the disorder such as inattention, excess of activity and lack of inhibitory control. As for the diagnosis, in spite of being a very frequent disorder, there are multiple controversies about which tools are the most suitable for evaluation. One of the most widespread tools in the professional field is behavior inventories such as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires for Parents and Teachers or the ADHD Rating Scale-V. The main disadvantage of these assessment tools is that they do not provide an objective observation. For this reason, there are different studies focused on recording objective measures of the subjects’ movement, since hyperkinesia is one of the most characteristic symptoms of this disorder. In this sense, we have developed an application that, using a Kinect device, is capable of measuring the movement of the different parts of the body of up to six subjects in the classroom, being a natural context for the student. The main objective of this work is twofold, on the one hand, to investigate whether there are correlations between excessive movement and high scores in the inventories for the diagnosis of ADHD, Rating Scale-V and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and, on the other hand, to determine which sections of the body present the most significant mobility in subjects diagnosed with ADHD. Results show that the control group, composed of neurotypical subjects, presents less kinaesthetic activity than the clinical group diagnosed with ADHD. This indicates that the experimental group presents one of the main characteristics of the disorder. In addition, results also show that practically all the measured body parts present significant differences, being higher in the clinical group, highlighting the head as the joint with the highest effect size.This work has been supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain), project RTI2018-096219-B-I00. Project cofinanced with FEDER funds

Early Detection of Academic Performance During Primary Education Using the Spanish Primary School Aptitude Test (AEI) Battery

The aim of this study was to assess the predictive capacity of some of the most relevant cognitive skills pertaining to the academic field as measured by the Spanish Primary School Aptitude Test Battery. This psychometric tool was applied to all students who were enrolled in the final year of Early Childhood Education (631 students) in the public schools of the province of Alicante (in the South-East of Spain) and a follow-up of their academic progress was carried out when they completed Primary Education (6 school years). The results obtained show that medium-high and high scores in Verbal Aptitude and Numerical Aptitude tests in Early Childhood Education (5 years of age), can predict academic success at the end of Primary Education (12 years of age) in instrumental subjects such as: (1) Language (Verbal Aptitude Odds Ratio = 1.39 and Numerical Aptitude Odds Ratio = 1.39) and (2) Mathematics (Verbal Aptitude Odds Ratio = 1.47 and Numerical Aptitude Odds Ratio = 1.52). We have determined the importance of developing pedagogical programs that stimulate the development of these skills during Early Childhood Education, while implementing support strategies during Primary Education, for those students who present underdeveloped aptitudes in these areas. In this way, school difficulties would be prevented in the instrumental subjects that provide access to other academic areas

Association of Foster Care and its Duration with Clinical Symptoms and Impairment: Foster Care versus Non-Foster Care Comparisons with Spanish Children

Objective The objective was to determine if Spanish foster care children and Spanish non-foster children differ on sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), ADHD-inattention (IN), ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), limited prosocial emotions (LPE), anxiety, depression, social and academic impairment measures and if the duration of foster care predicts a reduction in symptom and impairment differences between foster and non-foster care children. Method Foster care parents of 49 children (8 to 13 years, 57% girls) and non-foster care mothers and fathers of 1776 children (8 to 13 years, 49% girls) completed the Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory (CABI). Results Foster care children had significantly higher scores on all symptom and impairment measures than non-foster care mother and father groups (d values from 0.37 to 1.53). A longer duration in foster care (range 8 to 86 months) was also associated with significant lower scores on SCT, ADHD-IN, anxiety, depression, and academic impairment. In addition, while foster care children with a shorter duration in foster care (less than medium months) had significantly higher scores than the non-foster care groups on all measures (d values from 0.66 to 2.25), children with a longer duration in foster care did not differ from the non-foster care groups on anxiety, depression, ADHD-IN, ADHD-HI, LPE, social and academic impairment. Conclusions Although foster care children had elevated psychopathology and impairment scores relative to non-foster care children, a longer stay in foster care was associated with the elimination of the difference on most symptom and impairment measures

Early detection of learning difficulties using the BADyG-E2r Battery during primary education

The aim of the present study was to assess the predictive capacity of several of the most relevant cognitive skills in the academic field that were evaluated using Differential and General Skills Battery(BADyG-E2r). Particular attention was focused on the variables that need to be overcome regarding the curricular objectives related to pass/fail grading as evaluated by the teachers in the instrumental disciplines of Mathematics and Language. The psychometric battery was applied to the 3rd year students in primary education (a total of 512 students) at 4 public schools that were randomly selected in the province of Alicante (Spain). A follow-up of their academic evolution was under taken until the end of primary education. The obtained results show that high scores in Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, and Verbal Syllogisms positively and significantly predict academic success at the end of primary education in the subjects of Language and Mathematics

Detecting Differences between Clinical Presentations in ADHD through the Cognitive Profile Obtained from WISC-IV

Objective: The current study explores whether WISC-IV cognitive profiles could allow to differentiate between presentations of ADHD. Method: A clinical sample of 216 subjects aged between 6 and 16 years and distributed into 2 subgroups (ADHD inattentive type group aged M = 8.5, SD = 2.4; and ADHD combined group M = 10.1, SD = 2.6) was recruited for the study. Results: Processing Speed Index mean score was significantly higher (F (1,214) = 14.7, p< .001, d = 0.52) in ADHD-Inattentive group (M = 90.7; SD = 12.1) than ADHD-Combined group (M = 97.7; SD = 14.7). Furthermore, PSI was negatively associated with "Inattention" dimension (β = -.21, p< .001 family and β = -.19, p< .001 teachers) while it was positively associated with "Hyperactivity/Impulsivity" dimension (β = .27, p< .001 family and β = .33, p< .001 teachers). Conclusions: The higher inattentiveness the lower PSI mean score, while a higher hyperactivity/impulsivity mean score would reduce the impact caused for inattentiveness. Thus, ADHD-I profile would tend to show a significant lower PSI mean score than ADHD-C