Evaluating teaching and management innovations in an online university: the case of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is an online university that has innovation as a transversal feature in all its activities and processes. Therefore, innovation is present in the annual objectives of all the academic and management departments in order to increase student satisfaction. UOC stimulates innovation by funding strategic projects as well as organizing regular internal calls for small projects which brings about innovative academic and management proposals. In this paper we present the method for evaluating teaching and management innovations through internal calls (APLICA), by selecting which initiatives are suitable to become strategic innovative projects (INNOVA) or which features should compose any application available at the OpenApps platform. Besides, general indicators used by the Innovation Program to evaluate the activities carried out are also reported

Convección termocapilar de una burbuja en microgravedad

La convección de Marangoni es el movimiento de un fluido debido a un gradiente de tensión superficial provocado por una variación de la temperatura en la frontera entre dos fluidos o en una superficie libre. En este artículo presentaremos el efecto Marangoni estacionario sobre una burbuja de gas esférica sumergida en un líquido y sometida a un gradiente de temperatura constante. En la interficie el líquido no está en equilibrio: se mueve en la dirección donde la temperatura es más baja, mientras que la burbuja lo hace en sentido contrario. Se tratarán dos problemas: En el primero se considera la migración de la burbuja a velocidad constante bajo un gradiente de temperatura y en el segundo, la capacidad de dicho gradiente para generar una fuerza que se oponga al arrastre de la burbuja bajo un flujo externo Se ha utilizado un esquema en diferencias finitas para la discretización del sistema de ecuaciones en derivadas parciales y se ha resuelto el sistema no lineal resultante mediante un método iterativo.Peer Reviewe

¿Por qué una propuesta de evaluación formativa con feedback automático en una asignatura de matemáticas en línea?

En aquest article es presenta una nova estratègia docent en un curs bàsic de matemàtiques per a estudiants d'enginyeria de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya; es descriu l'experiència de la seva implantació en el curs 2010-2011 i es discuteixen els resultats obtinguts. Aquesta metodologia, basada en l'avaluació formativa, es concreta en la realització setmanal de qüestionaris de pràctica i d'avaluació amb feedback automàtic, a més de la realització d'activitats pròpies del material del curs. En la retroalimentació del sistema, no solament s'informa de la validesa de la resposta, sinó que també es proporcionen suggeriments i comentaris del possible origen de l'error. D'una banda, els resultats obtinguts suggereixen que la metodologia docent implantada dóna als estudiants l'oportunitat de regular el seu propi procés d'aprenentatge i al professorat, la possibilitat de detectar problemàtiques i reaccionar amb agilitat; d'altra banda, fomenta les interaccions amb contingut matemàtic tant entre estudiants com entre estudiant i professor. A més, amb aquesta estratègia docent, el nombre d'estudiants que abandonen l'assignatura s'ha reduït notablement.This article presents a new teaching methodology implemented on a basic mathematics course for Engineering students at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). The experience of its implementation in the 2010/11 academic year is described and the results are discussed. This methodology is based on formative assessment. As well as doing the activities contained in the course materials, students take weekly practice and assessment quizzes and receive automatic feedback. Not only are they told whether their answers are correct, but they also receive suggestions and comments on the possible sources of their errors. The results suggest that this teaching methodology gives students the opportunity to regulate their own learning processes while allowing lecturers to identify and react to problems in a responsive, timely manner. They also suggest that it fosters interaction among students and between students and lecturers. Moreover, since the teaching methodology was introduced, the number of students dropping out of the subject has fallen considerably. En este artículo se presenta una nueva estrategia docente en un curso básico de matemáticas para estudiantes de ingeniería de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya; se describe la experiencia de su implementación en el curso 2010-2011 y se discuten los resultados obtenidos. Esta metodología, basada en la evaluación formativa, se concreta en la realización semanal de cuestionarios de práctica y de evaluación con feedback automático, además de la realización de actividades propias del material del curso. En la retroalimentación del sistema, no solamente se informa de la validez de la respuesta, sino que se proporcionan sugerencias y comentarios del posible origen de su error. Por un lado, los resultados obtenidos sugieren que la metodología docente implementada da a los estudiantes la oportunidad de regular su propio proceso de aprendizaje y al profesorado, la posibilidad de detectar problemáticas y reaccionar con agilidad; por otro lado, fomenta las interacciones con contenido matemático tanto entre estudiantes como entre estudiante y profesor. Además, con esta estrategia docente, el número de estudiantes que abandonan la asignatura se ha reducido notablemente

How do Primary Education Students Perceive the Computer Profession? Influence of Gender and Percetion of Capacity

Este artículo analiza la opinión que tiene sobre la profesión de informática el alumnado del último ciclo de educación primaria. Se encuestaron 300 alumnos de 12 escuelas y se observó que la opinión de las niñas era sensiblemente peor que la de los niños además de que ellas se consideran menos capaces de realizar un programa informático. A partir del análisis de los datos se sugiere que se inicie a los alumnos de primaria en la programación y especialmente a las niñas para que mejoren su percepción de sus capacidades en este ámbito.In this paper the perspective on the computer's profession of students at the end of primary school is analyzed. 300 students from 12 schools were surveyed and we observed that the girls' opinion were significantly worse than boys, as well as, the girls considered themselves less capable of creating a computer program. From the analysis of the data it's suggest that students in primary school should be taught in programming, especially girls, to improve their perception of their capabilities in this area

Col.laboratori (CIRAX) and LORO, collaborative networks for educational repositories and teaching communities

This study focuses on the connection between LORO (Language Open Resources Online), from Department of Language at the Open University, and the prototype CIRAX (Collaborative Interuniversity Learning Resources on the Net), from the Consortium of University Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC). LORO is a consolidated and successful languages teaching and learning repository that was developed with UKOER JISC funding and institutional support. In 2011 it was highly commended in OPAL awards for quality in innovation through Open Educational Practice. LORO was identified as an appropriate and effective experience to learn from and apply to the new CIRAX, which aims to be a radical step forward in creating a teaching community and a space for interuniversity collaboration The evaluation and effectiveness of LORO in changing educators’ practice and the valuable evidences showing that a repository is more accepted and used if those who are affected, educators, participate in the decision making and its implementation, clearly marks the way to be followed by CIRAX. These two projects share a common purpose in helping teachers to become a learning community that systematically uses learning materials stored in a shared repository, and both are also active in the creation, maintenance, and sharing of resources and methodologies for learning. In short, both projects strive to continuously improve the quality of teaching and the progress from the experience and reflective practice. LORO has become effectively embedded in institutional practice at the UK OU and in engaging with other disciplinary users nationally to activate a discipline-based community of educators. Whether this approach can be applied across different discipline areas is a question for its future

Col.laboratori (CIRAX) and LORO, collaborative networks for educational repositories and teaching communities

This study focuses on the connection between LORO (Language Open Resources Online), from Department of Language at the Open University, and the prototype CIRAX (Collaborative Interuniversity Learning Resources on the Net), from the Consortium of University Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC). LORO is a consolidated and successful languages teaching and learning repository that was developed with UKOER JISC funding and institutional support. In 2011 it was highly commended in OPAL awards for quality in innovation through Open Educational Practice. LORO was identified as an appropriate and effective experience to learn from and apply to the new CIRAX, which aims to be a radical step forward in creating a teaching community and a space for interuniversity collaboration The evaluation and effectiveness of LORO in changing educators’ practice and the valuable evidences showing that a repository is more accepted and used if those who are affected, educators, participate in the decision making and its implementation, clearly marks the way to be followed by CIRAX. These two projects share a common purpose in helping teachers to become a learning community that systematically uses learning materials stored in a shared repository, and both are also active in the creation, maintenance, and sharing of resources and methodologies for learning. In short, both projects strive to continuously improve the quality of teaching and the progress from the experience and reflective practice. LORO has become effectively embedded in institutional practice at the UK OU and in engaging with other disciplinary users nationally to activate a discipline-based community of educators. Whether this approach can be applied across different discipline areas is a question for its future

Feedback by automatic assessment systems used in mathematics homework in the engineering field

This research presents the results of the teaching innovation Dynamic Online Assessment System in Mathematics, which is implemented in higher education to promote self‐study by students outside the classroom. The WIRIS calculator was integrated into the Moodle platform to create questions with random elements, for example, students had access to different variants of the same question. The effect of the type of feedback (immediate or deferred) on the work of the students on the platform, measured by means of participation, time spent, and grades obtained, was evaluated. We used a quasi‐experimental methodology for a population of 5,507 students, distributed in 229 courses on four campuses that learn Mathematics I in engineering programs. Immediate feedback exhibits better work of students on the platform, but this work is not necessarily more efficient in comparison with the work performed by students using assessments online assessment with deferred feedback