Discriminaciones en el acceso al empleo de los menores no acompañados en Italia

I minori non accompagnati che arrivano in Italia in condizione di clandestinità con l’intento di trovare un lavoro per migliorare la loro posizione economica, non godono del “diritto al lavoro” come gli altri minori presenti in Italia malgrado abbiano i requisiti; ciò succede anche se il diritto alla parità di trattamento è un diritto fondamentale della persona riconosciuto dai Principi Internazionale e anche dalla Costituzione italiana. In riguardo si è creata una giurisprudenza volta a superare il carattere discriminatorio delle norme, ma essa non è sufficiente ad attivare interventi di protezione sociale o a prevenire situazioni di rischio e possibili pratiche di sfruttamento, pertanto la grande sfida del legislatore italiano è quella di affrontare tale discriminazione tra minori cittadini e minori stranieri.Unaccompanied minors coming to Italy, clandestinely, with the intent to find a job in order to improve their economic position, do not enjoy the "right to work" in the same way as the other minors in Italy. This is in spite of the fact that they meet the requirements; it happens although the right to equal treatment is a fundamental human right, accepted by International Principles and recognized in the Italian Constitution. In this regard, a jurisprudence was created, aimed precisely at overcoming the discriminatory nature of the rules, but it appears clearly inadequate to activate social protection measures or to prevent risk situations and possible exploitation practices. Consequently, the great challenge of the Italian legislator is to tackle such discrimination between minors who are citizens and foreign minors

The wind and wave atlas of the Mediterranean Sea - the calibration phase

International audienceWithin the WW-Medatlas project, sponsored by the Italian, French and Greek Navies, an extensive atlas of the wind and wave conditions in the Mediterranean Sea has been completed. The atlas is based on the information derived from the archive of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, UK, then calibrated on the base of the data available from the ERS1-2 and Topex satellites. The calibration is required because the wind, hence the wave, data are normally strongly underestimated in the enclosed seas. The calibration has been done deriving the model values at each satellite position, typically at 7 km intervals. The co-located values have then been assigned to the closest grid point. This has provided a substantial number of couples of data at each point, then used to derive, by best-fitting technique, the correction required. This turns out to vary amply throughout the basin, according to the local geometry and orography. The calibration coefficients, different for wind and waves, have been used to correct the original fields and the time series at the single points. Using the calibrated data, extensive statistics have been derived, both as fields and at each point, including extreme values

Implementing Differentiated Strategies During Math Instruction

In any elementary school classroom there are students with different abilities, learning styles, and personalities. Teachers need to find a successful way to individualize their teaching in order to benefit every child in the class. I designed this action research study to study the implementation of differentiated strategies in my third grade classroom at Riker Hill Elementary in Livingston, New Jersey. My class consists of 22 students during Math instruction. I studied the use of differentiated instructional techniques through the implementation of specific strategies, including group work, attending to multiple learning styles, and the use of centers. I implemented the strategies at different times throughout the research study. While these strategies were being used in my classroom, student learning was studied. The instruments I used to collect data in this study were: a student questionnaire, a teacher observation journal, interviews, and short student feedback forms to be used after each lesson where a new strategy was used. I used all. instruments to analyze student learning based on the differentiated strategies used when teaching Math. My analysis of multiple data sources demonstrated that working in groups was beneficial for student learning. Also, it was evident that students learn better when working with manipulative^ and when the teacher models

Liberation in Authenticity: The Relational Beauty of Post-Pandemic Higher Education

The COVID-19 pandemic permanently altered the field of higher education and created a broad culture shift in labor across the country. In this commentary, I explore the idea that the demands of student affairs practitioners are intensifying as students crave connection to others, yet student affairs professionals may be seeking to build an identity outside of work. I offer the perspective that as higher education becomes more relational, it creates room for the exploration of personhood, humanity, and the liberation of authenticity

Exploring early corticomotor reorganisation

The overarching aim of this thesis was to enhance our understanding of early corticomotor reorganisation in response to novel stimuli (motor skill training and acute pain). To achieve this aim, four primary studies (Chapters 2-5) were conducted and published. Study 1 (Chapter 2) explored the within- and between-session reliability of corticomotor outcomes assessed using rapid TMS mapping (map area, volume, centre of gravity, discrete peaks in corticomotor excitability, and mean motor evoked potential). This study also assessed the validity of rapid mapping by testing its equivalence with traditional mapping methods. Study 2 (Chapter 3) used rapid mapping to investigate corticomotor reorganisation during short-term motor skill learning in thirty individuals. This study demonstrated, for the first time, that reorganisation of lower back muscle representations occurs rapidly (within minutes) in certain individuals. Study 3 (Chapter 4) explored the temporal profile and variability of corticomotor reorganisation in response to acute experimental pain. Findings of this study suggest that early corticomotor responses could be used as an index to predict symptom severity. This could have utility in stratifying individuals according to their likelihood of increased or persistent pain and the development of targeted management strategies. Study 4 (Chapter 5) investigated this possibility using repeated intramuscular injection of nerve growth factor, a novel and clinically-relevant model of musculoskeletal pain. The findings of this study suggest that early rTMS over M1 may expedite recovery following acute musculoskeletal pain or injury. Taken together, this thesis makes a substantial and original contribution to our understanding of neuroplasticity. By evaluating rapid TMS mapping, early corticomotor reorganisation can now be assessed validly and reliably, allowing exploration of early drivers of nervous system plasticity. Decreasing map acquisition times may also increase the utility of TMS beyond research settings, potentially allowing corticomotor reorganisation to be assessed in clinical environments. The experimental studies throughout this thesis provide valuable insight into the temporal profile and modifiability of early corticomotor reorganisation. This work highlights the prognostic and therapeutic utility of exploring early corticomotor reorganisation and the need for further research in this area

Effects of video feedback mode on students' academic writing

Academic writing is a challenge for students undertaking a degree as they encounter new genres in reading and writing, a new academic register, and referencing. Many researchers have highlighted the importance of feedback for developing students’ academic writing (e.g., K. Hyland, 2009; Poulos & Mahony, 2008), yet others have shown that feedback is often poor quality or not engaged with by students (Chanock, 2000; Wingate, 2010). Researchers have theorised that the mode of feedback may affect feedback provision and students’ engagement with feedback (Crook et al., 2012; Kerr & McLaughlin, 2008; Stannard, 2008); however, there is little empirical research that investigates the effects of feedback mode. To address this research gap, this study examines the effect of two different feedback modes, written mode and audio-visual mode, with particular attention to the focus and form of the feedback, as well as students’ revisions in response to the feedback. A mixed method case study design was employed with a purposeful sample of 20 first-year undergraduate students at an Australian higher education institution. Over the course of a term, each student submitted two draft assignments to an academic skills advisor for feedback. One paper received written feedback and the other paper received screen-capture audio-visual feedback, which incorporates spoken recorded feedback and simultaneous video of the advisor’s computer screen. Using grounded theory methods, the analysis involved coding, classifying and organising the advisor’s comments (n = 1040) and the students’ corresponding revisions into an analytical framework to measure and describe the effects of mode on the provision and uptake of feedback. This inductive approach is in the tradition of feedback researchers such as Ferris (1997, 2006) and Merry and Orsmond (2008), but the current study’s framework differs from others as it incorporates a sociocultural theoretical perspective and moves away from viewing comments as corrective feedback in response to language errors only. The student participants were also surveyed and interviewed to gain qualitative data about their perceptions and preferences to help explain the findings of the feedback analysis. The analysis revealed that 88% of the video comments led students to make a successful revision to their draft compared to 77% of the written comments. Results show further that written feedback was highly directive and largely focused on linguistic accuracy, whereas video feedback was more likely to address content and text structure issues and contain detailed explanations and praise. Most student stated they prefer video feedback because, in their opinion, it is easier to understand, feels more personal and includes explanations about why changes are necessary and how to improve their work. These findings indicate that the spoken nature of audio-visual feedback can help implement feedback good practice principles, such as those suggested by Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006) and Straub (2000), and can also facilitate feedback that aligns with a Vygotskian theoretical orientation (Vygotsky, 1978) to academic language and learning support. The findings also support Mayer’s (2009) claim that a multimodal (e.g. audio and visual) approach to learning is more effective than a mono-modal (e.g. only visual) approach. These insights contribute to the growing body of literature on feedback methods and can inform feedback practice in higher education to support students with the development of their academic writing skills