Good practices in school to educate critical citizens: the youth parliament programme from the perspective of secondary school teachers in training

ERPA International Congresses on Education 2018This paper refers to the European project Erasmus + ELEF (European Learning Environment Formats for Citizenship and Democracy, Reference number 580426). The aim of this project is to develop, implement, evaluate and replicate democratic and innovative learning environments (good practices) in both educational institutions and informal and community learning environments. In this context, over the course of a year, a number of experiences considered relevant have been selected, which constitute the sample of this research on good practices. This contribution presents the educational programme “Youth Parliament”. This is a project with a long history and whose main objective is to train responsible citizens, with the collaboration of various educational agents. The evaluation carried out by the Secondary Education teachers in training on the potentialities and limitations of the programme is shown, based on the experiences carried out in the participating educational centres during the academic year 2016-2017

Emotional intelligence and hot and cool cognitive control ability

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions. The EI construct has been organized following three main approaches: performance-based ability model, a self-report mixed model, and a self-report ability model. EI appears to be beneficial to the performance of “hot” (i.e., emotionally laden) cognitive tasks when using performance-based ability models but not when using self-report EI models. The aim of the present study is to analyze the relationship between the three models of EI and cognitive control ability during the performance of hot and “cool” (i.e., non-emotionally laden) “go/no-go” tasks. 187 undergraduate students participated in the experimental design. They completed the three EI tests of interest as well as go/no-go tasks; the stimuli used for the hot and cool cognitive task were faces and geometric figures, respectively. Results show that individuals with higher EI, measured through the performance-based ability test, perform better on a hot cognitive control task. Specifically, we provide evidence for negative associations between the “managing” branch of EI measured through the performance-based ability test of EI and the cognitive control index of the hot go/no-go task; when using the self-report EI instruments, no consistent findings were achieved. The study found no such results with the cool task. Findings in terms of the validity and different implications of the different EI models are discussed.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The effects of the quality of social relationships and emotion regulation ability on the happiness of introvert individuals

Previous research has shown that extraverts are happier than introverts and, although happy introverts exist, it is unclear under what conditions they can achieve happiness. The aim of the present study is to analyze the quality of social relationships and emotion regulation ability as a possible factor for happiness in introvert individuals. 1006 adults (42% males) completed measures of extraversion, neuroticism, quality of social relationships, emotion regulation ability and happiness. Results shows that introverts have significantly lower happiness, quality of life, quality of social relationship and emotion regulation ability scores than extraverts. Besides, those individuals with high quality social relationships or high emotion regulation ability were happier. Introverts were happier when they had high scores for quality of social relationships and emotion regulation ability, however the effect size was small. These results suggest that emotion regulation and social relationships are important to understand the relationships between introversion and happiness.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Teacher attitudes and best practices with ICT faculty Adult Continuing Education in Andalusia

El presente artículo recoge los resultados de un estudio cuyo objetivo ha sido determinar las actitudes del profesorado de educación permanente de adultos de la comunidad autónoma de Andalucía, hacia el uso e integración de las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TIC) en sus respectivos centros, al mismo tiempo que identificar aquellos factores que favorecen el desarrollo de buenas prácticas. El diseño de investigación es de tipo descriptivo mixto. Las técnicas utilizadas para la recogida de información han sido el cuestionario y la entrevista en profundidad. Se realizaron 172 encuestas a profesores y profesoras, así como 18 entrevistas a directores y coordinadores de Sección de Adultos. Para la validación del cuestionario, se utilizó la técnica de juicio de expertos, seleccionados mediante el procedimiento de «Coeficiente de competencia experta» o «Coeficiente K». Para fortalecer las propiedades psicométricas se determinó la validez de constructo mediante un análisis factorial con el método Varimax y extracción de máxima verosimilitud, donde se extrajeron dos factores. La confiablidad se estableció mediante el Alfa de Cronbach (0.88). La guía de entrevista fue validada por el mismo grupo de expertos. Los resultados señalan por un lado, que los docentes poseen actitudes positivas hacia las TIC tanto en lo relativo a su papel en desarrollo profesional, como en cuanto a la facilidad y accesibilidad de estas. Por otro, entre los factores más importantes para proporcionar buenas prácticas educativas con apoyo de TIC se encuentra la capacidad de estas para favorecer el trabajo personalizadoThe present paper reports the results of a study aiming to describe the attitudes of teachers in adult continuous education in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia (Spain) towards the use and integration of information and communication technologies (ITC) in the educational centres they work in, while identifying those factors that favour the development of good practice. It is a mixed methods descriptive research, and information collection techniques include a questionnaire and in-depth interviews. A total number of 172 teachers were surveyed, as well as 18 head teachers and coordinators, in adult education. For questionnaire validation the expert judgment technique was used, as they were selected by the «expert competence coefficient» or «K coefficient» procedure. To improve its psychometric properties, construct validity was determined by means of Varimax factor analysis and maximum likelihood extraction (two factors were extracted). Confidence was set by Cronbach's alpha (0.88). The interview guide was also validated by this group of experts. Results point out, on one hand, that teachers hold positive attitudes towards ICT regarding both ICT's role in professional development and their ease of use and access. On the other hand, among the most important factors for ICT-supported good educational practices lies in ICT's capacity to favour personalized work

The relationship between soft X-rays and the 1640 Å feature fluxes in late-type stars

The λ 1640 feature has been observed in a sample of late­ type stars of different luminosity classes. The intensity was measured from IUE low dispersion spectra, and it has been compared with the observed X-ray fluxes, finding a relationship between both quantities for "solar type" stars. The X-ray fluxes derived from this relationship for a reduced sample of stars are consistent with the observed ones in the case of "solar type" stars. "Non solar type" stars exhibit discrepancies that could be explained assuming that the λ 1640 feature is formed by contri­buters other than He II, which supply an important fraction of this emission in "solar type" stars. The obtained empirical relationship has been used to derive the X-ray flux for some stars that have not been observed in the X-ray range

The relationship between the three models of emotional intelligence and psychopathy: a systematic review

Psychopaths are usually characterized as having numerous troubles with social and emotional facets in their daily. In addition, these individuals generate a series of harmful situations to society, such as violence and crime. Due to this, it is very important to find those variables that can reduce these behaviors. In this regard, Emotional Intelligence (EI) or the ability to perceive, use, understand and regulate emotions is a potentially useful variable. EI has been categorized according to three main approaches: performance-based ability, self-report ability and self-report mixed models. Several studies have analyzed the relationship between EI and psychopathy, however inconsistent results have been found. These inconsistencies may be due to the EI model employed to measure it. The objective of our study is to systematically review the previous literature about the relationship between the three models of EI and psychopathy, both in the clinical and total population.Scopus and Medline were searched for finding relevant articles. 29 eligible studies were identified. The results were divided according to the EI model and the population used.The results for both the total and clinical population differ according to the measure of EI employed. Specifically, through performance-based ability models, the majority of studies find a negative relationship between EI and psychopathy, and when EI is measured using self-reports, the results are inconsistent. In conclusion, the results suggest that higher EI abilities measured through performance-based ability models - but not through self-reports - are related to lower psychopathy deficits. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

SWATH Differential Abundance Proteomics and Cellular Assays Show In Vitro Anticancer Activity of Arachidonic Acid- and Docosahexaenoic Acid-Based Monoacylglycerols in HT-29 Colorectal Cancer Cells

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common and mortal types of cancer. There is increasing evidence that some polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) exercise specific inhibitory actions on cancer cells through different mechanisms, as a previous study on CRC cells demonstrated for two very long-chain PUFA. These were docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n3) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n6) in the free fatty acid (FFA) form. In this work, similar design and technology have been used to investigate the actions of both DHA and ARA as monoacylglycerol (MAG) molecules, and results have been compared with those obtained using the corresponding FFA. Cell assays revealed that ARA- and DHA-MAG exercised dose- and time-dependent antiproliferative actions, with DHA-MAG acting on cancer cells more efficiently than ARA-MAG. Sequential window acquisition of all theoretical mass spectra (SWATH)—mass spectrometry massive quantitative proteomics, validated by parallel reaction monitoring and followed by pathway analysis, revealed that DHA-MAG had a massive effect in the proteasome complex, while the ARA-MAG main effect was related to DNA replication. Prostaglandin synthesis also resulted as inhibited by DHA-MAG. Results clearly demonstrated the ability of both ARA- and DHA-MAG to induce cell death in colon cancer cells, which suggests a direct relationship between chemical structure and antitumoral actions

Simulation of academic performance rates, estimation of indicators of subjects and of a complete degree

The purpose of this paper is to present a program written in Matlab-Octave for the simulation of the time evolution of student curricula, i.e, how students pass their subjects along time until graduation. The program computes, from the simulations, the academic performance rates for the subjects of the study plan for each semester as well as the overall rates, which are a) the efficiency rate defined as the ratio of the number of students passing the exam to the number of students who registered for it and b) the success rate, defined as the ratio of the number of students passing the exam to the number of students who not only registered for it but also actually took it. Additionally, we compute the rates for the bachelor academic degree which are established for Spain by the National Quality Evaluation and Accreditation Agency (ANECA) and which are the graduation rate (measured as the percentage of students who finish as scheduled in the plan or taking an extra year) and the efficiency rate (measured as the percentage of credits which a student who graduated has really taken). The simulation is done in terms of the probabilities of passing all the subjects in their study plan. The application of the simulator to Polytech students in Madrid, where requirements for passing are specially stiff in first and second year subjects, is particularly relevant to analyze student cohorts and the probabilities of students finishing in the minimum of four years, or taking and extra year or two extra years, and so forth. It is a very useful tool when designing new study plans. The calculation of the probability distribution of the random variable "number of semesters a student has taken to complete the curricula and graduate" is difficult or even unfeasible to obtain analytically, and this is even truer when we incorporate uncertainty in parameter estimation. This is why we apply Monte Carlo simulation which not only provides illustration of the stochastic process but also a method for computation. The stochastic simulator is proving to be a useful tool for identification of the subjects most critical in the distribution of the number of semesters for curriculum vitae (CV) completion and subsequently for a decision making process in terms of CV planning and passing standards in the University. Simulations are performed through a graphical interface where also the results are presented in appropriate figures. The Project has been funded by the Call for Innovation in Education Projects of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) through a Project of its school Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales ETSII during the period September 2010-September 2011

Diagnóstico de la motivación emprendedora. El aprender a querer del espíritu emprendedor

Durante las últimas décadas los esfuerzos institucionales están concentrándose en aras de conseguir dinamizar el desarrollo económico y el crecimiento sostenible a partir de metodologías docentes que contribuyan activamente en el fomento del espíritu emprendedor en todos los estudiantes. SISCAPEM (Sistemas de Capacitación Emprendedora) es el acrónimo de un proyecto que está desarrollando un equipo de trabajo de la Universidad de Sevilla que defiende desde hace décadas que el Fomento del Espíritu Emprendedor y Empresarial, ha de pasar de ser de un discurso político a una política consolidada. Para ello propone al emprendedorismo como cuerpo de conocimiento interdisciplinar que aborde esta fenomenología desde una vertiente académica y con metodologías específicas orientadas al desarrollo competencial integral de todos los estudiantes. En el presente trabajo se propone un modelo de diagnóstico motivacional a la acción de emprender que está fuertemente catalizado por las palabras en su vertiente �lenguaje� (como instrumento racional) y �habla� (como instrumento emocional) como base de las conversaciones sostenidas entre profesor y estudiante, y que es el génesis de lo que nosotros hemos llamado coaching-learning. Siguiendo el proceso de modelización de un sistema multiagente propuesto por Orti en 2016, en este trabajo nos centramos en el diagnóstico de la motivación del sujeto a la hora de enfrentarse a un proceso de emprendimiento. Para darle validez al modelo comenzamos analizando desde una perspectiva teórica .el componente motivacional del emprendedorismo, con el objetivo de dar consistencia a la herramienta usada para su detección. Seguidamente procederemos a validarla siguiendo los planteamientos de la técnica basada en PLS en posteriores trabajos. El componente motivacional constituye un elemento importante en el desarrollo de los comportamientos emprendedores. Para identificarlo, usaremos una herramienta diseñada por SISCAPEM basada en el cuestionario de autoevaluación de las CCF´s (Caracteristicas de comportamiento Fundador) diseñado en 1985 por las consultoras estadounidenses MSI y TRG/McBer and Co. por encargo del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) y que actualmente es utilizada por el �Programa Empretec� que ejecuta ese organismo internacional en diferentes países de Hispanoamérica, África y, más recientemente, en Rusia. SISCAPEM ha re-elaborado esta herramienta ya que, entendemos, que cada fenómeno ha de estudiarse con herramientas de medición no solo definidas en términos de lenguaje (componente racional) sino también del �habla� como componente emocional. Por eso debemos adaptarlas a cada realidad en la que se desarrollan los sistemas de diagnóstico. Nuestro objetivo es que esta herramienta (junto con otras tres) sea un importante punto de partida a la hora de tomar conciencia de cuáles son los elementos que realmente motivan a los sujetos potencialmente emprendedores y así lograr una mayor eficacia y eficiencia en los programas de Capacitación para emprendedores, desde el �aprender a querer y poder� hasta el �hacer� (actuar). Diagnóstico que servirá como punto de referencia del coaching-learning como herramienta de desarrollo de todas las competencias cognitivas y emocionales necesarias para impulsar un proyecto emprendedor de calidad y sostenible en el tiempo