Do business games foster skills? A cross-cultural study from learners’ views

Purpose: This study seeks to analyse students’ perception of the effectiveness of business games as an e-learning method in management training. This analysis of games’ effectiveness is centred in the generic and managerial skills acquired, through the comparison of students’ opinions in different cultural contexts within Europe. Design/methodology: The analysis focuses on 120 management students at postgraduate level who use the same business game at different universities in five European countries: Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Findings: The results indicate that students positively assessed the generic and specific managerial skills fostered by the business game. The generic skills most valued were information and decision-making, and leadership. Regarding the specific skills, the most valued were management skills and the least valued, skills related to planning and the acquisition of theoretical knowledge. However, significant differences were found between students in different cultural contexts and education systems in the case of certain specific managerial skills. Practical implications: This finding suggests that the students’ perception of how a business game helps them acquire specific managerial skills is influenced by cultural aspects and previous exposure to experiential learning, which determine that the teachers’ role and the teaching process should be adapted to the students’ learning model. Originality/value: With this study, a better knowledge about the students’ perception of this e-learning method is obtained, not just considering a specific educational environment, but comparing opinions of students from different cultural contexts, which adds value to the analyses developed.Peer Reviewe

An enigmatic arthropoda from the upper Triassic (Carnian) southwestern Gondwana (Argentina)

The presence of a new taxon, Duraznovis gallegoi new genus new species is reported and described from an early Late Triassic (Carnian) deposit in Argentina. Two specimens, recovered from the Quebrada del Durazno locality, uppermost levels of the Potrerillos Formation, Cuyana Basin (Mendoza), are represented by the molds of their shield and imprints of soft parts. The identity of these specimens appears enigmatic but closely resembles in the possession of a generalized arthropod morphology and a distinctive combination of characters, to living and fossil representatives of xiphosurans (Chelicerata) and notostracans (Branchiopoda). The new fossils are associated with a rich biota comprising abundant insects, spinicaudatans, plants, and scarce fish remains living in semipermanent swamps and/or ponds within a delta plain environment with intermittent episodes of flooding, in a warm temperate and humid megamonsoonal climate during Triassic times. In this context, we analyze the taphonomic and ecological implications of their presence. Lastly, these unique specimens at the Quebrada del Durazno locality adds to the diversity of the biota, revealing the importance of this site as an exceptional paleontological Triassic deposit.Fil: Lara, Maria Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Cariglino, Barbara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Zavattieri, Ana Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Zacarias, Iracema Anahi. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; Argentin

Geogebra y los sistemas de funciones iteradas: socios en la creación de un árbol de Sakura.

Este estudio ha tenido como objetivo trabajar con los llamados Sistemas de Funciones Iteradas (SFI). Estas herramientas matemáticas junto con el software GeoGebra convergieron para construir un fractal que, debido a su forma y color, se lo ha identificado con el árbol de Sakura, flor de cerezo en japonés. Basados en el fundamento teórico de los SFI se ha utilizado el GeoGebra para crear macro herramientas que reporducen su dnámica. Como resultado, los conceptos matemáticos y los métodos computacionales se entrelazaron a la perfección, al punto de dejar los investigadores en un proceso de libre creatividad

School feeding: what children’s drawings reveal

Objective: To identify the perceptions of elementary school children of public schools in Guarulhos, São Paulo, relating to school feeding. Method: a descriptive type study with a qualitative approach. Eighty-two children of 4 schools selected for engaging in educational activities related to eating and nutrition, drawn from the 63 institutions within the municipality were investigated. The drawing technique was the option selected for data collection. Thirteen drawings - those representing the content expressed by a group of children – were presented. The children’s verbalization describing the drawings was recorded and transcribed, along with the content resulting from the analysis of the graphic material, submitted to content analysis. Results: According to the children’s drawings and their respective verbalization, school feeding was associated: with the foods served and those that satisfied their hunger, providing moments of pleasure; within the setting the highlight was the physical structure in which the meals were served and the organization of the line of those waiting to be served and the personal relationships created, representing eating as a moment of companionship, for talking and socializing with friends. Final Considerations: For the children, school feeding acquires a representation that goes beyond the mere act of eating, it is a moment that includes the foodbut also the school setting and relationships with peers. Thus one of the challenges for the administrators and the entire community involved is how to incorporate these dimensions that permeate the meal-time experience and that were observed to be a fundamental and integrating aspect of the school scene.Objetivo: Identificar as percepções das crianças do ensino fundamental de escola públicas do município de Guarulhos, São Paulo, sobre a alimentação escolar. Método: Trata-se de um estudo do tipo descritivo com abordagem qualitativa. Participaram 82 crianças de 4 escolas selecionadas por desenvolverem atividades educativas em alimentação e nutrição, dentre as 63 instituições. Para coleta dos dados optouse pela técnica do desenho e a entrevista com as crianças para sua interpretação do desenho. Foram apresentados 13 desenhos, aqueles representativos de conteúdos expressos por um dos grupos de crianças. As verbalizações das crianças descrevendo os desenhos foram gravadas e transcritas, e juntamente com o conteúdo resultante da análise do material gráfico, submetidos à análise de conteúdo. Resultados: De acordo com os desenhos das crianças e suas respectivas verbalizações, a alimentação escolar estava associada: aos alimentos, os que são ofertados, que estes saciam a fome e trata-se de um momento que proporciona prazer; ao ambiente, o destaque foi para a estrutura física em que eram realizadas as refeições e a organização da fila que se formavam para se servirem e nas relações, representando a alimentação como um momento de convivência, de conversar e socializar com os amigos. Considerações Finais: Para as crianças a alimentação escolar adquire uma representação que extrapola o ato da alimentação, é um momento que engloba a relação com os alimentos, o ambiente escolar e as relações com os pares. Desta forma, um dos desafios para os gestores e toda a comunidade envolvida, é incorporar essas dimensões que permeiam a alimentação e que foram apontados como fundamentais e parte integrante do cenário escolar

#CoronavirusCruise: Impact and implications of the COVID-19 outbreaks on the perception of cruise tourism

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Diamond Princess became the center of the largest outbreak outside the original epicenter in China. This outbreak which left 712 passengers infected and 14 dead, followed by subsequent outbreaks affecting over one-third of the active ships in the cruise industry's global fleet, quickly became a crisis that captured public attention and dominated mainstream news and social media. This study investigates the perception of cruising during these outbreaks by analyzing the tweets on cruising using Natural Language Processing (NLP). The findings show a prevalent negative sentiment in most of the analyzed tweets, while the criticisms directed at the cruise industry were based on perceptions and stereotypes of the industry before the pandemic. The study provides insight into the concerns raised in these conversations and highlights the need for new business models outside the pre-pandemic mass-market model and to genuinely make cruising more environmentally friendly.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Competitive universities need to internationalize learning: perspectives from three European universities

The process of restructuring European universities in order to harmonize their educational systems is rapidly approaching a key milestone as 2010 looms large on the horizon. This paper describes an approach to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) based on a real case study of students that belong to five European Universities (University of Burgos, Technical University of Valencia, University of Valladolid, University of Basque Country and University of Applied Sciences Cologne). The objective of this paper is two-fold: on the one hand, to analyze from the student’s point of view how they value the restructuring of teaching as a result of the Bologna process and what are the implications for students with regards to both their academic qualifications and their future incorporation into the labour market; and, on the other hand, to deduce from the results obtained recommendations which may help to guide teachers towards successful internationalization and collaboration between interuniversity networks, as well as achieving greater standards of quality within university teaching. Only this would permit an environment in which students are capable of developing the necessary competences, and put into practice learning outcomes. The results show that students value communication, innovative proposals and cooperation between universities; the internationalization of knowledge between universities has been positively accepted and this has motivated research to place a stronger focus on this aspect; it impacts strongly on scientific productivity, improves the quality of education offered by the teaching staff, and leads to greater student mobility. This strategy is intrinsically linked to learning from local experiences shared by members of the same university as well as from more global experiences made available through inter-university networks. It implies being willing to listen, to communicate, to engage in dialogue and means that we must seek to understand the potential contributions from teachers, staff and students that make up each university.Peer Reviewe

Digital Future Classroom for the inclusion of the NEET/Refugee population: proposal based on an ICT skills approach

School dropouts as well as the inclusion of refugee population in the host countries are in up-to-date. Vocational Education Training (VET) programmes have been developed under recent educational approaches. A new classroom physical space – the Future Classroom Lab - has been developed based on ICT resources and on non- traditional teaching/learning approaches. But are these suitable for the VET aiming the Non in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)/Refugee population as well as promoting the Inclusion and the Labour Market Integration (ILMI) of this population? The present research intends to investigate how a Digital Future Classroom (DFC) based on ICT skills approach promotes the ILMI of the NEET/Refugee population

O espaço físico multidisciplinar e multidimensional da nova sala de aula inclusiva: resultados de um web survey aos Future Classroom Learning Labs

O recurso a tecnologias digitais no contexto educativo, as abordagens pedagógicas emergentes como a aprendizagem colaborativa ou a aprendizagem por projeto e o aumento da heterogeneidade entre a comunidade estudantil requerem novas abordagens ao espaço da sala de aula. Argumentamos que estas deverão passar por uma estratégia inovadora de design de interiores baseada na multidisciplinaridade e multidimensionalidade do espaço, com especial enfoque nas dimensões social, cultural, arquitetural e digital. Para além da contextualização da investigação em curso, pretendemos com este artigo apresentar as diferentes abordagens multidisciplinares e multidimensionais ao espaço que temos como base para a criação da Digital Future Classroom, um espaço de sala de aula que promova a inclusão da população NEET/Refugiados. Apresentamos ainda alguns dos resultados de um web survey europeu sobre os Future Classroom Learning Labs

Las familias ensambladas y su efecto en el regimen de sociedades gananciales, distrito de independencia, Lima, 2021

El propósito del estudio dio lugar a confirmar: ¿Cuáles son los efectos que producen las familias ensambladas en el régimen de sociedades de gananciales, distrito de Independencia, Lima 2021? Ante todo, es importante asomar que se visualizó un efecto positivo donde (r = 0.575), mismo que nos demuestra que la carga probatoria para ambas variables presenta un vínculo significativo. De este modo inferimos que mientras las familias ensambladas sean jurídica y socialmente reconocidas como tales, legalmente pueden tener más derechos en la sociedad de gananciales, desde una suposición justa si estos bienes se construyeron en familia. Este logro forma parte de las bondades de la investigación básica por su aporte teórico, y al hecho de que el nivel es explicativo, sustentado en el diseño no experimental – transversal y guiado por el método cuantitativo, sociológico - jurídico los cuales nos permitieron conocer la opinión que tienen los encuestados sobre esta fusión familiar, y desde el enfoque cuantitativo distinguir el criterio porcentual de las dimensiones evaluadas. Concluyendo finalmente: La Nupcias van más allá del vínculo legal para dar lugar a una situación nueva, de la que surgen las relaciones entre cónyuges y otros individuos; es crucial incluir a las familias fusionadas en este contexto, dado que el 63% de estos ejes de estas familias reconoce su importancia en términos de protección legal, lo que puede generar controversia en casos de bienes compartidos