rep. Revista Española de Pedagogía

This study aims to ascertain the elements that constitute university students’ mental construct of a “good teacher” and combined two qualitative techniques to do so: qualitative questionnaires in a first phase to obtain a construct structure and discussion groups afterwards to delve into the elements that emerged in the first phase. The results showed the presence of a richly detailed cognitive construct that clearly differentiated aspects related to formal competence –knowledge and knowing how to do something– from more personal aspects –knowing how to behave–. Clear, orderly explanations together with a mastery of the material, capacity to motivate, enthusiasm, humility and respect towards students were the elements that most frequently appeared in the declarations. Other relevant results reference the greater verbal production related to the notion of a “good teacher” as versus the notion of “quality teaching” and the research method’s effect on the amount of information obtained about each dimension of teaching. Antonio Casero Martínez

Key Words: teaching quality, teaching effectiveness, student’s evaluations.

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De Pablos Pons, J. (Coord.) (2009).
Tecnología educativa. La formación del profesorado en la era de internet.
(Málaga, Aljibe). 489 pp.

Iniciamos esta reseña, haciendo propias algunas palabras de su contraportada: “esta publicación se presenta como propuesta que plantea una visión renovada sobre la Tecnología Educativa como disciplina universitaria”. Efectivamente un primer acercamiento a su estructura traduce un interés por trascender los moldes académicos haciéndonos ver el entramado de factores que confluyen en su estudio, así como los desarrollos y aplicaciones sobrevenidas al campo educativo como consecuencia del impacto que las tecnologías de la información y la educación (TIC) están teniendo en el modus operandi de nuestra sociedad en general y en el campo educativo en particular. Una lectura más atenta transmite una mirada que nos permite conocer de manera factual la evolución y prospectiva de esta disciplina de la mano de sus principales protagonistas en España y América Latina. A todo ello se une el hecho de que este libro nace como proyecto de la Red Universitaria de Tecnología Educativa (RUTE). Asociación académica constituida en 2006 con el objetivo fundamental de promover el compromiso profesional e institucional sobre las TIC en educación.

In the actual university context, mobility is a key indicator to evaluate the quality of its institutions. The fact that students may complete part of their universities studies in another Higher Education institutions, stands not only for an enriching experience in the academic area, but also in the personal area, an essential element in educating citizens with a clear international perspective. Up till now, mobility was only possible with the student moving physically. But nowadays, with the incorporation of the information and communication technologies, a new chance is open: the virtual mobility.

Virtual mobility opens the access of any student to any university independently of their geographical location. Both models of mobility have advantages but also have limitations. Together, and complementing each other, are useful tools to extend the cooperation among universities and, specially, to educate their graduates according to the new professional requirements. Virtual mobility opens the access of any student to any university independently of their geographical location. Both models of mobility have advantages but also have limitations. Together, and complementing each other, are useful tools to extend the cooperation among universities and, specially, to educate their graduates according to the new professional requirements. Marta Ruiz Corbella y Lorenzo García Aretio

Key Words: higher education; European higher education area, student, physical mobility, virtual mobility.

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López Quintás, Alfonso (2009).
Descubrir la grandeza de la vida: una vía de ascenso a la madurez personal.
(Bilbao, Desclée de Brouwer).
260 pp. ISBN: 978-84-330-2287-5.

Se trata de una nueva edición, remodelada y ampliada, de la obra del mismo título. Con nuevo vigor y más claridad todavía que en otras obras, el Catedrático y académico Alfonso López Quintás está aplicando a cuestiones pedagógicas los análisis filosóficos que realizó en sus obras estrictamente filosóficas. El resultado es sumamente positivo, pues consigue que los lectores se entusiasmen cuando, con su ayuda, logran descubrir la grandeza del encuentro —bien entendido— y, derivadamente, los valores y el ideal auténtico de la vida. Este triple descubrimiento nos permite clarificar cómo podemos ser verdaderamente libres, colmar la vida de sentido, actuar creativamente, desarrollar la afectividad de modo equilibrado y fecundo…

Los doce descubrimientos. Para llevar a cabo esta labor pedagógica, el autor nos ayuda a descubrir las 12 fases de nuestro desarrollo personal y a constatar, por propia experiencia, cómo vamos subiendo desde el nivel 1 (el del manejo de objetos) al nivel 2 (el del encuentro y la creatividad) mediante la transformación de la actitud de dominio (propia del nivel 1) en una actitud de respeto, estima y colaboración (característica del nivel 2). Al vivir los frutos del encuentro, bien entendido, realizamos el descubrimiento decisivo: el del ideal de nuestra vida, que es el ideal de la unidad (nivel 3)..

A la luz del ideal, descubrimos las siete últimas fases del desarrollo humano y experimentamos otras tantas transfiguraciones, las que otorgan verdadera excelencia a nuestra personalidad:  

Nowadays, University needs to assess the university teaching activity in a framework where new ways of learning are being carried out. ANECA offers a model and set of that guide the activities of the university, without prejudice to the autonomy of it. Therefore, as the new settings are not being analyzed in depth, this paper makes a research proposal for assessment of university teaching in virtual learning environments, that includes four componentes: planning and content of the course, teacher’s activity, interaction with peers and environment. These factors have been identified through the development of a causal model and its estimation using a structural equation analysis. Josefa García Mestanza

Key Words: teaching, virtual environments, evaluation, quality.

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The “Working-Group” (W-G) is a strategy of organizing work based on the principles of the cooperative learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1989), effective to acquire both learning and transfer to the job in training contexts (Moreno, 2009). It was created an evaluation system for all the teacher training programs in the region of Navarre, and putting it into practice as a pilot way, emphasizing the W-G analysis. Two assessment tools were used: a satisfaction survey (173 cases) and a group self-evaluation survey (16 WG). Results showed that W-G were positively valued, generated learning and were moderately transfered to the work. Moreover, this methodology integrated several factors which in the literature are considered as key for training (motivation, autonomy, among others). Mª Victoria Moreno Andrés, Carla Quesada Pallarés y Pilar Pineda Herrero

Key Words: Training methods, training results, transfer of learning, training evaluation, human resource development.

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In the present research, we explored the relation between the time management of university scholars and psicosocials factors, as the satisfaction, the health and the stress. A total of 164 university scholars volunteers of seven schools of Engineering in the Technical University College of Catalonia, distributed in three groups, according to different educational modalities (presential, partly semi-presential and completely semi-presencial), they answered the questionnaire ISTAS21 of psico-socials factors.

The results show significant differences in the three groups of educational modality in the variable satisfaction; and among the group with educational modality completely semi-presencial and the other two groups, in the variables related to the health and stress. It emphasizes the importance that for the university scholars has to be able to adapt the educational day to its personal and labour needs; in order to prevent health risks in university scholars, a greater establishment of educational modalities is suggested, like blended learning or a rationalization of the educational schedules. Ramón Cladellas Pros y M. Del Mar Badia Martín

Key Words: time management, university scholars, psico-socials factors, satisfaction, health, stress.

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The lack of candidates to take on management positions in schools is a problem yet to be resolved in Spain. This article analyses the process to access to the management of public schools in the Basque Country. Research was developed by means of a mixed design, emphasising the complementary nature of methodologies and combining quantitative and qualitative strategies in both collecting data and analysing information. The results of the research indicate that approximately half of the headmasters and headmistresses are obliged to accept the position by the Administration. Reasons for applying for the job, put forward by the candidates, revolve around improving the centre, maintaining a definite line of work, professional development and interest in topics related to organizing and managing schools. Pello Aramendi Jáuregui, Joan Teixidó Sabals, José Luis Bernal Agudo

Key Words: access to school management, management project, leadership, educational organisation and school management.

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This paper is part of the results found during a research project carried out during the academic year 2007-2008 in a number of schools in the periphery of Granada (Spain). The paper describes the relationship between phonological competence and literacy in Year-Five children.

We found that phonological competence to be a determining factor in the development of literacy skills and further academic performance, as well as the consideration of writing skills as a key element in the analyzed features: phonemegrapheme conversion, arbitrary spelling, orthographic rules, accent rules, capitalization, punctuation, and others. Tomás Sola Martínez, Francisco Javier Hinojo Lucena y María Pilar Cáceres Reche

Key Words: Literacy problems, literacy methods, phonological competence, PROESC, instrumental learning, reading accuracy.

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The revista española de pedagogía (ISSN 0034-9461) was founded in 1943 by the “Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas” (Spanish National Research Council) and it is published since 1995 by the “Instituto Europeo de Iniciativas Educativas” (European Institute for Educational Initiatives). The journal has a research nature and a universal vocation. Therefore, it publishes original documents from all around the world, provided that they comply with the scientific requirements and that they aim not only to bring light to the different dimensions of educational action but also to exercise a more humanizing, critical and effective professional practice. It is the first journal published in Spanish that has been included in the Social Sciences Citation Index, which contains a section on education where most of the journals are published in English. Besides, it is also included in the Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition and in the Social Scisearch, as well as in many other databases such as ISOC, Latindex, FRANCIS, etc.