Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Mangroves are unique ecosystems that grow in brackish waters on the borders of tropical coastlines; represent an enormous scientific, ecological, economic and cultural value. In Nicaragua they represent a great source of economic resources for local populations. The species most affected by logging are Rizophora mangle L, Rhizophora harrisonii Leechm and Rizhophora racemosa G. Mey. Because these species have similar phenotypic characteristics, their separation as a species is difficult. Therefore, aims to this work was to morphophysiologically differentiate the three species of the genus Rhizophora. The foliar samples of the species R. mangle, R. harrisonii and R. racemosa from Juan Venado Island were used. Morphological comparisons and analyzes of pigments and tocopherols were performed. The activity of the photoprotective systems turned out to be highly variable intraspecifically. Total tocopherol content was very different among the three species, with R. racemosa being the highest concentration and R. harrisonii the lowest. The role of g-tocopherol in salinity tolerance could be responsible for the interspecific differences. The different tocopherol composition could be used as a biochemical parameter for interspecific distinction.

Introduction. In spite of the education reform and the introduction of mixed schools, there are still obstacles to gender equality in Spain. Sexist attitudes and values continue to influence personal development and career choices, limiting women's participation in all areas. The opinions, beliefs, ideas, conceptions, expectations and personal attitudes of teaching professionals exert a great influence on the students who perceive them, which calls for up-to-date information on teaching staff’s perceptions towards gender equality and coeducation.Method. In this work, results from a survey distributed in three Secondary Schools in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, with 105 participants, are presented. The retrieved data were analyzed by using ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests.Results. Significant differences were found among the respondents in terms of their views on gender equality for the gender and gender*age factors, and for the gender and years of teaching experience factors in the case of their perceptions about coeducation.Discussion and conclusion. Although the tendency toward a true status of equality was more pronounced in women than in men, an adequate predisposition on the majority of teachers of both sexes towards the achievement of a social equality model based on the promotion of peer roles and coeducational practices was found.

Introduction.  The prevalence rates of bullying vary significantly across countries and continents. Specifically, UNESCO estimates that the prevalence rates vary from 22.8% (Central America) to 48.2% (Sub-Saharan Africa). Recently, these differences among countries and regions have been attributed to culture- and country-level variables. Thus, the first purpose of this study is to examine the comparability of bullying in schools across countries. Secondly, a cross-cultural comparison of the latent mean scores of bullying is implemented. Method. The data of 286,481 adolescent students (M=15.78, SD=0.29) from 32 countries were analyzed using multilevel confirmatory factor analyses (MLCFA) and multigroup factor alignment. Results.  Results indicated that the meaning of bullying is equivalent within and between cultures. However, cross-cultural differences in bullying are apparent. East Asian countries have the lowest latent means of bullying, while Southeast Asian countries have the highest means. Anglo-Saxon, Eastern European, Mediterranean, South American, and Middle East countries displayed rather higher scores. Discussion and Conclusion.  These findings underscore the existence of cross-cultural differential responding in bullying measures. Further, the implicit role of culture as an important variable that determines the rates of bullying is underscored.

Introduction.  Homework is one of the daily assessment methods used by the classroom teacher. In the literature, there are many studies dealing with homework management from the perspectives of students and parents. However, studies concerning teachers' self-efficacy for homework management are scarce. This study aimed at developing and validating a scale for measuring teachers' self-efficacy for homework management. Method.  A descriptive research design was employed in this study.  The participants were 127 teachers randomly selected from one educational governorate in the Sultanate of Oman. The literature was reviewed to construct 20 items reflecting various aspects of the homework design and implementation. The items and the responses were subjected to a validation process. Results.  Factorial structure of the scale revealed three subscales: efficacy for planning and designing homework; efficacy for monitoring, assessing, and providing feedback on homework; and efficacy for considering individual differences in homework. The three subscales showed acceptable evidence of validity and reliability. Discussion and Conclusion.  The psychometric analysis of the teachers’ responses showed that the three subscales were reliable measures of teachers’ self-efficacy for homework management. These results support the usefulness of using the scale as an assessment tool for research purposes and the professional development of teachers. These results present new knowledge about teachers’ management of homework with planning and designing being the salient factor. 

Introduction. Students often answer questions from available expository texts for assessment and learning purposes. These activities require readers to activate not only meaning-making processes (e.g., paraphrases or elaborations), but also metacognitive operations (e.g., monitoring readers’ own comprehension or self-regulating reading behaviors) in order to successfully use textual information to meet the task demands. The aim of the study was to explore the meaning-making processes readers activate while answering questions and using textual information at hand, and how they monitor and control the processing of these tasks. Method. Forty eighth graders read two expository texts and answered ten multiple-choice comprehension questions per text. For each question, participants were forced to select the relevant pieces of textual information to provide the correct answer. Further, participants thought aloud in one of the texts, whereas they performed the task in silence in the other. This reading scenario served to collect valuable data on the reader’s question-answering process. The task was administered individually on a computer-based environment, which allowed recording the students’ reading behavior online. Results. Results showed processing differences between the two recursive steps of question-answering. While reading the question readers mainly restated information and focused on monitoring the comprehension of the questions and their correspondence with the alternatives. However, they tended to paraphrase and assess textual relevance when searching the text. The study also reveals that think-aloud methodology affected these processes and outcomes differently. Discussion and Conclusion. This study advances on our knowledge of cognitive and metacognitive processes involved in answering questions from an available text, a task extensively used to measure reading literacy skills as well as for learning purposes in academic settings. It shows how readers activate meaning-making processes while reading questions and searching the text for task-relevant information, and how they monitor the question-answering process. The study also reveals that think-aloud methodology may affect these processes differently. Apart from advancing our theoretical knowledge, our study also has important practical applications for the assessment of reading literacy skills.

Introducción. La actitud, la motivación y los intereses lectores son tres aspectos fundamentales de la lectura como entretenimiento. ACTIM-LEC es un instrumento diseñado para la medida de estos componentes, que incluye otros factores relevantes para asentar el hábito lector como son la actitud hacia el estudio y los intereses lectores. El objetivo de la presente investigación fue validar la estructura factorial de este intrumento en población preadolescente y adolescente. Método. Se aplicó ACTIM-LEC a una muestra de 1904 estudiantes (51% varones), 525 de sexto de primaria y 1379 de educación secunadira, con una edad media de 14.07 (DT = 1.48), para evaluar evaluar las propiedades psicométricas y la estructura factorial del instrumento así las posibles diferencias por curso y género. Resultados. El Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio (AFC) del ACTIM-LEC muestra una adecuada bondad de ajuste al modelo de cinco factores propuesto. El Análisis de Varianza reveló un efecto principal significativo tanto del género como del curso. Conclusiones. ACTIM-LEC es un instrumento válido y fiable de los factores propuestos para el hábito lector. Las chicas obtienen puntuaciones globales más altas, observándose una disminución de las puntuaciones a medida que aumenta el curso.  

Introduction. The current focus of empirical studies demonstrates the significance of mastery motivation in child development, academic achievement and school success. Consequently, it is critical to have reliable and valid tools to measure this important variable accurately. The Preschool version of the Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ) 18 has been validated in English, Hungarian, and Chinesem and translated to many other languages. This has opened cross-cultural and cross-ethnic studies among these countries. Method. In this study, we evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swahili version of the DMQ 18. Teachers and parents evaluated 397 preschool children recruited using a stratified random sampling technique from Kenya's counties. Results. Reliability was established by good internal consistency, construct reliability, test-retest and parallel forms reliability values. Factorial validity was proven by confirmatory factor analysis and this fitted the theoretical model quite well. Discussion and Conclusion. The Swahili Preschool Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire was valid and reliable for collecting data in the Kenyan context and that of East Africa. This version compared well with other versions such as Hungarian, Spanish, Turkish, Persian and Indonesian.

Introducción.  Existe una marcada confusión diagnóstica entre Alta Capacidad Intelectual (ACI) y Trastorno por Déficit de Atención e Hiperactividad (TDAH), frecuentemente se han reportado características de comportamiento similares entre las poblaciones. Valorar Funciones Ejecutivas como procesos subyacentes puede aportar a un diagnóstico diferencial.  El objetivo de este estudio es analizar las funciones ejecutivas de planificación, flexibilidad cognitiva, toma de decisión, memoria de trabajo, fluidez verbal, inhibición y atención en alumnos con ACI, alumnos con TDAH, alumnos con doble excepcionalidad (ACI-TDAH) y alumnos con inteligencia promedio, con el fin de establecer un perfil diferencial de estas poblaciones. Método.  Estudio cuantitativo, descriptivo y transversal ex post facto. Participaron 80 alumnos de educación básica de 7 a 10 años, distribuídos en cuatro grupos. Para la evaluación de las funciones ejecutivas se aplicó la Batería de Evaluación de Funciones Ejecutivas BANFE-2 y Conners Continuous Performance Test CPT-II. Los resultados se analizaron utilizando el Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS v24. Se muestran datos descriptivos y análisis de Kruskal--Wallis para la diferencia de grupos. Resultados.  Las funciones flexibilidad cognitiva, fluidez verbal, memoria de trabajo verbal, inhibición y atención muestran algunas diferencias entre grupos obtenidas a través del análisis Kruskal-Wallis, sin observar una clara identificación de las poblaciones. Discusión y conclusiones. Como conjunto, las funciones ejecutivas presentan mutivariabilidad, limitando la posibilidad de identificar a las poblaciones, por lo que resulta imprescindible considerar de manera específica las funciones ejecutivas en futuros trabajos.

Introducción.  El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar los resultados del proceso de adaptación y validación de la Escala de Motivación del Motivated Scale Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) en Estudiantes universitarios en Colombia.   Método.  La investigación está enmarcada en los denominados estudios instrumentales, los cuales buscan adaptar, validar y analizar las propiedades psicométricas de un instrumento. La versión adaptada y validada recibe el nombre de Cuestionario de Motivación del Aprendizaje (CMA). Los datos se obtuvieron de una muestra a conveniencia de 2067 Estudiantes de todo el país para la fase exploratoria y de 660 Estudiantes para la fase confirmatoria. Se aplicó análisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio. Para ello, se utilizaron el software SPSS versión 25 y AMOS versión 24. Las técnicas estadísticas utilizadas para determinar la validez confirmatoria del instrumento son las ecuaciones estructurales (SEM). Se presenta el proceso desarrollado en cada fase de la investigación y el modelo SEM final, representado en un diagrama Path. Se realizó, además, el análisis de validez convergente y discriminante, a partir de la Fiabilidad Compuesta (CR), el Alfa de Cronbach y el Coeficiente Omega, varianza promedio extraída (AVE), y un análisis de validez predictiva Resultados. El resultado es un instrumento de 19 ítems, divididos en cinco Subescalas, con un modelo con bondad de ajuste, adecuados a los umbrales planteados por la teoría, donde la dimensión Creencias del Control del Aprendizaje (CCA) fue eliminada del modelo en el proceso de análisis factorial. El nuevo cuestionario es válido y confiable; presenta baja predicción del rendimiento académico Discusión y Conclusiones.  El cuestionario, adaptado y validado, brinda información a quienes pueden utilizar MSLQ en el país para comprender los resultados de sus investigaciones. Además, ofrece a la comunidad internacional nuevas evidencias empíricas sobre las propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Motivación del MSLQ.

Introducción. El comportamiento de los hijos está influenciado por la crianza de los padres. El objetivo del estudio fue valorar el efecto del programa Padres Educando en Ambientes Seguros (ACT) sobre las prácticas de crianza en padres con hijos de 3 a 5 años de edad   Método.  El estudio es de diseño cuasi experimental y se trabajó con una muestra de 65 padres entre las edades 21 a 43 años, de los cuales, 18 constituyeron el grupo de estudio y 27 el grupo control. Los instrumentos utilizados para la evaluación antes y después del programa, fueron el Cuestionario de Parentalidad (MPQ) y la Encuesta Multifactorial de Indicadores (MICS)   Resultados. Los resultados evidencian que las puntaciones del postest en el grupo experimental fueron mayores a las puntuaciones del pretest, demostrando el efecto del programa ACT a nivel estadístico y práctico en las prácticas de crianza de monitoreo, disciplina, castigo verbal, comunicación y castigo físico (p < 0,05).   Discusión y conclusiones.  El programa ACT logró mejorar las practicas de crianza en padres con hijos de 3 a 5 años de edad. A partir de esto, se sugiere la implementación del programa que se ha estudiado, para mejorar la crianza a fin de formar hijos que al relacionarse con los demás demuestren conductas adecuadas.