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

Undergraduate internships are now deeply embedded in highereducation systems. However, they have been largely neglected inacademic research, in particular in the case of Spain. The aim of thispaper is to analyze the effect of internships on the employability andwages of students. The degree of satisfaction with work placements andtheir perceived usefulness is also examined. The study is based on datagathered from Economics and Business Administration students of theComplutense University of Madrid participating in internships during2012-2016. The results of linear probability models and probit modelsshow that internships allowing for the development of communicationskills and problem management abilities improve the probability of beingemployed and earning higher salaries, respectively. Furthermore, greatersatisfaction of students and perceived usefulness of internships is closelyrelated to gaining ICT-related skills.

This paper analyzes the effect and impact that teachers’ practicumexperiences in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education bachelor’sdegrees generate on the people and institutions involved (schools andFaculties of Education) in the opinion of students, tutors and institutionalleaders. From a qualitative and descriptive perspective, we carried outa multiple case study in 16 schools that host trainee students from theUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Universitat de Lleida, in theirthird and fourth course of their bachelor’s degree. The data collectionprocess combined semi-structured interviews (N = 102) with coordinators,students and tutors from schools and faculties of both bachelor’s degrees,analysis of 28 students’ practicum reports and 2 focus groups withinstitutional leaders for contrasting our findings. The data analysis consistsof a mixed codification and categorization process. Results show that thepracticum contributes to the development of student capacities and hasa positive effect on the professional development of school and facultysupervisors. In contrast, the effect that the practicum could generate inthe institutions involved is lower than might be expected. The practicumgenerates work dynamics that cause an impact mainly on the class level, but not on the whole school; in faculties, it generates an indirect repercussion through the faculty tutors, as long as they update the contents they teach; and professional relationships established by supervisors do not generate synergies between institutions.

The use of ICT and mass media has become one of the main lines ofresearch for the teaching-learning process and educational innovation. Theaim of this paper is to learn the opinion of future teachers of Social Sciences in Spain and England on the use of different resources for the teaching of History in Secondary Education. To this end, non-experimental quantitative research was carried out through a questionnaire with a closed Likert rating scale (1-5) in 22 universities in Spain and England with a broad territorial representation, and with a sample of 504 questionnaires. The descriptive results of one of the items of the questionnaire related to the objective of this work have been detailed, and a description of some of the factors has been made through the analysis of principal components with Varimax rotation.The data extracted shows some significant differences between the futureSpanish and English teachers regarding the use of ICT and mass media.Some differences show a more motivational perception of the use of theseresources in the Spanish case, which is more procedural in England. It isnecessary to improve teacher training in Spain, both initial and permanent,in order to achieve more dynamic History classes through the use of ICT and mass media as resources that allow the work of the historian to be replicated in class, to improve experiential activities in the historical formation of the students, and not merely as a playful element.

The advance of democratic awareness along with the increase inpopulation is provoking the need to offer the society data that our owngovernments are legally obliged to provide and that citizens need moreand more. Much of this data is offered in open mode; the so-called opendata (OD), which is current, future, openness, transparency, knowledge,efficiency, time saving, depth of research, development in education,precision analysis and therefore in the pathologies and diagnoses of anyarea of our life that is of interest to study. However, it is of little or no use to know all about it if we do not know what to do with it or have the capacity to exploit it. In this context, and faced with the scarce initiatives in the educational field, this study is presented with the objective of studying open data within the scope of the Spanish Faculties of Education, aiming to learn whether they can be used in higher education as a teaching resource. The main objective is to know what type of perception university professors have regarding the use and value of open data for the teaching-learning process.The sample was of 192 teachers, with a maximum margin of error applicable to non-segmented global data with a confidence level of 95.5%, which in the worst case (p = q = 50%) is ±7.2%. A non-experimental research design has been developed, of an exploratory type, using the instrument of the questionnaire for the collection of information. The results demonstrated that use in higher education requires an improvement of educational policy that promotes digital literacy thus promoting educational empowerment.

For more than a decade, various national and international initiatives have emerged so that universities can assume a leadership role in order to promote education for sustainable development and to respond to the global challenges of today’s society. It is necessary to analyze the effectiveness of these initiatives, and to ask ourselves whether or not universities are training their students to face these challenges with responsibility.This is one of the objectives of the EDINSOST project. Within the framework of EDINSOST, we have carried out qualitative research, developing focus groups with students in their final years at different universities and different academic profiles. This has allowed us to integrate the perspective of university students into our analysis. In this paper, we present the most relevant contributions in relation to the students’ vision of sustainability, their formative experience in the university and their opinion on how it could be improved. Results show that the sustainability training provided by university is insufficient: students do not feel prepared to integrate sustainability into their professional activity. However, they consider it essential that universities should include sustainability in their academic curricula, and they emphasize the importance of using active methodologies that connect students with reality and encourage reflection.The research shows that there is a lot of work to be done in order to integrate sustainability into university education. Students’ proposals are aligned with those of experts in education for sustainability. To carry them out requires both teacher training and commitment, as well as institutional involvement.

This research analyses the career guidance and career education needsof university students. It is the result of an innovative Tutorial Action Planproposed by Oviedo University (Spain), which is elaborated using the sameprinciples that support the career education programs in previous levels ofeducational system. Significant reluctance among some university teachingstaff to offer their students professional guidance has led to consider thesuitability of rigorously evaluating the way in which university students’ career development needs are dealt with. Given its interest in the project, the Faculty of Educational Sciences of Córdoba University (Spain) participates too.This article presents the main conclusions reached on the careerguidance provided to students in Education Degrees (pre-primary andprimary school teachers, pedagogues and social educators) at Oviedo andCórdoba Universities. A specific instrument is developed and validated toevaluate guidance needs at the university (CENO-PAT), with solid metriccharacteristics. The work involves all students attending classes, witha sample of 2,414 people who, with a confidence level of 99%, optimallyrepresent the two Faculties, including the six degrees and every course. The students direct important criticism towards the career guidance that they receive at the university: they are convinced that their professional future, which is a priority for them, does not matter to most of their teachers. They make numerous demands related to their guidance and career development.They also state that in very few subjects the teachers work on the need toprotect the environment in all professional and personal contexts.

Our study is placed in the intersection of two problems: pedagogicalrenewal in the teaching of Science and Mathematics towards inquiryorientedperspectives, and the transformative professional developmentof teachers. Within a European project, a professional developmentprogram about inquiry-based learning was designed and implemented in13 European countries. Tools to measure teachers’ evolution within theprogram were also designed and validated. In this paper we focus on theSpanish case (18 professional development programmes implemented, with Primary and Secondary school teachers). They filled in a questionnairebefore their participation in the programmes and when they finished.The questionnaire addressed different dimensions about inquiry-basedlearning (beliefs, teaching practices, perceived barriers and obstacles).Then, the second questionnaire addressed teachers’ perceptions of theprofessional development process they experienced, and the impact teachers perceived on their teaching practices. Results show an increment in all of the dimensions analysed about inquiry-based learning, as well as an improvement in teachers’ perception of barriers and obstacles that hinder the use of this pedagogy. However, despite the progress observed, teachers’ practices do not reflect a wider use of this pedagogy as yet. Results also show that teachers positively value the professional development process experienced, with a positive perception of the impact of the programme on their teaching abilities, despite the moderate transformation they reported on their teaching practices. In summary, from the results, we extract relevant conclusions about inquiry-based learning dimensions that should be addressed deeply in professional development programmes, as well as about professional learning processes that should be enhanced to strengthen the transformative potential of such programmes.

The hasty changes in the curricula that have occurred in recent yearsin the School of Architecture of University of Valladolid have generatedsome problems in the subject of Descriptive Geometry that have been added to others that had been ongoing for many years. A Teaching Innovation Project (TIP) seeks to provide a solution to the problems raised with new methods of teaching inside and outside the classroom and greater interaction between the students and the professor. This way, geometry is no longer something abstract, unrelated to the professional practice of the architect. Thereby, it is intended to structure a new subject that provides students not only with graphic and spatial techniques but also with teamwork, cooperation, training, sufficiency and autonomy resources that help them in the development of their future career. In order to carry out this new methodology for teaching, a course based on gamification has been designed, which allows the students to focus on the subject from a more playful point of view with the aim of motivating and involving them. Based on a three-year experience of comparative work between the traditional and the proposed systems, the conclusions obtained with regards to the withdrawal rate, academic performance and perception of the teaching method are presented in this paper. The incorporation of techniques based on games had a motivating effect on the students, who discovered a way of learning by playing what they previously perceived as a tedious subject.

This article summarizes the perceptions of two groups of young people(students of Journalism and young adolescents in treatment for differentaddictions and disorders) about their participation in a project of servicelearning funded by the EU (Erasmus + Key Action 3) during the academicyear 2017/2018. The activities of the students, integrated into the curriculum of different subjects, were aimed at providing to the youngsters with skills related to digital journalism production, critical reading, and education in communication and interculturality. The responses to the questionnaires and the focus groups reveal the reciprocal nature of a learning enhanced by the generational proximity of both groups, which has not been only based on the transmission of content, but also has an affective character. The students consider that the interaction has induced them to structure and conceptualize the knowledge, but also to overcome preconceived ideas and develop their empathy. The young people appreciate the contact with an environment previously perceived as something distant and inaccessible, as well as their direct participation in the collaborative practices. The increase in self-esteem and the greater involvement of women are two of is one of the most evident effects of the group interviews carried out in both groups. The rewarding nature of the experience could have stimulated the most involved students to volunteer in civil services.

Learning to learn is one of the key skills set by the European Commission(EC, 2005 and 2006) to be transmitted through the education systems. The latest research highlights the relevance of university students learning to learn. Our aim is to specify a theoretical model of this skill in order to allow it to become operational in university degrees. To this end, a literature review was carried out. After studying its scientific basis and regulations, several models were analyzed -specifically from European literature- and an own model was formulated. This proposal includes five dimensions, three of them (cognitive, metacognitive and affective-motivational) coming from cognitive psychology, as well as theories on learning strategies and self-regulated learning. The fourth one (social/relational) is linked to the socio-cognitive approach and the fifth one (ethical) is a contribution of the research team, which considers it is fundamental for the personal and social development of the learner. The European Commission reformulated the skill in 2018 and included ethical elements for learning to learn. The dimensions we propose were specified in subdimensions, for which a description is provided. From the review of the scientific literature and from the reflection of the research team, an integrative model is proposed. This model has a more detailed development than is usual in the literature. Our intention is to serve as a reference for this skill in the university degrees.