Julio Meneses

Short Web-based versions of the Perceived Stress (PSS) and Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CESD) Scales: A comparison to pencil and paper responses among internet users

This study reports results from a format comparison between Web-based and pencil and paper questionnaires measuring two well-validated measures of psychological distress among 530 frequent Internet users studying at an on-line University (Open University of Catalonia, UOC). A four-item version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and a seven-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CESD) were randomly administered in Web-based and pencil and paper format. Internal consistency analyses showed that these two brief versions were reliable for on-line assessment. Also, no differences in Cronbach as were found between formats. Exploratory as well as multigroup factor analysis techniques showed that factor structures were invariant across formats. Overall, results revealed that respondents did not bias their responses in the Web-based condition. As these findings suggest, when familiarity with technology is high among respondents and sample procedures are followed to maximize control for potential participants, Web-based and paper and pencil formats are virtually equivalent, as in the two brief measures of psychological distress used in this study. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Putting Digital Literacy in Practice: How Schools Contribute to Digital Inclusion in the Network Society

In the sociology of childhood and youth, children have been conceptualized as passive subjects on hold, still in the process of becoming—rather than in an effective state of being. In effect, children have been conceptualized as the subjects rather than the objects of the research process. This influence got carried over to digital divide research. The latest thinking in the field has started to define and understand children and young people as heterogeneous, nonpassive, autonomous, diverse, and versatile agents actively appropriating the Internet in meaningful contexts of their everyday lives. This article seeks to move the discourse forward via four parallel binary logistic regressions that assess diverse and socially mediated opportunities needed to learn basic digital skills from a representative sample of 6,602 primary and secondary students from 350 schools and high schools in Catalonia, Spain. Our research shows that the school appears to be playing a secondary role, as compared with children and young peoples social practice in heterogenic contexts of everyday life, not only for Internet training but also for providing opportunities to develop and master basic digital skills.

La introducción de las TIC en el sistema educativo español (2000-2010): un análisis comparado de las políticas autonómicas desde una perspectiva multinivel

La convergencia de politicas para la introduccion de las TIC en las escuelas Espanolas supone un reto al tener que considerar diferentes regulaciones, presupuestos y calendarios autonomicos. El proposito de este articulo es examinar las politicas autonomicas de introduccion de las TIC en los centros educativos de Espana. El estudio utiliza un modelo de analisis comparado que considera: racionalidades politicas y planes de accion. El analisis evidencia que Espana representa un buen ejemplo de introduccion desordenada de las TIC, con un claro acento en la dotacion de infraestructuras y una menor atencion a las necesidades y capacidades del contexto educativoResumen: La convergencia de politicas para la introduccion de las TIC en las escuelas Espanolas supone un reto al tener que considerar diferentes regulaciones, presupuestos y calendarios autonomicos. El proposito de este articulo es examinar las politicas autonomicas de introduccion de las TIC en los centros educativos de Espana. El estudio utiliza un modelo de analisis comparado que considera: racionalidades politicas y planes de accion. El analisis evidencia que Espana representa un buen ejemplo de introduccion desordenada de las TIC, con un claro acento en la dotacion de infraestructuras y una menor atencion a las necesidades y capacidades del contexto educativo.

Operationalizing and Conceptualizing Quality in Mixed Methods Research: A Multiple Case Study of the Disciplines of Education, Nursing, Psychology, and Sociology:

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study is to describe and compare how researchers in the education, nursing, psychology, and sociology disciplines operationalize and conceptualize the quality of mixed methods research (MMR). An international sample of 44 MMR researchers representing these four disciplines were interviewed. The study findings point to (a) two perspectives from which the quality of MMR is understood, one contingent and flexible and the other universal and fixed; (b) a relationship between these two perspectives and the participants’ discipline; and (c) a similar occurrence, both in terms of nature and frequency, of the MMR quality criteria most mentioned by the participants across disciplines. Implications of the findings for the field of MMR are discussed.

They have gone, and now what? Understanding re-enrolment patterns in the Catalan public higher education system

ABSTRACT Studies of student re-enrolment patterns in higher education constitute, along with traditional studies of persistence and dropout, a key element for improving the quality of higher education institutions. However, these studies tend to be limited as they are centred on a single institution, due to the lack of national-scale data sets for monitoring students between different institutions. Using a longitudinal population-based data set provided by the Catalan University Assurance Agency (AQU), which includes information records on 21,473 undergraduate students, this paper aims to develop and test an exploratory model of student re-enrolment, specifically in the Catalan public university system. We are not only interested in student re-enrolment, but also in whether they do so during the first year after dropout or in the same area of knowledge. Results from logistic regression analysis revealed that although most students return to the university system in the first year after dropout, many of these change to a different area of knowledge, which is clear evidence of dysfunctional and inefficient guidance systems and university entrance. Findings provide a more accurate and complete picture of student re-enrolment behaviour and suggest the need to develop targeted policies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our university systems.

Quality schooling in the Network Society: a community approach through the everyday use of the internet

Beginning with a discussion of the latest findings in the information and communication technologies (ICT) and educational improvement field, this article develops a comprehensive strategy to analyse online community building. Far from offering a utopian or dystopian vision, we study the contribution of ICT appropriation as a tool for collaboration, participation, and co-responsibility in the everyday functioning of classrooms and schools. To do so, we examine and discuss school policies, expectations, and the current rate of internet use among administrators, teachers, and students from a representative sample of 350 schools in Catalonia (Spain). Our results show a sparsely connected education system, in which the integration of ICT does not appear to trigger a substantial revolution in established schooling practices. Our concluding statements defend the importance of ICT in education as the ultimate means of interaction that may enable community building to improve the processes of managing, teaching, and being educated in the Network Society.

Dimensión afectiva de profesores universitarios acerca de su enseñanza: una exploración a través de la técnica de diferencial semántico

The main objective of this study is to increase our knowledge regarding professors’ emotions about their teaching, as a component of teacher identity. In the first part, we present a comprehensive review of the literature about the types of teachers’ emotions and teaching. In the second part we present the results of a validity study with a semantic differential scale developed to explore the emotions of university professors about their teaching. This scale was fulfilled by a sample of 198 university teachers and comprises a list of pairs of bi-polar adjectives that summarize a broad range of affective classifications about teaching in higher education. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure of emotions about teaching in higher education: Motivation for teaching, Evaluation of oneself as a teacher, and Teaching performance. The cross-referencing of the scale to Trigwell and Prosser’s (2004) teachers’ approaches to teaching is analysed and discussed. Our results suggest new lines of research about teachers’ emotions in higher education, proposing further studies to collect more validity evidences about the affective dimensions of teaching.