La domótica, robótica y teleasistencia son perfiladas en este trabajo como tecnología con sentido de ayuda a la vida autónoma e independiente. Se presentan como herramientas extraordinariamente eficaces y, por qué no, ayudas técnicas para mejorar la calidad de vida de las personas dependientes y/o con alguna discapacidad. Tras conocer la experiencia y trayectoria profesional de docentes universitarios que están trabajando en proyectos y desarrollando experiencias que hacen uso de las ventajas que ofrecen estas tecnologías para dar apoyo a este colectivo de ciudadanos, se ilustra un ejemplo de buena práctica docente en este terreno. Y, por último, se retrata el estado actual y el futuro cercano y prometedor de la aplicación de las tecnologías a la promoción de la autonomía y a la protección de las situaciones de dependencia.
La domótica, robótica y teleasistencia son perfiladas en este artículo como tecnología con sentido de ayuda a la vida autónoma e independiente. Se presentan como herramientas extraordinariamente eficaces y, por qué no, ayudas técnicas para mejorar la calidad de vida de las personas dependientes o con alguna discapacidad. Tras conocer la experiencia y trayectoria profesional de docentes universitarios que están trabajando en proyectos y desarrollando experiencias que hacen uso de las ventajas que ofrecen estas tecnologías para dar apoyo a este colectivo de ciudadanos, se ilustran ejemplos de buenas prácticas docentes en este terreno y de iniciativas de formación académica para profesionales en la materia. Por último, se retrata el estado actual de la investigación tecnológica y el futuro cercano y prometedor de la aplicación de las tecnologías a la promoción de la autonomía y a la protección de las situaciones de dependencia.
PurposeDue to the intense rivalry in the smartphone market, manufacturers of mobile phones are becoming increasingly interested in knowing the factors that influence consumers' purchase intention. This paper aims to examine the effect of country-of-origin image, brand image and attitude towards the brand on the purchase intention of smartphone users.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was performed based on the information gathered from smartphone users. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was applied to examine the hypotheses.FindingsThe authors found that brand image and attitude towards the brand significantly influence consumer purchase intention. Additionally, there is an indirect effect even when the nation of origin image does not directly influence the consumer's purchase intention. Indeed, brand image and attitude towards the brand act as a mediator between the country-of-origin image and purchase intention.Originality/valueThis study presents a conceptual model on the impact of country-of-origin image on the propensity of consumers to buy smartphones in a field where little research has been done. The investigation offers a consumer-focused analysis regarding the country-of-origin image. This suggests a significant shift from the current strategy, which is frequently centered on the viewpoint of the companies.
Purpose While there have always been cultural differences between countries and between individuals, the virtualisation of markets is rendering the impact of these differences even more salient. There is clear evidence that cultural dimensions are relevant in the adoption and use of e-commerce. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the significant effects of individual cultural dimensions on perceived product quality, perceived risk and purchase intention in e-commerce platforms.
Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was developed to serve as a tool of measurement. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine whether all the indicators for the constructs are reliable. A multiple regression analysis was carried out to test the hypotheses.
Findings The results reveal that, in the case of e-commerce platforms, the cultural dimensions uncertainty-avoidance and collectivism exert a significant influence on perceived product quality, perceived risk and purchase intention.
Research limitations/implications The present study is based on real well-known e-commerce platforms which could have influenced the responses of the sample due to potential past experiences of use. An experimental design based on fictitious platforms could offer more objective findings.
Practical implications This research contributes to the understanding of e-commerce and the behaviour of consumers during online purchasing, taking into account the cultural differences that may exist between them.
Originality/value The literature on individual cultural dimensions – that is, non-national cases – and the variables analysed in the present study suffers from great limitations. This study complements a growing interest in analysing the individual cultural dimensions and their effects on the sphere of e-commerce, specifically on perceived product quality, purchase intention and perceived risk during browsing, measured in terms of the six types of risk prevalent in e-commerce platforms.
Rumination has been proposed to play a significant role as a potential mechanism impairing the recovery process after work. This study examined two main effects: the association between a negative work environment and work-related rumination, and the association between work-related rumination and lack of employee well-being. Moreover, moderator effects of age, seniority and gender were examined. For this purpose, a meta-analysis was conducted. The results of a primary analysis indicated a significant association between rumination and both negative work events and lack of well-being. Meta-regression analysis revealed that the main effects are not moderated by the variables considered. Our findings emphasize the importance of reducing ruminative thinking at both individual and organizational levels.
In all professions, workers are exposed to manifestations of stress that if maintained, can result in the Burnout Syndrome, or Professional Exhaustion Syndrome, a psychosocial phenomenon that has increased in the last decades and which consists of a series of physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms. The present study sought to contribute to a growing body of research examining which variables affect the aforementioned syndrome. In order to accomplish this, a questionnaire, created ad hoc, was administered and empirical data was collected from 230 Spanish secondary school teachers. This data was tested with difference testing and the multiple regression method. The results revealed that there were more differences in burnout regarding the work-related variables than the sociodemographic ones. Specifically, the working situation and the relations with their colleagues and the board of the center were found to have a significant influence on burnout. The implications of findings for administrators are also discussed.
Professionals who have undergone their training at university should possess not only the knowledge-base necessary to practice in their chosen profession, but also the ethical principles that ensure responsible professional practice and the corresponding benefits for society.
The research project addressed in the present article aimed to contribute to fostering ethical competence and commitment amongst future teachers. During the experience the participants had the opportunity to design tasks that stimulated reflection, critique and ethical awareness.
Changes in society and education place new demands on the teaching profession. Due to the increasing cultural diversity in the classrooms, teacher education should provide teachers with knowledge about intercultural issues, both in the initial and the permanent training. With this in mind, this paper seeks to determine if teachers have the professional knowledge (skills, teaching strategies...) required to adequately address the student diversity in the classrooms and the value they give to the initial/permanent training received to face successfully their professional practice in an intercultural context. For this purpose, a quantitative research methodology has been used. The questionnaire, constructed ad hoc to collect data, has been applied to a representative sample of pre-primary and primary teachers; the obtained data have been subjected to various statistical treatments. The results reveal that an important problem in the commitment to interculturalism is the insufficient teacher education, especially the pre-service training. Also, significant relationships between the identification variables and the responses of the teachers have been found.
La determinación de las competencias profesionales marcadas por el Proyecto Tuning señala el desarrollo de las diferentes titulaciones. Sin embargo, en la especificación de éstas, el alumno ha tenido una escasa participación. Con el presente estudio, realizado con una ayuda de la VI Convocatoria de Proyectos de Innovación de la Universidad de Córdoba, se pretende determinar la importancia que los futuros maestros conceden a las competencias establecidas en el referido Proyecto para su titulación. El cuestionario, construido ad hoc para la recogida de datos, fue aplicado a una muestra de estudiantes matriculados en primer curso de Magisterio - especialidad Educación Primaria - de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Córdoba, durante su asistencia a una asignatura troncal. Los datos recabados fueron sometidos a tratamiento estadístico mediante el paquete SPSS.
La investigación que proponemos pretende identificar y dar a conocer las creencias que sobre la formación práctica universitaria poseen los futuros maestros de Educación Primaria y de Educación Física de Universidad de Granada, antes y después de su inmersión en los escenarios de practicum. Queremos comprobar, además, si se produce algún tipo de cambio o alteración en las creencias previas que los estudiantes llevan consigo a este periodo. De los resultados procedentes del tratamiento estadístico aplicado a los datos podemos deducir que, en general, los aprendices de profesor, antes y después de cursar el Practicum, mantienen una actitud positiva hacia la mayoría de las declaraciones que conforman el inventario. Las evidencias que nos proporciona la comparación realizada nos revelan, además, que el paso por la experiencia de prácticas hace que se modifiquen alteren o reconsideren algunas de las creencias sobre la enseñanza práctica.
We have a system that is unable to keep students excited about their own learning and educational performance. In light of this situation it is the responsibility of educators to make a broad and global reflection on what must be changed and how this change may be managed. We believe that change is possible and there is no objective more necessary for society than investing in its future project. This paper proposes an exhaustive analysis of the current situation of the secondary school teachers and from there on justifies the change through the teaching practice based on innovation and with a better training in pedagogical and didactical issues.
In the society of communication and information, the relationships between individuals have changed substantially. The school, as a reflection of the society and that the students are going to inherit, cannot be left out. Previous educational conceptions focused on the individual in isolation, now subjects must be considered in relation to their cultural and social contexts. Societies have taken a dialogical turn of such a magnitude that the educational sciences cannot and should not be overlooked. This article intends to expose the firm idea that a new conception of learning should be promoted that leads to higher levels of understanding of reality and allows students to have an active control in their own learning process. Dialogic learning emerges from the evidence of how people learn dialogically. This being so, the role of the teacher acquires a new dimension.
Modern society has plunged us into a maelstrom of telematics information with little control. Teachers from any field must be trained in order to pass on the confidence and values to withstand this media pressure to their students. To this end, one of the areas of knowledge on which greater emphasis should be placed is that related to emotional intelligence. The study reported on here focused on this type of knowledge among professional music studies teachers in conservatories, asking what the perception of this group on the aforementioned area of knowledge is and to what extent it has been received during their initial training. For this investigation we used a quantitative methodological approach, and via descriptive analysis, a non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and inferential analysis, we found significant differences regarding the two scales considered: level of agreement and emotional intelligence training received. Furthermore, regarding the descriptive variables, significant differences were also found through the application of the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test.
In recent years many efforts have been made aiming to improve the situation of educational quality. Several plans to improve the quality of teaching have been implemented with skepticism and reluctance. Unfortunately, these well-intentioned reforms have not led to the expected goal. In this paper we analyze the two key elements of an education system: educational centers and teachers. Thus, we first describe some problems that are bounded to the management of the centers and then we define the teacher profile demanded by classrooms: the innovative teacher as a facilitator of learning and change.
