Vol. 7 No. 2 (2020)

The aim of this study is to create a systematisation of knowledge for the possible application of gamification in the teaching of Mathematics, based on the Theory of Didactical Situations (TDS) as a teaching methodology. The preliminary and a priori analysis phases of Didactical Engineering (DE) are used as the basis for the research methodology, taking as a case study the teaching to students at undergraduate level of the extension of the Padovan sequence to a non-positive whole index. The main objective of the research is not, therefore, to analyse the data of the application itself, but to identify the theoretical/scientific knowledge elements that require systematisation and accumulation, in order to formulate a didactic and methodological proposal for the teaching of mathematics that combines gamification strategies, TDS and DE.

The growing complexity of the labour market has created new challenges for Portuguese secondary school students, especially at critical moments such as the transition from secondary education to higher education and/or professional life. Career adaptability has emerged as a resource for managing this transition, especially with regard to the confidence with which students approach tasks related to their academic and professional development. The effect of students’ experience of secondary education on their future careers is still an under-researched area. This study uses a short longitudinal design to assess the differences in terms of career adaptability among 490 students with an average age of 17.3 years (SD = .98), according to sex and grade of schooling. The analysis compares average scores in the career adaptability dimensions of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale using a three-way MANOVA with repeated measures on one factor. The results show significant differences in certain dimensions of career adaptability depending on the contexts studied. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study and possible vocational transition support measures for students nearing the end of their secondary education.

People can have vivid mental images of death and they can have control over them. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of image vividness and image control on attitudes towards death among a group of teenagers (Study 1) and a group of adults (Study 2). The independent variables were image vividness and image control, and the subscales of the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R) questionnaire were used as dependent variables: Acceptance of Approach (AA), Fear of Death (FD), Death Avoidance (DA), Escape Acceptance (EA), and Neutral Acceptance (NA). The results showed that teenage subjects with greater image control displayed significantly less Fear of Death (FD) and obtained lower scores in Avoidance of Death (DA) and higher scores in Neutral Acceptance (NA) than students with lower image control. In Study 2, image vividness and image control were not found to influence the subscales of the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R). The article also analyses the implications of the findings in an educational context.

Deaf people who use sign language (SL) are one of the populations most at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancy owing to limited access to reliable information sources in their language. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate the usability of a web application as an educational strategy to promote sexual health among young Mexican deaf people. A multidisciplinary group of six professionals and seven members of the deaf community participated in the (user-centred) design and construction of the application, called ProTGTlsm. The application consists of five modules: STIs, contraceptive methods, condom use, correct use and condom placement. The usability of the final version of ProTGTlsm was evaluated by 13 young deaf people (7 men and 6 women, aged between 18 and 29 years), according to the criteria established by the ISO 9241-11 standard. The results showed that ProTGTlsm was easy to use, informative and appealing to participants, indicating its utility as part of future measures and actions aimed at this sector of the population.

The Growing up Strong Program has been designed within the framework of positive psychology as an exercise in character education based on the identification, recognition, and use of character strengths among teenagers in secondary school. The study explores the role of mental health (understood as proper psychosocial functioning) in the promotion of adolescent psychological well-being and positive youth development. The aim of this research was to evaluate the resources of the subjects following their participation in the Program. The sample comprised 221 male and female adolescents, aged between 12 and 15. The data were collected using the Scale of Psychological Well-Being for Adolescents and the Factors in Youth Development Scale, both with demonstrated reliability and validity. The results showed, after the Program: good levels of positive youth developmental resources (self-esteem, optimism, self-efficacy and future orientation); evidence of prevention of psychosocial risk behaviors, specifically in relation to raised awareness of substance use, alcohol consumption and smoking, and non-specifically in relation to social-relational risks; good levels of life satisfaction and psychological well-being; positive correlations between positive youth development, psychological well-being, life satisfaction and prevention of psychosocial risks. It can be concluded that the Growing up Strong Program is an instance in character, emotional and well-being education, which generates a healthy network among adolescent users in the educational community.

This study analyses graduate selection strategies by private, public and third-sector employers from two regions of Portugal, one in the north and one in the south. The aim of the investigation was to identify the most common graduate selection strategies used by employers in each of the three sectors and the factors involved in the selection process. The data for the study were collected from 19 semi-structured interviews with employers, with content analysis and inductive reasoning used to identify emergent patterns of meaning. The results revealed that the most common selection strategies were: 1. CV analysis, to preselect candidates with a clear, succinct CV who meet the minimum academic and professional requirements; and 2. interviews, to assess key skills and to check if the candidate’s values match those of the organisation. The study also revealed a correlation between employability and individual responsibility, and the high value placed by employers on key skills. Finally, the results showed raised expectations on the part of employers regarding the role of higher education institutions in promoting student employability.

School is an ideal context for the development of knowledge other than purely academic learning. Emotional skills and competencies should share educational space with cognitive learning in order to ensure the full development of each student. Our aim was to study changes in the emotional awareness and social competence of children attending a six-weekly session socioemotional educational programme called CODIP-R, which was implemented in a school’s classroom. Participants were 83 first graders (mean age = 6.18 years, SD = 0.42) enrolled in four regular schools in the city of A Coruña. Children were evaluated before and after their participation in CODIP-R using an instrument created ad-hoc. Analyses showed that participants improved their emotional awareness (higher identification of positive and negative emotions, higher emotional self-awareness and higher competence to identify other children's emotional states) and their social competence (higher competence to suggest solutions to interpersonal problems, both their own and between others). These data show that a brief school-based programme may have beneficial effects on children’s emotional awareness and social competence.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and academic performance among senior high school students. The study used a sample of 97 high school students (70% male, 30% female) aged between 14 and 17 years (M = 15.29; SD = 0.07) from the metropolitan area of Monterrey (Mexico). Student self-regulation strategies were examined using the Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire, and academic performance was measured using the grades awarded by the schools participating in the research. Descriptive analyses and Student’s t-tests were used to examine the differences between the sexes in terms of the self-regulation strategies used, and linear regression analyses were conducted to determine the predictive power of the academic performance variables. The results showed metacognition to be the most frequent strategy among students and the best predictor of academic performance. No significant differences were observed between male and female students in terms of the self-regulation strategies used. The article concludes with a discussion of the results and their possible practical implications.

This book presents a critical analysis of the current situation of art education, offering innovative ideas, tools and reflections for real change. The author highlights the importance of the arts for our development as individuals, and proposes the inclusion of aesthetic sensitivity training based on our needs and feelings as a way of evolving towards a contemporary, participatory, community-based, human model of education.

The issue of student dropout at secondary school and university level is one of the core concerns of educational psychology and has been addressed from different perspectives by a range of academic and professional experts on the subject. This study consists of two parts: the first examines the risk factors and causes of early school dropout in secondary education, while the second identifies the variables affecting university dropout and different measures to deal with the problem.