scholarly journals Chile: The Challenge of Providing Relevant Information from ILSA Studies for the Improvement of Educational Quality

Author(s):  
Ema Lagos

AbstractChile has a consolidated culture of evaluation in its educational system because, for more than three decades, first the Ministry of Education and currently the National Agency for Educational Quality have implemented national census tests every year to monitor the established curricula’ learning. International Large-scale Students Assessment (ILSA) studies have substantially contributed to this monitoring since the late 1990s. Both, the definition of the disciplines and domains evaluated and the results obtained, have motivated curricular reforms to adapt what is taught to children and young people to prepare them for a globalized world, with a strong presence of information and communication technology. The Chilean students’ results have impacted the system, especially by highlighting its weaknesses, related to little improvement over decades, differences in learning achieved by different groups of students, and performance below than expected in the most economically and culturally advantaged sectors. To accomplish these challenges, the system has changed its organization and developed diverse strategies. Data provided by ILSA studies have been used to promote policies and programs for the improvement and strengthening of the most vulnerable groups and a general approach that promotes gender equality in education, politics, and labor. ILSA studies have also been a reference for innovation in educational assessments, allowing the country to evaluate and explore innovative learning areas such as digital and financial competences.

Author(s):  
Fernando Torrente ◽  
Adrian Ezequiel Yoris ◽  
Daniel Low ◽  
Pablo Lopez ◽  
Pedro Bekinschtein ◽  
...  

The unique circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic pose serious challenges to mood stability and emotional regulation at all ages. Although many people tend to react resiliently to stress, others appear to display emotional anxiety and depression-related symptoms. In this study, we carried out a survey (N = 10,053) during the first week of the general lockdown (quarantine) in Argentina to measure early affective reactions in Argentine adults. Respondents showed substantial anxious and depressive symptoms, with 33 % and 23% of participants reporting possible depressive andanxious syndromes, respectively, with the youngest group (18 to 25 y.o.) showing the highest prevalence of symptoms. Even if prior mental health problems predisposed or aggravated the reaction, participants without prior complaints showed signs of psychological impact. Using linear regression, the most important independent variables related to depressive symptoms was the feeling of loneliness followed by daily stress. In the case of anxious states, the strongest variables were negative repetitive thinking and feeling of loneliness. Other psychological, economic, and social factors are discussed. This study is in line with previous literature that highlights the importance of the psychological impact of pandemics but additionally demonstrates that these reactions are present at a large scale immediately after the start of quarantine with very low infectious rates as an early anticipatory adaptive reaction leading to potentially negative outcomes from adjustment disorders to major disorders. In addition, the present results provide potentially relevant information about sudden environmental impacts on affective states and specific pathways for anxiety and depression to be expressed. We end by discussing implications for public policy based on considering the most vulnerable groups.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 394-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurneet Kaur

Micro, Small & Medium enterprises (MSMEs) have played a crucial role in the overall economic development of every developing economy in the world. In India, MSMEs have helped in creating a favourable environment of growth by serving as ancillary units to large scale industries. They not only create huge employment opportunities for the public but also address other challenges faced by the economy like poverty and removing regional imbalances. Keeping in view the crucial role of MSMEs in our economy, the present paper is an attempt to analyze the definition of MSMEs, the role and performance of MSMEs in Indian economy and government policies towards MSMEs as well as the various challenges and opportunities associated with MSMEs in India. The study reveals that over a period of time notable growth has been shown by the MSME sector which has been a leading contributor to export, employment and Gross domestic product in India. Therefore, some sincere action plan and their proper implementation is must for the encouragement of the MSMEs in the Indian economy.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.M. Alakin ◽  
G.S. Nikitin

Приведены результаты исследований экспериментального картофелекопателя с ротационной сепарирующей поверхностью. Особое внимание уделяется обоснованию конструктивных параметров и определению рабочих характеристик нового сепарирующего устройства. На основе анализа результатов экспериментальных исследований определены наиболее оптимальные режимы работы экспериментального картофелекопателя.Research results of an experimental potato digger with rotational separating web are published in this article. Special attention is paid to definition of design characteristics and performance data of the new separating device. Admissible operating modes are defined on the basis of the analysis of results of pilot studies of the experimental potato digger.


Author(s):  
С. Л. Подвальный ◽  
О. А. Сотникова ◽  
Я. А. Золотухина

Постановка задачи. В настоящее время формирование современной комфортной городской среды приобретает особое социально-экономическое значение и выдвигается в число приоритетных государственных масштабных программ. В связи с этим необходимо разработать концепцию благоустройства ключевого общественного пространства, а именно: определить основные и сопутствующие функции данной территории, создать эскизное предложение проекта благоустройства с учетом всех необходимых норм и стандартов, внедрить современные технологии. Результаты. Выполнен эскизный дизайн-проект «Аллеи архитекторов» по ул. Орджоникидзе г. Воронеж, включающий в себя основные элементы по зонированию территории, проектированию акцентных объектов и внедрению инновационных технологий «умного города», позволяющих повысить уровень комфорта горожан. Выводы. Благоустройство населенных мест приобретает особое значение в условиях дискомфорта среды. С выполнением комплекса мероприятий, направленных на благоустройство, и с внедрением современных технологий значительно улучшается экологическое состояние, внешний облик города. Оздоровление и модернизация среды, которая окружает человека в городе, благотворно влияет на психофизическое состояние, что особенно важно в период интенсивного роста городов. Statement of the problem. Currently the formation of the modern comfortable urban environment is gaining a special social and economic value and moving forward in the priorities of state large-scale programs. The purpose of development of the concept of improvement of public space is definition of the main and accompanying functions of this territory, design of the outline offer of the project of improvement considering all necessary norms and standards and implementation of modern technologies. Results. The conceptual project of “Alley of Architects” includes the basic elements of territory zoning, design of accent objects and implementation of technologies of a “smart-city”. These elements allow one to increase the level of comfort of inhabitants. Conclusions. Improvement of the inhabited places is of particular importance in the conditions of discomfort of the environment. Carrying out a complex of the actions directed to gardening and improvement, introducing modern technologies, the ecological condition, the physical appearance of the city considerably improves. Improvement and modernization of the environment which surrounds the person in the city influences a psychophysical state well that especially important during intensive growth of the cities.


1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 291-298
Author(s):  
Frits A. Fastenau ◽  
Jaap H. J. M. van der Graaf ◽  
Gerard Martijnse

More than 95 % of the total housing stock in the Netherlands is connected to central sewerage systems and in most cases the wastewater is treated biologically. As connection to central sewerage systems has reached its economic limits, interest in on-site treatment of the domestic wastewater of the remaining premises is increasing. A large scale research programme into on-site wastewater treatment up to population equivalents of 200 persons has therefore been initiated by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment. Intensive field-research work did establish that the technological features of most on-site biological treatment systems were satisfactory. A large scale implementation of these systems is however obstructed in different extents by problems of an organisational, financial and/or juridical nature and management difficulties. At present research is carried out to identify these bottlenecks and to analyse possible solutions. Some preliminary results are given which involve the following ‘bottlenecks':-legislation: absence of co-ordination and absence of a definition of ‘surface water';-absence of subsidies;-ownership: divisions in task-setting of Municipalities and Waterboards; divisions involved with cost-sharing;-inspection; operational control and maintenance; organisation of management;-discharge permits;-pollution levy;-sludge disposal. Final decisions and practical elaboration of policies towards on-site treatment will have to be formulated in a broad discussion with all the authorities and interest groups involved.


Author(s):  
Mark Newman

An introduction to the mathematics of the Poisson random graph, the simplest model of a random network. The chapter starts with a definition of the model, followed by derivations of basic properties like the mean degree, degree distribution, and clustering coefficient. This is followed with a detailed derivation of the large-scale structural properties of random graphs, including the position of the phase transition at which a giant component appears, the size of the giant component, the average size of the small components, and the expected diameter of the network. The chapter ends with a discussion of some of the shortcomings of the random graph model.


Author(s):  
Fred Luthans ◽  
Carolyn M. Youssef

Over the years, both management practitioners and academics have generally assumed that positive workplaces lead to desired outcomes. Unlike psychology, considerable attention has also been devoted to the study of positive topics such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, to place a scientifically based focus on the role that positivity may play in the development and performance of human resources, and largely stimulated by the positive psychology initiative, positive organizational behavior (POB) and psychological capital (PsyCap) have recently been introduced into the management literature. This chapter first provides an overview of both the historical and contemporary positive approaches to the workplace. Then, more specific attention is given to the meaning and domain of POB and PsyCap. Our definition of POB includes positive psychological capacities or resources that can be validly measured, developed, and have performance impact. The constructs that have been determined so far to best meet these criteria are efficacy, hope, optimism, and resiliency. When combined, they have been demonstrated to form the core construct of what we term psychological capital (PsyCap). A measure of PsyCap is being validated and this chapter references the increasing number of studies indicating that PsyCap can be developed and have performance impact. The chapter concludes with important future research directions that can help better understand and build positive workplaces to meet current and looming challenges.


2014 ◽  
Vol 488-489 ◽  
pp. 1439-1443
Author(s):  
Jin Hai Li ◽  
Jian Feng Liu

Hyperpaths enumeration is one of the basic procedures in many traffic planning issues. As a result of its distinctive structure, hyperpaths in Urban Rail Transit Network (URTN) are different from those in road network. Typically, one may never visit a station more than once and would never transfer from one line to another that has been visited in a loopless URTN, meaning that stations a hyperpath traversed cannot be repeated, neither do lines in loopless networks. This paper studies the relationships between feasible path and the shortest path in terms of travel costs. In this paper, a new definition of hyperpath in URTN is proposed and a new algorithm based on the breadth first searching (BFS) method is presented to enumerate the hyperpaths. The algorithm can safely avoid hyperpath omission and can even be applied in networks containing loops as well. The influence of parameters on hyperpaths is studied by experimentally finding hyperpaths in the subway network in Beijing. A group of suggested parameter pairs are then given. Finally, a numerical experiment is used to illustrate the validity of the proposed algorithm. The results imply the significance of the convergence of the BFS algorithm which can be used to search hyperpaths in large scale URTN even with loop.


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