Making sound decisions: A framework for judging the worth of your data

In our daily lives, we encounter decision points on a continuous basis. To maximize the likelihood of successful decisions, organizational members must draw on relevant, reliable, valid, and complete data. Sometimes copious data are available, but an overabundance can make it difficult to judge the worth of the data. This article presents a data evaluation framework that provides guidance for decision makers to evaluate and determine the potential effectiveness of the data they will use to inform their decisions.     

A comparison of time-motion performance between age groups in judo matches

The aim of this study was to compare time-motion indicators during judo matches performed by athletes from different age groups. The following age groups were analysed: Pre-Juvenile (13-14 years, n = 522), Juvenile (15-16 years, n = 353); Junior (19 years, n = 349) and Senior (>20 years, n = 587). The time-motion indicators included: Total Combat Time, Standing Combat Time, Displacement Without Contact, Gripping Time, Groundwork Combat Time and Pause Time. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) one-way and the Tukey test, as well as the Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney (for non-parametric data), were conducted, using P < 0.05 as significance level. The results showed that all analysed groups obtained a median of 7 (first quantile - 3, third quantile - 12) sequences of combat/pause cycles. In total time of combat, the result was: for Total Combat Time, Standing Combat Time and Gripping Time: Pre-Juvenile and Senior were significantly longer than Juvenile and Junior. Considering Displacement Without Contact, Junior was significantly longer than all other age groups. For Groundwork Combat Time, Senior was significantly longer than all other age groups and Pre-Juvenile was longer than Junior. These results can be used to improve the physiological performance in intermittent practices, as well as technical-tactical training during judo sessions.     

Informatica aplicada a la comprensión textual

Uno de los inconvenientes de los programas didácticos que tratan de desarrollar en el alumno estrategias de comprensión lectora es que, dada la estructura grupal de la clase, deben aplicarse colectivamente cuando su propia naturaleza requeriría la aplicación individual. El ordenador puede conseguir aplicar a toda una clase los mismos modelos de comprensión, pero individualizadamente. En este artículo se expone un modelo experimental.     

Adaptation and evaluation of a learning analytics dashboard to improve academic support at three Latin American universities

Despite the success of academic advising dashboards in several higher educational institutions (HEI), these dashboards are still under-explored in Latin American HEI's. To close this gap, three different Latin American universities adapted an existing advising dashboard, originally deployed at the KU Leuven to their own context. In all three cases, the context was the main ruling factor to these adaptations. In this paper, we describe these adaptions using a framework that focuses on four different elements of the context: Objectives, Stakeholders, Key moment and Interactions. Evaluation of the adapted dashboards in the three different Latin American universities is conducted through pilots. This evaluation shows the value of the dashboard approach in different contexts in terms of satisfaction, usefulness and impact in academic decision-making and advising tasks. The main contribution of this paper is the systematic reporting of the adaptations to an academic advising dashboard and showing the value of an academic advising dashboard on academic decision-making and advising tasks.     

Self-Assessment of Governance Teams in an Argentine Private University: Adapting to Difficult Times

Argentine Universities like similarinstitutions all around the world are facing acomplex and challenging environment thatdemands a more sophisticated leadership and thedevelopment of complex managerial skills. Inthis paper we propose that enhancing thequality of collective decision making, andbuilding more complex teams as a way topreserve collegiality in academic governance,can help the institutions to survive andsucceed in a hostile context. We analyse thecase of a private university, and we presentsome conclusions of the process ofself-assessment initiated by the governanceteams at both institutional and academic unitlevels.     

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

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.     

Measuring Graph Comprehension,Critique, and Construction in Science

Interpreting and creating graphs plays a critical role in scientific practice. The K-12 Next Generation Science Standards call for students to use graphs for scientific modeling, reasoning, and communication. To measure progress on this dimension, we need valid and reliable measures of graph understanding in science. In this research, we designed items to measure graph comprehension, critique, and construction and developed scoring rubrics based on the knowledge integration (KI) framework. We administered the items to over 460 middle school students. We found that the items formed a coherent scale and had good reliability using both item response theory and classical test theory. The KI scoring rubric showed that most students had difficulty linking graphs features to science concepts, especially when asked to critique or construct graphs. In addition, students with limited access to computers as well as those who speak a language other than English at home have less integrated understanding than others. These findings point to the need to increase the integration of graphing into science instruction. The results suggest directions for further research leading to comprehensive assessments of graph understanding.     

The relationship between motivation to read and reading comprehension in chilean elementary students

This study examined the role of reading motivation in reading comprehension achievement of 1070 Chilean third, fourth, and fifth-grade students enrolled in public and private schools. Students were assessed in Spanish reading comprehension and were administered the Motivation to Read Profile from Gambrell, Palmer, Codling and Mazzoni (1996), at the beginning and end of the school year. Results showed that motivation to read at the beginning of the school year was significantly associated with gains in reading comprehension skills. When disaggregating motivation into self-concept and value of reading, only self-concept of reading significantly predicted gains in reading comprehension. Moderation analyses showed that students that started the year with lower reading comprehension and higher motivation to read, had significantly better reading comprehension at the end of the school year, than their peers who started with lower reading motivation. The pedagogical implications are discussed.