The research line focuses on the design and evaluation of learning environments aimed at enhancing active and meaningful learning in different instructional contexts. Based on available knowledge about human learning, the characteristics of effective learning environments are characterised by being (1) learner-centred (building on learners' prior knowledge and skills, attitudes, beliefs and motivations: (2) focus on knowledge and understanding, emphasising the importance of prioritising deep understanding, seeking to facilitate the development of well-organised, accessible and flexible knowledge in different contexts and situations), (3) prioritise formative assessment and feedback, enabling learners to review and improve the quality of their learning, and teachers to provide them with the supports that enable them to make progress; and, (4) developing a sense of belonging to a learning-oriented community, emphasising interaction, cooperative learning, contrasting arguments and giving and receiving help from peers. It also emphasises the role of new technologies in education(training, as they facilitate learning based on real-world problems - using a wide variety of resources such as videos, simulations, demonstrations - that increase students' motivation, provide powerful tools for visualisation and analysis of information, offer more opportunities for interaction with learning materials, communication and feedback from teachers and peers, as well as build learning communities in which a wide variety of actors can participate.
Topics:
- Learner-centred teaching methods.
- Instructional design to promote self-regulated learning.
- Formative evaluation and feedback.
- Self-regulated learning: Cognitive, metacognitive and affective-motivational strategies. Time management (Assessment and intervention).
- Promoting academic engagement.
- Evaluation rubrics.
- Electronic portfolios.
- Competency-based training.
The research group Linguistic Variation in Catalan is interested in Catalan morphology, syntax and semantics, with a diachronic and synchronic vision. In particular, the group’s studies aim to describe the variation of the Catalan language and to explain the processes of linguistic change of languages, especially in the Romance context, using the methodology of corpus linguistics. Researchers are interested in processes of grammaticalisation, lexicalisation, analogy and reanalysis, semantic change, subjectivation, etc. They apply several theoretical approaches, especially cognitive-based ones, i.e. Cognitive Grammar, Conceptual Integration Theory, Prototype Theory, Construct Grammar, Natural Morphology, etc.
Deteriorating environmental conditions, mainly caused by human activities, are a major health risk. Pollution, environmental degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss are not only affecting ecosystems and climate, but also have serious consequences on the production of safe and quality food and on the population.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the safety of the food we consume and the environment where we live in has become a top priority for consumers and public authorities alike. The Research Group on Food and Environmental Safety (SAMA-UV) is dedicated to research in environmental and food sciences and provides state-of-the-art technology and analytical services for the determination of contaminants and natural compounds, focusing its activities in the areas of environmental health, food quality and safety as well as risk assessment and human exposure studies. The pollutants with which the research group works and for which it has advanced analytical methodology include both regulated and emerging pollutants and their degradation products (ex. pesticides, drugs of abuse, human and veterinarian medicines, perfluorinated compounds, flame retardants, etc…).
The results of this activity has enabled the research group to interact and collaborate with other national and European teams researching similar topics through the attendance and paper presentation at numerous international meetings and conferences and articles in scientific journals. As a whole, the research activity carried out has generated 15 book chapters and more than 180 publications in international CSI journals with a high impact rate such as Analytical Chemistry, TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Journal of Chromatography, Analytica Chimica Acta, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, Food Chemistry, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, etc.
The group’s research is mainly funded through research projects within the framework of grants for R&D projects at both regional and national level, and also within the framework of various integrated actions with the cooperation of other research groups in the European Union. The group also has collaborations and agreements with companies in the food and environmental sector.
The Psychosocial Research Unit of Organisational Behaviour (UNIPSICO) is a basic and applied scientific group, created to research and provide solutions to problems related to work performance and human resources management in work organisations, especially the processes and variables involved in the appearance and development of psychosocial risks at work, paying special attention to work-related stress, psychological harassment and burnout syndrome, in order to design intervention strategies aimed at improving the quality of working life of professionals and workers in general.
Intervention in these processes will help to reduce accidents and absenteeism, as well as the personnel costs derived from these incidents. At an applied level, this line of research is linked to the Law on Occupational Risk Prevention (B.O.E. 10-11-1995). On the other hand, the aim is to investigate the organisation as a socially constructed reality, and to analyse some of the most relevant psychosocial processes that contribute to the formation of the culture and climate of the organisation. To this end, the cognitions, emotions and attitudes of the organisation's groups are investigated, comparing the phenomena and processes at different organisational levels. The results obtained are intended to improve management and decision-making in the organisation.
UNIPSICO is one of the main national and international references in research on psychosocial risks at work and quality of working life, and its members belong to some of the most relevant international scientific associations of psychology (APA, IAAP, EAWOP, EA-OHP, SOHP, etc.). The director of the group has been PI of research projects funded within the National Plan for R+D+i, by the Generalitat Valenciana and the UVEG.
In terms of scientific and research productivity, the group has more than 200 publications, including articles in scientific journals, books and book chapters. A significant part of these are in journals indexed in JCR. It also has more than 300 papers presented at international and national conferences. One of the objectives of the group's scientific activity has been aimed at opening international channels of academic exchange between researchers, establishing references in this area, and contributing to the creation of critical mass in the field of research on psychosocial risks at work.
As part of the "Knowledge Transfer and Innovation" activity, the creation of the CESQT questionnaire, an instrument translated and validated in other languages (Czech, Finnish, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian and Tamil), and the coordination of an international network of researchers working on its validation, should be highlighted.
Among the awards and honourable mentions received by the group leader are the following:
- He has been declared Guest of Honour, in the city of Puerto San Julián (Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina) (July, 2005) in consideration of his professional career.
- He has received the Dr. Oscar Eduardo Alende awards in 2006 (second prize), and in 2008 (first prize), granted by the "Fundación Oscar Eduardo Alende" of the Colegio de Médicos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, District II, for his co-authorship in research on quality of working life.
- He has been recognised as an active member of the Red de Investigadores sobre Factores Psicosociales en el Trabajo A.C. (Mexico) for his outstanding contribution to Occupational Health Psychology at the international level. (Mexico) for his outstanding contribution to Occupational Health Psychology at the international level.
- Award for lifetime achievement and contributions to research in Latin America on psychosocial factors, stress and mental health at work, granted by the Red de Investigadores sobre Factores Psicosociales en el Trabajo A.C. (Network of Researchers on Psychosocial Factors at Work). (October, 2010).
- He has been institutionally recognised by the Government of Jalisco (Mexico) for his cooperation in assessing the psychosocial risks of prison staff (November 2008).
- Recognition from the Universidad Fidélitas (San José, Costa Rica) for contributions to Psychology (May, 2010).
- He has received the distinction of the Chilean Society of Work and Organisational Psychology (SCHIPTO) in recognition of his outstanding career and important contributions to training and research in the field of work and organisational psychology (October, 2016).
- Recognition (tribute) from the Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Centro de Ciências da Saúde (João Pessoa, Brazil) for his significant contribution to international scientific production and for the development of an instrument for the assessment of burnout syndrome (May, 2019).
As Director of UNIPSICO, he has received the "Distinction 2014 for research work in occupational risk prevention" awarded by the Valencian Institute for Safety and Health at Work (INVASSAT) of the Generalitat Valenciana on the occasion of the celebration of the "International Day of Health and Safety at Work". This distinction is a recognition of the research work being carried out by this research group, led by Dr. Gil-Monte, with the aim of preventing psychosocial risks at work, promoting the quality of working life of workers and increasing the competitiveness and productivity of companies and organisations in the Valencian Community. The distinctions in occupational risk prevention have been created by the Generalitat Valenciana to promote health and safety at work, and as a stimulus and recognition of those companies, institutions, or individuals who stand out for their distinguished performance in occupational risk prevention, or for their involvement in the promotion and encouragement of health and safety at work in the Valencian Community, to serve as an example of good preventive work in the Valencian society as a whole.
Knowledge generation on the basis that service innovation creates value and well-being for clients, workers, entrepreneurs and the community in general through new and/or improved service offerings, processes and models. All this is configured at the level of strategy, development and execution of the service, under a sustainable, multidisciplinary, international and technological perspective, at the level of business-to-customer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and customer-to-customer (C2C) relations, both in public and private, on-line and off-line organisations.
The SIV group is continuously monitoring the existing research gaps in the service field and also in specific service sectors with special relevance in Leisure -Tourism, Culture and Sport-, Health and Education, with a philosophy of continuous transfer to companies and institutions at national and international level.
The research work of the SIV group has been published in numerous academic journals, many of them international (more than 90) and indexed in the JCR, for example: Journal of Business Research, Tourism Management, Higher Education, Online Information Review, Current Issues in Tourism, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Service Industries Journal, International Journal of Service Industry Management, European Journal of Marketing, Service Business. In terms of dissemination in academic forums, it is worth mentioning the presentation of more than 150 papers in international conferences such as: European Marketing Academy, Global Innovation & Knowledge Academy, International Technology, Education and Development Conference, International Association of Public and Non-profit Marketing, International Marketing Trends Conference, Advances in Tourism Marketing Conference.
The research group has also led and participated in several major national and international projects. In this sense, it is worth mentioning the ENPI Newcimed: New Cities Of The Mediterranean Sea Basin project, funded by the European Commission; the project Configuration of universities as centres of education throughout the citizen life through the management of relations between its stakeholders granted by the Ministry of Education and Science and the project Sustainability Indicators for developed and developing destinations with vulnerable populations funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation. Members of the research group have also carried out projects aimed at knowledge transfer. These projects include those sponsored by the Diputación de Valencia, Evaluation of the impact of the Valencia Terra i Mar brand in the field of sport; the Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Valencia Report on the situation of innovation in the retail commercial sector: management and generation of services to the buyer and the Valencian Government Technical advice on foundations and sponsorship, among others.
With regard to the doctoral training capacity of the research group, it is worth highlighting the supervision of more than 10 doctoral theses, several of them with international mention, and all of them with the qualification Excellent cum laude. The group also has one FPU grant recipient.
The academic achievements of the members of the group throughout their career have been distinguished with several awards, among which the following are worth mentioning:
- GIKA 2016 Award for the best paper in the Young Researchers category;
- Highly Commended Paper in the 2016 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence;
- Emerald Literari Network 2010 Awards for Excellence, among others. The above accredits the research and transfer work of the SIV team and its updating on topics of academic and business relevance. AICO group grant 2017, Conselleria d'Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport
