Title: Los procesos participativos como motor para el desarrollo rural: la perspectiva de las personas jóvenes de Gúdar-Javalambre (Teruel)

Winner: Andrea Roche Collados
Tutor: Maria Jesús Perales

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The rural world is one of the current issues in our society today. The lack of services, of leisure, of people, are some of the many problems that these areas have. However, there is one aspect that gets overlooked --youth involvment as a means to improve these territories-- and we need to start believing in young people and appreciate the qualities they have to offer. We need a dynamic rural youth that wants to participate, that is ready to propose new ideas and that is invested in promoting initiatives to improve their lives and those of their neighbours. To achieve this, we must provide spaces for them, such as the one in this study, where they feel comfortable--without prejudices, without the judgement of others--a space were they feel capable of enacting real change. Furthermore, we must provide them with information about the different tools, such as grants and subsidies, that are available to them. Social education must play a powerful role in order to acheive these objectives, one that has yet to be discovered in these territories. Used correctly social education can act to promote change, it can dynamise, create a network, but, above all, it can ensure that, through participation, rural societies become active societies that fight together to improve their lives in these territories. Here's to young people taking hold of the power they have, the new ideas they can contribute, joining together and looking for ways to continue living in their villages.

Title: Uso de métodos estadísticos para el análisis de datos educativos: el papel de las TIC en el contexto educativo

Winner: Nerea Gómez Fernández
Tutors: Mauro Mediavilla Bordalejo, José Miguel Carot Sierra

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In recent decades, the intensification of the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has brought about major changes in our way of life. In this context of intense and growing digitalisation, this doctoral thesis studies the role of ICT as a determinant of the academic performance of secondary school students, as well as the factors that favour the use of ICT in the classroom by teachers. In order to carry out these analyses, data from international (PISA) and national (primary and secondary final assessment tests) educational assessments are studied by applying different statistical methods. The results obtained in the different chapters confirm that certain types of ICT use affect young people's academic performance and that there are key factors that explain teachers' decisions to implement ICT in the classroom. These results provide novel empirical evidence that allows us to develop recommendations for educational policy, as well as to open up future lines of research to complement the results of this doctoral thesis.