LIBRI DI EMMA NARDI

Molti studenti incontrano una certa difficoltà nell’uso del linguaggio scritto. La crescente abitudine a usare mezzi digitali sembra difatti all’origine di una perdita della capacità di produrre i segni e di organizzarli per formare un testo. La ricerca ha voluto verificare se il passaggio dalla scrittura manuale a quella mediata da apparecchiature automatiche non comportasse perdite nella qualità delle operazioni mentali implicate e, di conseguenza, degli apprendimenti.

Il volume ha preso in analisi il livello di apprendimento degli adulti nelle mostre temporanee. Grazie alla collaborazione di quattro musei in diversi paesi europei (Belgio, Germania, Italia, Paesi Bassi), la raccolta di 1013 questionari somministrati a visitatori adulti, le informazioni fornite dai curatori delle diverse mostre e l’analisi lessicometrica è stata possibile una valutazione delle conoscenze acquisite da parte dei fruitori e dello sviluppo di competenze da parte di un pubblico di diversa età e specializzazione.

On 28 November 2014 a conference took place at the National Roman Museum - Baths of Diocletian in Rome on the first results of the experiment Nulla dies sine linea, dedicated to the writing skills of primary school children. This article attempts to give an initial response to the following questions. Is it possible to say that the children, albeit implicitly, have and know how to use proper elements of speech rhetorical construction? And if yes, is it possible to retrieve from their writings some categories of reference? The answer to both questions was positive. In particular, in the texts produced by the children, elements related to the incipit, to the recipient, to the relationship between truth/likelihood and contradictions/incompatibilities have been found.

The exhibition on Tintoretto, held in Rome at the Scuderie del Quirinale in 2012, was the setting for an experiment devoted to investigate the cognitive outcome of the introductory audio-guide offered to visitors. Participants were 201 students of two different upper secondary school of Rome, divided into two groups: the first group listened to the audio-guide text and the second read its transcription. The aim of the study was to highlight possible differences between oral and written comprehension, considering not only explicit information retrievable in the text, but also the implicit canon underpinning it, in terms of basic knowledge related to the recognition of the artists’ background and origins, of the attribution of works and paintings to their authors, of the recognition of the picture of specific artworks of the time.

During the exhibition on Lorenzo Lotto that took place in Rome at the Scuderie del Quirinale, an experiment was organised for secondary school students. The educational activity focused on the specific iconographic features of some saints represented by Lorenzo Lotto, that can be found in the works of other Renaissance artists as well. Hence, an iconographic code was identified and then connected with aspects of the linguistic code, notably synonimy and metonymy. The article discusses the underpinned theoretical aspects, the characteristics of the tests used in the experiment, the results of the activity.

The Association for Educational Assessment - Europe. An Agency for Accountability in Europe - AEA-Europe was founded in 2000 with the main goals of improving communication among European institutions interested in educational and occupational assessment, and providing a framework within which co-operative research, development implementation and evaluation of projects involving educational assessment could be undertaken. After 10 years of successful activity, the Association has built a position that could allow it to become the protagonist of the EU’s policy in the field of assessment, becoming a reference point for all its members, and playing a crucial role as an applicant for projects funded by the European Union. This article, dealing with research policy, describes the activity carried out by the Association since 2000, presents the EU’s policy in research funding specifically applied to Tempus projects, and discusses how the Association could contribute to evaluation and accountability in the European Higher Education and Research Area.