The Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sports Sciences Blanquerna-URL offers its students a wide variety of equipments. At the Faculty, information and audiovisual technology is fully integrated with the academic needs of each diploma, which enables new learning and knowledge construction methods. The Labs in Science, Sport, Psychology, and Speech Therapy are equipped with cutting-edge technology, which facilitates learning and research. The Faculty is a Wi-Fi area.
IT rooms are fully equipped with networked computers, file servers for students, Internet connection in all PCs, printer and multimedia systems. These rooms are aimed at giving theory and practice classes, and students can also work here when there is no class. There is always a person in charge of the room who deals with the users’ technical questions.
Opening hours Monday to Friday, from 8am to 21:30pm, and Saturday from 9am to 14pm.
Rules
Class timetables have to be respected.
After use, PCs have to be as they were, at the level of hardware, software and configuration.
Users mustn’t install any kind of software unauthorized by the IT Service.
PCs and screens have to be switched off after use.
Any person that damages or misuses the devices will lose their user rights.
Food or drinks are not allowed in the IT rooms.
These rules can be enlarged or modified depending on the evolution and circumstances of the academic year.
The Faculty has audiovisual rooms, spaces and equipment: player devices, video library, and editing equipment, both for the academic activity and the students’ personal work.
The Science Laboratory is a multimedia room specifically created to carry out experimental practice in natural sciences. Staff belonging to any study can use it, but it was specifically designed with the aim of approaching Early Childhood Education and Primary Education undergraduates to the knowledge of sciences and their didactics.
This room is equipped with water sinks, work tables with different electricity sockets and Bunsen burners, microscopy material, glassware (beakers, pipettes, etc.), terrariums and aquariums which facilitate the student's approach to the biological and chemical world; there are also different kinds of materials with the aim of working with science and its didactics from a perspectif of approaching the knowledge of the physicial enviroment: balls of different sizes and weights, ramps, weighing scales; and of the geological environment: rocks, minerals, etc.
Taking into account the didactic character of the subjects taught in the lab, there are also some didactic resources available which the schools currently use:
3 cases with didactic material of the collection "Con las manos en la ciencia", by Vicens Vives publishing, addressed at students of Primary Education (Bones and skeletons; Electrical circuitsM Meteorology).
Kit "Projecte Descoberta 3-6", developed by the company Ciencia Activa, which includes material to work issues related to whater, living creatures, and other aspects of the physical environment, addressed at 3-to-6-year olds.
Part of the material in the kit "Aula de Ciències" that the Generalitat de Catalunya is progressively introducing in all state schools (temperature sensors, heart rate sensors, Moticam 1000 Camera and ST-392N9 binocular magnifying glasses).
The Speech Therapy Laboratory has the software needed to practically learn both, clinic diagnosis of speech and voice impairments and techniques to treat different prolems in oral and written language.
Technology is a resource to understand and improve communication and its impairment. Speech therapists use technological and instrumental analysis resources to describe and diagnose speech and voice disorders. In this 50 sq2 room there are a dozen PCs for students and one PC for the teacher, this last one connected to a hi-fi audio system and two screens to help students follow the activities carried out by the teacher.
The PCs are equipped with speakers and microphones, and have audio editing and speech and voice analysis programs installed for the subjects related to the basic elements of their discipline and the techniques to examine speech and voice.
Furthermore, there are also programs to create augmentative communication and language and speech improvement systems for children and adults that have communication deficits or impairments. the lab also has portable digital audio recording devices, with high-quality microphones, external digital sound cards, and signal preamplifiers. To practice the creation of augmentative systems with people with motor impairments, there are different models of buttons, adapted mices, and low-autonomy digital communicatiors with scanner and direct acces.
The Psychology Laboratory allows undergraduates and teachers to develop different research projects that require certain experimental conditions that can only be met in an environment where certain variables can be controlled. The lab is also a good setting to teach practice-based activities in small groups (seminars), such as learning the use of biofeedback self-regulation devices or gettiong to know the many applications of virtual reality into pshychology (basic and applied). Virtual reality devices in the lab allow us to carry out research in different fields, particularly in the preparation of new therapeutic resources for clinical intervention, as well as to have another tool to train psychologists in the field of clinical psychology.
The Sciences of Physical Activity and Sport Laboratory develops tasks in two main working lines: firstly, research sith the aim of facilitating the teachers' and doctorate studients' research production and, secondly, that of being a setting for academic training for undergraduate studients. From the point of view of research an teaching, specific material can be found to deal with issues regarding the field of physiology (functional cardiorespiratory assessment, electrocardiography, blood pressure, lactate, etc.); anthropometry (weight, height, body diameters, etc.); body composition (% of fat, BMI, etc.); energy waste (accelerometer); flexibility (digital goniometry); muscle strength (dynamometers), and valance (gesse bar and triaxial accelerometer), among others. All these resources allow students to learn all the aspects related to physical activity: physical exersice, sport, dance, working activity, etc.
Lab Equipment:
Lode Excalibur Sport Bycicle Ergometer
Biopac System (MP-100 data acquisition system)
Sensors and transducers
Gas analysis system and pneumotach device
Electrogoniometer (biometrics)
Triaxial accelerometer 50G
Mark-10 stain dynamometer
ASM Encoder (position sensor) WSB 16 k-200
Del Mar Reynolds Cardio Direct 12 electrocardiograph
This room is designed to carry out practical activities of the Visual and Plastic Education subjects. In the art room, students carry out workshop activities, both individually and in small groups; assignments of experimentation and creation in two and three dimensions, with different maaterials and formats.
The room is also used to give lessons, lectures and presentations, often with multimedia support.
This room has three spaces to develop different music-related activities. It's equipped with high-quality sound systems and cutting-edge IT and multimedia devices.
- Two rooms are equipped with multimedia recording material with piano, drums, acoustic guitar, Orff instruments, ethnic (djembe, percussion box, darbukka, etc.) and electronic (keyboards, guitars and bass) instruments.
- A dynamics and expression room, addressed at working with movement and dance, with specific material to organize the space (scarves, hoops, sticks, balls, cushions, mats, etc.).
In the Self-Access Centre, users can learn, improve, reinforce and thoroughly study Catalan, English, French and Spanish for foreigners. Students can find and use different kinds of audio, video, IT, and multimedia devices. As well as different materials: self-correcting activity handouts, activities especially prepared for self-learning, reference and reading books, etc., classified by linguistic aspects and levels, so that they are accessible to learners.
This centre is very useful for students that want to learn language at their own pace and according to their own learning style; students that want to retrain or maintain their knowledge of language: or students that have difficulties in using language.
Likewise, the Self-Access Centre has an assessor, who guides the user about how the centre works, about the most appropriate learning strategies and activities for learners to achieve their goals.
Languages:
Catalan
English
French
Spanish for foreigners
Opening hours: Monday, Thursday and Friday from 9.30 am to 3 pm and Tuesday and Wednesday from 9.30 am to 7 pm.
The Self-Access Centre offers linguistic support to students who need or want to improve their English with a wide range of language-learning resources. The aim of the Centre is to support, supplement, revise, and expand the contents of courses offered by our Faculty (degree, diploma, postgraduate courses, and university extension courses).
Important: Under no circumstance should the Self-Access Centre be a substitute for any of the UECs (University Extension Courses).
