Contexts for questioning: Two zones of teaching and learning in undergraduate science

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012.Higher education institutions are currently undertaking a challenging process in moving from teacher-orientated to student-focused approaches. Students’ ability to asking questions is fundamental to developing critical reasoning, and to the process of scientific enquiry itself. Our premise is that questioning competences should become a central focus of current reforms in higher education. This study, part of a broader naturalistic research project, aims at developing a theoretical framework for conceptualizing different contexts for questioning, illustrating the application of the proposed framework (contextual questioning zones) and reflecting about some of the dimensions of teaching and learning, for overcoming some of the challenges that higher education institutions are facing presently. The discussion of two ‘opposite’ contexts of enquiry is based on qualitative data, gathered through close collaboration with four teachers of undergraduate biology at a Portuguese university. These teachers were observed during their ‘daily activity’ during an academic year. Data was also gathered by interviewing these teachers and 8 selected students, at the end of the year, and used to sustain the argumentation. The paper concludes with some reflections and suggestions to promote authentic enquiry-based learning experiences.Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Erosive processes: the example of a granite batholith

[Résumé] Bien que la Serra do Marao soit connue surtout comme une structure marqueé par les quartzites et schistes du Ordovicien et du Silurien, y existent aussi quelques petits affleurements de granites. L étude de ces affleurements, malgré sa situation périphérique, se montre particulierement interessant car le comportement geomorphologique spécifique des granites, permet des analyses qui complement les études réalisés dans le reste de l' aire de la Serra do Marao. La diversité de formes qui existe dans ce genre de roches, parfois plus évidentes et demeurées en bon état, contribue dans une meilleure et plus minutieuse connaissance de 1 évolution morfogenétique de la région. L étude que nous sommes en train de réaliser tombe surtout sur le détail de la rnicromorphologie rapporté au déclive des versants, ala tectonique et au réseau de diaclases, proposant pour objet la compréhension globale de 1 évolution du process erosif. Dans cet article on veut présenter un étude de détail qui on a eu l'opportunité de développer dans un petit basin hydrografique de la versant Ouest de la Serra do Marao, ou il a été possible essayer la mesure des déplacements des blocs de granit que glissent par la versant. Il est, pourtant, une breve annotation car la lenteur du procéssus exige une periode d' observation bien plus long que celle que nous avons eu jusqu a ce momento.[Abstract] Although Marao mountain is essentially known as a structure characterized by quartzite and schist, there are also smalls granite batholiths. The study of these levellings, despite their peripherallocation, seems to be particularly interessant, because the specific geomorphologic behaviour of the granite makes it possible to make analyses that complement the studies done in the remaining area of the mountain. The diversity of forms that emerge in this kind of rocks, at times more obvious and less preserved, contributes to a better and more precise knowledge of the morphogenetic evolution of the region. The study that we have been doing falls specially upon the item of micromorphology related with slope angle, tectonic and joints so that the evolution of the erosive process can be globaly understood. Its our intention to present a detailed study that we were able to do in a small basin in the western slope of the mountain. There, we were able to measure the displacement of the granite blocks that slide down the mountain. However, this is only a small study because the slowness of the process requires a larger period of observation

Patient Safety in Primary Health Care, Case Study of Cartaxo PrimaryCare Health Center

Worldwide we should achieve more efficient, clinically more effective and safer health care organizations, specially those in Primary Care (PC), where knowledge is less. For greater Patient Safety (PS) in PC Organizations, professionals are the key to ensure safety, with the involvement from Patient & Family. The goal is understand what Professionals Health Center Cartaxo Know and consequently incorporate PS in professional activity.What the PS know and consequently incorporate SD is little, it is carried out informally, not systematic, there is not enough information / training, much less routine routine of SD. Discrepancies in knowledge highlight crucial training vs information. The Cartaxo Health Center challenges are educational, structural and physical. Who integrates SD health care training (base / postgraduate, service) or Health Accreditation The knowledge about nature/impact and of adverse events is scarce (greater local reality than Primary Care) The Safety & Notification are not uniform, and used mainly in accredited units. The Safety Cultural is non-uniform in Functional Units (do not know differences). Is more difficult to notify about vacines at home. It is very important home context, family, informal caregivers.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Zonal flows and long-distance correlations during the formation of the edge shear layer in the TJ-II stellarator

A theoretical interpretation is given for the observed long-distance correlations in potential fluctuations in TJ-II. The value of the correlation increases above the critical point of the transition for the emergence of the plasma edge shear flow layer. Mean (i.e. surface averaged, zero-frequency) sheared flows cannot account for the experimental results. A model consisting of four envelope equations for the fluctuation level, the mean flow shear, the zonal flow amplitude shear, and the averaged pressure gradient is proposed. It is shown that the presence of zonal flows is essential to reproduce the main features of the experimental observations.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure