Gifted and talented girls : are they different in career choice?

Ao estudarmos a problemática da sobredotação e dos talentos verificamos que o reconhecimento das jovens sobredotadas e talentosas, bem como o desenvolvimento da sua carreira constituem tópicos que devem ser aprofundados dada a especificidade deste grupo de alunas. Ao longo deste trabalho apresentamos uma revisão da literatura e descrevemos os dados de um estudo exploratório realizado com um grupo de 14 alunos (sete rapazes e sete raparigas), os quais participaram num programa de orientação vocacional ao frequentarem o 9º ano de escolaridade, apresentando uma idade média de 14,6 anos e avaliados num estudo anterior como alunos mais capazes. Analisamos os dados face às expectativas profissionais e opções de prosseguimento de estudos, verificando-se alguma diferenciação entre os rapazes e as raparigas. Terminamos com algumas considerações sobre estudos futuros e práticas educativas que promovam o desenvolvimento integral destas jovens para que possam converter-se em mulheres realizadas.As we study giftedness and talent issue, we realize that both the recognition of gifted and talented girls and their career’s development are themes that should require further study because of the specificity of this students group. Throughout this work, we present a literature review and we describe the data of an exploratory study that was conducted on a group of 14 students (seven boys and seven girls), who attended a vocational guidance programme when they were in 9th grade, with an average age of 14,6 years old and evaluated in a previous study as high ability students. We analyze the data concerning job expectations and future academic studies options and we find some differentiation between boys and girls. We end this paper with some considerations on future studies and educational practices that promote the full development of female youngsters which allow them to become fulfilled women

Parenting during the COVID-19 lockdown in Portugal: changes in daily routines, co-parenting relationships, emotional experiences, and support networks

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged parental resources pertinent to coping with lockdowns. The main objective of this work was to study parenting during the COVID-19 lockdown. Specifically at focus were parental behaviors concerning key domains for the family (daily routine, co-parenting, emotional experience, and support network) and changes related to the pandemic and associated with the parents’ employment statuses. An online survey was carried out through an ad hoc questionnaire where participants completed questions about their sociodemographic data and rated how much their family routines, their co-parenting relationship, their emotional experiences, and the support available in the family network varied on a 5-point scale. The participants included 1384 parents, of which 286 responded to open questions regarding impactful experiences during the lockdown. The results showed differences in daily routine, co-parenting, emotional experience, and support network according to the parents’ employment statuses. Between-group comparisons showed that at-home parents caring for children with governmental aids generally revealed more positive parenting behavior changes, while at-home parents who were teleworking reported more difficulties in parent-child activities and co-parenting. Furthermore, the content analysis of the data confirmed how important themes such as family dynamics, professional activities, and the relationship with the school community were throughout the participants’ accounts of gains and losses. Overall, parents’ employment statuses are associated with diverse experiences during lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of family resources and parental resilience, particularly during circumstances jeopardizing the ever-sensitive work-family balance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Chemical composition and anti-diabetic properties of Cytisus multiflorus

Bakground and aims: The interest on plants with potential medicinal properties has been increasing worldwide. In the Iberian Peninsula there are some endemic species known by the population for their pharmacologic activity with valorization potential that have not been yet characterized. The white Spanish broom (Cytisus multiflorus) is described as having anti-diabetic effect [1] and in a preliminary the hypoglycemic and hyper-insulinemic effect of an aqueous extract has been shown [2]. The aim of this work was to fractionate and analyse the composition of the aqueous extract of C. multiflorus flowering parts and evaluate its potential as an anti-diabetic agent. Materials and methods: The aqueous extract was primarily fractionated by SPE using water:methanol (W:Me) eluent (a 10% step-wise gradient W:Me from 100:0 to 0:100) followed by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The most relevant fraction were analysed by LC-MS to determine the chemical composition. Total fenol content was determined by a modified Folin-Ciocalteau method and the anti-oxidant activity was evaluated by the DPPH mehod. Finally, the hipoglicemic potential was evaluated in vivo using glucose intolerant rats (GIR). Results: Eleven fractions of the bulk extract were obtained. Seven of these fractions (10, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 e 80% Me) were found to have a relevant compounds, mostly flavonoid compounds, namely, rutin (50, 60 and 70% Me fractions), ferrulic acid (30% Me), referred as having hypoglicemic effect. The fractions obtained with 50 and 70% Me showed the highest content in phenol equivalents and the highest anti-oxidant effect were found in the 50 and 60% Me fractions. The 30 and 60% Me fraction had no effect on the post-prandial glicemia. Conclusions: The 30, 50, 60 and 70% Me fractions, due to their chemical composition and anti-oxidant effects were the most promising to have anti-diabetic effect. However, the 30 and 60% Me were found to be ineffective. The 50% Me fraction showed both a high content of flavonoid compounds and the highest anti-oxidant power which suggest that it may constitute the most promising one. The anti-diabetic properties of this fraction should be investigated. [1] Camejo-Rodrigues J. et al. (2003). J. Ethnopharmacol, 89, 199-209 [2] Célia M. Antunes, Laurinda R. Areias, Inês P. Vieira, Ana C. Costa, M. Teresa Tinoco, & Júlio Cruz-Morais (2009). Rev. Fitoterapia 9 (Supl.1): 91

Review of the book: Topics in Educational Psychology: Contributions to teacher training

The main purpose of this book is to present some contributions of Educational Psychology to teacher training and to teacher practice, so that, throughout its nine chapters, there are texts that allow us an updated and a contextualized reading of renowned authors, as well as chapters on aspects related to self-regulation, affectivity and interpersonal relationships, so frequent in daily living at school

How to break access control in a controlled manner

The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) integrates heterogeneous information within a Healthcare Institution stressing the need for security and access control. The Biostatistics and Medical Informatics Department from Porto Faculty of Medicine has recently implemented a Virtual EMR (VEMR) in order to integrate patient information and clinical reports within a university hospital. With more than 500 medical doctors using the system on a daily basis, an access control policy and model were implemented. However, the healthcare environment has unanticipated situations (i.e. emergency situations) where access to information is essential. Most traditional policies do not allow for overriding. A policy that allows for Break-The-Glass (BTG) was implemented in order to override access control whilst providing for non-repudiation mechanisms for its usage. The policy was easily integrated within the model confirming its modularity and the fact that user intervention in defining security procedures is crucial to its successful implementation and use

Assessment of verbal creativity: an exploratory study of creative tasks

A avaliação da criatividade continua a ser uma questão premente. O objetivo deste estudo é contribuir para a discussão sobre esta temática através da análise das qualidades psicométricas de uma potencial prova de criatividade verbal. Participaram 108 alunos (54 do sexo masculino e 54 do sexo feminino) de uma escola pública portuguesa, com idades entre os 12 e os 17 anos, que frequentavam turmas de 7.º, 8.º e 9.º anos de escolaridade. Os resultados apontam para um índice de fidelidade adequado (alfa de Cronbach = 0.73), considerando as três dimensões da criatividade avaliadas: fluência, flexibilidade e originalidade. Além disso, verifica-se a presença de três fatores organizados por questão e não pelas três dimensões da criatividade. Os dados são discutidos, mantendo-se a cotação a partir das dimensões de criatividade, à semelhança de estudos prévios realizados com o Teste de Pensamento Criativo de Torrance.The assessment of creativity remains a pressing issue. The aim of this study is to contribute to the discussion on this subject through the analysis of the psychometric properties of a potential test of verbal creativity. Participated 108 students (54 male and 54 female) from a Portuguese public school, aged between 12 and 17, and attending 7th, 8th and 9th grades. The results reveal an adequate fidelity index (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.73), considering the assessment of the three dimensions of creativity: fluency, flexibility and originality. In addition, there are three factors organised by question and not by the three dimensions of creativity. The data are discussed, maintaining the scoring based on the dimensions of creativity, similar to previous studies with the Torrance Creative Thinking Test.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The relationship between intelligence and creativity: contributions from a portuguese study

O objetivo deste estudo é contribuir para um maior conhecimento sobre a relação que existe entre a inteligência e a criatividade. Participaram 108 alunos (54 do sexo masculino e 54 do sexo feminino) de uma escola pública portuguesa, com idades entre os 12 e os 17 anos. Frequentavam turmas de 7º, 8º e 9º anos de escolaridade, sendo que 83 frequentavam turmas do ensino regular e 25 turmas de Percurso Curricular Alternativo. Aplicaram-se as Matrizes Progressivas de Raven, tarefas de criatividade verbal e uma ficha de dados sociodemográficos. Os resultados apontam para uma correlação significativa positiva, mas fraca, entre a inteligência e as variáveis criatividade global, fluência e originalidade. As correlações entre inteligência e o rendimento escolar, e entre a criatividade e o rendimento escolar foram diversas (para algumas disciplinas não existiram correlações e para outras existiram correlações moderadas). Foram encontradas diferenças de acordo com o sexo, ano e tipo de turma (o sexo feminino e alunos do 8º ano obtiveram resultados superiores para a criatividade e os estudantes do ensino regular obtiveram resultados superiores nas MPR e originalidade), mas não existiram diferenças conforme a idade.The main goal of this paper is to contribute to a deeper knowledge about the association between intelligence and creativity. In this study participated 108 students (54 males and 54 females) from a public Portuguese school, aged between 12 and 17 years. Students were from the 7th, 8th and 9th grades, with 83 attending regular classes and 25 attending alternative curricular courses. Raven’s Progressive Matrices, verbal creativity tasks and a socio-demographic data survey were applied. The results point to some significant, positive but weak correlation between intelligence and global creativity, fluency and originality. The correlations between intelligence and grades, and between creativity and grades were diverse (for some subjects there were no correlations and for others there were moderate correlations). Some differences were found according to gender, grade and type of class (female students and 8th grade students obtained higher results for creativity, and students from regular classes had higher results for RPM and originality), but there were no differences regarding age.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A universidade e a pessoa com necessidades especiais: estudo qualitativo sobre perceções de mudança social, institucional e pessoal

A democratização do ensino superior e o acesso crescente a este nível de ensino de alunos com necessidades especiais colocam desafios acrescidos às universidades. Neste trabalho analisamos de forma mais específica as perceções de professores do ensino superior sobre a inclusão de alunos com necessidades especiais, através da perceção de ações a introduzir no contexto académico e sobre as implicações da inclusão deste alunos no ensino superior. Participaram no estudo 10 professores de uma universidade pública portuguesa, diretores de curso do 1º ciclo, seis do género masculino e quatro do género feminino, apresentando o grupo uma idade média de 41,5 anos. Os dados foram recolhidos através de uma entrevista semiestruturada e analisados utilizando a abordagem da grounded theory. Como não se atingiu a saturação teórica os dados são apresentados em função da categorização aberta e seletiva realizadas. Os resultados apontam para perceções da necessidade de introduzir mudanças nos recursos físicos e pedagógicos, e sobre as implicações decorrentes da inclusão de alunos com necessidades especiais no ensino superior ao nível dos estudantes, dos professores, da instituição e da sociedade. Os dados são discutidos apresentando-se algumas considerações que podem constituir um ponto de partida em termos de intervenção ou de investigações futuras.Universities face additional challenges due to the democratization of higher education and the increasing access of students with special needs to this level of education. In this paper, we analyze teachers’ perceptions about the inclusion of students with special needs in higher education. This is done by analyzing specifically the perceptions of what needs to be done in an academic context and the perceptions about the implications of the inclusion of students with special needs in higher education. The participants were 10 teachers from a Portuguese public university, degree directors of 1st cycle courses, six males and four females, with an average age of 41.5 years old. Data collection was carried out using semi-structured interviews and data analysis was done using the grounded theory approach. Results are presented according to open and selective categorization because theoretical saturation was not reached. The results reveal perceptions of necessary alterations to physical and pedagogical resources, and perceptions of the implications that inclusion of disabled students in higher education have in students, teachers, institution and society. The results are discussed and are presented some reflections that may be important issues to think about when designing future intervention or research projects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MÉRITO ACADÉMICO NO ENSINO SUPERIOR E CARREIRA PROFISSIONAL: UM ESTUDO DE CASO NO FEMININO

Ao longo do tempo tem-se assistido a uma atenção no estudo das questões de géneroe, também, sobre mulheres eminentes, ou seja, mulheres que alcançam a excelência em áreas econtextos valorizados socialmente, altamente competitivos e que exigem um nível superior deconhecimentos especializados. No entanto, alguns fatores foram surgindo na literatura comoinibidores do sucesso à medida que estas mulheres vão exercendo uma atividade profissional,podendo ser necessária intervenção no sentido de as ajudar a lidar com estas adversidades e aconstruir um projeto de carreira, de modo a não privar a sociedade do contributo que podemoferecer. Neste sentido, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é, numa lógica de estudo de caso,identificar e analisar de forma exploratória as características e os percursos de vida de um grupode alunas de mérito no ensino superior, procurando conhecer os fatores que parecemcondicionar o sucesso académico, a inserção no mercado de trabalho e a construção da carreira.As participantes são cinco mulheres que receberam pelo menos um prémio/bolsa de méritonuma universidade pública portuguesa, entre os anos letivos de 1999/2000 a 2012/2013. Osdados foram recolhidos através de entrevistas semiestruturadas e da aplicação do NEO-PI-R,Inventário de Personalidade NEO Revisto. As entrevistas foram analisadas através da análise deconteúdo e foram construídos perfis individuais dos traços avaliados pelo NEO-PI-R. Osresultados sugerem que, apesar de algumas idiossincrasias, as participantes apresentam fatorespessoais e contextuais comuns considerados fundamentais para a emergência e manutenção daexcelência na idade adulta, nomeadamente ao nível da personalidade (e.g. abertura àexperiência, conscienciosidade), da motivação (e.g. paixão pela área), da cognição (e.g.autorregulação). No entanto, verifica-se que no caso destas mulheres o reconhecimentoacadémico por mérito não significou, até ao momento, sucesso profissional de mérito excecionale reconhecido. Salienta-se que aspetos como a multipotencialidade, a dificuldade de gestão depapéis dentro e fora da carreira, as oportunidades e as próprias ambições e opções pessoaisparecem ter condicionado o investimento nas suas carreiras. Finalizamos com a apresentaçãodas limitações da presente investigação e com algumas sugestões para estudos futuros.&nbsp

Inclusão no Ensino Superior: percepções de professores em uma Universidade Portuguesa

As universidades enfrentam desafios crescentes com a democratização do ensino e o ingresso de alunos com necessidades especiais. Neste trabalho, analisamos as percepções dos professores do ensino superior sobre a inclusão desses alunos nesse nível de ensino. Os participantes são 10 docentes, diretores de curso do 1º ciclo, com uma idade média de 41,5 anos, sendo seis homens e quatro mulheres. Os dados foram recolhidos por meio de entrevista semiestruturada e analisados utilizando-se a abordagem da grounded theory. Os resultados apontam para percepções favoráveis ao processo de inclusão educativa, condicionado por fatores ideológicos e instrumentais, e para uma noção alargada de necessidades educativas especiais, destacando-se a necessidade de recursos tecnológicos e humanos para apoio à inclusão, pelo que tecemos algumas apreciações, que se podem refletir em termos de intervenção ou de estudos futuros.Universities face increasing challenges related to the democratisation of education and the dmission of students with special needs. In this paper, we analyzed the teachers’ perceptions about the inclusion of these students at this level of education. The participants are 10 teachers, 6 males and 4 females, with an average age of 41.5 years old. All teachers are also Degree Directors of 1st training courses. Data collection was carried out using a semi-structured interview and data analysis was done based on grounded theory approach. The results reveal positive perceptions of the inclusive educational process, which is conditioned by ideological and instrumental factors, and a broad concept of special educational needs, highlighting the need for technological and human resources to support inclusion. The concluding section presents some reflections that may have implications for future research and intervention