Estudantes não-tradicionais no ensino superior: procurar soluções para melhorar o sucesso académico

PosterA avaliação de capacidade para frequência do Ensino Superior dos maiores de 23 anos veio trazer para as universidades portuguesas um grande número de estudantes não-tradicionais. Conhecer a sua realidade social, económica e cultural, as suas maiores dificuldades e obstáculos que enfrentam na estrutura universitária, é condição necessária.FC

Non-traditional students at the university: the M23 case in two HEI in Portugal

Poster apresentado à 43rd EUCEN Conference, Universities’ Engagement in and with Society. The ULLL Contribution. University of GrazThe law-decree 64/2006 allows mature students older than 23 years (M23) to apply to Higher Education Institutions (HEI), widening the participation of adult population in Portugal. In the University of Aveiro (UA), a student enrolled through this specific regime has had to pass a three steps evaluation process, with the following weights in the final mark: (A) the analysis of the candidate curriculum vitae (20%); (B) a set of thematic exams with the purpose of evaluation of their academic skills (60%); (C) finally, an individual interview where an appointed jury questions the applicant about his or her motivations and life history (20%). After successfully passing this process, the candidates can apply for a course at the UA. Also an innovative “one-stop shop” was created in the Lifelong Unit of the UA (Uinfoc), where the M23 candidates deal with all the related administrative procedures.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT

Estudantes adultos no ensino superior: o que os motiva e o que os desafia no regresso à vida académica

O presente artigo reporta-se a um estudo acerca de estudantes adultos que, por via do processo de ingresso dos "Maiores de 23", acederam às universidades portuguesas. Pretende analisar os principais problemas com que estas pessoas se debatem, sobretudo as que já têm uma idade mais avançada e que, na literatura da especialidade, são designados de mature students). Ponderadas razões pessoais e profissionais, estes estudantes tomaram a decisão de alcançar um grau académico, mas não estão em igualdade de circunstâncias com os colegas que ingressam no Ensino Superior pela via tradicional, com quem não partilham as mesmas motivações e interesses. Algumas limitações que a idade coloca exigem um ajustamento constante entre a efetiva capacidade de realização e as exigências do mundo universitário, experimentando uma pressão para o sucesso que a vida pessoal e, muitas vezes, profissional impõem. Foram realizadas entrevistas biográficas a 5 sujeitos com idades mais avançadas (entre 45 e 60 anos), com o objetivo de compreender os desafios e as limitações com que se debatem, particularmente os adultos com mais idade, mas também conhecer as estratégias que utilizam para "sobreviver" e para alcançar o "sucesso" no meio universitário

I will never give up… Life stories of mature students in higher education

The Portuguese law 64/2006 allows mature students, older than 23, (M23) to access university, widening the participation of adult population in higher education. This paper is part of a research project focused on the experiences of non-traditional students in higher education. In this paper we analyse the stories of four mature students, with the aim to identify their motives for entering higher education; to understand their relationships with younger students; and to identify the main obstacles they face in their academic life.FC

Non-traditional access to higher education – an evolution in Portugal

Poster apresentado à 44th EUCEN Conference “Border Crossing as a Viable Choice: Collaboration, Dialogue and Access to higher Education”In Portugal the access to Higher Education (HE), comprising Universities and Polytechnic institutions, can be achieved by several dedicated “doors”. Besides the “National Admission Process” that accounts for the largest number of candidacies and vacancies and constitutes the regular pathway, there are a number of other processes, such as particular admission processes and special regimes, created as a result of the effort to open Higher Education to more and different publics. Gateways have been built based on the profiles at entrance, identifying, in particular, Non-Traditional Students, in particular older than 23 years that have now a dedicated via on the “Special Admission to HE” (SAHE) that has it set of vacancies established on a yearly basis by each university, and targets candidates (M23 regime). As a case study, this work pretends to bring up the major changes between past and present protocols of the SAHE, i.e., “ad-hoc examinations” and the actual M23 regime.FC

Who are they? Making non-traditional students visible

The implementation of the Bologna processes in Portugal allowed a national Law to be changed so that the access to Higher Education was made easier for mature students older than 23, who have some sort of professional experience. In this paper we’ll report the first (still superficial) results of a research project which, involving the universities of Aveiro and Algarve5, aims to study deeply non-traditional student’s situation in order to create conditions for improving their academic success and reduce dropout.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT

Promoting success for non-traditional students in Portugal – a preliminary diagnosis

Comunicação oral apresentada ao The challenge of Access, Retention and Drop-out in Higher Education in Europe: the experiences of non-traditional students, Sevilha, Espanha, 7-8 Abril.The access to Higher Education for mature students older than 23 in Portugal was made easier on the sequence of the implementation of the Bologna processes, that allowed a national Law to be changed in order to take also into account the eventual professional experience of the candidates. In this paper we will present a research project6 involving the universities of Algarve and Aveiro, which aims to study deeply the non-traditional student’s situation in order to create conditions for improving their academic success and reduce dropout. In this context we report the first (still superficial) results on the profile of these students, its time evolution and retention/dropout rates, with some considerations regarding those results.F

Nitro-oleic acid regulates T cell activation through post-translational modification of calcineurin

Nitro-fatty acids (NO2-FAs) are unsaturated fatty acid nitration products that exhibit anti-inflammatory actions in experimental mouse models of autoimmune and allergic diseases. These electrophilic molecules interfere with intracellular signaling pathways by reversible post-translational modification of nucleophilic amino-acid residues. Several regulatory proteins have been identified as targets of NO2-FAs, modifying their activity and promoting gene expression changes that result in anti-inflammatory effects. Herein, we report the effects of nitro-oleic acid (NO2-OA) on pro-inflammatory T cell functions, showing that 9- and 10-NOA, but not their oleic acid precursor, decrease T cell proliferation, expression of activation markers CD25 and CD71 on the plasma membrane, and IL-2, IL-4, and IFN-γ cytokine gene expressions. Moreover, we have found that NO2-OA inhibits the transcriptional activity of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and that this inhibition takes place through the regulation of the phosphatase activity of calcineurin (CaN), hindering NFAT dephosphorylation, and nuclear translocation in activated T cells. Finally, using mass spectrometry-based approaches, we have found that NO2-OA nitroalkylates CaNA on four Cys (Cys129, 228, 266, and 372), of which only nitroalkylation on Cys372 was of importance for the regulation of CaN phosphatase activity in cells, disturbing functional CaNA/CaNB heterodimer formation. These results provide evidence for an additional mechanism by which NO2-FAs exert their anti-inflammatory actions, pointing to their potential as therapeutic bioactive lipids for the modulation of harmful T cell-mediated immune response