Patterns in the first school years: main constraints

Authors suggest that several mathematical patterns must be addressed, in a systematic way, since an early age, given their key role in the development of algebraic thinking, amongst other aspects. Following this perspective, we developed several activities focusing on patterns of various kinds, involving children from 3 years of age. These activities revealed a set of tasks which are extremely complex and difficult for children. In this paper, by focusing on the pupils’ own productions, we will discuss some of above-mentioned didactic proposals and the implication of the results

Online Scientific Volunteering: the technological immersion for the co-construction of knowledge, employability, entrepreneurship and innovation in a logic of inclusion

“We all have something to learn and something to share” is the motto of this project, through which we aim to assess the impact of a multilingual platform which combines and makes the most of the potentials of digital environments and favours inclusion, in the co-construction of knowledge in learning/practice, in employability, entrepreneurism and innovation. In this article we will introduce an ongoing project which is founded on the principle of openness to the research community. Its philosophy is Online Scientific Volunteering for the co-construction of knowledge about learning best practices. The platform that will emerge from the project will be open access. The academic community, whether national or international, can contribute with content and knowledge to the platform, through interaction and discussions around relevant and emerging topics. The community may also exploit, without encumbrance, the contents of the platform for their own benefit. This way students and scientific expertise can share in a common knowledge space, and together build a comprehensive knowledge base.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

La organización escolar y la movilización de los profesores y estudiantes en el uso de un nuevo Plan de Estudios de la Educación Secundaria General en Timor Oriental

Given that reforms involving how to deal with the past are extremely difficult, especially when the past involves memories of victimization, death, and destruction so widespread that a high percentage of the population is affected, the main purpose of this article is to describe how the general secondary education (GSE) curriculum in East Timor – an ancient Portuguese colony – is organized in terms of principles and objectives, themes, and methodological guidelines that give priority to assisting students to minimize or manage problems associated with conflict. Subsequently, the current state of GSE is characterized, in terms of school organization and logistics, and mobilization of teachers and students in using the new curriculum. The empirical results show that curricular materials incorporate aspects that can contribute to understanding and minimizing or managing problems created by the conflict, as well as contributing to avoid new conflicts. Nevertheless, although textbooks incorporate these aspects and teachers and students express interest in use them, problems remain regarding their appropriate usage due to numerous factors such as: logistics; school organization and poor teacher skills, despite training given and continued focused investment.Las reformas que implican lidiar con el pasado son extremadamente difíciles, especialmente cuando implican recuerdos de víctimas, muerte y destrucción tan generalizados que un alto porcentaje de la población se ve afectada. En ese sentido, el propósito principal de este a rtículo es describir cómo el Plan General de Estudios de Educación Secundaria (GSE) en Timor Oriental – una antigua colonia portuguesa – se organiza en términos de principios, objetivos, temas y orientaciones metodológicas que dan prioridad a la formación de los estudiantes para minimizar o controlar los problemas asociados con el conflicto. Por tanto, el estado actual de GSE se caracteriza por el uso del nuevo plan de estudios, en términos de organización escolar, logística, y de movilización de profesores y estudiantes. Los resultados empíricos muestran que los materiales curriculares incorporan aspectos que pueden contribuir a comprender y minimizar o controlar los problemas creados por el conflicto, así como para contribuir a evitar nuevos conflictos. Sin embargo, aunque los libros de texto incorporan estos aspectos y los profesores y los estudiantes expresan interés en el uso de ellos, hay problemas relativos a su utilización adecuada debido a numerosos factores, tales como: logística; la organización escolar y la mala preparación que todavía tienen los profesores, a pesar de la formación que se les ha brindado

The transfer of safety training: unveiling the role of OHS trainers

The main goal of this thesis is to provide a contribution to the knowledge of the role played by OHS professionals in the transfer of the safety training they prepare and deliver in organizations as in-house trainers, in the context of their overall activity. The influences of other environmental and individual factors unexplored in the study of the transfer process are also examined. The present thesis is divided in five chapters that comprehend a review of literature about professional training and safety training, mainly focusing on the transfer problematic and the factors that affect it (Chapters 1 and 2), and three empirical studies that analyze different angles of the same phenomenon (Chapters 3, 4 and 5). The importance of the safety training transfer problematic is enhanced as well as the factors that may determine the success of interventions. From a theoretical point of view, the present work provides several major contributions, in particular: it unveils how OHS professionals, through their safety-related interactions with employees’ in the work environment, can influence the transfer of safety training and how they perceive their role in the process; it reveals the effect of felt-responsibility in the transfer process, as a psychological mechanism that affect both the trainers’ support toward transfer and the trainees’ effort to apply the safety training in-the-job. Regarding the practical contributions, this thesis suggests important strategies to the training design and management in organizations that can improve the safety training success.A presente tese tem como principal finalidade contribuir para o conhecimento sobre o papel desempenhado pelos profissionais de SST na transferência da formação que preparam e ministram aos trabalhadores, no âmbito do seu trabalho nas organizações. São ainda analisadas influências de fatores ambientais e individuais no processo de transferência ainda inexploradas pela investigação. Para o efeito estruturámos a tese em cinco capítulos que incluem: uma revisão da literatura sobre a formação profissional, em geral e no domínio específico da saúde e segurança no trabalho, com particular enfoque na problemática da transferência da formação e dos fatores que a afetam (capítulos 1 e 2); três estudos empíricos que analisam diferentes dimensões do mesmo fenómeno (capítulos 3, 4 e 5). A importância do tópico da transferência da formação em saúde e segurança no trabalho é realçada tal como a dos fatores que determinam o sucesso das intervenções. De um ponto de vista teórico, a tese proporciona como principais contributos: um conhecimento sobre como os profissionais de SST podem influenciar, através das interações que estabelecem com os trabalhadores, no âmbito do sistema de gestão da SST das organizações, a utilização das aprendizagens realizadas na formação; revela o efeito do sentido de responsabilidade no processo de transferência, enquanto mecanismo psicológico que afeta tanto o apoio prestado pelo profissional de SST à transferência como o esforço dos formandos em aplicar no trabalho os adquiridos na formação. No que respeita aos contributos práticos, a tese sugere importantes estratégias para o desenho e gestão das intervenções formativas em saúde e segurança no trabalho nas organizações

Enhancing physical activity coaching through personalized motivational strategies and self-adaptive goal-setting: development of self-adaptive processes in a monitoring and coaching smartphone application

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia BiomédicaThe rising age of the European population brings increased costs in healthcare mainly related to the management of chronic diseases. Regular physical activity has been shown to help in the prevention and control of disease risk. Mobile phones have provided promising and emergent ways of promoting healthy lifestyles, allowing real-time monitoring and coaching to be delivered at any time and any place. The presented work adds new features to the Activity Coach, an ambulatory feedback system that aims to encourage physical activity. The Integral of the Modulus of Body Acceleration (IMA) is the unit used as an estimate for energy expenditure. Although previous research demonstrated the potential of this system, results also showed that adherence drops after a few weeks. The primary goal of this research was to design, implement, and test adaptive goal-setting and personalized feedback strategies in order to encourage physical activity. Regarding the self-adaptive goal-setting feature, the goal for each day is defined automatically based on the physical activity performed at that day of the week since the beginning of the intervention. Hence, the intention is to help the user to increase or maintain his level of physical activity taking his daily routine as a reference. The second element added to the system regards motivational feedback messages, a key factor in interventions aiming at behavior change. Based on the levels of self-efficacy, stage-of-change, and daily activity, the user is assigned to one of the six pre-defined feedback strategies in the system. The content of the motivational cues depends on the selected feedback strategy. The evaluation of the system focused on providing better understandable and more accurate feedback to the user. To do so, we evaluated the challenge and attainability of the goals provided to the user with (1) data acquired during previous studies, and (2) newly gathered data from a single-subject study. As part of the evaluation, we translated IMA counts into ‘steps’, a commonly understandable measure for physical activity, comparing the data acquired from the Activity Coach sensor with a Fitbit, a commercially available pedometer. Although further tests with more subjects and different activities should be performed, we suggest that the default values set to the system are in agreement with the Goal-Setting Theory providing challenging and attainable goals. The results from this research will be used in future experiments using the Activity Coach and can be adapted to other ambulatory feedback systems regarding promotion of physical activity

Patterns in the city: a mathematics project

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Paper folding for an active learning of mathematics: an experience with preservice teachers

Students are active individuals that build, modify and integrate ideas, interacting with the physical world, materials and other students. Furthermore, not all students learn in the same way, some learn better by seeing, others by listening, others by moving. So, we developed an exploratory study of qualitative nature, with elementary preservice teachers, where the emphasis was on a teaching approach based on problem solving, mathematical communication and collaborative work that involved the manipulation of a sheet of paper. We intended to identify the relevance of this approach with preservice teachers and what were the main difficulties revealed, related to the proposed tasks. Preliminary results allowed to identify several difficulties in terms of mathematical communication and the manipulation of the sheet of paper to solve a problem. However, they reacted positively to the tasks, expressing interest, motivation and recognition of its importance in mathematical learning at any level.Les étudiants sont des individus actifs, qui construisent, modifient et intègrent des idées, en interaction avec le monde physique, des matériaux et d’autres étudiants. En outre, tous n'apprennent pas de la même manière: certains apprennent mieux en regardant, d'autres en écoutant, d'autres en bougeant. Nous avons donc développé une étude exploratoire de nature qualitative, avec des futures instituteurs, promouvant une approche pédagogique basée sur la résolution de problèmes, la communication mathématique et le travail collaboratif impliquant la manipulation d’une feuille de papier. Nous voulions déterminer la pertinence de cette approche pour les futures enseignants et identifier les les principales difficultés révélées face aux tâches proposées. Les résultats préliminaires ont permis d'identifier plusieurs difficultés relevant de la communication mathématique et de la manipulation de la feuille de papier pour résoudre un problème. Cependant, les participants ont réagi positivement aux tâches, exprimant leur intérêt et motivation et reconnaissant leur importance pour l’apprentissage des mathématiques à tous les niveaux.publishe

Mathematics outside the classroom: examples with pre-service teachers

The classroom is only one of the "homes" where education takes place. The use of non-formal teaching contexts, such as the surrounding environment, constitutes an educational context that can promote positive attitudes among students and an additional motivation for the study of mathematics. Teaching should be enriched with challenging tasks, aimed at developing cognitive abilities, such as problem posing and solving, and also encourage creative thinking. Thus, arise the trails, which consist of a sequence of tasks that the students have to solve, along a preplanned route. In this process, teacher education has a fundamental role, providing (future) teachers with the same experiences they are expected to offer their own students. The trails have great potential for all the students who experience them. Thus, we will discuss some of that potential developed in the context of pre-service teacher training.0D1E-4824-1244 | Ana Cristina Coelho Barbosainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A história da matemática na área de projecto no 8º ano de escolaridade

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Portuguese Polar Program: Annual Report 2019

This Annual Report of the Portuguese Polar Program, PROPOLAR reports the main activities conducted between August 2018 and December 2019 The PROPOLAR is led by the CEG/IGOT University of Lisbon, under a Coordinating Committee that includes members of other 4 Portuguese research institutions CCMAR University of the Algarve, MARE University of Coimbra, CQE University of Lisbon, and CIIMAR University of Oporto The Program is funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia MCTES FCT) as a development of its former Polar Office The activities herein disclosed reflect a very busy and inspiring year The PROPOLAR supported fifteen projects that were successfully carried out in the Arctic and Antarctica Logistics continued to be based on international cooperation and on a Portuguese funded Antarctic flight open to partner programs Logistical support in Antarctica was mainly provided by Spain, Chile and the Republic of Korea, also with strong cooperation in research and facilities with Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Peru, Turkey, United States of America and Uruguay Participation in international meetings and workshops, as well as the organisation of a symposium and an international meeting, and the support provided to the Portuguese Conference on Polar Science, fulfilled and enriched this very active period, also helping to reinforce the credibility and relevance of the program in the international polar arena B ringing together all these efforts and resources will surely attract and mobilise more young researchers into a Polar scientific career, thus ensuring the future of the Portuguese Polar science, and that the program will continue to blossom We are confident that the successes that PROPOLAR has had in 2019 will serve as an impetus for our very dynamic and committed community of polar researchers to move forward in in vesting in the future of the Portuguese P olar science and preparing to seize new opportunitiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio