Conceptions of teaching quality in public higher education institutions in the Alentejo region

Este estudo teve como objectivos conhecer e comparar as concepções sobre qualidade de ensino de docentes e estudantes de estabelecimentos públicos de ensino superior da região do Alentejo. Tratou-se de um estudo qualitativo, que incluiu uma análise de conteúdo a uma questão aberta relativa ao modo como 427 estudantes e 103 docentes definiam qualidade de ensino. A análise de conteúdo baseou-se nos modelos teóricos disponíveis, nas actividades previstas para o ensino superior e, sobretudo, no conteúdo das respostas escritas dos participantes. Os resultados revelaram que as respostas de docentes e estudantes das três instituições, globalmente consideradas, não diferiam substancialmente umas das outras e que a qualidade de ensino era mais associada a aspectos de natureza pedagógica, preparação para o mercado de trabalho, articulação com a comunidade e qualificação dos docentes do que com aspectos associados à investigação

Conceptions about the teaching quality in higher education in public establishments in Portugal

Este estudo tem como objectivos conhecer e comparar as concepções sobre a qualidade de ensino de docentes e estudantes de três estabelecimentos públicos de ensino superior da região do Alentejo (Portugal) e, no caso dos docentes, conhecer também o que eles sugerem para melhorar a qualidade de ensino nos cursos e nas instituições em que leccionam. Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, que inclui uma análise de conteúdo de três questões abertas relativas ao modo como 427 estudantes e 103 docentes definem qualidade de ensino e como os docentes sugerem que seja melhorada no curso e na instituição. A análise de conteúdo baseia-se nos modelos teóricos disponíveis, nas actividades previstas para os docentes do ensino superior e, sobretudo, no conteúdo das respostas escritas dos participantes. Os resultados revelam que as respostas de docentes e estudantes dos três estabelecimentos não diferem substancialmente umas das outras e que a qualidade de ensino é mais associada a aspectos de natureza pedagógica, preparação para o mercado de trabalho, articulação com a comunidade e qualificação dos docentes do que com aspectos associados à investigação

The Gaia-ESO Survey: membership and Initial Mass Function of the Gamma Velorum cluster

Understanding the properties of young open clusters, such as the Initial Mass Function (IMF), star formation history and dynamic evolution, is crucial to obtain reliable theoretical predictions of the mechanisms involved in the star formation process. We want to obtain a list, as complete as possible, of confirmed members of the young open cluster Gamma Velorum, with the aim of deriving general cluster properties such as the IMF. We used all available spectroscopic membership indicators within the Gaia-ESO public archive together with literature photometry and X-ray data and, for each method, we derived the most complete list of candidate cluster members. Then, we considered photometry, gravity and radial velocities as necessary conditions to select a subsample of candidates whose membership was confirmed by using the lithium and H$\alpha$ lines and X-rays as youth indicators. We found 242 confirmed and 4 possible cluster members for which we derived masses using very recent stellar evolutionary models. The cluster IMF in the mass range investigated in this study shows a slope of $\alpha=2.6\pm0.5$ for $0.5<M/M_\odot <1.3$ and $\alpha=1.1\pm0.4$ for $0.16<M/M_\odot <0.5$ and is consistent with a standard IMF. The similarity of the IMF of the young population around $\gamma^2$Vel to that in other star forming regions and the field suggests it may have formed through very similar processes.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A; 18 pages, 11 figures, 5 table

A Experiência da Emergência Pré-Hospitalar da Unidade de Socorro de Faro da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa no apoio a grandes eventos

Relata-se a experiência da Unidade de Socorro da Delegação Distrital de Faro da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa na organização e na montagem de um dispositivo médico e socorrista, para apoio aos participantes da Concentração de Motos de Faro, que decorre desde há longos anos em estreita colaboração com o Motoclube de Faro e as Unidades de Saúde da zona

The Gaia-ESO Survey: metallicity of the Chamaeleon I star forming region

Context. Recent metallicity determinations in young open clusters and star-forming regions suggest that the latter may be characterized by a slightly lower metallicity than the Sun and older clusters in the solar vicinity. However, these results are based on small statistics and inhomogeneous analyses. The Gaia-ESO Survey is observing and homogeneously analyzing large samples of stars in several young clusters and star-forming regions, hence allowing us to further investigate this issue. Aims. We present a new metallicity determination of the Chamaeleon I star-forming region, based on the products distributed in the first internal release of the Gaia-ESO Survey. Methods. 48 candidate members of Chamaeleon I have been observed with the high-resolution spectrograph UVES. We use the surface gravity, lithium line equivalent width and position in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram to confirm the cluster members and we use the iron abundance to derive the mean metallicity of the region. Results. Out of the 48 targets, we confirm 15 high probability members. Considering the metallicity measurements for 9 of them, we find that the iron abundance of Chamaeleon I is slightly subsolar with a mean value [Fe/H]=-0.08+/-0.04 dex. This result is in agreement with the metallicity determination of other nearby star-forming regions and suggests that the chemical pattern of the youngest stars in the solar neighborhood is indeed more metal-poor than the Sun. We argue that this evidence may be related to the chemical distribution of the Gould Belt that contains most of the nearby star-forming regions and young clusters.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Chromospheric Emission, Accretion Properties, and Rotation in γ\gamma Velorum and Chamaeleon I

We use the fundamental parameters delivered by the GES consortium in the first internal data release to select the members of $\gamma$ Vel and Cha I among the UVES and GIRAFFE spectroscopic observations. A total of 140 $\gamma$ Vel members and 74 Cha I members were studied. We calculated stellar luminosities through spectral energy distributions, while stellar masses were derived by comparison with evolutionary tracks. The spectral subtraction of low-activity and slowly rotating templates, which are rotationally broadened to match the $v\sin i$ of the targets, enabled us to measure the equivalent widths (EWs) and the fluxes in the H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ lines. The H$\alpha$ line was also used for identifying accreting objects and for evaluating the mass accretion rate ($\dot M_{\rm acc}$). The distribution of $v\sin i$ for the members of $\gamma$ Vel displays a peak at about 10 km s$^{-1}$ with a tail toward faster rotators. There is also some indication of a different $v\sin i$ distribution for the members of its two kinematical populations. Only a handful of stars in $\gamma$ Vel display signatures of accretion, while many more accretors were detected in the younger Cha~I. Accreting and active stars occupy two different regions in a $T_{\rm eff}$-flux diagram and we propose a criterion for distinguishing them. We derive $\dot M_{\rm acc}$ in the ranges $10^{-11}$-$10^{-9} M_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ and $10^{-10}$-$10^{-7} M_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ for $\gamma$ Vel and Cha I accretors, respectively. We find less scatter in the $\dot M_{\rm acc}-M_\star$ relation derived through the H$\alpha$ EWs, when compared to the H$\alpha$ $10\%W$ diagnostics, in agreement with other authors

Designing electronic collaborative learning environments

Electronic collaborative learning environments for learning and working are in vogue. Designers design them according to their own constructivist interpretations of what collaborative learning is and what it should achieve. Educators employ them with different educational approaches and in diverse situations to achieve different ends. Students use them, sometimes very enthusiastically, but often in a perfunctory way. Finally, researchers study them and—as is usually the case when apples and oranges are compared—find no conclusive evidence as to whether or not they work, where they do or do not work, when they do or do not work and, most importantly, why, they do or do not work. This contribution presents an affordance framework for such collaborative learning environments; an interaction design procedure for designing, developing, and implementing them; and an educational affordance approach to the use of tasks in those environments. It also presents the results of three projects dealing with these three issues