Leaning an University Department: a life experiment

The European Quality Assurance methodology is pushing hard Portuguese Universities so that they should improve their overall performance. Working at a Portuguese University more than a decade ago, one of the authors experienced several life cycles in different Departments and the experience acquired in foreign Universities (USA) teached him a couple of simple things in order to positively participate in this kind of processes. However, he found it quite difficult to apply his knowledge without other’s contribution, due to several endogenous and exogenous reasons, including age and generation viewpoints. Together with the second author we started to apply some theoretical new insights we were discussing together during her PhD research. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiment we are in now, following a social network methodology used in my Economics PhD together with three theoretical influences we think are inter twinkled like the lean thinking, the value focus thinking and the complication in innovation diffusion processes. After a brief literature review we describe the basic pillars we used to achieve the main goal of improving performance in a young university department. Using some coaching and economic tools and knowledge, we were able to gather a group of different people – students, staff and teachers - deeply involved in our proposal methodology. Preliminary results are briefly identified, as much as further research challenges.Lean thinking; quality improvement; social networks analysis; decision making; Portuguese Universities

Public Administration and Values Oriented to Sustainability: A Systematic Approach to the Literature

Values guide actions and judgements, form the basis of attitudinal and behavioral processes, and have an impact on leaders’ decision-making, contributing to more sustainable performance. Through a bibliometric study and content analysis, 2038 articles were selected from Scopus, from the period 1994–2021, presenting global research tendencies on the subject of values, public administration, and sustainability. The results indicate that Sustainability is the most productive journal, the main research category is in social sciences, the most productive institution is the University of Queensland, the location with the most publications and research collaborations is the USA, and the authors with the greatest number of articles are Chung, from Chung-Ang University; García-Sánchez, from the University of Salamanca; and Pérez, from the University of Cantabria. Analysis of keywords shows that the most relevant are “sustainability”, “CSR”, “sustainable development”, “innovation”, and “leadership”. Time analysis of keywords reveals a tendency for lines of research in the social and work area. The results also provide data about the framing of studies in sustainability pillars and the types of values referred to and indicate the main areas of public administration studied. Finally, a future research agenda is proposed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of a hybrid dextrin hydrogel encapsulating dextrin nanogel as protein delivery system

Dextrin, a glucose polymer with low molecular weight, was used to develop a fully resorbable hydrogel, without using chemical initiators. Dextrin was first oxidized (oDex) with sodium periodate and then cross-linked with adipic acid dihidrazide, a nontoxic cross-linking molecule. Furthermore, a new bidimensional composite hydrogel, made of oxidized dextrin incorporating dextrin nanogels (oDex-nanogel), was also developed. The oDex hydrogels showed good mechanical properties and biocompatibility, allowing the proliferation of mouse embryo fibroblasts 3T3 cultured on top of the gel. The gelation time may be controlled selecting the concentrations of the polymer and reticulating agent. Both the oDex and oDex-nanogel hydrogels are biodegradable and present a 3-D network with a continuous porous structure. The obtained hybrid hydrogel enables the release of the dextrin nanogel over an extended period of time, paralleling the mass loss curve due to the degradation of the material. The dextrin nanogel allowed the efficient incorporation of interleukin-10 and insulin in the oDex hydrogel, providing a sophisticated system of controlled release. The new hydrogels present promising properties as an injectable carrier of bioactive molecules. Both proteins and poorly water-soluble low-molecular-weight drugs are efficiently encapsulated in the nanogel, which performs as a controlled release system entrapped in the hydrogel matrix.V.C. and D.S. were supported by the grants SFRH/BD/27359/2006 and SFRH/BD/64571/2009, respectively, from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal. We thank FCT funding through PTDC and COMPETE

Relatório de estágio

O presente relatório integra a fase final do Mestrado em Auditoria Empresarial e Pública, 2º Ciclo de acordo com o Processo de Bolonha, no ISCAC. Este relatório procura reproduzir, de forma sucinta a realização de um estágio curricular como assistente de auditoria, na sociedade Jorge Silva & António Neto SROC, Lda., em Aveiro, pelo período de 6 meses. Este vinha a ser o meu primeiro contacto com o mundo laboral. O relatório de estágio está dividido em 2 partes. Na 1ª parte está incluída uma breve apresentação da empresa acolhedora, António Neto & Jorge Silva, SROC Lda., e dos objetivos do estágio curricular, abordando-se, ainda algumas considerações relativamente ao conceito de Auditoria assim como asserções, riscos e planeamento. Este último é de extrema importância, uma vez que evidencia os procedimentos adotados, os papéis de trabalho utilizados e as conclusões a que chegámos. De salientar que quando iniciei o meu estágio, este ponto já se encontrava terminado. Todavia, dada a sua importância foi explicado de uma forma sucinta. Na 2ª parte são descritas as principais tarefas realizadas no estágio, correspondendo estas às atividades de um assistente numa equipa de auditoria financeira. Assim foram reunidos todos os papéis de trabalho e efetuada uma descrição clara dos procedimentos utilizados na abordagem aos temas supracitados e consequentemente, as respetivas conclusões. Nesta última parte, a numeração do trabalho está elaborado conforme tratamento dado pela empresa

Using bayesian networks and parameterized questions in independent study

The teaching paradigm is changing from a traditional model of teachers as suppliers of knowledge and toward a model of teachers as advisers who carefully observe students, identify their learning needs, and help them in their independent study. In this new paradigm, computers and communication technology can be effective, not only as means for knowledge transmission, but also as tools for automatically providing feedback and diagnosis in the learning process. We present an approach integrating parameterized questions from two computer systems (Megua and PmatE), combined with a Web application (Siacua) implementing a Bayesian user model, using already many hundreds of questions from each of the two systems. Our approach allows the students a certain level of independence and provides some orientation in their independent study, by giving feedback about answers to questions and also about the general progress in the study subject. This progress is shown in the form of progress bars computed by Bayesian networks where nodes represent “concepts” and knowledge evidences. Teachers use Megua for creating and organizing their own database of (parameterized) questions, make them available for students, and for seeing the progress of each student or class in every topic being studied

Leaning an University Department: a life experiment

The European Quality Assurance methodology is pushing hard Portuguese Universities so that they should improve their overall performance. Working at a Portuguese University more than a decade ago, one of the authors experienced several life cycles in different Departments and the experience acquired in foreign Universities (USA) teached him a couple of simple things in order to positively participate in this kind of processes. However, he found it quite difficult to apply his knowledge without other’s contribution, due to several endogenous and exogenous reasons, including age and generation viewpoints. Together with the second author we started to apply some theoretical new insights we were discussing together during her PhD research. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiment we are in now, following a social network methodology used in my Economics PhD together with three theoretical influences we think are inter twinkled like the lean thinking, the value focus thinking and the complication in innovation diffusion processes. After a brief literature review we describe the basic pillars we used to achieve the main goal of improving performance in a young university department. Using some coaching and economic tools and knowledge, we were able to gather a group of different people – students, staff and teachers - deeply involved in our proposal methodology. Preliminary results are briefly identified, as much as further research challenges

A responsabilidade social ambiental e a problemática dos aviários do Concelho de Sátão

Mestrado em Contabilidade - AuditoriaA presente dissertação pretende apresentar uma nova realidade no ambiente empresarial, onde se evidencia um movimento pela ética empresarial e pela responsabilidade social. A poluição, a corrupção, o desemprego e a proteção dos consumidores foram alguns dos temas apontados por esta dissertação para que o debate sobre a responsabilidade social se acentuasse. Sendo assim, esta dissertação procura estudar os problemas ambientais e as soluções para os mesmos, bem como a forma das empresas contribuirem para a satisfação das necessidades dos seus clientes, gerindo simultaneamente as expectativas dos seus trabalhadores, fornecedores e comunidade local. Desta forma contribui-se de uma forma positiva para a sociedade, o que poderá proporcionar vantagens directas para o negócio e assegurar a competitividade a longo prazo. Nesta sequência, foi realizado um estudo sobre a responsabilidade sócio-ambiental nos aviários de produção de aves do Concelho de Sátão onde se verificou que parte dos recursos destes aviários é investido em acções sociais e ambientais, facto que legitima o seu papel perante a sociedade como defensora do bem-estar ambiental.This dissertation aims to present a new reality in the business environment, which shows a movement in favor of the business ethics and social responsibility. Pollution, corruption, unemployment and consumer protection are some of the issues raised by this dissertation to the debate on social responsibility. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to study the environmental problems and solutions to them, and how businesses contribute to meeting the needs of its customers, while managing the expectations of their employees, suppliers and local community. This contributes in a positive way to society, which can provide direct benefits to the business and ensure the long-term competitiveness. Following this, a study was conducted on the socio-environmental responsibility in production of poultry birds in Sátão where was verified that part of the resources are invested in social and environmental actions, which legitimizes its role in society as defender of the welfare environment

Leaning an University Department: a life experiment

The European Quality Assurance methodology is pushing hard Portuguese Universities so that they should improve their overall performance. Working at a Portuguese University more than a decade ago, one of the authors experienced several life cycles in different Departments and the experience acquired in foreign Universities (USA) teached him a couple of simple things in order to positively participate in this kind of processes. However, he found it quite difficult to apply his knowledge without other’s contribution, due to several endogenous and exogenous reasons, including age and generation viewpoints. Together with the second author we started to apply some theoretical new insights we were discussing together during her PhD research. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiment we are in now, following a social network methodology used in my Economics PhD together with three theoretical influences we think are inter twinkled like the lean thinking, the value focus thinking and the complication in innovation diffusion processes. After a brief literature review we describe the basic pillars we used to achieve the main goal of improving performance in a young university department. Using some coaching and economic tools and knowledge, we were able to gather a group of different people – students, staff and teachers - deeply involved in our proposal methodology. Preliminary results are briefly identified, as much as further research challenges

As desistências no processo de reconhecimento, validação e certificação de competências

Trabalho de projecto de mestrado, Ciências da Educação (Educação de Adultos), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2011Este trabalho será realizado no âmbito da minha experiência profissional com adultos pouco escolarizados, nomeadamente os que, devido à pouca escolaridade, procuram ajuda nos Centros de Novas Oportunidades. O contacto com estes adultos que, por motivos vários, abandonaram a escola ainda em criança, fez-me refletir, partilhar perspectivas, incertezas e paradoxos na busca perseverante de respostas necessárias na promoção sempre espinhosa e exigente desse propósito mais nobre da Educação de Adultos que é o da transformação social e do desenvolvimento das pessoas, tendo em conta a historicidade das suas realidades concretas e contextualizadas. Este Projecto de Intervenção foi desenvolvido no domínio da Formação de Adultos, mais concretamente a nível do Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências (RVCC) e tem como principal objectivo reduzir o número de desistências registadas no processo de RVCC nos Centros de Novas Oportunidades do Centro de Formação de Metalurgia e Metalomecânica de Caldas da Rainha. Este estudo empírico foi desenvolvido através da exploração documental, da análise e testemunhos de adultos que por diversos motivos desistiram do Processo de RVCC. Seguiram-se as entrevistas semi-directivas a adultos que desistiram do processo de RVCC e aos profissionais RVCC que os acompanharam assim como aos formadores das diversas áreas de competências-chave. Apresento uma caraterização do público alvo e o motivo que os fez abandonar o Processo de RVCC. Por fim, deixo um plano de intervenção que foi adotado no Centro de Novas Oportunidades do CENFIM de Caldas da Rainha como forma de, não só diminuir o número de desistências mas também trazer de volta ao CNO alguns dos adultos que, por diversos motivos, tinham abandonado Processo de RVCC.Ce travail sera réalisé selon mon expérience professionnelle avec des adultes peu scolarisés, notamment ceux qui ont peu de scolarité, et qui recherchent de l´aide dans les Centres de Nouvelles Opportunités. Le contact avec ces adultes qui pour des raisons diverses ont abandonné l´école encore enfant, m´a fait réfléchir, partager des perspectives, des incertitudes et des paradoxes dans la recherche persévérente de réponses nécessaires dans la promotion toujours épineuse et exigente de ce propos très noble de l´éducation d´Adultes qui est la transformation sociale et le développement des individus, tenant compte de leur histoire, de leurs réalités concrètes et contextualisées. Ce projet d´Intervention a été développé dans le domaine de la Formation d´Adultes, plus concrètement au niveau de la Reconnaissance, Validation et Certification de Compétences (RVCC) et a comme principal objectif réduire le nombre d´abandons enregistrés dans ce processus RVCC dans les Centres de Nouvelles Opportunités du Centre de Formation de Métallurgie et Mécanique de Caldas da Rainha. Cette étude empirique a été développée à travers l´exploration documentaire, de l´analyse et témoignages d´adultes qui pour diverses raisons ont abandonné le processus RVCC. Ont suivis les entrevues semi-directives aux adultes du processus RVCC et aux professionnels RVCC qui les ont accompagnés bien comme aux formateurs des divers secteurs de compétences-clef. Je présente une caractérisation du public ciblé et le motif qui les a fait abandonner le Processus RVCC. Pour finaliser, je laisse un plan d´intervention qui a été adopté dans le Centre de Nouvelles Opportunités du CENFIM de Caldas da Rainha pour diminuer le nombre d´abandons mais aussi pour faire revenir au CNO certains adultes qui pour diverses raisons ont abandonné le Pocessus RVCC