Learner Autonomy of Engineering Students: Validating the PRO-SDLS scale in a Portuguese context

In the European Higher Education Area, lifelong learning has been recognized as an essential element, being critically important given the rapid pace of change of society, namely in engineering and technology. Learner autonomy and self-direction in learning in higher education have become increasingly important as a way to promote lifelong learning and the ability to continuously learn. This study is a first step in the adaptation and validation of a Portuguese version of the Personal Responsibility Orientation to Self-Direction in Learning Scale (PRO-SDLS) to undergraduate engineering students. Using factor and reliability analysis, 12 items of the translated scale showed strong validity and reliability. The findings indicate that the PRO-SDLS can be used with engineering undergraduate students, but there are some differences between the original learner autonomy construct and the one that emerges from this adaptation. More data collection is suggested. The possibility of interviews and focus groups is also mentioned.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Learner Autonomy in Mechanical Engineering Students: taking it further

Lifelong learning is crucial in engineering where new fields are constantly emerging. That is why, in engineering, the education that succeeds will be the one that facilitates lifelong learning and self-directed learning. Learning in a self-directed way requires learner autonomy, which is the ability to take charge of one’s own learning, and the will to act and choose independently. The purpose of this research is to check how the use of mixed methods can contribute to the understanding of how the perceptions of some Portuguese engineering students regarding learner autonomy influence the way they engage in curricular activities and perceive the teacher’s role. Results allow insights and conclusions to be drawn, that are only possible with the use of mixed methodologies, with qualitative data being indispensable to understand results provided by quantitative data.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Learning by teaching… children: an experience in Mechanical Engineering

ISEP is an Engineering Higher Education School, in Porto, Portugal. Bologna is for us a challenge, especially in teaching student’s soft skills and the ability to transfer information and knowledge to the general public. Using Ldl (Learning by teaching) with small children is a way to improve our students' abilities in communication but also in designing and conceiving experiments and didactical resources in science education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Silence in the Coffee Plantation: The Painting-poetics of Candido Portinari

This article wants to analyze how Candido Portinari in his paintings with rural theme, engages a poetry of silence. To understand the functioning of this poetic language, we will adopt the Groupe μ analysis method (both the General Rhetoric andthe Treatise on theVisual Sign). Whereas the language is manifold as the forms of representation, and it present in all media, whatever the lack of speech -silence -would find its richest form in both directions through the metaphors and metonymy engaged in metasememes of the paintings studied

Blended learning and learner autonomy in higher education: a study with mechanical engineering students

As higher education faces the challenge of new and diverse demand, with more and non-traditional students enrolling in courses, it seems difficult to find a way to keep the standards as the funds decrease and the budget isn’t enough to hire new faculty. A solution to this challenge is to use blended learning, combining online and in-class content and participation. This technology based model allows students to access resources at any time, according to their needs and constraints, such as work schedules. The faculty can monitor student access and work, and offer additional explanation when needed. On the other hand, as face-to-face classes decrease, and fewer contact hours are involved, it’s necessary to move fundamental knowledge acquisition out of the classroom and devote classroom time to applying, integrating and synthesizing the knowledge, allowing faculty to work with smaller groups. This means that a greater part of the teaching-learning transaction occurs away from schools and faculty, and that students have more control of their own learning, shifting from academic teaching staff to the learner, which fosters student-centred learning. Also, taking charge of one’s learning is a fundamental skill to lifelong learning, which has been recognized as an essential element of the European Higher Education Area. But, are all students ready to take charge of their own learning? Are all students able to take charge of their own learning? Learner autonomy is the ability to take charge of one's own learning, as long as the learning environment provides opportunities for the learner to take control of their learning. In this study the relationship between students’ perception of their own learner autonomy and the willingness to learn in a blended learning environment will be investigated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Towards the development of learner autonomy of Portuguese mechanical engineering students

At the turn of the XXI century, the Bologna Process reinforced the importance of learner autonomy, advocating the adoption of a student-centered paradigm, and placing on the student the responsibility of actively participating in the definition and construction of its educational process. Learner autonomy, as an ability to be responsible for one's own learning and, having this ability, make full use of it, learning in a self-directed manner, has been identified as one of the goals of higher education and as a condition for effective learning. This research aims to identify relationships between learning autonomy and the progression in the studies cycle of Portuguese mechanical engineering students, and by doing so, help to facilitate the adoption of a student-centered learning paradigm. The results show that the development of learner autonomy is not linear and decreases in the 2nd curricular year (studies cycle with three years), meaning that these students will need activities that adequately support their learning.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Formative assessment in b-learning: effectively monitoring students learning

One of the objectives of Higher Education is the development of learner autonomy so that students can become effective and efficient learners, with the capability for lifelong learning and for actively engage in the development of a knowledge society. Complementing formal education with learning management systems (b-learning) can provide the means to change from a learning-teaching transaction which is teacher-centred to one which is student-centred. In a study with polytechnic mechanical engineering undergraduate students enrolled in a blended learning course, formative self-assessment instruments in a learning management system were used to stimulate independent study and the improvement of academic achievement. The results indicated that the academic achievement in the course is influenced by the completion of self assessment, that the academic achievement of students who had carried out self-assessment tasks are higher than those who didn’t and that the self-assessment grade is a significant predictor of the final course grade, with a very high positive association between both. This allows the use of these assessment instruments as monitoring tools for teachers and students.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Enhancing student learning in Mechanical Engineering Thermodynamics with a two-stage test

For years, it has been recognized in the literature, the need to change and improve assessment methods. In spite of that, the purpose of most assessment is still grading students, and not the learning enhancement. In the early 1970s, researchers found that what influenced students most was not the teaching but the assessment, which lead to the idea of the hidden curriculum. According to students’ testimony, what and how much they studied were completely dominated by the way they perceived the demands of the assessment. This effect of assessment in students’ learning is what Biggs defined as backwash, which means that students’ learn what they think will be assessed. Backwash is almost seen as negative, but studying for the test is only negative if the test doesn’t assess what we intend students’ to learn. A two-stage test was used in Thermodynamics (Mechanical Engineering, 2nd year), as a way to improve learning of a particular topic (state properties determination). The stages were a week apart. In the first stage, the students answer 20 questions in 30 minutes. Based on what they thought they missed in the first stage (grades were not published at this time), they could try to improve their performance in the second stage, by studying harder in the week between the two stages. The teacher didn't interfere with this process, encouraging self-assessment and self-regulation, in order to promote the autonomy of the learners. In the second stage, the test only included the questions that each student missed and had the duration of 30 minutes. Students’ evaluation of this task was done through a series of questions, in an anonymous questionnaire. Results (143 valid questionnaires) show that this kind of assessment, that uses a more student-centred approach, as required by the Bologna Process, is seen by the students as a helpful tool to promote study (85,3%) and enhance learning (87,6%). Students express the will to have more two-stage tests (89,1%).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Language development in mono- and multilingual children: A longitudinal approach

"Sowohl theoretische Überlegungen als auch empirische Ergebnisse betonen die Notwendigkeit der Analyse longitudinaler Daten, um tiefere Einblicke in Spracherwerbs- und Sprachentwicklungsprozesse zu gewinnen. Auf Basis einer Studie zur Sprachentwicklung in Hamburg lebender ein- und mehrsprachiger Kinder und Jugendlicher mit zwei Messzeitpunkten (LiMA Panel Study) untersucht der vorliegende Artikel die produktiven oralen Sprachkompetenzen von 81 Kindern zu Beginn ihrer Schulkarriere. Die Studie identifiziert Unterschiede in den Mustern der Sprachentwicklung ein- und mehrsprachiger Kinder und diskutiert mit der Erfassung oraler Sprachkompetenzen, insbesondere in longitudinaler Perspektive, verbundene Herausforderungen." (Autorenreferat)"Both theoretical considerations and empirical results have emphasized the need for longitudinal data in order to gain a more fine-grained insight into the processes of language acquisition and development. Based on data from a two-wave study on the language development of mono- and multilingual children and adolescents in Hamburg (LiMA Panel Study), this article investigates the productive oral language competencies and patterns of language development in 81 children at the beginning of their school careers. The study identifies differences in the patterns of language development in mono- and multilingual children and discusses several challenges that are related to the assessment of oral language competencies in general and in a longitudinal perspective specifically." (author's abstract

Meaning and benefits of the EUR-ACE label: Portuguese Higher Education Institutions

The European Higher Education Area was meant to ensure more comparable, compatible and coherent systems of higher education. This is possible however, only if there is a trustful relationship amongst its members and by the creation of quality assurance mechanisms, such as the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and its agencies. Nevertheless, it seems that in certain professional areas, like engineering, this European accreditation is not sufficient, and other means of quality assurance with worldwide recognition are sought, such as the EUR-ACE label. The aim of this research is to ascertain how the Portuguese Higher Education Institutions, with studies programmes that were awarded the EUR-ACE label, are using it in their promotion and what are its meanings and benefits. Based on the analysis done, it is possible to conclude that in spite of EUR-ACE labels being awarded to studies programmes and not to Institutions, they are being used to promote the Institutions. The stakeholders that are more frequently mentioned by the Institutions as beneficiaries of the EUR-ACE label are graduates, by means of the European and international professional mobility. The EUR-ACE label is seen by Institutions as a proof of the quality of studies programmes, because of its demanding and rigorous criteria, that assures Excellency and European and international high quality assurance standards.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio