Preventing Illegal Immigration: Reflections on Implications for an Enlarged European Union

[Summary]. This paper reflects the implications of enlargement for the EU’s migration policy, particularly for the fight against illegal immigration, the management of external border controls, and the application of the Schengen acquis after accession. Structural and procedural problems that might be aggravated after enlargement are also analysed

Making the implicit explicit: environmental teacher as a “reflective practitioner”

This forum article consists on a commentary on the article by Alandeom W. Oliveira, Patterson Rogers, Cassie F. Quigley, Denis Samburskiy, Kimberly Barss and Seema Rivera. The authors emphasized the need for environmental teachers to expand the focus of their instructional efforts beyond rational argumentation and reasoning, taking into account the complex emotional aspects of the human relationship with nature. In this commentary, I attempt to extend the conversation regarding these issues to the need for teachers to be aware about their own environmental beliefs, which could be guiding their teaching. I close with a consideration for the need for environmental teachers to be reflective practitioners, using reflection upon the ends of education, their environmental values and ideas and the moral and ethical aspects of teaching, for challenging students’ beliefs and empowering them to make informed environmental decisions, contributing thereby to the building of more just and environmental sustained societies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Do predators always win? Starfish versus limpets. A hands-on activity examining predator-prey interaction

In this article we propose a hands-on experimental activity about predator–prey interactions that can be performed both in a research laboratory and in the classroom. The activity, which engages students in a real scientific experiment, can be explored not only to improve students’ understanding about the diversity of anti-predator behaviours but also to promote their understanding about the various stages of experimental scientific procedures, such as the definition of a research problem, the statement of testable hypotheses, designing the experiments and drawing conclusions based on the evidence

School-visit to a science centre: student interaction with exhibits and the relevance of teachers’ behaviour

This study is centred on the behaviour of students and teachers during a school-visit to a Science Centre, with the purpose to answer to the following research questions: How do the students interact with the exhibits? With whom students interact during the visit? How do the teachers behave during the visit? The study was conducted in two science exhibitions, a permanent one and a temporary one. A total of 52 students and 23 teachers were observed. Data analysis showed that students used to wandering around, interacting with the exhibits for very short periods of time. However, some differences were detected between both exhibitions. In the temporary one, most students seemed to miss the interpretation of the phenomena under observation, just manipulating the exhibits, whereas in the permanent one, they tried to interpret the results of their manipulation. These results can be related to teachers’ behaviour. In fact, only in the permanent exhibition teachers remained focused in the visit for almost all the time, manipulating the exhibits while explaining it to students. It is suggested that the role assumed by the teacher during a school visit to a science centre could determine the level of students’ engagement with the visit

Dynamic Consumption and Portfolio Choice with Ambiguity about Stochastic Volatility

We introduce ambiguity about the variance of the risky asset's return in the model of Chacko and Viceira (2005) for dynamic consumption and portfolio choice with stochastic variance. We find that, with investors being able to update their portfolio continuously (as a function of the instantaneous variance), ambiguity has no impact. To shed some light on the case in which continuous portfolio updating is not possible, we also evaluate the effect of ambiguity when investors must use their expectation of future variance for their portfolio decision. In the latter scenario, demand for the risky asset can be decomposed into three components: myopic and intertemporal hedging demands (as in Chacko and Viceira (2005)) and ambiguity demand. Using long-run US data, Chacko and Viceira (2005) found that intertemporal hedging demand is empirically small, suggesting a low impact of stochastic variance on portfolio choice. Using the same calibration, we find that ambiguity demand may be very high, much more than intertemporal hedging demand. Therefore, stochastic variance can be very relevant for portfolio choice, not because of the variance risk, but because of investors' ambiguity about variance.Asset Allocation, Stochastic Volatility, Ambiguity

Investigating school guided-visits to an Aquarium: what role for science teachers?

The main goals of this study were to understand the different roles played by teachers and students during a school-guided tour to an aquarium and to analyse their different perspectives about the visit. The study focused on students’ and teachers’ behaviour during school-guided visits to an aquarium; students’ and teachers’ perspectives about this type of school visits; and the reasons provided by teachers to engage in a guided tour to a science museum. Direct observations of 39 guided tours were performed in order to describe the structure of the visit and the participants’ behaviour. A questionnaire was given to 145 teachers and 191 students after the visit, in order to describe their perspectives about the visit, and an online questionnaire was sent to a sample of 11 teachers, in order to understand their ideas about school visits to science museums. Data analysis showed that the guided visits, although well evaluated by both students and teachers, were mainly guide-directed and lecture-oriented, giving students and teachers very little choice and control over the learning agenda. Moreover, teachers showed a very passive role during the visit and reported limited plans for preparation and follow-up activities that would support the visit. Despite this scenario, the teachers who were questioned preferred guided visits to non-guided visits and recognized the potential of museums for learning. The possible role of teachers in establishing the necessary connection between guided tours and school science, and helping to bridge school curriculum, museum content, and student inquiries is discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

D. Carlos de Bragança, um Rei que se tornou pioneiro da Oceanografia em Portugal: Recursos para o ensino das ciências

O caso histórico de D Carlos de Bragança, Rei de Portugal de 1889 a 1908, um Oceanógrafo pioneiro, serve como ponto de partida para a exploração, tanto em contextos formais (ex. sala de aula) como não formais (ex. museu) de temas relacionados com a classificação biológica, métodos de colheita de espécimes e ilustração biológica (desenho por observação). As actividades propostas centram-se no trabalho do Rei D Carlos, que se dedicou ao estudo da fauna costeira Portuguesa, são dirigidas aos alunos de Biologia do Ensino Secundário e ajudam o aluno a desenvolver um conhecimento aprofundado acerca da natureza da ciência e dos métodos de pesquisa, promovendo também uma maior consciência acerca das complexas interacções que se estabelecem entre a ciência e a sociedade. Este conjunto de actividades inclui uma tarefa inicial, em sala de aula, de orientação para o tema, dois workshops desenvolvidos no Aquário Vasco da Gama e uma tarefa final, na sala de aula, de consolidação das aprendizagens. Nas tarefas de sala de aula, os estudantes analisam excertos de documentos históricos originais acerca do trabalho do Rei, com o objectivo de discutir e reflectir acerca da natureza da ciência. No Aquário, os estudantes participam activamente em actividades relacionadas com a classificação biológica e o desenho por observação. Todos os estudantes envolvidos (N=28) consideraram este projecto relevante para a aprendizagem das ciências, referindo não só a sua importância para a aquisição de conhecimentos, como para o aumento da compreensão acerca da natureza da ciência. Como consideração final, salientamos a importância do desenvolvimento de actividades baseadas na história da ciência como um veículo promotor da motivação e de uma efectiva aprendizagem das ciências, assim como para a promoção de uma parceria mais estreita entre as escolas e os museus de ciência

Avaliação, gênero e qualidade na Educação Infantil: conceitos em disputa

Este artigo tem por objetivo fazer um recuo histórico sobre o processo de consolidação do debate entre avaliação, qualidade e gênero nas políticas públicas de Educação Infantil para, então, apresentar alguns aspectos dos Indicadores de Qualidade da Educação Infantil Paulistana, um instrumento de autoavaliação institucional participativa (AIP) que insere gênero como parte das dimensões de qualidade. Qualidade é entendida como negociada e um conceito em disputa (BONDIOLI, 2004; MOSS, 2002; DAHLBERG; MOSS; PENCE, 2003). Consideramos imprescindível destacar, entre os achados da pesquisa, a configuração dessa política de avaliação de qualidade elaborada por mulheres-professoras que compartilhavam de concepções teóricas de infâncias e Educação Infantil consensuadas nos documentos nacionais e internacionais da área a partir da perspectiva de gênero (SCOTT, 1988). Em uma dimensão que nasce com a demanda por questões raciais, a dimensão de gênero entra na intersecção. O grupo de mulheres-professoras responsável pela construção desta dimensão específica, nomeadas “guardiãs da questão”, utilizou-se do documento como um instrumento de luta e, como opção política, pautou as diferenças e as desigualdades de gênero e étnicoraciais na Educação Infantil de São Paulo. Nesse sentido, suas reflexões nos colocam alguns importantes desafios para a intersecção necessária entre avaliação, gênero e qualidade na Educação Infantil

D. Carlos de Bragança, a pioneer of experimental marine oceanography: filling the gap between formal and informal science education

The activities presented in this paper are part of a wider project that investigates the effects of infusing the history of science in science teaching, toward students’ learning and attitude. Focused on the work of D. Carlos de Braganc¸a, King of Portugal from 1889 to 1908, and a pioneer oceanographer, the activities are addressed at the secondary Biology curriculum (grade 10, ages 15, 16). The proposed activities include a previsit orientation task, two workshops performed in a science museum and a follow-up learning task. In class, students have to analyse original historical excerpts of the king’s work, in order to discuss and reflect about the nature of science. In the museum, students actively participate in two workshops: biological classification and specimen drawing. All students considered the project relevant for science learning, stating that it was important not only for knowledge acquisition but also for the understanding of the nature of science. As a final remark we stress the importance of creating activities informed by the history of science as a foundation for improving motivation, sustaining effective science teaching and meaningful science learning, and as a vehicle to promote a closer partnership between schools and science museums

Personal Meaning Maps as an Assessment Tool for a Planetarium Session: A Study with Primary School Children

This study aims to analyse the potentialities of using Personal Meaning Maps to assess school children’s learning in a visit to a Planetarium. A total of 123 primary students were involved. They were asked to create a PMM, and a drawing, before and after the visit. The results suggest that the visit enhanced the degree to which students generate words and conceptual categories to describe their understanding of the suggested concepts. PMMs seemed to be a good tool to evaluate the impact of the activities on students’ ideas about the thematic explored. Drawings helped to understand the main misconceptions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio