Strategies for teachers’ professional development : Fostering ICT proficient use

Tese de doutoramento, Educação (Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação na Educação), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2018Almost in third decade of the 21st century, with so many affordable or free technologies available, most teachers still don’t use digital technologies in their scholar activities. That was the focus of this entire research. The problem and the questions we aimed to answer with the present research are related to the variables that revealed the strongest predictive weight in the most credible scientific models that try to understand the technology acceptance by teachers. To answer those questions, we carried on two separate studies: i) A first study, with a methodology similar to a “survey research” where we propose a new development in the Technology Acceptance Models; ii) A second study, with a methodology close to “design-based research”, which proposes a model for the development of teachers' digital skills (in a quest for "Digital Proficiency”). The present research may be included in the scientific domain of technology acceptance and adoption theories and methodologies and the most credible scientific models look to identify the factors that foster the use of ICT in education (TRA, TPB, TAM, UTAUT). However, the variable “ICT skills” is not present in any of these models… Is that a neglectable factor? We believe that “ICT skills” is far from neglectable and we tried to develop a model that integrates this dimension, along with some other factors already present in the models from the available literature. In the first study (the we have called “A new development in the Technology Acceptance Models”) we searched the literature for the instruments already validated for the Portuguese reality, and we developed a new instrument, built over the reunion of 4 questionnaires, that was applied to teachers from all Professional Schools in Portugal (N=7293) and we received 444 complete answers, from 67 different professional schools. We have named the model that emerged from this process, developed using the Structural Equation Modelling technique, “ISTTU model” (ICT Skills Towards Technology Use). We discovered that “ICT Skills” have a strong influence over “ICT Intention to Use” (the strongest predictor of “ICT use”). The structural model revealed that ICT knowledge” was the factor that revealed the strongest effect (β=.63; p<.001) over the “Intention to use ICT”. The trajectory “Learning through ICT” → “Intention to use ICT” was not significant (β=.10; p=.037). Nevertheless, this model explained 45% of the variance, which means that other variables explain the remaining 55% and further field experience research is necessary to identify the other variables that may increase the variance explained by the ISTTU model: Effort Expectancy, Computer Anxiety, Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Ease-of-Use. We believe, however, that first we need to provide teachers with adequate training, if we want them to be more willing to use the digital technologies in pedagogical contexts. The question is: how may we help them to develop these skills? Given the results and the conclusions of the first study, some questions have emerged: 1) Are online models suited to acquire digital skills? 2) Is online education (where digital skills are required) adequate to acquire “digital skills”? 3) Are online courses adequate to empower teachers to overcome their barriers to the use of digital technologies? 4) Will the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) increase the will to use digital technologies in the classroom? The second study (“A quest for "Digital Proficiency”) was developed to look for the answers to the questions that emerged from the first study, trying to mitigate (or eliminate) the barriers to the usage of digital technologies and empower the “average teacher” to proficiently use the common productivity applications and produce and share their own digital educational resources. For the second study, we have chosen a more pragmatic approach and we developed: a) online courses that aimed to provide teachers with the skills to proficiently use some of the productivity Office programs (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and resource production software (image editing, audio recording and editing, video recording); b) face-to-face workshops that targeted the same goals, but in a warmer and more informal environment, where fellow teachers and trainers (himself a teacher) were present and all doubts and questions could be immediately answered. From the results of both studies, we discovered that teachers are able and willing to shift from “technophobic” to “consumers” and from “consumers” to “producers”, as long as we provide them with the adequate scaffolded training. We also concluded that: i) “ICT skills” is a non-neglectable predictor of “Intention to use ICT”; ii) The online models are not suited when ICT skills are the subject to learn; iii) A series of workshops is much more profitable in the first stage to overcome barriers and anxiety. After these workshops, online courses may be suited to learn specific technologies; iv) There are no significant gender differences regarding the use of digital technologies; v) Considering the “Teaching Area”, teachers from the technical areas are more predisposed to use digital technologies, but the good response from those of “social and cultural” areas when compared with the “scientific” area teachers was surprisingly positive; vi) The use of Virtual Learning Environments do increase the use of Digital Technologies, indeed. After this research we have proved to be possible to change the landscape of “ICT use” in a microscale. The question now is: “will it be possible for this model to disseminate, and how much time will it take to reach a widespread use of Digital Technologies in todays’ schools”

Desenvolvimento de uma metodologia para avaliação do efeito de escala na rentabilidade das intervenções de reabilitação do edificado, com o objetivo nZEB

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia CivilFace ao elevado consumo de energia e emissão de gases com efeito de estufa do parque edificado, existe, como consequência, a necessidade de fomentar políticas que providenciem uma melhoria do desempenho energético do mesmo. Nesta perspetiva, a reabilitação de edifícios existentes e o aumento da eficiência energética dos mesmos é de uma importância fundamental para o alcance dos objetivos definidos em termos de desenvolvimento sustentável. Em 2010, com a reformulação da EPBD, a Comissão Europeia tomou uma posição bastante exigente neste sentido, estabelecendo o conceito de edifícios de necessidades quase nulas de energia (nZEB), que se caracterizam como edifícios com elevado desempenho energético e baixas necessidades energéticas, suportadas por fontes de energia renovável, produzida preferencialmente no local. Em termos de reabilitação energética de edifícios existentes, existem evidências de que uma intervenção ao nível de um grupo de edifícios pode trazer vantagens significativas do ponto de vista de combinação entre medidas de eficiência energética e fornecimento de energia renovável, para além da possibilidade de obtenção de economias de escala. Assim, o objetivo do desenvolvimento desta dissertação é a definição de uma metodologia para a avaliação do efeito de escala na rentabilidade de intervenções de reabilitação, com vista ao objetivo nZEB. Como objetivo adicional, a investigação pretende ainda a determinação de pacotes de soluções de reabilitação com o nível ótimo de rentabilidade à escala de bairro, com o intuito de aproveitar as potenciais sinergias entre as medidas a adotar nos diferentes cenários de reabilitação. Com o propósito de pôr em prática a metodologia desenvolvida, foi selecionado um grupo de edifícios num contexto de habitação social como caso de estudo – O Bairro de Santa Tecla em Braga. O estudo realizou-se através da utilização de uma tipologia representativa (fração com maior representação no bairro) e posterior avaliação do seu desempenho energético e financeiro com o intuito de apoiar a transição para a escala de bairro. Os resultados, decorrentes da aplicação da metodologia, sugerem que uma intervenção integrada, que contempla medidas de melhoria na envolvente, sistemas de climatização e fontes de energia renovável, é extremamente vantajosa e pode atingir valores interessantes de rentabilidade, em comparação com a intervenção de referência. Para uma perspetiva privada, com vista ao apoio de escolha de soluções, nos cálculos efetuados para a tipologia representativa desenvolvida para este estudo, a intervenção que contempla uma solução ETICS com EPS de 60 mm, vão envidraçado duplo com caixilharia de PVC e o conjunto de Sistemas S3 (bomba de calor) é a solução de custo ótimo. Quando se considera uma intervenção no grupo de edifícios, os cálculos sugerem que a solução de custo ótimo é a mesma solução de envolvente e envidraçados com o sistema S3, verificando-se que a intervenção ao nível do grupo de edifícios permitiu uma redução de custos globais de cerca de 46% devido à alteração de sistemas técnicos e consequente diminuição nas quantidades dos mesmos, e ainda às economias de escala conseguidas pela compra de elevadas quantidades de materiais utilizados em soluções de paredes exteriores e de vãos envidraçados.In view of the high energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the existing buildings stock, there is, as consequence, the need to promote policies that provide an improvement of their energy performance. In this perspective, the retrofitting of existing buildings and the increase of their energy efficiency are of fundamental importance for achieving the objectives defined in terms of sustainable development. In 2010, with the EPBD recast, the European Commission took a very demanding position in this regard, establishing the concept of nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB), which are characterized as buildings with high energy performance and low energy needs, sustained by renewable energy sources, preferably produced on site or neaby. In terms of energy retrofitting of existing buildings, there is evidence that an intervention at the group of buildings level can bring significant advantages from the point of view of a combination between energy efficiency measures and renewable energy supply, in addition to the possibility of obtaining economies of scale. Thus, the objective of the development of this dissertation is the definition of a methodology for the assessment of the scale effect on the retrofitting interventions cost-effectiveness, towards the nZEB objective. As an additional objective, the research also aims to determine the cost-optimal packages of renovation solutions at the neighbourhood level, in order to take advantage of the potential synergies between the measures to be adopted in the different retrofitting scenarios. With regard to the development of the methodology, a group of buildings was selected in the context of a social housing as a case study - The Neighbourhood of Santa Tecla in Braga. The study was carried out through the use of a representative typology (building unit with most representation in the neighbourhood) and subsequent evaluation of its energy and financial performance in order to support the transition to the group of buildings level. The results, arising from the application of the methodology, suggest that an integrated intervention that includes retrofitting measures in the envelope, air conditioning systems and renewable energy sources is extremely advantageous and cost-effective when compared to the reference intervention. For a private perspective, in order to support the selection of solutions, in the calculations made for the representative typology developed for this study, the intervention that contemplates an ETICS solution with EPS of 60 mm, double glazed windows with PVC frames and the set of S3 systems (heat pump) is the cost-optimal solution. When considering an intervention in the group of buildings, the calculations suggest that the cost-optimal solution is the same envelope and window solution with the S3 system, verifying that the intervention at the group of buildings level allowed a reduction of global costs of around 46% due to the alteration of technical systems and consequent decrease in their quantities, and also to the economies of scale provided by the purchase of high quantity of materials used in solutions of exterior walls and windows

Health care expenses impact on the disability-adjusted life years in non-communicable diseases in the European Union

Non-communicable diseases are a global health problem. The metric Disability-Adjusted Life Years was developed to measure its impact on health systems. This metric makes it possible to understand a disease's burden, towards defining healthcare policies. This research analysed the effect of healthcare expenditures in the evolution of disability-adjusted life years for non-communicable diseases in the European Union between 2000 and 2019. Methods: Data were collected for all 27 European Union countries from Global Burden of Disease 2019, Global Health Expenditure, and EUROSTAT databases. Econometric panel data models were used to assess the impact of healthcare expenses on the disability-adjusted life years. Only models with a coefficient of determination equal to or higher than 10% were analysed. Results: There was a decrease in the non-communicable diseases with the highest disability-adjusted life years: cardiovascular diseases (-2,952 years/10(5) inhabitants) and neoplasms (-618 years/10(5) inhabitants). Health expenditure significantly decreased disability-adjusted life years for all analysed diseases (p 0.05) whereas public health expenditure did not significantly influence skin and subcutaneous diseases (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Health expenditure have proved to be effective in the reduction of several diseases. However, some categories such as musculoskeletal and mental disorders must be a priority for health policies in the future since, despite their low mortality, they can present high morbidity and disability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the european portuguese version of the western ontario shoulder instability index (WOSI)

Introduction: The Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index (WOSI) is a self-administered questionnaire specifically used to determine the impact of shoulder instability on quality of life. The aim of this study was to translate the WOSI into European Portuguese and analyze its validity and reliability in a population with shoulder instability.Material and Methods: The WOSI was translated and culturally adapted from its original version into European Portuguese (WOSI PT). Internal consistency and test-retest analyses were conducted to determine the level of reliability of the scale. WOSI-PT, Quick DASH, and SF-12 questionnaires were applied to 81 patients with symptomatic shoulder instability to assess validity, and reliability was tested by randomly selecting 50 patients within 72 hours using a test-retest design. Results: The reliability of the WOSI-PT was very high, with Cronbach´s alpha equal to 0.97 and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.98. Regarding the construct validity, the correlation between the WOSI-PT and QuickDASH was high and negative (-0.79). The correlations between WOSI-PT and SF-12 were positive, respectively, moderate with physical (0.66) and low with mental (0.34) health.Conclusion: WOSI-PT is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the functional impact of shoulder joint instability on quality of life.Introdução: O Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index (WOSI) é um questionário de autopreenchimento utilizado especificamente para determinar o impacto da instabilidade do ombro na qualidade de vida. O objetivo deste estudo foi traduzir o WOSI para português e analisar a sua validade e fiabilidade para a população portuguesa com instabilidade do ombro. Material e Métodos: O WOSI foi traduzido e adaptado culturalmente da sua versão original para Português (WOSI-PT). Foram efetuadas as análises de consistência interna e teste-reteste para determinar o seu nível de fiabilidade. Os questionários WOSI-PT, QuickDASH, and SF-12 foram aplicados a 81 pacientes com sintomas de instabilidade para avaliar a validade, enquanto a fiabilidade foi testada usando 50 desses pacientes selecionados de modo aleatório, num estudo do tipo teste-reteste com 72 horas de intervalo. Resultados: A fiabilidade do WOSI-PT foi excelente com alfa de Cronbach de 0,97 e um ICC (intraclass correlation coeficiente) de 0.98. Relativamente à validade de constructo, a correlação entre o WOSI-PT e a QuickDASH foi alta e negativa (-0,79). A correlação entre o WOSI-PT e o SF-12 foi positiva e moderada para a componente física (0,66) e positiva e baixa para a componente de saúde mental (0,34). Conclusão: O WOSI-PT é um instrumento fiável e válido para avaliar o impacto da instabilidade do ombro na qualidade de vida.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lightweight Automated Feature Monitoring for Data Streams

Monitoring the behavior of automated real-time stream processing systems has become one of the most relevant problems in real world applications. Such systems have grown in complexity relying heavily on high dimensional input data, and data hungry Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. We propose a flexible system, Feature Monitoring (FM), that detects data drifts in such data sets, with a small and constant memory footprint and a small computational cost in streaming applications. The method is based on a multi-variate statistical test and is data driven by design (full reference distributions are estimated from the data). It monitors all features that are used by the system, while providing an interpretable features ranking whenever an alarm occurs (to aid in root cause analysis). The computational and memory lightness of the system results from the use of Exponential Moving Histograms. In our experimental study, we analyze the system's behavior with its parameters and, more importantly, show examples where it detects problems that are not directly related to a single feature. This illustrates how FM eliminates the need to add custom signals to detect specific types of problems and that monitoring the available space of features is often enough.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. AutoML, KDD22, August 14-17, 2022, Washington, DC, U

Artistas de Dioniso: Atores e músicos na tragédia grega antiga

This article aims to analyze the position occupied by actors and musicians in the production system of ancient Greek tragic spectacle, inside and outside the scene, in the interval between the 5th century BC and the 2nd century BC. For that, a trajectory was proposed that starts from tragedy as an activity limited to the families of the Athenian elite, passes through the emergence of a job market for actors, through the consolidation of a star system, until arriving at the organization of associations of artists of Dionysus. As representative of this path, the images of Sophocles, Kallipides, Neoptolemus and Kraton were evoked.Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar la posición ocupada por los actores y músicos en el sistema de producción del espectáculo trágico griego antiguo, dentro y fuera de la escena, en el intervalo entre el siglo V a.C. y el siglo II a.C. Para eso, se propuso una trayectoria que parte de la tragedia como actividad limitada a las familias de la élite ateniense, pasa por la emergencia de un mercado laboral para los actores, por la consolidación de un sistema de estrellato, hasta llegar a la organización de asociaciones de los artistas de Dioniso. Como representativas de ese camino, fueron evocadas las imágenes de Sófocles, Calípides, Neoptólemo y Cratón.Este artigo tem por objetivo analisar a posição ocupada por atores e músicos no sistema de produção da espetacularidade trágica grega antiga, dentro e fora da cena, no intervalo que vai do século V a.C. ao século II a.C. Para tanto, foi proposta uma trajetória que parte da tragédia como uma atividade circunscrita às famílias da elite ateniense, passa pela emergência de um mercado de trabalho para atores, pela consolidação de um sistema de estrelato, até chegar na organização de associações dos artistas de Dioniso. Como representativas desse percurso, foram evocadas as imagens de Sófocles, Calípides, Neoptólemo e Cráton