Transição e adaptação dos alunos do 1º ano: variáveis intervenientes e medidas de atuação

Publicado em "Ser estudante no ensino superior: o caso dos estudantes do 1.º ano". ISBN 978-989-8525-45-1As questões em torno da transição e a adaptação académica dos estudantes que ingressam no Ensino Superior ganharam relevância nos últimos anos face à massificação e à heterogeneidade progressiva desta população ingressante. A investigação destaca que nem sempre os estudantes são detentores dos níveis de competência e de maturidade necessários para ultrapassar as exigências ou desafios do novo contexto de ensino. Decorrem daqui dificuldades várias que, no limite, podem desencadear situações de insucesso académico e mesmo de abandono, situações precisamente mais frequentes junto dos estudantes do 1º ano. Na análise desta problemática, descrevemos algumas variáveis sociofamiliares de pertença e outras caraterísticas pessoais que podem traduzir maiores dificuldades na adaptação dos estudantes, apresentando genericamente resultados de alguns estudos com estudantes do 1º ano da Universidade do Minho, em termos das suas expectativas académicas e das dificuldades que antecipam na sua adaptação. Por último, apontamos algumas linhas de intervenção essencialmente preventiva das dificuldades mais frequentes no processo de adaptação dos estudantes, destacando o papel dos pares, dos professores, dos serviços e da instituição no seu todo

Social and cultural contexts change but intelligence persists as incisive to explain children’s academic achievement

The intelligence is a well established predictor of school achievement. Although school failure/success can be explained by cognitive variables, socio-familial variables can also have an impact. Since these variables haven’t been so systematically investigated together, the present study aims to consider both variables to understand their causal roles in academic achievement. With a sample of 376 Portuguese children aged 6 to 10 years, a path analysis was carried out based on a prior analysis to search for causal relationships between intelligence and socio-familial variables to explain children’s academic achievement. The results point to intelligence as a major influence on school performance, combined with socio-familial variables (directly: community, type of school, mother's education and school year; and indirectly: socioeconomic status and father’s education level). Practical implications were discussed concerning the relevance of the investigated variables in explaining academic achievement of children.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, IP (FCT) and the POCH/FSE under Grant SFRH/BD/85110/2012 to Ana Filipa Alves

Environment of Er in a-Si:H: co-sputtering versus ion implantation

We report a comparative Extended X-Ray Fine Structure (EXAFS) study of Er in a-Si:H prepared by Er implantation in a-Si:H and by co-sputtering undergoing the same cumulative annealing processes. It was found that the Er environment in as-implanted samples is formed by Si atoms, which are replaced by oxygen under annealing. In the co-sputtered samples, the initial low coordination oxygen environment evolves under thermal treatment to an Er2O3 -like neighborhood.756759Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Bateria de provas de raciocínio (BPR-5): estudo de validação em contexto escolar

[Resumo] A Bateria de Provas de Raciocínio (BPR-S; Almeida & Primi, 1996) é formada por cinco provas, todas avaliando o raciocínio (opera<;ao comum) através de itens de conteúdo diverso (abstracto, verbal, numérico, espacial, e mecanico). Desta forma a BPR-S pretende conciliar a teoria do factor g e as teorias das múltiplas inteligencias na descri<;ao e avalia<;ao da inteligencia. A bateria subdivide-se em duas versoes: (i) Versao A - destinada aos alunos do 7° ao 9° ano de escolaridade; e a Versao B - destinada aos alunos do 10° ao 12° ano. O estudo de construçao e validaçao da bateria tem sido conduzido conjuntamente em Portugal e no Estado de Sao Paulo (Brasil). Este artigo apresenta as análises da consistencia interna dos itens e da validade dos resultados. Os valores obtidos adequam-se aos objectivos das provas, mesmo com urna redu<;ao no número de itens face a outras provas similares. Dada a maior utiliza<;ao destas provas no contexto escolar, sobretudo em orientaçao vocacional, reflectem-se algumas quest5es em tomo da utiliza<;ao da BPR-S na consulta psicológica nas escola

Experimental calibration and validation of sewer/surface flow exchange equations in steady and unsteady flow conditions

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.The linkage between sewer pipe flow and floodplain flow is recognised to induce an important source of uncertainty within two-dimensional (2D) urban flood models. This uncertainty is often attributed to the use of empirical hydraulic formulae (the one-dimensional (1D) weir and orifice steady flow equations) to achieve data-connectivity at the linking interface, which require the determination of discharge coefficients. Because of the paucity of high resolution localised data for this type of flows, the current understanding and quantification of a suitable range for those discharge coefficients is somewhat lacking. To fulfil this gap, this work presents the results acquired from an instrumented physical model designed to study the interaction between a pipe network flow and a floodplain flow. The full range of sewer-to-surface and surface-to-sewer flow conditions at the exchange zone are experimentally analysed in both steady and unsteady flow regimes. Steady state measured discharges are first analysed considering the relationship between the energy heads from the sewer flow and the floodplain flow; these results show that existing weir and orifice formulae are valid for describing the flow exchange for the present physical model, and yield new calibrated discharge coefficients for each of the flow conditions. The measured exchange discharges are also integrated (as a source term) within a 2D numerical flood model (a finite volume solver to the 2D Shallow Water Equations (SWE)), which is shown to reproduce the observed coefficients. This calibrated numerical model is then used to simulate a series of unsteady flow tests reproduced within the experimental facility. Results show that the numerical model overestimated the values of mean surcharge flow rate. This suggests the occurrence of additional head losses in unsteady conditions which are not currently accounted for within flood models calibrated in steady flow conditions.The research has been supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grants ID: EP/K040405/1)

Impacto da capacidade cognitiva e das atribuições causais no rendimento escolar na matemática

A capacidade cognitiva e a motivação académica têm sido frequentemente assumidas como as variáveis do aluno mais determinantes da sua aprendizagem e rendimento escolar. Neste estudo, operacionalizando a capacidade cognitiva através de uma bateria de testes de raciocínio e a motivação através de uma escala de atribuições causais, analisa-se o impacto de ambas as variáveis psicológicas no rendimento dos alunos na disciplina de Matemática. A amostra é formada por todos os alunos do 6.° ano de escolaridade de uma escola privada, com contrato de associação, do distrito de Braga. Os resultados mostram que a capacidade cognitiva se apresenta como o melhor preditor do rendimento escolar, havendo ainda parte da variância do rendimento na matemática associada, em sentido negativo, à atribuição causal do sucesso à sorte. Este dado sugere que alunos que não atribuem o seu rendimento ao acaso apresentam, em geral, melhores classificações escolares.The cognitive ability and academic motivation have often been assumed as the most determinant variables of student learning and their school performance. ln this study, the operationalization of the cognitive ability through a battery of tests of reasoning and motivation through a scale of causal attributions, alIow us analyze the impact of both psychological variables in the student performance in mathematics. The sample consists of all students in the 6th grade at a private school, integrated in public system, in the district of Braga. The results showed that cognitive ability remains on the best predictor of academic performance, and part of students ' mathematics results variance is related negatively to causal attribution of success to luck. This last aspect shows that students who do not attribute their academic performance to random reasons have, in general, better academic results

Physicochemical, microbiological and antimicrobial properties of commercial honeys from Portugal

The present study aimed to characterize five commercial honeys available in the Portuguese market in respect to their floral origins, physicochemical parameters and microbial safety and commercial quality assessment. Pollen profile, colour, moisture content, ash, acidity, electrical conductivity, pH, reducing sugars, apparent sucrose and HMF were the parameters analysed in each honey sample. Aerobic mesophiles, moulds and yeasts, fecal coliforms and sulphite-reducing clostridia were the microbial contaminants of interest studied. The antimicrobial effect against four fermentative yeasts was determined. Concerning the physicochemical parameters, all honey samples were found to meet European Legislation (EC Directive 2001/110) for all parameters, except for HMF and apparent sucrose. Microbiologically, the commercial quality was considered good and all samples showed to be negative in respect to safety parameters. We also verified that the presence of honey differentially affected the growth of fermentative yeasts under study, depending on the type of yeast, but this growth was not significantly influenced by the type of honey used

Serum markers of B-cell activation in pregnancy during late gestation, delivery, and the postpartum period

B cells are vital for the normal evolution of pregnancy due to their humoral and possible regulatory activities. Our group and others have documented that circulating B-cell subsets undergo changes from normal late pregnancy to the postpartum period. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Therefore, this study examined the degree of B-cell activation in normal pregnancy by analyzing the levels of serum markers in healthy pregnant women during the third trimester of pregnancy, the day of delivery, and the postpartum period. METHOD OF STUDY: A prospective study including pregnant and non-pregnant women attending routine care was undertaken at a hospital clinic. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected, along with peripheral blood samples. The serum levels of soluble CD23 (sCD23), B-cell-activating factor (BAFF), kappa (κ) and lambda (λ) free light chains (FLC), IgA, IgG, and IgM were quantified. RESULTS: Our study included 43 third trimester pregnant and 35 non-pregnant women. In the pregnant women, the median levels of sCD23, BAFF, IgG, and κ FLC were significantly higher during the postpartum period than during the third trimester of pregnancy. Compared to the non-pregnant women, the third trimester pregnant women had higher median BAFF levels and lower sCD23, IgA, IgG, and FLC levels. CONCLUSION: Changes in serum markers of B-cell kinetics that occur during pregnancy often persist into the postpartum period and affect the secretion of immunoglobulins from different classes. Further studies are needed to clarify the biological significance of our observations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bateria "Aurora" : estudos exploratórios de adaptação e validação em Portugal

No quadro de alguma insatisfação com o tipo de provas usadas pelos psicólogos na avaliação da inteligência, em particular em contextos educativos, a Universidade Yale assume nesta última década um projecto internacional de validação da Bateria AURORA. Esta bateria de provas emerge da teoria triárquica de inteligência de Robert Sternberg, e pretende avaliar habilidades cognitivas nos domínios da inteligência analítica, criativa e prática. As tarefas propostas para cada uma destas inteligências recorrem a conteúdos verbais, numéricos e figurativos, procurando sempre situações bastante apelativas (motivantes) e associadas ao quotidiano das crianças/adolescentes (validade ecológica). A Bateria aparece, ainda, mencionada como um contributo futuro à identificação de alunos com características de sobredotação, ultrapassando as limitações apontadas habitualmente aos testes de QI. Nesta comunicação, a par da descrição das provas, descrevemos os estudos qualitativos e quantitativos iniciados junto de crianças e adolescentes portugueses, tendo em vista a adaptação e validação da Bateria