Conceptions and practices of Iberian mathematics teachers about humour

This study focuses on the conceptions and practices of Iberian (Portuguese and Spanish) mathematics teachers regarding instructional humour. Specifically, the study aims to answer the following questions: (1) How do Iberian mathematics teachers view humour and how do they appreciate a sense of humour? (2) What educational value do Iberian mathematics teachers ascribe to humour in the teaching and learning process of this subject? (3) How do Iberian mathematics teachers use humour in mathematics teaching? and (4) What differences, regarding humour and its use in the educational context, are found among Iberian mathematics teachers, as determined by their professional experience? A mixed methodology was adopted for this study, with a greater quantitative emphasis, combining quantitative analysis with descriptive and inferential statistics. Iberian mathematics teachers (N=1087) from all educational levels participated in the study. The data was collected through an online questionnaire, organised according to three dimensions of analysis: (1) Humour and sense of humour; (2) Educational value of humour in the teaching and learning of mathematics; and (3) Use of humour in the teaching of mathematics. The results reveal that Iberian teachers who teach mathematics recognise the meaning of humour, feel they have a sense of humour and appreciate it in others, find reasons to use it in mathematics teaching and have seen it being used or use it in their classes to create a good learning environment and make students think. The results show differences over the teachers’ careers, especially in their use of humour and the purpose they make of it. However, the magnitude of the effect suggests the need to consider other variables in addition to the teachers’ professional experience, such as the level of training, the type of training and the cultural context in which the school is located

Conceptions and practices of Iberian mathematics teachers about humour

This study focuses on the conceptions and practices of Iberian (Portuguese and Spanish) mathematics teachers regarding instructional humour. Specifically, the study aims to answer the following questions: (1) How do Iberian mathematics teachers view humour and how do they appreciate a sense of humour? (2) What educational value do Iberian mathematics teachers ascribe to humour in the teaching and learning process of this subject? (3) How do Iberian mathematics teachers use humour in mathematics teaching? and (4) What differences, regarding humour and its use in the educational context, are found among Iberian mathematics teachers, as determined by their professional experience? A mixed methodology was adopted for this study, with a greater quantitative emphasis, combining quantitative analysis with descriptive and inferential statistics. Iberian mathematics teachers (N=1087) from all educational levels participated in the study. The data was collected through an online questionnaire, organised according to three dimensions of analysis: (1) Humour and sense of humour; (2) Educational value of humour in the teaching and learning of mathematics; and (3) Use of humour in the teaching of mathematics. The results reveal that Iberian teachers who teach mathematics recognise the meaning of humour, feel they have a sense of humour and appreciate it in others, find reasons to use it in mathematics teaching and have seen it being used or use it in their classes to create a good learning environment and make students think. The results show differences over the teachers’ careers, especially in their use of humour and the purpose they make of it. However, the magnitude of the effect suggests the need to consider other variables in addition to the teachers’ professional experience, such as the level of training, the type of training and the cultural context in which the school is located.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dinâmica das barras litorais no troço da costa Poço da Cruz - Mira

Mestrado em Meteorologia e Oceanografia FísicaAs praias naturais apresentam uma barra que afeta significativamente alguns fenómenos como a transformação e reflexão das ondas, a dissipação de energia na rebentação e a reformação de ondas, após o atravessamento da barra. Estas transformações estão também associadas à não linearidade das ondas. Neste trabalho desenvolveu-se e aplicou-se um modelo de morfodinâmica do perfil de uma praia que engloba diferentes processos associados à propagação e rebentação da ondulação. Considerou-se como zona de estudo um perfil representativo do sector Poço da Cruz – Mira situado no litoral a sul de Aveiro. Efetuaram-se testes de sensibilidade do modelo numérico a diferentes parâmetros, como, por exemplo, às formulações de transporte para o cálculo do transporte sedimentar considerando para tal um regime de agitação marítima equivalente semelhante ao regime completo de ondas. A evolução do perfil da praia, durante um período de 14 meses, foi efectuada recorrendo ao regime de agitação marítima completo permitindo o estudo dos processos hidrodinâmicos, morfodinâmica e transporte sedimentar na evolução da barra litoral. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados aos dados obtidos em campo.Natural beaches present a breaker bar that significantly affect physical phenomena like wave transformation, wave reflexion, energy dissipation due to breaking and wave reforming through the region. These transformations are associated to nonlinear wave modifications. In this work has developed and applied a morphodynamic model of beach profile, witch englobs many different processes associated with propagation and surf curling. It was taken into account a section of the profile of Poço da Cruz – Mira, in coastal south of Aveiro. Sensitiveness tests of numerical model were made on different parameters, like transport formulations to calculate the sedimentary transportation considered for that a sea wave regime equals to the sea waves regime complete. The evolution of the beach profile was made during 14 months using a complete wave regime allowing studying de hidrodynamical, morphodynamic and sedimentary transportation processes in littoral bar evolution. The results were compared to the field data

Desafios da avaliação digital no ensino superior

A obra que aqui se apresenta consubstancia uma parte da investigação desenvolvida no âmbito do projeto “Avaliação e eLearning no Ensino Superior “(@ssess.he), financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT). Este projeto desenvolveu-se entre 2011 e 2013, e teve como foco a investigação em torno da avaliação digital no Ensino Superior. O projeto visou estudar as estratégias de avaliação digital, adequadas e válidas aos ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem no Ensino Superior, contribuindo para a clarificação de processos e visando a definição de indicadores que garantam a sua autenticidade e validade na avaliação de competências em contextos de elearning

Evaluating continuous assessment quality in competence-based education online : the case of the e-Folio

The pedagogical model, in use at Universidade Aberta (UAb) since 2007, is based on four cornerstones: student-centered learning; flexibility; interaction; digital inclusion. The cornerstone of digital inclusion is particularly important in the context of a fully virtual learning environment such as the one offered at UAb. The article was the result of a research project developed at the Distance Education Laboratory (LE@D – Laboratório de Educação a Distância) of UAb, focused on assessment issues, namely the two main types of instruments (e-folios and p-folios) used in undergraduate fully online courses at UAb. The research work developed by the team (Alda Pereira; Isolina Oliveira; Luís Tinoca; Lúcia Amante; Maria de Jesus C. Relvas; Maria do Carmo T. Pinto; Darlinda Moreira), whose members produced this paper, was particularly focused on the e-folio which a) is a short digital document; b) should clearly demonstrate the student’s acquired or developed given competence; c) may include a critical reflection about the student’s own learning, or a report about field work, or a problem solving activity, or a reading review, or the production of an artifact. Two main research questions were therefore asked, as a basis for both the whole project and this paper: 1) what relationship is there between the concept of competence being used in the e-folios and our current working definition? 2) what are the main characteristics of the e-folios? The research is based on the analysis of a pool of 35 e-folios collected within a sample of volunteer teachers, representing seven different scientific areas (education; languages; culture; literature; natural sciences; economy; documental sciences), preceded by a group discussion and clarification period around the concept of competence, and followed up by the creation of an analysis grid centered on the following criteria: the course competences; the e-folio competences; types of competences; the assignment; types of task; assessment criteria; instructions; resources; timetable; and structure. From the analysed e-folios, it becomes clear that the assessed competences were all framed by the concept of competence assumed by this research group, although they are not always presented with a clear formulation; it also becomes clear that the most valued type of competence was “problem solving”, with a recurrent use of textual based resources, and that there were several interpretations of what an e-folio may be

The contribution of foreign languages in the development of enterprises: a review of literature

Foreign languages have been the subject of research due to their importance as a means of communication. In fact, the competitiveness of companies is, nowadays, influenced in part by the communication resulting from their contact with companies from different countries, which requires a thorough knowledge of the language of these countries. On the other hand, for the success and progression of workers, it is crucial they acquire and develop foreign language skills. In this context, there have been multiple efforts by the European Commission to promote language learning in Europe and worldwide. In fact, over the past few years, several studies have demonstrated the need of companies to value foreign language skills among workers and collaborators. Multilingualism becomes, therefore, increasingly fundamental to the growth of the economic power of companies, and the competence in foreign languages can be the key factor to enter the labour market. Thus, the present study aims to understand the importance of foreign languages in the development of enterprises and their workers. The research question underlying the review of literature is: “What is the perception of companies regarding the importance of foreign languages for their economic progression and for their workers? To answer this research question, a review of the literature was conducted taking into consideration documents, reports and other secondary sources. For the collection of scientific evidence, research was carried out in the following databases: Science Direct from Elsevier; PubMed; B-on; Google Scholar and in the RCAAP portal. We used as descriptors of our search the following terms: industry, foreign language, multilingualism, higher education, employment, enterprise, among others.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The contribution of foreign languages in the development of enterprises: a review of literature

Foreign languages have been the subject of research due to their importance as a means of communication. In fact, the competitiveness of companies is, nowadays, influenced in part by the communication resulting from their contact with companies from different countries, which requires a thorough knowledge of the language of these countries. On the other hand, for the success and progression of workers, it is crucial they acquire and develop foreign language skills. In this context, there have been multiple efforts by the European Commission to promote language learning in Europe and worldwide. In fact, over the past few years, several studies have demonstrated the need of companies to value foreign language skills among workers and collaborators. Multilingualism becomes, therefore, increasingly fundamental to the growth of the economic power of companies, and the competence in foreign languages can be the key factor to enter the labour market. Thus, the present study aims to understand the importance of foreign languages in the development of enterprises and their workers. The research question underlying the review of literature is: “What is the perception of companies regarding the importance of foreign languages for their economic progression and for their workers? To answer this research question, a review of the literature was conducted taking into consideration documents, reports and other secondary sources. For the collection of scientific evidence, research was carried out in the following databases: Science Direct from Elsevier; PubMed; B-on; Google Scholar and in the RCAAP portal. We used as descriptors of our search the following terms: industry, foreign language, multilingualism, higher education, employment, enterprise, among others.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Joint use of data and modeling in coastal wave transformation

In the framework of a research project entitled "BRISA-BReaking waves and Induced SAnd transport", a methodology was devised to characterize the waves joining together in-situ measurements and numerical wave propagation models. With this goal in mind, a number of in-situ measurements were made, for selected positions in front of Praia de Faro (South Portugal), during four days (25th to 28th March, 2009) by using different types of equipments (e.g., resistive wave gauges, pressure sensors, currentmeters and a new prototype pore pressure sensor using optical fibre). Wave records were obtained simultaneously offshore (at a water depth of 11.7 m below mean sea level, MSL) and at the surf and swash zones. The data processing and analysis were made by applying classical time domain techniques. Numerical simulations of the wave propagation between offshore and inshore for the measurement period were performed with two numerical models, a 1D model based on linear theory and a nonlinear Boussinesq-type model, COULWAVE, both forced by the measured offshore wave conditions of 27th March 2009. Comparisons between numerical results and field data for the pressure sensors placed in the surf and swash zones were made and discussed. This approach enables to evaluate the performance of those models to simulate those specific conditions, but also to validate the models by gaining confidence on their use in other conditions.Science and Technology Foundation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal [SFRH/BPD/20508/2004]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A iniciação à prática profissional no curso de Educação Básica: uma reflexão sobre a experiência da Escola Superior de Educação de Viseu

Os cursos de Educação Básica (EB) integram, de acordo com a legislação em vigor, uma componente de Iniciação à Prática Profissional (IPP). A forma de organizar essa componente da formação, embora regulamentada por alguns princípios consignados nos documentos legais, é da responsabilidade de cada uma das instituições de ensino superior que ministram o curso. Neste artigo, apresentamos um estudo que tem como objetivos: (i) refletir sobre o modelo de organização e funcionamento da componente de formação da Iniciação à Prática Profissional que implementamos na Escola Superior de Educação de Viseu (ESEV); (ii) conhecer as perspetivas dos alunos do curso da licenciatura em Educação Básica sobre a IPP. Este estudo ocorre no momento em que o terceiro grupo de estudantes está a terminar o curso de Educação Básica (2010, 2011 e 2012) e em que os primeiros estudantes terminaram ou estão a terminar os seus mestrados profissionalizantes no âmbito da formação de professores e educadores de infância (cursos que permitem dar seguimento ao curso de EB). O estudo adota uma metodologia de natureza interpretativa. Participam no estudo alunos (finalistas da licenciatura de EB) e diplomados em EB (a frequentar os mestrados de formação de professores). Os dados foram recolhidos através de inquérito, por questionário e por entrevista, e análise SWOT. Os resultados do estudo apontam para uma boa aceitação por parte dos alunos do modelo de IPP, reconhecendo a importância de contactarem com os três níveis de ensino, em instituições educativas diversas. Para além disso, valorizam as tarefas desenvolvidas no âmbito da IPP, assim como o apoio da equipa multidisciplinar

Psychological well-being in Europe after the outbreak of war in Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has had devastating effects on the Ukrainian population and the global economy, environment, and political order. However, little is known about the psychological states surrounding the outbreak of war, particularly the mental well-being of individuals outside Ukraine. Here, we present a longitudinal experience-sampling study of a convenience sample from 17 European countries (total participants = 1,341, total assessments = 44,894, countries with >100 participants = 5) that allows us to track well-being levels across countries during the weeks surrounding the outbreak of war. Our data show a significant decline in well-being on the day of the Russian invasion. Recovery over the following weeks was associated with an individual’s personality but was not statistically significantly associated with their age, gender, subjective social status, and political orientation. In general, well-being was lower on days when the war was more salient on social media. Our results demonstrate the need to consider the psychological implications of the Russo-Ukrainian war next to its humanitarian, economic, and ecological consequences