Teaching with Moodle in higher education

Nowadays, with the use of technology and the Internet, education is undergoing significant changes, contemplating new ways of teaching and learning. One of the widely methods of teaching used to promote knowledge, consists in the use of virtual environments available in various formats, taking as example the teaching-learning platforms, which are available online. The Internet access and use of Laptops have created the technological conditions for teachers and students can benefit from the diversity of online information, communication, collaboration and sharing with others. The integration of Internet services in the teaching practices can provide thematic, social and digital enrichment for the agents involved. In this paper we will talk about the advantages of LMS (Learning Management Systems) such as Moodle, to support the presential lectures in higher education. We also will analyse its implications for student support and online interaction, leading educational agents to a mixing of different learning environments, where they can combine face-to-face instruction with computer-mediated instruction, blended-learning, and increases the options for better quality and quantity of human interaction in a learning environment. We also will present some tools traditionally used in online assessment and that are part of the functionalities of Moodle. These tools can provide interesting alternatives to promote a more significant learning and contribute to the development of flexible and customized models of an evaluation which we want to be more efficient

Learning management systems in higher education

The use of Laptops and the Internet has produced the technological conditions for instructors and students can take advantage from the diversity of online information, communication, collaboration and sharing with others. The integration of Internet services in the teaching practices can be responsible for thematic, social and digital improvement for the agents involved. There are many benefits when we use a Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle, to support the lectures in higher education. We also will consider its implications for student support and online interaction, leading educational agents to a collaborating of different learning environments, where they can combine face-to-face instruction with computer-mediated instruction, blended-learning, and increases the possibilities for better quality and quantity of human communication in a learning background. In general components of learning management systems contain synchronous and asynchronous communication tools, management features, and assessment utilities. These assessment utilities allow lecturers to systematize basic assessment tasks. Assessments can be straightaway delivered to the student, and upon conclusion, immediately returned with grades and detailed feedback. Therefore learning management systems can also be used for assessment purposes in Higher Education.

Audit quality and earnings management: evidence from Portugal

Accounting manipulation is a current problem, reported in many different contexts. Several audit quality studies indicate that there is a relationship between the quality of the audit and the manipulation of the results. These also show that accruals reduce when the auditor is independent or the audit company is large, and suggest that Big 4 Audit Firms present higher levels of audit quality, when compared with other companies. The aim of this paper is to examine if there is a relationship between the manipulation of results and the quality of the audit, based on the study of the behavior of discretionary accruals in Portuguese non-listed companies. Collected on the SABI (Iberian Balance sheet Analysis System) database, the sample is composed of 4723 companies from 2013 to 2015. The empirical model of this study consists of a multiple linear regression in order to explain the relationship between the discretionary accruals and the firm size, debt, volume business and profitability, based on the Modified Jones Model. The results suggest that there is a relationship between audit quality and earnings manipulation. The level of earnings management is significantly lower among companies contracting a Big 4 audit firm, as compared to companies using a non-Big 4 audit firm.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Decision criteria in management using probabilities

W artykule zilustrowano, jak pewne techniki czy kryteria wykorzystujące prawdopodobieństwo zdarzeń a dotyczące podejmowania decyzji pozwalają określić optymalne działania odnośnie magazynowania nietrwałych towarów, jak również innych decyzji w zarządzaniu. Porównywane są różne metody, a także pokazano proste, interesujące przykłady ukazujące, jak te kryteria mogą działać w praktyce. W większości przypadków menedżerowie muszą zdecydować, ile produktów zmagazynować, żeby sprostać niepewnemu popytowi. Jeżeli zmagazynują zbyt dużo, część może nie zostać sprzedana, a z powodu nietrwałości zgromadzonych zapasów mogą one zostać wyrzucone i spowodować stratę. Z drugiej strony jeżeli nie można zaspokoić popytu z powodu zbyt małych zapasów, także powoduje to stratę. W tej sytuacji menedżer jest zawsze zainteresowany podjęciem optymalnej decyzji dotyczącej zapasów, której rezultatem jest najwyższy spodziewany zysk w długim okresie czasuIn this paper, I will illustrate how some decision making techniques or criteria, using probabilities, will allow us to determine optimal courses of action not only for perishable-goods stocking problems, but also for a number of other managerial decision making applications. Various methods for decision making with probabilities are discussed and compared. Some simple interesting numerical examples show how these criteria can work in practice, and demonstrate their differences. Most of the time, managers must decide how much produce to stock to meet an uncertain demand. If produce is excessively stocked, some of it may go unsold, and because of its perishability, it may have to be thrown away at a loss. On the other hand, if sufficient stock is unavailable to meet the potential demand in the selling period, a situation of lost profit is incurred. In such cases, the manager is interested in deciding an optimal stocking level, one which results in the largest expected profit in the long ter

The Significant Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on supply chains

As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the world, the existence of disruptions in demand and supply have become more severe, conducted by containment measures taken by countries and affecting different sectors around the world. Although businesses and workplaces are restarting activities in some countries, with containment measures gradually being lifted, overall consumer demand is expected to remain low, also determined by the loss of jobs and income. Therefore, the scale of the impact on supply chains exceeded anything most companies had anticipated. This study aims to understand how companies were affected and identify some lessons learned about their vulnerabilities and the possible ways to address them in the long term. On the other hand, it is intended to reveal some of the impacts of COVID-19 and make some practical suggestions that can help in political and operational decisions to strengthen and build additional resilience in supply chains in the future.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Vantagens e desvantagens da terapêutica e hidratação subcutânea

PROBLEMÁTICA: O envelhecimento populacional tendencialmente crescendo, associado ao aumento de doenças crónicas de evolução prolongada levam ao aumento significativo do número de internamentos de doentes terminais em hospitais de agudos. Este facto exige formação adequada dos profissionais de saúde para cuidar de doentes em que o intuito curativo deixa de ser a exigência. OBJETIVOS: Este estudo pretende identificar as vantagens e desvantagens da terapêutica e hidratação subcutânea em cuidados paliativos bem como, mais especificamente, descrevê-las reportando-as para o contexto de controlo sintomático em emergências, nos últimos dias e horas de vida e em cuidados domiciliários, cruzando com os objetivos principais e secundários deste estudo. DESENHO: Revisão sistemática da literatura que inclui estudos de natureza qualitativa, quantitativa e mista. METODOLOGIA: Para a sua realização foram incluídos 23 estudos empíricos, 17 de fonte primária e 6 revisões sistemáticas da literatura, publicados no horizonte temporal entre janeiro de 2007 e junho de 2012, pesquisados a partir de bases de dados de texto integral e de referência. RESULTADOS: Este estudo evidenciou não só a existência de vantagens e desvantagens da via subcutânea, como também a presença de fatores promotores, de dificuldades e entraves com que se deparam o doente, o cuidador, o profissional e as organizações de saúde. CONCLUSÃO: A via subcutânea é um recurso importante em cuidados paliativos. As suas imensas vantagens superam as suas possíveis desvantagens, sendo pouco frequentes, facilmente ultrapassáveis e previsíveis. As barreiras ao seu uso precipitam as suas desvantagens ofuscando muitas vezes as suas vantagens. Os ganhos em saúde com o recurso a esta via, são notórios

Online assessment through moodle plataform

The differences between secondary education and Higher Education (HE) are numerous, both in terms of teaching methodologies and as well as evaluation/validation procedures. Until a few years ago, the HE assessment practices were reduced, with some exceptions from practical/laboratory curricular units, to written exams, carried out on the same day and at the same time by all, or, at most, two frequencies (tests) over the course of the semester or year. With growing concerns in terms of learning outcomes and students’ success, globalisation and the massification of education, several alternative models have been tested, both in terms of teaching/learning methodologies (flipped, project-based, “blended”, among others) and assessment practices (portfolio, continuous, segmented, formative, and others). The fast development of electronic devices has been promoting the development and sharing of several digital educational tools and their use seem to be a good choice to promote actual students’/professors’ interaction and corresponding socialization, even in some assessment tasks. In this particular case, online activities can be transformed into powerful self-assessment resources for students, stimulating reflection and promoting independent learning. Moodle, as an open Learning Management System (LMS), has all the requisites and potential features to be a fine supporting tool to several activities, specifically to assessing ones. In this paper, we will briefly describe Moodle potentialities, with some application examples based on literature review and present the work developed on several Mathematic curricular units from different schools of the Polytechnic of Porto, where Moodle is used as an online assessment tool, to promote a continuous/segmented model with specific and different activities designed for each course.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using moodle analytics for continuous e-assessment in a financial mathematics course at Polytechnic of Porto

The relevance of electronic learning, commonly called e-learning, has been growing exponentially in the last decade. Virtual learning environments (VLEs) disclosed new paths for interactions and motivation promotion, offering basic learning analytics functions and are becoming progressively popular. Moodle (acronym for Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is one of the most used VLEs, it is a free learning management system distributed as Open Source. The VLE Moodle gives professors access to an “endless” use and performance database like the number of downloads for each resource, participation of students in courses, statistics of performed quizzes, among others. The data stored by Moodle offers a good and handy source for learning analytics. One popular definition, from the First International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge in 2011, states that “Learning Analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about students and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs”. Thus, using appropriate learning analytics methods and techniques, it would be helpful to analyze what particular learning activities or tools were practically used by students in Moodle, and to what extent. Considering the importance of the student engagement and the benefits of continuous assessment in higher education, as well as the impact of information and communications technology (ICT) on educational processes, it is important to integrate technology into continuous assessment practices. Since student engagement is connected to the quality of the student experience, increasing it is one way of enhancing quality in a higher education institution. In this study, will be demonstrated how the use of several educational resources and a low-stakes continuous weekly e-assessment in Moodle had a positive influence on student engagement in a second year undergraduate Financial Mathematics Course. Students felt that their increased engagement and improved learning was a straight result of this method. Furthermore, this suggests that wisely planned assignments and assessments can be used to increase student engagement and learning, and, as a result, contribute to improving the quality of student experience and success.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multicriteria Decision Support Model for Selection of Fiberglass Suppliers

This chapter presents a real case of a decision problem in supplier selection of one of the main raw materials of a wind blades industry. The study considered all currently qualified suppliers according to considerably rigorous standards and specifications and one in qualification process. It is a complex choice, given the strategic importance of the product and the multiplicity of criteria to be considered, both quantitative and qualitative. The strong competitiveness requires a special attention which concerns the supplier selection; not only the price matters; in fact, a day of stoppage due to failure in a delivery, for example, corresponds to high losses that would have justified the purchase from a supplier with a higher price but with no delivery failures. In order to contribute to the problem resolution, the methodologies PROMETHEE and AHP were applied, whose results allow the authors to stablish a ranking of the considered suppliers. The results will support the company on the selection of fiberglass suppliers and in some cases clarify where they can find the main trade-offs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Math without stress: an open online learning project

MOOC (as an acronym for Massive Open Online Courses) are a quite new model for the delivery of online learning to students. As “Massive” and “Online”, these courses are proposed to be accessible to many more learners than would be possible through conventional teaching. As “Open” they are (frequently) free of charge and participation is not limited by the geographical situation of the learners, creating new learning opportunities in Higher Education Institutions (HEI). In this paper we describe a recently started project “Matemática 100 STRESS” (Math Without STRESS) integrated in the e-IPP project | e-Learning Unit of Porto’s Polytechnic Institute (IPP) which has created its own MOOC platform and launched its first course – Probabilities and Combinatorics – in early June/2014. In this MOOC development were involved several lecturers from four of the seven IPP schools