Engineering Education: New Challenges, New Approaches

Teachers must aid students develop 21st century skills providing them with rich learning experiences, as related as possible to their future professional practices. The sudden transition to an e-learning environment due to the COVID19 pandemic is the focus of the works presented. A good diversification of teaching approaches such as PBL, teamwork, gamification or the integration of complementary resources is tackled. Teachers’ concern about students’ perception, and development of professional competences is present in all works. Some works not only describe experiences that were useful to students learning but also in developing solutions, engendering a bridge between academia and the professional world.The chairs of this track session would like to thank the members of its Scientific Committee and all contributing authors for their efforts in enhancing the discussion upon this thematic. The authors would also like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology Project, FCT UIDB/04730/2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aprendizaje a partir de maneras complementarias de desarrollar capacidades experimentales

Engineering education has solid needs of experimental competences development. Nowadays these competences can be worked not only in traditional laboratories (hands on) but also through the use of computer simulations and remote labs. The use of diversified methods in education and the exploration of new resources and techniques in classroom may allow teachers to motivate more students, and capture their attention due to their different learning styles. The main objective of this project is to better understand the effects on students’ learning outcomes in different contexts (country, type of institution, background, etc.). Students are subjected to similar design approaches that all use an enquiry-based teaching and learning methodology. The methodology of the didactical implementation is based on the simultaneous use of experimental resources (hands on, simulation and remote labs) together with calculus, in class and assessment. To accomplish this research, several insights must be taken into consideration, including the teachers’ mediation in class, in each case, and the didactical implementations adaptations, but also external factors, such as socio-cultural and/ or political factors.La educación en ingeniería tiene sólidas necesidades de desarrollo de competencias experimentales. Hoy en día estas competencias pueden desarrollarse no solo en los laboratorios tradicionales (hands-on), sino también a través de simulaciones y laboratorios remotos. El uso de métodos diversificados en la educación y la exploración de nuevos recursos y técnicas en el aula puede permitir que los maestros motiven a más estudiantes y capten su atención. El objetivo principal de este diseño es comprender mejor los efectos sobre los resultados de aprendizaje de los estudiantes en diferentes contextos (país, tipo de institución, etc.), cuando están sujetos a enfoques de diseño similares utilizando una metodología de enseñanza y aprendizaje basada en la investigación. Esta metodología emplea el uso simultáneo de recursos experimentales (handson, simulaciones y laboratorios remotos) junto con cálculo, en clase y en evaluación. Para lograr este objetivo, hay que tener en cuenta varios puntos de vista, como la mediación de los profesores en cada caso y las adaptaciones didácticas, además de factores externos, como por ejemplo los factores socioculturales y/o políticos.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modelos de crescimentos populacionais e competições entre espécies: uma introdução ao modelo de Gilpin-Ayala

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Campus Blumenau. Licenciatura em MatemáticaNeste trabalho são apresentados sistemas de equações diferenciais ordinárias, que modelam o crescimento e a competição entre espécies. Para chegarmos a esses modelos, fizemos um estudo dos conceitos básicos de equações diferenciais de primeira ordem. Primeiramente, usamos um problema populacional bem simples para introduzir a ideia de modelagem matemática, que foi aperfeiçoada ao longo do trabalho, para assim, chegarmos a modelos mais próximos da realidade, que é o caso do Modelo de Gilpin-Ayala para crescimento populacional. São feitos estudos de equações autônomas, sistemas de equações diferenciais ordinárias tanto para espécies competindo pelo mesmo recurso natural, quanto para equações predador-presa. Fizemos uma análise qualitativa para melhor compreensão do comportamento das soluções das equações diferenciais, utilizando do plano de fase e os conceitos de estabilidade e instabilidade. Resolvemos de forma computacional os problemas, usando alguns métodos numéricos.In this work, systems of ordinary differential equations are presented, which model growth and competition between species. To obtain these models, we studied the basic concepts of first order differential equations. Firstly, we used a very simple population-growth problem to introduce the idea of mathematical modeling, which has been refined throughout the work, so that we can arrive at models closer to reality, which is the case of the Gilpin-Ayala model for population growth. Studies of autonomous equations, systems of ordinary differential equations are made both for species competing for the same natural resource and for predator-prey equations. We made some qualitative analysis to better understand the behavior of the solutions of the differential equations, using the phase plane and the concepts of stability and instability. We solve the problems in a computational way, using some numerical methods

Engineering education addressing professional challenges

Engineering profession is very demanding because of the different competences young graduates need to master. The exponential growth in technology, even though very beneficial to all, tends to worsen their needs of expertise, having to endlessly update themselves. Engineering education has been addressing these issues, hoping to contribute to better teaching practices more aligned with engineering professional world. Students must develop the necessary competences from the beginning of their education and engage into actively learning the subjects. Three aspects of this problematic are presented in this special session: educational experiences, students’ learning and professional challengesThe chairs of this track session would like to thank the members of its Scientific Committee and all contributing authors for their efforts in enhancing the discussion upon this thematic. The authors would also like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Foundation for Science and Technology Project, FCT UID/EQU/04730/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Engineering Education and Technological / Professional Learning

Engineering business is a demanding and dynamic market, which universities must understand and accompany. Being aware of the market needs is a step forward in training successful professionals. The presented works contributed to enhance the present discussion addressing different topics like emergent technologies, professional, scientific and social competences or projects that allow students to perform the first contacts with the real world. The view of students, teachers and company supervisors are considered.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Where to find the answers - a cross-sectional study

Funding: The present publication was funded by Fundac¸ão Ciência e Tecnologia, IP national support through CHRC (UIDP/04923/2020).INTRODUCTION: Clinicians raise at least one question for every two patients they see, but search for an answer to less than half of these questions, and rarely use evidence-based resources. One barrier to evidence-based practice is doubt that the search would yield an answer, and we found insufficient evidence to refute this concern. This study aims to identify what proportion of clinical questions in primary care can be answered with online evidence-based practice resources, and what proportion of these can be answered with pre-appraised evidence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study in two primary care practices. The inclusion criteria were family doctors, generalists and residents working in 2 selected practices. We collected a total of 238 questions from 19 family medicine specialists, 9 family medicine residents and 3 generalist doctors. Doctors were asked to record any clinical question that arose during 4 days of appointments. The primary outcome was the proportion of clinical questions answered with online evidence-based practice resources. The secondary outcome was the level of evidence needed to reach to find the answers (clinical summaries, systematic guidelines, systematic reviews or primary studies), according to Haynes' pre-appraised evidence pyramid model. RESULTS: 191 of the 206 valid clinical questions could be answered with online evidence-based practice resources (92.7% [95% CI 88.3%-95.9%]). Most of these questions (90.8% CI 95% 85.9%-94.4%) were successfully answered using clinical summaries (BMJ Best Practice, DynaMed or UpToDate), with a median search time of 4 minutes (range 1-16.5). CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to clinician's beliefs, the majority of clinical questions can be answered with online evidence-based practice resources, and most of them with pre-appraised evidence. This study could encourage family doctors to increase the use of clinical summaries. Furthermore, these results highlight the importance of teaching how to search for and apply pre-appraised evidence.publishersversionpublishe

Multimodal narratives: an e-tool available to research

As Narrações Multimodais (NMs) surgiram há mais de uma década, pela dificuldade sentida por um grupo de investigadores em Educação de Ciências em conseguir “entrar” verdadeiramente nas salas de aula. Atualmente, é uma ferramenta validada pela comunidade científica. A NM como ferramenta permite: (a) a estruturação da recolha de dados, (b) a elaboração de uma descrição multimodal de uma prática de ensino com determinadas características, (c) a constituição de um acervo digital e público de NM de práticas de ensino em diferentes contextos. Neste capítulo apresenta-se uma visão geral da investigação já realizada usando NM de práticas de ensino numa perspetiva de OpenScience. Torna-se patente a diversidade de linhas e focos de investigação referindo-se alguns dos principais contributos alcançados. O portal digital “Multimodal Narratives” (acervo e ferramenta NM) constitui-se como uma e-ferramenta ao serviço da melhoria das práticas de ensino e da investigação em Educação, em particular a investigação qualitativa, dada a riqueza dos dados disponíveis. A e-ferramenta NM mostra-se valiosa para ajudar o investigador em educação na recolha de dados, no armazenamento e tratamento de dados, na comparabilidade entre dados de diferentes fontes e na disseminação de resultados.Multimodal Narrations (MNs) emerged more than a decade ago, due to the difficulty felt by a group of researchers in Science Education to truly "enter" the classrooms. Currently, it is a tool validated by the scientific community. MN as a tool allows: (a) the structuring of data collection, (b) the elaboration of a multimodal description of a teaching practice with certain characteristics, (c) the constitution of a digital and public collection of MN of teaching practices in different contexts. This chapter presents an overview of research already conducted using MN teaching practices from an Open Science perspective. It becomes evident the diversity of lines and focuses of research referring to some of the main contributions achieved. The digital portal "Multimodal Narratives" (MN collection and tool) is an e-tool at the service of improving teaching practices and research in Education, in particular qualitative research, given the richness of the available data. The MN e-tool is valuable to assist the educational researcher in data collection, data storage and processing, comparability between data from different sources and dissemination of results.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An Alternative Way of Teaching Operational Amplifiers Using a Reconfigurable and Expandable Kit

Early on, students must develop competences by implementing simple or complex electronic circuits with Operational Amplifiers (OpAmps). Traditionally, these skills were mainly developed in laboratory classes, but technology allows us to explore other and complementary ways of aiding students in this achievement. This paper presents a contribution to improve the way OpAmps are included in electronic engineering courses’ curricula. A reconfigurable and expandable kit to teach electronic circuits based on the OpAmp uA741 was designed and implemented. This kit comprises a software application locally interfaced with a hardware platform capable of running in a PC. This platform includes a circuit with the OpAmp uA741 able to reconfigure according to a set of parameters defined by a software application. Its reconfiguration capability also enables the establishment of automatic connections for measuring and for applying signals to a reconfigured circuit, plus the ability to simulate the same or other OpAmp-based circuits. This paper provides an overview about the OpAmp uA741 and its relevance in engineering education. After presenting the kit and make some considerations for its improvement, at the end a brief discussion about its implementation in education according to specific educational strategies and methodologies are provided.This work was supported in part by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under Grant FCT-UID-EQU-04730-2013info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Teaching and learning Operational Amplifiers using a reconfigurable and expandable kit

Operational Amplifiers (OpAmps) are one of the most important integrated circuits in the area of electronics. These type of devices are widely adopted in the area since they allow the design of simple and/or complex analogue circuits without many efforts. It is therefore fundamental to create innovative educational solutions to facilitate their teaching and learning, and in particular the inclusion of more experimental work in a course curricula. For this purpose, it was designed and implemented a reconfigurable and expandable kit to teach and learn electronic circuits based on the OpAmp uA741. The kit comprises a software application and a hardware platform. The software application allows the simulation and the reconfiguration of real electronic circuits based on the OpAmp uA741 included in the hardware platform. For measuring and/or applying signals to a particular reconfigured circuit, users may establish automatic connections. In this paper it is described the features and functionalities provided by the kit, and an overview about the OpAmp uA741. At the end, some teachers’ opinions about their perceptions concerning a possible adoption of the kit in a real educational scenario are presented.N/

A Community of Practice Around Online Labs in Iraq: Towards Effective Support for Academics and Higher Educational Systems in the MENA Region

The growing interest of society in science and engineering disciplines has lead to a quality improvement in curricula; a more careful definition of the educational outcomes; and; an increased concern with the continuous improvement of student learning and the quality of teacher training programmes. Hands-on experiments with innovative instructional technologies (e.g. online labs) built confidence and skills of academics and students by helping them to better understand, especially in those disciplines. A community of practice is a group of people informally bound together by shared expertise or an area of interest in a topic. It focuses on sharing best practices and creating new knowledge to advance a domain of professional practice. In addition, it shares the appropriate activities and instructional technologies that support the higher educational systems. This study aims to examine how teachers and students are interested in using online labs to support hands-on labs for completing their educational tasks and illustrates the potential benefit of a community of practice around online labs. Consequently, in order to facilitate the formation of a new community of practice around instructional technologies in the Middle East and North Africa, several presentations about online labs have been made in different universities in Ira