Predictors of portuguese teachers' use of information and communication technologies in literacy classes

In the last years, the teaching and learning of literacy has changed due to the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The use of ICT in the classroom depends largely on teachers, who are the key players in its integration. However, several factors influence teachers’ decisions to use ICT in their classroom, both internal (e.g., self-efficacy) and external (e.g., school support). Indeed, despite the potential benefits of using ICT, not all teachers use them in their teaching practice. In the present study, we examined which are the main factors influencing teachers’ effective use of ICT in literacy classrooms. A total of 125 teachers lecturing Portuguese Language in grades 5–12 participated in this study (M = 50.00 years, SD = 7.88; 89% women). Teachers filled in an online survey, comprising sociodemographic questions (viz., age, gender, education, years of teaching experience, teaching level, school type, and geographical area) and four questionnaires related to ICT and teaching. Results showed that effective use of ICT was predicted by both internal (ICT’ self-efficacy and constructivist conception of teaching) and external (lack of access and support, and gatekeepers) factors. These findings may help in the identification of key targets to facilitate the effective use of ICT in literacy classrooms

Machine learning models based on clinical indices and cardiotocographic features for discriminating asphyxia fetuses—Porto retrospective intrapartum study

Perinatal asphyxia is one of the most frequent causes of neonatal mortality, affecting approximately four million newborns worldwide each year and causing the death of one million individuals. One of the main reasons for these high incidences is the lack of consensual methods of early diagnosis for this pathology. Estimating risk-appropriate health care for mother and baby is essential for increasing the quality of the health care system. Thus, it is necessary to investigate models that improve the prediction of perinatal asphyxia. Access to the cardiotocographic signals (CTGs) in conjunction with various clinical parameters can be crucial for the development of a successful model. This exploratory work aims to develop predictive models of perinatal asphyxia based on clinical parameters and fetal heart rate (fHR) indices. Single gestations data from a retrospective unicentric study from Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Porto de São João (CHUSJ) between 2010 and 2018 was probed. The CTGs were acquired and analyzed by Omniview-SisPorto, estimating several fHR features. The clinical variables were obtained from the electronic clinical records stored by ObsCare. Entropy and compression characterized the complexity of the fHR time series. These variables' contribution to the prediction of asphyxia perinatal was probed by binary logistic regression (BLR) and Naive-Bayes (NB) models. The data consisted of 517 cases, with 15 pathological cases. The asphyxia prediction models showed promising results, with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) >70%. In NB approaches, the best models combined clinical and SisPorto features. The best model was the univariate BLR with the variable compression ratio scale 2 (CR2) and an AUC of 94.93% [94.55; 95.31%]. Both BLR and Bayesian models have advantages and disadvantages. The model with the best performance predicting perinatal asphyxia was the univariate BLR with the CR2 variable, demonstrating the importance of non-linear indices in perinatal asphyxia detection. Future studies should explore decision support systems to detect sepsis, including clinical and CTGs features (linear and non-linear).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Arquitetura do turismo

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Arquitetura. Mestrado Integrado em Arquitetura

Modelling the Contribution of Land Use to Nitrate Yield from a Rural Catchment

The nutrient flow dynamics in rural landscapes are among the basic characteristics of landscape functioning. In this study, the ecohydrological model SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was applied in a small rural catchment in northwest (NW) Spain to evaluate the contribution of land use on nitrate losses and to assess the relative importance of different pathways by which nitrate is delivered to the drainage network. The model was first calibrated and validated at a monthly time step. The SWAT model performance was satisfactory (R2 > 0.5; Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) > 0.5 and percent bias (PBIAS) < 10%) during both the calibration and validation periods, indicating that SWAT predicted the nitrate discharge accurately. Using the calibrated SWAT model, this study showed that agricultural lands, even though they represent only 30% of the catchment, were main contributor to the nitrate losses accounting for about 77% of the total nitrate yield. The model results also indicated that, irrespective of the land use, groundwater flow is the main pathway for nitrate losses (63%); therefore, appropriate management practices aimed at decreasing nitrate leaching will be key factors in reducing nitrate yield in the study catchment

The role of green spaces on urban environmental quality

Urban green areas have the potential to attenuate some of the negative effects of urbanisation, making cities a more pleasant place to live in. In addition to aesthetic value, green spaces improve air quality, reduce noise levels and generate more comfortable micro-climatic conditions, among other benefits, contributing to urban quality of life. GreenUrbe (POCI/AMB/59174/2004) – The Impacts of Green Spaces on Urban Environmental Quality – is a three year research project, started in October 2005 and aims to assess the impact of green spaces on urban environmental quality (air quality, noise and micro-climatic conditions) and social well-being, in order to formulate recommendations regarding green spaces design, as it is an essential activity in urban planning, using Bragança (Portugal) as the case study. In order to achieve these objectives an extensive fieldwork is being carried out at an urban area, involving measurements of meteorological parameters, passive sampling of ozone, nitrogen dioxide and COVs, continuous measurements of particulate matter and ozone, environmental noise measurements, experimental designs to evaluate how much vegetation interfere with noise propagation and noise absorption, haze evaluation by means of Small Format Aerial Photography (SFAP) and a survey on population attitudes and perceptions towards the overall urban green spaces. In this article, emphasis will be given to the methodological aspects and to the first results of the project with regards to urban green structure analysis and quantitative evaluation of environmental noise, air quality and climate comfort at Bragança city

Machine learning models based on clinical indices and cardiotocographic features for discriminating asphyxia fetuses—Porto retrospective intrapartum study

IntroductionPerinatal asphyxia is one of the most frequent causes of neonatal mortality, affecting approximately four million newborns worldwide each year and causing the death of one million individuals. One of the main reasons for these high incidences is the lack of consensual methods of early diagnosis for this pathology. Estimating risk-appropriate health care for mother and baby is essential for increasing the quality of the health care system. Thus, it is necessary to investigate models that improve the prediction of perinatal asphyxia. Access to the cardiotocographic signals (CTGs) in conjunction with various clinical parameters can be crucial for the development of a successful model.ObjectivesThis exploratory work aims to develop predictive models of perinatal asphyxia based on clinical parameters and fetal heart rate (fHR) indices.MethodsSingle gestations data from a retrospective unicentric study from Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Porto de São João (CHUSJ) between 2010 and 2018 was probed. The CTGs were acquired and analyzed by Omniview-SisPorto, estimating several fHR features. The clinical variables were obtained from the electronic clinical records stored by ObsCare. Entropy and compression characterized the complexity of the fHR time series. These variables' contribution to the prediction of asphyxia perinatal was probed by binary logistic regression (BLR) and Naive-Bayes (NB) models.ResultsThe data consisted of 517 cases, with 15 pathological cases. The asphyxia prediction models showed promising results, with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) &gt;70%. In NB approaches, the best models combined clinical and SisPorto features. The best model was the univariate BLR with the variable compression ratio scale 2 (CR2) and an AUC of 94.93% [94.55; 95.31%].ConclusionBoth BLR and Bayesian models have advantages and disadvantages. The model with the best performance predicting perinatal asphyxia was the univariate BLR with the CR2 variable, demonstrating the importance of non-linear indices in perinatal asphyxia detection. Future studies should explore decision support systems to detect sepsis, including clinical and CTGs features (linear and non-linear)

Metodologia de resolução de situação-problema aplicada à aula de produção de texto no ensino médio

This work reflected on teaching-learning of writing in high school from the use of active methodologies, especially problem-solving. The first objective was to analyze the application of active methodologies in writing classes in the 3rd grade of high school at a private school in the interior of São Paulo. Subsequently, based on the reflections generated by the activities, the objective was to produce a didactic sequence aimed at guiding teachers of text production that could contribute to the teaching-learning of written production in basic education. The methodology used was based on action research (FRANCO, 2005), active methodologies (MACEDO, 2005) and construction of didactic sequences (GUIMARÃES; GIORDAN, 2011; ZABALA, 1998). An adaptation of the UN assembly simulation methodology was also used. In general, students had a significant gain in the performance of their argumentative skills, in oral and written production, reflecting on autonomy, empathy, human rights and consensus. However, the activities raised the need to expand the use of such methodologies and didactic situations that encourage autonomy in previous grades, not only at the end of the cycle. As for the construction of the didactic sequence, it proved to be a productive way to share the experience and expand the discussion on active methodologies, in addition to being essential to move from an intuitive practice to a reflective practice. Finally, the research made it clear that the field is fruitful for many reflections and transformations on teaching-learning of writing.Este trabajo reflejó sobre enseñanza de redacción en el 3ºaño de la escuela secundária a través de metodologías activas, especialmente, resolución de situación problema. El primer objetivo fue analizar la aplicación de metodologías activas en clases de redacción en una escuela privada en interior de São Paulo. Posteriormente, a partir de las reflexiones generadas por las actividades, el objetivo fue producir una secuencia didáctica centrada en la orientación de los maestros de producción de texto que podría contribuir a la enseñanza de redacción. La metodología empleada estaba basada en investigación de acción (FRANCO, 200;), metodologías activas (MACEDO, 2005) y construcción de secuencias didácticas (GUIMARÃES; GIORDAN, 2011; ZABALA, 1998;). También se utilizó una adaptación de la metodología de simulación de la Asamblea de la ONU. En general, los estudiantes tuvieron una ganancia significativa en el desempeño de habilidades argumentativas, en producciones orales y escritas, reflexionando sobre autonomía, empatía, derechos humanos y consenso. Sin embargo, las actividades plantearon la necesidad de ampliar el uso de tales metodologías y situaciones didácticas que fomentan la autonomía en series anteriores, no solo al final del ciclo. En cuanto a la construcción de la secuencia didáctica, resultó ser una forma productiva de compartir la experiencia y ampliar la discusión sobre metodologías activas, resultó aún esencial para pasar de una práctica intuitiva a una práctica reflexiva. Finalmente, la investigación dejó en claro que el campo es fructífero para muchas reflexiones y transformaciones en la enseñanza de la escritura.Este trabalho refletiu sobre ensino-aprendizagem de redação no Ensino Médio a partir do uso de metodologias ativas, especialmente, resolução de situação-problema. O primeiro objetivo foi analisar a aplicação de metodologias ativas em aulas de redação na 3ª série do Ensino Médio em um colégio privado no interior de São Paulo. Posteriormente, a partir das reflexões geradas pelas atividades, o objetivo foi produzir uma sequência didática voltada à orientação de professores de produção de texto que pudesse contribuir com o ensino-aprendizagem de produção escrita na educação básica. A metodologia empregada baseou-se em pesquisa-ação (FRANCO, 2005), metodologias ativas (MACEDO, 2005) e construção de sequências didáticas (GUIMARÃES; GIORDAN, 2011; ZABALA, 1998). Também foi usada uma adaptação da metodologia das simulações de assembleias da ONU. Em geral, os alunos tiveram um ganho expressivo no desempenho de suas habilidades argumentativas, em produção orais e escritas, refletindo sobre autonomia, empatia, direitos humanos e consenso. Porém, as atividades levantaram a necessidade da ampliação do uso de tais metodologias e de situações didáticas que estimulem a autonomia em séries anteriores, não só no final do ciclo. Quanto à construção da sequência didática, mostrou-se um caminho produtivo para dividir a experiência e ampliar a discussão sobre as metodologias ativas, além de essencial para passar-se de uma prática intuitiva para uma prática reflexiva. Por fim, a pesquisa deixou claro que o campo é frutífero para muitas reflexões e transformações sobre ensino-aprendizagem de redação