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- The Portuguese Online Knowledge Library (B-on): a year of Academic Research at Portucalense UniversityPublication . Nunes, Manuela Barreto; Abelha, Marta“B-on” is the electronic resources platform acknowledged by the Portuguese scientific community, providing a high number of scientific resources and electronic services. Portucalense University adhered to B-on in 2013. After a year, a study of use and evaluation of the professors’ satisfaction was conducted. This paper presents the results obtained through the application of a questionnaire and the analysis of statistical data supplied by the platform. Results reveal a medium level of compliance, although with high intensity and users’ satisfaction. More information literacy instruction is required in order to amplify and diversify the use of the tool.
- Policies and practices of external evaluation of schools: spaces for teacher collaboration?Publication . Seabra, Filipa; Abelha, Marta; Henriques, Susana; Mouraz, AnaA profissão de docente foi tradicionalmente uma profissão solitária. Todavia, cada vez mais, quer pela consciência da complexidade da tarefa que é educar, quer pela emergência de uma ideia de currículo assente em competências transversais, o trabalho colaborativo dos professores tem sido objeto de maior atenção pela investigação. A colaboração docente tem uma existência paradoxal nas escolas, uma vez que tem sido desejada no âmbito das políticas educativas e nos discursos dos professores e das escolas, mas são parcas as práticas que refletem autêntico trabalho colaborativo docente. No presente artigo procura-se identificar de que formas se operacionaliza esta colaboração nas escolas. O olhar é estabelecido a partir do referencial e dos relatórios do 3º ciclo da Avaliação Externa das Escolas levada a cabo pela Inspeção Geral da Educação e Ciência em Portugal. O estudo usa a análise documental como técnica de recolha de dados e a análise de conteúdo como técnica de análise de dados. Os resultados salientam a valorização transversal do trabalho colaborativo como meta desejável a promover na melhoria das práticas pedagógicas, de modo relacionado com a supervisão.
- Teacher professional development in higher education: the impact of pedagogical training perceived by teachersPublication . Fernandes, Sandra; Araújo, Alexandra; Miguel, I.; Abelha, MartaThis paper aims to analyze the impact of a pedagogical training program aimed to promote teacher professional development in a higher education institution in Portugal. Based on a mixedmethods approach, the study evaluates the satisfaction of 36 higher education teachers with the pedagogical training program offered and discusses its impact on teachers’ perceptions of teaching practices, conceptions, and professional development. The results from the questionnaires applied to participants, including multiple choice questions and open-ended answers, indicate high satisfaction with the implemented training program. Based on this case study, the authors discuss the implications of findings for teacher professional development and identify key characteristics for the design of successful pedagogical training programs in higher education.
- Aprendizagem baseada em projetos: o contributo da formação pedagógica docentePublication . Abelha, Marta; Fernandes, Sandra
- Transformar a educação para a democracia através das aprendizagens estéticas e corporizadasPublication . Neves, Claudia; Almeida, Ana Patrícia; Oliveira, Juliana; Abelha, Marta; Abrantes, PedroA democracia não é simplesmente um processo técnico que envolve a aprendizagem da sua história, princípios, regras e instituições. Para proteger e promover a democracia, a educação para a democracia é vital. No entanto, nas escolas a educação para a democracia coloca a tónica na aprendizagem cognitiva. Muito pouco destaque se dá a uma dimensão fundamental da aprendizagem, ou seja, a sua natureza estética e corporizada. Esta comunicação apresenta os primeiros resultados de projeto internacional com financiamento Horizon Europe cuja ambição é reforçar e transformar o papel da aprendizagem estética e corporizada na educação para a democracia. A intenção é conceber um quadro pedagógico estético e corporizado inovador que tenha um impacto na prática da educação para a democracia através de guias associados à prática. O projeto está a ser desenvolvido e está, neste momento, na fase de testagem dos protótipos do quadro e dos guias em diferentes fases da educação e diversos contextos nacionais. Estes estudos de testagem estão a ser desenvolvidos através de uma investigação-ação participativa inovadora. O resultado da investigação será um quadro pedagógico baseado na investigação, com guias de apoio à prática, que inspire e ativa novas formas de educar para a democracia. O que se pretende apresentar são os resultados da fase de testagem realizada no contexto português ao nível da educação pré-escolar, 1º ciclo do ensino básico e ensino vocacional.
- Perspectives on preschool curriculum in PortugalPublication . Carrachás, Natércia; Seabra, Filipa; Abelha, MartaThe present communication is focused on the curriculum of preschools in Portugal (ages 3 to 6) and how preschool educators and 1st cycle (ages 6 to 10) teachers, as well as preschool children’s parents perceive it. Firstly, preschool education is contextualized in order to better frame the need for an active investment in the valuing of this educational level. Given its short existence, accompanied by advancements and setbacks, the idea often perceived in social discourse about preschool education in Portugal is often not one of an activity aimed at the global development of children, as assistentialist conceptions persist. However, while there isn’t a structured curriculum for preschool, there are Curricular Guidelines for Preschool Education (CGPE), a set of general principles which contribute to the childhood educators’ decisions about their educational practice and the educational intentionality of the activities developed with children. This document is a referential for the national network of preschool education for the construction of curriculum, which retains a wide margin of decision for the contextualization and differentiation of curriculum, acknowledging the childhood educators’ role as a curriculum decision maker. The aim of this study was to understand the conception that preschool teachers, 1st cycle teachers and some parents have about this level of education as well as to understand if they recognize the importance of developing personal and social skills together with other content areas which might be a facilitating scafold for the entrance in the following cycle. This study, using a mixed methodology, included semi-structured interviews to preschool educators (eight interviewees), and questionnaires to 1st cyle teachers (fourty nine) and parents (seventy-eight) of four schools in a region of inner Portugal, the district of Beja. The research followed the ethical norms for research in the social sciences, namely informed consent by participants and preservation of anonymity. Data gathering instruments were approved by the Ministry of Education as well as by the pedagogical councils and directors of the four school clusters involved. The main results show that all the preschool educators surveyed base their curriculum building process on the CGPE, some referring to this document as their «Bible» and also as the foundation of their planning and assessment practices. However important the document is deemed, it is not the sole foundation for their curricular decision-making, as children themselves and schools’ other internal documents and projects are also taken into account. Although primary school teachers know about the existence of the CGPE, they don’t demonstrate a broad understanding about its content, although they identify practices of coordination with preschool educators to prepare the students’ transition between educational cycles. They also recognize that the work carried out in preschool aims to facilitate future learning processes by the children. On the other hand, parents revealed a more passive attitude towards their children’s activities in preschool.
- The student journey in PBL: using individual portfolios to promote self-reflection and assessment as learningPublication . Fernandes, Sandra; Abelha, Marta; Albuquerque, Ana SílviaThis paper aims to present findings based on students’ journey within a Project-based learning (PBL) experience, with particular emphasis on the development of an individual portfolio by students, as part of the assessment process. The PBL project involved three curricular units (Research Methods and Techniques II, Ethics and Education and Sociology of Education), from the field of Education Sciences, integrated in the first year of the study plan of the Social Education degree programme at Portucalense University, Portugal. This paper describes student assessment within this educational approach, including both formative and summative methods. It calls attention to the concept of assessment as learning, which can be understood as a process where students are able to learn about themselves as learners and take responsibility for their own learning and monitor future directions. One of the assessment methods included in the PBL approach is the development of an individual portfolio with the purpose of enhancing student self-reflection and assessment of their work on a regular basis. The portfolio allowed students to share evidence of the project journey, with particular focus on the student’s learning process. The students were provided with general guidelines to develop their portfolio, but the flexible nature of this educational resource allowed students to record and highlight their individual and team contributions in a very creative and personalized way. The analysis of qualitative data from the individual student portfolios reveals student self-reflection on individual achievements, project milestones, teamwork skills, impact of teacher feedback, celebration moments, amongst others. Implications of these findings for PBL assessment practices will be discussed further in the paper.
- Supervised teaching practice in initial teacher education of early childhood teachers in PortugalPublication . Viana, Paulo; Abelha, Marta; Inês, Helena; Gramaxo, Patrícia; Seabra, FilipaSupervised teaching practice (STP) is a fundamental stage of initial teacher education, including preschool educators and teachers of the first cycle of basic education (1st CBE), which impacts their future practices. Our objectives were: a) to characterize STP in the curricula of degrees habilitating teachers for preschool education and teaching of the 1st CBE; b) to gather indicators about the process of STP implemented by the same cycles of studies; and c) to describe the improvement recommendations by the Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES) to the same cycles of studies, concerning STP. The study was based on the documentary analysis of the plans of study, and A3ES reports on the initial teacher education programs preparing preschool educators and teachers of the 1st CBE of public higher education institutions (HEI) in Portugal, available during the academic year of 2020/2021. The results point to discrepancies in the definition of contact hours and the number of hours dedicated to supervised teaching practice across HEI. The recommendations for improvement by the A3ES about STP encompass cooperating teachers, the accompaniment by the HEI, and the conditions of reception at the cooperating schools.
- Student assessment in higher education: a review of thesis carried out in Portuguese public universitiesPublication . Fernandes, Sandra; Machado, Eusébio; Abelha, MartaStudent assessment has become, over the past years, an important and complex issue about higher education pedagogy. This paper aims to present a systematic review of empirical studies (Master and PhD thesis), carried out in Portuguese public universities, focused on the topic of student assessment in higher education, from the year 2010 to 2020. The research methodology followed a qualitative approach, using e PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) model to develop the systematic review. Findings show a trend of change in the assessment practices of students in higher education, whose direction points to an increase of formative assessment centered on students. A strong trend of innovation in assessment practices with the use of technologies also emerges from the studies.
- Student motivation in the first year of University: findings from the implementation of a PBL project for a real contextPublication . Fernandes, Sandra; Conde, Ana; Abelha, MartaStudent motivation is a key dimension for first year students at University. Project-based Learning (PBL) is seen as an effective teaching and learning approach to enhance student motivation and engagement. This paper describes the results from the implementation of a PBL project that was developed for a real context – a non-profit social organization that works with children. The project included, for the first time, two curricular units from the field of Psychology and Education Sciences, integrated in the first year of the study plan of the Social Education degree programme at Portucalense University, Portugal. The paper describes, on the one hand, the objectives, planning and assessment of the PBL experience from a curricular and pedagogic point of view and, on the other hand, presents students’ perceptions about their PBL experience. Data collection was based on an online survey to students, at the start of the PBL project and after its conclusion, and a content analysis of the project reports of the groups. Findings reveal the importance of the development of the project for a real context and with a specific target audience as the main issues that enhanced student motivation and engagement in the courses involved in the project. Working in teams, the opportunity to develop generic competences, the stronger link between theory and practice, student resilience, teacher support and continuous feedback are also mentioned as important features of PBL that impact student motivation in the first year of University.