The Portuguese programme one laptop per child: political, educational and social impact

In 2008, the XVII Portuguese Constitutional Government launched the ‘e.escolinha’ programme, within the Technological Plan for Education, which set out the distribution of a computer, called ‘Magalhães’, designed for chil-dren attending the 1st cycle of basic education. Suspended in 2011 by the XIX Government, this programme has allowed, however, almost 500 000 children to have access to a personal computer. It was expected that this political measure would “revolutionise” the national education system by bringing changes to the pedagogical practices of teachers and the learning processes of children and by achieving educational success, in general. Based on documental analysis and on a set of interviews with key decision-makers in conceiving, implementing and monitoring this governmental initiative, the fi rst part of this chapter presents and analyses the ‘e.escolinha’ initiative and the policies be-hind that governmental programme, seeking to disassemble those objectives and provide some insights into the relationship between discourses, rhetoric, and reality. After that, the chapter focuses on children’s uses and practices with the ‘Magalhães’ laptop, at school and at home. Based on the results of questionnaires fi lled in by approximately 1500 children from 32 First Cycle public schools of the municipality of Braga (north of Portugal) and also from questionnaires applied to their parents and teachers, this chapter intends to analyse the real impact of this initiative for children, family and school. It also seeks to discuss the contribution of this educational policy to children’s digital literacy and also to their own and their families’ social and digital inclusion. To understand if it represented an added value to teachers’ pedagogical practice is another of its aims. The fi ndings point out a major focus on technology and access rather than on uses and competences or even on social, educational and cultural change. In fact, a major conclusion is the existence of a strong gap between the policy and the practices, typical of a top-down policy design. This study is an integrant part of a research project titled “Navigating with ‘Magalhães’: Study on the Impact of Digital Media in Schoolchildren” conducted at the University of Minho, Portugal, financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [PTDC/CCI-COM/101381/2008] and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund [COMPETE: FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-009056].

Validation of the Portuguese version of the Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire

OBJECTIVES: To describe the process of translation and linguistic and cultural validation of the Evidence Based Practice Questionnaire for the Portuguese context: Questionário de Eficácia Clínica e Prática Baseada em Evidências (QECPBE). METHOD: A methodological and cross-sectional study was developed. The translation and back translation was performed according to traditional standards. Principal Components Analysis with orthogonal rotation according to the Varimax method was used to verify the QECPBE's psychometric characteristics, followed by confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency was determined by Cronbach's alpha. Data were collected between December 2013 and February 2014. RESULTS: 358 nurses delivering care in a hospital facility in North of Portugal participated in the study. QECPBE contains 20 items and three subscales: Practice (α=0.74); Attitudes (α=0.75); Knowledge/Skills and Competencies (α=0.95), presenting an overall internal consistency of α=0.74. The tested model explained 55.86% of the variance and presented good fit: χ2(167)=520.009; p = 0.0001; χ2df=3.114; CFI=0.908; GFI=0.865; PCFI=0.798; PGFI=0.678; RMSEA=0.077 (CI90%=0.07-0.08). CONCLUSION: confirmatory factor analysis revealed the questionnaire is valid and appropriate to be used in the studied context.

A construção de um currículo de project-based learning: o currículo ideal e o currículo formal

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar os resultados da análise das concepções de dois protagonistas de uma reforma curricular que está sendo implementada numa escola de engenharia. A principal característica do novo currículo é o uso de projetos e oficinas como atividades complementares a serem realizadas pelos estudantes. As atividades complementares acontecerão em paralelo ao trabalho realizado nas disciplinas sem que haja uma relação de interdisciplinaridade. O novo currículo está sendo implantado desde fevereiro de 2015. Segundo Pacheco (2005) há dois momentos, dentre outros, no processo de mudança curricular, o currículo “ideal”, determinado por dimensões epistemológica, política, econômica, ideológica, técnica, estética, e histórica e, que recebe influência direta daquele que idealiza e cria o novo currículo e, o currículo “formal” que se traduz na prática implementada na escola. São essas duas etapas estudadas nesta pesquisa. Para isso serão considerados como fontes de dados dois protagonistas, um mais ligado à concepção do currículo e outro da sua implementação, a partir dos quais se busca compreender as motivações, crenças e percepções que, por sua vez, determinam a reforma curricular. Entrevistas semiestruturadas foram utilizadas como técnica de pesquisa, com o propósito de se entender a gênese da proposta e as mudanças entre essas duas etapas. Os dados revelam que mudanças aconteceram desde a idealização até a formalização do currículo, motivadas por demandas do processo de implementação, revela ainda diferenças na visão de currículo e a motivação para romper com padrões na formação de engenheiros no Brasil.

Práticas centradas na família: um estudo de caso do Centro de Educación Infantil y de Atención Temprana da Universidade Católica de Valência

Dissertação de mestrado em Educação Especial (área de especialização em Intervenção Precoce)

Design de superfície biomimética para aplicação em atividades desportivas

Tese de Doutoramento Engenharia Têxtil.

Development and psychometric properties of ECPICID-AVC to measure informal caregivers’ skills when caring for older stroke survivors at home

Introduction: Informal caregivers provide a significant part of the total care needed by dependent older people poststroke. Although informal care is often the preferred option of those who provide and those who receive informal care, informal caregivers often report lack of preparation to take care of older dependent people. This article outlines the development and psychometric testing of informal caregivers’ skills when providing care to older people after a stroke – ECPICID-AVC. Design: Prospective psychometric instrument validation study. Methods: Eleven experts participated in a focus group in order to delineate, develop and validate the instrument. Data were gathered among adult informal caregivers (n = 186) living in the community in Northern Portugal from August 2013 to January 2014. Results: The 32-item scale describes several aspects of informal caregiver’s skills. The scale has eight factors: skill to feed/hydrate by nasogastric feeding, skill to assist the person in personal hygiene, skill to assist the person for transferring, skill to assist the person for positioning, skill to provide technical aids, skill to assist the person to use the toilet, skill to feed/hydrate and skill to provide technical aids for dressing/undressing. Analysis demonstrated adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.83) and good temporal stability 0.988 (0.984–0.991). Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the measurement tool showed acceptable results allowing its implementation in clinical practice by the nursing community staff for evaluating practical skills in informal caregivers when providing care to older stroke survivors living at home.

Smile-kids: uma experiência de educação e formação de educadores de infância em creches

O presente estudo pretende descrever o programa de intervenção, baseado no desenvolvimento de conhe‑ cimentos e competências em educadores de infância relacionados com a alimentação, crescimento, desen‑ volvimento e adesão a novos alimentos na primeira infância. Os educadores de infância das creches (18 no total) participaram no programa de intervenção, que ocorreu entre dezembro de 2013 e fevereiro de 2014, acreditada pelo Ministério da Educação, Conselho Científico-Pedagógico da Formação Contínua. Globalmente, a oficina de formação constituiu-se como um espaço de reflexão, análise e exploração de temáticas relacionadas com os estilos de vida na primeira infância, num total de 25 horas de formação presencias e 25 horas de experimentação no contexto de trabalho das formandas. Procurámos centrar os momentos formativos numa pedagogia baseada na partilha, expo‑ sição de perspetivas singulares entre pares, colaboração e iniciativa conjunta. Explorámos as expetativas das formandas relativamente à oficina de formação e as suas representações sobre a alimentação em crianças. A experiência terminou, mas com um sentido expectável de continuidade, pois deixou marcas em todos os que participaram. As implicações para a prática foram testemunhadas por todas as formandas.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography for suspected choledocholithiasis : from guidelines to clinical practice

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography for suspected choledocholithiasis: From guidelines to clinical practice.