A relação professor-aluno em medicina - um estudo sobre o encontro pedagógico

A formação humanística do aluno de Medicina é um importante objetivo educacional nas escolas médicas. Parte dessa formação se dá por meio de disciplinas da área das Humanidades, mas grande parte ocorre pelo aprendizado no ambiente cultural e nas relações interpessoais dentro da escola médica, em especial a relação professor-aluno. Com o objetivo de estudar a relação professor-aluno em uma escola médica padrão no Estado de São Paulo, desenhou-se este estudo de caso. Por meio de observação etnográfica e entrevistas em profundidade, obtivemos dados que foram analisados pelo método hermenêutico dentro de categorias analíticas construídas com base no referencial teórico da pesquisa e nos achados empíricos referentes aos tipos de relação pedagógica observados nessa escola. Descrevemos e interpretamos três tipos de relação dessa natureza, baseados na onipotência do professor, na construção de vínculo e na desqualificação do aluno. Em cada um deles, um modo predominante de comportamento estaria sendo ensinado de modo informal, aproximando ou afastando o ensino da ética e da competência relacional. Conclui-se que as relações professor-aluno na escola médica precisam ser alvo de estudo e atenção, assim como a clara definição de um padrão ético institucional para todos, para que se possa alcançar o objetivo de uma formação humanística em Medicina.

Biometric relationships of ocular components in esotropic amblyopia

Purpose: To investigate the contribution of the individual ocular components, i.e. anterior chamber depth, lens thickness and vitreous chamber depth, to total axial length in patients with esotropic amblyopia. Methods: The study population consisted of 74 children, aged between 5 and 8 years: thirty-seven patients with esotropic amblyopia and 37 healthy volunteers (control group). The participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmological examination, including cycloplegic refraction and A-scan ultrasonography. Anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, vitreous chamber depth and total axial length were recorded. Paired Student's t-tests were used to compare biometric measurements between amblyopic eyes and their fellow eyes and between right and left eyes in the control group. To evaluate the contribution of the ocular components to the total axial length, we report the individual components as a percentage of total axial length. Results: The comparison between amblyopic and fellow eyes regarding the individual contribution from ocular components to the total axial length revealed greater contribution from lens thickness (P=0.001) and smaller contribution from vitreous chamber depth (P=0.001) in amblyopic eyes, despite similar contribution from anterior chamber depth (P=0.434). The comparison between right and left eyes in the control group showed similar contributions from anterior chamber depth (P=0.620), lens thickness (P=0.721), and vitreous chamber depth (P=0.483). Conclusions: This study shows differences between amblyopic and non-amblyopic eyes when the total axial length is broken down into the individual contribution from the ocular components.

Hands-on experiments in the Practicum: repositioning student teachers' autonomy.

Following a worldwide trend, the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Programmes in Brazil are recently searching for ways of integrating practice into curriculum. It raises question about what practice must be integrated and how. Notably, university-based courses are disconnected from school and have low commitment with school issues (Zeichner, 2009).The student teacher induction into school daily life is not an easy task, mainly when the practitioners are transforming physics classroom practice toward an active learning. Drawing on cultural-historical framework (Wolff-Michael Roth & Lee, 2007; Vygotsky, 1978) this study addresses the articulation between Practicum in Physics Classes and the Hands-on Experiments (HoE) used throughout the Practicum. Although in a different level, both Practicum and HoE are linked with an idea of practice. Particularly, this study focuses on how HoE might foster student teachers' autonomy and agency in the Practicum. Data was gathered in the course Practice of Physics Teaching at University of São Paulo/Brazil in 2010; in a cohort of 60 student teachers doing a year-long Practicum in urban school in São Paulo city. Data was analysed using qualitative research methods (Roth, 2005), based on 14 interviews and video records of the student teacher preparing the HoE for Practicum we will present in general lines the role of HoE for student teacher autonomy.