Developing an aquaponics system to learn sustainability and social compromise skills

The goal of this project, one of the proposals of the EPS@ISEP Spring 2014, was to develop an Aquaponics System. Over recent years Aquaponics systems have received increased attention since they contribute to reduce the strain on resources within 1st and 3rd world countries. Aquaponics is the combination of Hydroponics and Aquaculture, mimicking a natural environment in order to successfully apply and enhance the understanding of natural cycles within an indoor process. Using this knowledge of natural cycles, it was possible to create a system with capabilities similar to that of a natural environment with the support of electronics, enhancing the overall efficiency of the system. The multinational team involved in the development of this system was composed of five students from five countries and fields of study. This paper describes their solution, including the overall design, the technology involved and the benefits it can bring to the current market. The team was able to design and render the Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawings of the prototype, assemble all components, successfully test the electronics and comply with the budget. Furthermore, the designed solution was supported by a product sustainability study and included a specific marketing plan. Last but not least, the students enrolled in this project obtained new multidisciplinary knowledge and increased their team work and cross-cultural communication skills.

Viver sem Medo - Projeto de Intervenção com um Grupo de Mulheres em situação de Vulnerabilidade Social

O presente relatório, fundamentado teoricamente, surge do desenvolvimento de um projeto de Educação e Intervenção Social com um grupo de Mulheres, denominado “Mais Valentes”, participantes no Projeto EntrEscolhas – Geração D’Ouro, com base na metodologia de investigaçãoação participativa, inserida no paradigma socio-crítico. O Projeto “Viver sem medo” foi desenvolvido a partir da finalidade de capacitar as mulheres do Grupo Mais Valentes para a tomada de decisão sobre os seus percursos de vida, tendo em conta o seu papel nas diferentes esferas da sociedade e, essencialmente, na família. Neste sentido, recorreram-se a técnicas e métodos de investigação que permitiram a construção do conhecimento sobre o grupo e cada uma das suas participantes, identificando-se problemas, necessidades, potencialidades e objetivos que pudessem responder aos anteriores. Ao longo do relatório é apresentada a construção do conhecimento sobre a realidade e o desenho e desenvolvimento do projeto concretizado conjuntamente com as participantes e, ainda, com contributos do e das Profissionais do Projeto EntrEscolhas – Geração D’Ouro. Neste sentido, foram realizados Encontros semanais com o grupo “Mais Valentes” e, posteriormente, ações com o objetivo de proporcionar a reflexão sobre os papéis sociais e familiares de género, o desenvolvimento de competências de literacia escolar e social e com vista à promoção de um melhor relacionamento interpessoal que permita a partilha e o diálogo. Por forma a avaliar todo o processo, recorreu-se ao modelo de avaliação CIPP, no sentido de se obter uma visão integral de todo o Projeto “Viver sem medo” e, assim, conseguir concretizar uma avaliação sistemática e contínua do mesmo, com base nas vivências de participação no projeto e opiniões das Mulheres e, assim, se possibilitar as mudanças desejadas, num clima de confiança e apoio mútuo.

Perspetivas dos profissinais e dos pais de crianças com incapacidades sobre autodeterminação

Mestrado em Educação Especial: Multideficiência e Problemas de Cognição

Empreendedorismo socials

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Politécnico do Porto para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Gestão das Organizações, Ramo Gestão de Empresas Orientada por: Professor Doutor Eduardo Manuel Lopes de Sá Silva Mestre Maria de Fátima Mendes Monteiro

Learning sustainability by developing a solar dryer for microalgae retrieval

The development of nations depends on energy consumption, which is generally based on fossil fuels. This dependency produces irreversible and dramatic effects on the environment, e.g. large greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn cause global warming and climate changes, responsible for the rise of the sea level, floods, and other extreme weather events. Transportation is one of the main uses of energy, and its excessive fossil fuel dependency is driving the search for alternative and sustainable sources of energy such as microalgae, from which biodiesel, among other useful compounds, can be obtained. The process includes harvesting and drying, two energy consuming steps, which are, therefore, expensive and unsustainable. The goal of this EPS@ISEP Spring 2013 project was to develop a solar microalgae dryer for the microalgae laboratory of ISEP. A multinational team of five students from distinct fields of study was responsible for designing and building the solar microalgae dryer prototype. The prototype includes a control system to ensure that the microalgae are not destroyed during the drying process. The solar microalgae dryer works as a distiller, extracting the excess water from the microalgae suspension. This paper details the design steps, the building technologies, the ethical and sustainable concerns and compares the prototype with existing solutions. The proposed sustainable microalgae drying process is competitive as far as energy usage is concerned. Finally, the project contributed to increase the deontological ethics, social compromise skills and sustainable development awareness of the students.

A educação social em Portugal: novos desafios para a identidade profissional

A Educação Social surge, em Portugal, devido sobretudo à exigência dos sistemas de proteção social. Enquanto profissão, a Educação Social realiza-se no âmbito das ciências da educação, enquadrada pela Pedagogia Social. A Educação Social desenvolve-se pela diversidade de categorias profissionais e de perfis de competências e áreas disciplinares. O reconhecimento da identidade profissional dos educadores sociais portugueses depende, ainda, da polivalência dos contextos de trabalho e populações com os quais interage. A sua identidade profissional deve evidenciar o compromisso educativo do seu trabalho social, que supera lógicas de ação assistencialistas e se centra em lógicas de desenvolvimento e capacitação dos sujeitos. Neste artigo, é dado destaque à Pedagogia Social, enquanto saber matricial de referência dos educadores sociais. A Pedagogia Social constitui-se como a ciência da Educação Social, conferindo-lhe a própria especificidade da profissão. Por outro lado, o exercício profissional da Educação Social requer dos seus profissionais uma formação rigorosa, inicial e contínua, de forma a incorporar novos saberes e posturas para se adaptar a novos desafios e realidades. A educação social deve ser capaz de acompanhar as políticas sociais, participando permanentemente na negociação do contrato social. Partindo destes pressupostos, é dado a conhecer alguns desafios que se colocam à Educação Social em Portugal.

Educational characteristics of adult students in portuguese technological schools

Despite a massive expansion of education in Portugal, since the 1970’s, educational attainment of the adult population in the country remains low. The numbers of working-age people in some form of continuing education are among the lowest, according to the OECD and EU-27 statistics. Technological Schools(TS), initially created in the 1990’s, under the umbrella of the Ministry of Economy in partnership with industry and industrial associations, aimed to prepare qualified staff for industries and services in the country, particularly in the engineering sector, through the provision of post secondary non-university programmes of studies, the CET (Technological Specialization Courses). Successful CET students are awarded a DET(Diploma of Technological Specialization), which corresponds to Vocational Qualification level IV of the EU, according to the latest alteration (2005) of the Education Systems Act (introduced in 1986). In this, CET’s are also clearly defined as one of the routes for access to Higher Education (HE), in Portugal. The PRILHE (Promoting Reflective and Independent Learning in Higher Education) multinational project, funded by the European Socrates Grundtvig Programme, aimed to identify the learning processes which enable adult students in higher education to become autonomous reflective learners and search best practices to support these learning processes. During this research, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to determine how students organise their studies and develop their learning skills. The Portuguese partner in the project’ consortium used a two case studies approach, one with students of Higher Education Institutions and other with students of TS. This paper only applies to students of TS, as these have a predominant bias towards engineering. Results show that student motivation and professional teaching support contribute equally to the development of an autonomous and reflective approach to learning in adult students; this is essential for success in a knowledge economy, where lifelong learning is the key to continuous employment.

Auto-determinação e inclusão social das pessoas com deficiência mental - uma intervenção centrada no sujeito

Dotar as pessoas com deficiência mental com competências para se autodeterminarem e terem a oportunidade de concretizar a sua plena inclusão social, é um desafio colocado à sociedade actual. Torna-se importante colocar em prática o que diferentes autores e organizações como a American Association of Mental Retardation defendem, criando condições para que os profissionais, famílias e comunidade possam ser os facilitadores deste processo. Neste sentido foi implementado no Centro de Reabilitação de Ponte de Lima um modelo de intervenção específico baseado na promoção e desenvolvimento da autonomia pessoal, social e de realização da pessoa com deficiência mental e criado um instrumento de observação e registo que reflecte essa forma de intervenção designado por Protocolo de Registo e Avaliação de Competências - PRAC. Neste estudo realizou-se uma análise ao instrumento em causa, pretendendo dar um contributo para a sua posterior validação. Nesse sentido, utilizou-se uma metodologia qualitativa e quantitativa para analisar se o instrumento pode ou não ser considerado representativo da capacidade de autodeterminação; se é estável quando utilizado por mais que um utilizador; se descrimina os indivíduos com maior ou menor autonomia e se os itens quando sujeitos à análise factorial, evidenciam os constructos teóricos previamente traçados. Muito embora o PRAC tenha sido pensado e estruturado para pessoas com deficiência mental, neste estudo foi utilizado por um grupo diversificado de profissionais oriundos de áreas distintas o que veio comprovar que o instrumento pode ser utilizado em diferentes contextos e com público-alvo mais alargado. Os resultados evidenciados são consistentes, permitindo respostas positivas às questões elaboradas, é de referir contudo que necessitam de um maior aprofundamento de forma a estabelecer outro tipo de generalizações.

Educational in a global environment: non-formal examples of learning practices at the international office

23rd SPACE AGM and Conference from 9 to 12 May 2012 Conference theme: The Role of Professional Higher Education: Responsibility and Reflection Venue: Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences, Mikkeli, Finland

TimeMesh: an educational historical game

The TIMEMESH game, developed in the scope of the European Project SELEAG, is an educational game for learning history, culture and social relations. It is supported by an extensible, online, multi-language, multi-player, collaborative and social platform for sharing and acquiring knowledge of the history of European regions. The game has been already used, with remarkable success, in different European countries like Portugal, Spain, England, Slovenia, Estonia and Belgium.

TRAILER Project (Tagging, Recognition, Acknowledgment of Informal Learning Experiences) a methodology to make learners' informal learning activities visible to the institutions

The application of information technologies (specially the Internet, Web 2.0 and social tools) make informal learning more visible. This kind of learning is not linked to an institution or a period of time, but it is important enough to be taken into account. On the one hand, learners should be able to communicate to the institutions they are related to, what skills they possess, whether they were achieved in a formal or informal way. On the other hand the companies and educational institutions need to have a deeper knowledge about the competencies of their staff. The TRAILER project provides a methodology supported by a technological framework to facilitate communication about informal learning between businesses, employees and learners. The paper presents the project and some of the work carried out, an exploratory analysis about how informal learning is considered and the technological framework proposed. Whilst challenges remain in terms of establishing the meaningfulness of technological engagement for employees and businesses, the continuing transformation of the social, technological and educational environment is likely to lead to greater emphasis for the effective exploitation of informal learning.

Relatório de estágio em Educação Pré-Escolar

Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar

Relatório de estágio

Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Remote experimentation network - yielding an inter-university peer-to-peer e-service

The goal of this paper is to discuss the benefits and challenges of yielding an inter-continental network of remote laboratories supported and used by both European and Latin American Institutions of Higher Education. Since remote experimentation, understood as the ability to carry out real-world experiments through a simple Web browser, is already a proven solution for the educational community as a supplement to on-site practical lab work (and in some cases, namely for distance learning courses, a replacement to that work), the purpose is not to discuss its technical, pedagogical, or economical strengths, but rather to raise and try to answer some questions about the underlying benefits and challenges of establishing a peer-to-peer network of remote labs. Ultimately, we regard such a network as a constructive mechanism to help students gain the working and social skills often valued by multinational/global companies, while also providing awareness of local cultural aspects.

Teaching and learning with social software in higher education: content management systems integrated with Web-based applications as a key factor for success

The change of paradigm imposed by the Bologna process, in which the student will be responsible for their own learning, and the presence of a new generation of students with higher technological skills, represent a huge challenge for higher education institutions. The use of new Web Social concepts in teaching process, supported by applications commonly called Web 2.0, with which these new students feel at ease, can bring benefits in terms of motivation and the frequency and quality of students' involvement in academic activities. An e-learning platform with web-based applications as a complement can significantly contribute to the development of different skills in higher education students, covering areas which are usually in deficit.