Differences in internet and LMS usage: a case study in higher education

The Internet plays an important role in higher education institutions where Learning Management Systems (LMS) occupies a main role in the eLearning realm. In this chapter we aim to characterize the Internet and LMS usage patterns and their role in the largest Portuguese Polytechnic Institute. The usage patterns were analyzed in two components: characterization of Internet usage and the role of Internet and LMS in education. Using a quantitative approach, the data analysis describes the differences between gender, age and scientific fields. The carried qualitative analysis allows a better understanding of students’ both motivations, opinions and suggestions of improvement. The outcome of this work is the presentation of the Portuguese students’ profile regarding Internet and LMS usage patterns. We expect that these results can be used to select the most suitable digital pedagogical processes and tools to be adopted regarding the learning process and most adequate LMS’s policies.

Feedback regarding students initial pharmaceutical internship from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca

Introduction/Aims: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the perception of the organization, the development and the evaluation of the initial stage in the internship of students, in order to improve these activities and to establish the adequate objectives in accordance with the changes concerning the concept of modern pharmacy. Materials and methods: An online survey was made using Google Docs ® -Create Form extension. All results were accumulated and computed using Microsoft Excel ®. The questionnaire consisted of 11 questions, structured on several levels: the objectives and how they can be achieved, internship organization, the internship training (effective participation in specific activities and integration in the pharmaceutical activity), the assessment, the profile of tutor / pharmacy. The questionnaire was completed by students from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Haţieganu" Cluj Napoca, Romania. Results and discussions. The study was conducted on 308 students (60% of all students from the study years II-IV. 90% of the respondents had actually participated in the internship, whilst 10% only formally participated in this activity. The main responsibilities of the students were: storage and reception of pharmaceutical products (94%, respectively 79%) and working with the receipts (57%). Most of the students appreciate that they were integrated into the work in the pharmacy, this being due largely pharmacist tutor, who expressed interest and ability in mentoring activities. They appreciated that the role of tutor requires 3-5 years of professional experience. In terms of the internship objectives, these should aim at applying the knowledge gained until the graduation year, but also familiarization with activities which might turn into applications for the coming years. 43% of students believe that only 25% of the theoretical knowledge was useful during the internship. 90 % of the total questioned considered useful to develop a practice guideline adapted to the year of study. Conclusions. The professional training of the future pharmacist’s students depends largely on experience gained by students during the internship activity. Feed-back from the students’ shows that they are aware of the usefulness of the internship, but believe the objectives must be updated and a better correlation between work in pharmacy and theoretical knowledge has to be made. A first step is to develop a practical guide adapted to each year of study. The involvement of the tutor pharmacist is also essential to the success of this activity

Using the Common Cartridge profile to enhance learning content interoperability

The concept of Learning Object (LO) is crucial for the standardization on eLearning. The latest LO standard from IMS Global Learning Consortium is the IMS Common Cartridge (IMS CC) that organizes and distributes digital learning content. By analyzing this new specification we considered two interoperability levels: content and communication. A common content format is the backbone of interoperability and is the basis for content exchange among eLearning systems. Communication is more than just exchanging content; it includes also accessing to specialized systems and services and reporting on content usage. This is particularly important when LOs are used for evaluation. In this paper we analyze the Common Cartridge profile based on the two interoperability levels we proposed. We detail its data model that comprises a set of derived schemata referenced on the CC schema and we explore the use of the IMS Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) to allow remote tools and content to be integrated into a Learning Management System (LMS). In order to test the applicability of IMS CC for automatic evaluation we define a representation of programming exercises using this standard. This representation is intended to be the cornerstone of a network of eLearning systems where students can solve computer programming exercises and obtain feedback automatically. The CC learning object is automatically generated based on a XML dialect called PExIL that aims to consolidate all the data need to describe resources within the programming exercise life-cycle. Finally, we test the generated cartridge on the IMS CC online validator to verify its conformance with the IMS CC specification.

Challenges for e-learning and adult students in higher education

This article examines Lifelong Learning, from the perspective of the adult learner in higher education, by presenting some of the results of a project, funded by the European Commission's Socrates Programme, LIHE, Learning in Higher Education. It is structured as follows: first, the background of the project is described, then the experiences of the adult student, concerning their induction and tuition, are presented. Some future trends concerning adults in higher education and lifelong learning are outlined and conclusions drawn.

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.

Building a knowledge and learning society in Portugal: adult students in technological schools and higher education institutions

Lifelong learning (LLL) has received increasing attention in recent years. It implies that learning should take place at all stages of the “life cycle and it should be life-wide, that is embedded in all life contexts from the school to the work place, the home and the community” (Green, 2002, p.613). The ‘learning society’, is the vision of a society where there are recognized opportunities for learning for every person, wherever they are and however old they happen to be. Globalization and the rise of new information technologies are some of the driving forces that cause depreciation of specialised competences. This happens very quickly in terms of economic value; consequently, workers of all skills levels, during their working life, must have the opportunity to update “their technical skills and enhance general skills to keep pace with continuous technological change and new job requirements” (Fahr, 2005, p. 75). It is in this context that LLL tops the policy agenda of international bodies, national governments and non-governmental organizations, in the field of education and training, to justify the need for LLL opportunities for the population as they face contemporary employability challenges. It is in this context that the requirement and interest to analyse the behaviour patterns of adult learners has developed over the last few years

Lifelong learning: case study of adult students in portuguese technological schools and higher education institutions

Paper to be presented in ESREA 2007 ADC Network Seminar - Changing Relationships between the State, Civil Society and the Citizen: Implications for adult education and adult learning, 14 -16 June 2007 - University of Minho - Campus de Gualtar, Braga (Portugal).

Learning in higher education: strategies to overcome challenges faced by adult students - lessons drawn from two studies in portugal

Int’l J. of Information and Communication Technology Education, 3(2), 1-14, April-June 2007

How can we help students to improve their creativity? – lessons learned from a case study

One of the main concerns of today’s organizations is to cope with the rapid pace of change while maintaining their competitive advantage. This means that firms must be innovative, create new knowledge and have new ideas constantly. Similarly, one of the main concerns of lecturers is to help students to develop creativity. According to some authors, new ideas, new thoughts, innovation can arise in an appropriate environment and with the development and train of adequate competences and skills. This means that although some persons were born more creative than others, it is possible to help those less creative to improve their innovative capacities and competences. The question that remains now is “how”. How can we, as lecturers and educators help our students to become more creative? In this paper we describe a Portuguese case study that took place at ISCAP (School of Accountancy and Administration of Porto – Portugal), in the course of Business Communication, in the unit “Marketing Communication” (3rd year (1st Bologna cycle), 1st semester). We will describe and characterize the situation at the beginning of the semester (situation A), explain the tasks and activities proposed to students and the final result (situation A2). We will discuss differences between situation A and A2, formulate some hypotheses concerning differences and draw some recommendations.

An intelligent tutoring approach to support students and technicians in electrical installation design

Designing electric installation projects, demands not only academic knowledge, but also other types of knowledge not easily acquired through traditional instructional methodologies. A lot of additional empirical knowledge is missing and so the academic instruction must be completed with different kinds of knowledge, such as real-life practical examples and simulations. On the other hand, the practical knowledge detained by the most experienced designers is not formalized in such a way that is easily transmitted. In order to overcome these difficulties present in the engineers formation, we are developing an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS), for training and support concerning the development of electrical installation projects to be used by electrical engineers, technicians and students.

Corporate brand identity management in a technological faculty – how brand relationships influence students and companies reputations

Identity is traditionally defined as an emission concept [1]. Yet, some research points out that there are external factors that can influence it [2]; [3]; [4]. This subject is even more relevant if one considers corporate brands. According to Aaker [5] the number, the power and the credibility of corporate associations are bigger in the case of corporate brands. Literature recognizes the influence of relationships between companies in identity management. Yet, given the increasingly important role of corporate brands, it is surprising that to date no attempt to evaluate that influence has been made in the management of corporate brand identity. Also Keller and Lehman [6] highlight relationships and costumer experience as two areas requiring more investigation. In line with this, the authors intend to develop an empirical research in order to evaluate the influence of relationships between brands in the identity of corporate brand from an internal perspective by interviewing internal stakeholders (brand managers and internal clients). This paper is organized by main contents: theoretical background, research methodology, data analysis and conclusions and finally cues to future investigation.

Lipid content and fatty acid profile of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis Kaup, 1858) juveniles as affected by feed containing different amounts of plant protein sources

A growth trial with Senegalese Sole (Solea senegalensis Kaup, 1858) juveniles fed with diets containing increasing replacement levels of fishmeal by mixtures of plant protein sources was conducted over 12 weeks. Total fat contents of muscle, liver, viscera, skin, fins and head tissues were determined, as well as fatty acid profiles of muscle and liver (GC-FID analysis). Liver was the preferential local for fat deposition (5.5–10.8% of fat) followed by fins (3.4–6.7% fat). Increasing levels of plant protein in the diets seems to be related to increased levels of total lipids in the liver. Sole muscle is lean (2.4–4.0% fat), with total lipids being similar among treatments. Liver fatty acid profile varied significantly among treatments. Plant protein diets induced increased levels of C16:1 and C18:2 n -6 and a decrease in ARA and EPA levels. Muscle fatty acid profile also evidenced increasing levels of C18:2 n 6, while ARA and DHA remained similar among treatments. Substitution of fishmeal by plant protein is hence possible without major differences on the lipid content and fatty acid profile of the main edible portion of the fish – the muscle.

Accomodating students with disabilities in academic and institucional contexts

Sunflower Conference 2009 11-12 November, Ostrava Third annual internacional conference

Accomodating students with disabilities in academic and institucional contexts

The developemnt of educational techonologies has been increasing the opportunities for students with disabilities to integrate Higher Education Institutions...