Developing multiple - choice questions in mathematics

In this paper we wish to illustrate different perspectives used to create Multiple-Choice questions and we will show how we can improve these in the construction of math tests. As it is known, web technologies have a great influence on student’s behaviour. Based on an on-line project beginning at 2007 which has been contributing to help students on their individual work, we would like to share our experience and thoughts with colleagues who have a common concern when they have the task of constructing Multiple-Choice tests. We feel that Multiple-Choice tests play an important and a very useful supporting role in selfevaluation or self-examination of our students. Nonetheless, good Multiple–Choice Test Items are generally more complex and time-consuming to create than other types of tests. It requires a certain amount of skill. However, this skill maybe increases through study, practice and experience. This paper discusses a number of issues related to the use of Multiple-Choice questions, lists the advantages and disadvantages of this question format contrasting it with open questions. Some examples are given in this context.

Intellectual Capital in a Seaport Context

This poster, which is the result of an ongoing PhD thesis project, illustrates how and why the Intellectual Capital (IC) concept can be applied to a seaport. As far as the authors are aware, most of the research in IC has been focused on individual firms. Although some recent papers examine macro-level organizations, such as regions, none exist on seaports. Also, there is a lack of research related to the ways IC is created and maintained as a dynamic process. In addition, there is a paucity of management sciences’ research on to maritime transportation and seaports. Several research questions are thus pertinent, whose answers can have important strategic and managerial implications for the seaport and its stakeholders.

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

Contrastive terminology: semitic, anglo-germanic and latin concept building through complex terms. (avoiding one-way method procedures in translation

This paper aims to present a contrastive approach between three different ways of building concepts after proving the similar syntactic possibilities that coexist in terms. However, from the semantic point of view we can see that each language family has a different distribution in meaning. But the most important point we try to show is that the differences found in the psychological process when communicating concepts should guide the translator and the terminologist in the target text production and the terminology planning process. Differences between languages in the information transmission process are due to the different roles the different types of knowledge play. We distinguish here the analytic-descriptive knowledge and the analogical knowledge among others. We also state that none of them is the best when determining the correctness of a term, but there has to be adequacy criteria in the selection process. This concept building or term building success is important when looking at the linguistic map of the information society.

Overcoming the objectification of western classical music with the concept of music as a process

Dissertation to obtain the degree of Master in Music - Artistic Interpretation

Modelling text file evaluation processes

Text file evaluation is an emergent topic in e-learning that responds to the shortcomings of the assessment based on questions with predefined answers. Questions with predefined answers are formalized in languages such as IMS Question & Test Interoperability Specification (QTI) and supported by many e-learning systems. Complex evaluation domains justify the development of specialized evaluators that participate in several business processes. The goal of this paper is to formalize the concept of a text file evaluation in the scope of the E-Framework – a service oriented framework for development of e-learning systems maintained by a community of practice. The contribution includes an abstract service type and a service usage model. The former describes the generic capabilities of a text file evaluation service. The later is a business process involving a set of services such as repositories of learning objects and learning management systems.

Sustainable Development Action Plan at ISEP - From Concept to Engineering Practice

Some of the main challenges in Incorporating Sustainable Development practices into Engineering Education reside in establishing the bridge between concept and application. In particular the relation between value creation and the knowledge economy, innovation and entrepreneurship, as the main vehicles to a relevant application of the sustainable development concept, is not yet part of the majority of the engineering curricula in schools. Porto Polytechnical Engineering School (ISEP), a Global Reporting Initiative training partner in Portugal, as just presented its Sustainable Development Action Plan, with the main objective of creating a new kind of engineers, with Sustainable Development at the core of their degrees. The plan has several issues like publish an annual sustainability report, sustainable buildings, minimization of energy consumption and water policy, waste management, sustainable mobility, green procurement, EMAS certification, research and postgraduate activity and promotion of lectures and seminars in Sustainable Development.

Paraísos fiscais: prejuízos e benefícios

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Contabilidade e Finanças, sob orientação do Doutor José Campos Amorim

Proof of Concept of the Electrochemical Sensing of 3-Iodothyronamine (T1AM) and Thyronamine (T0AM)

Recent studies have shown that, besides the well-recognized T3 and T4 hormones, there are other relevant thyroid hormones circulating in the human body. In particular, this is the case for 3-iodothyronamine (T1AM) and thyronamine (T0AM). One of the reasons for the lack of studies showing their precise importance is the absence of analytical methodologies available. Herein, for the first time, T1AM and T0AM are electrochemically characterized. T0AM was sensed by means of a glassy carbon electrode; furthermore, T1AM was sensed both with a graphitic surface (oxidatively) as well as with mercury (reductively). For both compounds, after oxidation, it was possible to observe the reversible redox reaction concerning the benzoquinone/hydroquinone couple, thus increasing the specificity of the electroanalysis. Therefore, this work provides the basis for an ‘at-point-of-use’ electrochemical strip test for T1AM and T0AM.

Localização de ontologias - elementos para a construção de uma abordagem

O desenvolvimento de recursos multilingues robustos para fazer face às exigências crescentes na complexidade dos processos intra e inter-organizacionais é um processo complexo que obriga a um aumento da qualidade nos modos de interacção e partilha dos recursos das organizações, através, por exemplo, de um maior envolvimento dos diferentes interlocutores em formas eficazes e inovadoras de colaboração. É um processo em que se identificam vários problemas e dificuldades, como sendo, no caso da criação de bases de dados lexicais multilingues, o desenvolvimento de uma arquitectura capaz de dar resposta a um conjunto vasto de questões linguísticas, como a polissemia, os padrões lexicais ou os equivalentes de tradução. Estas questões colocam-se na construção quer dos recursos terminológicos, quer de ontologias multilingues. No caso da construção de uma ontologia em diferentes línguas, processo no qual focalizaremos a nossa atenção, as questões e a complexidade aumentam, dado o tipo e propósitos do artefacto semântico, os elementos a localizar (conceitos e relações conceptuais) e o contexto em que o processo de localização ocorre. Pretendemos, assim, com este artigo, analisar o conceito e o processo de localização no contexto dos sistemas de gestão do conhecimento baseados em ontologias, tendo em atenção o papel central da terminologia no processo de localização, as diferentes abordagens e modelos propostos, bem como as ferramentas de base linguística que apoiam a implementação do processo. Procuraremos, finalmente, estabelecer alguns paralelismos entre o processo tradicional de localização e o processo de localização de ontologias, para melhor o situar e definir.

Reabilitação sustentável em edifícios habitacionais com valor histórico

Mestrado em Engenharia Civil – Ramo Construções

A importância das consultoras no processo de internacionalização das micro, pequenas e médias empresas em Portugal

Relatório de Estágio Apresentado ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Empreendedorismo e Internacionalização, sob orientação da Mestre Inês Veiga Pereira

Mobile learning: recetividade e predisposição do ensino superior para a sua utilização

A evolução dos dispositivos móveis e a mudança de paradigma educacional, permitiu o surgimento de um novo conceito no processo de ensino e aprendizagem, o mobile learning. O mobile learning pode ser visto como um conceito multidisciplinar, dependendo da perspetiva de cada autor, pois ainda não existe um consenso em relação à definição do conceito. No entanto, todos os autores concordam que o mobile learning consiste na aquisição de conhecimento ou competência através do uso de tecnologias móveis, em qualquer lugar e momento. A presente investigação, de natureza exploratória, pretendeu estudar a receptividade e predisposição dos estudantes e docentes do ensino superior para com a utilização do mobile learning, uma vez que o ensino superior parece ser o ambiente ideal para a realização deste estudo. Por um lado, devido à democratização dos dispositivos móveis, por outro, porque o Instituto Politécnico do Porto pretende vir a implementar um projeto de mobile learning, enquadrado no e- IPP. Deste modo, para a concretização desta investigação, foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica exaustiva que serviu de base de sustentação para todo o trabalho, complementada com um questionário, de forma a dar resposta às questões de investigação. Depois de recolhidos todos os resultados obtidos através do questionário, procedeu-se à análise e discussão mesmos, bem como às respectivas conclusões.

E-assessment in mathematics courses with multiple-choice questions tests

With the implementation of the Bologna Process several challenges have been posed to higher education institution, particularly in Portugal. One of the main implications is related to the change of the paradigm of a teacher centered education, to a paradigm that is student centered. This change implies the change of the way to assess courses in higher education institutions. Continuous and formative assessments emerged as the focus, catalyzed by electronic assessment, or e-assessment. This paper presents a case of the implementation of an e-assessment strategy, implemented in order to allow continuous, formative assessment in numerous mathematics classes using multiple-choice questions tests implement in Moodle open-source learning management system. The implementation can be considered a success.

E-assessment in mathematics courses with multiple-choice questions tests

With the implementation of the Bologna Process several challenges have been posed to higher education institution, particularly in Portugal. One of the main implications is related to the change of the paradigm of a teacher centered education, to a paradigm that is student centered. This change implies the change of the way to assess courses in higher education institutions. Continuous and formative assessments emerged as the focus, catalyzed by electronic assessment, or e-assessment. This paper presents a case of the implementation of an e-assessment strategy, implemented in order to allow continuous, formative assessment in numerous mathematics classes using multiple-choice questions tests implement in Moodle open-source learning management system. The implementation can be considered a success.