Reverse problem-based learning - a case study with a Braille machine

Engineering Education includes not only teaching theoretical fundamental concepts but also its verification during practical lessons in laboratories. The usual strategies to carry out this action are frequently based on Problem Based Learning, starting from a given state and proceeding forward to a target state. The possibility or the effectiveness of this procedure depends on previous states and if the present state was caused or resulted from earlier ones. This often happens in engineering education when the achieved results do not match the desired ones, e.g. when programming code is being developed or when the cause of the wrong behavior of an electronic circuit is being identified. It is thus important to also prepare students to proceed in the reverse way, i.e. given a start state generate the explanation or even the principles that underlie it. Later on, this sort of skills will be important. For instance, to a doctor making a patient?s story or to an engineer discovering the source of a malfunction. This learning methodology presents pedagogical advantages besides the enhanced preparation of students to their future work. The work presented on his document describes an automation project developed by a group of students in an engineering polytechnic school laboratory. The main objective was to improve the performance of a Braille machine. However, in a scenario of Reverse Problem-Based learning, students had first to discover and characterize the entire machine's function before being allowed (and being able) to propose a solution for the existing problem.

Ensemble: an innovative approach to practice computer programming

Currently, the teaching-learning process in domains, such as computer programming, is characterized by an extensive curricula and a high enrolment of students. This poses a great workload for faculty and teaching assistants responsible for the creation, delivery, and assessment of student exercises. The main goal of this chapter is to foster practice-based learning in complex domains. This objective is attained with an e-learning framework—called Ensemble—as a conceptual tool to organize and facilitate technical interoperability among services. The Ensemble framework is used on a specific domain: computer programming. Content issues are tacked with a standard format to describe programming exercises as learning objects. Communication is achieved with the extension of existing specifications for the interoperation with several systems typically found in an e-learning environment. In order to evaluate the acceptability of the proposed solution, an Ensemble instance was validated on a classroom experiment with encouraging results.

A mobile robot platform for open learning based on serious games and remote laboratories

Within the pedagogical community, Serious Games have arisen as a viable alternative to traditional course-based learning materials. Until now, they have been based strictly on software solutions. Meanwhile, research into Remote Laboratories has shown that they are a viable, low-cost solution for experimentation in an engineering context, providing uninterrupted access, low-maintenance requirements, and a heightened sense of reality when compared to simulations. This paper will propose a solution where both approaches are combined to deliver a Remote Laboratory-based Serious Game for use in engineering and school education. The platform for this system is the WebLab-Deusto Framework, already well-tested within the remote laboratory context, and based on open standards. The laboratory allows users to control a mobile robot in a labyrinth environment and take part in an interactive game where they must locate and correctly answer several questions, the subject of which can be adapted to educators' needs. It also integrates the Google Blockly graphical programming language, allowing students to learn basic programming and logic principles without needing to understand complex syntax.

The European Project Semester at ISEP: Learning to Learn Engineering

The European Project Semester at ISEP (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme addressed to engineering students from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities. The students, organized in multicultural teams, are challenged to solve real world multidisciplinary problems, accounting for 30 ECTU. The EPS package, although focused on project development (20 ECTU), includes a series of complementary seminars aimed at fostering soft, project-related and engineering transversal skills (10 ECTU). This paper presents the study plan, resources, operation and results of the EPS@ISEP that was created in 2011 to apply the best engineering education practices and promote the internationalization of ISEP. The results show that the EPS@ISEP students acquire during one semester the scientific, technical and soft competences necessary to propose, design and implement a solution for a multidisciplinary problem.

Learning Sustainability with EPS@ISEP – Development of a Water Disinfection System

Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Project Approaches in Engineering Education (PAEE), Guimarães, 2016

Relatório de Estágio

O Relatório de Estágio, elaborado no âmbito do Mestrado em Ensino do 1.º e 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, pretende ser um reflexo da prática educativa realizada e um contributo para a formação pessoal e profissional da mestranda, caracterizando-se por uma atitude crítica, reflexiva e investigativa. A revisitação e a análise refletida da ação, e das opções didático-pedagógicas que a orientaram, permitiram traçar um percurso para a melhoria das práticas educativas, determinante para o desenvolvimento da identidade docente. Desta experiência, salienta-se, por um lado, o trabalho realizado em par pedagógico, em todos os momentos do ciclo da supervisão, que potenciou momentos de debate e de reflexão – e, consequentemente, uma prática informada, criativa e rigorosa, fundamentada em princípios e valores partilhados. Por outro lado, destaca-se também a influência da filosofia do Movimento da Escola Moderna na conceção e implementação da Prática Educativa Supervisionada (PES), o que contribuiu ainda para a valorização da colaboração entre todos os atores envolvidos neste palco que é a ação educativa. Ao longo da PES, o par pedagógico privilegiou situações de ensino e de aprendizagem que favorecessem a cooperação e a comunicação bem como atividades que adequadas às necessidades do contexto educativo e aos interesses das crianças, baseada numa relação horizontal entre professores e alunos. Deste modo, a PES, sustentada num exercício de constante articulação entre teoria e prática, constituiu uma oportunidade de experienciar os desafios da docência e de compreender como é que esta pode concorrer para uma sociedade mais justa, livre e democrática.