A new horizon for online teaching and learning

The Polytechnic Institute of Oporto (IPP), which has a solid history of online education and innovation through the use of technology, has been particularly interested and focused on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) developments. The aim of this paper is to present the whole process from initial discussions to completion of the “Mathematics Without Limits” MOOC Project that exists in IPP and also to contribute for a change in the way as teaching and learning Mathematics is seen and practiced nowadays. In 2013, IPP developed its own platform, which gave us the opportunity to explore new educational techniques as a pedagogical resource as well as to enhance students’ motivation, through a set of interactive materials at their disposal, totally adapted to their needs. Students lack of motivation is mainly justified by their weak Math preparation, poor consolidated basis on the subject and different backgrounds of the students. To tackle this issue and based on our Math online courses teaching experience, we decided to create short duration MOOC, expecting to aid retention of students and also to reverse the path of students giving up on Math by giving them a friendly way of managing their own learning commitment. We also think that this MOOC will be a good approach to level out some math skills among freshmen.

A New horizon for online teaching and learning

The Polytechnic Institute of Oporto (IPP), which has a solid history of online education and innovation through the use of technology, has been particularly interested and focused on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) developments. The aim of this paper is to present the whole process from initial discussions to completion of the “Mathematics Without Limits” MOOC Project that exists in IPP and also to contribute for a change in the way as teaching and learning Mathematics is seen and practiced nowadays. In 2013, IPP developed its own platform, which gave us the opportunity to explore new educational techniques as a pedagogical resource as well as to enhance students’ motivation, through a set of interactive materials at their disposal, totally adapted to their needs. Students lack of motivation is mainly justified by their weak Math preparation, poor consolidated basis on the subject and different backgrounds of the students. To tackle this issue and based on our Math online courses teaching experience, we decided to create short duration MOOC, expecting to aid retention of students and also to reverse the path of students giving up on Math by giving them a friendly way of managing their own learning commitment. We also think that this MOOC will be a good approach to level out some math skills among freshmen.

Interoperability frameworks for competencies and learning outcomes: databases vs ontologies

The changes introduced into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by the Bologna Process, together with renewed pedagogical and methodological practices, have created a new teaching-learning paradigm: Student-Centred Learning. In addition, the last few years have been characterized by the application of Information Technologies, especially the Semantic Web, not only to the teaching-learning process, but also to administrative processes within learning institutions. On one hand, the aim of this study was to present a model for identifying and classifying Competencies and Learning Outcomes and, on the other hand, the computer applications of the information management model were developed, namely a relational Database and an Ontology.

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.

Multi-Agent Based Smart Grid Management and Simulation: Situation Awareness and Learning in a Test Bed with Simulated and Real Installations and Players

The rising usage of distributed energy resources has been creating several problems in power systems operation. Virtual Power Players arise as a solution for the management of such resources. Additionally, approaching the main network as a series of subsystems gives birth to the concepts of smart grid and micro grid. Simulation, particularly based on multi-agent technology is suitable to model all these new and evolving concepts. MASGriP (Multi-Agent Smart Grid simulation Platform) is a system that was developed to allow deep studies of the mentioned concepts. This paper focuses on a laboratorial test bed which represents a house managed by a MASGriP player. This player is able to control a real installation, responding to requests sent by the system operators and reacting to observed events depending on the context.

Vir sapiens dominabitur astris: astrological knowledge and practices in the Portuguese medieval court (king João I to king Afonso V)

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em História Medieval

Adolescents and School Asthma Knowledge and Attitudes

Introduction: bronchial asthma is a chronic disease that affects a high percentage of adolescents, with a significant restriction of daily activities, and is a cause of school absenteeism. The relationships between adolescents and asthma disease in school were assessed, with a view to improving knowledge about the asthmatic adolescent. Methods: a survey was conducted in the Lisbon metropolitan area, covering urban (Lisbon) and rural (Lourinh˜a ) zones and including 1879 students and 81 teachers from the 7th to 9th high school years. The study groups were asthmatic students, their peers, and teachers. A self-administered questionnaire was applied to collect information. The results were compared with a reference group of 91 asthmatic students attending our Department of Immunoallergy-Hospital Dona Estefânia. Cotinine urinary measurements were made in a sample of asthmatics and a control group. Results: the prevalence of current asthma among students was 10%. Estimates of asthma annual burden among 7th to 9th year students from Lisbon and Lourinh˜a high schools included 4,307 days missed from school, 4,148 medical consultations and a minimum of 351 hospital emergency care and 80 hospital admissions. Exposure to passive smoking was not significantly different between asthmatic students and theirs peers. Cotinine urinary measurements did not discriminate between exposed and non-exposed individuals. Cigarette smoking was almost as common among adolescent asthmatics (5.4%) as it was in non-asthmatic subjects (6.7%). However, 55% of asthmatics mentioned active and passive smoking as an asthma exacerbating factor. Asthmatic students, theirs peers and teachers showed a deficient knowledge about asthma (mean group scores: 17.6; 14.2 and 17.7 of a possible 30), particularly in the areas related to asthma recognition and its management. Asthmatics attending our Allergy Department had the highest scores. All groups showed tolerance in the sense of a positive and understanding attitude toward a person with asthma. However, traditional beliefs about asthma disease (dependence, inferiority...) were confirmed. A positive correlation between knowledge levels and tolerance attitudes was found. Conclusion: in view of the dimension of the asthma problem in adolescence and its social and economic impact, it is justifiable to assess the need for the implementation of asthma education programs in schools in order to improve asthma management by the adolescents and their schools.

Effects of a mental health training program on health care worker's knowledge and attitude and practice in Belize

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to assess mental health knowledge, attitude and practices among health care workers in Belize before and immediately after a competency based training program in mental health. A baseline Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) survey was given to health personnel, mainly nurses, working primary and secondary care. The intervention was a 13-week face-to-face training course for health care professionals with the objective of increasing their competency in mental health and reducing stigma. After the training a post intervention KAP survey was conducted among the original respondents. 88 health care workers completed the baseline survey and 61 of those respondents completed the post-intervention questionnaire. The results showed that the level of knowledge of the participants had improved by the training intervention and that in general, the intervention was effective in correcting some misconceptions about mental illness and reducing stigmatizing attitudes among the participants.

Management of Childhood Urticaria: Current Knowledge and Practical Recommendations

Urticaria, defined by the presence of wheals and/or angioedema,is a common condition in children, prompting parents to consult physicians. For its successful management, paediatric-specific features must be taken into account, regarding the identification of eliciting triggers and pharmacological therapy. This review systematically discusses the current best-available evidence on spontaneous acute and chronic urticaria as well as physical and other urticaria types in children. Potential underlying causes, namely infections, food and drug hypersensitivity, autoreactivity and autoimmune or other conditions, and eliciting stimuli are considered, with practical recommendations for specific diagnostic approaches. Second-generation antihistamines are the mainstay of pharmacological treatment aimed at relief of symptoms, which require dose adjustment for paediatric use. Other therapeutic interventions are also discussed. In addition, unmet needs are highlighted, aiming to promote research into the paediatric population, ultimately aiming at the effective management of childhood urticaria.

Knowledge and practices of general practitioners of district Peshawar about schizophrenia

ABSTRACT: Schizophrenia with its disabling features has been placed in the top ten of global burden of disease and is associated with long-term decline in functional ability. General Practitioners not only have an important role in treating patients with an established diagnosis of schizophrenia but they can also contribute significantly by identifying people in early stages of psychosis as they are the first hand medical help available and the duration of untreated psychosis is a good indicator of patient’s prognosis. This cross sectional survey, conducted at the clinics of General Practitioners, was designed to assess the knowledge and practices of general practitioners in Peshawar on diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia. A semi structured questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge and practices regarding schizophrenia. The Knowledge/Practice was then categorized as good or poor based on their responses to the questions of the administered questionnaire. Overall, the results showed that the knowledge and practices of general practitioners of district Peshawar were poor regarding schizophrenia and may be responsible for delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment and poor prognosis.

Improving Learners’ Motivation through Feedback in English Language Teaching and Learning at Polytechnic School in Benguela, Angola

Currently, it is widely perceived among the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching professionals, that motivation is a central factor for success in language learning. This work aims to examine and raise teachers’ awareness about the role of assessment and feedback in the process of language teaching and learning at polytechnic school in Benguela to develop and/or enhance their students’ motivation for learning. Hence the paper defines and discusses the key terms and, the techniques and strategies for an effective feedback provision in the context under study. It also collects data through the use of interview and questionnaire methods, and suggests the assessment and feedback types to be implemented at polytechnic school in Benguela

Illness perception, knowledge and self-care about cervical cancer

Prevention plays a central role in early detection of cervical cancer. Common Sense Model proposes that the nature and organization of illness representations can guide actions related to health and how self-care is exercised. The aim of this study was to describe and compare illness perception, knowledge and self-care in women with and without cancer precursor lesions. Participants were 92 women (aged 18-59) from primary care unity divided into two groups: women with and without premalignant lesion. Measures for illness perception, knowledge and self-care were used. There was no statistically signifi cant difference (t test e chi-square test) between groups in the variables analyzed. Despite the risk for cervical cancer, women with precursor lesions do not adjust their illness perceptions, knowledge and self-care to the situation. These data show the need to warn women against the cervical cancer risks, because their distorted perceptions and lack of knowledge about the disease may hamper the screening and control of cervical cancer.

Knowledge and practices related to dengue and its vector: a community-based study from Southeast Brazil

Abstract INTRODUCTION: This study investigated the knowledge of users of primary healthcare services living in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, about dengue and its vector. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 605 people was conducted following a major dengue outbreak in 2013. RESULTS: Participants with higher levels of education were more likely to identify correctly the vector of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: The results emphasize the relevance of health education programs, the continuous promotion of educational campaigns in the media, the role of the television as a source of information, and the importance of motivating the population to control the vector.

Peer interaction and learning opportunities in cohesive and less cohesive L2 classrooms

The present study investigates peer to peer oral interaction in two task based language teaching classrooms, one of which was a self-declared cohesive group, and the other a self- declared less cohesive group, both at B1 level. It studies how learners talk cohesion into being and considers how this talk leads to learning opportunities in these groups. The study was classroom-based and was carried out over the period of an academic year. Research was conducted in the classrooms and the tasks were part of regular class work. The research was framed within a sociocognitive perspective of second language learning and data came from a number of sources, namely questionnaires, interviews and audio recorded talk of dyads, triads and groups of four students completing a total of eight oral tasks. These audio recordings were transcribed and analysed qualitatively for interactions which encouraged a positive social dimension and behaviours which led to learning opportunities, using conversation analysis. In addition, recordings were analysed quantitatively for learning opportunities and quantity and quality of language produced. Results show that learners in both classes exhibited multiple behaviours in interaction which could promote a positive social dimension, although behaviours which could discourage positive affect amongst group members were also found. Analysis of interactions also revealed the many ways in which learners in both the cohesive and less cohesive class created learning opportunities. Further qualitative analysis of these interactions showed that a number of factors including how learners approach a task, the decisions they make at zones of interactional transition and the affective relationship between participants influence the amount of learning opportunities created, as well as the quality and quantity of language produced. The main conclusion of the study is that it is not the cohesive nature of the group as a whole but the nature of the relationship between the individual members of the small group completing the task which influences the effectiveness of oral interaction for learning.This study contributes to our understanding of the way in which learners individualise the learning space and highlights the situated nature of language learning. It shows how individuals interact with each other and the task, and how talk in interaction changes moment-by-moment as learners react to the ‘here and now’ of the classroom environment.

Impact of an educational hands-on project on the antimicrobial, antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties of plants on Portuguese students' awareness, knowledge, and competences

Promoting environmental and health education is crucial to allow students to make conscious decisions based on scientific criteria. The study is based on the outcomes of an Educational Project implemented with Portuguese students and consisted of several activities, exploring pre-existent Scientific Gardens at the School, aiming to investigate the antibacterial, antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties of plant extracts, with posterior incorporation in soaps and creams. A logo and a webpage were also created. The effectiveness of the project was assessed via the application of a questionnaire (pre- and post-test) and observations of the participants in terms of engagement and interaction with all individuals involved in the project. This project increased the knowledge about autochthonous plants and the potential medical properties of the corresponding plant extracts and increased the awareness about the correct design of scientific experiments and the importance of the use of experimental models of disease. The students regarded their experiences as exciting and valuable and believed that the project helped to improve their understanding and increase their interest in these subjects and in science in general. This study emphasizes the importance of raising students’ awareness on the valorization of autochthonous plants and exploitation of their medicinal properties.