Synchronization of Heteroclinic Circuits Through Learning in Chains of Neural Motifs

The synchronization of oscillatory activity in networks of neural networks is usually implemented through coupling the state variables describing neuronal dynamics. In this study we discuss another but complementary mechanism based on a learning process with memory. A driver network motif, acting as a teacher, exhibits winner-less competition (WLC) dynamics, while a driven motif, a learner, tunes its internal couplings according to the oscillations observed in the teacher. We show that under appropriate training the learner motif can dynamically copy the coupling pattern of the teacher and thus synchronize oscillations with the teacher. Then, we demonstrate that the replication of the WLC dynamics occurs for intermediate memory lengths only. In a unidirectional chain of N motifs coupled through teacher-learner paradigm the time interval required for pattern replication grows linearly with the chain size, hence the learning process does not blow up and at the end we observe phase synchronized oscillations along the chain. We also show that in a learning chain closed into a ring the network motifs come to a consensus, i.e. to a state with the same connectivity pattern corresponding to the mean initial pattern averaged over all network motifs.

Motivação e Satisfação dos Discentes do Instituto Universitário Militar

Tendo como objeto de estudo a identificação dos fatores da Motivação e Satisfação dos discentes do Curso de Promoção a Oficial General, Curso de Estado-Maior Conjunto e Curso de Promoção a Oficial Superior, pretende-se com esta investigação, identificar as medidas a implementar para o seu aumento, tendo em consideração as especificidades de cada curso e o ramo das Forças Armadas e/ou Guarda Nacional Republicana a que pertencem os discentes. Apoiando a consecução deste objetivo, foi construído e aplicado um questionário à população alvo. Assim, constatou-se que a componente Desenvolvimento pessoal da Motivação, relacionada com a vontade e o desejo de querer aprender, constitui-se o principal fator motivador, com os discentes do Exército e do Curso de Estado-Maior Conjunto a apresentarem os maiores índices motivacionais. Relativamente à Satisfação, constatou-se que as principais (importantes) causas de satisfação são a Qualidade dos docentes e os Conteúdos programáticos/metodologia, ainda que não constituindo as causas com as quais os discentes demonstram maior satisfação. O Curso de Promoção a Oficial Superior, com foco nos ramos da Força Aérea e Marinha, representa os discentes menos satisfeitos. Decorrente dos resultados conclui-se então, da necessidade de implementar medidas diretamente relacionadas com o processo de aprendizagem para aumento da Motivação e Satisfação dos discentes do Instituto Universitário Militar. Igualmente, verificou-se a influência nessas variáveis, da diferente valorização dos cursos em estudo por parte dos Ramos. Abstract: With the research object of study, the identification of Motivation factors and Satisfaction of students of Flag Officers Course, Joint Staff Course and Field Grade Officers Course, it is intended, identify the measures to be implemented to its increase, taking into account the specificities of each course and the branch of the armed forces and / or Republican National Guard that belong the various students. To achieve this objective, it was constructed and applied a questionnaire to the target population. Thus, it was found that the Personal Development component of Motivation related to the will and desire to want to learn, it constitutes the main motivating factor, with the students of the Army and the Joint Staff Course to present the greatest motivational indexes. Regarding to Satisfaction, it was found that the key (important) satisfaction causes are the quality of teachers and programmatic contents / methodology, although not constituting the causes with which students demonstrate greater satisfaction. Highlights the less satisfaction between students of Field Grade Officers Course, with focus on the branches of the Air Force and Navy. Due to the results it is concluded then, the need to implement measures directly related to the learning process for increasing student Motivation and Satisfaction, and its influence by the different valuation by each branch.

Satisfação na educação à distância em uma disciplina semipresencial na área de saúde

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, 2016.

Leadership and Pedagogical Interaction as Predictors of Learning Outcomes in Physical Education

Problem Statement: This research aims to understand the relative contribution of leadership styles and teacher-student and student-student pedagogical interaction concerning the learning performance and academic achievement in physical education. Research Questions: Are the teacher leadership style and the teacher-student and student-student pedagogical interaction related to the learning performance and academic achievement in physical education in basic schooling? Purpose of Study: There are several factors that contribute for the explanation of learning outcomes, namely teacher leadership styles in the classroom, as well as teacher-student and student-student pedagogical interactions. These factors are considered to be essential in the teaching-learning process and in the subsequent improvement of educational outcomes. Research Methods: A quantitative methodology was implemented, comprising a sample of 447 students attending a School Grouping located in the Central Region of Portugal. In order to verify the nature, the strength and the direction of the relations among the variables, correlation and multiple regression analyses were used. For this, scales already validated and used in other researches were applied. Findings: The results show that the learning performance and the academic achievement are significantly associated with teacher leadership styles and teacher-student and student-student pedagogical interaction. A stronger association was obtained with leadership styles, especially the democratic one. It should be mentioned that these factors provide a higher relative contribution to the learning performance than to the academic achievement. Conclusions: This study sought to deepen the understanding of the explanatory factors of academic success concerning the teaching-learning process in physical education. The analysis conducted highlights the importance of the democratic teacher leadership style and of the pedagogical interaction established within the classroom towards the improvement of students' ability to understand the gains and the effort made in learning.

Motivation and relationship of the student with the school as factors involved in the perceived learning

Motivation should be seen as a very important factor in the learning process. The motivated student has the inner strength to learn, to discover and capitalize on capabilities, to improve academic performance and to adapt to the demands of the school context. Contextual factors like the psychological sense of school membership may be also especially important to students’ classroom engagement, their motivation and learning success. So with this study we intend to examine how the sense of school belonging and intrinsic motivation influences perceived learning.A structural model reveals that the negative sense of school belonging has a negative impact on intrinsic motivation and on perceived learning. In turn, intrinsic motivation positively and significantly influences perceived learning in the course.

Socratic flipped classroom : What types of questions and tasks promote learning?

Socratic questioning stresses the importance of questioning for learning. Flipped Classroom pedagogy generates a need for effective questions and tasks in order to promote active learning. This paper describes a project aimed at finding out how different kinds of questions and tasks support students’ learning in a flipped classroom context. In this study, during the flipped courses, both the questions and tasks were distributed together with video recordings. Answers and solutions were presented and discussed in seminars, with approximately 10 participating students in each seminar. Information Systems students from three flipped classroom courses at three different levels were interviewed in focus groups about their perceptions of how different kinds of questions and tasks supported their learning process. The selected courses were organized differently, with various kinds of questions and tasks. Course one included open questions that were answered and presented at the seminar. Students also solved a task and presented the solution to the group. Course two included open questions and a task. Answers and solutions were discussed at the seminars where students also reviewed each other’s answers and solutions. Course three included online single- and multiple choice questions with real-time feedback. Answers were discussed at the seminar, with the focus on any misconceptions. In this paper we categorized the questions in accordance with Wilson (2016) as factual, convergent, divergent, evaluative, or a combination of these. In all, we found that any comprehensible question that initiates a dialogue, preferably with a set of Socratic questions, is perceived as promoting learning. This is why seminars that allow such questions and discussion are effective. We found no differences between the different kinds of Socratic questions. They were seen to promote learning so long as they made students reflect and problematize the questions. To conclude, we found that questions and tasks promote learning when they are answered and solved in a process that is characterized by comprehensibility, variation, repetition and activity.

A estrutura organizacional das bibliotecas universitárias em Portugal

Este estudo tem como objetivo definir linhas orientadoras para as estruturas organizacionais em bibliotecas universitárias portuguesas e baseia-se numa investigação que fez uso de métodos diversificados, tanto quantitativos (em extensão), como qualitativos (em profundidade), e cotejou os dados assim obtidos com as práticas mais inovadoras em bibliotecas de diversos países do mundo. Foi feito o enquadramento teórico, para temas relacionados com os da investigação, como as teorias da gestão, as estruturas organizacionais, a liderança, a motivação, a comunicação e o processo de mudança nas organizações. Considerando o meio onde se integram estas bibliotecas, identificaram-se os principais aspetos da política educativa no ensino superior europeu e português. A revisão da literatura permitiu recolher informação sobre algumas tendências mais recentes nas bibliotecas universitárias, em geral e em Portugal. Foram identificadas as tipologias de estruturas organizacionais, as transformações que as mesmas têm sofrido noutros países e que soluções foram encontradas. A partir dos dados recolhidos com o questionário, caracterizaram-se estas bibliotecas portuguesas e os resultados indicam que há uma grande diversidade e que, em grande parte as suas estruturas organizacionais foram alteradas. Com o estudo de caso, detalharam-se aspetos dessas alterações. Concluiu-se que, com as alterações no ensino superior, as bibliotecas podem ter um papel mais ativo no processo de ensino-aprendizagem. As alterações em estruturas organizacionais de bibliotecas universitárias portuguesas ocorreram, na sua grande parte, por razões legais e houve participação das chefias das bibliotecas e dos técnicos superiores especializados em ciências da informação. As novas estruturas organizacionais procuram adaptar-se às transformações externas e internas, optando por estruturas mais flexíveis que incentivam a participação de todos os funcionários na inovação e tomadas de decisão. Como linhas orientadoras, foram indicados um conjunto de princípios por não ser possível um modelo ideal a aplicar em todas as bibliotecas. Cada caso encontrará uma solução que deverá ser continuamente analisada e adaptada à realidade; Organizational structure of university libraries in Portugal Abstract: The purpose of this study is to define guidelines for the organizational structures of Portuguese university libraries and it is based on a research that used as quantitative (in range) as qualitative (in depth) methods and compared the findings with the most innovative practices in libraries all over the world. An approach was made to the theoretical areas of management, organizational structures, leadership, motivation, communication and the process of change in organizations. Considering that these libraries act in higher education institutions it was referred the education policy for higher education, in Europe and in Portugal. The literature review allowed collecting information about the more recent tendencies of the university libraries in general and in Portugal. The organizational structures models were identified as their changes and solutions. From the data from the questionnaire the Portuguese university libraries were described and the results show there is a great variety among them and most of them have transformed their organizational structures. The case study allowed obtaining more information about the process of change in the three selected libraries. It was concluded that, with the changes of higher education, the libraries can play a more active role in the teaching and learning process. The changes of the organizational structures in the Portuguese university libraries occurred mostly for legal reasons and the top of the libraries hierarchy and librarians participated. With the new organizational structures libraries have made all the efforts to adapt to the external and internal transformations with more flexible structures encouraging all staff to participate with ideas and to take part in the decision process. For the guidelines it was pointed out a set of principles to follow as it is not possible to have an ideal model to apply to all the libraries. Each library must find a solution that will be continually analyzed and adapted.

O ambiente virtual de aprendizagem e sua incorporação na Unicamp

The text describes a study about the adoption of virtual learning environments and its consequences to the learning process of undergraduate students at the State University of Campinas - Unicamp. These environments can be incorporated in various ways into the academic daily life of students and teachers. One efficient way to promote the adoption of these environments, as observed by the Distance Learning support team, is to train teachers and students in their use. Two training alternatives are described in this text to instruct the academic community in the use of TelEduc, a freeware developed and coordinated by the NIED - Núcleo de Informática Aplicada à Educação (Center for Information Technology Applied to Education), and officially adopted by Unicamp. Training courses are offered in two ways - presence or distance learning - to suit each teacher's preferences. This article compares the two modes of training, showing their strong and weak points. The adoption of TelEduc and its direct consequences to the learning process are described in a study carried out with some engineering undergraduates at Unicamp. The authors' questions and the general views of teachers and students regarding the effectiveness of the use of TelEduc as a supporting tool to presence teaching are presented. This investigation revealed the importance of training teachers in the effective use of these environments.

O papel da interação no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de português para alunos surdos em uma escola inclusiva

In this article, it is discussed the role of interaction in the process of teaching and learning Portuguese of deaf students at an inclusive school. In the context where the research took place, the hearing teacher does not understand sign language, and there are, in her classroom, hearing students and four deaf students, being three of them sign language users. As the communication between the hearing teacher and the deaf students occurred in different codes - Portuguese and Brazilian sign language - and having a social-interactional approach of language (MOITA LOPES, 1986; FREIRE, 1999), we observed if the interaction among the subjects enabled the deaf students to understand what was being taught. The results showed that the fact of having four deaf students in the same classroom allowed them to work in a cooperative way. Besides, the sign language became more visible in this institution. On the other hand, the interaction between the teacher and her deaf students revealed to be of little significance to the learning process of this small group.

A língua inglesa no ensino fundamentl I público: diálogos com Bakhtin por uma formação plurilíngue

This article aims at discussing the contributions of the Bakhtinian Circle theories to foreign language teaching and learning (HALL et al., 2005), as far as the first years of formal education in Brazil are concerned. Up to the present moment, foreign languages, including English, are not officially part of the National Curriculum of the first five schooling years. Due to the importance of English in a globalized world and despite all the controversial socio-educational impacts of such an influence, there has been an increase in the interest in this discipline at the beginning years of Brazilian public education (ROCHA, 2006), which has been happening at an irregular pace and without official parameters. Therefore, the relevance of this work lies on the possible guidelines it may offer to support a more effective, situated and meaningful teaching-learning process in that context. Standing for a pluralistic approach to language education, we take the bakhtinian speech genres as organizers of the educational process. We strongly believe that through a dialogic, pluralistic and trans/intercultural teaching (MAHER, 2007), whose main objective is the development of multi (COPE e KALANTZIS, 2000) and critical (COMBER, 2006) literacies, the hybridization of genres and cultures, as well as the creation of third spaces (KOSTOGRIZ, 2005; KUMARAVADIVELU, 2008) can happen. From this perspective, foreign language teaching and learning play a transformative role in society and English is seen as a boundary object (STAR e GRIESEMER, 1989), in and by which diversity, pluralism and polyphony can naturally find their way.

Procedimentos pedagogicos para o ensino das lutas : contextos e possibilidades

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Metodologia de ensino em educação fisica : contribuições de Vygotsky, para as reflexões sobre um modelo pedagogico

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física

A comunicação corporal na pre-escola : caminhos e descaminhos

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Educação fisica na educação infantil : concepções e praticas de professores

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física