Interoperability on e-learning 2.0: the PEACE case study

The confluence of education with the evolution of technology boosted the paradigm shift of the face-to-face learning to distance learning. In this scenario e-Learning plays an essential role as a facilitator of the teaching/learning process. However new demands associated with the new Web paradigm require that existent e-Learning environments characterized mostly by monolithic systems begin interacting with new specialized services. In this decentralized scenario the definition of a strategy of interoperability is the cornerstone to ensure the standardization communication among systems. This paper presents a definition of an interoperability strategy for an e-Learning environment at our School (ESEIG) called PEACE – Project for ESEIG Academic Content Environment. This new interoperability model relies on the application of several coordination and integration standards on several services, controlled by teachers and students, and included in the PEACE environment such as social networks, repositories, libraries, e-portfolios, intelligent tutors, recommendation systems and virtual classrooms.

Porto Polytechnical Engineering School sustainable development action plan

Porto Polytechnical Engineering School (ISEP), a Global Reporting Initiative training partner in Portugal, has just presented its Sustainable Development Action Plan (PASUS), which main objective is the formation of a new kind of engineers, with a Sustainable Development (SD) philosophy in the core of their academic curricula courses.

Education for health: alcohol and young aged school teenagers

Introduction: Alcohol consumption starts at an early age in Portuguese people. Health problems and risk behavior associated with excessive consumption can be prevented or highly reduced through effective school programs. Health professionals, such as biomedical scientists, (BSc), are important in promoting healthy lifestyles through the transmission of knowledge. Objective: Explore the role of the BSc in promoting health via intervention and clarification actions, (ICA), with 9th grade students from Agrupamento de Escolas da Portela e Moscavide (AEPM) and Visconde Juromenha (AEVJ); Verify the relationship between participating in the ICA and the level of knowledge acquired from it. Methods: Behaviors and beliefs concerning alcohol consumption and knowledge about the repercussions of it in the human body, mainly regarding the liver, were assessed by questionnaire. The questionnaire was completed before and after the ICA, by the control group (CG) and the study group (SG), respectively. The answers concerning knowledge were given points, later converted to a score from 0 to 100%. Data was analyzed applying descriptive statistics and the t-student test using SPSS 20.0. Results: After statistical analysis, it was found an average score of 48.8% for SG and 46.2% for CG. The difference between groups was statistically significant only in AEPM where ICA included a practical methodology (microscopic and macroscopic observation of pork livers), contrary to AEVJ. Conclusions: BSc intervention through ICA’s improves teenagers’ knowledge. Theoretical knowledge associated with practical approaches improves the retention of information and the development of a conscious behavior about the consumption of alcohol.

Trabalho colaborativo entre professores para integração curricular no 1º ciclo do ensino básico: um contributo para melhoria das planificações pedagógicas em S.Tomé e Príncipe

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de mestre em Didáticas Integradas em Língua Portuguesa, Matemática, Ciências Naturais e Sociais

Tudo exceto a pia da cozinha? A Kitchen Sink School e o Kitchen Sink Drama: figurações realistas no pós-guerra

Ensaio sobre a relação das telas da Kitchen Sink School (John Bratby / Edward Middleditch / Derrick Greaves / Jack Smith) com a dramaturgia realista do pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial em Inglaterra.

Consumer energy management system with integration of smart meters

This paper develops an energy management system with integration of smart meters for electricity consumers in a smart grid context. The integration of two types of smart meters (SM) are developed: (i) consumer owned SM and (ii) distributor owned SM. The consumer owned SM runs over a wireless platform - ZigBee protocol and the distributor owned SM uses the wired environment - ModBus protocol. The SM are connected to a SCADA system (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) that supervises a network of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC). The SCADA system/PLC network integrates different types of information coming from several technologies present in modern buildings. The developed control strategy implements a hierarchical cascade controller where inner loops are performed by local PLCs, and the outer loop is managed by a centralized SCADA system, which interacts with the entire local PLC network. In order to implement advanced controllers, a communication channel was developed to allow the communication between the SCADA system and the MATLAB software. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

ESEIG Mobile: an m-learning approach in a superior school

In recent years, mobile learning has emerged as an educational approach to decrease the limitation of learning location and adapt the teaching-learning process to all type of students. However, the large number and variety of Web-enabled devices poses challenges for Web content creators who want to automatic get the delivery context and adapt the content to mobile devices. This paper studies several approaches to adapt the learning content to mobile phones. It presents an architecture for deliver uniform m-Learning content to students in a higher School. The system development is organized in two phases: firstly enabling the educational content to mobile devices and then adapting it to all the heterogeneous mobile platforms. With this approach, Web authors will not need to create specialized pages for each kind of device, since the content is automatically transformed to adapt to any mobile device capabilities from WAP to XHTML MP-compliant devices.

Lean and quality management integration: improvement program implementation in a service company

Lean Thinking is an important pillar in the success of any program of continuous improvement process. Its tools are useful means in the analysis, control and organization of important data for correct decision making in organizations. This project had as main objective the design of a program of quality improvement in Eurico Ferreira, S.A., based on the evaluation of customer satisfaction and the implementation of 5S. Subsequently, we have selected which business area of the company to address. After the selection, there was an initial diagnostic procedure, identifying the various points of improvement to which some tools of Lean Thinking have been applied, in particular Value Stream Mapping and 5S methodology. With the first, we were able to map the current state of the process in which all stakeholders were represented as well as the flow of materials and information throughout the process. The 5S methodology allowed to act on the wastage, identifying and implementing various process improvements.

Finding a school technological partner: a multicriteria method for school information system producer selection

The choice of an information systems is a critical factor of success in an organization's performance, since, by involving multiple decision-makers, with often conflicting objectives, several alternatives with aggressive marketing, makes it particularly complex by the scope of a consensus. The main objective of this work is to make the analysis and selection of a information system to support the school management, pedagogical and administrative components, using a multicriteria decision aid system – MMASSITI – Multicriteria Method- ology to Support the Selection of Information Systems/Information Technologies – integrates a multicriteria model that seeks to provide a systematic approach in the process of choice of Information Systems, able to produce sustained recommendations concerning the decision scope. Its application to a case study has identi- fied the relevant factors in the selection process of school educational and management information system and get a solution that allows the decision maker’ to compare the quality of the various alternatives.

Personal learning environments: integration of Web 2.0 applications and content management systems

This paper presents an ongoing project that implements a platform for creating personal learning environments controlled by students, integrating Web 2.0 applications and content management systems, enabling the safe use of content created in Web 2.0 applications, allowing its publication in the infrastructure controlled by the HEI. Using this platform, students can develop their personal learning environment (PLE) integrated with the Learning Management System (LMS) of the HEI, enabling the management of their learning and, simultaneously, creating their e-portfolio with digital content developed for Course Units (CU). All this can be maintained after the student completes his academic studies, since the platform will remain accessible to students even after they leave the HEI and lose access to its infrastructure. The platform will enable the safe use of content created in Web 2.0 applications, allowing its protected publication in the infrastructure controlled by HEI, thus contributing to the adaptation of the L&T paradigm to the Bologna process.

Changing representations and practices in school mathematics: the case of Modern Math in Portugal

The curricular movement known as Modern Mathematics aimed at the transformation of representations and practices in school mathematics. Its study provides us with ways of understanding how these changes came about. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the ways in which representations of school mathematics gradually were influenced by ideas from the Modern Mathematics movement, how these new ideas merged into local educational traditions, and how they were transformed into meaningful practice. This work is centred on the Portuguese context from the middle 1950s to the middle 1960s, and builds on Chervel’s notion of school culture and Gruzinski’s discussion of connected histories.

Intestinal parasites in school food handlers in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

In order to verify the presence of intestinal parasites in food handlers, stool samples were collected from 104 cooks and their helpers that were working in food preparation in 20 public elementary schools, in various areas of the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The samples were collected during the months of November and December, 1988, in plastic flasks containing a 10% formaldehyde solution and processed by the Hoffmann, Pons & Janer method. The sediment was examined using triplicate slides. All individuals were females aged between 24 to 69 years. Intestinal parasites were found in 85.0% of the studied schools and 47.1% of the studied food handlers (cooks and helpers) were found to be positive. Among the 49 infected food handlers, 32 (65.3%) carried a single parasite and 17 (34.7%) carried two parasites. The following intestinal parasites were found: Giardia lamblia (21.1%), Entamoeba coli (21.1%), hookworms (9.6%), Ascaris lumbricoides (5.8%), Entamoeba histolytica (2.9%), Hymenolepis nana (1.9%), Strongyloides stercoralis (1.0%). These data emphasize the need for a rigid semi-annual control in all school food handlers, including diagnosis, specific treatment and orientation about the mechanisms of transmission of the intestinal parasites.

Transparent oxide thin-film transistors: production, characterization and integration

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nanotechnologies and Nanosciences by Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Iberian peninsula ecosystem carbon fluxes: a model-data integration study

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia do Ambiente pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa,Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Analysis of the mismatch between school furniture and children

The characteristics of school furniture are strongly associated with back and neck pain, referred by school-aged children. In Portugal, about 60% of the adolescents involved in a recent study reported having felt back pain at least once in the last three months. The aim of this study was to compare furniture sizes of the 2 types indicated for primary schools, within 9 schools, with the anthropometric characteristics of Portuguese students, in order to evaluate the mismatch between them. The sample consisted of 432 volunteer students. Regarding the methodology, 5 anthropometric measures were gathered, as well as 5 dimensions from the school furniture. For the evaluation of classroom furniture, a (mis)match criterion equation was defined. Results indicated that there is a significant mismatch between furniture dimensions and the anthropometric characteristics of the students.