A competência global na aula de língua inglesa : como preparar os alunos para viver e agir no mundo atual?

Este estudo teve como principais objetivos compreender os efeitos de um projeto de educação global nos conhecimentos, capacidades e atitudes de um grupo de alunos portugueses do 11.º ano, bem como compreender as potencialidades da aula de língua inglesa no âmbito de uma educação promotora da participação ativa numa sociedade globalizada. Tratando-se de um estudo de tipo investigação-ação, ancorado no paradigma socio-crítico, foram recolhidos dados através de questionários, aplicados aos alunos antes e após o projeto de intervenção, de gravações vídeo de quatro sessões de educação global e de uma entrevista realizada à professora cooperante. Recorreu-se ainda à recolha documental de trabalhos dos alunos, bem como do Programa de Inglês (continuação) dos 10.º, 11.º e 12.º anos. A análise dos dados recolhidos, efetuada segundo diferentes métodos e instrumentos, permitiu concluir que o projeto de educação global teve efeitos mais significativos no desenvolvimento dos conhecimentos dos alunos, sobretudo relacionados com problemas globais específicos, tendo estes compreendido que o que acontece em outros locais tem relevância na vida de cada um. O estudo permitiu ainda verificar que as aulas de língua inglesa são o espaço ideal para se trabalhar a educação global, funcionando como uma porta aberta para outras línguas, culturas e mundivisões. Estes resultados sugerem que é possível e necessário promover o desenvolvimento da competência global na aula de línguas, mobilizando e incorporando saberes e recursos que valorizem capacidades de trabalho colaborativo, de comunicação e de resolução de problemas, bem como atitudes de respeito pelos Outros, imprescindíveis para o exercício da cidadania e para desafiar as injustiças e desigualdades que nos rodeiam.

New silk road : trade and investment. perspectives for eu and new partnerships

China has already given a fundamental contribution to the present globalization process and have also highly benefited from it by integrating becoming the final stage of the Global Chains Production networks in Asia. This process in China was the result of a survival economic strategy that saw in the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment in intensive low cost workmanship oriented to exports, a fundamental condition to overpass it´s millenary delay. This strategy accepted that the add value that remain in China, although very small was very important to give jobs to millions of Chinese and take them out of the absolute poverty line where they were in 1978 when Deng Xiao Ping launch the 4 Modernizations and the Open Door Policies. Other policies token during the first 30 years of the China Economic Reform, like the Grasp the Big Let Go the Small, the Socialist Market Economy, the Go West and the Go Global were equally important transforming Chinese economy in the second world biggest one. This first globalization stage had its big push in 2001 when China joined the WTO we can say that a new world economic order had begun in that date, placing China in the center of the world.

A Retrospective-Longitudinal Examination of the Relationship between Apportionment of Seat Time in Community-College Algebra Courses and Student Academic Performance

During the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase by postsecondary institutions in providing academic programs and course offerings in a multitude of formats and venues (Biemiller, 2009; Kucsera & Zimmaro, 2010; Lang, 2009; Mangan, 2008). Strategies pertaining to reapportionment of course-delivery seat time have been a major facet of these institutional initiatives; most notably, within many open-door 2-year colleges. Often, these enrollment-management decisions are driven by the desire to increase market-share, optimize the usage of finite facility capacity, and contain costs, especially during these economically turbulent times. So, while enrollments have surged to the point where nearly one in three 18-to-24 year-old U.S. undergraduates are community college students (Pew Research Center, 2009), graduation rates, on average, still remain distressingly low (Complete College America, 2011). Among the learning-theory constructs related to seat-time reapportionment efforts is the cognitive phenomenon commonly referred to as the spacing effect, the degree to which learning is enhanced by a series of shorter, separated sessions as opposed to fewer, more massed episodes. This ex post facto study explored whether seat time in a postsecondary developmental-level algebra course is significantly related to: course success; course-enrollment persistence; and, longitudinally, the time to successfully complete a general-education-level mathematics course. Hierarchical logistic regression and discrete-time survival analysis were used to perform a multi-level, multivariable analysis of a student cohort (N = 3,284) enrolled at a large, multi-campus, urban community college. The subjects were retrospectively tracked over a 2-year longitudinal period. The study found that students in long seat-time classes tended to withdraw earlier and more often than did their peers in short seat-time classes (p < .05). Additionally, a model comprised of nine statistically significant covariates (all with p-values less than .01) was constructed. However, no longitudinal seat-time group differences were detected nor was there sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that seat time was predictive of developmental-level course success. A principal aim of this study was to demonstrate—to educational leaders, researchers, and institutional-research/business-intelligence professionals—the advantages and computational practicability of survival analysis, an underused but more powerful way to investigate changes in students over time.

Dressing room, door open into bedroom; Mosse family residence; Berlin Architecture; Residences; Interior

Digital Image

Salon with door open to garden; Mosse family residence; Berlin Architecture; Residences; Interior

Digital Image

Holding the Door Half (?) Open: the EU and Turkey 10 years on

A decade of accession negotiations with the EU has not brought Turkey significantly closer to EU membership. In part the reasons lie with Turkey. This article, however, explores the position of the EU and the ‘supply-side’ of enlargement. It reflects on developments in how the EU has engaged with Turkey on the question of membership, situating Turkey’s candidacy and the EU’s position within the broader comparative context of how the process and politics of EU enlargement have evolved over the last ten years. It focuses on a set of supply-side variables that are key to determining the progress that applicants can make towards membership: member state preferences, the activism of supranational institutional actors, the EU’s integration capacity, public opinion in the EU towards enlargement, and the narratives deployed in justification of enlargement. The article also considers the state of Turkey’s accession negotiations and how they have been and potentially will be affected, assuming they are meaningfully revived, by the evolving nature and substance of EU accession negotiations more generally and EU’s approach to conditionality.

Photograph - Car with Door Open

A photograph of a car with the door open on a gravel drive.

The door of the tomb is open: Participatory action research to assess the impact of strengthened community capacity on maternal health care in rural Mali

This participatory action-research project addressed the hypothesis that strengthened community and women's capacity for self-development will lead to action to address maternal health problems and the prevention of maternal morbidity and mortality in Mali. Research objectives were: (1) to undertake a comparative cross-sectional study of the association of community capacity with improved maternal health in rural areas of Sanando, Mali, where capacity building interventions have taken place in some villages but not in others. (2) to describe women's maternal health status, access to and use of maternal health services given their residence in program or comparison communities.^ The participatory action research project was an integrated qualitative and quantitative study using participatory rural appraisal exercises, semi-structured group interviews and a cross-sectional survey.^ Factors related to community capacity for self-development were identified: community harmony; an understanding of the benefits of self-development; dynamic leadership; and a structure to implement collective activities.^ A distinct difference between the program and comparison villages was the commitment to train and support traditional birth attendants (TBAs). The TBAs in the program villages work in the context of the wider, integrated self-development program and, 10 years after their initial training, the TBAs continue to practice.^ Many women experience labor and childbirth alone or are attended by an untrained relative in both program and comparison villages. Nevertheless a significant change is apparent, with more women in program villages than in comparison villages being assisted by the TBAs. The delivery practices of the TBAs reveal the positive impact of their training in the "three cleans" (clean hands of the assistant, clean delivery surface and clean cord-cutting). The findings of this study indicate a significant level of unmet need for child spacing methods in all villages.^ The training and support of TBAs in the program villages yielded significant improvements in their delivery practices, and resulting outcomes for women and infants. However, potential exists for further community action. Capacities for self-development have not yet been directed toward an action plan encompassing other Safe Motherhood interventions, including access to family planning services and emergency obstetric care services. ^

Beyond the hospital door : a retrospective, cohort study of associations between birthing in the public or private sector and women’s postpartum care

Background In Australia, maternity care is available through universal coverage and a parallel, competitive private health insurance system. Differences between sectors in antenatal and intrapartum care and associated outcomes are well documented but few studies have investigated differences in postpartum care following hospital discharge and their impact on maternal satisfaction and confidence. Methods Women who birthed in Queensland, Australia from February to May 2010 were mailed a self-report survey 4 months postpartum. Regression analysis was used to determine associations between sector of birth and postpartum care, and whether postpartum care experiences explained sector differences in postpartum well-being (satisfaction, parenting confidence and feeling depressed). Results Women who birthed in the public sector had higher odds of health professional contact in the first 10 days post-discharge and satisfaction with the amount of postpartum care. After adjusting for demographic and postpartum contact variables, sector of birth no longer had an impact on satisfaction (AOR 0.95, 99% CI 0.78-1.31), but any form of health professional contact did. Women who had a care provider’s 24 hour contact details had higher odds of being satisfied (AOR 3.64, 95% CI 3.00-4.42) and confident (AOR 1.34, 95% CI 1.08- 1.65). Conclusion Women who birthed in the public sector appeared more satisfied because they had higher odds of receiving contact from a health professional within 10 days post-discharge. All women should have an opportunity to speak to and/or see a doctor, midwife or nurse in the first 10 days at home, and the details of a person they can contact 24 hours a day.

Open source drug discovery- A new paradigm of collaborative research in tuberculosis drug development

It is being realized that the traditional closed-door and market driven approaches for drug discovery may not be the best suited model for the diseases of the developing world such as tuberculosis and malaria, because most patients suffering from these diseases have poor paying capacity. To ensure that new drugs are created for patients suffering from these diseases, it is necessary to formulate an alternate paradigm of drug discovery process. The current model constrained by limitations for collaboration and for sharing of resources with confidentiality hampers the opportunities for bringing expertise from diverse fields. These limitations hinder the possibilities of lowering the cost of drug discovery. The Open Source Drug Discovery project initiated by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India has adopted an open source model to power wide participation across geographical borders. Open Source Drug Discovery emphasizes integrative science through collaboration, open-sharing, taking up multi-faceted approaches and accruing benefits from advances on different fronts of new drug discovery. Because the open source model is based on community participation, it has the potential to self-sustain continuous development by generating a storehouse of alternatives towards continued pursuit for new drug discovery. Since the inventions are community generated, the new chemical entities developed by Open Source Drug Discovery will be taken up for clinical trial in a non-exclusive manner by participation of multiple companies with majority funding from Open Source Drug Discovery. This will ensure availability of drugs through a lower cost community driven drug discovery process for diseases afflicting people with poor paying capacity. Hopefully what LINUX the World Wide Web have done for the information technology, Open Source Drug Discovery will do for drug discovery. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sistema multimodal para la planificación de viajes en transportes públicos de código abierto y basado en estándares 'de facto' = A multimodal journey planner based on open source software and 'de facto' standards

Este artículo muestra cómo con bajo coste y riesgo se puede desarrollar un sistema de planificación de viaje multimodal, basado en un enfoque de código abierto y estándares ‘de facto’. Se ha desarrollado completamente una solución de código abierto para un sistema de información de transporte público puerta a puerta basado en estándares ‘de facto’. El cálculo de rutas se realiza mediante Graphserver, mientras que la cartografía se basa en OpenStreetMap. También se ha demostrado cómo exportar una base de datos real de horarios de transporte público como la del operador ETM (Empresa de Transporte Metropolitano de València) a la especificación de Google Transit, para permitir el cálculo de rutas, tanto desde nuestro prototipo como desde Google Transit

Through the back door : Melungeon literacies and 21st century technologies

The Melungeons, a minority recognized in Southern Appalachia where they settled in the early 1800s, have mixed heritage—European, Mediterranean, Native American, and Sub-Saharan African. Their dark skin and distinctive features have marked them and been the cause of racial persecution both by custom and by law in Appalachia for two centuries. Their marginalization has led to an insider mentality, which I call a “literacy” of Melungeon-ness that affects every facet of their lives. Just a century ago, while specialized practices such as farming, preserving food, hunting, gathering, and distilling insured survival in the unforgiving mountain environment, few Melungeons could read or write. Required to pay property taxes and render military service, they were denied education, suffrage, and other legal rights. In the late 1890s visionary Melungeon leader Batey Collins invited Presbyterian homemissionaries to settle in one Tennessee Melungeon community where they established a church and built a school of unparalleled excellence. Educator-ministers Mary Rankin and Chester Leonard creatively reified the theories of Dewey, Montessori, and Rauschenbusch, but, despite their efforts, school literacy did not neutralize difference. Now, taking reading and writing for granted, Melungeons are exploring their identity by creating websites and participating in listserv discussions. These online expressions, which provide texts for rhetorical, semiotic, and socio-linguistic analysis, illustrate not solidarity but fragmentation on issues of origins and legitimacy. Armed with literacies of difference stemming from both nature and nurture, Melungeons are using literacy practices to embrace the difference they cannot escape.