Challenges for e-learning and adult students in higher education

This article examines Lifelong Learning, from the perspective of the adult learner in higher education, by presenting some of the results of a project, funded by the European Commission's Socrates Programme, LIHE, Learning in Higher Education. It is structured as follows: first, the background of the project is described, then the experiences of the adult student, concerning their induction and tuition, are presented. Some future trends concerning adults in higher education and lifelong learning are outlined and conclusions drawn.

Adult learners in higher education

Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc., distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI is prohibited.

Environmental sustainability in superior education: case study of Lisbon College of Health Technology

Over the centuries there has been a growing trend of societies and it is possible to verify their economic growth. This growth has provided an increased pressure on natural resources, often over-reaching the boundaries of each country, which has called into question the level of environmental sustainability in different countries. Sustainability is understood as a complex concept involving ecological, social, economic dimensions and temporal urban processes. Therefore, Firmino (2009) suggests that the ecological footprint (EF) allows people to establish dependency relations between human activities and the natural resources required for such activities and for the absorption of waste generated. According to Bergh & Verbruggen (1999) the EF is an objective, impartial and one-dimensional indicator that enables people to assess the sustainability. The Superior Schools have a crucial role in building the vision of a sustainable future as a reality, because in transmitting values and environmental principles to his students, are providing that they, in exercising his professional activity, make decisions weighing the environmental values. This ensures improved quality of life. The present study aims to determine the level of environmental sustainability of the Academic Community of Lisbon College of Health Technology (ESTeSL), by calculating the EF, and describe whether a relation between Footprint and various socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects.

Learning in higher education: the ISEGI case

Comunicação apresentada na IRMA Information Resources Management Association International Conference, San Diego, CA, 15 19 May

Learning in higher education: strategies to overcome challenges faced by adult students - lessons drawn from two studies in portugal

Int’l J. of Information and Communication Technology Education, 3(2), 1-14, April-June 2007

LIHE – Learning in Higher Education – Contributo para a melhoria do ambiente e daexperiência de aprendizagem de estudantes adultos no Ensino Superior – o Caso Português

Artigo apresentado no V Congresso deGaliza e Norte de Portugal de Formação para o Trabalho – “Necessidades de Formação e Desenho Curricular por Competências”, Universidade de Compostela, 27-29 Novembro de 2003

Teaching with Moodle in higher education

Nowadays, with the use of technology and the Internet, education is undergoing significant changes, contemplating new ways of teaching and learning. One of the widely methods of teaching used to promote knowledge, consists in the use of virtual environments available in various formats, taking as example the teaching-learning platforms, which are available online. The Internet access and use of Laptops have created the technological conditions for teachers and students can benefit from the diversity of online information, communication, collaboration and sharing with others. The integration of Internet services in the teaching practices can provide thematic, social and digital enrichment for the agents involved. In this paper we will talk about the advantages of LMS (Learning Management Systems) such as Moodle, to support the presential lectures in higher education. We also will analyse its implications for student support and online interaction, leading educational agents to a mixing of different learning environments, where they can combine face-to-face instruction with computer-mediated instruction, blended-learning, and increases the options for better quality and quantity of human interaction in a learning environment. We also will present some tools traditionally used in online assessment and that are part of the functionalities of Moodle. These tools can provide interesting alternatives to promote a more significant learning and contribute to the development of flexible and customized models of an evaluation which we want to be more efficient.

Mental health and psychiatry research in Brazil: scientific production from 1999 to 2003

OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent of mental health scientific production in Brazil from 1999 to 2003, and to identify the nature of the publications generated, their sources of finance and the ways of publicly disseminating the research findings. METHODS: Searches for publications were conducted in the Medline and PsychInfo databases for the period 1999-2003. A semi-structured questionnaire developed by an international team was applied to 626 mental health researchers, covering each interviewee's educational background, research experience, access to funding sources, public impact and research priorities. The sample was composed by 626 mental health researchers identified from 792 publications indexed on Medline and PsychInfo databases for the period above, and from a list of reviewers of Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria. RESULTS: In Brazil, 792 publications were produced by 525 authors between 1999 and 2003 (441 indexed in Medline and 398 in the ISI database). The main topics were: depression (29.1%), substance misuse (14.6%), psychoses (10%), childhood disorders (7%) and dementia (6.7%). Among the 626 Brazilian mental health researchers, 329 answered the questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: There were steadily increasing numbers of Brazilian articles on mental health published in foreign journals from 1999 to 2003: the number of articles in Medline tripled and it doubled in the ISI database. The content of these articles corresponded to the priorities within mental health, but there is a need for better interlinking between researchers and mental health policymakers.

Open-source software in operations research in engineering teaching

ENEGI 2013: Atas do 2º Encontro Nacional de Engenharia e Gestão Industrial, Universidade de Aveiro, 17 e 18 de maio de 2013, Aveiro, Portugal.

About hazing In higher education

Not a year goes by that we don't hear of another hazing scandal in a higher education institution. Many researchers took interest in this issue in order to understand its causes and consequences. They provided definitions and lead to prevent it. We found hazing in many social groups around the world, with different names, and under specific forms. This paper aims to better understand hazing and its actors, with a specific focus on hazing in higher education. We presented three definitions to offer several perspectives on hazing, and facilitate its apprehension. Our method was to analyze the relevant scientific literature with the intention of reflecting on its roots and representation among individuals. Results are an exposition of motivations from hazing's actors, recommendations about how to define it and how to prevent derivations. Our main conclusions assume hazing is usually depicted as a deviant behavior, but it would appear to be a norm. Also, its core purpose would be the progression from newcomer to a group member. A lack of structure or meaning could lead to its misuse and facilitate outrageous events. In higher education, hazing seems to be used as a tool to integrate freshmen in their new institutional world. Scandals including violence, sexual and alcohol abuse could be a symptom of something deeper from hazing's environment.

Developing corporate image in higher education sector: a case study of University of East Anglia Norwich, United Kingdom’ [de] Muhammad Amjad, Muhammad Moazam Fraz [recensão crítica]

Recensão crítica do livro "AMJAD, Muhammad; FRAZ, Muhammad Moazam - Developing corporate image in higher education sector: a case study of University of East Anglia Norwich, United Kingdom. Lisboa: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2012”.

OPTIMAX 2014 - Radiation dose and image quality optimisation in medical imaging

Medical imaging is a powerful diagnostic tool. Consequently, the number of medical images taken has increased vastly over the past few decades. The most common medical imaging techniques use X-radiation as the primary investigative tool. The main limitation of using X-radiation is associated with the risk of developing cancers. Alongside this, technology has advanced and more centres now use CT scanners; these can incur significant radiation burdens compared with traditional X-ray imaging systems. The net effect is that the population radiation burden is rising steadily. Risk arising from X-radiation for diagnostic medical purposes needs minimising and one way to achieve this is through reducing radiation dose whilst optimising image quality. All ages are affected by risk from X-radiation however the increasing population age highlights the elderly as a new group that may require consideration. Of greatest concern are paediatric patients: firstly they are more sensitive to radiation; secondly their younger age means that the potential detriment to this group is greater. Containment of radiation exposure falls to a number of professionals within medical fields, from those who request imaging to those who produce the image. These staff are supported in their radiation protection role by engineers, physicists and technicians. It is important to realise that radiation protection is currently a major European focus of interest and minimum competence levels in radiation protection for radiographers have been defined through the integrated activities of the EU consortium called MEDRAPET. The outcomes of this project have been used by the European Federation of Radiographer Societies to describe the European Qualifications Framework levels for radiographers in radiation protection. Though variations exist between European countries radiographers and nuclear medicine technologists are normally the professional groups who are responsible for exposing screening populations and patients to X-radiation. As part of their training they learn fundamental principles of radiation protection and theoretical and practical approaches to dose minimisation. However dose minimisation is complex – it is not simply about reducing X-radiation without taking into account major contextual factors. These factors relate to the real world of clinical imaging and include the need to measure clinical image quality and lesion visibility when applying X-radiation dose reduction strategies. This requires the use of validated psychological and physics techniques to measure clinical image quality and lesion perceptibility.

Formative assessment and motivation in higher education: a successful approach in mechanical engineer thermodynamics

Between 2000/01 and 2006/07, the approval rate of a Thermodynamics course in a Mechanical Engineer graduation was 25%. However, a careful analysis of the results showed that 41% of the students chosen not to attend or dropped out, missing the final examination. Thus, a continuous assessment methodology was developed, whose purpose was to reduce drop out, motivating students to attend this course, believing that what was observed was due, not to the incapacity to pass, but to the anticipation of the inevitability of failure by the students. If, on one hand, motivation is defined as a broad construct pertaining to the conditions and processes that account for the arousal, direction, magnitude, and maintenance of effort, on the other hand, assessment is one of the most powerful tools to change the will that students have to learn, motivating them to learn in a quicker and permanent way. Some of the practices that were implemented, included: promoting learning goal orientation rather than performance goal orientation; cultivating intrinsic interest in the subject and put less emphasis on grades but make grading criteria explicit; emphasizing teaching approaches that encourage collaboration among students and cater for a range of teaching styles; explaining the reasons for, and the implications of, tests; providing feedback to students about their performance in a form that is non-egoinvolving and non-judgemental and helping students to interpret it; broadening the range of information used in assessing the attainment of individual students. The continuous assessment methodology developed was applied in 2007/08 and 2008/09, having found an increase in the approval from 25% to 55% (30%), accompanied by a decrease of the drop out from 41% to 23,5% (17,5%). Flunking with a numerical grade lowered from 34,4% to 22,0% (12,4%). The perception by the students of the continuous assessment relevance was evaluated with a questionnaire. 70% of the students that failed the course respond that, nevertheless, didn’t repent having done the continuous assessment.

Learning management systems in higher education

The use of Laptops and the Internet has produced the technological conditions for instructors and students can take advantage from the diversity of online information, communication, collaboration and sharing with others. The integration of Internet services in the teaching practices can be responsible for thematic, social and digital improvement for the agents involved. There are many benefits when we use a Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle, to support the lectures in higher education. We also will consider its implications for student support and online interaction, leading educational agents to a collaborating of different learning environments, where they can combine face-to-face instruction with computer-mediated instruction, blended-learning, and increases the possibilities for better quality and quantity of human communication in a learning background. In general components of learning management systems contain synchronous and asynchronous communication tools, management features, and assessment utilities. These assessment utilities allow lecturers to systematize basic assessment tasks. Assessments can be straightaway delivered to the student, and upon conclusion, immediately returned with grades and detailed feedback. Therefore learning management systems can also be used for assessment purposes in Higher Education.

The potential benefits of using videos in higher education

The developments of digital technology have opened new outlooks for online education which offer students the flexibility to learn at any time and any place. With all this instructional changes instructors, in all levels of the educational chain have been compelled to adapt quickly to this reality. They have a wide diversity of tools available to grab student’s attention and motivate them to embrace the knowledge in their own learning process. One of these resources is the use of videos. Through them lecturers can deliver complex information and contents to students and, if used creatively, videos can become a powerful technological tool in education. In this article we will explore some of the potential benefits and challenges associated with the use of videos in the teaching and learning process at higher education levels. We will also discuss some thoughts and examples for the use of teaching materials to enhance student’s learning and try to change ideas about the potentialities and future of video’s annotation new software resources, as incoming open tools for group work involvement.