Description de l’évolution du profil socio-cognitif et clinique d’une cohorte d’adolescents diabétiques de type 1 ayant suivi un programme d’éducation thérapeutique

Thèse réalisée en cotutelle entre Aix-Marseille Université et l'Université de Montréal

An experimental base to cognitive learning: its application in the education of young hearing-impaired children

This paper reviews a program of study for language development using a cognitive approach.

An exploration of the drivers to bio-security collective action among a sample of UK cattle and sheep farmers

At present, collective action regarding bio-security among UK cattle and sheep farmers is rare. Despite the occurrence of catastrophic livestock diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and foot and mouth disease (FMD), within recent decades, there are few national or local farmer-led animal health schemes. To explore the reasons for this apparent lack of interest, we utilised a socio-psychological approach to disaggregate the cognitive, emotive and contextual factors driving bio-security behaviour among cattle and sheep farmers in the United Kingdom (UK). In total, we interviewed 121 farmers in South-West England and Wales. The main analytical tools included a content, cluster and logistic regression analysis. The results of the content analysis illustrated apparent 'dissonance' between bio-security attitudes and behaviour.(1) Despite the heavy toll animal disease has taken on the agricultural economy, most study participants were dismissive of the many measures associated with bio-security. Justification for this lack of interest was largely framed in relation to the collective attribution or blame for the disease threats themselves. Indeed, epidemic diseases were largely related to external actors and agents. Reasons for outbreaks included inadequate border control, in tandem with ineffective policies and regulations. Conversely, endemic livestock disease was viewed as a problem for 'bad' farmers and not an issue for those individuals who managed their stock well. As such, there was little utility in forming groups to address what was largely perceived as an individual problem. Further, we found that attitudes toward bio-security did not appear to be influenced by any particular source of information per se. While strong negative attitudes were found toward specific sources of bio-security information, e.g. government leaflets, these appear to simply reflect widely held beliefs. In relation to actual bio-security behaviours, the logistic regression analysis revealed no significant difference between in-scheme and out of scheme farmers. We concluded that in order to support collective action with regard to bio-security, messages need to be reframed and delivered from a neutral source. Efforts to support group formation must also recognise and address the issues relating to perceptions of social connectedness among the communities involved. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Financial time series analysis : Chaos and neurodynamics approach

This work aims at combining the Chaos theory postulates and Artificial Neural Networks classification and predictive capability, in the field of financial time series prediction. Chaos theory, provides valuable qualitative and quantitative tools to decide on the predictability of a chaotic system. Quantitative measurements based on Chaos theory, are used, to decide a-priori whether a time series, or a portion of a time series is predictable, while Chaos theory based qualitative tools are used to provide further observations and analysis on the predictability, in cases where measurements provide negative answers. Phase space reconstruction is achieved by time delay embedding resulting in multiple embedded vectors. The cognitive approach suggested, is inspired by the capability of some chartists to predict the direction of an index by looking at the price time series. Thus, in this work, the calculation of the embedding dimension and the separation, in Takens‘ embedding theorem for phase space reconstruction, is not limited to False Nearest Neighbor, Differential Entropy or other specific method, rather, this work is interested in all embedding dimensions and separations that are regarded as different ways of looking at a time series by different chartists, based on their expectations. Prior to the prediction, the embedded vectors of the phase space are classified with Fuzzy-ART, then, for each class a back propagation Neural Network is trained to predict the last element of each vector, whereas all previous elements of a vector are used as features.

Film och mening : En receptionsstudie om spelfilm, filmpublik och existentiella frågor

In what ways and under what circumstances can a movie be a resource for individuals and their thoughts about existential matters? This central research question has been investigated using a both quantitative and qualitative approach. First, a questionnaire was distributed amongst 179 Swedish students to provide a preliminary overview of film habits. The questionnaire was also used as a tool for selecting respondents to individual interviews. Second, thirteen interviews were conducted, with viewers choosing their favourite movie of all time. In the study socio-cognitive theory and a schema-based theoretical tool is adopted to analyze how different viewers make use of movies as cultural products in an interplay between culture and cognition in three contexts; a socio-historic process, a socio-cultural interaction with the world and inner psychological processes. Summarizing the interviews some existential matters dominated. Matters of immanent orientation were in the foreground. Transcendental questions received much less attention. Summarizing the schema-based theoretical question, assessing which cognitive schema structures the narratives were processed through, the study found an emphasis on a combination of two main cognitive structures, person schema and self schema. Detailed person schematic cognitive processes about fictitious characters on the screen and their role model behaviour were combined by the respondents with dynamic cross-references to detailed self schematic introspections about their own characteristics, related to existential matters at some very specific moments in their lives. The viewers in the study seem to be inspired by movies as a mediated cultural resource, promoting the development of a personal moral framework with references to values deeply fostered by a humanistic tradition. It is argued that these findings support theories discussing individualised meaning making, developing ‘self-expression values’ and ‘altruistic individualism’ in contemporary western society.

Movies and meaning : studying audience, fiction film and existential matters

In what ways and under what circumstances can a movie be a resource for individuals and their thoughts about existential matters? This central research question has been investigated using a both quantitative and qualitative approach. First, a questionnaire was distributed amongst 179 Swedish students to provide a preliminary overview of film habits. The questionnaire was also used as a tool for selecting respondents to individual interviews. Second, focus group and individual interviews were conducted, with viewers choosing their favourite movie of all time. In the study socio-cognitive theory and a schema-based theoretical tool is adopted to analyze how different viewers make use of movies as cultural products in an interplay between culture and cognition in three contexts; a socio-historic process, a socio-cultural interaction with the world and inner psychological processes. The viewers in the study seem to be inspired by movies as a mediated cultural resource, promoting the development of a personal moral framework with references to values deeply fostered by a humanistic tradition. It is argued that these findings support theories discussing individualised meaning making, developing ‘self-expression values’ and ‘altruistic individualism’ in contemporary western society.

O conceito de nascimento na criança

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo primordial, examinar o desenvolvimento do conceito de nascimento em diferentes faixas etárias. A ideia de trabalhar sobre o tema surgiu da constatação de total carência de informação sobre o assunto não só no contexto brasileiro mas em geral, a partir de pesquisa empírica. Em termos teóricos, o problema é aqui abordado especialmente numa perspectiva psicodinâmica do desenvolvimento infantil. A tentativa de desenvolver a questão em termos cognitivos, como uma primeira aproximação, esbarrou nas contaminações culturais e socio-emocionais que o próprio tema contêm. É feito um estudo exploratório que confirma a hipótese formulada de que existe um desenvolvimento da referida noção em função da idade cronológica. Os resultados são discutidos em termos quantitativos e qualitativos, tentando-se explicar ao mesmo tempo a tomada de consciência do problema com o desenvolvimento cronológico e as distorções de que o tema se reveste em função dos aspectos emocionais envolvidos na questão proposta.

Opening ILT blackbox: Exploring recognition-based leadership perceptions with conjoint analysis

Although research on Implicit Leadership Theories (ILT) has put great effort on determining what attributes define a leader prototype, little attention has been given to understanding the relative importance of each of these attributes in the categorization process by followers. Knowing that recognition-based leadership perceptions are the result of the match between followers’ ILTs and the perceived attributes in their actual leaders, understanding how specific prototypical leader attributes impact this impression formation process is particularly relevant. In this study, we draw upon socio-cognitive theories to explore how followers cognitively process the information about a leader’s attributes. By using Conjoint Analysis (CA), a technique that allows us to measure an individual’s trade-offs when making choices about multi-attributed options, we conducted a series of 4 studies with a total of 879 participants. Our results demonstrate that attributes’ importance for individuals’ leadership perceptions formation is rather heterogeneous, and that some attributes can enhance or spoil the importance of other prototypical attributes. Finally, by manipulating the leadership domain, we show that the weighting pattern of attributes is context dependent, as suggested by the connectionist approach to leadership categorization. Our findings also demonstrate that Conjoint Analysis can be a valuable tool for ILT research.

Pedagogia etnomatemática : ações e reflexões em matemática do Ensino Fundamental com um grupo sócio cultural específico

mongst the trends in Mathematics Education, which have as their object a more significant and criticallearning, is the Ethnomathematics. This field of knowledge, still very recent amongst us, besides analyzing an externalist history of the sciences in a search for a relationship between the development of the scientific disciplines and the socio-cultural context, goes beyond this externalism, for it also approaches the intimate relationships betwe_n cognition and culture. In fact, the Ethnomathematics proposes an alternative epistemological approach associated with a wider historiography. It struggles to understand the reality and come to the pedagogical action by means of a cognitive approach with strong cultural basis. But the difficulty of inserting the Ethnomathematics into the educational context is met by resistance from some mathematics educators who seem indifferent to the influence of the culture on the understanding of the mathematics ideas. It was with such concerns in mind that I started this paper that had as object to develop a curricular reorientation pedagogical proposal in mathematics education, at the levei of the 5th grade of the Ensino Fundamental (Elementary School), built from the mathematical knowledge of a vegetable farmers community, 30 km away from the center of Natal/RN, but in accordance with the teaching dimensions of mathematics of the 1 st and 2nd cycles proposed by the Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais - PCN: Numbers and Operations, Space and Form, Units and Measures, and Information Treatment. To achieve that, I developed pedagogical activities from the mathematical concepts of the vegetable farmers of that community, explained in my dissertation research in the period 2000 through 2002. The pedagogical process was developed from August through Oecember 2007 with 24 students of the 5th Grade of the Ensino Fundamental (Elementary School) of the school of that community. The qualitative analysis of the data was conducted taking into account three categories of students: one made up of students that helped their parents in the work with vegetables. Another one by students whose parents and relatives worked with vegetables, though they did not participate directly of this working process and one third category of students that never worked with vegetables, not to mention their parents, but lived adjacent to that community. From the analyses and results of the data gathered by these three distinct categories of students, I concluded that those students that assisted their parents with the daily work with vegetables solved the problem-situations with understanding, and, sometimes, with enriching contributions to the proposed problems. The other categories of students, in spite of the various field researches to the gardens of that community, before and during the pedagogical activities, did not show the same results as those students/vegetable farmers, but showed interest and motivation in ali activities of the pedagogical process in that period

A representação social de educação tecnológica de docentes da Rede Federal de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica: CEFETs do Rio Grande do Norte

The aim of this study was to investigate the social representation of technological education teachers at the Federal Technological Education Network. The survey was conducted from 2007 to 2010, and the respondents were 275 teachers, 135 of the Federal Center for Technological Education (CEFET in portuguese) in the state of Amazonas, in Manaus unit headquarters; 140 of the CEFET in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, a unit based in Natal. We adopt the concept of technological education as the top level of professional education, that is to say, the undergraduate programs of short duration called technological courses. The Federal Technological Education Network gathers hundreds of related institutions, coordinated and supervised by the Office of Vocational and Technological Education of the Ministry of Education. Although many of these institutions offer courses in technology education, no research addressing this subject from the perspective of Social Representations Theory (SRT) was found in the literature. We seek to unravel the social representation of technological education of the teachers by adopting the procedural approach of SRT. This is a qualitative approach, focusing on significant aspects of the representative activity and the formation mechanisms of the representation. Therefore, we search the socio-genesis of the representation in the articulations between discourses, social institutions and practices. We initiated the research through applying critical reading and an analytical perspective on the historical and regulatory documents of technological education in Brazil, from the early twentieth century to the present day. We adopt the Procedure for Multiple Classifications (PMC) from the Free Words Association Technique (FWAT) to access the elements of representational content. For the analysis of the data obtained with FWAT and selection of major words / phrases pertinent to the semantic field of education technology, we used Hamlet II software. For the data analysis of PMC and Free Classification (FC) we used the SPSS ® (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 17.0 and used the method of multidimensional scaling - Multidimensional scaling - (MDS). The output from the central MDS takes the form of a set of scatterplots - "perceptual maps" - of which the points are the elements of the representational content. For the FC data analysis we used the Scalogram Multidimensional Analysis (SMA) - which makes use of the original data in its raw form and allows categorical data to be interpreted in the map as measures of (di)similarity. In order to help with the understanding of the settings of the perceptual maps of FC, we used the Content Analysis of the discourse fragments of the teachers interviewed. The results confirm our initial hypothesis regarding the presence of a single plot among the socio-cognitive study subjects, which is the basis for a social representation of technological education in line with the historic assumption of the dichotomy between mental and manual labor. In spite of the three merging representational elements of the representational content, the perceptual maps compiled from the MSA statistics corroborates the dichotomy, with the exception of the map relating to the subgroup of teachers belonging to the humanities

Macchine esperienziali: Narrativa, cognizione e atto di lettura

La mia tesi si riallaccia al dibattito teorico-letterario contemporaneo sulla possibilità di un approccio cognitivo alla narrativa e alla letteratura in particolare. Essa si propone di esplorare il rapporto tra narrazione ed esperienza, ridefinendo il concetto di “esperienzialità” della narrativa introdotto da Monika Fludernik nel suo Towards a “Natural” Narratology (1996). A differenza di Fludernik, che ha identificato l’esperienzialità con la rappresentazione dell’esperienza dei personaggi, la mia trattazione assegna un ruolo di primo piano al lettore, cercando di rispondere alla domanda: perché leggere una storia è – o si costituisce come – un’esperienza? L’intuizione dietro tutto ciò è che le teorizzazioni dell’esperienza e della coscienza nella filosofia della mente degli ultimi venti anni possano gettare luce sull’interazione tra lettori e testi narrativi. Il mio punto di riferimento principale è la scienza cognitiva “di seconda generazione”, secondo cui l’esperienza è un relazionarsi attivo e corporeo al mondo. La prima parte del mio studio è dedicata all’intreccio tra la narrativa e quello che chiamo lo “sfondo esperienziale” di ogni lettore, un repertorio di esperienze già note ai lettori attraverso ripetute interazioni con il mondo fisico e socio-culturale. Mi soffermo inoltre sul modo in cui relazionarsi a un testo narrativo può causare cambiamenti e slittamenti in questo sfondo esperienziale, incidendo sulla visione del mondo del lettore. Mi rivolgo poi al coinvolgimento corporeo del lettore, mostrando che la narrativa può attingere allo sfondo esperienziale dei suoi fruitori anche sul piano dell’esperienza di base: le simulazioni corporee della percezione contribuiscono alla nostra comprensione delle storie, incidendo sia sulla ricostruzione dello spazio dell’ambientazione sia sulla relazione intersoggettiva tra lettori e personaggi. Infine, mi occupo del rapporto tra l’esperienza della lettura e la pratica critico-letteraria dell’interpretazione, sostenendo che – lungi dal costituire due modalità opposte di fruizione dei testi – esse sono intimamente connesse.

Cognitive radio applications for enhanced spectrum efficiency

The aim of this thesis is the study of techniques for efficient management and use of the spectrum based on cognitive radio technology. The ability of cognitive radio technologies to adapt to the real-time conditions of its operating environment, offers the potential for more flexible use of the available spectrum. In this context, the international interest is particularly focused on the “white spaces” in the UHF band of digital terrestrial television. Spectrum sensing and geo-location database have been considered in order to obtain information on the electromagnetic environment. Different methodologies have been considered in order to investigate spectral resources potentially available for the white space devices in the TV band. The adopted methodologies are based on the geo-location database approach used either in autonomous operation or in combination with sensing techniques. A novel and computationally efficient methodology for the calculation of the maximum permitted white space device EIRP is then proposed. The methodology is suitable for implementation in TV white space databases. Different Italian scenarios are analyzed in order to identify both the available spectrum and the white space device emission limits. Finally two different applications of cognitive radio technology are considered. The first considered application is the emergency management. The attention is focused on the consideration of both cognitive and autonomic networking approaches when deploying an emergency management system. The cognitive technology is then considered in applications related to satellite systems. In particular a hybrid cognitive satellite-terrestrial is introduced and an analysis of coexistence between terrestrial and satellite networks by considering a cognitive approach is performed.

L’abilità di perspective taking : un training per bambini in età prescolare in differenti contesti

Elemento centrale della presente tesi dottorale è il costrutto di perspective taking, definibile come l’abilità, emergente nei bambini intorno a 4-5 anni, di assumere la prospettiva altrui secondo tre differenti dimensioni: emotiva, cognitiva e percettiva (Bonino, Lo Coco, Tani, 1998; Moll e Meltzoff, 2011). Dalla letteratura emerge come il perspective taking, in quanto abilità di comprensione sociale, rivesta un ruolo adattivo e sia fondamentale per lo sviluppo, non solo intellettivo, ma anche per la formazione di adeguate capacità relazionali e sociali (Jenkins e Astington, 2000; Weil et al., 2011). Sulla base di tali considerazioni, alcuni ricercatori si sono interrogati sulla possibilità di insegnare questa abilità, elaborando specifiche e differenti procedure di intervento finalizzate ad incrementare l’abilità di perspective taking sia in bambini a sviluppo normativo (Cigala e Mori, 2015), sia in gruppi di bambini a sviluppo atipico (Fisher e Happé, 2005; Heagle e Rehfeldt, 2006; Paynter e Peterson, 2012). A partire da una prospettiva teorica socio-costruzionista, secondo cui l’acquisizione del perspective taking si configura come un’impresa di co-costruzione continua, all’interno di interazioni quotidiane con figure significative per il bambino, si è deciso di analizzare il perspective taking non solo in relazione a variabili individuali (genere, età del bambino, regolazione emotiva, abilità sociali) ma anche e soprattutto a variabili contestuali quali le caratteristiche del contesto familiare (caratteristiche disposizionali e stili genitoriali di socializzazione emotiva, presenza di fratelli). Sono stati in particolare indagati un contesto familiare normativo ed uno caratterizzato da maltrattamento psicologico, contrassegnato dalla reiterazione di comportamenti inadeguati (critiche svalutanti, denigrazione, umiliazione, minacce verbali, indifferenza) nei confronti del minore, che convogliano sul bambino l’idea di non essere amato e di avere poco valore. Con i termini “a sviluppo tipico” si intendono i bambini per i quali non sussista una diagnosi clinica e con quelli di “famiglie normative” ci si riferisce a nuclei per i quali non ci siano state segnalazioni da parte dei Servizi Educativi e Sociali di riferimento, indipendentemente dalle caratteristiche della composizione del nucleo familiare (nucleare, estesa, multipla, ricostituita o ricomposta). Tale studio rientra in un ampio progetto di ricerca e formazione che ha coinvolto più di 250 prescolari frequentanti 8 scuole dell’infanzia e 15 comunità terapeutiche e di accoglienza mamma-bambino, situate in differenti province del Nord Italia. Il gruppo dei partecipanti alla ricerca si è composto di 256 bambini in età prescolare, compresa quindi tra 3 e 5 anni (M=54,39; DS=5,705): 128 maschi (M=54,08; DS=5,551) e 128 femmine (M=54,70; DS=5,860). In particolare, 213 bambini appartenevano a famiglie normative e 43 a nuclei familiari caratterizzati dalla presenza di maltrattamento psicologico. Oltre ai bambini, la ricerca ha previsto il coinvolgimento di 155 coppie di genitori, 43 madri ospitate in comunità, 18 insegnanti e 30 operatori. Obiettivo centrale è stato l’indagine della possibilità di poter promuovere il perspective taking in bambini di età prescolare a sviluppo tipico appartenenti a due differenti tipologie di contesto familiare (normativo e psicologicamente maltrattante), attraverso l’applicazione di uno specifico percorso di training di natura “ecologica” all’interno della scuola dell’infanzia e della comunità, assimilabile a quelli di tipo evidence based. In particolare è stata prevista una procedura quasi sperimentale di tipo pre-test, training, post-test e follow-up. Dopo una preliminare valutazione dello sviluppo del perspective taking nelle sue tre componenti, in bambini appartenenti ad entrambi i contesti, si è voluto verificare l’esistenza di eventuali relazioni tra questa abilità ed alcune capacità socio-emotive dei bambini, con particolare riferimento alla disposizione prosociale, rilevate nel contesto scolastico attraverso differenti metodologie (osservazioni dirette non partecipanti, questionari self report compilati dalle insegnanti). Inoltre, data l’importanza del contesto familiare per lo sviluppo di tale abilità, la ricerca ha avuto lo scopo di verificare l’esistenza di eventuali relazioni tra le abilità di perspective taking mostrate dai bambini e gli stili di socializzazione emotiva delle figure familiari, caratteristiche di entrambi i contesti (maltrattante e non maltrattante). È stato inoltre previsto uno studio di confronto tra i due campioni rispetto alle dimensioni indagate. I risultati ottenuti sono stati particolarmente interessanti. Innanzitutto, le esperienze di training hanno determinato, in entrambi i contesti, miglioramenti nell’abilità dei prescolari di mettersi nei panni altrui. Tale training ha inoltre dimostrato effetti positivi sulla competenza sociale dei bambini, che, a seguito del percorso, hanno manifestato un incremento dei comportamenti prosociali ed una diminuzione di quelli aggressivi. Per lo studio in contesto normativo, è stato inoltre dimostrato un mantenimento delle abilità acquisite a seguito del training attraverso un follow-up a distanza di 4 mesi dal termine dell’intervento. Il positivo esito di tale percorso sembra quindi rappresentare un’importante risorsa per i prescolari, soprattutto in caso di situazioni in cui l’abilità di perspective taking risulti deficitaria. Il confronto dei due gruppi a seguito del training ha evidenziato come non siano emerse differenze significative, rispetto al perspective taking, ad eccezione della dimensione emotiva, in cui le prestazioni dei prescolari maltrattati sono risultate inferiori, come già evidenziato prima del training. Tali risultati non giungono però inaspettati, poiché, sebbene il percorso abbia agito significativamente sull’abilità di comprensione delle emozioni altrui di questi bambini, non si configura come sufficiente a ristrutturare così profondamente le problematiche presentate. Interessanti sono stati altresì i risultati ottenuti dall’analisi degli stili di socializzazione emotiva, dei genitori (madri e padri) dei prescolari non maltrattati e delle mamme dei bambini residenti in comunità. In particolare è emerso come, stili accettanti e di tipo coaching nei confronti delle emozioni negative dei bambini, siano positivamente correlati con il perspective taking dei figli, e come all’opposto, stili rifiutanti rispetto alle espressioni emotive negative dei propri bambini, mostrino correlazioni negative con le abilità di perspective taking dei figli. Oltre ad interessi di ordine teorico e metodologico, è possibile quindi affermare come, il presente lavoro di tesi, sia stato guidato da fini applicativi, affinché la ricerca scientifica possa tradursi in pratiche educative quotidiane da applicare ai contesti di vita significativi per i bambini.

Processo de reflexão orientada na formação de professores dos anos iniciais: concepções e práticas sobre o ensino de ciências

Esta investigação, de natureza qualitativa, visou conhecer as concepções e práticas de professores dos anos iniciais sobre o ensino de ciências e promover reflexões sobre tal ensino. O trabalho teve como base o Processo de Reflexão Orientada (PRO), uma estratégia para o desenvolvimento profissional a partir do enfoque de questões da prática docente. As questões de investigação foram: Como professores dos anos iniciais concebem, refletem, planejam e realizam o ensino de Ciências? E como refletem e realizam o ensino de Ciências a partir de um Processo de Reflexão Orientado (PRO)? E, ainda, como, a partir de um Processo de Reflexão Orientado (PRO) para professores dos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental avaliam o seu próprio desenvolvimento profissional? Os dados foram obtidos a partir de questionários, entrevistas, planejamentos escritos e de vídeogravações dos encontros e de aulas ministradas. A análise dos dados foi feita a partir da análise de conteúdo. As ideias manifestadas pelas professoras sobre ensino de ciências foram classificadas dentro de uma abordagem oscilando entre cognitivista e sócio-cultural. Seus modelos didáticos revelaram ideias pouco consistentes sobre o processo de ensino e aprendizagem, com pouca coerência em relação a modelos de orientação construtivista. Cada professora propôs uma sequência de ensino visando alcançar graus mais complexos. As sequências foram discutidas, novas reflexões foram realizadas e reelaborações foram propostas. As aulas desenvolvidas evidenciaram um progresso de Lívia com relação à participação dos alunos, com a proposição de uma situação-problema, da consideração das ideias prévias dos alunos, embora apresentasse ainda dificuldade de promover uma discussão orientada, que pudesse favorecer a argumentação dos alunos e a compreensão do fenômeno. Já, nas aulas de Roberta observaram-se atividades que privilegiaram a participação dos alunos. Nas aulas das duas professoras ficaram evidentes a proposição de um problema e a sistematização do conhecimento, a partir da elaboração de sínteses orais e escritas e da apresentação para outras classes. Embora as professoras valorizassem o ensino de ciências e a participação ativa das crianças, havia dificuldades para a realização de aulas de ciências por investigação, pois não consideravam a problematização, a exploração das ideias dos alunos, a sistematização do conhecimento e as explicações científicas. O processo de reflexão orientada (PRO) mostrou ser uma estratégia importante para o desenvolvimento profissional dessas professoras, possibilitando reflexões significativas sobre a própria prática, bem como a tomada de consciência de uma nova sistematização das ações docentes, com vistas a uma atuação mais eficaz para promover o ensino de Ciências por investigação.

The application of cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance (CO-OP) with children 5-7 years with developmental coordination disorder

There has been an increase in the use of cognitive frameworks in occupational therapy with children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Investigations into the utility of one such cognitive approach, namely Cognitive Orientation to (daily) Occupational Performance (CO-OP), with children with DCD have shown the intervention to be effective with children over 7 years. However, there has been limited research into its utility with younger children. This paper presents two case studies to demonstrate the use of CO-OP with children aged 5-7 years. Two boys with DCD engaged in 10 sessions of CO-OP. These younger children were found to be able to use the global framework (Goal, Plan, Do, Check) to improve their task performance, to develop plans using domain-specific strategies and to engage in checking strategies. Issues relating to attention, motivation and goal setting are discussed in the context of the two case studies.