Mobilization of hemopoietic stem cells with high-dose methotrexate plus granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: High-dose therapy with autologous stem cell support after standard dose induction is a promising approach for therapy of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). High-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) is a standard drug for induction of PCNSL; however, data about the capacity of HD-MTX plus granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to mobilize hemopoietic progenitors are lacking. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This investigation describes the data from stem cell mobilization and apheresis procedures after one or two cycles of HD-MTX for induction of PCNSL within the East German Study Group for Haematology and Oncology 053 trial. Eligible patients proceeded to high-dose busulfan/thiotepa after induction therapy and mobilization. RESULTS: Data were available from nine patients with a median age of 58 years. The maximal CD34+ cell count per microL of blood after the first course of HD-MTX was 13.89 (median). Determination was repeated in six patients after the second course with a significantly higher median CD34+ cell count of 33.69 per microL. Five patients required two apheresis procedures and in four patients a single procedure was sufficient. The total yield of CD34+ cells per kg of body weight harvested by one or two leukapheresis procedures was 6.60 x 10(6) (median; range, 2.68 x 10(6)-15.80 x 10(6)). The yield of CD34+ cells exceeded the commonly accepted lower threshold of 3 x 10(6) cells per kg of body weight in eight of nine cases. Even in the ninth, hemopoietic recovery after stem cell reinfusion was rapid and safe. CONCLUSION: HD-MTX plus G-CSF is a powerful combination for stem cell mobilization in patients with PCNSL and permits safe conduction of time-condensed and dose-intense protocols with high-dose therapy followed by stem cell reinfusion after HD-MTX induction.

Tool-supported invariant-based programming

The development of correct programs is a core problem in computer science. Although formal verification methods for establishing correctness with mathematical rigor are available, programmers often find these difficult to put into practice. One hurdle is deriving the loop invariants and proving that the code maintains them. So called correct-by-construction methods aim to alleviate this issue by integrating verification into the programming workflow. Invariant-based programming is a practical correct-by-construction method in which the programmer first establishes the invariant structure, and then incrementally extends the program in steps of adding code and proving after each addition that the code is consistent with the invariants. In this way, the program is kept internally consistent throughout its development, and the construction of the correctness arguments (proofs) becomes an integral part of the programming workflow. A characteristic of the approach is that programs are described as invariant diagrams, a graphical notation similar to the state charts familiar to programmers. Invariant-based programming is a new method that has not been evaluated in large scale studies yet. The most important prerequisite for feasibility on a larger scale is a high degree of automation. The goal of the Socos project has been to build tools to assist the construction and verification of programs using the method. This thesis describes the implementation and evaluation of a prototype tool in the context of the Socos project. The tool supports the drawing of the diagrams, automatic derivation and discharging of verification conditions, and interactive proofs. It is used to develop programs that are correct by construction. The tool consists of a diagrammatic environment connected to a verification condition generator and an existing state-of-the-art theorem prover. Its core is a semantics for translating diagrams into verification conditions, which are sent to the underlying theorem prover. We describe a concrete method for 1) deriving sufficient conditions for total correctness of an invariant diagram; 2) sending the conditions to the theorem prover for simplification; and 3) reporting the results of the simplification to the programmer in a way that is consistent with the invariantbased programming workflow and that allows errors in the program specification to be efficiently detected. The tool uses an efficient automatic proof strategy to prove as many conditions as possible automatically and lets the remaining conditions be proved interactively. The tool is based on the verification system PVS and i uses the SMT (Satisfiability Modulo Theories) solver Yices as a catch-all decision procedure. Conditions that were not discharged automatically may be proved interactively using the PVS proof assistant. The programming workflow is very similar to the process by which a mathematical theory is developed inside a computer supported theorem prover environment such as PVS. The programmer reduces a large verification problem with the aid of the tool into a set of smaller problems (lemmas), and he can substantially improve the degree of proof automation by developing specialized background theories and proof strategies to support the specification and verification of a specific class of programs. We demonstrate this workflow by describing in detail the construction of a verified sorting algorithm. Tool-supported verification often has little to no presence in computer science (CS) curricula. Furthermore, program verification is frequently introduced as an advanced and purely theoretical topic that is not connected to the workflow taught in the early and practically oriented programming courses. Our hypothesis is that verification could be introduced early in the CS education, and that verification tools could be used in the classroom to support the teaching of formal methods. A prototype of Socos has been used in a course at Åbo Akademi University targeted at first and second year undergraduate students. We evaluate the use of Socos in the course as part of a case study carried out in 2007.

Nurses’ Acceptance of an Internet-Based Support System in The Care of Adolescents with Depression

The overall goal of the study was to describe nurses’ acceptance of an Internet-based support system in the care of adolescents with depression. The data were collected in four phases during the period 2006 – 2010 from nurses working in adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics and from professionals working with adolescents in basic public services. In the first phase, the nurses’ anticipated perceptions of the usefulness of the Internet-based support system before its implementation was explored. In the second phase, the nurses’ perceived ease of computer and Internet use and attitudes toward it were explored. In the third phase, the features of the support system and its implementation process were described. In the fourth phase, the nurses’ experiences of behavioural intention and actual system use of the Internet-based support were described in psychiatric out-patient care after one year use. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to structure the various research phases. Several benefits were identified from the nurses’ perspective in using the Internet-based support system in the care of adolescents with depression. The nurses’ technology skills were good and their attitudes towards computer use were positive. The support system was developed in various phases to meet the adolescents’ needs. Before the implementation of the information technology (IT)-based support system, it is important to pay attention to the nurses’ IT-training, technology support, resources, and safety as well as ethical issues related to the support system. After one year of using the system, the nurses perceived the Internet-based support system to be useful in the care of adolescents with depression. The adolescents’ independent work with the support system at home and the program’s systematic character were experienced as conducive from the point of view of the treatment. However, the Internet-based support system was integrated only partly into the nurseadolescent interaction even though the nurses’ perceptions of it were positive. The use of the IT-based system as part of the adolescents’ depression care was seen positively and its benefits were recognized. This serves as a good basis for future IT-based techniques. Successful implementations of IT-based support systems need a systematic implementation plan and commitment from the part of the organization and its managers. Supporting and evaluating the implementation of an IT-based system should pay attention to changing the nurses’ work styles. Health care organizations should be offered more flexible opportunities to utilize IT-based systems in direct patient care in the future.

Using Effective Teaching Strategies and Personality Type to Enhance the Mathematics Classroom: A Handbook for Intermediate Math Teachers

This project addressed the need for more insightful, current, and applicable resources for intermediate math teachers in Canadian classrooms. A need for a handbook in this division seemed warranted by a lack of government resource support. Throughout an extensive review of the literature, themes and topics for the handbook emerged. The handbook was designed to not only provide educators with examples of effective teaching strategies within the mathematics classroom but to also inform them about the ways in which their personal characteristics and personality type could affect their students and their own pedagogical practices. Three teaching professionals who had each taught in an intermediate math class within the past year evaluated the handbook. The feedback received from these educators was directly applied to the first draft of the handbook in order to make it more accessible and applicable to other math teachers. Although the handbook was written with teachers in mind, the language and format used throughout the manual also make it accessible to parents, tutors, preservice education students, and educational administrators. Essentially, any individual who is hoping to inspire and educate intermediate math students could make use of the content within the handbook.

A Study of a Comprehensive Career Services System in Chinese Universities

Since 1999, with the adoption of expansion policy in higher education by the Chinese government, enrollment and graduate numbers have been increasing at an unprecedented speed. Accustomed to a system in which university graduates were placed, many students are not trained in “selling themselves”, which exacerbates the situation leading to a skyrocketing unemployment rate among new graduates. The idea of emphasizing career services comes with increasing employment pressure among university graduates in recent years. The 1998 “Higher Education Act” made it a legislative requirement. Thereafter, the Ministry of Education issued a series of documents in order to promote the development of career services. All higher education institutions are required to set up special career service centers and to set a ratio of 1:500 between career staff and the total number of students. Related career management courses, especially career planning classes, are required to be clearly included as specific modules into the teaching plan with a requirement of no less than 38 sessions in one semester at all universities. Developing career services in higher education has thus become a hot issue. One of the more notable trends in higher education in recent years has been the transformation of university career service centers from merely being the coordinators of on-campus placement into full service centers for international career development. The traditional core of career services in higher education had been built around guidance, information and placements (Watts, 1997). This core was still in place, but the role of higher education career services has changed considerably in recent years and the nature of each part is being transformed (Watts, 1997). Most services are undertaking a range of additional activities, and the career guidance issue is emphasized much more than before. Career management courses, especially career planning classes, are given special focus in developing career services in the Chinese case. This links career services clearly and directly with the course provision function. In China, most career service centers are engaging in the transformation period from a “management-oriented” organization to a “service-oriented” organization. Besides guidance services, information services and placement activities, there is a need to blend them together with the new additional teaching function, which follows the general trend as regulated by the government. The role of career services has been expanding and this has brought more challenges to its development in Chinese higher education. Chinese universities still remain in the period of exploration and establishment in developing their own career services. In the face of the new situation, it is very important and meaningful to explore and establish a comprehensive career services system to address student needs in the universities. A key part in developing this system is the introduction of career courses and delivering related career management skills to the students. So there is the need to restructure the career service sectors within the Chinese universities in general. The career service centers will operate as a hub and function as a spoke in the wheel of this model system, providing support and information to staff located in individual teaching departments who are responsible for the delivery of career education, information, advice and guidance. The career service centers will also provide training and career planning classes. The purpose of establishing a comprehensive career services system is to provide a strong base for student career development. The students can prepare themselves well in psychology, ideology and ability before employment with the assistance of effective career services. To conclude, according to the different characteristics and needs of students, there will be appropriate services and guidance in different stages and different ways. In other words, related career services and career guidance activities would be started for newly enrolled freshmen and continue throughout their whole university process. For the operation of a comprehensive services system, there is a need for strong support by the government in the form of macro-control and policy guarantee, but support by the government in the form of macro-control and policy guarantee, but also a need for close cooperation with the academic administration and faculties to be actively involved in career planning and employment programs. As an integral function within the universities, career services must develop and maintain productive relationships with relevant campus offices and key stakeholders both within the universities and externally.

A especificidade da escolha da profissão de professor de educação física nos estudantes da Faculdade de Educação Física e Desporto da Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias

RESUMO: O presente estudo pretende distinguir a especificidade das referências dos estudantes dos três ramos da licenciatura de Educação Física da Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT), para a escolha do curso e da profissão de professor de educação física, bem como comparar a especificidade das referências dos estudantes dentro dos cinco anos constituintes da formação inicial. Pretende-se ainda caracterizar as representações dos estudantes de Educação Física e Desporto Escolar (EFDE), a frequentar o 3º ano da Licenciatura e o 1º e 2º ano do Mestrado, sobre as orientações da formação recebida. Juntos dos estudantes do 5º ano, pretende-se caracterizar as representações que estes tiveram sobre o apoio e supervisão dos Orientadores de Estágio, bem como caracterizar a auto-avaliação que realizam sobre os seus resultados profissionais no relacionamento com os alunos, durante o ano de estágio pedagógico. Participaram neste estudo 450 estudantes da Faculdade de Educação Física e Desporto, da Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias. Tendo por base o estudo “Motivação para a Profissão Docente”, de 1996, do Professor Doutor Saul Neves de Jesus e a metodologia por ele realizada, foi aplicado o mesmo tipo de estudo a outra amostra tentando perceber de que forma é que esta se manifestava, tendo em conta os objectivos delineados. O instrumento utilizado, originalmente construído e aplicado por Jesus (1996), é um inquérito por questionário, composto por 44 itens com resposta em escala tipo likert. De forma a avaliar as problemáticas em estudo, estes itens encontravam-se divididos em quatro dimensões: motivação inicial para a profissão docente, modelo de formação educacional, apoio no estágio pedagógico e resultados profissionais obtidos no ano de estágio pedagógico. Os estudantes do ramo de EDFE mostram estar mais focados nos aspectos nucleares a ter em conta aquando da escolha da profissão de professor de educação física do que os estudantes dos ramos de Exercício e Bem-Estar (EBE) e Treino Desportivo (TD). Dos três ramos em análise, os estudantes de TD são os que mais vincadamente marcam a posição de não quererem ser professores de educação física. Os estudantes de EFDE, a frequentar o 3º e último ano da Licenciatura e o 1º e 2º ano da Mestrado (descritos como 4º e 5º ano), avaliam positivamente o modelo de formação educacional recebido. Dos três anos em análise, são os alunos do 3º ano que obtiveram a média mais alta na pontuação de sete dos onze itens que compunham esta dimensão. Os estudantes do 5º ano têm uma representação bastante positiva acerca do apoio prestado pelos seus orientadores de estágio, bem como realizam uma auto-avaliação bastante positiva no que diz respeito ao relacionamento com os seus alunos e aos objectivos profissionais daí inerentes durante o ano de estágio pedagógico. ABSTRACT: The present study aims to distinguish the specificity of the references of the students in the three branches, of the Physical Education degree on Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT), for choosing the course and the profession of physical education teacher, and to compare the specificity of the references of students within five years of initial constituents. Another objective is to characterize the representations of the students of Physical Education and School Sport (EFDE), to attend the 3rd year of Bachelor and 1st and 2nd year of the Masters on the guidelines of the education received. Have participated in this study 450 students from the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, of Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias. Based on the study "Motivation for the Teaching Profession", 1996, by Professor Saul Neves de Jesus and the methodology he performs, we applied the same type of study to another sample trying to understand how this is manifested, taking into account the objectives outlined. The instrument used, originally built and used by Jesus (1996), is a questionnaire composed of 44 items with Likert scale response. In order to assess the problem under study, these items were divided into four dimensions: initial motivation for the teaching profession, type of educational background, support in teaching practice and professional results obtained in the year of teaching practice. Students of the branch EDFE shown to be more focused on core aspects to consider when choosing the profession of physical education teacher compared to students from branches of Exercise and Wellness (SBS) and Sports Training (DT). Of the three branches in analysis, students of TD are the most that distinctly mark the position of not wanting to be physical education teachers. EFDE students, to attend the 3rd and final year of the Bachelor and the 1st and 2nd year of Master (described as 4th and 5th year), positively evaluate the educational model received. Of the three years under review the third grade students are the ones who achieved the highest average score in seven of the eleven items that made up this dimension. Students in fifth grade have a very positive representation about the support provided by their advisors stage and perform a self-assessment very positive with regard to the relationship with their students and professional goals there inherent during stage pedagogical.

Teaching English as an additional language: a MESHGuide

This guide has been co-authored by Naomi Flynn, an Associate Professor at The University of Reading, working with Chris Pim and Sarah Coles who are specialist advisory teachers with Hampshire’s Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS). It was constructed with the support of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Hampshire, selected for their existing expertise in teaching EAL learners, who used the guidance for action research during the spring and summer of 2015. The guide is written principally to support teachers and learning support assistants working with EAL learners in any educational setting and who are at any stage of fluency in the learning of English. It will also support senior leaders in their strategic response to the EAL learners in their schools. As with all MESH guides it seeks to share knowledge with professionals in order to support the growth of evidence informed practice that works in promoting the best in pupil outcomes

Innovation and change in English teaching in the western provinces of China: the impact of overseas training

In this article we explore issues around the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) for secondary teachers of English offered by an overseas provider through the lens of participants from the Western provinces of China who completed courses at a UK university between 2003 and 2012. We start by offering an overview of English teaching in China. We then report two complementary studies of the same programme. The first aimed for breadth of understanding and involved the collection and analysis of interviews and focus groups discussions with former participants, their teaching colleagues and senior management, as well as classroom observation. The second aimed for depth and drew on data collected from a cohort of 38 teachers on one of the courses, using pre- and post-course surveys; focus group discussions at the end of the course with the whole cohort; and interviews with five of the participants both before they left the UK and again six months later. Evidence is presented for changes in teachers’ philosophies of education directly attributable to participation in the courses; for improved teacher competencies (linguistic, cultural and pedagogical) in the classroom; and for the ways in which returnees are undertaking new roles and responsibilities that exploit their new understandings. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for both providers and sponsors of CPD for English language teachers.

Methane conversion reactions on Ni catalysts promoted with Rh: Influence of support

Ni catalysts supported on gamma-Al(2)O(3) and Mg(Al)O were prepared with and without Rh as a promoter and tested in the reforming of methane in the presence of excess methane, simulating a model biogas. The effects of adding synthetic air on the methane conversion and the formation of carbon were assessed. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), surface area (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and XPD. The results showed that in catalysts without Rh, the Ni interacts strongly with the supports, showing high reduction temperatures in TPR tests. The addition of Rh increased the amount of reducible Ni and facilitated the reduction of the species interacting strongly with the support. In the catalytic tests, the samples promoted with Rh suffered higher carbon deposition. The in situ XPD suggested that on the support gamma-Al(2)O(3), the presence of Rh probably led to a segregation of Ni species with time on stream, leading to carbon deposition. On the support MgAlO, the presence of Rh improved the dispersion of Ni, by reducing the Ni(0) crystallite size, suggesting that in this case the carbon deposition was due to a favoring of CH(4) decomposition by Rh. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A avaliação institucional docente e seus resultados como fonte de informações à gestão do ensino superior: um estudo de caso no curso de administração da Faculdade do Pará.

Esta dissertação foi desenvolvida no curso de Administração de instituição de ensino superior, na cidade de Belém, com o intuito de compreender as principais variáveis que envolvem a avaliação institucional docente. Motivada principalmente pela preocupação com a qualidade do ensino atualmente ofertado em todo o país e buscando entender de que forma a avaliação institucional docente pode servir como fonte de informações para a tomada de decisão por parte da gestão dos cursos. Para tanto, foi feita uma pesquisa descritiva do tipo estudo de caso com abordagem quantitativa, por meio de entrevistas estruturadas, aplicadas aos alunos e a seus respectivos professores Administradores, com a utilização do método estatístico multivariado Análise de Correspondência para confrontação dos dados coletados. Com o suporte teórico do referencial selecionado de diversos autores, os resultados possibilitaram identificar, a partir do cruzamento da avaliação institucional docente realizada pelos alunos e da auto-avaliação respondida pelos professores, seis perguntas passíveis de conclusões, gerando informações importantes para a coordenação do curso em questão. Portanto, avaliar os caminhos percorridos visa uma pequena contribuição na transformação do processo de avaliação docente em processo cada vez mais respeitado e atualizado de acordo com o novo contexto e exigências organizacionais, governamentais e mercadológicas, na medida em que corresponde à importante fonte de medição e informações para tomadas de decisão por parte dos gestores universitários.

O projeto politico pedagógico de enfermagem e o sistema único de saúde: a visão de discentes

This research aims to analyze, in the view of students, the pedagogic project of undergraduate nursing course, of UFRN, and its articulation with the SUS, in an attempt to understand the issues that permeate the teaching and learning of nursing. This is a qualitative study that used the focus group technique as a tool to collect empirical data. There were three meetings, where we had the collaboration of 23 graduating students from the eighth period of the semester 2009.1. For the analysis of information, we use a theoretical framework based on curriculum guidelines and basic principles of the SUS, making the analogy of the results with the metaphor of Greek mythology, Ariadne's thread, in dialogue with authors who discuss education as a transformative practice. Thus, the texture of the yarn was built of five thematic fields: joint the pedagogic project with the SUS; the teaching/service and theory/practice relation; interdisciplinarity or transdisciplinarity; didactic/methodological and relational approaches; and co-participation of students in the pedagogic project. According to the discussions, we find many difficulties in the teaching and learning process of undergraduate nursing in UFRN to strengthen the SUS, including: dislocation of educational institutions with services, professionals, managers and community; dichotomy between theory and practice; reality of services as a learning field and working process in health; posture adopted by professionals, teachers and other subjects included in the process of health education; decontextualization and fragmentation of teaching with the practice in health and nursing; excessive use of very illustrative methodologies, but little problem-solving; difficult and precarious situation in the relations between teachers and between teachers/students, regarding the acceptance of differences; absence of participation of students in the evaluation process and conduct of the educational project in progress. In this sense, we understand the need an auto-reflexive act of teaching and conducting collective pedagogical course with a view to achieving the SUS. Thus, it is necessary to support practices motivated by the polyphonic dialogue and the exercise of symbiosis and autopoiesis of subjects/actors jointly responsible for the ongoing process of learning for life.

A formação de conceitos no ensino de graduação em enfermagem à luz da teoria da aprendizagem significativa

The Theory of Meaningful Learning (TML) described by David Paul Ausubel offers a proposal for the teaching strategies to provide a more active and effective student learning. The projection of the TML practice is demonstrated through the development of concept maps (CM) technique, created by Joseph Donald Novak, which presents as a strategy, method or schematic feature, which is an indicator to identify the cognitive organization of the knowledge acquired by students. The survey was conducted in the light of TML in relation to learning concepts involving students of undergraduate nursing in a public university in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Thus, the study aimed to compare the concept learning of students of undergraduate nursing, when subjected to different forms of education, to point approaches that promote more effective and meaningful results. It was a quasi - experimental study with a qualitative analysis, conducted with students of the Undergraduate Nursing of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), approved by the Research Ethics Committee/UFRN Certification of Presention for Ethics Appreciation (CPEA) in 11706412.3.0000.5537. The study took place at two different times and involved content on complications mediate postoperative surgical wound in the same discipline with students who attended the 5th semester of the degree course in Nursing. For the viability of data collection, in the second half of 2013, we used the technique of CM, to represent the concept of complications mediate postoperative surgical wound covered in the classroom. CM were built at a different time from that of the discipline, with the support of tutors and preceded by a brief description and explanation about the form of preparation and application. In this study were subjected, 31 students of undergraduate nursing, registered in the discipline of Integral Attention to health I. In the first stage, 18 students participated in the survey, they had the teaching intervention based on TML, and in the second stage, all students participated in the lesson provided curriculum with the responsible teacher of the subject, on the same issue occurred. At the end of each meeting, the students 11 developed concept maps with the aid of software Cmap Tools®. Data analysis happened upon the technique of content analysis, supported by a conceptual map "glass", previously developed by researchers and aid in the preparation of the categories in which the concepts found were classified. The study found that the teaching intervention based on TML with the help of CM, managed to develop in students a more expressive teaching learning process than just classroom curriculum with the traditional teaching method, and also that the association between the intervention motion teaching with the traditional method and the use of the technique of CM encourages the student the ability to articulate the various acquired knowledge as well as apply them in real situations

Ensino por investigação: contribuições de um curso de formação continuada para a prática de professores de ciências naturais e biologia

Normally initial teacher training has not been sufficient to provide all the tools for an updated and efficient teaching practice. It is presented here one of the ways of working the completion of the initial training through a course of continuing education. This course is based on inquiry teaching which is considered an important teaching strategy for science education. This kind of teaching enables improvement of students reasoning and cognitive skills, the cooperation among them, the understanding of the nature of scientific work, and the motivation to think about the relationship between science, technology, society and environment. For this dissertation a course of continuing education based on this approach was followed in order to evaluate which contributions it can bring to the teaching practice. The course was followed based on three stages: on the first there was a questionnaire and an informal interview; next it happened through participant observation with audio and visual aid; the third stage happened through semi structured interview. The collected information was analyzed based on Content Analysis. An inquiry teaching pedagogical material was produced for the course including some examples and applications of this approach. The aim of the material is that it can be a support for the teachers after de course. The results allowed seeing that the course was very useful, different from the traditional and the teachers that put the approach to use found it to be very positive. Thus it can be said that some of the teachers who participated will try again to apply it, try to contextualize more the teaching situations with the students day to day life, as well make them more active and critic. We can also gather from the study, that the inquiry teaching is a very different tool from what the teacher was taught and is accustomed to use and the theoretical comprehension, acceptance and practice change is a complicated process and demands time

Pré-fabricados lingüísticos: estrutura e funcionamento de sintagmas verbais idiomatizados - por uma abordagem cognitivo-funcional em sala de aula

This work aims at under the cognitive-functional perspective describing, inside the vast domain of the linguistic prefabs, the structure and the functioning of the Idiomatic Verb Phrases (SVIs), produced by speakers of the Portuguese from Brazil, located in Natal (RN). From the functionalist presupposition that the language is used essentially to assist to communicative demands, it is observed that its morphologic-syntactic structure is conditioned to the inherent pragmatic vicissitudes to the verbal interaction of subjects, socially heterogeneous and historically established. It is focalized, in the composition of SVIs, the relationships VT + OD (transitive verb + direct object), characterizing the syntactic-semantic nature of the verb and of the respective verbal complement. Those verb combinations + complement can be interpreted as lexical structures, reflexes of the idiomaticity inherent to conventional constructions already systematized in the users' of the language cultural repertoire. It is sought, still, to glimpse the cognitive and discursive motivations pertinent to that linguistic phenomenon. In the investigative process, are analyzed exclusive data of speech collected in Corpus Discurso & Gramática a lingua falada e escrita na cidade do Natal, organized by Furtado da Cunha (1998). The adopted methodological procedures configure as methods of empiric analysis and use of the intuition, being emphasized the qualitative approach (explanatory) of the data with quantitative support of statistical indicators. It shows, finally, a grating of didactic suggestions on SVIs, for Portuguese's classes, as subsidies to the educational practice in the Medium Teaching and in the course of Letters.

Aprendizado significativo aplicado ao ensino de algoritmos

The course of Algorithms and Programming reveals as real obstacle for many students during the computer courses. The students not familiar with new ways of thinking required by the courses as well as not having certain skills required for this, encounter difficulties that sometimes result in the repetition and dropout. Faced with this problem, that survey on the problems experienced by students was conducted as a way to understand the problem and to guide solutions in trying to solve or assuage the difficulties experienced by students. In this paper a methodology to be applied in a classroom based on the concepts of Meaningful Learning of David Ausubel was described. In addition to this theory, a tool developed at UFRN, named Takkou, was used with the intent to better motivate students in algorithms classes and to exercise logical reasoning. Finally a comparative evaluation of the suggested methodology and traditional methodology was carried out, and results were discussed