Educated to Learn : How to enhance the education of computer science and informatics

The very nature of computer science with its constant changes forces those who wish to follow to adapt and react quickly. Large companies invest in being up to date in order to generate revenue and stay active on the market. Universities, on the other hand, need to imply same practices of staying up to date with industry needs in order to produce industry ready engineers. By interviewing former students, now engineers in the industry, and current university staff this thesis aims to learn if there is space for enhancing the education through different lecturing approaches and/or curriculum adaptation and development. In order to address these concerns a qualitative research has been conducted, focusing on data collection obtained through semi-structured live world interviews. The method used follows the seven stages of research interviewing introduced by Kvale and focuses on collecting and preparing relevant data for analysis. The collected data is transcribed, refined, and further on analyzed in the “Findings and analysis” chapter. The focus of analyzing was answering the three research questions; learning how higher education impacts a Computer Science and Informatics Engineers’ job, how to better undergo the transition from studies to working in the industry and how to develop a curriculum that helps support the previous two. Unaltered quoted extracts are presented and individually analyzed. To paint a better picture a theme-wise analysis is presented summing valuable themes that were repeated throughout the interviewing phase. The findings obtained imply that there are several factors directly influencing the quality of education. From the student side, it mostly concerns expectation and dedication involving studies, and from the university side it is commitment to the curriculum development process. Due to the time and resource limitations this research provides findings conducted on a narrowed scope, although it can serve as a great foundation for further development; possibly as a PhD research.

Family adaptation and perception of stress in parents of children with hemophilia. Possible factor influencing adherence

SIN FINANCIACIÓN

Transportation of Children in Ground Ambulances: Professionals' Knowledge and Safety Measures

Background: The transport of children in ground ambulances is a rarely studied topic worldwide. The ambulance vehicle is a unique and complex environment with particular challenges for the safe, correct and effective transportation of patients. Unlike the well developed and readily available guidelines on the safe transportation of a child in motor vehicles, there is a lack on consistent specifications for transporting children in ambulances. Nurses are called daily to transfer children to hospitals or other care centers, so safe transport practices should be a major concern. Purpose: to know which are the safety precautions and specific measures used in the transport of children in ground ambulances by nurses and firefighters and to identify what knowledge these professionals had about safe modes of children transportation in ground ambulances. Methods: In this context, an exploratory - descriptive study and quantitative analysis was conducted. A questionnaire was completed by 135 nurses and firefighters / ambulance crew based on 4 possible children transport scenarios proposed by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and covered 5 different children��s age groups (new born children, 1 to 12 months; 1 to 3 years old; 4 to 7 years old and 8 to 12 years old). Results: The main results showed a variety of safety measures used by the professionals and a significant difference between their actual mode of transportation and the mode they consider to be the ideal considering security goals. In addition, findings showed that achieved scores related to what ambulance crews do in the considered scenarios reflect mostly satisfactory levels of transportation rather than optimum levels of safety, according to NHTSA recommendations. Variables as gender, educational qualifications, occupational group and local where professionals work seem to influence the transport options. Female professionals and nurses from pediatric units appear to do a safer transportation of children in ground ambulances than other professionals. Conclusion: Several professionals refereed unawareness of the safest transportation options for children in ambulances and did not to know the existence of specific recommendations for this type of transportation. The dispersion of the results suggests the need for investment in professional training and further regulation for this type of transportation.

Transportation of Children In Ground Ambulances: Professionals' Knowledge and Safety Measures.

Summary The transport of children in ground ambulances is a rarely studied topic worldwide. The ambulance vehicle is a unique environment with particular challenges for the safe, correct and effective transportation of patients. Unlike the well developed and available guidelines on the transportation of children in motor vehicles, there is a lack on specifications for transporting children in ambulances. Nurses are called daily to transfer children to hospitals or other care centres, so safe transport practices should be a major concern. Methods An exploratory - descriptive study and quantitative analysis was conducted. The safety measures used by the professionals in the transportation of children in ambulances were analysed based on the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) recommendations. A questionnaire was applied to 135 nurses and firefighters/crew of Portuguese ambulances using 4 possible transport situations and covering 5 paediatric age groups. Results There are a variety of safety measures used by professionals and a significant difference between actual mode of transportation and the mode they consider to be the ideal. In addition, findings showed that scores related to what ambulance crews do in these scenarios reflect most satisfactory levels of transportation rather than the optimum levels, according to NHTSA recommendations. Variables as gender, educational qualifications, occupational group and local where professionals work seem to influence the transport options. Female professionals and pediatric nurses do a safer transportation of children in ambulances than other professionals. Conclusion The results suggest the need for investment in professional training and further regulation for this type of transportation.

A Pedagogical Strategy for Integrated Education of Spanish in the 4th to 6th Grades of the General Basic Education

Language teaching has become a priority in the Costa Rican educational system, considering it as a tool for communication and development of thought. Without language, there is no access to other curriculum disciplinary knowledge. A successful experience conducted some years ago, with students from 4th to 6th grade, was the basis for the design and implementation of a professional development activity addressed to promoting an integration strategy previously adjusted according to the Ministry’s requirements and the existing national regulations. This study is developed in the framework of a qualitative paradigm including research-action and systematization. A purposive sample was selected based on a suitability factor, through which individuals are informed about the strategy, and then the strategy is applied to a group of students from urban-marginal areas. The techniques used include literature review, analysis of curriculum and Ministry’s regulations, application of an in-depth interview, discussions from the course’s participant in a portfolio, and discussions from students to whom the strategy was applied. We analyzed the considerations of teachers and students, as well as the theoretical and regulatory information by triangulation. The study’s conclusion is the necessity of a communicative approach in language teaching and our recommendation is to implement the strategy developed in the Costa Rican classrooms as provided in this paper.