A mobile robot platform for open learning based on serious games and remote laboratories

Within the pedagogical community, Serious Games have arisen as a viable alternative to traditional course-based learning materials. Until now, they have been based strictly on software solutions. Meanwhile, research into Remote Laboratories has shown that they are a viable, low-cost solution for experimentation in an engineering context, providing uninterrupted access, low-maintenance requirements, and a heightened sense of reality when compared to simulations. This paper will propose a solution where both approaches are combined to deliver a Remote Laboratory-based Serious Game for use in engineering and school education. The platform for this system is the WebLab-Deusto Framework, already well-tested within the remote laboratory context, and based on open standards. The laboratory allows users to control a mobile robot in a labyrinth environment and take part in an interactive game where they must locate and correctly answer several questions, the subject of which can be adapted to educators' needs. It also integrates the Google Blockly graphical programming language, allowing students to learn basic programming and logic principles without needing to understand complex syntax.

A type system for access control in an object-oriented language

Trabalho apresentado no âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Informática, como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Exposure to psychosocial risk factors in the context of work: a systematic review

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the scientific literature about the effects of exposure to psychosocial risk factors in work contexts. METHODS A systematic review was performed using the terms “psychosocial factors” AND “COPSOQ” in the databases PubMed, Medline, and Scopus. The period analyzed was from January 1, 2004 to June 30, 2012. We have included articles that used the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) as a measuring instrument of the psychosocial factors and the presentation of quantitative or qualitative results. German articles, psychometric studies or studies that did not analyze individual or work factors were excluded. RESULTS We included 22 articles in the analysis. Individual factors, such as gender, age, and socioeconomic status, were analyzed along with work-related factors such as labor demands, work organization and content, social relationships and leadership, work-individual interface, workplace values, justice and respect, personality, health and well-being, and offensive behaviors. We analyzed the sample type and the applied experimental designs. Some population groups, such as young people and migrants, are more vulnerable. The deteriorated working psychosocial environment is associated with physical health indicators and weak mental health. This environment is also a risk factor for the development of moderate to severe clinical conditions, predicting absenteeism or intention of leaving the job. CONCLUSIONS The literature shows the contribution of exposure to psychosocial risk factors in work environments and their impact on mental health and well-being of workers. It allows the design of practical interventions in the work context to be based on scientific evidences. Investigations in specific populations, such as industry, and studies with more robust designs are lacking.

Competência intercultural: conteúdos culturais na aquisição da língua estrangeira e sua integração didáctica no ensino do alemão

Dissertação apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Cultura Alemã.

How human schematization and systematic errors take effect on sketch map formalizations

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies

Literacia, ensino da leitura e sucesso escolar

Nas últimas décadas, tem se observado uma crescente demanda pelo domínio da linguagem escrita em todas as áreas da vida social (Olson 2009). Essa demanda não se limita apenas ao contexto brasileiro, mas refere-se a um contexto mundial, que hoje coloca o domínio das diversas capacidades de linguagem, em especial das capacidades de leitura e escrita, como condição para acesso ao conhecimento, à participação social e o exercício efetivo da cidadania. O domínio de tais capacidades refere-se a um certo tipo ou nível de literacia que vai além da descodificação, diz respeito às diversas capacidades de leitura e escrita necessárias em diferentes práticas sociais. Partindo de uma parceria de investigação entre instituições de ensino superior em Portugal e no Brasil, temos vindo a reflectir sobre questões de currículo nos dois países.

Influence of constraining and confinement in the molecular mobility of low molecular weight materials

Dissertation presented to obtain a Ph.D. Degree in Chemical Physics

Trabalhar as ciências no pré-escolar

Relatório da Prática Profissional Supervisionada Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar

A articulação da linguagem na educação pré-escolar

Relatório da Prática Profissional Supervisionada Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar

Apropriação de conteúdos do conhecimento explícito da língua por alunos do 2.º ano do 1.º ciclo do ensino básico

Relatório de Estágio apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Ensino do 1.º e 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Da leitura à escrita: as estratégias de compreensão leitora na melhoria da escrita de textos narrativos

Relatório de Estágio apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de mestre em Ensino dos 1.º e 2.º Ciclos do Ensino Básico

Desenvolvimento da competência ortográfica no 1.º ano de escolaridade

Relatório final apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Ensino do 1.º e do 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

PExIL: Programming Exercises Interoperability Language

Several standards appeared in recent years to formalize the metadata of learning objects, but they are still insufficient to fully describe a specialized domain. In particular, the programming exercise domain requires interdependent resources (e.g. test cases, solution programs, exercise description) usually processed by different services in the programming exercise life-cycle. Moreover, the manual creation of these resources is time-consuming and error-prone leading to what is an obstacle to the fast development of programming exercises of good quality. This paper focuses on the definition of an XML dialect called PExIL (Programming Exercises Interoperability Language). The aim of PExIL is to consolidate all the data required in the programming exercise life-cycle, from when it is created to when it is graded, covering also the resolution, the evaluation and the feedback. We introduce the XML Schema used to formalize the relevant data of the programming exercise life-cycle. The validation of this approach is made through the evaluation of the usefulness and expressiveness of the PExIL definition. In the former we present the tools that consume the PExIL definition to automatically generate the specialized resources. In the latter we use the PExIL definition to capture all the constraints of a set of programming exercises stored in a learning objects repository.

Type inference for conversation types

Trabalho apresentado no âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Informática, como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática