Towards a complex model of cooperative learning

Este artigo é uma introdução à teoria do paradigma desconstrutivo de aprendizagem cooperativa. Centenas de estudos provam com evidências o facto de que as estruturas e os processos de aprendizagem cooperativa aumentam o desempenho académico, reforçam as competências de aprendizagem ao longo da vida e desenvolvem competências sociais, pessoais de cada aluno de uma forma mais eficaz e usta, comparativamente às estruturas tradicionais de aprendizagem nas escolas. Enfrentando os desafios dos nossos sistemas educativos, seria interessante elaborar o quadro teórico do discurso da aprendizagem cooperativa, dos últimos 40 anos, a partir de um aspeto prático dentro do contexto teórico e metodológico. Nas últimas décadas, o discurso cooperativo elaborou os elementos práticos e teóricos de estruturas e processos de aprendizagem cooperativa. Gostaríamos de fazer um resumo desses elementos com o objetivo de compreender que tipo de mudanças estruturais podem fazer diferenças reais na prática de ensino e aprendizagem. Os princípios básicos de estruturas cooperativas, os papéis de cooperação e as atitudes cooperativas são os principais elementos que podemos brevemente descrever aqui, de modo a criar um quadro para a compreensão teórica e prática de como podemos sugerir os elementos de aprendizagem cooperativa na nossa prática em sala de aula. Na minha perspetiva, esta complexa teoria da aprendizagem cooperativa pode ser entendida como um paradigma desconstrutivo que fornece algumas respostas pragmáticas para as questões da nossa prática educativa quotidiana, a partir do nível da sala de aula para o nível de sistema educativo, com foco na destruição de estruturas hierárquicas e antidemocráticas de aprendizagem e, criando, ao mesmo tempo, as estruturas cooperativas.

Directions for class work in practical physiology, elementary physiology of muscle and nerve and of the vascular and nervous systems,

Mode of access: Internet.

River Restoration in Spain: Theoretical and Practical Approach in the Context of the European Water Framework Directive.

River restoration is becoming a priority in many countries because of increasing the awareness of environmental degradation. In Europe, the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) has significantly reinforced river restoration, encouraging the improvement of ecological status for water bodies. To fulfill the WFD requirements, the Spanish Ministry of the Environment developed in 2006 a National Strategy for River Restoration whose design and implementation are described in this paper. At the same time many restoration projects have been conducted, and sixty of them have been evaluated in terms of stated objectives and pressures and implemented restoration measures. Riparian vegetation enhancement, weir removal and fish passes were the most frequently implemented restoration measures, although the greatest pressures came from hydrologic alteration caused by flow regulation for irrigation purposes. Water deficits in quantity and quality associated with uncontrolled water demands seriously affect Mediterranean rivers and represent the main constraint to achieving good ecological status of Spanish rivers, most of them intensively regulated. Proper environmental allocation of in-stream flows would need deep restrictions in agricultural water use which seem to be of very difficult social acceptance. This situation highlights the need to integrate land-use and rural development policies with water resources and river management, and identifies additional difficulties in achieving the WFD objectives and good ecological status of rivers in Mediterranean countries.

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.

Pedagogical work and the 'cult of the body': Considering the role of HPE in the context of the 'new public health'

Physical education, now often explicitly identified with health in contemporary school curricula, continues to be implicated in the (re)production of the 'cult of the body'. We argue that HPE is a form of health promotion that attempts to 'make' healthy citizens of young people in the context of the 'risk society'. In our view there is still work to be done in understanding how and why physical education (as HPE) continues to be implicated in the reproduction of values associated with the cult of body. We are keen to understand why HPE continues to be ineffective in helping young people gain some measure of analytic and embodied 'distance' from the problematic aspects of the cult of the body. This paper offers an analysis of this enduring issue by using some contemporary analytic discourses including 'governmentality', 'risk society' and the 'new public health'.

Work in progress: representar o «outro» segundo o pensamento antropofágico casos de estudo - Hans Staden e Les Maîtres Fous

O presente artigo analisa o filme de Luis Alberto Pereira «Hans Staden» (1999), baseado no livro de Hans Staden «Duas Viagens ao Brasil» (1557), e o documentário/filme «Les Maîtres Fous» (1955) de Jean Rouch, tendo em consideração o pensamento antropofágico. Estas obras focalizam o choque cultural entre “civilizado” e “selvagem”, entre ritual canibal e ritual antropofágico, entre o «Nós» e os «Outros», encontros que permitem uma análise mais concreta à concepção de alteridade. A representação cinematográfica permite uma aproximação ao conceito antropofágico de apropriação da cultura externa, para posteriormente a reproduzir numa interpretação segundo a concepção ocidental do que figuram os rituais em questão. O Movimento Antropófago, pelo seu carácter vanguardista, concilia a matriz fundadora brasileira e ao mesmo tempo enaltece a irreverência de análise, e neste artigo serve de fundamento teórico e prático à decomposição dos exemplos. O pensamento antropófago e a sua aplicabilidade aos exemplos seleccionados permitem também aprofundar o estudo sobre o imaginário europeu enquanto recriação de relatos datados de viajantes ou colonizadores, pois a manutenção de um acervo estereotipado historicamente serve como forma de “legitimar” concepções. As duas obras focalizam a representação indígena e africana - o “selvagem” - na construção do imaginário ocidental - “civilizado” - dicotomia que nos permite desmistificar relações interculturais.

How to identify and recruit nurses to a survey 14 and 24 years after graduation in a context of scarce data : lessons learnt from the 2012 nurses at work pilot study on nurses' career paths

Nursing workforce data are scarce in Switzerland, with no active national registry of nurses. The worldwide nursing shortage is also affecting Switzerland, so that evidence-based results of the nurses at work project on career paths and retention are needed as part of the health care system stewardship; nurses at work is a retrospective cohort study of nurses who graduated in Swiss nursing schools in the last 30 years. Results of the pilot study are presented here (process and feasibility). The objectives are (1) to determine the size and structure of the potential target population by approaching two test-cohorts of nursing graduates (1988 and 1998); (2) to test methods of identifying and reaching them 14 and 24 years after graduation; (3) to compute participation rates, and identify recruitment and participation biases.

Labor Provisions from NAFTA to CAFTA: Standards That Work, or a Work in Progress?

The emerging U.S. approach linking free trade to domestic labor protections is a practical framework on which to base substantive and procedural rights. Nevertheless, much more can be done in future agreements to improve these safeguards for workers in a way that will maximize the gains from trade and reduce the most harmful effects of development. In order to improve future agreements, the U.S. should expand access to consultations within the dispute resolution mechanism, focus complaints on core rights such as organization and bargaining, encourage the development of small independent unions in corporatist cultures, and incorporate the ILO into the dispute settlement process. Finally, the civil law systems of Central America and the Anglo-American common law system may have fundamentally different understandings of the rule of law. This difference in understanding may pose a significant disadvantage for developing or civil law systems entering treaties with the U.S., and should be better understood by both sides in order to maintain the credibility of the law and the effectiveness of the treaty.