Revistas UNIFOR-MG
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An innovative research-focused intervention for upper secondary science students
Get PDFOut-of-school interventions are often used as a supplement to in-class learning in science. The educational effect of this type of intervention depend i.a. on how well they are linked to the science curriculum at school. The present study aimed at identifying upper secondary science students’ perceived outcomes of the out-of-school intervention ”Cell, organism and climate”, an intervention developed and implemented as an innovative model by a university and upper secondary schools. Assessment of student satisfaction and perceived outcomes were conducted using students’ responses on a survey (n=63). The survey consisted of closed rating questions, presented using descriptive statistics, and open-ended questions that were analysed using a thematic approach. Overall, the students were excited about the intervention and appreciated the authenticity of the context. Student expectations had primarily been met, the level of the academic content was perceived as appropriate and they had gained knowledge about the nature of science and career options in science. Further, students were able to link in-class theory with the practical examples from the intervention. The findings indicate that the intervention had been well integrated in the in-class curriculum and that the students’ had been well prepared for the intervention. The partnership model seemed to play an important role in relation to designing an out-of-school intervention that positively affected the students as well as their engagement and learning outcomes as the intervention was well integrated with in-class curriculum
Assessing the effectiveness of a tobacco use prevention programme based on the school curriculum
Get PDFSmoking is considered a paediatric epidemic, calling for an early preventive action through the implementation of school-based programmes. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term effectiveness of a prevention school-based programme, based on the school curriculum -Smokeout II-, in school-aged adolescents attending the 3rd cycle of basic education in schools of Braga municipality, by sex. A quasi-experimental study of the pre and post-test type with an experimental (n=159) and a control group (n=171) was held in 2014/2015. The main results showed that, from the pretest to the post-test, significant changes were observed in the control group among boys and girls: an increase in the smoking prevalence was registered among those who had never tried smoking in the pretest; among those who did not smoke or had stopped smoking in the pretest, an increase in the regular smoking was observed. A decrease between the pre and the post-test was found in the prevalence of regular smoking among boys of the experimental group, while the opposite happened in the control group, with an increase in smoking prevalence. Among girls, an increase in the regular tobacco use was observed in both groups. This smoking prevention programme has shown some effectiveness in the short-term decrease of the prevalence of students trying to smoke, both in boys and girls, and in reducing the prevalence of smoking among boys. In order to investigate if these results are kept in time, a follow-up evaluation is ongoing to assess the long-term effectiveness of the programme
Botany classes’ contextualization: A research work inside three Brazilian universities and a Portuguese one
Get PDFContextualization is the act of linking knowledge to its origin and application. The purpose of the study is to understand how botanical teachers from three public universities in the state of São Paulo and a Portuguese university will contextualize scientific knowledge. Fifteen teachers from the four universities were observed throughout a semester. To analyze the data, we used the theory of land, in which all concepts are identified by data. As a result, it has been verified that most of the faculty mention examples of the botanical subjects they teach trying to relate the content to a more concrete reality. Historical contextualization is not addressed by most teachers, and so is the correlation between botanical knowledge and other topics in biology or subjects in other fields of knowledge. The lack of context in some classes underscores the difficulty teachers have in combining scientific knowledge with other issues in everyday student life
Epistemic Artifacts for Supporting Students’ Constructing Arguments on Socio-Scientific Issues
Get PDFIn this research, I propose ‘epistemic artifacts’, a new instructional strategy for supporting students’ constructing arguments. Epistemic artifacts embody the epistemic criteria for distinguishing good arguments from poor arguments. The theoretical background of epistemic artifacts is the theory of artifacts based on socio-cultural approach. The purpose of this research is to examine the efficacy of instructional strategy using epistemic artifacts for constructing arguments on SSIs. I set up an experimental condition (with epistemic artifacts), and a control condition (without epistemic artifacts). Then, I compared the arguments on SSIs that the students constructed before and after instruction between conditions. In both conditions, the students read materials and received a lecture from the teacher on the differences between good and poor arguments. After this lecture, the students constructed arguments. Afterward, the students received feedback from the teacher on the quality of their arguments, and improved their arguments. Only in the experimental condition, the teacher provided the students with epistemic artifacts. These artifacts were provided during the teacher’s lecture and the phases of constructing and improving arguments. Looking at the pre- assessment task results, there was no significant difference in the distribution of scores in the control and experimental conditions with respect to some elements of arguments, and the scores tended to be lower among the control condition compared to the experimental one with respect to the other elements. However, for the post- assessment task, the scores for all elements except element exhibited a ceiling effect were significantly higher in the experimental condition. Based on the above findings, I concluded that an instructional strategy with epistemic artifacts is effective for improving the quality of students’ arguments on SSIs. This research contributed to the existing body of knowledge on instructional strategies for supporting students’ arguments
Health promotion and education in Portuguese schools: Links between the health and the education sectors
Get PDFThe purpose of the study is to analyse the links between the health and the education sectors in legal documents and in field practices, i.e. to compare the theory with the practice of implementing health promotion and education programmes in schools. In a first phase, a document analysis study on the organization of health services and education services regarding, respectively, the "School Health" and "Health Education" national programmes and guidelines was carried out in order to understand the contributions of both sectors to the health promotion and education in schools. A second phase will be carried out in the field by assessing the implementation processes of health promotion and education programmes in schools. The preliminary analysis of key documents showed that the partnership between Health and Education sectors exists formally since 1994, when Portugal joined the European Network of Health Promoting Schools (ENHPS). Later, in 2006, both Ministries of Health and Education signed a common protocol for the development of health promotion and education activities. The commitments assumed by both sectors aim at promoting active participation and interdisciplinary team of health and education professionals in order to build a common and structured health promotion and education programme with the contribution of different areas of knowledge (health and education). Both Ministries have developed measures and undergone structural changes that allow a deeper and more systematic cooperation between health and education sectors. Taking into account the documents produced by the Ministries of Health and Education, it can be concluded that the foundations for a successful interaction between these two sectors have been successfully set up. Future work in the field, by assessing the implementation processes of health promotion and education programmes in schools will demonstrate how the practices incorporate the theory
Teaching science in primary school through an interdisciplinary approach: a classroom case study
Get PDFThe way in which, traditionally, sciences have been taught in primary school has not allowed for the integrated use and development of the knowledge and skills acquired in the different curriculum areas. Therefore, it is necessary to promote a science teaching and learning process that encourages and enables the use of that knowledge in the context of different situations that are meaningful and relevant for children. With this goal in mind, this article seeks to illustrate, through the analysis of the process of exploration of the activity "Do snails prefer cabbage or lettuce?", which was conducted with a class of the 4th year of primary school, that research-based science activities enhance the integrated and meaningful use and development of knowledge and skills from other curricular areas, especially language and mathematics
The Platypus: an extraordinary animal for teaching
Get PDFIn this paper, we intend to understand how the Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a paradoxical animal both for an epistemologist and for a science education researcher. First, we’ll expose the historical identification process of this animal, from the beginning of the 19th Century till today. Second, we’ll analyze the content of five storybooks about the Platypus that can be presented to primary school pupils (aged 8-11). The history of the Platypus is well known but it reflects many difficulties in anatomy and classification. Today, some paradoxical characters of the Platypus are investigated from a genetic, genomic or evolutionary viewpoint. But at primary school, we wonder if the Platypus, seen as a curiosity and an exception, is a good example to show some difficulties of description and classification in biology. Content analysis of the Platypus’ storybooks focuses the different ways in which characters classify this animal and what kind of arguments they use. These fictional narratives underline the met failures when characters want to classify the Platypus: its similarities with mammals or birds constitute an obstacle to integration in a definite class
Mediação familiar: fundamentos e regulamentação pela nova Lei da Mediação
Get PDFO presente artigo faz uma breve exposição sobre a mediação que consolidou-se como uma forma alternativa de resolução de conflitos. A mediação possui natureza não-adversarial e autocompositiva, isto é, a decisão nao é imposta e sim construída através de diálogo com o auxílio de um terceiro imparcial. Visa demonstrar a importância da mediação familiar, uma de suas espécies, que é indicada em conflitos que envolvam questões de família, pois abrange os aspectos psicológicos, sociais e legais do conflito. Por fim, aborda alguns tópicos da nova Lei da Mediação, lei 13.140/15, que surge como incentivadora da prática no Brasil e dará ainda mais força ao instituto
O estudo prévio de impacto de vizinhança
Get PDFO meio ambiente artificial caracteriza-se pelo espaço construído pelo homem, podendo ser aberto ou fechado. Para proteção desse ambiente a Constituição Federal do Brasil complementada pelo Estatuto da Cidade, Lei 10.257/01, instituiu diversos instrumentos, sendo um dos mais relevantes o Estudo Prévio de Impacto da Vizinhança (EIV), como meio preventivo a danos ambientais na vizinhança, assim compreendida os residentes no local do empreendimento e seu entorno, bem como aqueles que por ali transitam. Nesse contexto, este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a importância do EIV como forma de subsidiar a atuação do Poder Público municipal na gestão da polícia de desenvolvimento urbano, com vista a garantir melhor qualidade de vida aos munícipes. Para tanto serão analisados os fundamentos legais que sustentam a exigência do EIV bem como seus requisitos e conteúdo mínimo