139 research outputs found
Promuovere e valutare l’imparare a imparare a partire dalle prime età della vita. Primi esiti di una ricerca empirica sull’uso delle storie di apprendimento nei nidi d’infanzia forlivesi
No full textIl sistema di auto ed eterovalutazione della qualità del contesto educativo dei nidi d’infanzia dell’area forlivese/cesenate si è rinnovato negli ultimi anni – nell’ambito delle Linee guida della Regione Emilia-Romagna (DGR 1089/2012) – con la messa a punto dello SPRING uno Strumento per lo Sviluppo di Processi Riflessivi e Indagini valutative nei Nidi da parte dei Gruppi di lavoro educativi di tipo qualitativo/generativo elaborato a partire da un precedente strumento (SCIN) (Zanelli et al., 2004) e sottoposto a verifica empirica negli anni 2012/13 (Marcuccio, Zanelli, 2013).
Un ulteriore sviluppo dello SPRING è avvenuto negli anni successivi con l’inserimento del processo di valutazione degli apprendimenti tra i criteri di qualità. Per questo è stata adottata da alcuni nidi del comune di Forlì la pratica valutativa delle storie di apprendimento (SdA) messa a punto da Margaret Carr (Carr, 2012; Carr, Lee, 2012) e tesa a valutare, con un approccio qualitativo, la disposizione ad apprendere dei bambini (Marcuccio, 2012), una delle dimensioni fondamentali dell’imparare a imparare (Carr, Claxon, 2002), competenza “chiave” per promuovere la cittadinanza attiva in una prospettiva di apprendimento per tutto l’arco della vita (Parlamento europeo - Consiglio dell’Unione europea, 2006).
Il contributo presenta alcuni esiti della ricerca empirica realizzata per indagare la fattibilità dell’uso delle SdA in due nidi del Comune di Forlì. Nell’anno educativo 2014/15, sono state coinvolte sei educatrici e 47 bambini delle sezioni “grandi” (24-36 mesi). Dall’analisi dei dati raccolti (SdA elaborate dalle educatrici, video e audioregistrazioni degli incontri di discussione delle SdA, focus group) emerge l’impatto positivo dell’uso delle SdA per lo sviluppo professionale delle educatrici, una serie di indicazioni circa la fattibilità delle SdA e, nel contempo, l’individuazione di situazioni educative che possono favorire lo sviluppo della disposizione ad apprendere.The paper presents some of the first results of an empirical research, carried out in two nurseries
of the municipality of Forlì, on the feasibility of learning stories (LS) introduced to promote and assess learning dispositions. The data analyzed show a substantially positive impact of the use of the LS on the professional development of educators; also, differences in behaviors of educators in the two nurseries due to service culture, attitude towards innovations, expertise in the use of new technologies, availability of informatic equipment
Modello operativo per la progettazione di un dispositivo di controllo interno dei percorsi IFTS
No full textIl capitolo presenta un modello operativo per la progettazione di un dispositivo di controllo interno dei progetti formativi IFTS elaborato da chi scrive a cui era stato affidato il
rnolo di supporto metodoiogico agli operatori coinvolti all'interno del progetto IFTS Tecnico di gestione dei servizi alberghieri illustrato nelle pagine precedenti.
Si tratta dell'esito di una riflessione effettuata a partire dalle indicazioni racchiuse nei documenti ministeriali e dalle informazioni raccolte durante lo svolgimento del percorso e sostenuta da un confronta con la letteratura
relativa alle tematiche valutative.
Il lavoro, dopo un richiamo ad alcuni aspetti specifici dei percorsi IFTS ed alle loro implicazioni per le attività di controllo (par, 3.2.1), si sofferma preliminarmente
sulla definizione dei termini dei concetti utilizzati (par. 3.2.2)
per passare alla esplicitazione dei criteri generali che hanno guidato l'elaborazione del modello (par. 3.2.3) e alla descrizione delle sue caratteristiche fondamentali (par. 3.2.4). Una conclusione (par. 3.2.5) e i riferimenti bibliografici
completano l'elaborato
EXCITE - A 12U Cubesat Mission for IOD/IOV
No full textEXCITE (“EXtended Cubesat for Innovative Technology Experiments”) is a technology demonstration mission selected by ASI in 2021 in the frame of the "Future Cubesat Missions" call. Based on a custom-designed 12U CubeSat platform featuring a full-composite structure, EXCITE is aimed at in-orbit demonstration / in-orbit validation of a number of innovative small spacecraft technologies in the domains of chemical and electric onboard propulsion, thermal management of significant heat loads in limited volumes, COTS GPU computing for IoT applications, and steerable, integrated S-band antennas. In this paper we describe the EXCITE platform design, outline the mission profile and discuss the main expected technological innovations
Smaller Satellites, Larger Constellations: Trends and Design Issues for Earth Observation Systems
No full textThe importance of Earth Observation (EO) from space is felt today more than ever in many different fields of human activity. Governments, international organizations, military bodies, private industry, even individuals benefit everyday of the products of spaceborne remote sensing technology. In this paper, we present a brief overview of some of the main trends in the EO scenario, focusing on the emergence of a new paradigm for EO space systems: namely, the ongoing, disruptive shift from large satellites to constellations of small spacecraft, fueled by the recent introduction of several key technologies, such as for instance electric propulsion
Science, Technology and Systems Engineering Educational Activities with Stratospheric Balloons
No full textThe Space Systems Laboratory of the University of Pisa started in 2021 a student-oriented high altitude ballooning programme intended to provide an opportunity for hands-on experience in support of scientific and technical courses. Following a call for proposal open to all students across all study areas, three experiments were selected featuring multi-disciplinary teams. The programme provides mentoring on scientific, technical and management issues, financial support and assistance with integration and launch on a sounding balloon platform. The goal is to fly the experiments in the stratosphere, retrieve them after landing and process the results; by doing so, the students experience all phases of a scientific mission project, from conceptual design to realization, operations and post-flight analysis. This paper summarizes the features of the programme’s first edition
Endurance Test of the Micronewton FEEP Thruster
No full textThis paper presents the experimental setup of the Endurance Test of a Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) thuster presently underway at the ESTEC Electric Propulsion Laboratory. The setup includes a fully automated 3-D ion beam scanning system to assess the plume current distribution and a triple filament Langmuir probe. The test is aimed at totalling 2000 hours of operation. The criteria behind the test setup are discussed and the experimental arrangement is presented. First operational results are shown
Attitude and Orbit Control of Small Satellites and Constellations with FEEP Thrusters
No full textLow thrust electric propulsion systems find a promising application field on small-to-medium sized spacecraft, with mass ranging from a few hundred to about 1000 kg and orbital altitudes of 700 km or higher, like those envisaged for most of the proposed LEO telecommunication constellations. To evaluate the performance of FEEP for such missions, a study was carried out on a typical attitude and orbit maintenance case, using current models for perturbation torques and forces. It was assumed that three-axes attitude control and drag compensation be fully performed by means of FEEP thrusters for a mission duration of 5 years, under a maximum thrust constraint of 1 mN per thruster. A reference case (900 kg spacecraft in 800 km LEO) was analyzed in detail, and a parametric performance analysis was carried out for the spacecraft mass range 100-1000 kg and orbital altitude range 400-800 km. As a result, the use of FEEP to replace momentum and reaction wheels and cold gas or hydrazine thrusters was found to be very attractive for satellites of mass in excess of 400 kg in orbits higher than 400 km about. Outside this mass and altitude ranges, the use of FEEP may still lead to significant mass savings, but the AOCS configuration must be carefully studied on a case by case basis. For all the cases studied, the mass of a full, 16-thrusters propulsion system, including thrusters, neutralizers, propellant, and redundant electronics, is less than 45 kilograms
Prospects of Distributed Wireless Sensor Networks for Urban Environmental Monitoring
No full textTraditionally, the overlap between electronics and aerospace technology was limited to avionics, radars, satellites and telecommunications. Sensors networks are emerging as an additional area of relevant interaction. In fact, in addition to the classical paradigm in which on-board sensors improve the navigation and control of aerial vehicles (particularly in the fly-by-wire context), novel paradigms of cooperation between fixed networks of ground sensors and airborne ones are emerging today, especially for monitoring the environment.
In this paper we review current development trends and open challenges with reference to practical examples. In particular, we focus on the role of sensors miniaturization, energy harvesting, energy-aware communication architectures and data fusion. Multi-disciplinary development teams, with expertise spanning from micro-electronics and data analysis, to operation of UAV swarms are expected to be necessary to address these challenges
From the Editors of the Special Issue on Wireless Sensor Networks and Remote Sensing for Environmental Applications
No full textThe articles in this special issue focus on the use of wireless sensor networks and remote sensing for environmental applications
FEEP and MicroFEEP Development
No full textTwo interesting fields of applications are envisaged for a miniaturized, modular FEEP thruster: first, micronewton-level missions. For drag-free control and fine pointing of scientific spacecraft, a miniaturized device would offer additional, albeit limited, dry mass savings, and increased ease of distributing the thrusters over the spacecraft surface, as required. The second field is that of missions in the 1 - 10 mN thrust range, including attitude control and orbit maintenance of small to medium satellites. In this case, a modular FEEP thruster can lead to significant mass savings, due to both the reduced dry mass of the propulsion hardware and to the low propellant consumption resulting from the high specific impulse (about 8000 s). As for the associated high power-to-thrust ratio, this is becoming more and more manageable with the increased power availability of modern spacecraft buses.
In this early phase of the miniaturized FEEP development, several engineering problems have been addressed, including silicon compatibility with the propellant (cesium, indium or other liquid metals) and propellant reservoir sealing. Electrode geometry optimization has been also investigated. Prototype microslits have been manufactured with the desired geometrical parameters, and emission tests are underway. Various accelerator electrode configurations, featuring arrays of wires and perforated thin plates, have been studied
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