Planning of distance-learning projects

Author of Aspectos operativos en universidades a distancia.     

The learning of response patterns in choice situations

This study presents a theory by which to understand how pigeons learn response patterns in simple choice situations. The theory assumes that, in a choice situation, patterns of responses compete for the final common path; that the competition is governed by two variables, the overall reinforcement probability obtained by emitting the patterns,T, and the differences in reinforcement probabilities among the patterns,D; and that the ratioD/T determines the final strength of specific response patterns. To test these predictions, three experiments were run in which pigeons were more likely to receive food when they pecked the momentarily least-preferred of three response keys. On the basis of previous research, it was predicted that the birds would be indifferent among the keys (molar aspect) and would also acquire a response pattern that consisted of pecking each key once during three consecutive trials (molecular aspect). The present theory went further and predicted that the strength of that pattern would increase with the ratioD/T. In the first two experiments,D was manipulated whileT remained constant, and in the third,T was manipulated whileD remained constant. The results agreed with the theory, for the strength of the response pattern increased withD and decreased withT, whereas overall choice proportions were always close to the matching equilibrium.     

Necessary Educational Reform for the 2lst Century: The Future of Public Schools in our Democracy

We offer a theoretical and ecological argument for the preparation of citizens in U.S. public schools. This democratic education draws legitimacy from the concern of the nations founders for a populace educated to govern itself. We also emphasize the need for new democratic skills and knowledge in the face of today’s challenges, and our responsibility to prepare the young for the 21st century. A critique of the current school reform movement is provided because of its undemocratic nature. We issue a call for the transformation to democratic schools. We specifically argue that current efforts at reform are maintaining historical inequities, while also depriving those that enjoy social and economic advantages of the education needed to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. The democratic education proposed is based on three goals: citizenship preparation, inclusion, and an optimum learning environment. Seven well established principles of democracy and their relationship to schooling are presented. These include; the nature of authority, inclusiveness, equal availability of the understanding required for deliberating the most serious challenges to democracy and livability, equal access to centers of political decision-making, guaranteed inalienable rights, equality, and universal access to an optimum learning environment. We offer a fundamentally different approach to educational reform: calling for a reassessment of the role of public schools in a democracy that recognizes the importance of citizenship preparation, and a “bottom up” reform model that starts in the classroom and can be implemented by individual teachers.     

Communicating the new chemistry in 18th-century Portugal: Seabra’s Elementos de Chimica

In this paper, we analyse the aims, contents and impact of Seabra’s two-volume textbook – Elementos de Chimica (Elements of Chemistry) – published in 1788 and 1790. Seabra’s Elements of Chemistry does not conform to the characteristics usually ascribed to textbooks by traditional historiography, and in particular to textbooks published in the peripheries. Marking the arrival of the new chemistry in Portugal, in a period in which many still resisted Lavoisier’s chemistry, this textbook was a state of the art account written in Portuguese, interspersed with critical evaluations, original comments and novel contributions. Despite being the only Portuguese chemistry textbook written during this period, it had hardly any readers, even among its natural audience at the University of Coimbra.     

Polymorphic response patterns under frequency-dependent selection

In a discrete-trials procedure, a frequency-dependent schedule shaped left-right choice proportion toward various equilibrium values between 0 and 1. At issue was (1) whether pigeons match when the overall reinforcement probabilities for two responses depend inversely on their recent frequency, and (2) how pigeons meet the schedule constraint in terms of local responding. That is, do they respond quasi-randomly (Bernoulli mode), or do they learn the stable pattern of the schedule (stable-pattern mode)? Molar choice behavior always tracked the equilibrium solution of the schedule, but the molecular response patterns varied substantially. Markov chains applied to the data revealed that responding was generally intermediate between the memoryless Bernoulli mode, and the perfect memory stable-pattern mode. The polymorphism of molecular patterns, despite molar regularities in behavior, suggests that (1) in order to engender the Bernoulli or stable-pattern modes, the reinforcement rule must strongly discourage competing response patterns (e.g., perseveration), and (2) under frequency-dependent schedules, molar matching is apparently not the outcome of momentary maximizing.     

History of education in Brazil: the construction of a knowledge field

This article analyses the general characteristics of the construction of the field of history of education in Brazil. To do so, it highlights the existing historiography and aims to describe the process of institutionalisation of this knowledge field, which, in general terms, has been focused on the area of teacher training. Since the nineteenth century, however, it has also been possible to identify systematic historiographical efforts in Brazil that are not directly related to the school system, but rather to the teaching of and research into the history of education within Brazilian universities. The article addresses the organisation of the field, the ways in which it has been structured and the strategies of academic legitimisation employed to achieve this. These include the regular production of dissertations and doctoral theses, the publication of books and journals, academic events and the creation of research groups and scientific associations, through which research findings have found national and international circulation. This set of indicators creates conditions for an understanding of the expansion and reconfiguration of the field of history of education that began in the 1980s, as well as of the challenges this phenomenon presents to current historiography and teacher training in Brazil.     

PERSONNEL NEEDS IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY: A 10‐YEAR FOLLOW‐UP STUDY ON PREDICTED PERSONNEL SHORTAGES

Concerns regarding whether a sufficient supply of school psychologists exists have been evident for decades. Studies have predicted that school psychology would face a critical personnel shortage that would peak in 2010, but continue into the foreseeable future. The current study is a 10‐year follow‐up investigation based on previously published personnel shortage projections. Data derived from the National Association of School Psychologists 2009–2010 national study were used to examine current personnel shortages as well as to project the extent to which personnel shortages are likely to continue. Findings indicate that the field of school psychology continues to experience a personnel shortage that will continue through 2025. Additionally, greater rates of retirements are projected for the field for school psychologists who are males, who possess a doctoral degree, and for university faculty. Analyses based on the U.S. Census Regions indicate that notable differences are likely to occur in the match between the supply of and demand for school psychologists based on geographical location. Implications are discussed relating to the recruitment and retention of school psychologists and to the services they deliver.