The Comtesse de Genlis’ <Emphasis Type="Italic">Théâtre à l’usage des jeunes personnes</Emphasis> (1779–1780): Educating for Order and Prejudice in Pre-revolutionary France

This essay explores the educational contribution of the Comtesse de Genlis’ Théâtre à l'usage des jeunes personnes [Theatre of Education] (1792/1779–1780), a four-volume collection of closet drama, in light of the social, political and cultural shifts occurring in France in the period prior to the French Revolution. In particular, in two plays from Theatre of Education, La Marchande de Modes [The Milliner] and Le Libraire [The Bookseller], Genlis depicts the bourgeoisie’s proper behaviour toward the aristocracy and its natural place in the world. Thus both plays exemplify the educational and the political role of Genlis, who attempts to tame the bourgeoisie through the twofold argument of proper education and effective parenthood, so as to keep alive the social order of the ancien régime.     

Using online tools in participatory research with adolescents to promote civic engagement and environmental mobilization: the WaterCircle (WC) project

Abstract

The WaterCircle (WC) project was implemented in a school, with young adolescents, to address environmental problems. Framed in a participatory research (PR) approach, this school-and-community based intervention includes the use of online tools through which environmental problems in the community are discussed within and by a group of students. Using a quasi-experimental design, with intervention and control groups, the present study involved 361 young adolescents, in grades 7 to 9, from a public school in the northern region of Portugal. Mixed methods were used for data collection and analysis, namely based on questionnaires administered in the pre- and post-test moments, as well as on students’ discourses produced in the classroom during planned activities. Statistically significant changes on self-efficacy were found for the experimental group, suggesting that the intervention program has the potential to raise young people’s empowerment regarding environmental issues. The WC program seems to foster students’ awareness of the socio-political dimensions of environmental problems, since they were able to identify different actors in the community who should be involved in the proposed solutions. Longer-term intervention is required to foster the impact of the PR on the students’ experience.     

Preventing and reducing school violence: development of a Student and Family Office—a pilot study

This study introduces a pilot project—the creation of a Student and Family Office to reduce school violence—and suggests the benefits of the combined use of different strategies to decrease peer aggression and victimisation. The programme was implemented over a two-and-a-half-year period and included 132 Portuguese adolescents attending the third cycle of basic education. A considerable number of problematic situations, previously reported by students, changed after SFO intervention.. The results suggest that the local (universal and multimodal) intervention programme contributed to a decrease in harassment, coercion and aggressiveness, victimisation and reactive overt aggression rates, and also promoted the social and personal skills essential for successful interpersonal dynamics and peer conflict interventions. The implications for practice are discussed.     

Developing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Online Technical Communication Programs: Emerging Frameworks at University of Texas at El Paso

ABSTRACT

This article addresses emerging calls for online education and cross-cultural technical communication training, specifically by outlining and reporting on the development and sustainability of two online programs: the graduate online technical and professional writing certificate and the emerging undergraduate bilingual professional writing certificate at the University of Texas at El Paso. Data presented suggest cultural and linguistic diversity should be embedded and streamlined across all aspects of online technical communication programs.     

Performance indicators for research and cultural creation activities in polytechnic higher education institutions: a consensus building approach

Tertiary Education and Management - This article presents a set of performance indicators based on the Portuguese case for managing the performance of research and cultural creation activities and...     

Supporting Blended-Learning: tool requirements and solutions with OWLish

Currently, most of the educational approaches applied to higher education combine face-to-face (F2F) and computer-mediated instruction in a Blended-Learning (B-Learning) approach. One of the main challenges of these approaches is fully integrating the traditional brick-and-mortar classes with online learning environments in an efficient and flexible way. In this paper, we present a set of requirements to be met by a computer system in order to adequately support both students and teachers in a B-Learning context. Then, it defines a suitable conceptual architecture to meet the requirements, and the multi-agent implementation of the architecture. Next, it presents the evaluation of the functionality implemented. Finally some conclusions are drawn.     

The Effectiveness of Concept Maps in Teaching Physics Concepts Applied to Engineering Education: Experimental Comparison of the Amount of Learning Achieved With and Without Concept Maps

A study was conducted to quantify the effectiveness of concept maps in learning physics in engineering degrees. The following research question was posed: What was the difference in learning results from the use of concept maps to study a particular topic in an engineering course? The study design was quasi-experimental and used a post-test as a measuring instrument. The sample included 114 university students from the School of Industrial Engineering who were divided into two equivalent homogeneous groups of 57 students each. The amount of learning attained by the students in each group was compared, with the independent variable being the teaching method; the experimental group (E.G.) used concept maps, while the control group (C.G.) did not. We performed a crossover study with the two groups of students, with one group acting as the E.G. for the topic of optical fibers and as the C.G. for the topic of the fundamental particles of matter and vice versa for the other group. For each of the two topics studied, the evaluation instrument was a test of 100 dichotomous items. The resulting data were subjected to a comparative statistical analysis, which revealed a significant difference in the amount of learning attained by the E.G. students as compared with the C.G. students. The results allow us to state that for the use of concept maps, the average increment in the E.G. students’ learning was greater than 19 percentage points.     

The Internet Serving Personal Communication

Abstract

This article is the text of the presentation made by Isabel Correia from the Macau Territorial Commission for the Commemoration of the Portugese Discoveries based in Macau. It describes the programme developed by the Commission for schools in Macau and Portugal working together via the Internet on projects seeking to put them in touch with each other and to learn about each other's country.     

Gathering the views of children and young people to inform practice in a psychological service

This paper describes the process employed by a psychological service to gather the views of children and young people using guided discussion groups and questionnaires. Pupils in the guided discussion groups were asked to identify issues that affect them and how adults could help. This information was analysed using thematic analysis. Seven themes were identified as issues: managing feelings; friendships; behaviour; specific difficulties that can affect learning; not being accepted; bullying; and ‘other important issues’, including bereavement and family difficulties. In relation to each of these themed issues, several sub‐themes regarding how adults could help were collated. Questionnaire data was analysed using inferential statistics. The questionnaire rated the importance of help from adults in the areas of learning, friendships and feelings. Results suggested that these were equally important to primary‐aged pupils. Findings were used to contribute to the development plan and shape future practice.