Instructional practices in secondary science: How teachers achieve local and standards-based success

This article reports on analyses of the instructional practices of six middle- and high-school science teachers in the United States who participated in a research-practice partnership that aims to support reform science education goals at scale. All six teachers were well qualified, experienced, and locally successful—respected by students, parents, colleagues, and administrators—but they differed in their success in supporting students' three-dimensional learning. Our goal is to understand how the teachers' instructional practices contributed to their similarities in achieving local success and to differences in enabling students' learning, and to consider the implications of these findings for research-practice partnerships. Data sources included classroom videos supplemented by interviews with teachers and focus students and examples of student work. We also compared students' learning gains by teacher using pre–post assessments that elicited three-dimensional performances. Analyses of classroom videos showed how all six teachers achieved local success—they led effectively managed classrooms, covered the curriculum by teaching almost all unit activities, and assessed students' work in fair and efficient ways. There were important differences, however, in how teachers engaged students in science practices. Teachers in classrooms where students achieved lower learning gains followed a pattern of practice we describe as activity-based teaching, in which students completed investigations and hands-on activities with few opportunities for sensemaking discussions or three-dimensional science performances. Teachers whose students achieved higher learning gains combined the social stability characteristic of local classroom success with more demanding instructional practices associated with scientific sensemaking and cognitive apprenticeship. We conclude with a discussion of implications for research-practice partnerships, highlighting how partnerships need to support all teachers in achieving both local and standards-based success.     

Robust stabilization of nonlinear time delay systems: A complete type functionals approach

The robust stabilization of some classes of nonlinear delay systems with nominal linear delay system is addressed. The form of the controller is not an a priori proposal, but it is the result of a synthesis relying on the use of complete type Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals, leading to distributed delay linear or nonlinear robust control laws. Simulation results of the stabilization of a chemical refining process demonstrate the good performance of the proposed approaches.     

Virtual Microscopy as a Learning Tool in Brazilian Medical Education

Virtual microscopy (VM) is a widely used teaching method in Medical Education in many developed countries. In Brazil, however, this is not the case for most medical schools, considering Brazilian social inequality and uneven access to technology. Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has also challenged Universities to seek and make a transition toward more effective methods of full-time online education. Thus, the main goal of this work was to verify student's perception and academic performance, assessed upon VM implementation in a Brazilian Medical School. Ribeirao Preto Medical School students answered a 26-question survey with regards to optical microscopy (OM) and VM. Academic performance was compared between participants that were (year of 2019) or were not (year of 2015) exposed to VM. Taken the results together, subjective impressions such as handling, suitability, learning effectiveness, and pleasure using the tools, have shown a higher score for virtual microscopy (median = 29), when compared to optical microscopy (median = 24) with a P-value < 0.001 by Wilcoxon rank test, upon measurement using an ordinal scale. Regarding academic performance, no statistically significant differences were found between groups (P-value = 0.38, Cohen's d = 0.19). Therefore, VM proved to be adequate to the Brazilian medical education in light of Brazilian social contexts and Covid-19 pandemic.     

Building typologies identification to support risk mitigation at the urban scale – Case study of the old city centre of Seixal,Portugal

The old urban centres are marks of an historical and architectural heritage that should be protected and safeguarded. For such, it is fundamental to have a complete understanding of the genesis, regarding both building and the urban mesh. This fact is essential to the support of qualified, conscientious and sustainable rehabilitation interventions on the old building stock. The research carried out addresses the issue of the old urban centres from the perspective of the analysis and inventory of buildings features. The cataloguing process of the building typologies is presented in this work as a synthesis of the principal construction forms, with the old city centre of Seixal being used as a case study. The identification of building typologies has supported a seismic and fire vulnerability assessment of the old building stock. The assessment methodologies developed and used are based on the detailed survey and building inspection, therefore the building typology cataloguing is essential in the analysis at such a large scale. Then we discussed the strategy for the conservation actions incorporated in a broader risk management policy.     

The use of portfolios to foster professionalism: attributes,outcomes, and recommendations

The main objective of this research was to review the characteristics of portfolios and their outcomes for teaching professionalism to undergraduate medical students. A systematic review on the use of portfolios in teaching professionalism to medical students identified 1257 papers. Of these, 11 articles met all inclusion criteria. According to the papers, the use of portfolios for teaching professionalism shows versatility, supports learning strategies and has the potential to be used in different contexts, including for formative and summative purposes. The weaknesses were based on the artificiality of the reflections, deficient instructions, time-consuming processes and preference among students for other teaching methods. Students complained about feeling that the reflection was ‘forced’, and they tended to write based on social conventions rather than reveal their true thoughts. Reflection is a powerful component of the portfolio, but the method by which it is taught could easily ruin its potential to boost professionalism. Requiring reflection did not ensure its achievement; increased understanding by students regarding how and why they were doing it, the clarity of assessment methods and constructive feedback might strengthen the potential for success. A framework was designed to support faculty members in developing and applying portfolios with a clear and broad view of this teaching strategy.     

Great expectations: a critical perspective on Open Educational Resources in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Nearly two decades have passed since the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement was launched. Its success in Brazil can be illustrated with the establishment of a UNESCO Chair in Open Education in 2014, in one of the country’s most prestigious universities. Crucially, OER were included in the 2014–2024 National Education Plan, a key piece of national educational legislation, as a category of educational technologies framed as tools. Assuming metaphors such as this play a key role in the ways we think, speak and act, this article presents a critical perspective on OER in Brazil. Examining the implications of the main metaphors used to construe OER in local media and academic sources, the text argues that these metaphors reflect hegemonic discourses on educational technology, concealing the non-neutrality of technological artefacts, obscuring issues concerning curriculum and pedagogy, and overlooking actual local needs. The article discusses issues concerning local OER advocacy, positioned in respect to specificities of a context where education, albeit a constitutionally established right, may be poised to undergo radical changes in the near future.     

Career Dilemmas in Career Counseling Groups: Theoretical and Practical Issues

A career dilemma is a hypothetical or real situation in which a character is confronted with several career options each of which has advantages and disadvantages. The main purpose of presenting and discussing a dilemma in career counseling groups is to confront several appraisals of the situation in order to promote more complex thinking about career choices. Another important aim of this technique is to enhance interaction between group members and to analyze similar career dilemmas that the group participants have experienced in the past. The use of the discussion of career dilemmas is described, especially the role of the career counselor, and some suggestions for future research are presented.     

Peer Review in Education: Promoting Collaboration, Written Expression, Critical Thinking, and Professional Responsibility

This article discusses the application of the peer review process as a pedagogical instrument for the promotion of written expression, collaborative work, critical thinking, and professional responsibility among Informatics and Engineering majors. The approach is introduced with a motivation, followed by a discussion about common principles of current learning paradigms and the peer review process. This work is being conducted in Brazil, where we intend to promote a learning paradigm shift through the application of peer review in education. A framework for this application is outlined, together with an account of results from experiences and a discussion about the skills that this approach exercises, especially with regard to widely accepted curricula and codes of ethics and professional conduct. Further research and development efforts are conjectured.