Phonological abilities and writing among portuguese preschool children

The objective of this study was to identify causal relationships between the development of phonological abilities and progress in writing in preschool children. The participants were 44 children, with an average age of 5 years and 6 months, and whose writing was syllabic with phonetization. The children were divided into three groups. They were subjected to a pre-test and a post-test that were intended to evaluate both their writing and their phonological skills. In between the two tests experimental group 1 underwent a writing training program designed to lead them to produce syllabic-alphabetic/alphabetic writing, while experimental group 2 was subjected to a phonological training program designed to work on phonetic units. The third group served as a control group. The number of letters known and the level of intelligence were controlled. The children in the two experimental groups achieved results that revealed a similar degree of progress (greater than the control group) in both their writing and their phonological abilities.     

Psychometric Properties of the ECERS-R Among an Epidemiological Sample of Preschools

Research Findings: The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ECERS-R) is widely used to evaluate the quality of early childhood education and its association with child development. However, the psychometric properties of the ECERS-R are not well established. Consequently, in this study we tested 3 different factor solutions of the ECERS-R using models sourced from the existing literature (featuring 1-, 2-, and 3-correlated-factor solutions) and applying confirmatory factor analysis to data from the epidemiological sample of the Embu Pre-school Mental Health Study (n = 1,292 children). Alternative measures of child education quality (such as teacher-to-child ratio) were also analyzed. The confirmatory factor analysis returned good fit indices for both the unidimensional and 3-correlated-factor solution models. Practice or Policy: This study showcases different applications of the ECERS-R, both the full and shortened versions. These findings are particularly important for improving ECERS-R guidelines for researchers, professionals, and policymakers.     

A place for arguing in engineering education: a study on students’ assessments

This paper focuses on the issue of how engineering programmes demand and/or promote argumentative reasoning, which is a subsequent aspect of curricular development. This was the main objective of the project on which this paper reports. This is to say that the focus is on assessment as a way to establish to what extent argumentative reasoning is demanded and mobilised in teaching and learning processes. This aim was achieved using a sample of assignments developed in courses in different Bologna undergraduate programmes at the Engineering School at the University of Porto, during the first semester of the academic year 2009/2010. Whereas problem solving in engineering constitutes a structural element in the curricular organisation of the engineering programmes and is strongly related to argumentative skills, it was possible to conclude that students demonstrate and explain extensively, but do not argue, possibly because their teachers do not invite them to do so in assessment situations.     

The origin of dimensional analysis

A paper by Macagno (3) in this Journal is discussed. The origin of the concept of physical dimensions is traced back to ideas previously used in analytic geometry. Descartes' use of the word “dimension” in the study of physical magnitudes is shown to have properties completely different from Fourier's dimensions, being therefore unimportant to the evolution of dimensional analysis. It is also shown that the principle of homogeneity was used in the derivation of physical equations sixty years prior to the publication of Fourier's work, and that the latter was aware of this paper, that may be considered the earliest publication on dimensional analysis.     

利用互补系统-理论模型提高水文预报能力

由于水文模型是对物理过程的简化,用以描述事物最主要的物理过程,从而数学模型受许多不确定因素的影响.因此,提出了一种耦合了人工神经网络(ANN)和新安江概念模型以提高径流预报精度的方法.该方法用最新的观测资料和新安江模型中产生的径流剩余误差/流量预报结果,其工作原理为用神经网络模型预报新安江模型误差,并作为新数据引入,使径流预报得到改进.对互补的神经网络模型而言,使用的变量要以特定格式输入以符合新安江模型的要求.结果表明,与单独用新安江模型预报相比,互补模型的洪水预报精度有明显提高.     

The issue of the arrangement of new environments for science education through collaborative actions between schools,museums and science centres in the Brazilian context of teacher training

We present, in this article, an investigation about the potential of the relationship between formal and non-formal educational environments. Therefore it is not an empirical research, but an essay on the topic. This paper demonstrates the concept that science education and science outreach can be privileged by actions that are developed by closer relations between formal and non-formal places. Currently, non-formal environments such as museums and science and technology centres are considered potential educational resources within the reach of schools. Educators from museums have conducted studies which demonstrate a predominant model of the utilization of these institutions by teachers, which consists of illustrative visits during the exhibitions, but does not feature a collaborative relationship or partnership between schools and these institutions. In Brazil, the main examples of approaches to collaboration between these places and schools have been taking place through the initiatives of teachers or through projects developed by the educational sector, aiming to broaden the dialogue between their institutions and the school community. Another approach mechanism relates to research and extension projects developed by university researchers, sponsored by state and federal funding agencies. In this case, the universities and university museums appear as new social actors that stand in the way of the schools and the cultural environments, complicating the relationship and, at the same time, bringing new questions to the field of educational research. We believe that the discourse in this paper should bring about further discussions in the initial teacher training courses to contribute to the understanding of practices related to the extension of the field of activity of the school.     

International approaches to the definition,philosophical tenets,and core elements of physical literacy: A scoping review

PROSPECTS - This paper addresses the inadequate understanding of the concept of physical literacy (PL), often originating from complex terminology and philosophical language used in the current...     

Does teacher homework feedback matter to 6th graders’ school engagement?: a mixed methods study

Metacognition and Learning - The effectiveness of homework on improving student academic achievement depends on several factors; for example, feedback provided by the teacher (i.e. grading) and...     

An instrument for analysing students’ argumentative reasoning when participating in debates

The aims of this paper are twofold. First, we present, justify, and characterise an instrument for analysing students’ argumentative reasoning developed from Walton’s ideas. Then, from the analysis of students’ argumentative discussion about a socio-scientific controversy, we identify the advantages and disadvantages of using the instrument. The results show that the analysis of students’ argumentative reasoning require nine stages, which have logical and pragmatic criteria that should be used in order to decrease the subjectivity of the analysis. The analysis sheds light on the characterisation of students’ argumentative reasoning by supporting the understanding of the move of students’ argumentative clusters, since it enables us to understand that: the argumentative quality depends on the relations between arguments and other statements; and an argumentative cluster can be developed according to the frequency of refutations or attacks by means of questions involving its constituents. This is because when arguments, questions, and/or claims are evaluated, the individuals have the possibility of bringing other reasons and/or arguments that support them in the discussion. Therefore, the main contribution of this study is the development of an instrument, based on dialectical principles, that contributes to analyse students’ argumentative discuss and to support discussions of their argumentative quality.