Perspectives of lifelong education in Portuguese higher education: a critical analysis of learning outcomes

ABSTRACT

Nurturing students’ continuous learning is a current trend in the higher education agenda. Curricula and academic contents should enable students to take part in stimulating learning experiences, as well as promoting both developing and training opportunities in the course of their lives and careers. Despite the relevance given to lifelong learning in the educational system, there are still some open questions: how this concept is understood and put into practice by higher education institutions? The paper aims to analyse the conceptions of lifelong learning as reflected on the learning outcomes proposed in a sample of study programs. A qualitative methodology and a data-driven approach are adopted to explore the content of the learning outcomes proposed in 10% of total study programs submitted to quality accreditation, since 2009. Generally, results reveal that higher education institutions are committed to the lifelong learning paradigm, particularly in master and PhD degrees. Students are expected to ‘invest in personal and professional development through life’, to ‘develop learning competences through life’, as well as to ‘foster lifelong learning’. This study provides a better understanding of the range of perspectives and the relevance given to lifelong learning as a valuable learning outcome.     

Problem posing based on investigation activities by university students

This paper reports a classroom-based study involving investigation activities in a university numerical analysis course. The study aims to analyse students' mathematical processes and to understand how these activities provide opportunities for problem posing. The investigations were intended to stimulate students in asking questions, to trigger their thinking processes, to promote their ability to investigate and to support them in learning numerical analysis' concepts and procedures. The results show that the investigations provided opportunities for students to experience mathematical processes, including posing questions, formulating and testing conjectures and, to some extent, proving results. They also provide some understanding about the role of problem posing in these processes. Posing questions occurred mainly in an implicit way, in the interpretation of tasks and in identifying regularities, analysing graphs and testing cases. The conjectures were often based on pattern identification or data manipulation, and the students tended to accept them without testing or proving. The students also proposed alternative formulations for the initial questions and posed new problems from their explorations and attempts to refine previous conjectures.     

《光明之城》的真伪问题刍议

章首先对《光明之城》的真伪问题提出鉴别标准,认为在英译未能提供原件作科学鉴定的情况下,仅以书中有某些符合历史的事例证其“不是伪书”是不可靠的,只有通过反向求证,考察书中是有不符合史实的事例才是更有效的鉴别方法。章随后对书听若干问题逐一考证,认为它们在着明显的错误和偏差。把它看作“伪书”是比较慎重的。     

巨尾桉叶片水提液对小麦幼苗生长的影响

巨尾桉是华南地区重要的人工林树种。研究表明,其叶片水抽提物对小麦 生长有显著抑制作用,对种子萌发亦有显著影响．     

THE POLYMERIZATION OF METHYL METHACRYLATE WITH A NEW TIN-BRIDGED YTTROCENE/Al(i-Bu)_3

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＳｉｎｃｅｔｈｅｐｏｌｙｍｅｒｉｚａｔｉｏｎｏｆｍｅｔｈｙｌｍｅｔｈａｃｒｙｌａｔｅ(ＭＭＡ)ｗｉｔｈｒａｒｅｅａｒｔｈｃａｔａｌｙｓｔｓｗａｓｒｅａｌｉｚｅｄｆｏｒｔｈｅｆｉｒｓｔｔｉｍｅｉｎ1991,ａｓｅｒｉｅｓｏｆｎｅｗｒａｒｅｅａｒｔｈｃａｔａｌｙｓｔｓｙｓｔｅｍｓｓｕｃｈａｓＮｄ(Ｐ204)3/Ａｌ(ｉＢｕ)3,Ｎｄ(Ｐ204)3/Ａｌ(ｉＢｕ)3/ＣＣｌ4,Ｎｄ(Ｏｃｔ)3/Ａｌ(ｉＢｕ)3,Ｌｎ(ａｃａｃ)3/ＢｕＭｇＣｌ,Ｙ(ａｃａｃ)3/Ａｌ(ｉＢｕ)3/ＢｕＬｉ,Ｎｄ(ｎａｐｈ)3/ＢｕＬｉ,ａｎｄＮｄ(Ｏ…     

高中英语语篇阅读教学的构想

语篇阅读教学是一种融预期、多种阅读、语言习得、学法指导及能力培养为一体的综合教学方法,它体现了交际教学和素质教育思想,是培养学生阅读能力的有效方法。因此,在高中英语语篇教学中应注意:1、转变教学思想,确立语篇概念。2、将阅读预期作为语篇阅读的必要准备过程。3、进行快速阅读。4、经心详读,记取细节,深化语篇阅读的效果,最后达到语言习得的目的。     

Domestic patents and developing countries: arguments for their study and data from Brazil (1980–1995)

This paper presents data from Brazilian Patent Office (Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial, INPI) and compares them with data from the United States Patent Office (USPTO). Developing countries have technological activities that are important locally but not significant at international level (imitation, local learning, adaptation of foreign innovations). These activities might be patentable only at national level. Therefore, the study of domestic patents of developing countries provides a broader picture than USPTO patents. This paper compares 8309 INPI patents with 475 USPTO patents (between 1980 and 1995). Domestic patent data show peculiarities in the Brazilian case, possibly shared with other countries in similar technological level: (a) high share of individual patents; (b) foreign-owned firms with important activities; (c) low firm involvement in R&D activities. Some characteristics are shared with developed countries: (a) domestic firms as the major patentees; (b) according to firm size, there is a U-shaped distribution of patents; (c) evidences of multi-technology large firms; (d) a relatively small share of firms have more than one patent in the whole period. The contrast between USPTO and national patenting statistics shows different rankings according to ownership structure, leading firms, industrial sectors, and international patent classification. These differences highlight sources of international competitiveness and point to weaknesses in Brazilian innovative activities. This paper concludes evaluating the contributions (and weaknesses) of this database for the evaluation of the Brazilian National System of Innovation.     

Near-infrared spectroscopy-derived total haemoglobin as an indicator of changes in muscle blood flow during exercise-induced hyperaemia

ABSTRACT

Blood flow changes in response to exercise have been attributed, among other factors, to the effect of vasodilators factors on the microvasculature, suggesting a close relationship between small blood vessels and conducting arteries. The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the changes in near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-derived total haemoglobin ([tHb]) and muscle oxygen saturation (SmO₂) signals and femoral artery blood flow in response to resistance exercise at fast- and slow-velocity muscle contraction. The study randomised crossover design included twelve participants. NIRS and blood flow measurements were continuously monitored before, during, and 5 min after the exercise protocol. There was a significant correlation between [tHb] reperfusion slope ([tHb]_slope) and peak blood flow (BF_peak) after slow- and fast-velocity muscle contraction (r = 0.83, p = 0.0008 and r = 0.72, p = 0.0080, respectively). No significant correlation existed between the SmO₂ reperfusion slope (SmO_{2_slope}) and BF_peak after both slow- and fast-velocity muscle contraction exercise (r = ?0.46, p = 0.1253 and r = 0.33, p = 0.2841, respectively). This study demonstrated a strong relationship between the NIRS-derived [tHb] and Doppler ultrasound BF during the recovery period of dynamic resistance exercise at both slow- and fast-velocity contraction.