The Role of Anatomy Computer-Assisted Learning on Spatial Abilities of Medical Students

Currently, medical education context poses different challenges to anatomy, contributing to the introduction of new pedagogical approaches, such as computer-assisted learning (CAL). This approach provides insight into students' learning profiles and skills that enhance anatomy knowledge acquisition. To understand the influence of anatomy CAL on spatial abilities, a study was conducted. A total of 671 medical students attending Musculoskeletal (MA) and Cardiovascular Anatomy (CA) courses, were allocated to one of three groups (MA Group, CA Group, MA + CA Group). Students' pre-training and post-training spatial abilities were assessed through Mental Rotations Test (MRT), with scores ranging between 0-24. After CAL training sessions, students' spatial abilities performance improved (9.72 ± 4.79 vs. 17.05 ± 4.57, P < 0.001). Although male students in both MA Group and CA Group show better baseline spatial abilities, no sex differences were found after CAL training. The improvement in spatial abilities score between sessions (Delta MRT) was correlated with Musculoskeletal Anatomy training sessions in MA Group (r = 0.333, P < 0.001) and MA + CA Group (r = 0.342, P < 0.001), and with Cardiovascular Anatomy training sessions in CA Group (r = 0.461, P = 0.001) and MA + CA Group (r = 0.324, P = 0.001). Multiple linear regression models were used, considering the Delta MRT as dependent variable. An association of Delta MRT to the amount of CAL training and the baseline spatial abilities was observed. The results suggest that CAL training in anatomy has positive dose-dependent effect on spatial abilities.     

对葡萄牙年轻乒乓球运动员训练结构的研究

从乒乓球国际比赛的情况看,近两年来葡萄牙乒乓球运动员人数显著增加,并且技术水平也明显提高.1996年在巴黎举行的欧洲青年乒乓球锦标赛上,葡萄牙运动员在乒乓球运动史上首次拿到了一枚个人项目的铜牌,实现历史性的突破.从这以后,葡萄牙运动员又多次在国际乒乓球赛事上获得奖牌.然而,如果以20世纪90年代或21世纪初期的情况作参照,不难看出,年轻运动员的技术水平要达到具有取得这样成绩的技术水平还相差得很远.因而,本文在深入调查和了解葡萄牙乒乓球联合会各训练中心年轻乒乓球运动员的训练结构基础上,分析这些训练方式方法是否促进这些年轻运动员协调、快速发展,并在成年时代达到最佳运动技术水平.研究方法本文通过对葡萄牙乒乓球联合会3个训练中心2002至2003年赛季的训练工作的记录文件进行整理,采用文献资料法、调查法、统计法、对比分析的方法进行了研究.主要结果研究分析可知,要使这些年轻运动员在成年时代达到顶尖级水平,这些训练量是不够的;教练员在给运动员的训练安排中主要以技术训练、战术训练和身体素质训练为主,并把重点放在了技、战术的结合方面,其结果还表明运动员在心理因素的训练方面极为不足.另外,在技术、战术、身体素质以及心理训练等各子项的具体内容安排方面也与现代乒乓球运动所要求的特点不相符合.     

Emigration and education. Galician emigration to America and its impact on the processes of literacy,schooling and civic education amongst the rural and seafaring popular classes

Over the course of the final 30 years of the nineteenth century, and well into the early decades of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of Galician people migrated to different areas of America. There they found a new world to contend and interact with – a world that was more advanced and developed socially and culturally. From the perspective of a new awareness and heightened by processes of collective organisation, mainly identity-based, many of them set out to help advance the cultural and social development of Galicia through self-organised political, social and educational processes. In this way, during the 1920s, a growing number of primary schools – roughly 300 – all over Galicia felt the influence of the Galician emigrants. This is a genuine phenomenon characteristic of Galician emigration that has not been observed in the collective actions carried out by any of the other European migrant communities.     

The European Project Semester at ISEP: the challenge of educating global engineers

Current engineering education challenges require approaches that promote scientific, technical, design and complementary skills while fostering autonomy, innovation and responsibility. The European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme (30 European Credit Transfer Units (ECTU)) for engineering students from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities that intends to address these goals. The students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, are challenged to solve real multidisciplinary problems during one semester. The EPS package, although on project development (20 ECTU), includes a series of complementary seminars aimed at fostering soft, project-related and engineering transversal skills (10 ECTU). Hence, the students enrolled in this programme improve their transversal skills and learn, together and with the team of supervisors, subjects distinct from their core training. This paper presents the structure, implementation and results of the EPS@ISEP that was created in 2011 to apply the best engineering practices and promote internationalisation and engineering education innovation at ISEP.