Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Learning 21'

The following thesis uses a game of strategy, known as The Game of 21, as a means to test the following research question: Is it possible to influence individuals’ strategic learning and comprehension through the use of varying financial incentives. A study was conducted on 42 individuals separated evenly across three unique treatments. Each treatment offered its participants a different level of financial incentive for performing well in the game. The first of these treatments acted as the control group for the study, and thus offered no financial reward for playing well. The second treatment offered a miniscule incentive of 25₵ to the winner of a randomly selected round of the game. This treatment was predicted to actually perform the worst, as the small incentive was designed to demotivate participants. The final treatment offered a substantial financial incentive of $5 to the winner of a randomly selected round of the game. This treatment was predicted to perform the best, as the large financial incentive was designed to be a powerful motivator. The results of all rounds of the game were ultimately collected and analyzed, and compared to the above predictions.

“Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.” - Chinese Proverb. Involvement in learning implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit students to seek resolutions to questions and issues while constructing new knowledge. Low enrollment in Plant Biology and Diversity and upper level plant science courses has been noticed at Western Kentucky University. In addition, graduating students performed below the national average on the senior assessment examination in the area of botany content knowledge offered by WKU’s Biology Department. This may be due to the fact that observation-based botany has been taught in a traditional way for biology majors at our university for many years. Traditional teaching methods include viewing prepared slides of plant sections, viewing live and herbarium specimens, and memorization of botanical terminology and illustrations. The goal of this study is to convert these existing traditional laboratories to investigative inquiry exercises without compromising the material covered by bringing observation-based labs into the twenty-first century. Various teaching strategies including inquiry, problem-based, case-based, and hands-on learning methods were implemented. Each exercise was reshaped around a central question or theme. These changes were expected to increase student learning and retention levels. Traditional teaching methods were used with the control group, while contemporary teaching strategies were used with the experimental set of students. Traditional assessments and anonymous surveys were statistically analyzed. The results of my analyses suggest that the experimental students were more challenged, interested, intellectually stimulated and less overwhelmed with contemporary teaching strategies and overall had higher learning retention demonstrated by their performance on assessments. Moreover, I predicted that an investigative approach will encourage larger numbers of students to take this restricted elective sophomore-level course for biology majors and further their study in plant biology.

School staff are continuously asked to adapt to changes that are set forth by various governmental and community agencies. These changes are set in motion to improve schools, however, with change brings conflict. Organizational learning has gained attention as a way to adjust to change. Because conflict can be a taxing, disruptive occurrence in organizations, the purpose of this study was to examine how leaders of schools with high teacher empowerment levels use conflict as a positive force to move their schools forward, despite constant change. Research suggests a connection between organizational learning and teacher empowerment. Additional research was necessary to explore this link. This study described and analyzed how school leaders use conflict constructively to promote individual growth and organizational learning. Review of district Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Kentucky survey data informed the selection of six schools which evidenced high teacher empowerment. Data were collected through individual interviews with principals, an online teacher survey, as well as focus group interviews with teachers to gain their perspectives about how their school leaders manage conflict. Analysis of data identified themes for how teacher empowerment and organizational learning are connected, and perceptions of conflict. The findings suggest that a risk-safe environment is essential for ensuring that conflict can be a constructive force in schools. Conflict is also affected by the level teacher leadership, engagement and decision-making. Constructive conflict is evidenced in school that have high levels of trust among school staff. Schools leaders can use constructive conflict to promote individual growth and organizational learning.

The problem being studied in this research is the relationship between a specific series of integrated science courses in a science teacher preparation program and the actual needs of the science teacher during the first years of teaching practice. Teachers often report that there is a disconnect between the coursework they have taken in college as pre-service teachers and the reality of their classroom practice during their first years of teaching. The intent of this study was to record the descriptions of three teachers who were members of a cohort and took a series of integrated science courses (NSCI series) during their teacher preparation program as it related to the influence of these courses on their teaching practice. The focus of inquiry is guided by a single question: How do former participants in the series of science courses who are currently novice teachers describe their confidence in their ability to teach science content to their middle school students? The theoretical framework was based on Shulman’s (1987) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). PCK involves the teacher understanding the content of science so thoroughly that ways are identified of representing and formulating the subject matter to make it understandable to others. The teacher who has a strong PCK uses powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations and demonstrations that promote personally meaningful student understandings. Novice teachers’ reflections on their confidence to teach science content to their middle school students were observed through the lens of PCK. All three novice teachers reported a high confidence level to teach middle school science and attributed their confidence level to a great degree to the integrated science series of courses (NSCI). METHOD A qualitative design, specifically a case study, was used for this study. Multiple forms of data collection were employed including a semi structured interview and a focus group. Data was collected, categorized and analyzed over a six week period. A constant comparative method (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998) was used to examine the data. Triangulation, member checking and a peer reviewer were used to reduce the risk of bias and increase the trustworthiness of the data.

The Financial Crisis of 2007-2010 is the latest of a cycle of scandals that involved questionable ethics in accountants. The costs were extraordinarily large this time. Once again there is a focus on the ethical training of the future accounting professionals, accounting instructors, and business leaders. Traditional methods have not been successful. Service-learning is presented as an alternative. In this study, community service hours are used as a proxy for the "service" component of service-learning. This research extends the research of Weber and Glyptis (2000) by examining the relationship between community service hours and ethical reasoning capabilities. Since the most community service studies in business education have been descriptive rather than empirical (Sneider, Gillmor, & Rabinowicz, 2011), this study also adds to the paucity of empirical data on the impact of community service on students. Their research provided evidence that students participating in community service activities scored higher DIT scores than students who did not. This study explores the relationship between DIT scores and hours of community service, hours of accounting-related community service hours, age, gender, number of accounting courses, and ethics education. The study found a strong relationship between the variables, community service hours, accounting-related community service hours, and DIT scores. There was also a relationship between DIT scores and gender as well as previous ethics education. No relationship was found between DIT scores and age and the number of accounting courses taken. The Defining Issues Test (DIT) was used to measure the ethical reasoning capabilities of 233 accounting students in several colleges in the state of Georgia.

INTRODUCTION: The orthotopic left lung transplantation model in rats has been developed to answer a variety of scientific questions in transplant immunology and in the related fields of respiratory diseases. However, its widespread use has been hampered by the complexity of the procedure. AIM OF THE RESEARCH: Our purpose is to provide a detailed description of the procedure of this technique, including the complications and difficulties from the very first microsurgical step until the ultimate successful completion of the transplant procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The transplant procedures were performed by two collaborating transplant surgeons with microsurgical and thoracic surgery skills. A total of 150 left lung transplants in rats were performed. Twenty-seven syngeneic (Lewis to Lewis) and 123 allogeneic (Brown-Norway to Lewis) lung transplants were performed using the cuff technique. RESULTS: In first 50 transplant procedures, post-transplant survival rate was 74% of which 54% reached the end-point of 3 or 7 days post-transplant; whole complication rate was 66%. In the subsequent 50 transplant surgeries (from 51 to 100) post-transplant survival rate increased to 88% of which 56% reached the end-point; whole complication rate was 32 %. In the final 50 transplants (from 101 to 150) post-transplant survival rate was confirmed to be 88% of which 74% reached the end-point; whole complication rate was again 32 %. CONCLUSIONS: One hundred-fifty transplants can represent a reasonable number of procedures to obtain a satisfactory surgical outcome. Training period with simpler animal models is mandatory to develop anesthesiological and microsurgical skills required for successfully develop this model. The collaboration between at least two microsurgeons is mandatory to perform all the simultaneous procedures required for completing the transplant surgery.

Negli ultimi vent'anni il Machine Learning è diventato uno dei pilastri della tecnologia informatica e con ciò, una parte piuttosto centrale, sebbene di solito nascosta, della nostra vita. Il valore dell’apprendimento automatico è dovuto alla possibilità di imparare continuamente dai dati e avere delle previsioni sul futuro. Con la crescente quantità di dati disponibili, si può pensare che l’analisi dei dati diventerà ancora più pervasiva come ingrediente necessario per il progresso tecnologico. Tuttavia, esistono alcuni settori importanti, come quello del campo medico, in cui questa tecnologia può dare un contributo significativo, ma non ha sviluppato ancora interamente le sue potenzialità. In particolare, un’analisi accurata mediante tecniche di machine learning dei meccanismi alla base di alcune malattie genetiche come quella della sindrome di Down, in cui tutt'oggi non è chiara la correlazione tra causa ed effetto, potrebbe portare alla luce nuove scoperte importanti. Questo elaborato mette in pratica alcune tecniche dell’apprendimento automatico, analizzando quanto più possibile il problema alla base, e si pone come obiettivo quello di trovare un legame tra deficit mentale e sindrome di Down.

Skanska 21 is a student program for university students. The program runs for a year and a half parallel to university studies. It is aimed at those studying a few specific master engineering programs at Lund University, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Chalmers University of Technology or Luleå University of Technology. The program consists of a number of program meetings such as company presentations, a boarding school week, rhetoric training and project visits. The aim of the project is to evaluate the Skanska 21 student program. This has been done by conducting a study on how the program is designed, how it is implemented and the results it produces. Finally, some suggestions on how to improve the program have been made. The survey was conducted using interviews and questionnaires to persons within the Skanska 21 management and current and former Skanska 21 students. The theoretical aspects presented in the report focus on the theories of mentoring, experiential learning, employer branding and professional development. The findings show that the formal objectives that have been set for Skanska 21 are met to a large extent. Keywords: Skanska 21, Skanska, student program, trainee, executive recruitment, employer branding, experiential learning, learning, mentoring, professional development.SammanfattningSkanska 21 är ett studentprogram för studenter som bedriver universitetsstudier och pågår i ett och ett halvt år parallellt med studierna. Programmet riktar sig till de studenter som går några få utvalda civilingenjörsprogram vid Lunds Tekniska Universitet, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola eller Luleå Tekniska Universitet. Programmet består av ett antal programträffar bestående av bland annat företagspresentationer, en internatvecka, retorikutbildning och projektbesök.Syftet med examensarbetet är att genomföra en fallstudie av studentprogrammet Skanska 21. Detta har gjorts genom en studie av hur programmet är konstruerat, hur det genomförs och vilket resultat det ger. I rapporten finns förslag på förbättringsmöjligheter. Undersökningen har genomförts med hjälp av intervjuer och enkäter till personer inom Skanska 21:s ledning samt nuvarande och före detta adepter.De teoretiska aspekterna som presenteras i rapporten fokuserar på teorier kring mentorskap, upplevelsebaserat lärande, arbetsgivarvarumärke och kompetensutveckling. Slutsatserna visar att de formella målen som sätts upp för Skanska 21 uppfylls till stor del.
Skanska 21 är ett studentprogram för studenter som bedriver universitetsstudier och pågår i ett och ett halvt år parallellt med studierna. Programmet riktar sig till de studenter som går några få utvalda civilingenjörsprogram vid Lunds Tekniska Universitet, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola eller Luleå Tekniska Universitet. Programmet består av ett antal programträffar bestående av bland annat företagspresentationer, en internatvecka, retorikutbildning och projektbesök.Syftet med examensarbetet är att genomföra en fallstudie av studentprogrammet Skanska 21. Detta har gjorts genom en studie av hur programmet är konstruerat, hur det genomförs och vilket resultat det ger. I rapporten finns förslag på förbättringsmöjligheter. Undersökningen har genomförts med hjälp av intervjuer och enkäter till personer inom Skanska 21:s ledning samt nuvarande och före detta adepter.De teoretiska aspekterna som presenteras i rapporten fokuserar på teorier kring mentorskap, upplevelsebaserat lärande, arbetsgivarvarumärke och kompetensutveckling. Slutsatserna visar att de formella målen som sätts upp för Skanska 21 uppfylls till stor del.

The purpose of this study was to examine the practices and perceptions of professors of reading education in the issues surrounding teaching reading and learning with digital media. This study aimed to understand the strategies and thoughts of a select group of professors of reading education as they worked with pre-service teachers in preparing them to meet the needs' of their future students. The four respondents that participated in this inquiry were professors of reading education at various California Universities. The guiding research question was stated as: What are the issues surrounding the teaching and learning of reading through digital media? Two sub-questions were also posed: What strategies and practices are reading educators using in teaching reading education with traditional and digital media? In what ways are reading educators connecting traditional and digital literacy skills? Multiple case study methodology was used to acquire various perspectives on the issues of teaching and learning through digital media. From the four cross-case analyses of interviews, documentation, and observations, four themes and an overarching theme emerged depicting the issues educators are discovering with digital media. Reading competency is driven by intrinsic motivation. Current practices which neglect "real-world" reading are producing student who know how to read, but do not have the desire to read. The pressures to conform to educational mandates has created a disconnect between "good teaching" strategies and mandated school district requirements. The use of updated practices utilizing digital media is tempered by the current knowledge and self-efficacy of professors of reading education, as well as, the inconsistent availability and/or limited technological accessibility. These four themes acted as the foundation in support of the culminating theme. The overarching theme indicated that meeting the needs of today's students by looking at education through a new lens and gaining tools and strategies for the 21st century is imperative. Since the professor of reading educations' knowledge and self-efficacy is essential in the process of integrating digital media, the respondents themselves are transforming the practices and perceptions of educators. Thus, professors of reading education are change agents in their own practices, Universities, surrounding schools and the community. Based on the results of this study, implications for practice and recommendations for further research are suggested.

The study explored whether or not to delay introducing Chinese characters as part of first year Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) courses in post-secondary institutions in the U.S. Topics investigated: a) timing structures of current CFL programs in the U.S.; b) CFL teachers’ and students’ beliefs and rationales of an appropriate timing to introduce characters; c) CFL teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the importance and difficulty of different Chinese language skills; and d) CFL teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the requirement of handwriting in beginning-level CFL courses. Data were collected through a large-scale online student survey with 914 students and a large-scale online teacher survey with 192 teachers. At the same time, a total of 21 students and five teachers from a delayed character introduction (DCI) program and an immediate character introduction (ICI) program were interviewed. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Results indicate that the majority of CFL programs did not delay teaching characters; most of teachers and students believed that speaking and listening were the most important skills and reading and especially writing characters were the most difficult skills; and most of teachers and students did not favor alternative methods to replace the handwriting of characters even though they considered handwriting to be the most difficult skill. With few studies carried out to investigate the timing issue of character teaching, results from the study provided foundational knowledge for CFL educators to better understand CFL teaching and learning in general, along with the teaching and learning of written Chinese characters, in particular.

The higher education market is becoming much more competitive as more students are attracted to online courses and online degree programs. In order to remain competitive, higher education institutions must provide students access to online support services. However, an online student support services plan is an often overlooked component of an online initiative even though it is a critical factor in the overall success of an online program. This research specifically focuses on online student support services for students enrolled in fully online degree programs in an effort to identify the most important online student support services from students’ perspectives, students’ perceptions of quality of services offered and, correlations between perceptions of importance and satisfaction. This study employed a mixed method design. Data was collected through semi-structured phone interviews as well as through an online survey with Likert-type questions. Students’ perceived satisfaction and importance levels were explored by analyzing online survey items according to five areas. The five areas were: 1) Institutional Perceptions; 2) Academic Services; 3) Enrollment Services; 4) Student Services; and 5) Online Community. In total, 22 fully online degree students were interviewed and 206 fully online degree students completed and returned the online survey. Grounded Theory was used to analyze the interview data and the Rasch model was used to analyze the survey data. Pearson correlation results indicated that there were positive relationships between importance and satisfaction for each of the five scales analyzed in this study. However, despite the fact that there were small percentages of online survey participants that reported low satisfaction levels with services that were important to them, interview participants reported that they would like access to more online services that were not currently available to them, such as: internship programs, a writing center, professional tutors with content expertise, career services (expanded to include territories/regions of online students), and health services. Findings also indicated that online services could be improved by integrating more options for live interaction with online support services staff. Additionally, the results revealed that online degree student satisfaction is highly dependent on receiving timely responses from online services staff. This dissertation introduces the Importance, Quality and Satisfaction (IQS) Framework. This framework is formed by four domains: services, individuals, systems and environment. By implementing an IQS Framework, institutions have the opportunity to increase student satisfaction levels by providing higher quality and better delivery of their services, systems and environment.

Thesis (M.S. in Information System Technology)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2000.
Thesis advisors: Porter, Gary ; Jones, Carl. "June 2000." Includes bibliographical references (p. 68). Also Available online.

Integrated coastal and ocean management (ICM) requires new management systems where social learning (SL), the joint and collaborative learning trough interaction, is a key element. The occurrence of SL and the factors that affect it were investigated by documentary analysis, observation of ongoing processes and accessment of the perception of people involved with the participatory management of a marine protected area (MPA) in Brazil. The general hypothesis is that SL can qualify participation and improve ICM. To test it, this research characterized the management of the MPA, identifying SL processes and how they were fostered/hindered, with special attention to the role of research and educational institutions and the promotion of knowledge exchange. SL was evidenced by changes in knowledge, perception of the complexity of the system, social context and in the development of new understandings among the stakeholders involved in the processes, leading to strong social organization, social empowerment and institutional changes, promoting social capital. To improve ICM through SL, five strategies are proposed: promote diverse participation, not limited to official membership; promote simultaneous discussions in small groups; favor interaction processes over rapid solutions; explore common interests; explore different roles, especially with reference to research and educational organizations.
A gestão costeira integrada (GCI) demanda novos sistemas de gestão onde a aprendizagem social (AS), a aprendizagem conjunta e colaborativa que ocorre por meio de interação, é um elemento-chave. A ocorrência de AS e os fatores que a afetam foram investigados por meio de análise documental, observação de processos em andamento e levantamento da percepção dos indivíduos envolvidos com a gestão participativa de uma área marinha protegida (AMP) no Brasil. A hipótese central é que AS pode qualificar a participação e aprimorar a GCI. Esta pesquisa caracterizou a gestão da AMP e identificou processos de AS e como eles foram favorecidos/prejudicados, com atenção especial ao papel de instituições de ensino e pesquisa e à promoção de troca de conhecimento. A AS foi evidenciada por mudanças no conhecimento, percepção da complexidade do sistema, contexto social e construção de entendimentos coletivos, fortalecendo a organização social, empoderamento social e mudanças institucionais, promovendo o capital social. Para aprimorar a GCI por meio de AS são propostas cinco estratégias: promover diversidade de participação; promover a discussão simultânea de vários problemas; favorecer processos de interação à soluções rápidas; explorar interesses comuns; explorar diferentes papéis, especialmente considerando as organizações de ensino e pesquisa.

Rooted deep in Germany's past is its modern socio-political grounding for environmental respect and sustainability. This translates into individual and collective action and extends equally to the economic and policy realm as it does to educational institutions. This thesis evaluates research conducted in Germany with a view to what best approaches are transferable to the United States liberal arts setting. Furthermore, exemplary American models of institutional sustainability and environmental education are explored and combined with those from abroad to produce a blueprint and action plan fitting for the American college and university.

Die 20. Tagung der Gemeinschaften in Neuen Medien (GeNeMe) stellt innovative Technologien und Prozesse zur Organisation, Kooperation und Kommunikation in virtuellen Gemeinschaften vor und bildet ein Forum zum fachlichen Austausch insbesondere in den Themenfeldern Wissensmanagement und E-Learning. Diskutiert werden nicht nur technologische oder ökonomische Gesichtspunkte der Nutzung neuer Medien, vielmehr werden auch soziologische, psychologische, personalwirtschaftliche, didaktische und rechtliche Aspekte betrachtet. Die GeNeMe richtet sich an Experten aus Forschung und Industrie und sucht den Erfahrungsaustausch zwischen Teilnehmern verschiedenster Fachrichtungen, Organisationen und Institutionen aus Wirtschaft und Verwaltung. [... aus der Einleitung]

I podcast rappresentano un’interessante risorsa tecnologica che tuttavia, nel contesto italiano, rimane ancora poco sfruttata come strumento di supporto alla didattica. Nonostante, ad oggi, gli studi prodotti a riguardo siano numerosi, in pochi casi si è assistito al tentativo di riassumerli o di farne delle rassegne e gettare in tal modo le basi per la redazione, ad esempio, di guide all’integrazione dei podcast alla didattica. In assenza di manualistiche e di approcci pedagogici universalmente riconosciuti, non stupisce che siano pochi gli istituti superiori e le università che decidano di investire in risorse la cui efficacia è vagamente, se non affatto, attestata. Ciò che invece è attestato è il successo registrato da alcune piattaforme di e-learning autonome, in particolare quelle dedicate all’apprendimento delle lingue straniere. Scopo del presente studio è di sostenere la spendibilità didattica dei podcast come efficacie strumento di supporto all’apprendimento, nello specifico, del cinese come lingua straniera.

Background and problems: All that is stated in social media might not always sometimes be right, which has consequences for the individual's view of the described phenomena. The individual interprets and takes in mass media messages, which can lead to that the wrong information makes believed to be is correct one. The news media’s photo illustrations might pictures result in bad images of the suburbs. Hovsjö, residential area in the city of Södertälje, occurs in the media depicted as is a bad place to live due to the high rate of crime there. Purpose and Issues: My main research question is: How do young people view their residential area Hovsjö in comparison with the image they believe consider is given in that the news media gives the area? Further questions of the study are: How do the young people of the district describe their residential area? How do the youth's react to the news media images of Hovsjö? Has the neighborhood helped to form their identity? Method: In my data collection I have chosen a qualitative approach with observation and semistructured interviews. The reason I chose to do interviews is because it gives respondents the opportunity to give their own experiences and feelings of living in Hovsjö. My method has been ethnographic for the reason that I want to describe but also to understand the informants' world. Results: According to the interviews the news media has generalized Hovsjö as poor housing site pointing out mainly negative messages from the area. The informants have a different view on their residential area which does not correspond with the news media's version. They see their neighborhood in a positive way, and they explain that the environment has formed them to be good people. They do not deny the “crime incidents” in Hovsjö but they believe that the news media exaggerate events to depict the residential area as a criminal and dangerous area. As summary, I have come to a conclusion that the respondents have a positive view of their neighborhood which they consider a safe and a social area to live in.

Scopo di questo scritto è quello di analizzare, attraverso la traduzione di due articoli sul tema, il fenomeno del mobile learning e le sue possibili applicazioni. Il primo articolo, intitolato "Evoluzione della ricerca sul mobile learning in Cina negli ultimi 20 anni e possibili trend di sviluppo futuri", descrive l'origine, la storia e lo sviluppo di questa nuova tecnologia per l'apprendimento, analizzando e confrontando quanto nell'ultimo ventennio è stato scritto in Cina e a livello internazionale sull'argomento e illustrandone alcune possibili evoluzioni future. Il secondo articolo "Il mobile learning per la formazione dei lavoratori", approfondisce invece un particolare ambito di applicazione di questa nuova tecnologia, ovvero la formazione on-the-job, evidenziandone punti di forza e punti di debolezza. Nel complesso l'intenzione è quella di analizzare questo fenomeno da diversi punti di vista per capire se possa davvero rappresentare una modalità di apprendimento indipendente o quantomeno affiancare la formazione tradizionale, contribuendo in parte a contenerne i costi e a renderla più accessibile ed efficace.

Desenvolveu-se, pela Universidade de São Paulo, o protótipo de um equipamento submersível de captura para estudo de plâncton. Baseado na técnica shadowgraph, é formado por um feixe de LED infravermelho colimado e uma câmera de alta resolução, executados por um sistema de controle automatizado. Foram utilizados softwares de visão computacional desenvolvidos pelo Laboratório de Sistemas Planctônicos (LAPS) que executam várias tarefas, incluindo a captura e segmentação de imagens e a extração de informações com o intuito de classificar automaticamente novos conjuntos de regiões de interesse (ROIs). O teste de aprendizado de máquina contou com 57 mil quadros e 230 mil ROIs e teve, como base, dois algoritmos de classificação: o Support Vector Machine (SVM) e o Random Forest (RF). O conjunto escolhido para o treinamento inicial continha 15 classes de fito e zooplâncton, às quais foi atribuído um subconjunto de 5 mil ROIs. Os ROIs foram separados em grandes classes de, pelo menos, 100 ROIs cada. O resultado, calculado por meio do algoritmo de aprendizagem RF e SVM e fundamentado no método de validação cruzada, teve uma precisão de 0,78 e 0,79, respectivamente. O conjunto de imagens é proveniente de Ubatuba, no estado de São Paulo. Os perfis verticais elaborados apresentaram diferentes padrões de distribuição de partículas. O instrumento tem sido útil para a geração de dados espacialmente refinados em ecossistemas costeiros e oceânicos.
The University of São Paulo developed an underwater image capture system prototype to study plankton. Based on the shadowgraphic image technique, the system consists of a collimated infrared LED beam and a high-resolution camera, both executed by an automated control system. Computer vision software developed by the research laboratory was used to perform various tasks, including image capturing; image segmentation; and extract information to automatic classify news regions of interest (ROIs). The machine learning test had 57,000 frames and 230,000 ROIs, based on two classification algorithms: Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF). The chosen set of the initial training had 15 classes of phytoplankton and zooplankton, which was assigned a subset of 5,000 ROIs. Big classes of, at least, 100 ROIs each were organized. The result, calculated by the RF and SVM learning algorithm and based on the cross-validation method, had a 0.78 and 0.79 precision score, respectively. The image package comes from Ubatuba, in the state of São Paulo. The vertical profiles elaborated presented different particles distribution patterns. The instrument has been useful for spatially refined data generation in coastal and oceanic ecosystems.

This study investigated whether the funding of section 21 schools improves the quality of teaching and learning in six schools in the Mthatha Education District, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Despite the large funds that are pumped into schools by the Department of Education, the schools appear to be under resourced, underdeveloped and therefore underperforming. The researcher used the theories of school improvement to ground this study and to investigate whether the schools improve or not, and are offered support where necessary, as they are continuously being funded by the Department of Education. The study had these objectives: To investigate how the funds are spent by Section 21 schools in the Mthatha district of Education: to assess whether the SGB manages the spending of funds and whether there is any collaboration between the Principal and the SGB in financial issues and: to evaluate whether Procurement procedures are followed when purchasing. Systematic random sampling, amongst 6 schools, has been conducted. A questionnaire was administered to the school Principals, 2 Finance committe members, 1 Educator and 1 learner and SGB chairpersons from each of the 6 schools. Thus, both qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry were used in this study. 3 Junior Secondary and 3 Senior Secondary schools were considered in the sample. The findings that emerged were a lack of capacity, on the part of SGBs to monitor recurrent allocations as stipulated in the South African Schools Act (No 84 of 1996). Another factor that emerged was that schools still need training and workshops on procurement procedures. Also evident was that there appeared to be little evidence of collaboration between principals and SGBs, especially in financial matters. Finally, recommendations and suggestions were made that schools need to be provided with a series of workshops on procurement procedures and policies. SGBs were to be capacitated so that they could be on board on financial management. The principals were to be encouraged to cooperate and be transparent on financial matters especially since, as stipulated in SASA, as an official of the Department of Education, the principal has a responsibility to advise the governing body when they issue instructions or act in a manner that contravenes departmental instructions or policy.

Doutoramento em Multimédia em Educação
Numa altura em que as tecnologias de informação e comunicação se posicionam na linha da frente dos vários cenários educativos, dando ímpeto motivacional aos processos de ensino e aprendizagem das crianças e jovens com problemáticas específicas, importa compreender o papel dos atuais dispositivos móveis de interface táctil, na mediação das aprendizagens informais dos jovens com T21. Com uma abordagem metodológica assente no estudo de caso, esta investigação, de cariz marcadamente exploratório, teve como participante primário um jovem com T21, nas três etapas investigativas. A primeira etapa, identificada no contexto desta investigação como estudo preliminar, foi desenvolvida em parceria com outro investigador, tendo permitido a validação de um protótipo, sustentado num modelo concetual assente na hierarquia Cenário, Evento, Tarefa. Este modelo pode ser mapeado para outros cenários de aprendizagem (formal, informal ou não formal), conferindo-lhe escalabilidade e adaptabilidade. Ainda nesta primeira etapa foi possível aferir que o participante poderia beneficiar de um modelo de aprendizagem sustentado na instanciação de momentos. Na segunda etapa, foi realizado um estudo comparativo entre dois dispositivos móveis de interface táctil (iPad e iPhone) que permitiu identificar uma maior adequabilidade do smartphone aos cenários de aprendizagem informal distinguidos, nesta investigação, como determinantes à formação da pessoa com T21. Os resultados da terceira etapa viabilizaram a especificação de uma prova de conceito de uma app mobile, suportada na instanciação de três momentos, designados de Pré Evento, Evento e Pós Evento. Esta revelou-se uma estratégia importante no auxílio às aprendizagens do perfil de jovens similares ao do participante, tendo sido validada, em contexto de entrevista, por diferentes intervenientes das relações educacionais do participante. A Prova de Conceito prevê, ainda, a utilização de apps de uso comum, rentabilizando o potencial de uso dos dispositivos móveis de interface táctil, no suporte à realização de eventos funcionais do quotidiano típico do participante, nomeadamente no campo de competências transversais, como é o caso da literacia financeira. A utilização de apps de uso comum é ainda identificada como uma mais-valia para a normalização de competências digitais, minimizando, desde logo, o hiato tecnológico existente entre este perfil de utilizadores e os seus pares com um desenvolvimento típico. O envolvimento parental e de outros intervenientes ligados às dinâmicas educacionais do jovem revelaram-se também fundamentais à operacionalização da Prova de Conceito apresentada. Dada a unicidade deste estudo de caso, os resultados dificilmente podem ser generalizáveis, contudo, o estudo corrobora resultados presentes em investigações mais robustas, que reconhecem o potencial dos dispositivos móveis nas práticas diárias de jovens com T21.
At a time when information and communication technologies are at the forefront of the various educational scenarios, giving motivational impetus to the teaching and learning processes of children and young people with disabilities is important to understand the role of the current digital mobile devices in the mediation processes of teenagers with Down Syndrome, focusing in informal learning contexts. Following a case study approach, this exploratory research had as a primary participant a teenage boy with T21. The first stage of this investigation, as a preliminary study, was developed in collaboration with another researcher, resulting in the validation of a developed prototype supported in a hierarchy model based on scenario, event, and task. This hierarchical model could be mapped to other learning scenarios giving it scalability and adaptability. Additionally, it was possible to verify that the participant could benefit from a model of learning sustained in the instantiation of moments such as Pre event, Event and Post event. In the second stage, the comparative study between two digital mobile devices (iPad and iPhone) allowed to identify a greater suitability of the smartphone to the informal learning scenarios highlighted in this investigation as essential to the personal development of individuals with T21. The results of the third stage enabled the specification of a proof of concept of a mobile app, supported in the instantiation of three moments, called Pre Event, Event and Post Event. This proved to be an important strategy to help the learning of young people with a profile similar to the participant’s profile. The proof of concept was validated in the context of an interview by secondary and tertiary participants (participant parents, ICT expert and a special educational teacher). The proof of concept also foresees the common-use apps, making use of digital touch mobile devices possible, in order to support the performance of typical functional events of the participant's daily life, namely in the field of transversal competences, such as the case of financial literacy. Common-use apps are still identified as an added value for the standardization of digital skills, minimizing, from the start, the technological gap between this profile of users and their peers’ profile with a typical development. The involvement of parents and other actors related to the educational dynamics of the youngster have also proved to be fundamental to carry through the proof of concept presented. Given the uniqueness of this case study, the results can hardly be generalized. However, the study corroborates present findings in more robust investigations that recognize the potential of mobile devices in the daily practices of young people with T21.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Design, com a especialização em Design de Comunicação apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre.
Ser criança portadora de Trissomia 21 implica grandes alterações na sua vida, principalmente quando existem estigmas que ainda não foram que¬brados. É importante que os pais se informem acerca da doença, para promover o bem-estar físico, psicológico e emocional à criança, de modo a superar as suas dificuldades diárias. Desta forma, a iniciativa desta investigação surgiu do interesse em inves¬tigar e responder a algumas incógnitas que surgem quando pensamos em aprendizagem e, consequentemente na inclusão escolar de crianças com Trissomia 21 que, apesar das suas limitações intelectuais, são capazes de pensar, ter desejos e iniciativas próprias. Foi neste sentido que direcionamos este projeto com o objetivo de estu¬dar o desenvolvimento da criança com Trissomia 21, focada na aprendiza¬gem em ambiente escolar, de forma a perceber as suas dificuldades e como é que o design inclusivo, design de comunicação e o design de interação poderiam intervir, de modo a que essas dificuldades sejam ultrapassadas. Apesar das complicações destas crianças, a inclusão é uma possibilida¬de e um objetivo a ser alcançado, na medida em que o desenvolvimento cognitivo de todas as crianças, mesmo daquelas que não têm qualquer tipo de condição psicológica, depende também da qualidade das interações so¬ciais que estas estabelecem. Considerou-se que a criação de um objeto interativo impresso, poderia ajudar a criança a ultrapassar as dificuldades durante o processo de ensino¬-aprendizagem, bem como potenciar as suas habilidades. Utilizaram-se e exploraram-se as metodologias: mistas intervencionista e não-intervencionista de base qualitativa, apoiadas por um grupo de amos¬tra que contribuiu para o desenvolvimento da investigação. Foi então, fundamental para o desenvolvimento do projeto e conceção do objeto, fazer uma abordagem teórica, estudando a importância do design gráfico e da comunicação de mensagens visuais. Também, através do estu¬do do design de interação, pôde-se demonstrar o contributo que este trouxe para a temática, conhecendo-se diferentes abordagens importantes para a execução prática do objeto. Realizou-se ainda um estudo preliminar composto por entrevistas, que foram essenciais para a realização do projeto prático. Este compreende a criação de um kit interativo que pretende melhorar e ajudar no desenvol¬vimento da criança e na aprendizagem da leitura e da escrita, integrando várias atividades lúdicas e dinâmicas. Tudo isto visa ser estimulante, de forma a haver uma interação entre a criança e o objeto, a fim de tornar a assimilação de conteúdos mais divertida e prazerosa. Considera-se que se criou um objeto interativo dinâmico, lúdico, divertido e funcional com atividades que requerem a interação e participação do pú¬blico-alvo. É um objeto que responde às necessidades do público-alvo e me¬lhora o seu processo de ensino-aprendizagem, mantendo-o mais motivado.
ABSTRACT: Being a child and a carrier of a genetic disease implies a huge change in a child’s life, and those around them. There is a shift in the family’s routine when a baby with a genetic disease is born, and the impact in their lives is significative. Therefore, it is important that parents keep informed about the disease, in order to promote physical, psychological and emotional well-being to the child. Thus, helping to overcome their daily struggles. For this reason, the initiative of this program started from e interest of researching and answering some of the main issues that arise when thinking about inclusion of children with Down Syndrome in school environments. Children who despite their intellectual limitations, are able to think and have their own desires and initiatives. Under these circumstances, this project as the objective of studying the development of a child with Down Syndrome, focused on learning in a school environment, in order to understand their struggles, and how do inclusive design, communication design and interactive design can intervene as a tool to overcome these obstacles. Despite their limitations and struggles, inclusion is a possibility and a goal to be achieved, in a sense that the cognitive development of every child, even those without any kind of psychological condition, also depends on the quality of the social interactions established by the individuals. It was considered that the creation of a published and interactive object would help the children to overcome the struggles during the learning pro¬cess as well as empower their skills. Different types of methodologies were explored: mixed, interventionist and non-interventionist of qualitative base. All of which were supported by a group sampling and contributed to the structured development and organi¬zation of the investigation. For the development of the project and the crafting of the object, it was fundamental to use a theoretical approach, which meant studying the impor¬tance of graphic design and the visual communication of messages. Through the study of interaction design it could also be demonstrated the influence it brought to the matter, bringing to light new ways of approach which were crucial to the completion of the object. A preliminary study was completed, made up of interviews which were essential to the conclusion of the practical project. The project comprises the creation of an interactive kit that aims to improve the development of the child and his or her learning process, both reading and writing. Ultimately integrating various fun and dynamic activities. All of this seeks to be stimulating, so that there is an interaction betwe¬en the child and the object, in order to make the understanding of subjects more fun and pleasurable. It is considered that the final product is interactive, dynamic, fun and functional, with activities that require the interaction of the targeted audien¬ce. It is an object that responds to the needs of the public and improves the learning process captivating children and making them happy.
N/A

Les variations du nombre de copies (CNVs) incluent les délétions et les duplications de régions chromosomiques d’une taille variant de 50 pb à plusieurs Mb. Depuis 2005, les études d’association pangénomiques (GWAS) ont permis d’associer certains larges CNVs à des maladies syndromiques associées à la déficience intellectuelle incluant les syndromes de DiGeorge, Williams, Angelman, etc. En fonction de la densité génique de la région d’intérêt et de la variabilité des phénotypes associés, l’étude de la physiopathologie des syndromes peut être extrêmement complexe. La modélisation murine offre de nombreux avantages pour l’identification des gènes candidats et la compréhension des mécanismes moléculaires associés à ces pathologies.Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit consistent en la caractérisation des modèles murins pour cinq maladies syndromiques associées aux CNVs : la monosomie 21 partielle ainsi que les réarrangements des régions 16p11.1 et 17q21.31. Les caractérisations anatomiques, métaboliques et comportementales des animaux nous ont permis d’évaluer un grand nombre de paramètres associés à la symptomatique humaine. Nous avons également réalisé des analyses électrophysiologiques et transcriptomiques en ciblant nos investigations sur l’hippocampe, structure cérébrale qui joue un rôle central dans les processus de mémoire et d’apprentissage. Ce projet de recherche s’inscrit dans une perspective plus large qui est l’identification des gènes candidats pour les phénotypes observés et le développement de premières stratégies thérapeutiques pouvant potentiellement aboutir à l’amélioration des capacités cognitives des patients
Copy number variations (CNVs) include deletions and duplications of chromosomal regions ranging in size from 50bp to several Mb. Since 2005, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have associated some large CNVs to syndromic diseases linked to intellectual disability including DiGeorge, Williams, Angelman syndroms, etc. Depending on the gene density of the region of interest and the variability of symptoms, the study of the pathophysiology of syndromes can be extremely complex. Mouse modeling show many advantages for the identification of candidate genes and the understanding of molecular mechanisms associated with these diseases.The work presented in this manuscript consists of the characterization of mouse models of five syndromic diseases associated with CNVs: partial monosomy 21 and rearrangements of 16p11.2 and 17q21.31 regions. Anatomical, metabolic and behavioral characterizations of animals allowed us to evaluate a broad number of parameters associated with human phenotypes. We also performed electrophysiological and transcriptomic analysis focusing our investigation on the hippocampus which has a major role in learning and memory processes. This project is part of a wider perspective which is the identification of candidate genes for the different phenotypes we observe in the mouse and the development of first treatment strategies which can potentially lead to the improvement of cognitive capacity of patients

Considerato, in generale, l’impatto sempre più massiccio e pervasivo che le tecnologie hanno sulla vita di tutti i giorni e partendo dal presupposto del valore aggiunto derivante dall’impiego delle tecnologie per l’educazione linguistica, in questo lavoro dapprima abbiamo fatto alcune considerazioni in merito a tecnologie e apprendimento/insegnamento linguistico, soffermandoci su Internet e sui media digitali (Capitolo 1), quindi abbiamo selezionato, analizzato e organizzato, in forma di repertorio, diverse risorse online, gratuite, per l’apprendimento/insegnamento del russo (Capitolo 7). L’idea di realizzare un repertorio dei siti Internet e delle risorse è nata dall’intento di creare uno strumento utile, sia ai discenti, sia ai docenti. In particolare, nella prima parte di questo studio abbiamo proposto l’uso di alcune risorse online per presentare l’alfabeto russo (Capitolo 2) e per lo sviluppo della competenza fonologica (Capitolo 3), lessicale (Capitolo 4), morfosintattica (Capitolo 5) e testuale (Capitolo 6). Nella seconda parte, invece, una volta analizzate le caratteristiche di alcune modalità di apprendimento, in presenza, a distanza e in rete (FaD, e-learning, blended learning, didattica 2.0) e delineati i nuovi scenari di apprendimento, tra formale e informale (Capitolo 8), abbiamo realizzato due proposte didattiche, una in ambito universitario (Capitolo 9) e una in ambito scolastico (Capitolo 10), che prevedono sia esperienze di apprendimento collaborativo in rete, sia l’utilizzo di tecnologie e risorse online.
The influence of technologies on everyday life, as it emerges clearly, is increasingly pervasive. Assuming that the use of technologies adds a certain value to language education, in this dissertation we first considered some connections between technologies and learning and teaching languages, in particular dwelling upon Internet and media education (Chapter 1). Then we selected and analysed several websites and free online resources dealing with the Russian language. The result of this work is the inventory of websites and online resources, which we conceived as a useful tool for students and teachers of Russian as a foreign language (Chapter 7). In detail, in the first part of this research work we suggested some online resources to teach absolute beginners the Russian alphabet (Chapter 2) and to develop different competences and skills: phonological (Chapter 3), lexical (Chapter 4), morphological and syntactical (Chapter 5), and textual (Chapter 6). Whereas, in the second part, we dealt with the main characteristics of various types of learning (face-to-face, distance and online learning, blended learning, formal and informal learning etc.) (Chapter 8). In addition we developed two different proposals, the first for University level (Chapter 9), the second conceived for the school classroom (Chapter 10). Our proposals are based on both experiences of collaborative learning and on the use of technologies and online resources.

Considerato, in generale, l’impatto sempre più massiccio e pervasivo che le tecnologie hanno sulla vita di tutti i giorni e partendo dal presupposto del valore aggiunto derivante dall’impiego delle tecnologie per l’educazione linguistica, in questo lavoro dapprima abbiamo fatto alcune considerazioni in merito a tecnologie e apprendimento/insegnamento linguistico, soffermandoci su Internet e sui media digitali (Capitolo 1), quindi abbiamo selezionato, analizzato e organizzato, in forma di repertorio, diverse risorse online, gratuite, per l’apprendimento/insegnamento del russo (Capitolo 7). L’idea di realizzare un repertorio dei siti Internet e delle risorse è nata dall’intento di creare uno strumento utile, sia ai discenti, sia ai docenti. In particolare, nella prima parte di questo studio abbiamo proposto l’uso di alcune risorse online per presentare l’alfabeto russo (Capitolo 2) e per lo sviluppo della competenza fonologica (Capitolo 3), lessicale (Capitolo 4), morfosintattica (Capitolo 5) e testuale (Capitolo 6). Nella seconda parte, invece, una volta analizzate le caratteristiche di alcune modalità di apprendimento, in presenza, a distanza e in rete (FaD, e-learning, blended learning, didattica 2.0) e delineati i nuovi scenari di apprendimento, tra formale e informale (Capitolo 8), abbiamo realizzato due proposte didattiche, una in ambito universitario (Capitolo 9) e una in ambito scolastico (Capitolo 10), che prevedono sia esperienze di apprendimento collaborativo in rete, sia l’utilizzo di tecnologie e risorse online.
The influence of technologies on everyday life, as it emerges clearly, is increasingly pervasive. Assuming that the use of technologies adds a certain value to language education, in this dissertation we first considered some connections between technologies and learning and teaching languages, in particular dwelling upon Internet and media education (Chapter 1). Then we selected and analysed several websites and free online resources dealing with the Russian language. The result of this work is the inventory of websites and online resources, which we conceived as a useful tool for students and teachers of Russian as a foreign language (Chapter 7). In detail, in the first part of this research work we suggested some online resources to teach absolute beginners the Russian alphabet (Chapter 2) and to develop different competences and skills: phonological (Chapter 3), lexical (Chapter 4), morphological and syntactical (Chapter 5), and textual (Chapter 6). Whereas, in the second part, we dealt with the main characteristics of various types of learning (face-to-face, distance and online learning, blended learning, formal and informal learning etc.) (Chapter 8). In addition we developed two different proposals, the first for University level (Chapter 9), the second conceived for the school classroom (Chapter 10). Our proposals are based on both experiences of collaborative learning and on the use of technologies and online resources.

У статті досліджується значення терміну "Z покоління". Представники Z покоління – це діти, народжені після 2001 року. У дослідженні зазначається, що сьогодні особливості системи освіти повинні бути переглянуті і змінені відповідно потреб лідей Z покоління.
The article deals with the concept of Z generation. Representatives of Z generation are children born since 2001. it has been mentioned in the article that the main aspects of the educational system should be reconsidered and changed according to the goals and needs of Z generation.

La tesi esplora il ruolo dell’architettura della scuola e dell’ambiente fisico circostante come mediatori educativi attraverso l’innovazione degli spazi educativi e la creazione di interazioni culturali tra scuola, quartiere ed altre organizzazioni educative. L’obiettivo della tesi è comprendere le idee teoriche che legano la pedagogia e l’apprendimento con l’architettura, il paesaggio e l’assetto urbano, includendo dei riferimenti a noti esempi di architetture scolastiche italiane a partire dal 20° secolo. La tesi sviluppa una lettura critica dell’architettura scolastica in differenti contesti Europei che usa lo spazio fisico a e il suo ambiente circostante come risorsa per l’apprendimento. La ricerca si propone di utilizzare alcuni casi studio individuati nell’ambito del vasto investimento del Regno Unito denominato “Building Schools for the Future” per fornire alcune linee guida per il progetto e la gestione delle scuole secondarie del 21° secolo in Italia.
The thesis explores the role of school architecture and his surrounding built environment as educational mediators through the innovation of educational spaces and the creation of cultural interactions between school, neighborhood and other educational organizations. The aim of the thesis is first to understand theoretical ideas linking pedagogy and learning with architectural, landscape and urban design, including reference to celebrated Italian examples from the 20th century. It develops a critical reading of scholastic architecture in different European contexts that use the physical space and their surrounding environment as a resource for learning. The research also purposes to use case studies from the UK’s vast investment in Building Schools for the Future to provide some guidance for the design and management of secondary schools in Italy for the 21st century.

The major aims of this paper are to: present the background of the mathematics education problem in the Stamford Public School (SPS) district which is common is most U.S cities; explain the need for change in mathematics education; describe the process to systemically transform both the curriculum and instruction of mathematics thereby ensuring that each and every students is prepared for the 21st century, for higher education, and for success in a global society; and provide ways to measure these changes. The K-12 mathematics education reform model presented can be replicated in other cities and for other academic areas.

Contemporary urban life and functioning have become increasingly dependent on mobility. Having become an inherent constituent of urban dynamics, the role of urban moblity in influencing urban processes and morphology has increased dramat- ically. However, the relationship between urban mobility and spatial socio-economic structure has still not been thoroughly understood. This work will attempt to take a complex network theoretical approach to studying this intricate relationship through • the spatio-temporal evolution of ad-hoc developed network centralities based on the Google PageRank, • multilayer network regression with statistical random graphs respecting net- work structures for explaining urban mobility flows from urban socio-economic attributes, • and Graph Neural Networks for predicting mobility flows to or from a specific location in the city. Making both practical and theoretical contributions to urban science by offering methods for describing, monitoring, explaining, and predicting urban dynamics, this work will thus be aimed at providing a network theoretical framework for developing tools to facilitate better decision-making in urban planning and policy making.

Wymiana wirtualna w nauczaniu języka polskiego jako obcego na poziomie A1 – polsko-włoskie studium przypadku W dzisiejszym zglobalizowanym świecie konieczne jest kształcenie nie tylko umiejętności podstawowych, takich jak czytanie, pisanie, liczenie, zdolności techniczne czy znajomość języków obcych, ale także tych bardziej złożonych, jak przedsiębiorczość, krytyczne myślenie, kompetencje międzykulturowe i obywatelskie, zdolność rozwiązywania problemów i uczenia się oraz umiejętności w zakresie technologii cyfrowych. Jedną z kompetencji kluczowych w edukacji XXI wieku niezmiennie pozostaje umiejętność posługiwania się językami obcymi, która – jak każda dziedzina edukacji – powinna odpowiadać na aktualne potrzeby młodych ludzi. Jako że kontakty między nimi zachodzą już nie tylko w sposób bezpośredni, ale często także przez internet, ich kształcenie powinno uwzględniać również ten czynnik. Wymiany wirtualne – określane także jako telewspółpraca, międzykulturowa wymiana online, e-tandem czy teletandem – są jedną z form nauczania języków obcych wspomaganego komputerowo (CALL), która wydaje się adekwatna do potrzeb uczących się w XXI wieku. Wymiany wirtualne definiowane są jako forma kształcenia obejmująca zaangażowanie grup studentów w międzykulturową interakcję i współpracę, odbywające się online z partnerami z odmiennych kulturowych kontekstów lub lokalizacji geograficznej pod przewodnictwem nauczycieli lub/i przygotowanych do tego celu facylitatorów. Prowadzone w ostatnich dekadach badania naukowe potwierdzają liczne korzyści płynące z udziału w tego typu projektach. Należą do nich między innymi wzrost kompetencji międzykulturowych i językowych, rozwój umiejętności cyfrowych, zwiększenie umiejętności pracy w grupie oraz pozytywny wpływ na autonomię uczniowską. Uczestnikami większości opisywanych w literaturze projektów telewspółpracy są uczniowie na zaawansowanym lub średniozaawansowanym poziomie biegłości językowej, a języki będące przedmiotem wymiany należą do grupy najczęściej nauczanych języków w Europie – przeważnie jest to angielski, często niemiecki, hiszpański i francuski, a nierzadko także włoski. Istnieje jednak niewiele badań nad zastosowaniem wymian wirtualnych w dydaktyce języków rzadko nauczanych, a jedynym przykładem telewspółpracy, w której studenci posługiwali się językiem słowiańskim na poziomie początkującym są projekty prowadzone przez rusycystkę Liudmilę Klimanovą. Niniejsza praca doktorska jest próbą kontynuacji wysiłków tej badaczki, zmierzających do wypełnienia luki w literaturze odnośnie badań nad telewspółpracą, w której wykorzystuje się język z grupy rzadko nauczanych – w tym przypadku język polski – na poziomie początkującym. Autorka stawia sobie za zadanie ukazanie wymian wirtualnych jako nowoczesnej formy nauki odpowiadającej na potrzeby dzisiejszej edukacji, a także szczegółowe przedstawienie ich zastosowania w dydaktyce języka polskiego jako obcego na poziomie początkującym. Do celów naukowych pracy, osiąganych za pomocą analizy środków leksykalnych stosowanych przez studentów podczas projektu, należy stwierdzenie, jakie teorie uczenia się/akwizycji językowej mają zastosowanie w procesie dydaktycznym prowadzonym w ramach wymian wirtualnych. Kolejnym celem naukowym – zrealizowanym poprzez analizę treści kulturowych przekazywanych przez partnerów projektu – jest określenie, na ile propozycje programowe w zakresie nauczania kultury w dydaktyce języka polskiego jako obcego są adekwatne dla uczenia się w środowisku online. Celem dysertacji o charakterze dydaktycznym jest natomiast opracowanie programu telewspółpracy, adekwatnego dla początkujących uczących się języka polskiego jako obcego. Podstawą dla prezentowanych badań są trzy projekty polsko-włoskiej telewspółpracy, przeprowadzone kolejno w latach 2018/2019, 2019/2020 i 2020/2021 pomiędzy uczącymi się języka polskiego na Uniwersytecie w Turynie a studentami języka włoskiego na Uniwersytecie Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej w Lublinie na poziomie A1. Omawiana rozprawa doktorska składa się z siedmiu rozdziałów, z których trzy pierwsze tworzą część teoretyczną, trzy kolejne stanowią część badawczą, a ostatni rozdział ma charakter podsumowujący. W Rozdziale I nakreślono teoretyczne podstawy pracy – omówiono status glottodydaktyki jako dziedziny naukowej oraz miejsce, jakie zajmuje w niej glottodydaktyka polonistyczna. To w jej obszarze mieszczą się przedstawione w dysertacji rozważania. Następnie pokrótce omówione zostały najważniejsze teorie akwizycji językowej i uczenia się, które mają wpływ na aktualny stan dydaktyki językowej. W Rozdziale II opisano, jak uczenie się języków obcych – poprzez udział w wymianach wirtualnych – odpowiada na wyzwania edukacji XXI wieku. Przedstawiono zestaw kompetencji niezbędnych uczącym się we współczesnym świecie, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem umiejętności językowych, cyfrowych, osobistych, społecznych i w zakresie uczenia się oraz międzykulturowych, ponieważ to one rozwijane są w projektach opartych na telewspółpracy. Te ostatnie stały się też przyczynkiem do rozważań na temat dydaktyki kultury w nauczaniu języków obcych, szczególnie w kontekście nauczania języka polskiego jako obcego. Poruszono również kwestię kompetencji koniecznych nauczycielom w XXI wieku oraz zestawu umiejętności potrzebnych do skutecznej koordynacji wymian wirtualnych. Celem Rozdziału III jest przedstawienie miejsca wymian wirtualnych w nauczaniu wspomaganym komputerowo. Zaprezentowano w nim historię i definicje tej dziedziny, a także ukazano jej znaczenie w nauczaniu języka polskiego jako obcego. Dalszą część rozdziału poświęcono zagadnieniom związanym bezpośrednio z telewspółpracą – omówiono definicje i chronologię rozwoju tej formy nauki, a następnie tematykę projektowania wymian wirtualnych. Nakreślono ogólną typologię tego rodzaju projektów, ich poszczególne etapy oraz charakterystyczne dla nich zadania wraz z kryteriami ich tworzenia. Zwrócono również uwagę na niewielką liczbę aktywności dostępnych dla uczących się języków obcych na poziomie początkującym wśród materiałów skierowanych do nauczycieli-koordynatorów telewspółpracy. Zaprezentowano także zestaw często stosowanych narzędzi w projektach wymian wirtualnych oraz typologię wyzwań i problemów, jakie towarzyszą ich planowaniu i implementacji. Rozdział IV ma charakter wprowadzenia do części badawczej. Przedstawiono w nim ogólne informacje na temat trzech zrealizowanych przez autorkę polsko-włoskich projektów wymian wirtualnych oraz oparty o nie projekt badawczy. Określono w nim cele wdrożenia telewspółpracy do nauczania języka polskiego jako obcego na Uniwersytecie w Turynie oraz cele zaplanowanego badania wraz z przeglądem literatury przedmiotu. Omówiono również kontekst edukacyjny nauki języków obcych na obu uniwersytetach biorących udział w projekcie, a także czynniki wpływające na jego organizację. W ostatniej części rozdziału zaprezentowano ogólną charakterystykę przeprowadzonych projektów polsko-włoskiej wymiany wirtualnej, a także umotywowano wybór studium przypadku jako nadrzędnej metody badawczej przyjętej w pracy. Rozdział V poświęcono przedstawieniu wyników badania wstępnego w oparciu o dane pochodzące z pierwszej edycji polsko-włoskiej telewspółpracy, przeprowadzonej w roku akademickim 2018/2019. Nakreślono kwestie bezpośrednio dotyczące implementacji projektu – koordynatorów, uczestników, programu i zastosowanych narzędzi – a także te związane z wstępnym projektem badawczym: przyjętą metodologię oraz pytania badawcze, mające na celu ocenę adekwatności stopnia trudności zaproponowanych zadań do poziomu językowego wykonujących je studentów, ewaluację wykorzystanych narzędzi oraz identyfikację przyczyn problemów wynikłych podczas realizacji telewspółpracy. W tym celu zastosowano równocześnie kilka metod badawczych, z zachowaniem zasady triangulacji danych: obserwacje prowadzone przez autorkę dysertacji w czasie trwania projektu, badanie ankietowe zrealizowane po jego zakończeniu wśród włoskich uczestników oraz analizę ilościowo-jakościową materiału językowego, na który składały się wszystkie wypowiedzi studentów zgromadzone podczas wymiany wirtualnej. Zestawienie danych uzyskanych za pomocą przywołanych powyżej metod badawczych pozwoliło na szczegółową ewaluację każdego zadania wymiany oraz na udzielenie odpowiedzi na postawione wcześniej pytania badawcze. W efekcie stwierdzono, że narzędzia cyfrowe zostały dobrane adekwatnie do wykonywanych aktywności, a wynikłe podczas telewspółpracy problemy spowodowane były niewystarczającą ilością czasu przeznaczoną na projekt oraz niedoskonałościami w systemie jego koordynacji. Ponadto dwa zadania okazały się zbyt trudne dla studentów pod względem językowym. Dodatkowo stwierdzono, iż w ich odczuciu udział w wymianie wirtualnej pozwolił na poznanie nowego słownictwa w języku polskim oraz przyczynił się do wzrostu poziomu wiedzy na temat życia w Polsce i kultury polskiej. Wnioski z przeprowadzonej analizy posłużyły do udoskonalenia projektu polsko-włoskiej telewspółpracy w kolejnych dwóch edycjach. Do najistotniejszych modyfikacji należały: wydłużenie czasu trwania wymiany, zmiana modelu koordynacji projektu oraz usunięcie niektórych zadań i zastąpienie ich nowymi. W Rozdziale VI przedstawiono drugą i trzecią edycję polsko-włoskiej telewspółpracy, zrealizowane w latach 2019/2020 i 2020/2021, oraz przeprowadzone w oparciu o nie badanie główne. Dokonano w nim weryfikacji przytoczonych opinii studentów na temat korzyści wyniesionych z wymiany wirtualnej oraz analizy środków leksykalnych używanych w projekcie i treści kulturowych zawartych w wypowiedziach uczestników. Głównym celem projektu badawczego było stwierdzenie, jakie teorie akwizycji językowej i uczenia się mogą znaleźć swoje zastosowanie w nauczaniu za pomocą wymian wirtualnych, a także określenie, na ile istniejące programy dydaktyki kultury języka polskiego jako obcego są spójne z treściami kulturowymi przekazywanymi sobie przez partnerów w środowisku online. Aby dokonać analizy powyższych zagadnień przeprowadzono badanie ilościowo-jakościowe, w oparciu o korpus językowy utworzony z wypowiedzi studentów zebranych podczas polsko-włoskich projektów wymian wirtualnych przeprowadzonych w latach 2019/2020 i 2020/2021. Wygenerowane listy frekwencyjne porównano ze słownictwem wprowadzonym podczas zajęć uniwersyteckich z języka polskiego jako obcego, co pozwoliło na stwierdzenie, które środki leksykalne są utrwalane dzięki udziałowi w wymianie wirtualnej, a które są dla studentów nowe. Na tej podstawie określono również udział procesów imitacji i kreacji w uczeniu się leksyki w telewspółpracy na poziomie początkującym. W drugiej części badania oznaczono wszystkie fragmenty wypowiedzi uczestników zawierające treści kulturowe i na bazie analizy ilościowo-jakościowej ustalono, jak często występują one w interakcjach studentów, jakich tematów dotyczą oraz jakie zadania je wywołują. Następnie określono, na ile odpowiadają programom nauczania kultury języka polskiego jako obcego, porównując je z kategoriami w nich zawartymi. Uzyskane wyniki pozwoliły na stwierdzenie, że w procesie przyswajania słownictwa uczący się wykorzystują zarówno działania oparte na imitacji form językowych, jak i na kreacji, tworząc nowe wypowiedzi z zastosowaniem nieznanych wcześniej słów lub struktur. Rezultaty badania umożliwiły również pozytywną weryfikację odczuć uczestników na temat korzyści językowych i kulturowych z uczestnictwa w wymianie wirtualnej. Ponadto zaobserwowano, że tematy kulturowe poruszane przez studentów w dużej mierze odwołują się do popkultury, która przeważnie nie jest obecna w propozycjach programowych dydaktyki kultury polskiej jako obcej. Rozdział VII stanowi podsumowanie przeprowadzonych badań oraz refleksje na temat zastosowania wymian wirtualnych w nauczaniu języka polskiego jako obcego na poziomie A1. Potwierdzono, iż wymiana wirtualna może być wartościową formą nauki dla uczących się języka polskiego na poziomie początkującym, którzy mimo ograniczonych kompetencji językowych są w stanie skutecznie wykonać zaproponowane zadania i czerpać z nich różnorodne korzyści, takie jak rozwój kompetencji międzykulturowych (głównie w zakresie wiedzy faktograficznej), językowych (poprzez utrwalenie znanych oraz poznanie nowych struktur leksykalno-gramatycznych) oraz cyfrowych (dzięki poznawaniu nowych narzędzi i ich funkcji). Stwierdzono również, że komplikacje wynikłe podczas realizacji polsko-włoskiej telewspółpracy ukazują, że poziom językowy uczestników nie wpływa na rodzaj trudności, z jakimi mierzą się ich koordynatorzy. W podsumowaniu dysertacji zawarto uwagi na temat ograniczeń przeprowadzonych badań oraz wynikające z nich implikacje na przyszłość.
Lo scambio virtuale nell’insegnamento del polacco come lingua straniera al livello A1: studio di caso polacco-italiano Nel mondo globalizzato di oggi è necessario insegnare non solo abilità di base come lettura, scrittura, calcolo, abilità tecniche e abilità linguistiche, ma anche abilità più complesse, come imprenditorialità, pensiero critico, competenze interculturali e civiche, problem solving e capacità di apprendimento nonché competenze digitali. Una delle competenze chiave nell’istruzione del XXI secolo è invariabilmente la capacità di utilizzare le lingue straniere, che, come ogni campo dell’istruzione, dovrebbe rispondere alle esigenze attuali dei giovani. Poiché i contatti tra di loro avvengono non solo direttamente, ma spesso anche tramite Internet, anche la loro formazione dovrebbe tenere conto di questo fattore. Gli scambi virtuali, denominati anche telecooperazione, scambio interculturale online, e-tandem o teletandem, sono una delle forme di insegnamento delle lingue straniere assistite da computer (CALL), che sembra essere adeguata alle esigenze degli studenti nel XXI secolo. Gli scambi virtuali sono definiti come una forma di educazione che prevede il coinvolgimento di gruppi di studenti nell’interazione e cooperazione interculturale online con partner provenienti da diversi contesti culturali o aree geografiche, sotto la guida di insegnanti e/o facilitatori appositamente preparati. La ricerca condotta negli ultimi decenni conferma i numerosi vantaggi della partecipazione a tali progetti. Questi includono, tra l’altro, un aumento delle competenze interculturali e linguistiche, lo sviluppo delle competenze digitali, un aumento delle capacità di lavorare in gruppo e un impatto positivo sull’autonomia degli studenti. La maggior parte dei partecipanti ai progetti di telecollaborazione descritti nella letteratura scientifica è costituita da studenti di livello di competenza linguistica avanzato o intermedio mentre le lingue utilizzate appartengono a quelle tra le più insegnate in Europa, principalmente inglese, spesso tedesco, spagnolo e francese, e non di rado anche italiano. Ci sono poche ricerche sull’uso degli scambi virtuali nell’insegnamento delle lingue meno insegnate e l’unico esempio di telecooperazione in cui gli studenti hanno usato una lingua slava a livello principiante sono i progetti guidati dallalinguista russa Liudmila Klimanova. Questa tesi di dottorato è un tentativo di continuare le indagini della suddetta studiosa e volte a colmare il vuoto nella letteratura scientifica riguardante la ricerca sulla telecooperazione nello studio di una lingua raramente insegnata, in questo caso il polacco, a livello principiante. L’autrice mira a presentare gli scambi virtuali come una forma moderna di apprendimento che soddisfa le esigenze dell’istruzione odierna, nonché ad illustrare dettagliatamente la loro applicazione nell’insegnamento del polacco come lingua straniera a livello principiante. Gli obiettivi di ricerca della tesi di dottorato comprendono l’analisi dei mezzi lessicali utilizzati dagli studenti durante il progetto, al fine di determinare quali teorie dell’apprendimento/acquisizione linguistica sono applicabili nel processo didattico condotto tramite gli scambi virtuali. Un altro obiettivo scientifico, realizzato attraverso l’analisi del contenuto culturale fornito dai partner del progetto, è determinare in che misura le proposte di programma nel campo dell’insegnamento della cultura nell’insegnamento del polacco come lingua straniera sono adeguate per l’apprendimento nell’ambiente online. Invece l’obiettivo della tesi di carattere didattico è quello di sviluppare un programma di telecooperazione, adeguato per i principianti che imparano il polacco come lingua straniera. La base per la ricerca qui presentata è costituita da tre progetti di telecomunicazione italo-polacca, realizzati successivamente negli anni 2018/2019, 2019/2020 e 2020/2021 tra studenti della lingua polacca all’Università di Torino e studenti della lingua italiana all’Università Maria Curie-Skłodowska di Lublino al livello A1. La tesi di dottorato in questione è composta da sette capitoli, di cui i primi tre costituiscono la parte teorica, i successivi tre la parte di ricerca e l’ultimo capitolo è di carattere riassuntivo. Il Capitolo I delinea i fondamenti teorici della tesi: vengono discussi lo status della glottodidattica come campo scientifico e il posto occupato in quest’area dalla glottodidattica del polacco. È nel suo ambito che ricadono le considerazioni presentate nella tesi. Vengono quindi brevemente discusse le più importanti teorie sull’acquisizione linguistica e sull’apprendimento che influenzano lo stato attuale della didattica delle lingue. Il Capitolo II descrive come l’apprendimento delle lingue straniere, attraverso la partecipazione a scambi virtuali, risponda alle sfide dell’istruzione del XXI secolo. Presenta un insieme di competenze necessarie per gli studenti nel mondo di oggi, con particolare enfasi sulle abilità linguistiche, digitali, personali, sociali e di apprendimento nonché su quelle interculturali, poiché proprio queste vanno sviluppate nei progetti di telecollaborazione. Questi ultimi hanno anche contribuito alle riflessioni sulla didattica della cultura nell’insegnamento delle lingue straniere, soprattutto nell’ambito dell’insegnamento del polacco come lingua straniera. È stata sollevata anche la questione delle competenze necessarie per gli insegnanti nel XXI secolo nonché l’insieme delle competenze necessarie per coordinare efficacemente gli scambi virtuali. Lo scopo del Capitolo III è presentare il ruolo degli scambi virtuali nell’apprendimento assistito da computer. Presenta la storia e le definizioni di questo campo, nonché la sua importanza nell’insegnamento del polacco come lingua straniera. La parte successiva del capitolo è dedicata alle questioni direttamente legate alla telecooperazione: vengono discusse le definizioni e la cronologia dello sviluppo di questa forma di apprendimento e quindi il tema della progettazione degli scambi virtuali. È stata delineata una tipologia generale di tali progetti, le loro singole fasi e i compiti che le caratterizzano, nonché i criteri per la loro creazione. Inoltre, è stato rilevato un esiguo numero di attività disponibili per coloro che imparano le lingue straniere a livello principiante tra i materiali destinati ai docenti-coordinatori della telecooperazione. Viene inoltre presentata una serie di strumenti utilizzati di frequente nei progetti di scambio virtuale, nonché una tipologia di sfide e difficoltà che accompagnano la loro pianificazione e implementazione. Il Capitolo IV costituisce un’introduzione alla parte dedicata alla ricerca. Presenta informazioni generali sui tre progetti di scambio virtuale polacco-italiano realizzati dall’autrice, nonché un progetto di ricerca basato su di essi. Definisce gli obiettivi dell’attuazione della telecooperazione per l’insegnamento del polacco come lingua straniera presso l’Università di Torino e gli obiettivi dello studio pianificato insieme a una revisione della letteratura. È stato inoltre discusso il contesto educativo dell’apprendimento delle lingue straniere in entrambe le università partecipanti al progetto, nonché i fattori che ne influenzano l’organizzazione. L’ultima parte del capitolo presenta una descrizione generale dei progetti di scambio virtuale polacco-italiano condotti, nonché una giustificazione per la scelta dello studio di caso come principale metodo di ricerca adottato nella tesi. Il Capitolo V è dedicato alla presentazione dei risultati dello studio preliminare basato sui dati della prima edizione della telcooperazione polacco-italiana, condotta nell’anno accademico 2018/2019. Sono evidenziate le questioni direttamente legate all’attuazione del progetto: i coordinatori, i partecipanti, il programma e gli strumenti utilizzati, nonché quelle relative al progetto di ricerca iniziale, ovvvero la metodologia adottata e le domande di ricerca volte a valutare l’adeguatezza del livello di difficoltà dei compiti proposti al livello linguistico degli studenti che li svolgono, la valutazione degli strumenti utilizzati e l’individuazione delle cause dei problemi sorti durante l’attuazione della telecooperazione. A tal fine, sono stati utilizzati contemporaneamente più metodi di ricerca, secondo il principio della triangolazione dei dati: le osservazioni fatte dall’autrice della tesi durante il progetto, un’indagine svolta dopo la sua conclusione tra i partecipanti italiani e un’analisi quantitativa e qualitativa del materiale linguistico, che comprendeva tutte le dichiarazioni degli studenti raccolte durante lo scambio virtuale. La compilazione dei dati ottenuti con le suddette metodologie di ricerca ha consentito di valutare dettagliatamente ciascun compito dello scambio e di rispondere alle domande di ricerca poste in precedenza. Di conseguenza si è riscontrato che gli strumenti digitali sono stati selezionati in modo adeguato alle attività svolte e che le difficoltà derivanti dalla telecooperazione sono state causate da un tempo insufficiente dedicato al progetto e da imperfezioni nel suo sistema di coordinamento. Inoltre, due compiti si sono rivelati troppo difficili per gli studenti in termini di lingua. Inoltre, è stato constatato che, secondo loro, la partecipazione allo scambio virtuale li ha permesso di ampliare il loro lessico in polacco e ha contribuito ad aumentare il livello di conoscenza della vita in Polonia e della cultura polacca. Le conclusioni dell’analisi svolta sono state utilizzate per migliorare il progetto di telecooperazione italo-polacca nelle due edizioni seguenti. Le modifiche più importanti comprendevano: l’estensione della durata dello scambio, il cambiamento del modello di coordinamento del progetto nonché la rimozione di alcuni compiti e la loro sostituzione con dei nuovi. Il Capitolo VI presenta la seconda e la terza edizione della telecooperazione italo-polacca, realizzata negli anni 2019/2020 e 2020/2021, e lo studio principale basato su di esse. In questo capitolo è stata eseguita una verifica delle opinioni degli studenti sui benefici dello scambio virtuale e un’analisi dei mezzi lessicali utilizzati nel progetto e dei contenuti culturali presenti nelle dichiarazioni dei partecipanti. L’obiettivo principale del progetto di ricerca era scoprire quali teorie sull’acquisizione e sull’apprendimento delle lingue possono trovare applicazione nell’insegnamento attraverso gli scambi virtuali, nonché determinare in che misura i programmi esistenti per l’insegnamento del polacco come lingua straniera siano coerenti con i contenuti culturali trasmessi reciprocamente dai partner nella comunità online. Al fine di analizzare le suddette tematiche è stato condotto uno studio quantitativo e qualitativo, basato sul corpus linguistico delle dichiarazioni degli studenti raccolte durante i progetti di scambio virtuale polacco-italiano realizzati negli anni 2019/2020 e 2020/2021. Le liste di frequenza generate sono state confrontate con il vocabolario introdotto durante le lezioni universitarie del polacco come lingua straniera, il che ha permesso di determinare quali mezzi lessicali vengono consolidati grazie alla partecipazione ad uno scambio virtuale, e quali sono nuovi per gli studenti. Su questa base è stata anche determinata la partecipazione dei processi di imitazione e creazione all’apprendimento del lessico nella telecooperazione al livello principiante. Nella seconda parte dello studio, sono state contrassegnate tutte le parti delle dichiarazioni dei partecipanti con dei contenuti culturali e, sulla base della loro analisi quantitativa e qualitativa, è stato determinato quanto spesso essi si verificano nelle interazioni degli studenti, quali argomenti riguardano e quali compiti li attivano. È stato successivamente definito in che misura corrispondono ai programmi didattici della cultura polacca come lingua straniera, confrontandoli con le categorie in essi incluse. I risultati ottenuti hanno permesso di affermare che nel processo di acquisizione del vocabolario gli studenti utilizzano sia azioni basate sull’imitazione di forme linguistiche sia sulla loro creazione, formando nuove frasi utilizzando parole o strutture precedentemente sconosciute. I risultati dello studio hanno anche consentito una verifica positiva della percezione dei partecipanti sui benefici linguistici e culturali della partecipazione allo scambio virtuale. Inoltre, è stato osservato che i temi culturali sollevati dagli studenti si riferiscono in gran parte alla cultura pop, che di solito non è presente nelle proposte di programma di insegnamento della cultura polacca come cultura straniera. Il Capitolo VII costituisce un riassunto della ricerca svolta e una riflessione sull’uso degli scambi virtuali nell’insegnamento del polacco come lingua straniera al livello A1. È stato confermato che lo scambio virtuale può essere una preziosa forma di apprendimento per gli studenti della lingua polacca di livello principiante che, nonostante le loro limitate competenze linguistiche, sono in grado di svolgere efficacemente i compiti proposti e trarne vari benefici, come lo sviluppo di competenze interculturali (principalmente nel campo della conoscenza pratica), linguistiche (consolidando quelle conosciute e imparando nuove strutture lessicali e grammaticali) nonché digitali (grazie all’apprendimento di nuovi strumenti e delle loro funzioni). È stato inoltre riscontrato che le complicazioni derivanti dall’attuazione della telecooperazione italo-polacca mostrano che il livello linguistico dei partecipanti non influisce sul tipo di difficoltà affrontate dai loro coordinatori. Nel riassunto della tesi sono stati compresi i commenti riguardanti i limiti della ricerca condotta e le sue conseguenti implicazioni per il futuro.
Virtual exchange in teaching Polish as a foreign language at A1 level – a Polish-Italian case study In today's globalized world, it is vital to teach not only basic skills, such as reading, writing, numeracy, technical abilities, or the knowledge of foreign languages, but also those of more complex nature, such as entrepreneurship, critical thinking, intercultural and civil competences, problem solving, learning to learn, as well as digital literacy. One of the key competences of the 21st century education is invariably the ability to communicate in foreign languages which, like any education field, is expected to respond to the current demands of the youth. Having in mind that their interactions occur not only in a direct manner, but frequently via the Internet, their education needs to take this factor into account as well. Virtual exchanges – also referred to as telecollaboration, online intercultural exchange, e-tandem, or teletandem – are one of the types of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) that appear to be adequately addressing the needs of 21st century learners. Virtual exchanges are defined as an educational form involving the engagement of student groups in intercultural interaction and collaboration, which are conducted online with partners from different cultural backgrounds or geographic locations, under the leadership of teachers and/or expert facilitators. The academic research conducted over the past decades reports the numerous benefits derived from participation in such projects. Those include, but are not limited to, increased intercultural and language competences, the development of digital skills, the enhancement of teamwork skills, and the positive influence on learner autonomy. The participants of most telecollaboration projects described in literature are students at an advanced or intermediate level of language proficiency, and the exchanged languages are among the most commonly taught languages in Europe – predominantly English, often German, Spanish and French, and not uncommonly Italian. However, there exists very little research on the use of virtual exchanges in the didactics of less commonly taught languages (LCTL), and the sole example of telecollaboration, in which students spoke a Slavic language at the beginner level, are projects conducted by a Russian linguist, Ludmila Klimanova. This dissertation attempts to continue research efforts to fill a gap in literature concerning the study of telecollaboration that involves the use of a less commonly taught language, in this case Polish, at the beginner level. The author aims at illustrating virtual exchanges as a modern form of the learning process that corresponds with the needs of contemporary education, as well as at presenting in detail their application in the didactics of Polish as a foreign language at the beginner level. The research objectives of this study, accomplished via an analysis of the lexical resources used by students during a project, were to ascertain which theories of learning/language acquisition are applicable in the teaching process conducted through virtual exchanges. The subsequent research objective – achieved through the analysis of the cultural content provided by the participants of the project – is to determine to what extent the curriculum recommendations for teaching culture in the didactics of Polish as a foreign language are relevant to the process of learning in an online environment. Then, the didactical aim of the dissertation is to verify the usefulness of a telecollaboration model which would be appropriate for those starting to learn Polish as a foreign language. The basis for the presented research are three Polish-Italian telecollaboration projects, carried out successively in 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 between the students learning Polish at the University of Turin and the students of Italian at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University of Lublin at A1 level. The following PhD dissertation consists of seven chapters. The first three chapters constitute the theoretical part of this thesis, while the subsequent three form the research part. The last chapter aims at concluding the dissertation. Chapter I outlines the theoretical basis of this diploma paper – it discusses the status of foreign language teaching and learning (glottodidactics) as a scientific discipline and how glottodidactics of the Polish language fits in it. The considerations presented in this dissertation are concentrated within that field. Next, the most important theories of language acquisition and learning that affect the current state of language didactics are briefly discussed. Chapter II describes how the learning of foreign languages through the participation in virtual exchanges responds to the challenges of the 21st century education. A set of competences necessary for learners in the modern world is presented, with a focus on the following skills: linguistic, digital, personal, social, learning to learn, as well as intercultural. Those are the skills that are developed through telecollaboration-based projects. The latter ones have also become a stimulus for reflecting on the didactics of culture in the process of teaching foreign languages, especially in the context of teaching Polish as a foreign language. The chapter raises the issue of the competences necessary for the 21st century teachers and the skill set needed for an effective coordination of virtual exchanges. The aim of Chapter III is to present the role of virtual exchanges in computer-assisted learning. It outlines the history and definitions of that field, as well as its importance in the process of teaching Polish as a foreign language. The further part of the chapter focuses on issues directly related to telecollaboration – the definitions and chronology of its development, followed by the topic of designing virtual exchanges. The general typology of such projects, their various stages, and characteristic tasks along with the criteria for their creation are outlined as well. What is more, the attention is drawn to the small number of activities available for those learning foreign languages at the beginner level, amidst the materials aimed at teachers-coordinators of the telecollaboration. The set of frequently used tools in virtual exchange projects and the typology of challenges and problems that accompany its planning and implementation are also presented. Chapter IV aims at introducing the research section of the study. It presents general information about the three Polish-Italian virtual exchange projects undertaken by the author and the research project that was based on them. It defines the aims of implementing telecollaboration in the process of teaching Polish as a foreign language at the University of Turin, as well as the objectives of the planned study accompanied by a review of the subject literature. It discusses the educational context of foreign language learning at the two involved universities, as well as the factors shaping its organization. In the last part of the chapter a general outline of the conducted Polish-Italian virtual exchange projects is presented, together with a justification for the choice of the case study as the main research method adopted in the paper. Chapter V is devoted to a presentation of the results of the preliminary study based on data from the first edition of the Polish-Italian telecollaboration, which was carried out in the academic year of 2018/2019. The chapter outlines aspects directly related to the implementation of the project – the coordinators, the participants, the curriculum and the tools that were used – as well as those concerning the preliminary research design: the adopted methodology and the research questions aimed at assessing the adequacy of the difficulty degree of proposed tasks, in relation to the language level of the students performing them, the assessment of the tools that were used, and the attempt to identify the root of the problems that emerged during the implementation of the telecollaboration. For this purpose, several research methods were used simultaneously, following the concept of data triangulation: observations performed by the author of the dissertation throughout the project, a post-project survey conducted amongst the Italian participants, and a quantitative-qualitative analysis of the linguistic material, which consisted of all the students' utterances collected during the virtual exchange. The compilation of data obtained through the research methods mentioned above made a detailed evaluation for each exchange task possible and helped to provide answers to the previously posed research questions. As a result, it was determined that the digital tools were selected adequately to the performed activities, and that the problems that arose during the telecollaboration were caused by insufficient amount of time allocated to the project, as well as by deficiencies in the system of its coordination. What is more, two tasks proved to be overly challenging for the students in terms of language. Furthermore, it was stated that the students felt that their participation in the virtual exchange allowed them to learn new Polish vocabulary and contributed to an increase in their knowledge of the Polish culture and what it is like to live in Poland. The conclusions from the conducted analysis were utilized to improve the Polish-Italian telecollaboration project in its two subsequent editions. The most significant improvements included: extending the duration of the exchange, changing the project's coordination model, and removing and replacing certain tasks with new ones. Chapter VI presents the second and third editions of the Polish-Italian telecollaboration, which were carried out in 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, and the main conducted research which was based on them. Moreover, it verifies the cited students' opinions on the benefits gained from the virtual exchange, as well as analyses the lexical means used in the project and the cultural content included in the participants' utterances. The main goal of the research project was to determine which theories of language acquisition and learning can be applied to teaching through virtual exchanges, and to determine to what extent the existing curricula of teaching the culture of Polish as a foreign language are consistent with the cultural content shared by the partners in an online environment. In order to perform an analysis of the aforementioned issues, a quantitative-qualitative study was conducted, based on a language corpus created from student utterances collected during the Polish-Italian virtual exchange projects conducted in 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. The generated frequency lists were compared with the vocabulary introduced during the university classes of Polish as a foreign language, which made it possible to determine which lexical means are being retained owing to the participation in the virtual exchange, and which are considered new for the students. This also helped create a basis for determining the contribution of imitation and creation processes in vocabulary learning during telecollaboration at the beginner level. In the second part of the research, all excerpts of the participants' utterances containing cultural content were identified. Based on its quantitative-qualitative analysis, it was determined how often they occur in the students' interactions, what topics they relate to, and which tasks trigger them. Then, it was established to what extent they correspond to the curricula for teaching the culture of Polish as a foreign language, comparing them to the categories included within. The results obtained made it possible to claim that during the process of vocabulary acquisition, learners use actions based on imitation of linguistic forms, as well as on creation, forming new utterances using previously unknown words or structures. The research results also provided an affirmative verification of the participants' perceptions about the linguistic and cultural benefits of the participation in a virtual exchange. Moreover, it was observed that the cultural topics tackled by the students largely refer to popular culture, which is predominantly absent from the curricular proposals for the teaching of culture of Polish as a foreign language. Chapter VII provides a summary of the conducted research and reflects on the application of virtual exchanges in teaching Polish as a foreign language at A1 level. It confirms that virtual exchange can be a valuable form of learning for learners of Polish at the beginner level who, despite limited linguistic competence, are able to effectively perform the proposed tasks and gain various benefits, such as the development of intercultural competence (mainly in terms of factual knowledge), linguistic competence (by reinforcing the already known lexical and grammatical structures and learning new ones), and digital competence (by becoming familiar with new tools and their functions). It is also stated in the chapter that the complications that emerged during the Polish-Italian telecollaboration demonstrate that the language level of the participants does not influence the types of difficulties faced by their coordinators. The summary of the dissertation includes comments on the limitations of the conducted study and the implications for the future.

L'obiettivo del presente lavoro è quello di esaminare criticamente le prospettive teoriche più note sul problema delle relazioni tra sviluppo concettuale del bambino ed acquisizione della prima lingua. Per quanto il lavoro si concentri in particolare sullo sviluppo della componente lessicale, ovvero sul legame tra concetti e apprendimento delle parole con cui gli stessi vengono codificati, verranno necessariamente trattati anche alcuni aspetti relativi alla competenza morfologica e sintattica. Dopo aver presentato sinteticamente le principali teorie proposte nell'ambito della linguistica acquisizionale e della psicologia dello sviluppo, procederemo ad una problematizzazione e discussione dei punti critici delle stesse alla luce dei risultati ottenuti in sede sperimentale negli ultimi anni. Partendo dalla consapevolezza che nell'ambito della linguistica, forse ancor più che in altre discipline, il contrasto tra impostazioni teoriche diverse si traduce spesso in discrepanze significative nell'interpretazione degli stessi dati empirici, abbiamo cercato di dare lo stesso spazio ai vari orientamenti teorici. L'obiettivo di questa tesi, infatti, non è quello di dare giudizi di merito sulla validità di una teoria in quanto tale rispetto ad un'altra, quanto di discutere in modo trasversale i nodi più problematici delle varie teorie e le implicazioni delle stesse. Questo intento è particolarmente evidente nelle conclusioni della tesi, strutturate intorno ad una serie di domande di ricerca.
This work provides a critical overview of the major theoretical perspectives on the relationships between conceptual development and first language acquisition. While our focus is on lexical development (ie. on the relation between learning a word and acquiring the relevant concept), we will also touch on some aspects which pertains more specifically to morphological and syntactical development. After briefly introducing the major theories developed in the field of first language acquisition and developmental psychology, we will discuss them in the light of experimental data collected in recent years. As the same empirical findings tend to be interpreted in completely different ways, in our work we tried to give voice to authors supporting different views. Our goal is not to assess the merits of these theores as such, but to take this comparison as an opportunity to discuss the implications and issues thereof. This will be particularly clear in the Conclusions of our work, which are structured as a series of research questions.

L'obiettivo del presente lavoro è quello di esaminare criticamente le prospettive teoriche più note sul problema delle relazioni tra sviluppo concettuale del bambino ed acquisizione della prima lingua. Per quanto il lavoro si concentri in particolare sullo sviluppo della componente lessicale, ovvero sul legame tra concetti e apprendimento delle parole con cui gli stessi vengono codificati, verranno necessariamente trattati anche alcuni aspetti relativi alla competenza morfologica e sintattica. Dopo aver presentato sinteticamente le principali teorie proposte nell'ambito della linguistica acquisizionale e della psicologia dello sviluppo, procederemo ad una problematizzazione e discussione dei punti critici delle stesse alla luce dei risultati ottenuti in sede sperimentale negli ultimi anni. Partendo dalla consapevolezza che nell'ambito della linguistica, forse ancor più che in altre discipline, il contrasto tra impostazioni teoriche diverse si traduce spesso in discrepanze significative nell'interpretazione degli stessi dati empirici, abbiamo cercato di dare lo stesso spazio ai vari orientamenti teorici. L'obiettivo di questa tesi, infatti, non è quello di dare giudizi di merito sulla validità di una teoria in quanto tale rispetto ad un'altra, quanto di discutere in modo trasversale i nodi più problematici delle varie teorie e le implicazioni delle stesse. Questo intento è particolarmente evidente nelle conclusioni della tesi, strutturate intorno ad una serie di domande di ricerca.
This work provides a critical overview of the major theoretical perspectives on the relationships between conceptual development and first language acquisition. While our focus is on lexical development (ie. on the relation between learning a word and acquiring the relevant concept), we will also touch on some aspects which pertains more specifically to morphological and syntactical development. After briefly introducing the major theories developed in the field of first language acquisition and developmental psychology, we will discuss them in the light of experimental data collected in recent years. As the same empirical findings tend to be interpreted in completely different ways, in our work we tried to give voice to authors supporting different views. Our goal is not to assess the merits of these theores as such, but to take this comparison as an opportunity to discuss the implications and issues thereof. This will be particularly clear in the Conclusions of our work, which are structured as a series of research questions.

Problem-based Learning: Legal Education for the 21th Century Abstract The ever-faster changing modern society results in dynamic transformation of law. Some phenomena as use of technology, liberalization of legal services or globalization of market shapes the reality of legal profession in unprecedented way. Such a turbulent process challenges law schools struggling to prepare students for the future of legal profession. As functioning democracy and the rule of law depends significantly on the work of legal professions (as judges, legislators, solicitors or human-rights lawyers) there is a concern of the whole society in the quality of legal education. However, as a result of change, tasks, skills and knowledge required from the graduates now can significantly differ from what is expected in the future. Therefore, it is argued the skills as adaptability, independence and ability to learn are becoming the crucial competencies to develop among students. Once acknowledged by the law schools there is still a question to be discussed: How? The text examines problem-based Learning as possibly a more effective tool to prepare students for the uncertain future of legal professionals opposing the traditional approach to legal education. Problem- based Learning as other educational approaches based on constructivism...

This dissertation research study explored how registered nurses (RNs) use mobile devices as tools to support and enhance informal learning in their work settings. The mixed methods inquiry involved select Canadian practicing and regulated RNs who used mobile devices in their workplaces. A sequential explanatory research design collected quantitative and qualitative data using an online survey and semi-structured interviews. Quota sampling for the quantitative component yielded 170 usable online surveys. From the survey respondents, interview volunteers were purposively selected and ten (10) interviews were conducted. Descriptive, inferential, inductive, and integrated data analyses were conducted in order to explore strategies, processes, purposes, modes of use (individual [non-collaborative] or collaborative), and age-generational differences associated with RNs’ use of mobile devices for informal learning in the workplace. Findings indicated that the study participants primarily used their handheld devices for self-directed informal learning with non-collaborative strategies or processes in their work settings for accessing online resources for a range of reasons including: evidence-based support, new procedures/treatments, professional development, patient/client teaching, and maintaining competency. Age differences related to the use of mobile devices for informal learning were minimal. However, workplace-related influences including deficiencies in formal educational resources, Internet access, and/or employer support were relevant to the informal learning experiences. Positive perceptions of efficiencies, self-confidence, patient/client safety, patients/clients’ reactions, and the need for sanctioned resources for using mobile technologies in the healthcare workplace were articulated. The findings pointed to the significance of mobile devices as learning tools for RNs’ informal learning for construction of knowledge and meaning-making to inform professional development and continuing competence.
2013-01

Numa escola de ensino regular devem ser respeitadas as diferenças de cada um, assegurando os mesmos direitos e oportunidades a cada criança individualmente, tendo sempre em conta as suas necessidades e dificuldades. Nas escolas que se querem inclusivas é essencial que exista uma boa cultura de integração e inclusão de crianças com NEE’s e que exista um trabalho colaborativo entre os diferentes atores que compõem a equipa de trabalho, que deve incluir não só os professores, como os terapeutas especializados e também os pais, para que juntos possam partilhar as maiores dificuldades da criança promovendo-lhe assim o maior sucesso possível no seu desenvolvimento global. Este estudo baseou-se num estudo de caso de uma criança com Trissomia 21 integrada numa escola de ensino regular, onde se pretendeu conhecer e compreender a forma como esta criança foi integrada e acompanhada e, de forma particular, conhecer as estratégias dos profissionais e a importância atribuída pelos mesmos ao processo de integração desta criança. Para responder a estes objetivos de pesquisa, foram realizadas quatro entrevistas a atores centrais no processo de integração á criança na escola de ensino regular – à educadora de infância, à terapeuta da fala, à educadora de intervenção precoce e aos encarregados de educação. Por fim, concluiu-se que na integração de crianças com NEE’s, nomeadamente Trissomia 21, o mais importante é o trabalho colaborativo de todos os intervenientes educativos, de maneira a que o ensino-aprendizagem destas crianças seja o mais adequado, tendo sempre em conta as suas dificuldades e necessidades.
In a regular teaching institution all diferences should be respected, ensuring equal rights and opportunities to each and individual child, bearing always in mind their specific needs. Schools who want to include children with SEN’s, have to be aware that it is essential to have an environment that promotes integration and inclusion of these children, and there must be a collaborative work between the different parts of the educational team, which should include not only the teachers themselves, but also specialized therapists and the parents, so that all together they can help the child through difficulties and promote the best methods to achieve a sucessful overall development. This study was based on a case study of a child with Trisomy 21 integrated in a regular teaching institution, and the aim was to understand how this child was integrated and monitored and, in particular, to get to identify the strategies used by the teaching professionals and how much they felt it was contributing for the child's integration process. To answer these research goals, four interviews were conducted with some of the ''key players,, in the child's integration process - the kindergarten teacher, the speech therapist, a special intervention teacher and the parents. Finally, it was concluded that the integration of children with SEN, including Trisomy 21, the most important point is the collaborative work of all educational stakeholders, so that the teaching and learning methods of these children are the most appropriate, taking into account their needs.

As crianças com Trissomia 21 apresentam limitações próprias da sua condição genética (cromossoma adicional), as quais afetam os respetivos perfis de funcionalidade, incluindo as capacidades para a aprendizagem. Todavia, dependendo da dimensão das referidas limitações, estas podem não ser impeditivas da aprendizagem de uma segunda língua. A adoção de estratégias de ensino adequadas à forma e ritmo de aprendizagem destas crianças é referida na literatura como um fator crucial para garantir o sucesso da aprendizagem. Neste contexto, a aplicação das condições de ensino habitualmente utilizadas com crianças sem Trissomia 21 são, frequentemente, consideradas adversas à aprendizagem por crianças com esta condição. A presente dissertação, subordinada ao tema Trissomia 21 e a aprendizagem de uma segunda língua, centra-se nesta problemática. O seu principal objetivo é a avaliação das potencialidades de uma criança com Trissomia 21, que fala português, para a aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira, no caso concreto o Inglês, quando sujeita a condições de ensino semelhantes às utilizadas com crianças sem a condição. No desenvolvimento da investigação adotou-se uma metodologia de estudo de caso centrado numa criança com Trissomia 21 e idade cronológica de 9 anos, cuja caracterização foi efetuada, nomeadamente no que se refere ao contexto social, económico e familiar, ao diagnóstico funcional e ao percurso escolar. O processo de ensino-aprendizagem foi desenvolvido em 20 sessões individualizadas de uma hora semanal. Nestas sessões foram lecionados seis temas vocabulares que integram o conjunto de temas habitualmente ensinados pela investigadora nas aulas de iniciação ao inglês a crianças sem Trissomia 21, no âmbito das atividades de enriquecimento curricular (AEC). A extensão de cada tema, o ritmo de apresentação, as metodologias, as estratégias e os materiais utilizados foram semelhantes aos habitualmente empregados com crianças sem Trissomia 21 com idêntica idade cognitiva. Os resultados relativos ao desempenho da criança foram recolhidos com recurso a uma grelha de observação, onde constam os objetivos da aprendizagem relativamente à compreensão e expressão oral e à memória a longo e curto prazo, avaliados tendo em conta o modo como as tarefas foram executadas. Da grelha de observação constam também os objetivos comportamentais, avaliados numa escala de frequência. A análise dos resultados revela que o desempenho da participante no estudo é semelhante ao que tipicamente caracteriza as crianças sem Trissomia 21, nomeadamente no que se refere ao número de vocábulos aprendidos e à compreensão oral. Ao nível da expressão oral revelou algumas dificuldades na articulação de determinados vocábulos, fruto das dificuldades já apresentadas habitualmente pela criança na sua língua materna. Os resultados obtidos durante este estudo, permitem admitir que a longo prazo a criança poderá ser capaz de adquirir conhecimentos suficientes para comunicar de forma muito simples desde que o seu interlocutor se disponha a repetir ou dizer por outras palavras, num ritmo mais lento, e a ajude a formular aquilo que ela gostaria de dizer. Ao conseguir interagir oralmente desta forma, a criança atingiria o nível A1 da interação oral do Quadro Europeu Comum de Referência para as Línguas.
Children with Down Syndrome show some limitations due to their genetic condition (additional chromosome), affecting their functionality profiles as well as their ability to learn. However, depending on the level of the referred limitations, these may not be deterrent to learning a second language. As stated in the literature, the execution of suitable teaching strategies to the learning mode and rhythm of these children is vital to ensure the success in learning. In this context, the applied teaching approaches usually used with children without Down Syndrome are often considered adverse to the learning of children with the Syndrome. This dissertation, entitled Down syndrome and the learning of a second language, focuses on this problematic. It aims at assessing the potential of a child with Down Syndrome who speaks Portuguese learning a foreign language, in this case English, when subjected to similar learning conditions as the ones used with children without the same limitations. A case study methodology was selected during the course of this investigation centered on a nine years old (chronological age) child with Down Syndrome, characterized namely by his social, economic and family context, functional diagnosis and school progress. The teaching and learning process was developed in 20 private sessions, one hour weekly. During these sessions six lexical themes were taught which integrate the set of themes usually taught by the researcher in a beginner’s EFL class to children without Down Syndrome within the Atividades de Enriquecimento Curricular (AEC). The extension of each theme, the pace of its presentation, the methodologies, the strategies and the materials used were similar to those typically used with identical cognitive age children without Down Syndrome. The results regarding the child’s performance were collected using an observation grid containing both speaking and listening learning objectives and long and short term memory, assessed by the way tasks were performed. The observation grid also includes behavioral objectives, assessed on a frequency scale. The analysis of the results demonstrate that the performance of the participant in this case study is similar to those typically displayed by children without Down Syndrome, namely with regard to the number of words learnt and listening comprehension. However, the participant revealed some difficulty in the articulation of some words in speaking, a direct result from the difficulties usually presented by the participant in the child’s mother tongue. The results obtained during this study reveal that in the long run the participant may be capable of acquiring enough knowledge to communicate in a very simple way, provided that the interlocutor is willing to repeat or use other words at a slower pace, and help the child formulate what she would like to say. Being capable of orally interacting in such a manner, the participant would achieve an A1 speaking level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--State University of New York at Buffalo, 2005.
Title from PDF title page (viewed on Mar. 14, 2006) Available through UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Thesis adviser: Rissel, Dorothy. Includes bibliographical references.

O processo de inclusão da pessoa com Necessidades Especiais Educativas (NEE), no decorrer dos anos, desperta o interesse de pesquisadores; apesar disso, não contempla plenamente os indivíduos com multideficiência na questão da aprendizagem. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo compreender o processo da alfabetização na multideficiência, cognitiva e auditiva - através da observação, descrição da intervenção e identificação das potencialidades do aluno com Surdez com Trissomia 21. Para a realização dessa investigação, primeiramente foi feita a revisão bibliográfica e posteriormente, a pesquisa empírica. Foi utilizada a metodologia de estudo de caso. Participaram deste estudo, 8 participantes, a saber: responsáveis e educadores, residentes na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, os quais se dividiram em dois grupos: o primeiro, que cuida da jovem e o segundo, que conhece a temática mas não tem acesso à jovem participante da investigação. No que se refere à amostragem da pesquisa, esses foram oito participantes que residem na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, onde ocorreu este estudo. Tendo como ponto de partida, a estudante C. multideficiente, com a idade de 24 anos, Surdez na Trissomia 21 e o seu processo de alfabetização inserido na Educação de jovens e Adultos-PEJA I, com atendimento em Sala de Atendimento Especializado e Educacional (AEE), no contraturno em outra escola da rede. A partir da recolha dos dados, mesmo diante das variáveis deste ensino, existe a necessidade de um procedimento que ressalte as competências - com credibilidade - no potencial do indivíduo, de forma a promover conjuntos de ações que possibilitem a alfabetização, a orientação familiar para o acréscimo da introdução à Libras, a primeira língua do surdo. Esta vai beneficiar na construção de novos saberes, e proporcionar não só a comunicação e a interação com o mundo mas também favorecer a construção de uma identidade surda. A respeito do método, surge uma nova perspetiva com o contributo das evidências científicas sobre a eficácia do método fônico, que contempla o ensino-aprendizagem, que instrui o alfabetizador a confiar na eficiência do indivíduo com necessidades especiais e evidencia ser necessário um novo domínio sobre a reciclagem neural, para que este se possa adaptar a esta metodologia. Os resultados evidenciados no decorrer desta investigação permitem novos questionamentos sobre o processo para alfabetização destes alunos, de forma a obter uma experiência significativa, e a proceder ao ajuste de uma prática pedagógica que responda às necessidades da família e dos educadores.
The process of including people with Special Educational Needs (SEN), over the years, arouses the interest of researchers; despite this, it does not fully contemplate individuals with multiple disabilities in the issue of learning. This dissertation aims to understand the process of literacy in multideficiency, cognitive and auditory - through observation, description of the intervention and identification of the potential of the student with Deafness with Trisomy 21. To carry out this investigation, the bibliographic review was first carried out and later, empirical research. The case study methodology was used. Eight participants participated in this study, namely: guardians and educators, residing in the city of Rio de Janeiro, who were divided into two groups: the first, who takes care of the young woman and the second, who knows the theme but does not have access to young research participant. With regard to the survey sample, these were eight participants who reside in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where this study took place. Taking as a starting point, student C. multideficiente, aged 24 years old, Deafness in Trisomy 21 and her literacy process inserted in Youth and Adult Education-PEJA I, with assistance in the Specialized and Educational Service Room ( AEE), while working at another school in the chain. From the collection of data, even in the face of the variables of this teaching, there is a need for a procedure that highlights the competences - with credibility - in the individual's potential, in order to promote sets of actions that enable literacy, family orientation for the child. addition to the introduction to Libras, the first language of the deaf. This will benefit in the construction of new knowledge, and provide not only communication and interaction with the world, but also favor the construction of a deaf identity. Regarding the method, a new perspective emerges with the contribution of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of the phonic method, which includes teaching and learning, which instructs the literacy teacher to trust in the efficiency of the individual with special needs and shows that a new mastery over neural recycling, so that it can adapt to this methodology. The results evidenced in the course of this investigation allow new questions about the literacy process of these students, in order to obtain a significant experience, and to adjust an educational practice that responds to the needs of the family and the educators.

This research analyses hackathons which are collaborative innovation making by using technology events, in terms of using these as a tool to facilitate a lifelong learning process in obtaining digital competence among other 21 st century skills. The aim of this research is to explore and analyse the perceptions and experiences of hackathon participants and different stakeholders about the learning process experienced during a hackathon event. The following research questions are studied: RQ1. How do interviewees perceive hackathons in relation to key elements of the UNESCO Learning Cities Framework?; RQ2. How do participants of the hackathons perceive their learning process?; RQ3. How do participants of the hackathons perceive their learning process by using digital tools during the hackathon events? Kolb’s experiential learning theory and UNESCO Learning Cities Framework are used as the ground for the theoretical-methodological frameworks. The methods chosen to collect the data are survey questionnaire and interviews. The results provide insights that apart from developing digital competence and using technology as a tool for learning, collaboration, communication and problem-solving are the main skills practiced during a hackathon. This implies that hackathons could be used on a wider scale to help with UNESCO Learning Cities development by facilitating the learning process for adults in the development of 21 st century skills.

This article was presented in May 2020 at Stockholm University, Department of Education.

This finalized article was presented to UNESCO Learning Cities Program Specialist at the Institute of Lifelong Learning in Hamburg, in July 2020.

Key findings of this research were presented at the Joint International Seminar with Stockholm University, University of Tokyo and Jyväskuylä University in February 2020.

Interviews with this article's author about this research:

By Future Position X, digital innovation hub in Sweden (available in English & Swedish): https://fpx.se/en/people-come-to-learn-network-and-make-a-difference/

Canberra Innovation Network mentions my research: https://cbrin.com.au/women-in-innovation/women-in-innovation-monika-lionaite/?fbclid=IwAR1mTBwXI8yS9uxkoTZSdhnB2jhpKA4kRs_GztyrAqCmbAJNNZ_KH0DR_Jo

Presentations about this research were done by the author at the Rotary Clubs of Canberra Sundowners and Canberra Weston Creek, also at the international conference of Rotary International activities during the global pandemic.

The author shared key findings as a speaker at the international conference promoting tolerance and peace on the topic 'Crisis and the role of states in developing solutions' November 2020 which was organized by the American International Education Federation and Alliance for Humanity; at the international online conference of Young Scientists on the topic of 'Leadership in peace-building and international development in the digital age' in November 2020 which was organized by Western Asian Development Institute.