- Porto, Porto, Portugal
Nilza Costa
University of Aveiro, Departamento de Educação, Faculty Member
Research Interests: Teaching and Learning, Education, Learning and the Brain, Portuguese, Higher Education, and 10 moreMathematics Education, Learning and Teaching, Political Science, Bologna Process, Evaluation, Learning And Teaching In Higher Education, Undergraduate Research, Learning, Christian Ministry, and Novelty
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Este artigo debruça-se sobre o impacto da utilização de tablets no desenvolvimento de competências digitais, especificamente nas áreas de Literacia de informação e de dados e de Comunicação e colaboração, de 80 alunos do 3.º ciclo do... more
Este artigo debruça-se sobre o impacto da utilização de tablets no desenvolvimento de competências digitais, especificamente nas áreas de Literacia de informação e de dados e de Comunicação e colaboração, de 80 alunos do 3.º ciclo do ensino básico de dois agrupamentos de escola da zona centro de Portugal, no âmbito de um projeto educativo de um-para-um (1:1). Trata-se de um estudo de caso enquadrado pelo DigComp, Quadro Europeu de Competência Digital para Cidadãos, enquanto referencial para a construção dos instrumentos de recolha de dados e sua interpretação. Os dados foram recolhidos por questionário e focus groups. Os resultados sugerem um reduzido impacto da utilização de tablets ao nível do desenvolvimento das competências digitais estudadas, e apontam para razões que lhe podem estar subjacentes (por exemplo, a forma como os tablets foram utilizados pelos professores). Neste sentido são sugeridas recomendações para um uso mais eficaz de tablets e, atendendo ao contexto em que o...
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The present research aims to evaluate the impact of two master courses offered by one public higher education institution in Angola on the professional development of Angolan teachers and also on the broader educational community. The two... more
The present research aims to evaluate the impact of two master courses offered by one public higher education institution in Angola on the professional development of Angolan teachers and also on the broader educational community. The two courses were attended by 393 teachers. The data of 45 answered questionnaires and six verbatim transcripts of individual semi-structured interviews were analysed. According to the teachers perspective the courses contributed to teachers’ personal growth and changes of practices, as well as improved students’ learning (micro context of impact). Although to a lesser extent, impact on broader contexts was also identified, indicating that changes occurred also within other teachers and elements of the surrounding school community (meso context of impact) as well as the community of educational research (macro context of impact). The results in discussion are of relevance for further investment on post graduation courses (master level) for teachers offe...
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This article aims to characterize the supervisors’ discourse about their TP in the context of initial teacher education of future Secondary School teachers in Cape Verde, trying to understand some of their limitations and/or failures... more
This article aims to characterize the supervisors’ discourse about their TP in the context of initial teacher education of future Secondary School teachers in Cape Verde, trying to understand some of their limitations and/or failures while performing their academical duties and, consequently, their training needs. The methodology involves construction, validation, and application of questionnaires with 10 institutional supervisors, 19 cooperative supervisors and 66 future teachers, and in order to better understand the results interviews with 3 Higher Education supervisors and 3 school supervisors were carried out. The results show that it is urgent to develop supervisors’ competences, in order to promote reflexive and critical teachers, based on thinking and acting, as well as to increase collaboration with their peers, in a reflective scenario of teacher education. This will certainly enhance the quality of their supervisor role, and make them more active in their professional dev...
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Fast development of technologies, changing needs of digital learners and other aspects of the digital era have had a major impact on universities and their learning management procedures. Access to information online, possibilities of... more
Fast development of technologies, changing needs of digital learners and other aspects of the digital era have had a major impact on universities and their learning management procedures. Access to information online, possibilities of open online learning and need to manage one’s time lead to the changed profile of today’s students and their need to recognize their prior knowledge or skills. This brings a challenge for universities to adapt their procedures of prior learning recognition. This research aims at identifying requirements for universities to recognize open online learning (OOL), focusing on the qualitative analysis of insights and experiences of experts who are knowledgeable and experienced in the field of OOL. Although OOL recognition procedures tend to be similar as in the recognition of other types of learning, the universities face external challenges, coming from labour market, as well as reserved, if not negative, attitudes towards openness and lack of trust in OOL...
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Under the Bologna Process, in progress in Europe since 1999, major changes should be introduced in the organisation of Higher Education (HE), concerning both the degree structure and the organisation of the teaching and learning... more
Under the Bologna Process, in progress in Europe since 1999, major changes should be introduced in the organisation of Higher Education (HE), concerning both the degree structure and the organisation of the teaching and learning environment. Although the ...
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O quadro de intervenção das Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) em Angola tem registado uma evolução marcadamente quantitativa, refletida no redimensionamento do Ensino Superior (ES), na sua expansão, na multiplicação de IES, no aumento... more
O quadro de intervenção das Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) em Angola tem registado uma evolução marcadamente quantitativa, refletida no redimensionamento do Ensino Superior (ES), na sua expansão, na multiplicação de IES, no aumento da oferta formativa e, em consequência, no aumento do efetivo estudantil. No entanto, a dimensão qualitativa é com frequência questionada, em termos do desempenho das instituições, do perfil de entrada dos estudantes e da qualificação académica e profissional dos docentes (QAPD).Sendo o Plano de Desenvolvimento Institucional (PDI) um documento reitor das IES no País, ele deve incluir elementos que potenciem a sua qualidade, em particular no que diz respeito à QAPD. A QAPD e o PDI constituem-se como eixos estruturantes deste estudo.Porém, não se conhece a existência de um instrumento de análise (IA) que possa contribuir para a construção e monitorização do PDI. Neste sentido, este artigo objetiva descrever, fundamentadamente, o desenvolvimento de um...
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Being digitally competent requires appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes towards the use of digital technologies for different aspects of today’s society. The role Education plays in equipping students with such competence is... more
Being digitally competent requires appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes towards the use of digital technologies for different aspects of today’s society. The role Education plays in equipping students with such competence is increasingly important, but despite the growing number of studies on the topic, little is known about the impact the use of digital technologies has on students’ digital competence. This paper presents and discusses findings regarding the impact of tablet use on the development of lower secondary students’ digital competence. A retrospective evaluation was made resorting to a questionnaire applied to students from two schools. Findings suggest that the frequency of tablet use seems to explain the development of digital competence as well as students’ perceptions of their digital competence proficiency level.
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A competência digital dos cidadãos europeus continua longe do desejável para as necessidades de uma economia e sociedade altamente digitalizadas, sendo assim premente a necessidade de se estabelecer uma resposta global ao défice digital.... more
A competência digital dos cidadãos europeus continua longe do desejável para as necessidades de uma economia e sociedade altamente digitalizadas, sendo assim premente a necessidade de se estabelecer uma resposta global ao défice digital. A criação, em 2013, de um quadro europeu de referência para a compreensão e desenvolvimento da competência digital foi um passo nessa direção, mas os esforços para a sua aplicação continuam a ser de difícil concretização, em particular em Portugal. A importância do quadro consubstancia-se no contributo para a clarificação das principais componentes da competência digital, bem como para o estabelecimento de uma linguagem sólida e partilhada sobre a mesma. Porém, o seu principal objetivo é promover o desenvolvimento de iniciativas, para já nas áreas da educação, formação e emprego, que melhorem os níveis de competência digital dos cidadãos europeus. Este artigo tem um duplo objetivo: apresentar, fundamentadamente, o quadro europeu de referência para a...
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Research has been conducted in order to design frameworks for Higher Education (HE) teaching competencies. These studies have been developed with the aim of helping to understand what skills, attributes, and roles are required from HE... more
Research has been conducted in order to design frameworks for Higher Education (HE) teaching competencies. These studies have been developed with the aim of helping to understand what skills, attributes, and roles are required from HE teachers. In this paper we aim to review some of these research studies with the purpose of understanding teaching roles and create clusters of competencies required for teaching in HE. This study will set the ground for developing a reference framework for the evaluation of teaching competencies of HE teachers in Portugal, especially when using ICT as a tool to support learning, and identify continuous professional development training strategies that can be inducted to help improve the teaching and learning experience in HE.
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E exigido que a educacao em ciencia hoje questione as relacoes entre ciencia, tecnologia, sociedade e o mundo. No contexto da formacao de professores de Fisica, esta investigacao insere-se num quadro de valorizacao do conhecimento e da... more
E exigido que a educacao em ciencia hoje questione as relacoes entre ciencia, tecnologia, sociedade e o mundo. No contexto da formacao de professores de Fisica, esta investigacao insere-se num quadro de valorizacao do conhecimento e da reflexao epistemologica e ontologica, com vista a construcoes identitarias, transformadoras e para a intervencao. E descrito um percurso de formacao centrando o tema da Fisica Quântica e a complexidade enquanto quadro de referencia. Os resultados mostram o despertar de uma consciencia, potenciadora de pratica lectiva, da ciencia como face da cultura, que se integra no ritmo do tempo e que estabelece com a nossa vida uma estreita relacao. A multidimensionalidade emerge como estruturante de um modelo de formacao para o mundo em mudanca, onde os processos reflexivos e identitarios se constituem essenciais.
Research Interests: Philosophy and Humanities
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National education policies are increasingly regulated by international agendas, for example the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development (SD). However, in order to put such policies into practice, social actors like teachers and teacher... more
National education policies are increasingly regulated by international agendas, for example the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development (SD). However, in order to put such policies into practice, social actors like teachers and teacher educators must include them in their practices. In this context, this study stems from the following research question: how does initial teacher education (ITE) promote the SD Agendas (2030 and 2063 for Africa)? The approach to this question is carried out through a case study focused on an Angolan teacher education higher education institution, in its graduate course for future secondary school biology teachers. The main aims of this study are (i) to characterize how ITE includes SD and (ii) to suggest ways to improve SD, particularly focusing on students’ future professional needs. Data were gathered from document analysis (the pedagogical curriculum plan of the course; titles and abstracts of final-year future biology teachers’ essays) and an inte...
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In this paper, the authors, as teachers of the Virtual Mobility and Learning ERASMUS Intensive Programme (VML–IP), put forward an analysis of the student’s final evaluation of the Programme as to the most important achievements they... more
In this paper, the authors, as teachers of the Virtual Mobility and Learning ERASMUS Intensive Programme (VML–IP), put forward an analysis of the student’s final evaluation of the Programme as to the most important achievements they assume to have reached. In terms of methodology, this study has an exploratory and descriptive nature; hence, being based on empiric evidence. Thus, in the last face-to-face session, students were asked by the Programme’s coordination to present an overall evaluation of their experience in the VML–IP. Data were collected in loco, i.e. through the posters created by each group, as well as the video of the students’ oral presentations. They were later analysed using content analysis. The results unveil that, although the main goal was fulfilled – i.e. to be able to design and implement a course on a ‘Virtual Mobility and Learning’ topic underpinned by solid theoretical background in the area –, the fact is that every group also pointed out several soft com...
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Educational research points to similar learning experiences across different countries, in particular that physical science tends to be an unpopular discipline among students from secondary school. The use of students’ voice to adapt... more
Educational research points to similar learning experiences across different countries, in particular that physical science tends to be an unpopular discipline among students from secondary school. The use of students’ voice to adapt curriculum and implement innovative teaching practice has been gaining relevance towards the effort of potentiating positive and meaningful learning experiences. The present research discusses the voice of 1139 Angolan students from one public school attending the first cycle of secondary education (7th to 9th grade) considering their physics classes. Students’ voice was accessed through the application of a questionnaire which included open and closed questions, some in the format of statements requiring students to indicate their individual opinion. Descriptive statistics to ten specific aspects of their physics classes points to a global scenario of transmissive teaching and a lack of laboratorial and technological resources. Moreover, laboratorial w...
Resumo A competência digital dos cidadãos europeus continua longe do desejável para as necessidades de uma economia e sociedade altamente digitalizadas, sendo assim premente a necessidade de se estabelecer uma resposta global ao défice... more
Resumo A competência digital dos cidadãos europeus continua longe do desejável para as necessidades de uma economia e sociedade altamente digitalizadas, sendo assim premente a necessidade de se estabelecer uma resposta global ao défice digital. A criação, em 2013, de um quadro europeu de referência para a compreensão e desenvolvimento da competência digital foi um passo nessa direção, mas os esforços para a sua aplicação continuam a ser de difícil concretização, em particular em Portugal. A importância do quadro consubstancia-se no contributo para a clarificação das principais componentes da competência digital, bem como para o estabelecimento de uma linguagem sólida e partilhada sobre a mesma. Porém, o seu principal objetivo é promover o desenvolvimento de iniciativas, para já nas áreas da educação, formação e emprego, que melhorem os níveis de competência digital dos cidadãos europeus. Este artigo tem um duplo objetivo: apresentar, fundamentadamente, o quadro europeu de referência...
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This paper presents an ongoing research that deals with the development of a quality framework of reference for Technology Enhanced Learning in Higher Education. We will present the design of the methodology used for building our... more
This paper presents an ongoing research that deals with the development of a quality framework of reference for Technology Enhanced Learning in Higher Education. We will present the design of the methodology used for building our framework linked to a collection of internal and external references. We will also present criteria derived from this data collection phase. We will set landmarks for discussing what determines quality in Technology Enhanced Learning and what dimensions must be considered to evaluate its quality.
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O presente artigo apresenta os resultados preliminares de uma investigação que tem como objetivo construir um referencial de qualidade da Aprendizagem Potenciada pela Tecnologia e desenvolver um modelo para avaliar a Aprendizagem... more
O presente artigo apresenta os resultados preliminares de uma investigação que tem como objetivo construir um referencial de qualidade da Aprendizagem Potenciada pela Tecnologia e desenvolver um modelo para avaliar a Aprendizagem Potenciada pela Tecnologia no Ensino Superior. O processo de construção desse referencial integra um quadro teórico, proveniente da literatura da especialidade com um estudo empírico de cariz interpretativo e exploratório. O artigo conceptualiza a problemática assente na qualidade da Aprendizagem Potenciada pela Tecnologia dando relevo à metodologia de quadro referencial utilizada para delinear de forma
transparente critérios para aferir a existência de qualidade desta modalidade de aprendizagem.
Serão apresentados os passos metodológicos assim como alguns resultados preliminares
transparente critérios para aferir a existência de qualidade desta modalidade de aprendizagem.
Serão apresentados os passos metodológicos assim como alguns resultados preliminares
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Measurements of pressure drop were carried out for the flow of a Newtonian fluid in 90 deg tee junctions with sharp and round corners. Rounding the corners reduced the energy losses by between 10 and 20%, depending on the flow rate ratio,... more
Measurements of pressure drop were carried out for the flow of a Newtonian fluid in 90 deg tee junctions with sharp and round corners. Rounding the corners reduced the energy losses by between 10 and 20%, depending on the flow rate ratio, due to the reduction in the branching flow loss coefficient, whereas the straight flow basically re- mained unaffected. The corresponding detailed measurements of mean and turbulent velocities for a Reynolds number of 31,000 and flowrate ratio of 50% showed that rounding the corner lead to an increase in turbulence in the branch pipe. The increased turbulence diffused momentum more efficiently thus reducing the length of the recircula- tion by 25% with its width and strength also decreasing in magnitude. The overall effect of the increased dissipation due to turbulence and reduced dissipation due to mean flow irreversibilities in the recirculation was a decrease in the corresponding loss coefficient. DOI: 10.1115/1.2354524
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Research has been conducted in order to design frameworks for Higher Education (HE) teaching competencies. These studies have been developed with the aim of helping to understand what skills, attributes, and roles are required from HE... more
Research has been conducted in order to design frameworks for Higher Education (HE) teaching competencies. These studies have been developed with the aim of helping to understand what skills, attributes, and roles are required from HE teachers. In this paper we aim to review some of these research studies with the purpose of understanding teaching roles and create clusters of competencies required for teaching in HE. This study will set the ground for developing a reference framework for the evaluation of teaching competencies of HE teachers in Portugal, especially when using ICT as a tool to support learning, and identify continuous professional development training strategies that can be inducted to help improve the teaching and learning experience in HE.
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Curriculum development in virtual mobility (VM) educational contexts requires from Higher Education teachers to think differently when facing paradigms such as (i) the development of a new teaching presence, (ii) the design of new... more
Curriculum development in virtual mobility (VM) educational contexts requires from Higher Education teachers to think differently when facing paradigms such as (i) the development of a new teaching presence, (ii) the design of new curricula, (iii) the design of learning materials adapted to different learning environments, (iv) the application of different learning strategies and (v) the development of new assessment approaches, models and tools. In this part of the chapter we aim to present a brief literature review related to the development of the curricula
for VM courses focusing on the above mentioned dimensions. We also discuss some principles for VM that are considered in the literature (Op de Beeck, Bijnens & Van Petegem, 2008) as very important for the development of curricula.
for VM courses focusing on the above mentioned dimensions. We also discuss some principles for VM that are considered in the literature (Op de Beeck, Bijnens & Van Petegem, 2008) as very important for the development of curricula.
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Research Interests: Geology, Teaching and Learning, Teacher Education, Science Education, Higher Education, and 13 moreProfessional Development, Education Research, Teaching Methods, Professional Education, teaching Strategies, Impact, Empirical Study, Professional Practice, Questionnaires, Secondary School, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Study design, and Large Scale
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This paper presents and discusses a faculty development program being carried out at the University of Aveiro, aiming at providing academics with essential skills in areas such as teaching best practices, student-centered curriculum... more
This paper presents and discusses a faculty development program being carried out at the University of Aveiro, aiming at providing academics with essential skills in areas such as teaching best practices, student-centered curriculum design, collaborative learning and the adoption of ICT/Internet technologies.
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Quality in higher education is a subject of increasing importance. This idea can be supported by looking at different sources, namely, the scientific literature, national and transnational governments’ policies, such as those emerging... more
Quality in higher education is a subject of increasing importance. This idea can be supported by looking at different sources, namely, the scientific literature, national and transnational governments’ policies, such as those emerging from the Bologna Process. Also, the internationalisation of higher education and, within it, students’ and staff mobility among institutions, has brought to the agenda the quality issue, particularly with regard to the teaching and learning process. Several authors argue that the meaning of quality depends on who defines it. This article focuses on a study that looks at how teachers and students in higher education institutions, in Portugal and in the domain of Engineering, see the quality issue. Data was collected through interviews to teachers (six) and students (38) in two different Portuguese institutions. The results indicate that, although teachers and students refer to the same dimensions that influence quality, they have different perspectives about their importance. From the point of view of the authors, this discrepancy requires some pedagogical actions in the context where the study was developed and, also, further research to see if the same tendency exists in different settings.
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In this paper, we report on a small-scale study designed to estimate science teachers’ awareness of findings derived from research in science education and other branches of educational research. The study was conducted among experienced... more
In this paper, we report on a small-scale study designed to estimate science teachers’ awareness of findings derived from research in science education and other branches of educational research. The study was conducted among experienced science teachers in Portugal who were following advanced professional training programmes, usually leading to Masters’ degrees in science education. The results indicate that science teachers’ knowledge of education research findings is generally very limited. What teachers regard as sound pedagogical knowledge is usually derived from personal experience and ‘common sense’ and does tend not to be questioned by them as to its compatibility with the results of research. The outcome of the study provides evidence of the existence of a serious gap between research and the practice of science education. In the light of these findings, the authors propose that to narrow this gap should be a major task to be addressed by researchers and practitioners.
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This study is a meta-interpretative analysis that focuses on research conducted and published by other researchers. Concepts central to this study include global practical relevance, curriculum design, and formative situation. We analyzed... more
This study is a meta-interpretative analysis that focuses on research conducted and published by other researchers. Concepts central to this study include global practical relevance, curriculum design, and formative situation. We analyzed 35 studies selected from 374 published studies in the years 2000 and 2001 in three journals referenced in the International Scientific Index. Using a replicable methodology developed specifically for this research, we found evidence of s clusters of variables that suggest the existence of transversal traits in the 35 science education research studies. These results form a reference framework of theoretical and practical knowledge relevant for research and practice pertaining to teaching and learning science. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 574–599, 2008
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Research Interests: Evaluation and Didaskalia
ABSTRACT Modelling is an inherent process for the construction and use of science concepts that mobilize diverse specific competences. The aims of this work are to put forward a means of evaluating modelling competences that is relevant... more
ABSTRACT Modelling is an inherent process for the construction and use of science concepts that mobilize diverse specific competences. The aims of this work are to put forward a means of evaluating modelling competences that is relevant for physics teaching and science education research and to identify the potentials and constraints in the development of modelling competences. A written test, which embraces a wide range of modelling aspects in mechanics domain, was drawn up and validated, and a theoretically based evaluation methodology was specified. In the validation process, the test was given to 75 subjects distributed across seven levels of physics education. The answers were analysed and later cluster analysis was carried out in order to identify categories of answers among the diverse answers. The results indicate that the test identified and delimitated modelling competences. Some results are in agreement with those obtained through other research into this issue and other results better elucidate certain aspects of modelling. The way in which evaluation methodology can be used in other areas of physics is discussed, such as in research and in teaching. Also discussed is how the constraints and potentials identified in the development of modelling competences can be taken into account in teaching and learning sciences.