Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2015-08"
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- The qualitative systemic analysis in the context of qualitative research methodsPublication . Lalanda-Gonçalves, RolandoAlex Mucchielli in the University of Montpellier developed the qualitative systemic analysis. In this communication, we intend to present the principles of this methodological approach in human and social sciences. We believe that this qualitative approach is innovative in the context of qualitative methods and allows a new perspective in the analysis of the communication processes in social organizations. The main operations of the systemic qualitative method are the iterative definition of the framework, the identification of the recurrences and circular causalities, and the modelling of relations/social exchanges. These operations aim to find the sense/meaning of a social exchange system. The logic of the system, found by an approach that respects all the validation process in the qualitative methods, is important to clarify the specificity of the research in human and social sciences. In fact, qualitative research is one of the scientific achievements that are most relevant in the comprehension of the dynamics of human interaction.
- Mathematical contents through talesPublication . Martins, Maria do Carmo; Melo, Helena Sousa; Santos, Ana Isabel; Vinagre, SandraThis work is about the contest “A tale that accounts” which is promoted by an organizing committee with the collaboration of Regional Delegation of South and Islands of the Portuguese Mathematical Society. This contest is open to all students of public and private schools of all country and consists of writing and illustrating a tale involving mathematical contents. The contest, which is now in its third edition, began in the school year of 2012/2013. The experience allows us to point out that it promotes the interdisciplinary between different contents and revealed to be a captivating initiative that has been well accepted by a growing number of students and teachers.
- Behaviors and attitudes in the teaching and learning of geometryPublication . Melo, Helena Sousa; Martins, Maria do CarmoThis paper presents a case study about teaching and learning topics of Geometry that are part of the syllabus of high school courses. Internationally the teaching of Geometry has been the subject of several studies. Nevertheless, research continues to reveal that Geometry is still quite absent from the classrooms, especially in the early years; Geometry is disliked by most students, is misunderstood, and its notation is totally ignored. One of the reasons for this failure is that these issues are addressed superficially in the curriculum of the training teachers of Geometry. This paper describes the experience of teaching Geometry to a class with 90 students in academic year 2014-2015, enumerates some difficulties and behaviors faced by students and teachers, and exposes the results of the academic success.
- Mathematical education and interdisciplinarity : promoting public awareness of mathematics in the AzoresPublication . Teixeira, Ricardo Emanuel Cunha; Ferreira, João MiguelMathematical literacy in Portugal is very unsatisfactory in what concerns international standards. Even more disturbingly, the Azores archipelago ranks as one of the worst regions of Portugal in this respect. We reason that the popularisation of Mathematics through interactive exhibitions and activities can contribute actively to disseminate mathematical knowledge, increase awareness of the importance of Mathematics in today’s world and change its negative perception by the majority of the citizens. Although a significant investment has been undertaken by the local regional government in creating several science centres for the popularisation of Science, there is no centre for the popularisation of Mathematics. We present our first steps towards bringing Mathematics to unconventional settings by means of hands-on activities. We describe in some detail three activities. One activity has to do with applying trigonometry to measure distances in Astronomy, which can also be applied to Earth objects. Another activity concerns the presence of numerical patterns in the Azorean flora. The third activity explores geometrical patterns in the Azorean cultural heritage. It is our understanding that the implementation of these and other easy-to-follow and challenging activities will contribute to the awareness of the importance and beauty of Mathematics.
- A survey about experiments on notions of time in children k-1 and k-2Publication . Silva, Vânia; Cabral, JoãoIn this paper we explore the importance of analyzing the exercises that the manuals have in Mathematics study, because the difficulty of identifying some errors on them can interfere with the capabilities of children. We work with some exercises related to the theme of temporal notions, based on a survey of textbooks from the 1st and 2nd grade (K-1 and K-2). Our concern is to alert about the importance of reflecting on the content of the books, in order to promote a teaching-learning process tailored to the needs of children. The activities present in the manuals should allow children to develop their logical- mathematical reasoning, for later be able to understand and apply Mathematics. To this end, we present some reflection about the exercises of manuals, and we give our opinion about what is the correct and incorrect. Also, some activities are suggested, among which were implemented with children of the 2nd grade, K- 2, along the experiments that support our work.
- The role of European intellectuals in the public spherePublication . Medeiros, Pilar DamiãoThis paper tries to understand – throughout a comparative social, historical and political analysis – if there is any continuity in the modus operandi of intellectuals in contemporary public arena. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to identify, if the European public intellectual of the 21st century has recovered his/her active role and legitimacy in the public domain such as the one he/she already experienced in the mid-sixties and seventies. Having in mind the contradictory discourses around the role and representation of the intellectual, it seems, nevertheless, crucial to keep hold of E. Said’s argument about intellectuals as “representative figures” (E. Saïd, 1993), who through responsible action, creativity, courage (B. Misztal, 2007) and an “avantgardistic instinct for relevance’s” (Habermas, 2009) should be endorsed with the values of a free and deliberative democracy. In a nutshell, this paper enables us to understand that the resurgence of critical intervention and political engagement of civic-minded intellectuals in the public arena has been contributing to a greater vitality and re-politicization of European public sphere.
- Silence in organizations and psychological safety : a literature reviewPublication . Pacheco, Daniel Costa; Moniz, Ana Isabel Arruda; Caldeira, Suzana NunesIn the business world, employees can contribute with information, ideas, concerns, opinions and proposals to their managers in respect of: (1) the way work could be performed, (2) what should / should not be done in the workplace, (3) how a particular decision can be implemented, and (4) how an organizational policy should be formed and executed (Rego, 2013). However, due to a diverse set of factors, employees often choose to remain silent in the workplace. One of these factors is psychological safety, which describes employees’ perceptions of the consequences of taking interpersonal risks in the workplace (Edmondson, 2014). The following paper is essentially a literature review and its aim is to, firstly, make a brief approach to factors reported in the literature that may affect employee voice and silence, followed up by an explanation of the types of silence that can be engaged by employees. Besides that, the authors will also make an approach to physical and psychological safety. Lastly, it will be reported some links, mentioned in the literature, between employee silence and psychological safety.
- The flipped-broadcast learning system, application on AzoresPublication . Cabral, João; Nunes, JerónimoOn this work we suggest a teaching solution that can be implemented in Azores, an archipelago of nine islands of Portugal, based in already known system of e-learning, with a twist based on the flipped method. Structured in a cooperative way, the organization of the system allows to isolated groups of people to have access to a certain level of teaching, if they cannot have the possibility to have physical presence in school due to problems emerging from territory discontinuity. Our suggestion can be elaborate in a model that can be adapted to any level of education, and can be adapted also in cases that a cut of budget exists. We suggest the name of fb-learning: Flipped Broadcast Learning.
- Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North AtlanticPublication . Helmig, Detlev; Muñoz, Mauricio; Hueber, Jacques; Mazzoleni, Claudio; Mazzoleni, Lynn R.; Owen, Richard C.; Val-Martin, Maria; Fialho, Paulo; Plass-Duelmer, Christian; Palmer, Paul I.; Lewis, Alastair C.; Pfister, GabrieleA record spanning ten years of non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) data from the Pico Mountain Observatory (PMO), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal, was analyzed for seasonal NMHC behavior, atmospheric processing, and trends, focusing on ethane and propane. The location of this site in the central North Atlantic, at an elevation of 2225 m asl, allows these data to be used to investigate the background conditions and pollution transport events occurring in the lower free North Atlantic troposphere. The quantity ln([propane]/[ethane]) was used as an indicator of both photochemical processing and a marker for the occurrence of pollution transport events detected at the station. The Pico data were compared with three other continuous NMHC data sets from sites bordering the North Atlantic, i.e. the Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) stations at Summit, Greenland, Hohenpeisssenberg, Germany, and Cape Verde, using ln([propane]/[ethane]) results as an indicator for the degree of photochemical processing (‘aging’) seen in the data. Comparisons of these three data sets showed some significant differences in the seasonal background and range of observed values. The statistical distribution of binned monthly data was determined, and individual sample events were then scaled to the monthly median observed value. Back trajectories, determined by the HYSPLIT model were used to investigate the geographic origin of the observed trace gases as a function of the degree of photochemical processing. Results show that PMO samples have been subjected to a diversity of air transport and aging, from highly processed air to freshly emitted air throughout the year, and in particular during summer months. The predominant air transport is from North America, with only occasional influence from continental areas located east and southeast (Europe and Africa). The available record was found to be too variable and still too short to allow deciphering NMHC trends from the data. Ethane and propane measurements at the PMO were compared with the MOZART-4 atmospheric chemistry and transport model at the appropriate time and location. The model was found to yield good agreement in the description of the lower range of atmospheric mole fractions observed, of the seasonal cycle, and the regional oxidation chemistry. However, ethane and propane enhancements in transport events were underestimated, indicating that after the ≥ 3 days of synoptic transport to PMO the spatial extent of plumes frequently is smaller than the 2.8° × 2.8° (∼300 km) model grid resolution.
- As comunicações interpessoais e as redes informáticasPublication . Nunes, Jerónimo[...] «Com a implantação das primeiras redes informáticas, no início da década de oitenta do século passado, começaram a surgir os primeiros programas informáticos de suporte às comunicações interpessoais assíncronas com a participação de múltiplos emissores ou recetores, tirando partidos das capacidades do computador para armazenamento e processamento das informações (mensagens) transmitidas pelos intervenientes.» [...]