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- Interaction between course units: an experience in higher educationPublication . Silva, Flora; Barros, Paula Maria; Ribeiro, J.E.Given the specificity of the Higher Professional Technical Courses (CTeSP) of Portuguese Polytechnic Institutes, it is important that in the course units related to these courses is promoted, whenever possible, a more contextualized learning environment, less theoretical and more connected to practice. In order to respond to this approach, in the Safety and Environment course unit, integrated in the CTeSP in Mechanical Technology and Vehicles, was followed a methodology that involved the interconnection of this course unit with the one of Automotive Materials Processing I of the same course. It should be noted that, in recent years, it is common for students to carry out a practical group work in the area of Safety and hygiene at work, where they analyse, in a real context, the hazards and risks associated with working with machine tools of the Mechanical Technology laboratory of the institution where they attend the course. As in the 2nd semester, students still attend the Automotive Materials Processing I course unit, where they produce a metal piece using industrial machines, also in the same laboratory, it was considered relevant to take advantage of the work they were developing in that course unit and make a connection with the Safety work. In this sense, in the 2020/2021 school year, it was proposed that students identify hazards and risks associated with the production of the metal piece they were developing, as well as establish preventive and control measures associated with its production (engineering, collective protection and safety signs measures; personal protective equipment; work organization and administrative control; training and information). From the analysis performed, the students created a PowerPoint® presentation to show their productions and present their conclusions to the class. In general, students easily adhered to the proposed task, having committed themselves to its implementation, which was visible in the final assessment, since all those who participated in the work were approved in the course unit. In the student’s opinion, the connection between the two course units, motivated them more to carry out the group work, facilitated their learning and helped them to better understand the application of Safety concepts to the practice of mechanics (79.2%, 75% and 83.3% agree or totally agree, respectively). Carrying out the group work, allowed them to know their difficulties, overcome some of them and improve their arguments (79.2%, 83.3% and 95.8% agree or totally agree, respectively). It is considered that the learning resulting from this contextualized work can be useful, in order to promote a greater exchange between course units, and a greater awareness for the application of the course contents in a real context. The experience carried out can be easily replicated to other CTeSP and can significantly contribute as a learning factor for the internship that integrates the study plan of these courses.
- Hazards and risks of machine-tools: an experience in the mechanical technology and vehicles coursePublication . Silva, Flora; Barros, Paula Maria; Ribeiro, J.E.Given the specificity of the Higher Professional Technical Courses it is important that the classes are oriented in order to promote a learning with a strong connection to the practice and its course. Following this principle, it was proposed to the students of the Mechanical Technology and Vehicles course of the School of Technology and Management of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (Portugal) that attended in 2017/2018 the course unit “Safety and Environment”, the accomplishment of a practical work that had as scenario the laboratory of Mechanical Technology. The experience had a positive impact on students learning, since, in addition to allowing them to work on content in a contextualized way, it contributed, among other things, to developing their autonomy and communication skills.
- Hazards and risks of machine-tools: an experience in the mechanical technology and vehicles coursePublication . Silva, Flora; Barros, Paula Maria; Ribeiro, J.E.The Higher Professional Technical Courses (HPTCs) consists in a training typology of Higher Education of short course and confers a Higher Professional Technical Diploma. They have a duration of four semesters and the last one is carried out in work context. The HTPC in Mechanical Technology and Vehicles (MTV) of the School of Technology and Management of Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (Portugal), is part of the Technology training area and integrates in its study plan the course unit (CU) “Safety and Environment”, which is taught in the 2nd semester of the 1st year. The classes are theoretical-practical (2 hours per week) and the contents covers the theme of safety and hygiene at work and the environment, with greater incidence in the first theme. Given the specificity of the HPTCs, it is important that in their CUs it promotes, whenever possible, a more student-centered learning, with a greater interconnection between the practice and the respective course. Therefore, during the 2017/2018 school year, in the context of safety thematic, it was proposed to a MTV class (21 Portuguese students and 1 from Cape Verde) to carry out a group work with a focus on the machine-tools (e.g. mechanical lathe, milling machine, drilling machine and saw) existing in the Mechanical Technology laboratory. Each group chose a machine-tool and the proposed work was divided into the following phases: characterization of the machine-tool; risk analysis (identification of hazards and consequent risks associated with the use of the machine-tool); legal and normative framing; risk assessment (application of one of the methods studied in the theoretical part); preventive measures to be implemented; presentation the work done to the class and questioning by the colleagues. The evaluation and reflection about the pedagogic experience is based on the field notes registered by the teacher/researcher, on the students' productions and on a questionnaire that was applied to them during the last class of the semester. Regarding the contents of the CU, the difficulty most pointed out by the students was "to identify the legislation applicable to the situations in question", since 72.7% reported that they had had some or many difficulties. The distinction between the concept of hazard and risk was also one of the difficulties observed by the teacher during the classes, which was corroborated by the students, since 40.9% assumed that they had some or many difficulties in the identification of hazards and 45.5% in the identification of risks. According to the students, the difficulties in carrying out the proposed group work were mainly due to the lack of attendance at classes (31.8% agree) and not being able to select the information that is relevant (27% agree). Even so, it can be considered that, in general terms, the experience was positive for the students' learning. It should be noted that the majority of students agree or fully agree that carrying out the group work and its presentation contributed, among other aspects, to clarify some concepts (100%), to feel more confidence in their abilities (95.5%), overcome some of the difficulties (95.5%) and increase their autonomy, not being so dependent on the teacher (100%). It is also considered that the learning resulted from this contextualized work can be useful for other CUs in which the students have to use the machine-tools, and can also be an added value at the internship that integrates the course study plan.
- Transição secundário-superior: diagnóstico dos conhecimentos matemáticos de alunos portugueses e africanosPublication . Barros, Paula Maria; Silva, Flora; Fernandes, José AntónioOs conceitos de matemática abordados no ensino superior, no âmbito dos cursos de engenharia, revestem-se de alguma complexidade pelo que requerem um bom domínio de conhecimento matemático. Assim, se se pretender que a passagem entre o ensino secundário e o superior se faça de forma harmoniosa, integrada e com um sentido de continuidade, não se deve descurar a importância dos conhecimentos prévios dos alunos. Por outro lado, face à realidade de algumas instituições portuguesas de ensino superior, em que há cada vez mais alunos provenientes de diferentes culturas e, por consequência, com variados percursos de aprendizagem à entrada no ensino superior, a avaliação diagnóstica permite aos professores conhecer o nível de conhecimento matemático dos seus alunos, para além de lhes poder dar uma visão das diferentes estratégias que eles usam na resolução das questões, permitindo-lhes, assim, adequar o processo de ensino-aprendizagem à realidade da sala de aula. Neste contexto, tendo em vista identificar as dificuldades e perceber os raciocínios dos alunos na resolução de questões consideradas propedêuticas à aprendizagem de álgebra linear e geometria analítica, aplicou-se um teste diagnóstico a alunos que frequentavam essa unidade curricular num curso de licenciatura de uma instituição do norte de Portugal. Responderam ao teste 49 alunos portugueses e 40 alunos provenientes de vários países africanos, o que permitiu também averiguar as diferenças entre estes dois grupos em termos de respostas e raciocínios na resolução das questões propostas. Da análise dos dados pode concluir-se que, independentemente da sua nacionalidade, os alunos apresentaram dificuldades consideráveis na resolução de algumas questões, nomeadamente quando estas envolviam o relacionamento entre as representações gráfica e analítica de sistemas de equações lineares, a tradução de um enunciado dado em linguagem corrente para a linguagem matemática, utilizando um sistema de equações lineares, e o cálculo do produto escalar de vetores. Em consequência, a ausência de conhecimentos prévios pode comprometer as possibilidades de sucesso na unidade curricular e levar os alunos a abandoná-la. Cabe, assim, aos professores ajudar os alunos a ultrapassarem as suas dificuldades, desenvolvendo e implementando estratégias que promovam a reflexão e o debate sobre conceitos, representações e procedimentos com elas relacionados.
- Contributions to the learning in Linear Algebra: an experience with the MathE platformPublication . Barros, Paula Maria; Silva, Flora; Cordeiro, EditeThe current pandemic context has highlighted the importance of looking for technological alternatives that contribute to students having more autonomy in their learning. As the teaching of mathematics in higher education must also accompany this reality, we believe that the use of the MathE platform can be an asset in the teaching and learning process of this area, both in the classroom or online environment and self-study. The MathE platform (https://mathe.pixel-online.org) emerged as the product of a project, funded by the European Commission through the Portuguese National Agency for the Erasmus + Programme, whose main objective is to help students in higher education to improve your math skills and knowledge. In this sense, with the support of a community of teachers from various European institutions, it intends to make a set of resources free of charge for the academic communities, such as, videos/documents on specific topics or on solving tasks, sets of questions of multiple choice, for self-assessment by students or for teachers to take assessment tests. Currently the platform encompasses 15 domains of mathematics, some of which with subtopics. For example, the topic Linear Algebra involves, among others, the subtopics Vector Spaces and Linear Transformations. It was precisely the resource “Self Need Assessment”, available in these subthemes, that served as the basis for a study in which it was intended to listen to the students' opinion about the potential of this platform functionality for their learning. In summary, 84 students who attended the course unit of Linear Algebra and Analytical Geometry, as part of the 1st year of a bachelor in engineering or technology in Portuguese higher education, solved some tasks of self-assessment on Vector Spaces and Linear Transformations. They also answered a questionnaire in which they expressed their opinion on the platform, with emphasis on the self-assessment component. Thus, we intend to present the MathE platform and, based on the perceptions/opinions of students and teachers involved in the experiments carried out, analyse its potential for the promoting the teaching of linear algebra.
- Learning exchange: a collaborative work between course unitsPublication . Silva, Flora; Ribeiro, J.E.; Barros, Paula MariaThe joint reflection between teachers from different areas, and with different backgrounds, on the strategies to be implemented in some course units (UCs), with the aim of building a scenario that fosters learning and, in parallel, allows the development of transversal skills, led to the idealization of a teaching proposal in which, in addition to valuing learning in a real work context, it was intended to promote the exchange of knowledge acquired by the students from different course units. The proposal in question involved the UCs of Mechanical Technology I and Manufacturing Processes I, of the 2nd year of the bachelor in Mechanical Engineering and in Technology and Industrial Management, respectively, and the course unit of Safety and Environment of the 1th year of the Higher Professional Technical Course (CTeSP) in Mechanical Technology and Vehicles. The UCs for Mechanical Technology I and Manufacturing Processes I, are taught together, being the fundamental contents foundry manufacturing processes and plastic metal forming processes. The Safety and Environment UC covers the contents: legislation, prevention management, assessment and control of occupational risks, hygiene and safety at work and environmental management. Summing up, in addition to two study visits to companies in the field of metallomechanics, there was an exchange of knowledge between students. In this context, undergraduate students were given the role of conducting communication sessions that would clarify some of the mechanical processes observed in companies. Similarly, CTeSP students were tasked with sharing about the hazards and risks inherent in the real work context in the visited companies and the respective awareness of the means of protection to be used. The analysis and evaluation of the experience carried out was based on the observations of the teachers of the classes, as participating observers, in the productions developed by the students, in the intermediate questionnaires that were carried out after the visits, more directed to the expectations and learning carried out and, in a final questionnaire, in which students were asked for their opinion on various aspects related to the developed experience. In this sense, in addition to describing the project carried out, it is intended to focus on some of the opinions/perceptions of teachers and students involved about the contribution of the experience to the promotion of learning.
- Interaction between course units: an experience in higher educationPublication . Silva, Flora; Barros, Paula Maria; Ribeiro, J.E.Given the specificity of the Higher Professional Technical Courses (CTeSP) of Portuguese Polytechnic Institutes, it is important that in the course units related to these courses is promoted, whenever possible, a more contextualized learning environment, less theoretical and more connected to practice. In order to respond to this approach, in the Safety and Environment course unit, integrated in the CTeSP in Mechanical Technology and Vehicles, was followed a methodology that involved the interconnection of this course unit with the one of Automotive Materials Processing I of the same course. It should be noted that, in recent years, it is common for students to carry out a practical group work in the area of Safety and hygiene at work, where they analyse, in a real context, the hazards and risks associated with working with machine tools of the Mechanical Technology laboratory of the institution where they attend the course. As in the 2nd semester, students still attend the Automotive Materials Processing I course unit, where they produce a metal piece using industrial machines, also in the same laboratory, it was considered relevant to take advantage of the work they were developing in that course unit and make a connection with the Safety work. In this sense, in the 2020/2021 school year, it was proposed that students identify hazards and risks associated with the production of the metal piece they were developing, as well as establish preventive and control measures associated with its production (engineering, collective protection and safety signs measures; personal protective equipment; work organization and administrative control; training and information). From the analysis performed, the students created a PowerPoint® presentation to show their productions and present their conclusions to the class. In general, students easily adhered to the proposed task, having committed themselves to its implementation, which was visible in the final assessment, since all those who participated in the work were approved in the course unit. In the students opinion, the connection between the two course units, motivated them more to carry out the group work, facilitated their learning and helped them to better understand the application of Safety concepts to the practice of mechanics (79.2%, 75% and 83.3% agree or totally agree, respectively). Carrying out the group work, allowed them to know their difficulties, overcome some of them and improve their arguments (79.2%, 83.3% and 95.8% agree or totally agree, respectively). It is considered that the learning resulting from this contextualized work can be useful, in order to promote a greater exchange between course units, and a greater awareness for the application of the course contents in a real context. The experience carried out can be easily replicated to other CTeSP, and can significantly contribute as a learning factor for the internship that integrates the study plan of these courses.
- Contributions to the learning in linear algebra: an experience with the MathE platformPublication . Barros, Paula Maria; Silva, Flora; Cordeiro, EditeThe current pandemic context has highlighted the importance of looking for technological alternatives that contribute for students to achieve greater autonomy in their learning. In particular, in the field of mathematics in higher education, it is urgent to find technological instruments that mediate learning, such as interactive content or online platforms. The MathE platform (https://mathe.pixel-online.org), still under development, aims to be a tool to facilitate the acquisition of mathematical skills in the field of higher education. Its main resources are the Self Need Assessment, Final Assessment, Material Didactic and Video Collection and are freely available for students and teachers. It was precisely the resource “Self Need Assessment”, that served as the basis for a study with 84 students who attended the course unit of Linear Algebra and Analytical Geometry, as part of the 1st year of a Bachelor in engineering or technology in portuguese higher education. They solved some tasks of self-assessment on Vector Spaces and Linear Transformations, and finally answered a questionnaire in which they expressed their opinion of the platform. We intend to present the MathE platform and, based on the perceptions/opinions of students and teachers involved in the experiments carried out, analyse its potential for the promoting the teaching of linear algebra.
- Aprendizagem contextualizada: cenários no ensino superiorPublication . Silva, Flora; Ribeiro, J.E.; Barros, Paula MariaPromover a autonomia dos alunos e conseguir que eles assumam o papel de protagonistas no seu processo de aprendizagem é um dos desafios que se coloca atualmente aos professores do ensino superior. A exploração de situações problemáticas que envolvam contextos diretamente relacionados com as áreas dos cursos que os alunos frequentam poderá ter um importante contributo para a consecução desses objetivos. Tendo em mente estas diretrizes, realizaram-se algumas experiências de ensino com alunos de dois cursos do ensino superior politécnico, da área da mecânica. Na Licenciatura em Engenharia Mecânica, o público alvo foi um grupo selecionado de alunos, quatro em 2014/2015 e quatro em 2015/2016, que frequentavam a unidade curricular (UC) de Tecnologia Mecânica II. No curso Técnico Superior Profissional em Tecnologia Mecânica e Veículos, os participantes foram os alunos que frequentavam a UC de Segurança e Ambiente, 18 em 2016/2017 e 22 em 2017/2018. Em ambas as UC os alunos trabalharam em grupo e foram colocados perante uma situação problemática, que lhes permitia explorar os conteúdos inerentes à UC num contexto prático. Em Tecnologia Mecânica II o desafio lançado foi conceber e construir uma calandra (em 2014/2015) e uma prensa hidráulica (em 2015/2016), de pequenas dimensões. Em Segurança e Ambiente, o objetivo principal em ambos os anos letivos, foi identificar perigos e riscos associados a máquinas-ferramentas do Laboratório de Tecnologia Mecânica. Pode-se considerar que, embora as propostas fossem diferenciadas de acordo com a UC, todos os trabalhos foram desenvolvidos em três etapas: Planeamento, Trabalho de Campo e Desenvolvimento do Projeto e Relatório. A avaliação e reflexão sobre as experiências realizadas do ponto de vista da aprendizagem dos alunos foi feita com base nas suas produções e nas notas de campo recolhidas pelos professores, enquanto observadores participantes. Em termos gerais, pode-se considerar que se conseguiu que os alunos pesquisassem, mobilizassem e aplicassem os conhecimentos necessários para dar resposta às situações problemáticas que lhes foram propostas, tendo, em simultâneo, debatido e trabalhado os conteúdos inerentes às UC. Mesmo as dificuldades que surgiram, podem ser entendidas como uma fonte de aprendizagem e um fator positivo a favor deste tipo de experiências, na medida em que os alunos acabam por ter de ultrapassar obstáculos em cenários próximos da realidade profissional que vão enfrentar no futuro.
- Experiencing the technical-scientific production process with master's studentsPublication . Ribeiro, J.E.; Barros, Paula Maria; Silva, FloraIn the current context, much of the information that higher education students need for their academic work is searched on the internet, but they do not always use the proper filtering tools to select it. This aspect, together with the fact that they do not have reading habits of technical-scientific texts, especially when written in English, makes it pertinent in master's courses to challenge students to tasks that allow them to develop these skills. In this sense, within the scope of the Manufacturing Processes course unit (UC) of the master’s in industrial engineering, it was proposed to carry out a group work, which, in addition to the laboratory component, involved the writing of a scientific article in English and peer review. In the practical component, students were asked to idealize (1st phase) and create (2nd phase) a piece in aluminium alloy, preferably with some innovative character. In the first phase, considering some restrictions that were imposed in terms of material and maximum dimensions, they had to think and decide with their group colleagues about the characteristics of the part, drawing and dimensioning it in SOLIDWORKS®. In the second phase, the students started by simulating the part's manufacturing process using the CAM (Computer Aiding Manufacturing) module, CNC (Computer Numerical Control) code generation and, finally, they started to manufacture it with numerical control machines. Alongside the practical component, students were encouraged to develop the theoretical component of the work, researching in scientific articles matters related to the design and manufacturing methods of their type of piece or part. Each group had to produce an article in English that focused on the work carried out, both at a technical and scientific level, and to review an article from another group, in addition to the reformulation of its own based on the suggestions of colleagues. In order to know the student’s opinion about the process, a questionnaire was applied, in which, among other aspects, their opinion was asked about this entire writing and revision process. From the students who responded, 94.7% agree or totally agree that the elaboration of the article allowed them to develop skills that may be useful to them in the future and 84.2% agree or totally agree that the work of reviewing the article has improved their critical skills. However, the teacher found that students had difficulty in mobilizing their knowledge and creativity to design an innovative piece, so it is important to continue to promote this type of approach so that students develop research and thinking skills associated with practical aspects. As would also be expected, the fact that the article was written in English made the process of writing (57.9% agree or totally agree) and review (63.2% agree or totally agree) difficult, but they were faced with the need to overcome this barrier can be an important contribution to increasing their English proficiency.