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- Five years of ReCLes.pt: building a national network in Higher EducationPublication . Arau Ribeiro, María Del Carmen; Moreira Silva, Manuel; Gonçalves, AnaReCLes. pt 2014 International Conference on Languages and the Market: Competitiveness and Employability, Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Tourismo de Estoril, Estoril, Portugal
- Digital Tools and methods to Enhance Learning: The Digitools ProjectPublication . Gonçalves, Maria José Angélico; Tavares, Célia; Terra, Ana Lúcia; Moreira Silva, Manuel; Bernardes, Oscar; Valente, Iolanda; Lopes, CristinaThe use of distance education using digital tools in higher education has increased over the last decade, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has resulted in schools shutting down all across the world. This paper aims to present a brief summary of the Digitools Project and a multicultural analysis of the use of e-learning during Covid-19 in six countries. The methodology used was a survey by questionnaire involving teachers, librarians and students. The analysis of the questionnaire results allowed us to identify which dimensions to assess the sustainability of eLearning namely the organizational, socio-cultural and technological context. It also made it possible to assess the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, intention to use, actual use and perceived satisfaction. Furthermore, personal, technological and organizational dimensions are also valued for e-learning usage. After reviewing the state of the art, there was a need to define a strategic training plan for the acquisition of basic and advanced skills for eLearning’s implementation and usage.
- B-learning: potenciador de estratégias de combate ao insucesso escolarPublication . Silva, Manuel; Peres, Paula; Pereira, Rui HumbertoSendo o insucesso escolar um problema universal nas instituições de ensino, torna-se necessário encontrar a fórmula para o diminuir para níveis que deixem de constituir um problema tão grave como actualmente. Muitas estratégias pedagógicas têm sido utilizadas, mas certamente que a aposta passará pela responsabilização do aluno e pelo estímulo à sua capacidade de realizar um estudo autónomo. Neste plano, o b-learning assume um papel preponderante na medida em que poderá constituir uma alavanca para essa transformação. Os métodos tradicionais de ensino/aprendizagem deverão evoluir no sentido de optimizar a adaptação dos seus principais intervenientes - alunos e professores - dotando-os das competências pedagógicas e técnicas necessárias. Neste contexto, iniciativas que promovam a disseminação de hábitos e práticas pedagógicas complementares ao ensino presencial assumem uma importância acrescida. Analisando o caso concreto do PAOL - Projecto de Apoio On-Line do ISCAP, verificamos que este constitui uma força propulsora e promotora da modificação generalizada das práticas, uma vez que propõe o b-learning como reforço da componente presencial, e não como mero meio transmissor de conhecimento. Apresenta-se assim como instrumento de combate ao insucesso escolar, distendendo o papel do formador a ambientes virtuais e ampliando a responsabilização do aprendiz no processo de formação. O presente artigo descreve o percurso do PAOL, iniciado no ISCAP no ano lectivo 2003/2004, bem como as estratégias desenvolvidas para a implementação sustentada de uma plataforma de e-learning, actualmente baseada no Moodle. Serão analisados os sucessos e os fracassos de um projecto que, ainda em fase de amadurecimento, apresenta já alguns resultados positivos na componente da cultura institucional de e/b-learning. A experiência do PAOL desafia assim as instituições de ensino superior a (re)pensarem seus modelos pedagógicos no sentido de auxiliar a aprendizagem ao longo da vida e a adequação às mudanças inerentes ao processo de Bolonha. O desenvolvimento experimental atingido com este projecto pretende contribuir para a criação de um referencial de inovação nas instituições de ensino superior, procurando entender como se desenvolve a inovação e quais os seus principais condicionantes.
- CLIL: estudo paralelo e estudo comparativo nas instituições de Ensino SuperiorPublication . Morgado, Margarida; Coelho, Margarida; Moreira Silva, Manuel; Gonçalves, AnaCLIL: Estudo Paralelo e Estudo Comparativo nas Instituições de Ensino Superior
- Modeling and simulation of walking robots with 3 dof legsPublication . Silva, Manuel; Tenreiro Machado, J. A.; Jesus, Isabel S.This paper describes a simulation model for a multilegged locomotion system with 3 dof legs and leg joint actuators having saturation. For that objective the robot prescribed motion is characterized in terms of several locomotion variables. Moreover, the robot body is divided into several segments in order to emulate the behavior of an animal spine. A non-linear spring-dashpot system models the foot-ground interaction, being its parameters computed from studies on soil mechanics. To conclude, the performance of the developed model is evaluated through a set of experiments while the robot leg joints are controlled using a proportional and derivative algorithm.
- A reinvented education in Business and accounting using a GBL approach for soft skillsPublication . Bastos, Susana; Moreira Silva, Manuel; Poza-Lujan, Jose-LuisThe vulnerable, dynamic and digitalizing working environments of the 2020s obviously propose new types of ‘newcomer’ skills. The character of these ‘soft skills’ is inherent, whereby their learning forms a challenge for educators. Researchers around the world are on the same question: how to make the learning tools and rebuilt the classroom (virtual and face-to-face) in order to cope with this digital generation? This change needs to incorporate new Skills; these skills, called Core Skills, are changing the way to teach and to learn. Motivation is the essential key to have in mind. Creating mind-sets under a strong cognitive engagement is education for the future of professionals. Gamification, Game-Based Learning (GBL), Simulations, Virtual classrooms, digital platforms with contents and many other methods are in use all around the world to change, with motivation, the perspective of students towards their own learning path. The VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world brought Higher Education Institutions the discussion of the future for an education of excellence. This article intends to present a case study as a solution to combine Simulation and GBL to promote the Core Skills that students and teachers need to achieve success on the process of teaching and learning. The solution is innovative due to the main scope: the perfect connection of humanity and empathy through the use of Simulation-GBL in higher educational institutions.
- Languages and the market: a ReCLes.pt selection of international perspectives and approachesPublication . Arau Ribeiro, María Del Carmen; Gonçalves, Ana; Moreira Silva, ManuelReCLes.pt – the Association of Language Centres in Higher Education in Portugal – was honoured to host the ReCLes.pt 2014 International Conference on Languages and the Market: Competitiveness and Employability at the Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies (ESHTE – Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo de Portugal). This topic is pivotal for the development and improvement of specific language skills that serve different areas in the labour market. Indeed, according to the report Languages for Jobs: Providing multilingual communication skills for the labour market, a report set up under the Education and Training 2020 framework, language learning should be “better geared to professional contexts and the needs” of the job market since doing so will then benefit not only learners but also “those seeking to employ people who are well-trained and properly qualified to assume their professional responsibilities” (2011: 4). Although the working group did include representatives from Italy and Ireland, it did not include Spain or Portugal, meaning that only two of the five most troubled countries in terms of their employment and economic situations contributed to the final report. This lack of representation motivated, in part, the conference theme for the ReCLes.pt 2014 International Conference, with the dual need for ever-improving research results for language teaching and the increasing relevance of language learning at a time of staggering austerity and rising rates of youth unemployment. Indeed, the ability to speak a number of foreign languages not only generates economic benefits and fosters employability but also promotes the mobility of professionals and diverse business activities, enabling companies to perform successfully on the global stage. From the confluence of educators, researchers and representatives from the business world debating languages as competitive assets in professional contexts, a selection of authors were invited to publish their papers in this volume. The collection comprises eleven relevant papers in Portuguese and in English divided in five topics: Languages, Culture and Employability; Languages and Technology; Languages and New Technologies; Languages for Tourism Purposes; and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). On the topic of Languages, Culture and Employability, Monika Hrebackova’s article on “Intercultural Communicative Competence and the Management Dimension of Culture” explores the impact of intercultural contexts on communication competencies in a foreign language, specifically English. The author describes the clear competitive advantage of intercultural competence in the corporate sector, covering perceptions of stereotypes, time and negotiating as well as issues of hierarchy, individualism and indulgency, among others. She brings her personal experience as a Czech to her outline of Czech cultural values to determine sources of cultural clashes and suggest some strategies for applying intercultural competence in management situations. On the same topic, Abdelaziz Kesbi’s “Foreign Language Mastery and Glocal Employability” reflects on the linguistic map of Morocco and the functional specializations of each language of the country’s patent multilingualism to determine the economic relevance of teaching their various foreign languages for the global market. This analysis is made within the context Moroccan language planning policies, concerning Arabization, Arabic and Amazigh as well as the status of French and English. Kesbi concludes with the proposal of English as a lingua franca to support the country’s most recent progressive free trade agreements. On the topic Languages and Technologies, the volume offers five articles, the first of which is “The Status of EFL Teaching in Moroccan Vocational Schools: A case study at the Meknès School of Technology”, Mohamed El Kandoussi argues the inadequacy of the linguistic competence of recent graduates and their challenges in the labour market. His research is based on a case study of local English language courses to ascertain the compatibility of the course content with the students’ vocational orientations while uncovering teachers’ attitudes and opinions towards a number of pedagogical practices, including the corporate culture of their school, course material, the students’ needs for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) versus general English and the perceived need for further teacher training. In line with technical concerns for future Engineers, Milan Smutny’s article on “The Language of Science and Technology: Linguistics as a part of a multidisciplinary study program” examines terminology, especially the formation of adjectives using premodification to effectively and precisely communicate within a specific discourse community. The author provides examples of the shared profession knowledge as part of the language of Science and Technology so that English language teachers can better understand the ways specific terminology is created as a precise description of reality in the daily professional lives of Electrical Engineers. Another contribution involving new technologies is by Maria de Lurdes Martins, Gillian Moreira and António Moreira on “Aprendizagem dialógica, dialética e autêntica da língua inglesa com recurso à Web 2.0”, where the authors discuss the open, participatory and social nature of Web 2.0 and the challenges it brings to foreign language classes. This paper, which describes the design and implementation of an action research project in English language courses, focuses on the interactional tasks that were implemented using Web 2.0 tools and their results, which led to the creation and maintenance of dialogic processes for the production of collaborative outputs through an active involvement of students in solving authentic activities, while developing their capabilities to manage individual and collaborative learning processes. Luisa Salvati and Luana Cosenza’s article on “Teaching Foreign Languages for Specific Purposes in Mobile Learning for the Internationalization of SMEs” reflects on the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as enablers of foreign language learning and facilitators of internationalization. Their paper focuses specifically on the results of LSECON, a project that dealt with the implementation of language courses to support SMEs in the Tuscany region of Italy. To conclude the technologies section, the volume offers the results of a joint project that has dealt with working across cultures in tandem-learning situations albeit in a readily available online source, presented in Regina Mügge and María del Carmen Arau Ribeiro’s article on “Language Learning with the SEAGULL Tandem Database”, which delves into this rich European Union-funded project, an acronym for Smart Educational Autonomy by Guided Language Learning. The result of collaboration between 18 partner institutes from 11 countries, SEAGULL provides language learning material for 13 languages with a number of special online features. This tool for tandem partners who aim to continue working together after their first exchange offers linguistic support, suggested issues for discussion and a myriad of cultural information about the countries involved in the SEAGULL project. The authors provide a guided visit of the wealth of material available at http://SEAGULL-tandem.eu/ that can be easily accessed by teachers and students alike. On the topic of Languages for Tourism Purposes, Gisela Soares and Teresa Pataco examine the specificities of language learning in the hospitality sector, namely in the areas of catering and restaurant service. In “‘Eu nem sei o que é um badejo em Português!’: um projeto de desenvolvimento de vocabulário específico em língua inglesa para a indústria hoteleira”, the authors reflect on the teaching methodologies and results of an interdisciplinary project developed by higher education students in TV Cooking Show, an English language course that aims to develop the specific vocabulary of students through research and task-based activities which enhance learner autonomy. In the following article by María del Carmen Arau Ribeiro and Florbela Rodrigues, these researchers consider the plethora of materials available from Tourism Marketing as an authentic source for teaching English, Spanish, Portuguese and French in higher education, drawing on commercial goods and promotional material on the respective countries to enhance intercultural awareness and to practice language skills based on maximizing communication and theories of visualization. The relevant and timely teaching strategies in their article, “Making Tourism Marketing Work for You in the FL Classroom” cover, among others, the value of fostering positive attitudes toward error in foreign language use, problem-centeredness, and motivation. The authors find that, while simultaneously promoting student strategies for developing skills in global effectiveness in their future professions, discerning teachers can take steps to ensure that language users are immersed in a graphic and semiotic richness of cultural and linguistic messages. The final topic in the volume is dedicated to Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), beginning with an article by Margarida Coelho on “Scaffolding Strategies in CLIL Classes – supporting learners towards autonomy”, in which she deftly attributes scaffolding and scaffolding strategies the key roles in CLIL teaching. She presents a brief overview of the origin of the concept as a teaching strategy, focusing on some recent studies, and systematizes the most relevant approaches and conceptual frameworks to scaffolding presented in those studies. As a conclusion, she argues for a broader, more extensive, continuous and innovative use of different scaffolding strategies in CLIL classes as an effective means to foster learner autonomy and progressively build their confidence in using a FL language for effectively dealing with content. The volume then concludes with “The State of the ReCLes.pt CLIL Training Project”, by María del Carmen Arau Ribeiro, Ana Gonçalves, Manuel Moreira da Silva, Margarida Morgado and Margarida Coelho, which provides an update to the developments in research and publications in the national project, from a collaboratively written book to numerous articles, presentations and posters, culminating in first place at the friendly competition in the strand From research to practice at the XIV CercleS International Conference on Enhancing Learners' Creative and Critical Thinking: The Role of University Language Centres in September 2016.
- Knowledge based community management in the construction industryPublication . Moreira Silva, Manuel; Lucas Soares, António; Simões, Dora; Costa, RuteBuilding and construction companies have to continuously renew their working habits in order to face an increasing competitive environment where flexibility and adaptability to change are the obliged route to success. As Ceton (2000) states, the increasingly widespread use of computers only serves, as it is generally recognized, to highlight the fragmented way that building projects are commenced, designs created and realized, construction carried through to completion, and buildings maintained, renovated, and ultimately demolished. All too often lost information and miscommunication complicate these operations.
- Assessing assessmentPublication . Peres, Paula; Silva, Manuel; Tavares, CéliaIn the online environments some case studies we’ve developed and day-to-day experience have shown that, several times, online learning activities are promoted without considering the assessment of cognitive results that derive from those activities. Engaging students appears as the main justification. And when students’ involvement is not what it was expected? Should a student be penalized by not being a part of an online activity? Isn’t he/she also participating with the silent follow up that he/she chooses to do? Isn’t he/she learning? In the teacher’s point of view, the analysis of each of the students’ interventions may be a hard and time consuming task, especially in large classes. On the other hand, an automated process of the students’ interventions may be overrated in messages of social nature that show little cognitive activity. This context led to a study that aims to determine which are the most suitable activities for the learning process and objectives assessment. The research led into an innovative assessment model that seeks an alignment between objectives, softskills, assessment, content and other variables. The model that we suggest describes a solution for the elaboration of assessment questions by nature and expected results. It also suggests online activities that, for their innovative character, seek the students’ engagement, the objectives accomplishment and the balance between the teachers pedagogical, managerial, social and technical dimensions.
- Role of intercultural mediation in problem solving in a transatlantic networkPublication . Ribeiro, Sandra; Noronha Cunha, Suzana; Moreira Silva, Manuel; Bigotte Chorão, GraçaWorking in a multidisciplinary collaborative project through virtual exchange encompasses many advantages as well as some disadvantages. One of the many problems that might occur in virtual cooperation settings was identified as cultural mismatches, listed by Chase, Macfadyen, Reeder, and Roche (2002) into nine categories. Some of these mismatches were found during the Trans-Atlantic Pacific Project1 (TAPP), a collaborative and active learning bidirectional platform, where students from Portuguese and North American universities have been cooperating for several years to enhance their technical and linguistic competences whilst developing intercultural skills. By bringing together future Translators and Technical Writers into a multicultural simulated setting, students are given the opportunity to learn from each other and interact via technology-mediated communication. Yet, this endeavour revealed to be extremely demanding mostly due to cultural misunderstandings that occurred during virtual communication exchanges. Accordingly, a cultural mediation intervention plan was developed and implemented by the authors as a strategy to overcome these problems and strengthen virtual teamwork interaction. This plan was designed to raise cultural awareness of the self and the other and was divided into 4 separate phases: 1) the cultural awareness initial stage, followed by 2) peer-to-peer exchange of the pre-learning questionnaires, 3) the completion of the Cultural Self-Awareness Questionnaire, concluding with 4) the analysis of the results and discussion in class. This study addresses the Cultural Self-Awareness Questionnaire. The results and outcomes of this questionnaire are analysed and discussed and new avenues for research will be presented and proposed.