CI&DEI - Artigo em ata de evento científico internacional
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Browsing CI&DEI - Artigo em ata de evento científico internacional by Author "Alves, Valter"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Algorithmic Thinking in Early Childhood Education: Opportunities and Supports in the Portuguese ContextPublication . Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Amante, Susana; Gomes, Helena Margarida dos Santos Vasconcelos; Gomes, Cristina Azevedo; Rego, Belmiro; Alves, Valter; Duarte, Rui PedroALGO-LITTLE is an EU-funded project, with partners from Portugal, Italy, Turkey and Slovenia, in search of ways to integrate Algorithmic Thinking skills into preschool education for the purpose of growing future code literates starting from the earliest ages. Algorithmic Thinking stems from the concept of an algorithm, which refers to solving a problem by developing a set of steps taken in a sequence to achieve the desired outcome (Katai, 2014). The concept can be traced to the work of Papert (1980, 1991) and is connected to the seminal article by Wing (2006) that introduced Computational Thinking. Barretal (2011) concluded that in K-12, Algorithmic Thinking involves problem-solving skills and particular dispositions, such as confidence and persistence when confronting particular problems. Early Childhood Education algorithmic skills include abilities to learn and work according to the rules or models since children are capable to understand, use, apply and develop simple algorithms. Children are also capable of analyzing and correcting the sequence of actions to reach results, transferring known methods of actions to new situations, and describing their activities to others in a clear way (Voronina et al., 2016; Games for learning algorithmic thinking, 2017). The paper analyses initiatives, studies, and projects that are connected to Algorithmic Thinking in Early Childhood Education in Portugal. A review of literature was developed, starting with curricular documents for Preschool Education (3 to 6 years old) and other documents from the ICT Educational Policy in the country. The second step was a search in databases for studies and projects that looked into Algorithmic Thinking and Computational Thinking in Early Childhood Education in Portugal. The analyses looked into the following themes: a) what definition and elements of Algorithmic Thinking are present?, b) to which concepts and curricular areas is it connected to?, c) what is expected that children in Early Childhood Education learn in relation to Algorithmic Thinking?, d) to what pedagogical elements is Algorithmic Thinking related to?. In terms of curricular documents, it was found that code has been relevant for Portuguese Early Childhood Education (at least) since 1997. In their first edition, the Portuguese Curricular Guidelines for Pre-School Education (Ministério da Educação, 1997) included computer code as one of the codes children should get acquainted with. This meant its inclusion under the domain “Spoken Language and Introductory Writing”. It was stated that “code” was present and would be necessary in children’s lives and could be used in arts, music, mathematic, or writing (Portuguese) (p. 72). This approach was positively singled out by the OECD report: addressing the topic of ICT in the guidelines interconnected with other forms of communication and information learning (Taguma et al., 2012). In 2016, the Portuguese Curricular Guidelines for Pre-School Education (PCGPSE) were reviewed and this second version amplifies the mentions to technology. The findings include an analysis for each of the six curricular areas and domains. In terms of studies and projects, the “Kids Media Lab Project II” stood out as the only systematic initiative for promoting Computational Thinking in Preschool Education (Pinto, Fernandes & Osório, 2021). In the findings, the main elements of the project are discussed.
- Professional Development for Higher Education Teaching Staff: An Experience of Peer Learning in a Portuguese PolytechnicPublication . Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Matias, Rogério; Alves, Valter; Bastos, Nuno; P. Duarte, Rui; Ferreira, Bruno; Cunha, CarlosSeveral challenges have been tackled by Portuguese (Fernandes, 2016; Mendes et al., 2016) and European Higher Education, many of which are in the pedagogical arena. Although Pedagogy in Higher Education is not an invested area, there are studies, initiatives, projects, and structures of great quality in the national context (Costa, 2019; Fernandes, 2016; Gonçalves et al., 2010; Vieira et al., 2016; Pêgo & Mouraz, 2017; Vieira, 2017). An important part of the advances in the area has resulted from the systematic analysis, sharing, and discussion of practices that have embodied several publications and sustained several interventions in Portugal and internationally. The EQuIPES - Study of Quality and Pedagogical Innovation in Higher Education aims to contribute to this body of experiences and studies that allows to understand and improve teaching and learning in Higher Education institutions, based on the analysis of practices in the Polytechnic of Viseu (PV) in communication with external partners. The PV has five schools with a teaching staff of 400 members for 5400 students. The programs range from professional learning (level 5, no degree) to Masters level, with a large percentage of students enrolled in Bachelor degrees from different areas (teacher education, social work, and education, nursing, community health, engineering, arts, design and multimedia, marketing, management, tourism, media studies, agriculture, public relations, information and communication technologies, and sports). The majority of PV’s study programs are professionally oriented, in line with the mission of the polytechnic Higher Education system. This holds true for EQF level 5 programs but also for the BAs and MAs. Each program is designed in close proximity and alignment with professional contexts and practices. The supervised practical training in professional contexts is combined with project-based learning throughout the programs and there is a strong emphasis on active learning strategies. These pose challenges for Pedagogy and pedagogical knowledge and competencies, developed in the workplace through action, but also through reflection (Kuh et al., 2010). Peer learning and discussion groups are important for supporting those processes. Pedagogical action becomes something that is shared, regardless of scientific areas (Behrens & Junges, 2018). In the discussion of pedagogical practices, a focus on the learning and the students is important and technology has been highlighted as facilitating that shift (Sharples, 2016). In the past year, a group of seven professors developed a set of opportunities to share and discuss practices, named “Apps & Things”, that ran 10 workshops. In this paper, we will present the set of workshops and analyze the pedagogical elements of each one, as well as how the technology was articulated with the pedagogical elements. The pedagogical elements identified were: assessment and evaluation; communication and interaction; planning and monitoring work; distance learning; students’ participation; and trust. The results also include how the colleagues that participated in the workshops (around 25 in each) valued the pedagogical elements and what challenges were shared regarding them The experience is discussed in terms of the EQuIPES framework, intending to contribute to the visibility of Pedagogy in Higher Education, associated with peer-to-peer training opportunities and experiences.