Loading...
8 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
- How learners and faculty rate online assessment methodsPublication . Silva, Fátima; Reis, PedroThe increasing importance of online education has resulted in attempts to make these teaching/learning means more reliable, valid and feasible in order to avoid the criticisms that are often directed that any e-learning course, above all its assessment process within teaching and learning contexts. Given the potential of online education to higher education, our question is whether, and in what ways, different types of assessments might have an impact on the view faculty and learners have of the assessment methods used in the Virtual University of Fernando Pessoa University (UFP-UV) in Porto, Portugal, in relation to their reliability, feasibility and validity. In this paper we will revisit some of the approaches involved in any assessment process, with particular emphasis on online assessment. The case study carried out sought to investigate the extent to which faculty and learners consider the assessment used in the curricular unit of the e-learning course to be feasible, valid and reliable. These impressions were gauged in two different questionnaires (one for the teachers and another for the learners) in which respondents assigned graded qualitative responses to certain statements, and, in the observation section of the questionnaire, they could provide qualitative comments on the question, thus allowing both a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of the data. The results demonstrate that the virtual classroom is, for both groups in this case study, the mechanism that shows the most reliability whether the virtual classroom acts as a ‘real’ classroom in which both parties are 'face-to-face' via audiovisual means or only the audio means of the virtual classroom is used to question the learner orally.
- Collaborative learning in health undergraduatesPublication . Silva, FátimaCollaborative learning in an ESP (English for Specific Purposes) undergraduate health setting, implies providing opportunities that allow the personal construction of knowledge. The teacher has to set appropriate contexts and objectives for the task and facilitate collaboration in the dyads or groups so that learners can reach their ZPD with peer collaboration. In a foreign language classroom, it is through task- related talking that learners can scaffold each other to complete the written task.
- EPS teaching for learners in the health sciences fieldPublication . Silva, FátimaThe university courses recognise the importance of learners achieving spoken and written competence in English. Due to the specific nature of the courses, mainly in the Faculty of Health Sciences, English language teachers try to develop syllabi based on learners’ future professional needs. This paper considers the difficulties encountered in implementing needs analysis and developing ESP programmes in which language objectives resulting from learners’ needs are included in the syllabus together with authentic materials and tasks which demonstrate and practise the language. Os cursos desta universidade reconhecem a importância do conhecimento falado e escrito da língua inglesa. Devido à natureza específica dos cursos, nomeadamente da Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, os professores de inglês tentam elaborar programas baseados nas futuras necessidades profissionais dos alunos. Este artigo considera as dificuldades em implementar analise de necessidades e desenvolver programas de ESP (Inglês para Fins Específicos) em que os objectivos linguisticos resultantes das necessidades dos alunos são incluídos no programa juntamente com material didáctico e tarefas autênticos na língua.
- E-Learning courses at UFP-UV - potential and challengesPublication . Reis, Pedro; Silva, FátimaThis paper deals with the challenges related to the e-learning experiences at Fernando Pessoa University (Porto, Portugal). After approximately 30 years of on-site courses, in 2012, the decision was made at the university to offer distance courses as well. This decision represented a huge challenge at various levels. Training faculty for teaching at a distance became necessary; thus, a training program was implemented, focusing on methodological, pedagogical and technological aspects. A specific regulation was also set up to clarify essential rights and duties of faculty and students and the assessment rules. This document ensures the application of specific teaching methods. All this takes place in a virtual campus - UFP-UV - equipped with educational technologies. Thus, in a LMS, recorded lessons, learning objects, and synchronous sessions in a virtual room are combined into a methodology that also focuses on continuous assessment, using written and oral assignments, challenging tasks, and regular synchronous and asynchronous contacts between teachers and students in small groups. In order to support faculty and students, a help desk devoted exclusively to this function was also created. Hence, since 2012, about 300 national and international students have attended e-learning courses at UFP, in Portuguese, English, or Spanish. The dropout rate, one of the most common concerns about this regime, has been, so far, residual. At the end of each term, surveys are sent to students in order to know their rate of satisfaction. Following the analysis of the surveys, we seek to strengthen the aspects identified as positive, and correct aspects identified as less positive. So, in this paper we will also focus on the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data which helps to critically analyze the process.
- Aquisição de competências de comunicação numa LE: o uso do cacifo digital da Sakai como ePortfólioPublication . Silva, Fátima; Patim, IsabelA consciência da necessidade de adquirir competências em línguas estrangeiras aumentou, na Europa, desde a implementação do Processo de Bolonha. Por outro lado, o desenvolvimento da tecnologia em ambientes educativos resultou num interesse crescente no Ensino à Distância. O uso do ePortfólio na aprendizagem de línguas, não só como processo, mas também como produto, vai de encontro à abordagem Comunicacional do Ensino de Línguas e sustenta a pergunta de investigação de como a plataforma virtual e o ePortfólio ajudam no ensino e aprendizagem da Língua Inglesa. Este artigo relata a experiência do uso da ferramenta Cacifo Digital do software Sakai como um ePortfólio, combinado com as entrevistas de Acompanhamento em sala de aula, no âmbito do desenvolvimento do trabalho de projeto, isto é, o último módulo da unidade curricular ‘Língua Inglesa’.
- Acquisition of FL communication competence: use of the Sakai Drop Box as an ePortfolioPublication . Silva, Fátima; Patim, IsabelAwareness of the need to acquire foreign language competence has increased, in Europe, since the implementation of the Bologna Process. On the other hand, the development of technology in educational settings has resulted in an increasing interest in Distance Education. The use of the ePortfolio in language learning as both a process and a product meets the Communicative Language Teaching approach and upholds the research question of how the virtual platform and the ePortfolio help in English language teaching and learning. This paper reports on the experience of using the Drop Box tool of the Sakai software as an ePortfolio, combined with the follow-up interviews in class, in the scope of the development of the project work, i.e. the last module of the curricular unit ‘English Language’.
- IntroduçãoPublication . Reis, Pedro; Silva, Fátima
- IntroductionPublication . Reis, Pedro; Silva, Fátima