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Purpose: There is a widely held belief that sustainable development (SD) policies are essential for universities to successfully engage in matters related to sustainability, and are an indicator of the extent to which they are active in this field. This paper aims to examine the evidence which currently exists to support this assumption. It surveys a sample of universities in Brazil, Germany, Greece, Portugal, South Africa and the UK and the USA to ascertain the extent to which universities that are active in the field of sustainable development have formal policies on sustainable development, and whether such policies are a pre-condition for successful sustainability efforts. Design/methodology/approach: The study involved 35 universities in seven countries (five universities respectively). A mixed-methods approach has been used, ranging from document analysis, website analysis, questionnaires and interviewing. Findings: Although only 60 per cent of the sampled universities had a policy that specifically addressed SD, this cannot be regarded as an indicator that the remaining 40 per cent are not engaged with substantial actions that address SD. Indeed, all of the universities in the sample, regardless of the existence of a SD formal policy, demonstrated engagement with environmental sustainability policies or procedures in some form or another. This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities. Despite this, it is one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed. Research limitations/implications: This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities. Practical implications: The findings provide some valuable insights into the connections between SD policies on the one hand and the practice of sustainable development in higher education institutions on the other. Social implications: Universities with SD policies can contribute to models of economic growth consistent with sustainable development. Originality/value: The study is the one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed.

The main objective of this paper is to briefly present roles of different teacher supervisors according to distinct models, highlighting the importance of collaborative dialogues supported by video recordings. This paper will present results from a qualitative study of an English as a foreign language teacher education course in Brazil. The results indicated that collaborative supervision was an efficient tool to address adversities within educational contexts and that student teachers who observed their pedagogical actions through videos became more reflective and self-evaluative, as they provided a deeper analysis regarding their practice. With collaborative supervision, teacher candidates can be encouraged to recognize and understand the complexities of language learning and teaching both locally and globally.

The teaching-learning methodology adopted in the Introduction to Computer Science classes may be a process that makes it difficult to understand the principles of programming language for undergraduate students in Computer Science and related areas, generating high failure and course drop out rates. This paper presents an analysis of the results obtained in the Introduction to Computer Science classes taught in Computer Science and Engineering courses at University of Brasília (UnB). The evaluation questionnaire answered by the undergraduate students in 2017 was analyzed, a validation was performed, and we checked the level of students satisfaction in relation to the evaluated subject and the association among the level of satisfaction, the percentage of practical activities of the discipline, student performance and the level of absenteeism.

Purpose: This research aims to compare the preference of social media sites and institutional communication channels of a higher education institution by confronting elements that form perceived usefulness and user satisfaction with the system. Social media technologies are a part of the routine of the modern society in many diverse ways, including the support and even substitution of software designed specifically for knowledge acquisition and sharing. If students do not see value in the use of virtual learning environments and learning platforms, such tools might be prone to obsolescence as well. Design/methodology/approach: The study was applied in a Brazilian public university located in a major city near São Paulo. The paper shows the results of the analysis of a survey with 108 answers, testing a model based on the information system success and on the technology acceptance model. The perceived usefulness of information technology is also subject to test through a Student t-test. Findings: The paper shows that students perceive more value when using social media technologies to perform academic activities than in information systems provided by the university, mainly owing to the ease of use of the former. Service quality does not present a strong role as an antecedent variable in any case. Practical implications: Students do not expect or do not see value in technical support during their general experience or usefulness for any of the analysed technologies. Thus, higher education institutions should focus their initiatives in providing availability, information quality and usability for institutional channels or, if they choose to do so, social media sites as well. Originality/value: This study contributes to educational institutions by attaining better use of available IT tools for academic purposes. Previous studies looked for monitored or institutionalized use of social media tools in an educational context, but there was no in-depth analysis of spontaneous use by students to perform academic tasks.

Purpose: The paper aims to identify the relationship between the use of storytelling and innovative work behavior (IWB) in organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The research took place in a human resource development (HRD) training session for leaders of Alpha Group. In this session, storytelling was adopted to discuss innovation and IWB. Following the training, the leaders completed a questionnaire about the effectiveness of the stories for the construction of knowledge and IWB. Data were collected from 97 leading sectors. Subsequently, data analysis was performed to identify correlations between the aspects. Findings: The paper provides empirical insights about the use of storytelling, the effectiveness of the stories, as well as their relationship with the innovative behavior of sectors leaders in a Brazilian organization. It has identified the relation between effectiveness of stories and level of innovative behavior. Research limitations/implications: Owing to the chosen research approach, the research results cannot be generalized. Because it is a study of a single organization, the results concern to the reality experienced in the organization studied. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test this relationship in other organizations to contribute to the discussion and practice of innovation in HRD. Practical implications: Stories can contribute to innovative behavior, and innovative behavior contributes to helping understand the stories. HRD practitioners can provide the use of storytelling, combined with other forms of interventions, to enhance IWB to promote collaborative learning culture and work engagement. Originality/value: Previous papers have identified the role of HRD in the development of IWB in organizations. Theoretically, previous papers have also highlighted that storytelling can be a tool for the development of innovative behavior. The paper empirically has tested these contributions, identifying emerging aspects of this relationship.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the perceived quality of the service environment, regarding the use of the flipped classroom, through a survey of MBA students. Design/methodology/approach: Four hypotheses were developed from the literature in marketing and quality services in higher education. The hypotheses were tested using linear regressions. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The sample had 981 effective responses. Findings: The results of the statistical analysis show that the evaluation of the perceived quality of the educator and course are positively affected by the use of the flipped classroom. Research limitations/implications: Only one higher education organisation was studied. The variables analysed have no mediation and moderation, which is a suggestion for future studies. Originality/value: This paper contributes to studies of higher education services and quality, as it shows the influence of the process on the educator. In higher education, the educator is usually considered independent, having a strong influence on perceived quality. The study contributes to the theme by showing the flipped classroom as an effective teaching strategy that requires further empirical study.

This paper reports a study on politeness strategies of Brazilian Portuguese speakers and American English speakers regarding their responses to compliments. The aim of this research is to gain an insight into the politeness characteristics of Brazilian Portuguese speakers by analyzing how Brazilian students react when receiving compliments. It also aims to investigate how politeness from Brazilian Portuguese speakers differs from politeness of American English speakers when receiving compliments. The population for this research consists of 12 students with intermediate and upper-intermediate levels of EFL from the "Cooperative de Trabalho Magna," a private school in Brazil. The study followed a descriptive and interpretive qualitative research method, where 133 answers were analyzed and then contrasted with Chen's (1993) study of politeness strategies between American English and Chinese speakers. This study shows that, unlike American English speakers, Brazilian Portuguese speakers need to justify and give reasons for the compliment received.

The importance of interdisciplinarity in the teaching-learning process has been much debated. This topic has challenged schoolteachers, who do not always manage to integrate interdisciplinarity into the school routine. This paper emerged from the discipline Research Methodology taught at the postgraduate course in education of Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro. During this course, we sought to gain knowledge about the academic production related to interdisciplinarity in the teaching-learning process, mainly in terms of teacher training and teaching practice, published in dissertations and theses. We explored contents published from 2011 to 2016 in Brazil. The covered period was based on a search for recent productions on the proposed theme, conducted by using the database of the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. Analyses of the documents pointed to the need to work interdisciplinarity during teacher training courses and to adopt an interdisciplinary posture in daily teaching practice in schools. These practices should help to overcome compartmentalization of the teaching-learning process and to provide students with a global view of the world.

The objective of this paper is to verify public school teachers' conceptions about indiscipline and to investigate behaviors and/or events that occur in the classroom and are considered indiscipline, their possible causes and ways of dealing with the problem. The literature points out that several factors help in the configuration of frame of indiscipline in schools, but it cannot be ignored as a problem to be resolved fundamentally in the teacher-student relationship, and the educational-school psychologist is therefore an important mediator in this relationship. Forty-eight public school teachers participated in this study, applying semi-structured questionnaires and accomplishing content analysis using the program ATLAS.ti 7. The teachers understand indiscipline as aggressiveness, restlessness, inattentiveness, talking, disrespect to peers and teachers, lack of zeal with material, degradation of the heritage school, emotional problems, etc. About the causes, the analysis shows the categories: "stand out familiar problems" and "personal problems", "social problems", "difficulties in the school-family partnership" and, in a smaller proportion, "didactic and pedagogical questions" and "absence of religiousness". The majority confront the problem by talking with the students and communiques to the family, trying to improve the methodology of the lessons, and just a few teachers share the situation with a director.

A training at Higher Education level needs, in addition to improve the skills specific in the area chosen, to develop a set of skills and/or personal attributes that make him or her more likely to succeed in the profession. In this context, this paper was developed and has the objective to identify the relationships between engagement, satisfaction, and employability of students who completed the university as University for All Program (ProUni) scholarship. This target group of students was chosen because of the importance of ProUni for the Advancement of Education policies of affirmative actions in Brazil. The ProUni gives scholarships to students from minority (underrepresented) groups to study at private universities, through the National Secondary Education Exam--ENEM (Brasil, 2005). Among these groups are students who attend public high schools (a proxy for lower social class), low-income students, African Brazilian students, Indigenous Brazilian students, students with disabilities, and not graduated teachers that work in public elementary and secondary schools. The research involved 198 ProUni graduates invited to answer an online questionnaire. There were 134 respondents, 123 (91.8%) were working since we were interested in employment, only these participants were included in the analysis. The results suggest that employability consolidates and reflects in the conquest of labor activity, as well as in graduate satisfaction with their training and job. These results are indicative of the engagement of the student with their learning, therefore with their graduate degree.

Business schools have the responsibility of preparing students for work in multicultural organisations and global markets. This paper examines a situated learning experience for undergraduates through a virtual collaboration between a UK university and a Brazilian university. This facilitated remote communication using social media and smart devices, allowing students from both institutions to enhance their cross-cultural management competencies. A qualitative approach was used for the research, drawing on the reflections of the tutors from both institutions and feedback received from students in the UK and Brazil. This paper provides empirical observations regarding the use of this innovative pedagogic approach, generating discussion of the implications for teaching, thus contributing to the literature on international collaborations in cross-cultural management education.

Open Educational Resources have emerged as important elements of education in the contemporary society, promoting life-long and personalized learning that transcends social, economic and geographical barriers. To achieve the potential of OERs and bring impact on education, it is necessary to increase their development and supply. However, one of the current challenges is how to produce quality and relevant OERs to be reused and adapted to different contexts and learning situations. In this paper we proposed an agile method for the development of OERs -- AM-OER, grounded on agile practices from Software Engineering. Learning Design practices from the OULDI project (UK Open University) are also embedded into the AM-OER aiming at improving quality and facilitating reuse and adaptation of OERs. In order to validate AM-OER, an experiment was conducted by applying it in the development of an OER on software testing. The results showed preliminary evidences on the applicability, effectiveness and efficiency of the method in the development of OERs.

The systemic aspects of educational projects that involved universities, organizations and communities are issues that concern a number of researchers. In this paper, the authors present the processes and findings related to a one-year educational project. The educational project is accomplished through two sequential courses, which are taught by representatives of one university and fifteen organizations--schools, art galleries, foundations, NGOs, hospitals, humanitarian organizations, and corporations--that provide educational opportunities to people from poor communities of São Paulo, Brazil. The seventy-six course members are individuals involved in the social projects accomplished by these organizations. The courses follows a project-based learning educational approach. The research objective is revealing the systemic impacts of this educational project. In this study, the authors follow a systemic action research approach. They develop a qualitative study based on document review, questionnaires, interviews, videos and observations. The main findings are as follows: (1)Coordinated actions between the university and the diverse organizations may create synergies that promote intense knowledge sharing, contributing to the development of the skills in the course participants; (2) The use of project-based learning techniques improves the learning and strengthens the ties between the course participants; and (3) The educational project leads to the empowerment of the course participants, allowing them to promote meaningful actions in their communities.

The challenging of assessing formal and informal online learning at scale includes various issues. Many universities who are now promoting "Massive Online Open Courses" (MOOC), for instance, focus on relatively informal assessment of participant competence, which is not highly "quality assured". This paper reports best practices on the use of a web videoconferencing application to quality control student assignments through online oral examination at scale. In this case study, we examine the use of a simple online conferencing technology FlashMeeting (FM) by a Brazilian University to provide "quality assurance" in the assessment of twelve online postgraduate courses in Law for 20,000 students. Our research questions investigate the benefits and recommendations of using FM in online oral exams at scale. Our qualitative and quantitative data analysis centres on 3,462 short format interviews through FM conducted for this purpose by a group of around fifty assessors from September 2008 to September 2012. The effective use of FM provided evidence with respect to high quality assurance recognised by the Institution with respect to: students' identity, their knowledge and ownership of written work. The key benefits identified from the perspective of assessors and students were: reliable examination, credible technology, authentic assessment, interactive e-Viva, low cost, scalable process and practical testing in terms of time, effort and money.

This paper describes and analyses the dynamics of the use and/or mastery of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) by educators and students Open University, important part of the Brazilian Educational System. A questionnaire with 32 items was answered by 174 students/instructors/coordinators of the Media in Education and Physics courses, of two federal universities, between 2011 and early 2012. The interview with a coordinator was transcribed and related to the data systematised in tables and graphs. Interpretative analysis, in an open dialogue with the references and with the data from the Universidade Aberta do Brasil (UAB-Open University of Brazil) site resulted in the final considerations. These suggest that the use and/or mastery of VLEs by students are important, and the specificities of these uses subsidise studies and publications, still in a small number in the literature in this area of knowledge. The work reflects the development of the Open Distance Education System, conducted with strong popular participation, as a response to the challenge posed to the educational policies for expanding the public provision of higher education, also using VLEs for this purpose.

This paper has as its aim to analyze how CityVille, a videogame hosted on Facebook and oriented to the construction of a virtual city, can favor collaboration between gamers along with the exchange of strategies, equally contributing to learning transfer and skill acquisition. The first step consists in identifying the opportunities which the said game can offer in order to develop skills and promote learning formats linked with planning and resource management, after which a presentation is made of the opinions expressed by a sample of gamers (N = 105)--belonging to the Fans-CityVille community--about the priorities established by them to communicate with their neighbors and the skills that they believe to have acquired playing this game. 85.7% of them state that they communicate with others to share strategies and expand their city. Unlike women, who value collaboration, men prioritize competition. Designing their city has enhanced a number of gamer skills in different proportions: creative skills (71.4%); organizational ones (68.0%); skills associated with decision-making and problem-solving (67.0%); and interpersonal skills through interaction with others (61.9%). The CityVille game mode favors skill development and helps to create a ludic atmosphere of collaboration and optimal strategy exchange through communication between neighbors by strengthening their mutual relationships. Its formula moves away from the often-criticized competitive practices of other games.

This paper reports the results of a study on the use of a learner response system (LRS) by a group of students of English as a foreign language (L2). Via a methodology that included the analysis of survey questionnaires and open-ended oral interviews, the study examined learners' perceptions of the use of an LRS by a group of 30 Brazilians learning English in a communicative classroom environment. Overall, the results are consistent with the consensus that students perceive the response system as a positive addition to their classes, as its use increases participation and the general enjoyment of classes, contributes to learning, fosters interactions, and allows learners to self-assess and compare their performance with that of their peers. Because research on LRS in L2 settings is still in its infancy, this paper contributes data and analysis that highlight the pedagogical benefits of the implementation of a response system in L2 pedagogy. (Contains 4 notes, 3 figures, and 4 tables.)

The main purpose of this paper is provide information relevant for the formulation of new policies for the integration of technology in education from the discussion of research results that analyse computer skills and digital media uses among students (between 12 to 18 years old) from schools in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The schools surveyed were selected by a stratified random sample. The questionnaire allowed for statistical measurement of theoretical constructs employing non parametrical item response theory. The schools showed a homogeneous pattern with regard to the frequency of use and the ability of students to perform tasks on the computer. Most students use the computer and the Internet at home. The use of computers in schools is minimal and does not influence the students' ability. Even so, the use of a computer at school positively affects the frequency of use and suggests that schools can play a role in promoting digital inclusion. The availability of media resources at home, how long students have been using a computer and cultural practices during the students' free time had notable positive correlations with the student's abilities. The results suggest that the relation between age and abilities in the use of computer and internet was not significant, except in reference to school delays which were related to age and to students' grades, i.e., the more delayed a student is, the less able he/she will be.

This paper aims to diagnose, through a qualitative comparative study, the main differences concerning the teaching of English in Brazilian regular schools when compared to language schools. There has been a growing tendency of students to attend language schools while still having English classes at their regular schools, and this has led to a lot of change in teachers' beliefs and approaches in general over the years. To establish this diagnosis, a questionnaire consisting of 14 key points related to this topic (ranging from teaching resources and methodologies to workloads and knowledge of grammar) was answered by six teachers of English, three working at regular schools, and three at language schools. The main findings can be summarized by the fact that heavier workloads, bigger groups, lack of resources and focus on reading and writing have made regular school teaching less effective than the experience students have when attending classes at language schools.

This study investigated whether changes can occur on indicators of teachers' professional identity (TPI) when teachers and students share representations about what happens in class during an academic term. TPI is a process of constant negotiation between the different I-positions of teachers at the personal, social and cultural levels. The main indicators underlying this identity are: teachers' representations and perceptions of their own academic roles; their concepts of what it means to teach, learn and assess the courses they teach at university; and the feelings they associate with their duties. Teachers' education based on critical incidents could be appropriate to analyse teachers' self-positions, reflect about them and evaluate the possibility of changing any indicators of a TPI. The participants of this study were four university teachers and their students. Data were constructed employing electronic media. Questionnaires were created essentially using open questions. The findings have indicated that the methodology of shared reports was an effective educational tool that can foster changes in teaching and classroom management strategies and has the potential to foster the development of TPI. For further studies, in addition to a longitudinal project, it is also necessary to implement the method herein employed using a broader sample.

Remote robotics laboratories have been successfully used for engineering education. However, few of them use mobile robots to to teach computer science. This article describes a mobile robot Control and Programming Environment (CPE) and its pedagogical applications. The system comprises a remote laboratory for robotics, an online programming tool, and a virtual learning environment. It allows experiments with a mobile robot to be carried out, tested and validated remotely, using a simple graphic interface via web browser, without additional software installation on the user's computer. Students can control and manipulate the robot with simple commands without worrying about hardware details or use C/C++ programming language to develop complex programs. The robot has been built with inexpensive components and has sensors that enable its use in several experiments. CPE can be used in contextualized teaching in various subjects of computer science, both in class and at distance. A practical application of the whole system using CPE, introducing programming concepts, is also described in this paper. The initial assessment of the environment as an educational tool shows high levels of interest among our students, an improvement in their academic scores, and potential for application in the context of computing education, when properly introduced as a learning tool.

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the prediction of current and evolutionary perceptions of professional development through five learning strategies at work and through training and how individual and job characteristics predict those strategies. Design/methodology/approach: Variables were measured in a cross-sectional survey, with 962 individuals. Relationships were tested through linear regression analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings: The criterion variable current professional development is positively associated to three learning strategies: intrinsic and extrinsic reflection, seeking help from others and trial and error. The relationship between this latter learning strategy and that criterion variable is moderated by work experience. Hours of training also predict that criterion variable. Seeking help from others and educational level predict perceived evolutionary development. Socio-cultural and technical-organizational work environment variables predict those five strategies. Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional research design yields potential for monomethod bias. Longitudinal, multilevel and multiple collection design studies should be conducted in the future. Originality/value: A wide range of occupations and organizational contexts was investigated by using two different measures of professional development as criterion variables. A larger effect size was found for one of them, given just three learning strategies as antecedent variables. Training and formal education had smaller effects. The importance of taking into account different characteristics of workplace learning environments is highlighted.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the causal links between public and private university environments and the entrepreneurial intention (EI) of students. Design/methodology/approach: The impact of different university environments on the students' EI was checked using a model adapted from Krueger et al. (2000). The study comprised a sample of students enrolled in business administration from three public and three private universities at first semester (freshmen) and at the last two semesters (senior) in Brazil. The model was measured through various questions and later assessed by principal component analysis to build constructs. Via t-test and path analysis the EI and the antecedents were subjected to a comparative analysis to test the equality of the models across the four categories emerged. Findings: The two main types of Brazilian university environments (public and private) do not present significant differences in the way they influence EI and its antecedents. Both the tests of means and the tests of measurement of the structural relations between constructs confirm this finding with only a few exceptions. The result of this study is opposed to other studies carried out in Brazil, by showing that the public university environment is not worse for the entrepreneurship than the private. The environmental effects are mostly equal and they as a whole are not conducive to the development of EI. Research limitations/implications: The study comprises business students only, and enrolled on regular universities. It is worth highlighting that evidence was brought to the debate for a group of universities in Brazil. Replicating the study with students from other areas and other universities, as well as students in Master's and Doctorate programs could enrich the analyses. Practical implications: This study provides insight into entrepreneurship education, as to which the university environment is conducive to the entrepreneurship. It brings insights for the development of entrepreneurial universities. Originality/value: This study contributes to understanding the differences between the public and private universities environment regarding students' EI.

The study aimed to conduct a literature review as a step of the development of a new questionnaire about the nursing workers' perception of job factors that may lead to musculoskeletal symptoms. An information synthesis was achieved by collecting data from studies that fitted the search criteria. The results showed that despite the existence of several job factors related to musculoskeletal symptoms, no specific questionnaire that evaluates this relationship was found. Therefore, this literature review presents important topics for developing the first questionnaire to analyze work activities that may contribute to pain and discomfort among nursing personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on how teachers, from different cities in Brazil, used groups on Facebook and how communication between teachers and students was affected by using such groups. This study is framed under the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) perspective, and is conceived from a methodological background that invites participants to collaborate during the research. We examined posts from the groups on Facebook from February 2013 to June 2014 by a qualitative approach, together with coding the open-ended qualitative data and comparing their distribution, and analyzed responses to a questionnaire for teachers by the end of the research. Our findings suggest the teachers used the groups for different purposes, which led to an improvement in communication between teachers and students--online and in-classroom--and in students' engagement in the classrooms.

This paper explores ethnolinguistic vitality among Japanese-Brazilians ("Nikkeis"). First, an 18-item questionnaire was administered to 33 individuals who attended a seminar on bilingual studies held in São Paulo. Then, two bilingual "Nikkei" teachers who participated in the questionnaire and who grew up to be bilinguals themselves were invited for a more in-depth one-on-one follow-up interview. This study confirms the importance of parental involvement as well as various social infrastructures that give rise to quality teacher training and community establishment. Key issues identified were: (1) linguistic and cultural capital ascribed to Japanese language and cultural knowledge, (2) persistence of the native-speaker myth, (3) the complex constellation of "Nikkei," and (4) the lack of partnership between the Brazilian Government and Japanese-sponsored institutions. From our participants' narratives, we discovered that society still strongly reinforces beliefs that language teaching should be delivered by native L1 speakers, and that this ascription of native speaker superiority is impeding the training and hiring of "Nikkei" teachers. It is crucial to establish Brazilian-Japanese governmental partnerships to realize effective Japanese language education in Brazil. Finally, further collecting and disseminating of "Nikkei" teachers' voices is called for in order to challenge the hegemonic discourse prevalent in language teaching today.

There is still no pedagogy to teach programming that stands out significantly from others and no consensus on what is the best way for learning programming. There is still a need to develop new teaching methods for learning in introductory programming courses. This paper presents a pedagogic approach in support of creativity in programming and the results of a successful case study, where the teacher facilitates the learning of programming patterns by means of students' involvement in game creation. The results show an improvement in motivation and learning introductory programming, when we combine programming patterns with games using concrete materials.

Within the field of electric power systems, the study of electrical equipment can be frustrating and demotivating because of the lack of a clear vision of how this equipment functions and operates in a real environment. The use of virtual reality can provide a more concrete representation for students, who rarely have the opportunity to visit a power substation or generating plant to acquire an understanding of how the equipment operates when integrated into an actual system. This paper describes work undertaken to improve the classroom study of such equipment, and to motivate students, by providing a clear overview of the equipment, approximating theory and practical functions, and simulating real situations that would be encountered on the equipment in an actual system. A virtual reality authoring tool was developed to provide students with a visualization of an autotransformer installed in an electric power substation, and to allow them to perform virtual maintenance and operating procedures on it. The influence of the software on students' levels of motivation and their performance was evaluated using questionnaires and reports. Finally, a framework is proposed that can help others create virtual reality trainings.

Purpose: This paper aims to identify the kind of internal climate leaders should offer health-care professionals to promote a patient safety culture in public hospitals managed by social health organizations in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach: Two surveys were applied to health-care professionals working at three Brazilian public hospitals. The internal climate survey reached 1,013 respondents, and the patient safety culture survey reached 1,302 participants. Both factor and regression analyses were used to analyze the study model and determine how internal climate influences patient safety culture. Findings: Results indicate that to promote a patient safety culture among health-care professionals, leaders should generate an internal climate based on trust to foster pride in working in the hospital. Possibly, the trust dimension is the most important one and must be developed to achieve job satisfaction and provide better services to patients. Research limitations/implications: All the hospitals studied were managed by the same Organização Social de Saúde. Due to the limited responses concerning the respondents' profiles, demographic variables were not analyzed. Practical implications: This research reveals that the trust and pride dimensions can most strongly influence a positive patient safety culture, helping hospital leaders face this huge managerial challenge of consistently delivering high standards of patient safety. Originality/value: This research studies the promotion of a patient safety culture in public hospitals managed by social health organizations, characterized by greater flexibility and autonomy in health-care management and by a greater need for accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent introduction of statistics into the Brazilian curriculum has presented a multi-problematic situation for teacher professional development. Drawing on research in the areas of teacher development and statistical inquiry, we propose a Teacher Professional Development Cycle (TPDC) model. This paper focuses on two teachers who planned a lesson in collaboration with other teachers, implemented the lesson, and then reported on the implementation. Results indicate that the TPDC model has the potential to begin to upskill teachers with multi-dimensional development needs. TPDC provides an environment for helping teachers overcome their current beliefs and attitudes towards statistics and statistics teaching. The implications of our TPDC model for improving teachers' practice in statistics are discussed.

This paper is related to an investigation carried out by researchers from a Brazilian public institution (Federal University of São Carlos) and experienced elementary school teachers. It adopts a research and intervention methodology developed in an online continuing teacher education programme, whose aims were the development of mentoring activities to help novice teachers to lighten their everyday professional difficulties. The intertwined research questions could be formulated as: (a) what contributions the participation of mentors in a research group could offer in their professional development processes? (b) How these mentors appropriate the current knowledge in the area in order to have theoretical and methodological tools for their management of beginning teachers? and (c) How they make explicit their professional practical knowledge? The online mentoring programme has promoted the establishment of professional and affective bonds among the participants, the broadening of professional knowledge, the collaboration among peers, the mastery of online adult education technologies and the participants' professional growth. It should be noted that it has been a much more complex enterprise than a face-to-face equivalent programme would have been because it demands entirely new logistics and some challenges. This text focuses on the learning of mentors as well as the potential of the investigative tools used considering the professional development of mentors, as well as a way to comprehend such process.

In 2007, six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay) commenced work on a project to harmonise public policy on school sexuality education (SE) and the prevention of HIV. Inter-sectoral management committees for SE involving ministries of education, ministries of health and civil society were established, national policies and work plans were formulated and implemented, and SE/HIV prevention activities were carried out. The strengths and weaknesses of implementation were assessed. After this, the beginnings of a community of practice were created, with national focal points. This paper analyses the above process using qualitative data generated through semi-structured questionnaires and interviews, with a focus on the perceived contribution of regional collaboration to the development of national policies, national curricula and implementation. Overall, the initiative reached 83,000 teachers and 1,500,000 pupils. Training materials and national curricula and policies were developed, introduced and implemented. Regional collaboration improved political institutionalisation, information exchange, inter-sectoral collaboration, civil society participation, programme legitimacy and the perception of SE as a young person's right. The initiative offers a model for other countries, with regional collaboration helping to establish the case for SE both normatively and institutionally at the political level, mitigate obstacles in the context of such a politically sensitive topic as SE and provide a forum for discussion and the exchange of information which in turn helped legitimise and operationalise national SE policies.

Digital artifacts have the potential for augmenting the interest of students and the quality of learning environments. However, it is still common to find technology being inserted in learning settings without a closer connection to the learners' contemporary world. In this paper we report on results of a qualitative research conducted to address questions such as: How could a new technology be introduced in schools in a way that it makes sense to the users? Could it contribute to more integrated learning scenarios? The study took place at an elementary public school in the city of Campinas, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and involved more than 500 people. Data were collected from participatory Workshops, informal interviews and pictographic questionnaire. The results suggest that it is possible to combine school's formal and informal practices into meaningful learning by using the XO educational laptop. The activities helped teachers and students realize that the use of technology can be recreated, influenced by their own feelings, values and culture. A discussion is conducted towards new perspectives on understanding learning practices mediated by technology and the role of the concept of "Affectibility" in the design of educational systems.

This paper's main objective is to show relations between interest in media, perceived social support and adolescents' personal well-being. For this purpose, 1,589 Brazilian adolescents answered a questionnaire containing Cummins' Personal Well-Being, Vaux's Social Support Appraisals and Casas' interest in media scales. The media in study are: The Internet, computer games, video games, computer, cell phone and television. For the data analysis this research used Structural Equation Modeling, a statistical methodology based on the confirmation of hypotheses previously established by theoretical frameworks on data. A final model of relations between media, support and well-being was obtained with a fit considered satisfactory by the literature. Implications of media on adolescents' well-being based on this model are considered.

Purpose: This paper aims to determine the level of awareness and implementation of family-responsible parameters: policies, enablers, practices, and culture, in Spanish and Latin-American companies, and how they impact work-life balance. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses data from different national IESE's Family-Responsible Employer Index surveys in Spain (1,000 companies) and five Latin-American countries (1,155 companies), Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador and Peru, done between 2006 and 2008. This is a structured questionnaire that assesses the stage of development the organization is in regarding four main family-responsible parameters: policies, enablers, practices, and culture. Findings: Latin-American countries get a slightly higher number of companies that are fully supportive of work-family balance environment than Spain, but with lesser formal policies implemented and a stronger presence of enablers and practices. Policies are important but might not be as effective if not accompanied by the example of managers and staff as well as by a deep understanding of the cultural value placed by them on work, family and personal life. Research limitations/implications: The survey-based data used limits insight into causal relationships. Qualitative and longitudinal studies are needed in order to clarify motives for individual and organizational decisions regarding work-life initiatives. Data collected are from one source only: employer's management. Multi-source studies must follow and include the public sector. Originality/value: This is the first comparison between Spanish companies and companies from five Latin-American countries regarding work-family policies, enablers, practices and culture with such an ample number of companies. Findings will aid HRD practitioners in developing work-family initiatives and help researchers to address new questions in cross-cultural comparisons. (Contains 1 figure and 6 tables.)

This paper analyzes the context of Spanish language teaching in Brazil. We examine the representations of and attitudes toward Rioplatense/Argentinean Spanish and Peninsular Spanish--and toward the speakers of each of these varieties--held by Brazilian learners of Spanish as a foreign language. To provide the context in which Spanish learning takes place in Brazil, we report on the changes that the teaching of Spanish language has undergone since the 1990s in that country. We used two complementary research methodologies--matched guise and open questionnaires--to measure the representations and attitudes of learners taking Spanish classes in the state of Sao Paulo. Findings suggest that attitudes were impacted primarily by the sounds characterizing each different language variety. From there the participants moved toward their representations of the people and their nationalities. Based on these findings, we propose changes in the treatment of linguistic varieties in the classroom.

This article describes the Ethics and Citizenship Program, a moral education project developed by the Brazilian government to promote education in ethics and citizenship in Brazilian fundamental and middle schools through four key themes: ethics, democratic coexistence, human rights and social inclusion. Some findings from a research project that investigated whether such a program did in fact promote the ethical and citizenship awareness of participating students are outlined. As an introduction to the paper's main concerns, the Brazilian socioeconomic context is characterised, followed by a description of the historical background of moral education in Brazil. (Contains 3 tables and 8 notes.)

Purpose: The paper describes the purpose of and strategies for conducting post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) as a method for assessing school building performance. Set within the larger context of global efforts to develop and apply common indicators of school building quality, the authors describe research conducted within the newest generation of Sao Paulo's schools. Design/methodology/approach: The various methods of POE, including expert walkthroughs, physical measurements, observations, behavioral mapping, user interviews, focus groups, and survey questionnaires were applied within a purposefully selected case study school. Findings: The POE carried out at Fernando Gasparian High School revealed limitations in the building's design, particularly in light of the neighborhood context, thus raising significant concerns about safety and security. Users gave the construction quality of the building, a generally positive evaluation, however, there were some important aspects of the building design judged as deficient. In particular, researchers observed a significant mismatch between the building design and the realities of the surrounding community. This sort of incongruity introduced important challenges to principals, teachers, and staff, as they worked to ensure the safety of students who attend the school. Originality/value: The research explores the effectiveness of POE methods in capturing user and expert assessments of overall building quality, as well as the degree to which building designs assist educators and community members in realizing Brazil's larger educational reform goals. (Contains 3 figures, 6 tables and 1 note.)

Purpose: Given the importance of education-based approaches in stimulating breastfeeding, the paper aims to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of discussing breastfeeding with school children. Design/methodology/approach: Two workshops about breastfeeding and on the view of the human being as a mammal were carried out in schools in Brazil. Children were invited to express their views of breastfeeding based on what they had learned. Questionnaires were applied immediately before and 15 days after the workshops to assess the impact on children's knowledge. Findings: There was on average a low level of knowledge about breastfeeding previous to the interventions. The interventions increased children's self-perception as mammals, and managed to enhance their knowledge about several important issues regarding breastfeeding. Research limitations/implications: There was a fairly small number of participants and a restricted age range. More studies with other age ranges are warranted. Practical implications: Educative interventions on breastfeeding targeting young school children can have very positive results, suggesting that school could successfully include breastfeeding. Originality/value: This is the first study to demonstrate the impact of this innovative approach on school children's awareness on breastfeeding and it demonstrates this pedagogic approach to be effective. (Contains 2 tables.)