Search

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed today’s society in an unprecedented scenario. During Portugal’s first home confinement period (March–July 2020), the online-based “COVID-19 in Trials and Tribulations” project was implemented to support families with school-aged children. The project was grounded on the self-regulation framework and delivered through Facebook® and Instagram® pages. Being responsive to ongoing developments of the pandemic, activities were conveyed in two phases. Phase 1 occurred during lockdown (school was suspended). Phase 2 occurred while students were enrolled in at-distance (online) school. The present study aimed to examine the reach of the project, while examining the content and format of delivery that generated the most engagement among the users (4500 Facebook® effective followers; 1200 Instagram® effective followers) during the confinement period. Results showed that, at the individual page level, Facebook® had higher reach indicators compared to Instagram®, except for video. At the Facebook® post level, followers and users showed more engagement with the page prior to the at-distance schooling phase; however, videos still generated engagement (p = 0.002). Both the post type (p < 0.01) and frequency (p < 0.001) of publication were suggested to be good predictors of engagement. The information gathered will help design and inform future interventions that may be implemented as new lockdowns are set in place.

Academic success is a complex concept comprising not only good academic performance, but also the development of competencies and the accomplishment made by the ends of learning. Among the motivational and attentional variables likely to influence academic success, extant literature reports the relevance of developing self-regulation and attentional control to foster school success. Still, little is known about how to foster attentional control competencies through training on self-regulated learning strategies. The present study aims are twofold: (i) to assess the efficacy of a program targetted to promote self-regulation strategies on attentional control, specifically in selective attention, and (ii) to explore the role of selective attention on arithmetic performance. Participants were 136 fourth grade students, aged from 8 to 11 years old. Of those, 68 were enrolled in a school based intervention aimed to promote self-regulation. At the end of the intervention, the experimental group showed higher levels of self-regulation and selective attention that were significantly different when compared to the control group. The SR training has influenced positively participants SA with impact on their arithmetic competencies. The findings of this study can provide relevant insight to better understand these variables and to design better in-class practices., This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psy chology, University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technol ogy and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (UID/PSI/01662/2019), through the national funds (PIDDAC). Additionally, this research was partially financed by the Câmara Municipal de Valongo as part of the project “Learning2learn: Self-regulatory promotion intervention program” (212010752—Projeto MAISVAL).

[Excerto] A pandemia COVID-19 desarrumou as nossas vidas sem aviso prévio. A chegada repentina trouxe inúmeros desafios pessoais e sociais com impacto significativo na vida das pessoas e dos contextos. As medidas contra a propagação do vírus (e.g., o encerramento das escolas, teletrabalho) trouxeram mudanças significativas para a vida das famílias. Por exemplo, a noção de casa foi resignificada abruptamente. A ideia de casa como lugar de abrigo das famílias, locus privilegiado para o estabelecimento de laços e desenvolvimento pessoal e de lazer em família, incorporou uma componente profissional. Em muitas casas entrou a sala de aula e o escritório sem a necessária preparação. Muitas casas, muitas vidas familiares, converteram-se em escola a tempo inteiro partilhada com escritório(s) profissional(is) trabalhando a tempo inteiro. Esta mudança brusca de práticas sobrecarregou as famílias, já de si preocupadas e ocupadas em responder às exigências sanitárias da pandemia. [...]

Background Despite the enormous investment governments allocate to fight obesity, its worldwide prevalence is still on the rise. Moreover, the majority of the programs implemented are still targeting adults struggling with overweightness and focusing on transmitting knowledge about food. However, research shows that obesity prevention is more efficacious and cheaper, and beliefs about healthy eating have a stronger influence on eating behavior than declarative knowledge about food. In fact, knowledge about healthy eating only influences weight status when combined with self-regulation competences. Thus, the main goal of the current project is to develop and evaluate the efficacy of an online preventive intervention program, the HEP-S. This program is designed to promote and develop a set of transversal skills and strategies, related to self-regulation, on the healthy eating domain among school-aged children. Methods A three-armed randomized controlled trial will be conducted in several schools in Portugal. It will include a standard control group, with no intervention; an online intervention group, with the program for 20 weeks; and an enhanced online intervention group, with the program for 20 weeks embedded with gamification strategies throughout the program. Per research group, 40 groups of about 15 children each will be recruited and measured at five different time points. The three research groups will complete the same assessment protocol at the same timings (baseline, post-intervention, and 3, 6, and 9 months’ follow-ups). The assessment protocol will include anthropometric and psychological measures. The primary outcome measures will be the development of self-regulation skills for healthy eating over time, the development of self-efficacy attitudes, knowledge about healthy eating over time, and others. The secondary outcome measures will include the effect of gamification strategies, engagement, and satisfaction with the program, among others. The program will comprise the following: (i) a weekly group synchronous videoconference session with a trained educational psychologist serving as a mediator and (ii) a weekly parental involvement activity. Narratives, or story-tools, embedded with self-regulation strategies are at the core of the intervention. Discussion The program may play an important role in preventing risky and unhealthy eating behaviors by focusing on the development of self-regulation skills and strategies among elementary school children. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04099498. Registered on 23 September 2019.

This study assessed the efficacy of an educational program focused on the promotion of school engagement in children with Cerebral Palsy. A 9 weeks, narrative-based intervention program, with a pre-post neuropsychological and self-report evaluation, was developed with a dual focus: a self-regulation theoretical model and executive function stimulation. Fifteen children with Cerebral Palsy participated in the study. Results showed a significant main effect of time (F(2.82) = 6.04, p = 0.0066, partial &eta, 2 = 0.30, F(2.82) = 9.91, p = 0.0006, partial &eta, 2 = 0.41, F(2.82) = 26.90, p &lt, 0.0001, partial &eta, 2 = 0.66) in the three dimensions of school engagement. Findings indicate that the program to train self-regulated competences and executive function skills was efficacious in promoting school engagement in children with Cerebral Palsy. Educational implications were discussed.

The purpose of the present systematic review was to examine extant research regarding the role of games used seriously in interventions with individuals with cerebral palsy. Therefore, PubMed, PsyINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, and IEEE databases were used. Search terms included: "serious games" OR "online games" OR "video games" OR "videogame" OR "game based" OR "game" AND "intervention" AND "cerebral palsy." After the full reading and quality assessment of the papers, 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of the studies reported high levels of compliance, motivation, and engagement with game-based interventions both at home and at the clinical setting intervention. Regarding the effectiveness of the use of games, the results of the studies show both positive and negative results regarding their effectiveness. The efficacy was reported to motor function (i.e., improvements in the arm function, hand coordination, functional mobility, balance and gait function, postural control, upper-limbs function) and physical activity. Findings of this review suggest that games are used as a complement to conventional therapies and not as a substitute. Practitioners often struggle to get their patients to complete the assigned homework tasks, as patients display low motivation to engage in prescribed exercises. Data of this review indicates the use of games as tools suited to promote patients' engagement in the therapy and potentiate therapeutic gains., This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653). SL and AP were supported by a Ph.D. fellowship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). PM was supported by a Post-Doctoral fellowship from the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi), University of Minho. JM was supported by a research scholarship from the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi), University of Minho.

Este estudo decorre do Plano Estratégico da Instituição na qual foi reconhecida a necessidade de conceber um Plano de Formação para os colaboradores, estando este trabalho direcionado ao grupo de educadoras das respostas sociais da Creche e Jardim de Infância. A formação é um contributo fundamental para a qualidade da Instituição. As mudanças na sociedade são constantes e os profissionais devem estar preparados e motivados para dar resposta às suas exigências. Os recursos humanos são a essência da Instituição e a sua implicação e vontade são fundamentais para a sua qualidade. Neste projeto, recorremos a uma metodologia de natureza qualitativa, elegendo como técnicas de recolha de dados: a entrevista, a análise documental e o focus group. Com base nos resultados obtidos, e considerando a especificidade da Instituição, concebemos um Plano de Formação para o triénio 2018-2020: procedimentos, intervenientes, instrumentos de avaliação e plano de melhoria. Palavras-chave: Formação profissional; desenvolvimento profissional; capital humano; qualidade da organização; desempenho organizacional; formação continua; necessidades de formação. This study stems from the Institution’s Strategic Plan in which it was recognized the need to generate an Instruction Plan for its collaborators. This project is specifically aimed at the group of educators from both Day Care and Kindergarten’s social responses. Instruction plays a major role as far as the Institution’s quality is concerned. Society is constantly changing and every professional must be prepared and motivated to meet its demands and requirements. Human resources are the Institution’s essence and with that being said, its implication and will are fundamental to its quality. In this project, we decided to use a qualitative methodology, choosing interview, documental analisis and focus group as our data collection technique. Based on our results, and taking into account the specificity of the institution, we have conceived an Instruction Plan aiming the 2018-2020 triennium: procedures, intervenients, evaluation tools and improvement plan. Key Words: Professional Instruction, Professional Development, Human capital, Organization’s quality, Organizational performance; continuous instruction; training needs.

In Portugal, as in other European countries, gypsy children remain largely at the margins of the educational system. Their underachievement and the associated dropout rates from school are serious educational issues and factors contributing to their marginalization in society. However, there is limited research qualitatively examining the different ways in which gypsy children think about learning. The current study examined data provided by 26 Portuguese gypsy elementary school children ranging from 9- to 13- years-old. Data analysis presented an outcome space representing the gypsy children’s qualitatively different conceptions of learning. Accordingly with their gypsy culture, these Portuguese students perceived their learning of basic numeracy and literacy skills as important for helping their families selling at fairs. These children indicated that they do not intend to continue studying beyond elementary school as they believe that learning of these basic skills is enough for living as a gypsy. The implications for educational processes and school practices are discussed.

Engaged students tend to show school-committed behaviors (e.g., attend classes, get involved with the learning process), high achievement, and sense of belonging. However, students with disabilities are prone to show a lack of engagement with school due to the specific difficulties they have to handle. In fact, children with disabilities are likely to show poor participation in school when compared with children without disabilities. This poor involvement is related to their low autonomy to participate in the school activities, which, in turn, results in low school engagement. Parents play a crucial role in their childrens education. Parental involvement in school activities promotes autonomous behaviors and, consequently, school engagement. In fact, extant literature has shown close relationships between parental involvement, school engagement, and academic performance. Yet, parental involvement in school activities of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) has received little direct attention from researchers. These children tend to display lower participation due to the motor, or cognitive, impairments that compromise their autonomy, and have a high likelihood to develop learning disabilities, with special incidences in reading and arithmetic. Therefore, our aim is twofold, to understand the parental styles; and how the perceived parental involvement in school activities is related to their children school engagement. Hence, 19 interviews were conducted with one of the parents of 19 children with CP. These interviews explored the school routines of children and the perceived involvement of parents in those routines. Additionally, children filled out a questionnaire on school engagement. Results show that the majority of the parents were clustered in the Autonomy Allowance and Acceptance and Support parental style, and the majority of their children were perceived as autonomous. Moreover, about a half of the children reported a high level of school engagement. Finally, neither childrens autonomous behaviors reported, This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (FOCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653). AP was supported by a PhD fellowship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT - SFRH/BD/95104/2013). PM was supported by a Post-Doctoral fellowship from the Research Center on Psychology (CIPsi), School of Psychology, University of Minho., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The concept of self-regulation in learning has been assuming a rising importance in the literature once the research has suggested that students participate actively in their learning process, monitoring and regulating their study process to achieve self-set goals. Nevertheless, the information about self-regulation has not been yet systematized on the journals indexed in Scielo. Therefore, the current study performed a systematic review of the literature on Scielo.org, between the period 2001 and 2011 to analyze the existence evidence regarding: a) the nature of self-regulated learning, b) it's assessment, c) the promotion of self-regulated skills and their usefulness in the context of education, and d) the potential implication of teachers on the promotion of lifelong learning. El concepto de autorregulación del aprendizaje ha asumido una importancia creciente en la literatura, ya que la investigación ha sugerido que los alumnos participan activamente en su proceso de aprendizaje, monitorizando y regulando su proceso de estudio con el fin de alcanzar determinados objetivos. La información recogida en revistas indexadas en la base Scielo, en cuanto a la autorregulación, todavía no ha sido sistematizada convenientemente. Por ello, se ha realizado una revisión sistemática de la literatura, con base en datos SciELO.org, en el período comprendido entre el año 2001 y el año 2011, para analizar las evidencias recogidas en diferentes investigaciones sobre: a) la naturaleza del aprendizaje autorregulado, b) su evaluación, c) la promoción de habilidades para la autorregulación y su utilidad en el contexto educativo y d) la posibilidad de implicación de los profesores en la promoción de dicho aprendizaje.

Although academic achievement is believed to be an important factor in students' decision to continue studying at university, research on this topic is limited.The current study analyzed the relationship between academic achievement and the intention of 327 non-traditional students to continue studying at university, using a path model.The central hypothesis of the study was confirmed, as the intention to continue studying was determined by previous academic results, although the amount of variance explained was relatively low (13%).The results from this study indicate that the intention to continue studying at university depends less than expected on the performance achieved. So, universities should consider other variables such as the quality of the academic support offered to these students continue their studies.

Partindo de uma fonte local como são os Inventários Orfanológicos, foi possível estabelecer categorias de ocupações que se destacaram no panorama económico e social de Vila do Conde. As fortunas declaradas eram fruto de posse de bens de raiz, móveis, profissionais, semoventes? e ainda de uma rede creditária que foi possível detectar entre alguns comerciantes. Posteriormente foi-nos permitindo fazer uma entrada no mundo pessoal das vivências privadas (a família, a mulher e o orfão/criança) e nas próprias casas dos inventariados.

The present study developed a brief school-based intervention focused on raising awareness about Cerebral Palsy. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, 91 classes from the fourth and fift...