Abstract-In the European Higher Education Area, lifelong learning has been recognized as an essential element, being critically important given the rapid pace of change of society, namely in engineering and technology. Learner autonomy and self-direction in learning in higher education has become increasingly important as a way to promote lifelong learning and the ability to continuously learn. This study is a first step in the adaptation and validation of a Portuguese version of the Personal Responsibility Orientation to SelfDirection in Learning Scale (PRO-SDLS) to undergraduate engineering students. Using factor and reliability analysis, 12 items of the translated scale showed strong validity and reliability. The findings indicate that the PRO-SDLS can be used with engineering undergraduate students, but there are some differences between the original learner autonomy construct and the one that emerges from this adaptation. More data collection is suggested. The possibility of interviews and focus groups is also mentioned.
This study researches how first-year engineering students perceived the influence of curricular activities on their own learning autonomy, measured with an adaptation of the Personal Responsibility Orientation to Self-direction in Learning Scale (PRO-SDLS). Participants were questioned to assess the influence of the teacher's role. The results indicate that learners' characteristics (motivation and self-efficacy) contribute more to learner autonomy (LA) than the teaching-learning transaction (control and initiative), as in the original PRO-SDLS validation. The most autonomous learners presented higher values in all LA components and dimensions, but the differences were greater in motivation and initiative. The participants with higher LA were not as dependent on the teacher, regarding assessment, the completion of classroom tasks and deadlines. Regardless of the degree of autonomy in learning, all participants viewed teachers as the main source of information. Therefore, LA plays an important role in teaching activities planning. Suggestions for adjustments and more flexible learning scenarios are formulated. Keywords: higher education; learner autonomy; curricular activities; teachers' role IntroductionThe promotion of autonomy in learning as a purpose of the educational process is not a new issue, much less in higher education, and the 'development of self-learning skills' is one of the ideals that 'higher education should consider' (Esteves 2010, 52). The Higher Education European Policies, namely the Bologna process, emphasise its importance, in particular through the adoption of a student-centred learning paradigm (Leuven Communiqué 2009), which places the responsibility to actively participate in the definition of their own educational process, on the students. It also highlights 'deep learning and understanding, and increased responsibility and accountability on the part of the student' (Lea, Stephenson, and Troy 2003, 322). In Portugal, higher education institutions waited several years for the legislation framework necessary for the implementation of the Bologna process (Veiga and Amaral 2009). Sin (2012, 401) points to an 'engagement with Bologna that appears to have been a bottom-up process, subsequently complemented by topdown legislation', where 'references to student-centred education and a new teaching paradigm seem to have emerged as an acknowledgement of the academic perception' and 'an opportunity to change teaching approaches, transforming students into independent learners at the centre of the educational process'. This independence in learning that means an ability to take charge of one's own learning was designated by Holec (1979) as 'learner autonomy (LA)'. Other authors (Dam et al. 1990;Little 1991) add to this ability the will to act and choose independently, reinforcing the idea that to act as an autonomous learner, the students must have this ability, but also the will to mobilise it for learning.Even students with a high degree of autonomy can choose to learn in a teacher-centred ins...
The European Higher Education Area was meant to ensure more comparable, compatible and coherent systems of higher education. This is possible however, only if there is a trustful relationship amongst its members and by the creation of quality assurance mechanisms, such as the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and its agencies. Nevertheless, it seems that in certain professional areas, like engineering, this European accreditation is not sufficient, and other means of quality assurance with worldwide recognition are sought, such as the EUR-ACE label. The aim of this research is to ascertain how the Portuguese Higher Education Institutions, with studies programmes that were awarded the EUR-ACE label, are using it in their promotion and what are its meanings and benefits. Based on the analysis done, it is possible to conclude that in spite of EUR-ACE labels being awarded to studies programmes and not to Institutions, they are being used to promote the Institutions. The stakeholders that are more frequently mentioned by the Institutions as beneficiaries of the EUR-ACE label are graduates, by means of the European and international professional mobility. The EUR-ACE label is seen by Institutions as a proof of the quality of studies programmes, because of its demanding and rigorous criteria, that assures Excellency and European and international high quality assurance standards.
Bringing the digital world and "digital natives" to hands-on engineering laboratory classes can be a challenge and an opportunity. Videos can be used, but is important that students know exactly what video to watch for each apparatus. That is why the possibility of accessing videos with QR codes is essential to build a bridge from concrete to digital content. The aim of this research is to evaluate the importance undergraduate engineering students attribute to instructional videos that explain the operating procedure of laboratory apparatus, and their reaction to the possibility of accessing them with quick response (QR) codes. Results show students attributed some importance to the videos and the QR codes in the laboratory are very helpful as means to quickly and easily access the videos.
Em março de 2020, a pandemia forçou as Instituições do Ensino Superior portuguesas a adotarem o ensino remoto emergencial suportado por tecnologia digital. Desde então, têm-se sucedido períodos alternados de aulas presenciais e de aulas remotas online (total e parcialmente). No Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP), em Portugal, e durante os vários estados de emergência decretados pelo governo, todas as aulas foram remotas, passando a ser parcialmente presenciais sempre que o alívio das restrições à circulação de pessoas o permitiu. No caso particular do Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica do ISEP, as aulas teóricas foram sempre remotas, mas as aulas teórico-práticas e práticas-laboratoriais passaram a presenciais sempre que tal foi possível. Por isso, a maioria das aulas que os estudantes de Engenharia Mecânica tiveram entre março de 2020 e julho de 2021 foram remotas. Este estudo tem como objetivo investigar se estudantes e professores de unidades curriculares de projeto consideram o ensino remoto emergencial uma boa alternativa ao ensino presencial, qual a sua preferência e quais as características que as aulas remotas online devem ter para serem uma boa alternativa às aulas presenciais. No caso dos estudantes, o estudo é longitudinal, sendo ainda possível averiguar se as suas perceções mudaram com o passar do tempo e com a frequência de mais aulas de projeto, quer presenciais quer remotas. Os resultados mostram que a maioria dos estudantes considera as aulas remotas uma boa alternativa e gostariam de vê-las substituir as aulas de projeto presenciais; o que não acontece com os professores. Os dados mais recentes mostram que os estudantes valorizam os aspetos que melhor replicam, em ambiente digital, as aulas presenciais, nomeadamente no que respeita a serem síncronas, à interação com o professor em pequenos grupos, a ver e ouvir o professor e poder mostrar-lhe o ecrã do computador. Os dados recolhidos junto dos professores na mesma altura se mostram concordantes com estes.
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