The Challenge of Increasing the Effectiveness of Learning by Using Active Methodologies

One of the most important objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is quality education, which is related to reducing school dropouts. To this end, the use of active learning methodologies improves the motivation, facilitating the learning process and, hence, reducing the dropouts. The present study proposes a methodological approach based on collaborative learning, titled: Presentation–Questions–Answers (PQA). The aim of the research is to determine whether the use of a collaborative learning methodology affects the motivation and learning of students studying theoretical content. An analytical experimental linear study was developed, whereby students were distributed across two groups, (i) a control group, which employed a lecture-based traditional approach, and (ii) an experimental group, which employed a collaborative methodology. Pre-and post-tests were carried out to assess the knowledge and motivation of students using the Situational Motivation Scale (validated scale) and a specific knowledge scale. Improvement was found in the effectiveness of the experimental group regarding the control group, with findings showing that the group utilizing the collaborative methodology acquired 64% more knowledge than the control group during the same period. However, no significant changes were found in either the intrinsic or the extrinsic motivation of the students in either group. The results prove that the use of collaborative learning maintains students’ motivation and is more effective than lecture-based methods in learning theoretical content.

Best Practices in the Development of Transversal Competences among Youths in Vulnerable Situations

(1) Background: The aim of Second Chance Schools (E2Cs) is to provide employment-focused training for young people who left compulsory education without any formal qualifications by encouraging them to pursue initial vocational training. Transversal Competences (TCs) are important for enabling the social inclusion of young people in vulnerable situations by promoting their entry into the labour market. However, TCs are not always systematically developed. The objective of this study is to analyse good practices in inculcating these skills in this group of young people. (2) Methods: In-depth case studies were conducted in six best-practice schools. The following methods were used in the studies: questionnaires to school; a checklist to analyse the teaching materials used: an interview with the people responsible for the programme; an interview with students; and a questionnaire to representatives from the business sector. (3) Results: The six E2Cs attached great importance to TCs, which were taught specifically through a student-centred, active, varied and collaborative methodology that was periodically reviewed and adapted to students’ needs. TCs were evaluated before, during, and after the process was completed. (4) Conclusions: The results identified specific key elements for promoting the development of TCs that could be transferred to other schools and, consequently, could have implications for education policies in this field.

JOVENS INDÍGENAS NA UNIVERSIDADE: movimentos de apropriação e re-existência

O crescente acesso de indígenas ao ensino superior, motivados pela busca de apropriação de ferramentas das sociedades não indígenas para a defesa de seus direitos, territórios e organização social, provocou, na última década, a consolidação de políticas de ingresso nas universidades públicas brasileiras por meiode cotas e/ou de outros programas específicos de acesso. Neste trabalho, apresentamos reflexões decorrentes de pesquisa de doutorado, a qual, através de uma metodologia colaborativa de inspiração etnográfica, cartografou movimentos do estar indígena na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), bem como as repercussões dessa presença na instituição. Observamos que, ao chegarem à universidade, os jovens indígenas re-criam esse espaço, apropriando-se do universo acadêmico, dos conhecimentos ocidentais e, ao mesmo tempo, re-existem através de uma presença disruptiva que se expressa na linguagem, nas diferentes temporalidades, na lógica comunal, no compromisso com a comunidade e na re-existência epistêmica. Desse modo, o estar sendo indígena universitário dá-se na fronteira entre dois universos opostos e complementares. Nesse lugar, habita a potência do pensar indígena que, atuando entre dois sistemas de pensamento (da ciência ocidental e o próprio), pode causar rupturas na episteme hegemônica.YOUNG INDIGENOUS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL: movements of seizing and re-existingABSTRACTThe increasing access of indigenous people to higher education, motivated by the search for seize tools from non-indigenous societies to be used in the defense of their rights, territories, and social organization, led in the last decade to the consolidation of admission policies in public universities through quotas and/or other specific access programs. Here we present reflections resulting from a doctoral research, which, through a collaborative methodology of ethnographic inspiration, mapped movements of indigenous living at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, as well as the repercussions of this presence in the institution. We note that, upon arriving to the university, young indigenous people re-create this space, seizing the academic universe of Western knowledge and, at the same time, re-exist through a disruptive presence that is expressed in language, in different temporalities, in communal logic, in commitment to the community, and in epistemic re-existence. Thus far, living, being an indigenous university student, takes place at the border between two opposite and complementary universes. In this place lives the indigenous power of thinking, acting between two systems of thought (of western science and itself), can cause ruptures in the hegemonic episteme.Keywords: Indigenous students. Modes of re-existence. University. Interculturality.

Towards Model Synchronization for Consistency Management of Mechatronic Systems

The development of a mechatronic system involves different designers having various viewpoints on the overall system to handle its complexity. Consequently, multiple models are created from a variety of domains such as mechanical, electronic, and software engineering. These models use different formalisms, modeling languages, and tools to address specific concerns. The major challenge of this approach is to identify and solve any potential inconsistency between models in order to minimize costs and development time before the verification and validation phases. This paper proposes a new collaborative methodology to maintain consistency between different engineering disciplines at an early stage of the development cycle of mechatronic systems based on Model-Based Engineering (MBE). We apply a model synchronization approach to actively check for model consistency in a continuous way during the multidisciplinary design process. As a novel contribution of this paper, we demonstrate how model transformation techniques can be employed; firstly, to abstract various engineering models in a common formalism based on graph theory and, secondly, to update models with appropriate changes evaluated by a project manager. We also show how to detect the differences automatically, and we discuss where designer decisions are essential.

From Vicious to Virtuous Paradox Dynamics: The Social-symbolic Work of Supporting Actors

The dynamics of paradox can be vicious and virtuous. Facing competing yet interrelated demands, organizational actors may find themselves paralyzed by tensions, embroiled in a vicious cycle, or energized by and thriving amid the friction in a virtuous cycle. While studies offer insights into each type, little is known about how actors move from one to the other. Through an action research study at a multinational company, we investigate shifting paradox dynamics. Our model depicts how organizational actors transition from vicious to virtuous cycle, moving through a cycle break and a cycle reversal. Our collaborative methodology sheds light on how supporting actors can shape the social and symbolic dimensions influencing focal actors’ capacity to shift their patterned responses to paradoxical tensions. Supporting actors, positioned as insiders to the organization but outsiders to the paradox, enable this shift by breaking dysfunctional dynamics, facilitating new responses, and embedding virtuous dynamics in the organization.