Guilhermina Lobato Miranda

Applying the 4C-ID Model to the Design of a Digital Educational Resource for Teaching Electric Circuits: Effects on Student Achievement

This paper reports the first results of an experimental research, carried out in a school with students of the basic education, where the instructional model 4C-ID was used for teaching and learning electric circuits. We describe the principles and features of this model, its suitability for the teaching and learning of complex knowledge and skills, and yet their permeability to develop digital educational resources and learning environments. We analyze the first results of this research and point out clues to future developments.

Learning Electrical Circuits: The Effects of the 4C-ID Instructional Approach in the Acquisition and Transfer of Knowledge

This study was designed to investigate the effects of two instructional approaches (4C-ID versus conventional) on learners’ knowledge-acquisition and learning transfer of the electrical circuits content in Physics. Participants were 129 9 th graders from a secondary school in Lisbon, M = 14.3 years, SD = 0.54. The participants were divided in two groups: an experimental group constituted three intact classes (n = 78); and a control group constituted two intact classes (n = 51). The experimental group was taught using a digital learning environment designed with the 4C-ID model principles while the control group learned the same contents through a conventional method. We assessed the students’ performance (knowledge-acquisition and transfer), the perceived cognitive load, and the instructional efficiency. Results indicated that the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group on a knowledge-acquisition test and in a learning transfer test. They also perceived a less cognitive load in the transfer test and the learning environment developed with the 4C-ID model proved to be more instructional efficient than the conventional method.

Social Network to Support Parents and Teachers of Students with Multiple Disabilities

Abstract This study aimed to analyze how the Social Software tools could respond to the needs of parents and teachers of students with multiple disabilities in improving their practices, as well as...

Production of vodcasts by Geology students of the 12 th grade: An experience in analysis

There are various ways to use digital technologies for teaching. In this research, they were used with the objective of making the students design and produce Digital Educational Resources (DER), in this case vodcasts. These vodcasts covered all the curriculum content of the discipline of Geology, 12thGrade, in order to promote learning and to verify their effects on educational outcomes. To achieve these objectives we have developed, over a school year, teaching and active learning strategies, where students were asked to search, select and critically evaluate information to produce vodcasts and reflect on these processes. The vodcasts were produced taking into account some of the principles of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and the cognitive load theory for the production of multimedia messages. Students joined with enthusiasm and commitment to this methodology and have made a very positive review, stating that this allowed them to acquire scientific and technical knowledge, develop digital and communication skills, and work in teams, in a learning environment that provided them with a high degree of freedom, personal satisfaction and autonomy. The vodcasts were inserted into a rich technological classroom environment, such as the use of Moodle and the production of ePortfolios. The results of the formal tests in this discipline were quite good (mean = 14.7 points, in a 20 points scale). When compared to the results of students in previous years, with the same teacher, who kept constant the use of Moodle and of the ePortfolio, we noticed that there was an improvement. In 2012, students that used the Blog and the ePortfolio had an average of 14.1 in formal tests and in 2011, only using ePortfolios, had an average of 13.2.