Clara Viegas

Laboratory experiments are one of the backbones of engineering teaching, as they help students learning in a unique way, providing better understanding of scientific theories, clarifying concepts and principles as well as improving their technical skills. Nevertheless, with the Bologna Process reforms and the economic constraints most Higher Education Institutions face nowadays, caused a significant decline in the amount of time devoted to hands-on lab. Researchers are seeking complementary ways to teach these practical skills and recently, with the explosive popularity of computer-based learning, remote labs are being used as an option. This review paper presents a first attempt to compile empirical studies that directly report the use of the remote laboratory VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality). These practices of engineering classes/courses, used VISIR individually or as a complement to traditional hands on laboratory. Concerning these different approaches of how VISIR is used, the authors draw several conclusions-findings suggest that VISIR is a useful learning instrument, having been used, so far, by more than 4400 students. It contributes to improve students' competences and knowledge, their confidence in lab and their enthusiasm and motivation. Some factors, such as teacher's supervision and attention to the VISIR component play a crucial role in students' engagement. Finally, the results achieved through this review raise several important and still non-studied issues to be addressed by future research.

Cada área do conhecimento tem a sua própria linha de evolução, ora dividindo-se em novas áreas ora abandonando algumas disciplinas para dar lugar a outras com enquadramento mais recente. Como resultado disso pode-se constatar a tendência para uma determinada disciplina ter uma abordagem diferente nos vários cursos onde é le cionada. Deste modo, ensinar a disciplina de eletrônica num curso Engenharia Eletrônica é feito de um modo diferente do que é feito num curso de Engenharia Eletrotécnica de Energia. No primeiro caso a disciplina assume alguma profundidade enquanto no segundo caso os vários temas são, quando muito, aflorados de modo algo superficial. Esta est ratégia apresenta várias vantagens para o estudante, tais como o custo e tempo necessários para a introdução no mercado de trabalho. No entanto, pode-se também identificar algumas limitações desta abordagem, das quais a principal se refere ao nível relativamente baixo de competências em algumas áreas importantes, habitualment...

The evolution of new technology and its increasing use, has for some years been making the existence of informal learning more and more transparent, especially among young and older adults in both Higher Education and workplace contexts. However, the nature of formal and non-formal, coursebased, approaches to learning has made it hard to accommodate these informal processes satisfactorily. The project aims to facilitate first the identification by the learner (as the last responsible of the learning process), and then the recognition by the institution, in dialogue with the learner, of this learning. To do so a methodology and a technological framework to support it have been implemented. This project have been tested in several context and it is possible to say that an informal learning dialogue between learners and people in chargé of the institutions is possible.

People do not learn only in formal educational institutions, but also throughout their lives, from their experiences, conversations, observations of others, exploration of the Internet, meetings and conferences, and chance encounters etc. However this informal and non-formal learning can easily remain largely invisible, making it hard for peers and employers to recognize or act upon it. The TRAILER project aims to make this learning visible so that it can benefit both the individual and the organization. The proposed demonstration will show a software solution that (i) helps the learners to capture, organize and classify a wide range of 'informal' learning taking place in their lives, and (ii) assists the organization in recognizing this learning and use it to help managing human resources (benefiting both parts). This software tool has recently been used in two phases of pilot studies, which have run in four different European countries.

Informal Learning plays an important role in everyone's life and yet we often are unaware of it. The need to keep track of the knowledge acquired through informal learning is increasing as its sources become increasingly diverse. This paper presents a study on a tool developed to help keeping track of learners’ informal learning, both within academic and professional contexts, This tool, developed within the European Commission funded TRAILER project, will further integrate the improvements suggested by users during the piloting phase. The two studied contexts were similar regarding the importance and perception of Informal Learning, but differed concerning tool usage. The overall idea of managing one’s informal learning was well accepted and welcomed, which validated the emerging need for a tool with this purpose.