Araújo, Alexandra M.

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Araújo

First Name

Alexandra M.

Name

Alexandra M. Araújo

Biography

Alexandra M. Araújo studied psychology at the University of Porto and finished her diploma in 2003. From 2004 to 2009, she received an FCT research scholarship to conduct her doctoral studies in Psychology. She worked as a graduate student at the Counselling Center at the University of Minho, receiving her doctoral degree in Psychology from the University of Minho in 2009, also funded by FCT. From 2009 to 2013, she was a consultant to educational organizations (Casa Pia de Lisboa), managed a counseling center, and was an Assistant Professor at Piaget Institute (Lisbon). From 2013 to 2015, she received a post-doctoral FCT research fellowship in Educational Sciences (specializing in Educational Psychology) to study the transition and adaptation to Higher Education and student development and learning in first-year students at the Institute of Education, University of Minho. During this period, she was the co-founder and coordinator of the University of Minho Student Observatory. Since 2015, she has worked at the Portucalense University (Porto) as a Professor of Educational and Vocational Psychology, Research Methods, and Advanced Data Analyses.

Identifiers

0000-0003-4345-0856
F513-2F7A-A091
55749283100
F-5093-2012

Research Projects

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Organizational Unit
CINTESIS.UPT - Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde
Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde (CINTESIS.UPT), former I2P, is an R&D unit devoted to the study of cognition and behaviour in context. With an interdisciplinary focus, namely on Education, Translational and Applied Psychology

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 49
  • PublicationRestricted Access
    Integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the curriculum: Findings based on the analysis of higher education programmes
    2023-07 - Barros, Elisabete; Morais, Paula; Fernandes, Sandra; Araújo, Alexandra M.; Albuquerque, Ana Sílvia
    Higher education institutions play a vital role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, the integration of SDGs in higher education curriculum and pedagogic practices is essential to ensure that students are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and values needed to address complex social and environmental challenges and promote sustainable development in their personal and professional lives. This study aims to investigate the extent to which higher education programmes integrate SDGs into their curricula. The research was conducted in a private higher education institution located in the north of Portugal. In this context, faculty training was developed as an institutional strategy to facilitate the incorporation of SDGs in higher education policies and practices. The study was based on a mixed-methods approach, including content analysis and semi-structured interviews. The content analysis was performed on the course outlines of selected graduate programmes from three different fields of study: business, engineering, and social sciences. To complement the content analysis, semi-structured interviews were conducted with faculty members responsible for curriculum design in the selected programmes. The preliminary results show that there is a growing trend in the integration of SDGs in the curriculum, especially in courses from the social sciences field. This integration is mainly focused on awareness-raising rather than action-oriented learning. The interviews, to be carried out in the second phase of the study, will allow to identify the main barriers and challenges to effective integration. The study also highlights the need for greater faculty support to effectively integrate the SDGs into the curriculum. The research contributes to the literature on SDGs integration in higher education and provides insights for policymakers, curriculum designers, and faculty members to better address the challenges and opportunities in sustainability education and the importance of educating students on sustainability issues.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Autoconceito, vivências académicas e satisfação coma vida: Estudo com alunos universitários de Moçambique
    2016 - Campira, Farissai P.; Almeida, Leandro S.; Araújo, Alexandra M.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Autoconceito em estudantes universitários de Moçambique: Estudo das relações e diferenças em função de variáveis pessoais e contextuais dos alunos
    2017 - Campira, Farissai P.; Almeida, Leandro S.; Araújo, Alexandra M.
    O autoconceito é uma variável que acompanha a individualidade e os contextos de vida dos sujeitos. O Ensino Superior, pela sua complexidade, surge como um contexto que afeta a autoperceção dos estudantes, surgindo diferenças a ter em conta quando se trata de estudar os percursos de vida dos estudantes e como esses afectam a sua identidade. Neste artigo analisam-se as relações e diferenças no autoconceito em função de variáveis pessoais e de contexto dos alunos universitários de Moçambique. Participaram neste estudo 250 alunos da Universidade Pedagógica na Beira com idades entre 16 a 55 anos (M= 29.08; DP= 7.75), sendo 103 (41.2%) do sexo masculino. Destes 102(40.8%) tem até 23 anos de idade. Foi administrado o Questionário de Autoconceito para Estudantes Universitários de Moçambique. Os resultados mostram diferenças em função do género apenas nas dimensões do autoconceito religioso, do autoconceito académico e do autoconceito social, estas duas últimas dimensões a favor do género masculino. Tomando agora a variável idade, surgem diferenças com significado estatístico a favor dos estudantes com idade superior a 23 anos nas dimensões do autoconceito académico e autoconceito social. Finalmente verifica-se alguma associação do autoconceito com algumas variáveis, nomeadamente o ano do curso e o nível de escolaridade dos pais, sugerindo alguma diversidade nos alunos que frequentam hoje o Ensino Superior e que merece ser atendida pelas instituições.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Gender differences in first-year college students’ academic expectations
    2016-06 - Diniz, António M.; Alfonso, Sónia; Deaño, Manuel; Costa, Alexandra R.; Conde, Ângeles; Almeida, Leandro S.; Araújo, Alexandra M.
    Based on a multidimensional definition of academic expectations (AEs), the authors examine students’ AE component scores across countries and genders. Two samples (343 Portuguese and 358 Spanish students) completed the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ) six months after enrolling in their universities. Factorial invariance was ensured across countries and genders, allowing us to study AEs using the APQ for both genders and in both countries. No significant differences in factor means were found between countries, indicating that AEs are not an obstacle to student mobility. Gender differences were found in some AE factor means, Training for employment, Personal and social development, Student mobility, Political engagement and citizenship, and Social pressure, with males exhibiting higher scores. Because these differences are not supported by most literature in this domain, further studies are needed to clarify the causes of women’s lower expectations and, therefore, risk of adaptation difficulties.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Integração dos Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) na planificação curricular dos cursos da Universidade Portucalense: Resultados de um estudo preliminar [abstract]
    2023-07 - Fernandes, Sandra; Araújo, Alexandra M.; Albuquerque, Ana Sílvia; Morais, Paula; Barros, Elisabete
    As Instituições de Ensino Superior são vitais para a concretização dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS). Neste sentido, a integração dos ODS nos curricula do Ensino Superior e nas práticas pedagógicas é essencial para garantir que os estudantes desenvolvam os conhecimentos, as competências e os valores necessários para enfrentar os atuais desafios sociais e ambientais e para promover o desenvolvimento sustentável nas suas vidas pessoais e profissionais.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Grateful workers, satisfied workers? A portuguese study about organizational happiness during COVID-19 quarantine
    2023-02 - Ataíde, Inês; Araújo, Patrícia; Fernandes, Rosina; Martins, Emília; Mendes, Francisco; Araújo, Alexandra M.
    Although work satisfaction has been largely studied, gratitude is an emerging field within multiple sciences, including positive psychology, organizational behavior, and human resources marketing. This ex post facto study aims to characterize gratitude and understand its relations to job satisfaction in a non-probabilistic sample of 521 Portuguese workers (62.2% women), 30.90% and 69.10% in the public and private sector, respectively, mean ages of M = 43, SD = 12.6. Data were collected using anonymous questionnaires during the COVID-19 lockdown. Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS 26, and include Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlations, and a hierarchical linear regression model. Results confirm that Portuguese workers are grateful and satisfied at work. There were statistically significant differences between groups in sociodemographic (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05), professional (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001), and perceived living conditions variables (p < 0.05) regarding gratitude. Gratitude, alone, explains 8% of job satisfaction. According to the regression model (32.4%), perceptions of satisfaction initiatives and greater job security are also associated with higher levels of job satisfaction (23.6%). Implementation of gratitude-promoting strategies may increase job satisfaction, especially in the post-pandemic period. The investment in workers’ organizational happiness, after the impacts of COVID-19 on work dynamics, is a differentiating organizations success dimension. © 2023 by the authors.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Construção e validação de uma escala de autoconceito para estudantes universitários de Moçambique
    2015 - Campira, Farissai P.; Almeida, Leandro S.; Araújo, Alexandra M.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Ecology of children’s career development: A review of the literature
    2016 - Taveira, Maria do Céu; Oliveira, Íris Martins; Araújo, Alexandra M.
    Previous efforts to elaborate an organizing framework for the study of children’s career development identified its main dimensions and processes. However, the existing literature on children’s ecological subsystems is scarce. This article presents a literature review of the context of children’s career development. Based on Bronfenbrenner’s theory, 36 eligible articles covered the following subjects: the microsystems family and school; the mesosystems family-school/peer-school relations and antecedents of transitions; the exosystems parents’ work situation, social class, curriculum and teachers’ professional development; the macrosystems ethnicity and culture; and the chronosystems passage of time over the life-course and across generations. An ecological perspective can be included in an organizing framework of children’s careers and support further research and intervention. Empirical and practical implications are discussed.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Positivar a velhice: um programa de intervenção com pessoas idosas
    2019 - Jorge Miguel, Silva; Miguel, Isabel; Fernandes, Sandra; Araújo, Alexandra M.
    Esta comunicação tem como objetivo descrever a implementação de um programa de intervenção psicológica com pessoas idosas. Este programa, designado “Positivar a Velhice”, foi construído com base na revisão da literatura e nos princípios da psicologia positiva, abrangendo cinco variáveis da psicologia positiva: felicidade subjetiva, bem-estar psicológico, satisfação com a vida, qualidade de vida e afetos positivos e negativos. O programa de intervenção inclui um conjunto de 16 sessões grupais, divididas em três módulos. A implementação do programa decorreu em duas instituições privadas, localizadas na região norte de Portugal. O número de participantes foi de 23 idosos institucionalizados, com idades compreendidas entre os 61 e 93 anos. O principal objetivo deste artigo consiste na apresentação do programa de intervenção, nomeadamente, no que diz respeito à sua fundamentação teórica e pressupostos, estrutura e áreas de intervenção, conteúdo das sessões e respetivos objetivos e estratégias de ação. No final, são ainda apresentados alguns resultados relativos à avaliação do programa de intervenção, inseridos num estudo no âmbito de uma Dissertação de Mestrado em Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde, permitindo concluir que a intervenção surtiu efeitos positivos no grupo de intervenção, quanto às variáveis qualidade de vida, bem-estar psicológico e satisfação com a vida.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Teacher professional development in higher education: The impact of pedagogical training perceived by teachers
    2023-03-15 - Miguel, Isabel; Fernandes, Sandra; Abelha, Marta; Araújo, Alexandra M.
    This paper aims to analyze the impact of a pedagogical training program aimed to promote teacher professional development in a higher education institution in Portugal. Based on a mixedmethods approach, the study evaluates the satisfaction of 36 higher education teachers with the pedagogical training program offered and discusses its impact on teachers’ perceptions of teaching practices, conceptions, and professional development. The results from the questionnaires applied to participants, including multiple choice questions and open-ended answers, indicate high satisfaction with the implemented training program. Based on this case study, the authors discuss the implications of findings for teacher professional development and identify key characteristics for the design of successful pedagogical training programs in higher education.