Fernandes, Sandra
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Fernandes
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Sandra
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Sandra Fernandes
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Sandra Raquel Gonçalves Fernandes - PhD in Education Sciences, specialization in Curriculum Development, at the University of Minho. Graduate degree in Education, by the same University. She is Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology and Education at Universidade Portucalense, Porto, Portugal. She is the Head of the Pedagogic Innovation Office (Gabinete de Inovação Pedagógica - GIP) at Universidade Portucalense, an institutional structure aimed to promote the quality of teaching and learning through pedagogical training and teacher professional development. She is the coordinator of the new Masters in Innovation in Education, created in 2023. She coordinated the Masters in Education Administration and Management, from 2015 to 2023. She is an integrated member of Portucalense Institute of Psychology (I2P) at Portucalense University and an external collaborating member of the Research Center on Child Studies (CIEC) at the University of Minho. She is member of several national and international research projects, with public funding. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice and member of the Editorial Board of Frontiers in Education and Education Sciences (MDPI). She is a founding member and vice president of the Project Approaches in Engineering Education (PAEE) Association. Her research interests include Teacher Education, Higher Education, Curriculum Development, Education Administration and Management, Teacher Performance Assessment, Active Learning, Project-based Learning (PBL), Engineering Education, among others.
D617-2C98-5011
16315361800
Q-2679-2019Research Projects
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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
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Publication Restricted Access Integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the curriculum: Findings based on the analysis of higher education programmes2023-07 - Barros, Elisabete; Morais, Paula; Fernandes, Sandra; Araújo, Alexandra M.; Albuquerque, Ana SílviaHigher 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.Publication Restricted Access Does digital media use contribute to decreased expressive language skills of pre-school-aged children? An exploratory study in Portuguese children2023-03-23 - Monteiro, Rita; Ferreira, Simão; Rocha, Nuno; Fernandes, SandraPurpose/Aim of the study The purpose of this study was to analyse the relationship between digital media use and expressive language skills in the semantic and morphosyntactic domains, of pre-school-aged children (3 years-and-0 months to 5 years-and-11 months). Materials and methods Verbal oral expression (VOE) tasks of the Pre-school Assessment of Language Test (Teste de Linguagem-Avaliação da Linguagem Pré-Escolar) were administered to 237 pre-school children with no previous identified neurological or developmental conditions associated with language disorders to assess expressive language skills in the semantic and morphosyntactic domains. Parents completed a questionnaire about their children’s medical conditions, development (using the milestones of the Survey of Well-being of Young Children and the Pre-school Paediatric Symptom Checklist), and exposure to screens (using ScreenQ). Correlations between VOE and continuous variables such as ScreenQ were computed and a regression model incorporating all variables significantly associated with total language verbal expression was created. Results ScreenQ revealed a negative and significant correlation with children’s verbal oral expression as well as significance in the regression model. Parents’ education was the most significant predictor in this regression model. Conclusions This study emphasizes the importance of parents establishing limits for digital media use and promote good practices such as co-viewing.Publication Restricted Access Engaging students in learning: findings from a study of project-led education2014-01 - Mesquita, Diana; Flores, Maria Assunção; Lima, Rui M.; Fernandes, SandraThis paper reports on findings from a three-year study of project-based learning implemented in the first year of the Industrial Engineering and Management programme, at the University of Minho, Portugal. This particular model was inspired on project-led education (PLE), following Powell and Weenk's [2003. Project-Led Engineering Education. Utrecht: Lemma] work. It aims to analyse students’ perceptions of PLE as a learning device and its implications for faculty and students’ role in teaching and learning. Data collection took place in two phases through individual surveys and focus groups to students. Findings suggest the importance of PLE as a device to enhance meaningful learning and provide evidence from students that it helps to increase their engagement in learning. Implications of PLE for faculty and students role in teaching and learning will be discussed in the paper.Publication Open Access Impactful creativity: The role of entrepreneurship Education in driving sustainable development in the cultural and creative industries2025-02-01 - Durão, Marília; Simão, Emília; Veríssimo, Medéia; Nogueira, Sónia; Fernandes, SandraThe cultural and creative sector is one of the most dynamic sectors of the Portuguese economy, contributing to job creation, innovation, social development, preservation of cultural heritage, and the promotion of the country’s image across the globe. Entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) plays a crucial role in creating new opportunities for employment and revenue generation. Therefore, entrepreneurship education is receiving increasing attention as a means to contribute to the sustainable development of the cultural and creative sector. Underpinned on an Erasmus+ Project, FENICE ‘Fostering Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Cultural and Creative Industries through Interdisciplinary Education’, the present research contributes to the discussion on the main challenges of entrepreneurship education for the CCIs. Using a qualitative research design, this exploratory study employs a focus group with purposeful sampling as the research method. An online focus group was conducted in February 2023, with 11 participants identified as renowned professionals and experts in various cultural, artistic, and creative fields in Portugal. Preliminary results suggest that creatives are perceived, by nature, as entrepreneurial-oriented and often motivated by passion and a sense of mission. However, they also face a generalized lack of perspective on how products/services from the CCIs should be capitalized or how different monetization models may apply to them, especially when culture is perceived more as a symbolic than a capitalizable good. For many cultural and creative entrepreneurs, difficulties arise when understanding how business or project management tools can contribute to their professional growth within the CCIs.Publication Restricted Access Entrepreneurship Learning: Applying a Revised Experiential Learning Model to Cultural and Creative Industries2023-01-03 - Neves, Augusto; Nogueira, Sónia; Durão, Marília; Fernandes, SandraThis article discusses entrepreneurship and innovation in the context of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) through interdisciplinary education. Contributions focus on the outcomes of the Erasmus + project FENICE: ‘Fostering Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Cultural and Creative Industries through Interdisciplinary Education’, a project aimed at meeting the current and prospective skills’ needs of the CCIs, both from students and professionals/adult learners. The aim of this article is to propose the application of a revised experiential learning model (ELM) to the development of CCIs, by applying this learning approach to the development of an entrepreneurship education training program. It focuses on various forms of practical teaching, according to different training objectives, aiming at enhancing the quality and relevance of business education for the CCIs, while also fostering their innovative potential and social impact. The outcomes of the project suggest that experiential learning approaches can have an important contribution to entrepreneurial and managerial skills development for the CCIs, providing the sector with professionals who can contribute to the sustainable functioning and development of the creative economy.Publication Open Access Positivar a velhice: um programa de intervenção com pessoas idosas2019 - 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.Publication Restricted Access The role of leadership in promoting social responsibility in Higher Education2022-11 - Pereira, Adelaide; Morais, Paula; Fernandes, Sandra; Albuquerque, Ana SílviaThis study aims to analyse the role played by the academic leadership in developing pedagogical practices promoting social responsibility in a private higher education institution in the north of Portugal. Despite the limited research in the area, the interest in this subject has been growing in recent years. In this study, we attempt to understand the pedagogical methodologies that promote social responsibility competencies in the students. Higher education institutions must direct their activities and knowledge to both the internal and external communities, contributing to solving concrete social problems. Academic leaderships are central in this process because they are essential in promoting pedagogical practices aligned with the higher education institutions' social responsibility, like the active teaching/learning methodologies (e.g. project-based learning and service-learning). In this work, we focused on the qualitative methodology through the case study method. The participants of this study are students, lecturers and academics with leadership roles in a private higher education institution. The authors collected the data used in this study through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, written narratives, and documental analysis. The study reveals that pedagogical practices implementation aligned with social responsibility leads to an improvement of the students' qualifications and helps in their development as socially responsible citizens, acknowledging, however, some lack of interest by the lecturers in adopting active pedagogical practices. Nevertheless, the academic leaders interviewed (e.g. lecturers who are members of the administrative body) have described the development of personal and professional qualification projects that instil the importance of active citizenship in the students and whose results are analysed to improve the process of continuous learning. We conclude that promoting social responsibility competencies to students in all higher education courses is essential and that this should be done using active methodologies. We intend that this work will contribute to the debate about the importance of leadership in higher education institutions, promoting pedagogical innovation, social responsibility, and sustainability practices.Publication Restricted Access Development of creativity and critical thinking skills: Findings from students participating in a PBL experience2023-07 - Fernandes, Sandra; Lopes, Filomena CastroFinding ways to promote the development of skills needed for a successful transition of students from higher education to the labour market is an important issue that needs to be considered by teachers, when organizing the teaching and learning process. Active learning methods, in particular, Project Based Learning (PBL) have proven to be an effective teaching learning approach, bringing the reality of work to the classroom and thus improving the development of student skills. Creativity and critical thinking have been pointed out, in different studies, as one of the most relevant and necessary skills in the labour market since they support the development of societies. In addition, the increasing digitization of human work and the advancement of artificial intelligence reinforce the importance of developing these skills in students, since they are skills that are more difficult to automate and become one of the most valued by the job market. This paper aims to analyse how creativity and critical thinking are developed in the context of a PBL experience. The paper begins with an understanding of what is meant by creativity and critical thinking and then discusses the development of this competence through PBL. It ends with the analysis of a survey applied to students of the 3rd year of the Management degree, within the scope of the curricular unit called Information Systems for Management, which aimed to i) analyse how the teacher, throughout the project (PBL), contributes to the development of these competences and ii) to assess whether the students felt that PBL contributes to the development of these competences.Publication Restricted Access Managing PBL dificulties in an Industrial Engineering and Management Programme2016-03 - Alves, Anabela C.; Sousa, Rui; Moreira, Francisco; Carvalho, M. Alice; Cardoso, Elisabete; Pimenta, Pedro; Malheiro, Teresa; Brito, Irene; Mesquita, Diana; Fernandes, SandraPurpose: Project-Based Learning (PBL) is considered to be an active learning methodology which can be used to develop both technical and transversal competences in engineering programs. This methodology demands a great deal of work effort from the students and also from the teachers and it requires a meticulous plan and a well-managed project as well. These activities go far beyond the normal activities in traditional lectures, enabling to outpace the difficulties that spur along the way that may be both complex and demotivating. This methodology has been implemented in the Integrated Master Degree on Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM), at one public university in Portugal, since the 2004/2005 academic year. The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the main difficulties of the implementation of PBL, mainly from the teachers’ perspectives. Additionally, some effective strategies will be recommended to overcome such difficulties. Design/methodology/approach: The perceptions of the teachers were collected through a survey based on six main themes. The participants in the study include eight teachers from the five courses of the first semester of the first year of the IEM program involved in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 editions. Findings: Integration of courses in the project; student assessment; growing number of students in each team and the need of physical spaces for them; and compartmentalized knowledge has emerged as the main difficulties. To overcome these difficulties some key strategies were recommended. Originality/value: A new perspective based on course teachers' views and experiences will deepen the understanding of the problems and provide inputs for the development of strategies that may improve the effectiveness of PBL and introduce changes for its successful implementation. These strategies are intended to be transferable to other contexts, as most of the problems and constraints are common to other active learning approaches.Publication Open Access Team Teaching in PBL: A Literature Review in Engineering Education2021-12 - Hattum-Janssen, Natascha van; Alves, Anabela C.; Fernandes, SandraProject-based learning (PBL) is a challenging learning methodology, also for teachers, questioning common assumptions of teachers, like control over the classroom and reliance on expert knowledge. Most challenging is teamwork. Team teaching has been explored in many disciplinary areas, both in traditional as well as in PBL curricula. Teachers may feel uncomfortable with sharing knowledge and being assessed by students and peers. This chapter explores characteristics of team teaching in a PBL context through two consecutive literature reviews. The first seeks to characterise team teaching and its meaning to teachers, zooming in from team teaching in general to team teaching in a PBL context in engineering education. The second connects this characterization to the experiences of a specific PBL teaching team in an engineering context, resulting in insights in experiences at practitioners' level. The authors argue that successful team teaching is crucial for the success of PBL in engineering education and is important as an example for students to engage in collaboration.