<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Maria  João Silva</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Joaquim Bernardino   Lopes</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">António  Alberto Silva</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">USING SENSES AND SENSORS IN THE ENVIRONMENT TO DEVELOP ABSTRACT THINKING – A THEORETICAL AND INSTRUMENTAL FRAMEWORK</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Problems of Education in the 21st Century</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">abstract thinking</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">environmental education</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">sensors</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2013</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">April/2013</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1419413776.pdf</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">53</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The authors of this paper present a framework developed in a project that explores the use of senses and sensors in environmental education, to develop children’s abstract thinking. The research started with a brief formulation of a framework that was used to guide the cross-analysis of six case studies, in order to explore its usefulness. This analysis showed that it was possible to teachers to support the development of children’s abstract thinking by facilitating the use of senses and sensors in inquiry activities; and by scaffolding complex tasks, using concreteness fading, and bridging representations, with different levels of abstraction. The analysis also showed that the assessment of the development of abstract thinking can be based on the analysis of children’s epistemic practices, like observing, describing, interpreting, and creating multiple representations. Furthermore, the cross-analysis showed that sensorial information was used as a concrete basis to abstraction. After that, an improved framework is presented, showing how senses and sensors may be used in authentic activities to develop abstract thinking: (a) making it possible to observe the unobservable (for human senses), (b) scaffolding the understanding of patterns resulting from the influence of independent in dependent variables, (c) facilitating epistemic practices.</style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Original article</style></work-type><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">99-119</style></section></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">António  Barbot Silva</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Cláudia  Abrantes</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Elisabete  Oliveira</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Carla  Chumbo</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">António  Alberto Silva</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Maria  João Silva</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL RESOURCES: A CASE OF SYNERGY IN STUDYING TIDES AND ROTATION</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Problems of Education in the 21st Century </style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">physical models</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">tides</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">virtual models</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2010</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">October/2010</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/search/article?articleId=2594531</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">24</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Because of their very nature, virtual models are usually more abstract than physical ones. Physical models may facilitate the use of virtual models, by making links to physical world. Tides come into play in a wide variety of curricular scopes, but they are not easy to understand, both in basic education and in initial teacher training. In addition to this, simple physical classroom experiments about tides are not easy to conceive, and they may even be misleading. In a previous work, one of the authors developed a virtual model: a computer simulation of tides. It reveled to be useful, although not covering some students’ learning needs: it was too abstract and mathematical for most of the students. There was a need of complementing the virtual model with material ones (“added reality”). Two physical devices were then developed: a “physical model for tides” and a “physical model of grass growing in artificial gravity”. The two physical models proved to be feasible and useful. The set of three models revealed to create synergies in learning.</style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Original article</style></work-type><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">38-48</style></section></record></records></xml>