Estudo do Meio Físico e Social

Occurrence: 2023/24 - 2S

Courses

Hours Actually Taught

MMCN-TA

Learning outcomes of the curricular unit (knowledge, skills and competences to be developed by the students)

1. Understand the processes of social construction of personal identity. 2. Identify how the surrounding social environment is organized: family and school. 3. study elements of Portuguese demography and their consequences for the structure of our society. 4. understand the constitution of a multicultural society. 5. understand the territorial distribution of the Portuguese population. 6. understand the properties and applications of light. 7. apply Newton's laws to solve algebraic problems involving unidirectional movement. 8. understand the different types of movement and the shape of trajectories. 9. interpret the results of an experimental procedure in the light of a given model or theoretical framework. 10. Argue in a scientific manner, using a scientific discourse.

Syllabus

Module 1 1. Individual, family and school 1.1. The social construction of personal identity 1.2. Study of the surrounding social environment: The family; the school 2. Demographic evolution and the territorial distribution of the Portuguese population 2.1. Demographic evolution: factors and trends. 2.2 The cultural matrix of Portuguese society and the importance of intercultural education. 2.3. The territorial distribution of the Portuguese population: urban network Module 2 3. Properties and applications of light 3.1. The concept of a wave 3.2. Electromagnetic spectrum 3.3. Optical phenomena 4.Forces and movements 4.1.Principle of action-reaction 4.2.One-dimensional movement (law of inertia and fundamental law of dynamics) 4.3.Introduction to movement in the plane

Demonstration of the syllabus coherence with the curricular unit's learning objectives

In order to give master's students a perspective on the construction of the self in society and its implications for structuring that same society, the approach to primary (family) and secondary (school) socialization processes should be explored analytically. This way, a link is made between general objective 1 and points 1.1. and 1.2 of the contents. In objectives 3, 4 and 5, the aim is to analyze the main factors conditioning the evolution of the Portuguese population and the creation of a multicultural society. Contents 2.1., 2.2. and 2.3. seek precisely to identify these sociodemographic phenomena, analyze their trends and the importance of interculturality as a new educational approach. The exploration of contents 3 and 4 aims to provide a set of fundamental knowledge about the study of the physical and natural environment (objectives 6 to 10).

Teaching methodologies (including evaluation)

The teaching activities involve, depending on the nature of the content: a) research and analysis of scientific texts; b) debate mobilizing the students' knowledge; c) analysis and discussion of evidence and situations that allow the acquisition of scientific knowledge; d) observation and analysis of physical and biological structures and phenomena; e) carrying out practical work and using ICT; f) using scientific language in the interpretation and discussion of information, in the analysis and production of arguments and in oral and written communication and g) carrying out and presenting research work. Continuous assessment involves: a) participation in teaching activities (10%); b) taking a test (50%); c) carrying out and presenting a piece of work (group or individual) (40%). Approval for the course is conditional on a mark of more than 9.0 in the test.

Demonstration of the coherence between the teaching methodologies and the learning outcomes

Given the nature of the various objectives proposed, their achievement involves both the acquisition of new theoretical knowledge and the development of previously held knowledge. From the outset, it makes sense to identify this previous knowledge in order to build on it with new theoretical proposals. For this reason, the methodological design includes an articulation between more expository moments and others with a more participatory slant, in order to give full effect to the aforementioned formative duplicity. Specifically, the preparation of texts by the students on the various contents proves indispensable, in the mutual exchange of knowledge and for the construction of new knowledge (objectives 1 to 5). The recommended assessment criteria seek to reflect on both levels of competence, valuing, on the one hand, the autonomous work of the students which leads to the respective Individual Written Assessment; and, on the other hand, the work of groups of students through the respective Group Work. The adoption of active teaching methodologies, involving students in autonomous, individual or group research processes, will be fundamental to meeting all the objectives proposed for the Study of the Physical and Social Environment (objectives 1 to 10). To this end, classes will provide various opportunities to analyze evidence and situations that allow the acquisition of scientific knowledge necessary for interpreting physical phenomena (objectives 6 to 8). Practical activities will be implemented which lead students to deepen their scientific knowledge (objectives 6 to 8) and to analyze and interpret experimental results in the light of a theoretical framework (objective 9). Teaching activities based on the collection and analysis of information from different sources and the use of ICT to explore various natural phenomena contribute to promoting an advanced scientific culture in students (objective 10). In addition, the various educational experiences that will be promoted, such as the presentation of individual and group work and participation in scientific events, will enable students to develop scientific argumentation skills (Objective 10). In this curricular unit, the average amount of autonomous work (60h) is distributed as follows: carrying out research work (10h); preparing group work (15h); preparing oral presentations (5h); preparing practical activities (5h); studying for individual activities (25h).

Bibliography (Mandatory resources)

Almeida, A., & Vieira, M. (2006). A Escola em Portugal. ICS. Almeida, M. J., & Costa, M. M. (2012).Fundamentos de Física (3.ª Ed.). Almedina.