What is learning?

What is learning, you ask?

We learn throughout our entire lives; from the minute of your birth to the second of your death. Constant learning is what makes us human. In fact, some people learn by trial and error, others by immediate knowledge. However, learning can mean anything.

Some of us, like myself, obtained their first alphabetical and moral teaching from Sesame Street:

Others, with Barney and Friends:

From this stage on, it is normally us that decides what we want to do with our learning capacity. In school, some decide to do well and others don't. Despite the decisions that we make, I believe that there are also other factors that can influence this. This is what my personal project is about. My focus is on how Portugal's population characteristics may influence academic achievements.

I would like your opinion on whether you believe population characteristics may influence academic achievements.

Post your opinions today!

Thursday, 20th November 2008 - School Day

Today my aim was to work dilligently on the product of my personal project. However not getting a tremendous advance on the work, I managed to organize all of the received questionnaires, and complete some of the points of the product. Today I was able to produce the title page and other ordinary procedures of my final product document, in which I plan to include:

1. 1. Title Page
   2. Contents Page
   3. Who am I?
   4. Introductory Acknowledgements
   5. Introduction
   6. Aim of Study
   7. The Importance of Education
   8. The Ministry of Education
   9. Education Systems/ Curriculums in Portugal
   10. Education Systems around the world, and their results
   11. Academic Achievements in Portugal
   12. Portugal and the World
   13. What measures have been implemented in the past to reduce the problem?
   14. Questionnaires (Results and Analysis)
   15. Conclusion of Study
   16. What can be employed to reduce this problem?
   17. Personal Perspective
   18. Final Acknowledgments
   19. Recommendations
   20. Index Page

Today I worked on points 3 and 7, that do not require any analysis, however a full description of my interests and aims for this report.

Wednesday, 12th November 2008 - School Day (W17)

Today was supposedly the due date of the questionnaires I sent to the individuals mentioned in the entries below. Nonetheless, due to several technical difficulties involving the compatibility of the document, this was not possible. Naturally, this fact is detrimental to the time limit of my project, nevertheless, further investigation will be done concerning this issue. Hitherto, the time management of this questionnaire is undetermined.

Despite the fact that the results of the questionnaire were not received, I have completed a document incorporating the results formulation to be completed, in a Microsoft Excel file.

I will keep you posted on further development of the product and project.

Sunday, 9th November 2008 - Weekend

As I stated in the previous entry, I have completed a questionnaire (in Portuguese) for the teachers and representatives of the Portuguese Ministery of Education (or individuals with teaching experience). Yesterday, however, I was not able to send this questionnaire to all of the individuals that I so wished. Thus, today, with the aid of my mother's agenda, I gathered the contacts of all of the individuals that I wished to contact, and sent them the questionnaire. The date I set for the returning of the completed questionnaire was on Wednesday, 12th of November.

Nevertheless having completed this phase of my personal project, I am sorry to say that I am extremely behind in this process, and am encountering tremendous difficulties in establishing a compromise between subject work and the personal project. In the following two weeks (in which I must complete the entire project), I believe that I must dedicate more time and effort towards the personal project, and unfortunately must somewhat disregard some of the other assignments that have been designated to me. My involvement in the IMUN (Iberian Model United Nations) this year, although very profitable in terms of experience and public speaking (as well as in the awarness of world issues), is also retrieving a lot of my work time, which I once again must compromise with the personal project.

My aim is that I complete the product of the personal project in the following two weeks, and complete the actual project in the last week previous to the due date.

Tomorrow I am planning to meet with my supervisor, in order to plan these issues and come to a consensus of what is to be achieved in this limited time period.

Saturday, 8th November 2008 - Weekend (W16)

Today I retrieved the various factors to be looked at previously designated with my supervisor:

Approaches to Learning:

• Organization
• Committement
• Individual preparation

Cultural Influences:

• Parental influences
• Response to success/ failure
• High expectations
• Socioeconomic factors

I utilized these points in order to produce a questionnaire that would be handed out to various individuals involved in education in Portugal (as assigned in the previous entry), by looking at the previous factors. With this information, and considering the information collected in the OECD academic results profile, I produced a series of questions (both multiple choice and full responses) to be answered by these people in a 30 minute time period. The following exert is a section of the produced questionnaire:

1. Que nível de desempenho académico é que atribui à maioria dos alunos da faixa etária com que está/ esteve envolvido?

1) Ajustado às expectativas para o respectivo ano
2) Avançado
3) Abaixo das expectativas

Na sua opinião, quais as principais razões que explicam a sua resposta esta pergunta? ____________________________________


2. Como avalia o grau de dispersão do desempenho académico desses alunos?

1) Grande variação no desempenho
2) Desempenho muito homogéneo
3) Distribuição normal do desempenho (muito alunos com desempenho médio, e um número equivalente de alunos muito bons e muito maus)
4) Outra dispersão

Na sua opinião, quais as principais razões que explicam a sua resposta esta pergunta? ____________________________________

3. Qual a sua opinião sobre o sistema de avaliação do desempenho académico dos alunos?

1) Adequado
2) Pouco exigente
3) Muito exigente
4) Outra

Quais os principais factores positivos/ negativos que salienta sobre o sistema de avaliação de desempenho académico? __________________

4. Tem experiência em ensino internacional/ de outros países? Se sim quais? Se não, por favor passe para a questão seguinte.

Resposta: ________________________________________