ATENÇÃO: Esta página foi traduzida automaticamente pelo Google Translate. Isto pode ter consequências inesperadas no conteúdo apresentado e, portanto, não nos responsabilizamos pelo resultado dessa tradução automática.
ATTENTION: this page has been automatically translated by Google Translate. This can have unexpected consequences and, therefore, we do not take responsibility for the result of that automatic translation.
The Pedagógico Council organises a set of Pedagogical Sessions– aimed at teachers, students, employees and researchers- to contribute to the continuous improvement of teaching and learning conditions at Iscte, through the promotion of space for learning, sharing, reflection and debate around topics relevant to the pedagogical dimension of academic activity in higher education. 2025.
Disclosure and Registration:
Information about the sessions and how to register is available on the Pedagogical Council's webpage and will also be circulated by email.
Outcome and expected impact of the sessions:
The sessions will present the pedagogical guidelines for teachers and students, which are published at the start of each academic year.
Feedback from participants on the sessions will be analysed by the Standing Committee and the Plenary of the Pedagogical Council, with a view to identifying adjustments and improvements to the organisation of future sessions, including the topics covered and the format.
It is hoped that this will contribute to the promotion of continuous improvement in teaching and learning conditions at Iscte.
Organisation of prior sessions:
2025
It is an initiative that aims to promote joint reflection on the processes of social and academic integration of international students in higher education.
The late arrival brings new challenges to institutions, which are important to debate in order to find collective solutions that facilitate the transition of this contingent of students to Portuguese higher education. By sharing the experiences of students and class delegates, this educational session aims to identify good practices, recurring challenges and reception strategies on the part of those who are welcomed and also those who host.
Following a session held on 18 June 2024, in which some aspects of the linguistic challenges faced mainly by PALOP students in the Portuguese university context were discussed, it is now proposed to delve deeper into grammatical themes that constitute critical areas of use by these and other students. Criteria for linguistic correction are also presented, considering the conditions under which linguistic variation and deviations may or may not be accepted, taking into account both the need for social inclusion and the demands of academic activity, particularly in oral and written communication.
It is an initiative that aims to promote joint reflection on the processes of social and academic integration of international students in higher education.
The late arrival poses new challenges for institutions, which are important to debate to find collective solutions that facilitate the transition of this contingent of students into Portuguese higher education. By sharing the experiences of students and class delegates, this educational session aims to identify best practices, recurring challenges, and reception strategies on the part of both those welcomed and those who host.
This session will cover effective study techniques and time management strategies that help students balance their academic and personal responsibilities. By introducing content on study methods (supported by scientific evidence) and reflection on planning and organisational practices, it will be possible to develop strategies for organising time more efficiently and, therefore, improve academic performance. Registration and participation in the session are open to teachers, students and staff.
The pedagogical session will focus on the importance of space as a pedagogical element, based on theoretical and empirical work carried out and the identification of success stories at Iscte and in higher education. It also arises in a context of community growth and the transformation of Iscte's campus profile, in its physical, digital, and academic dimensions. Thus, the aim is to reflect, identify, and characterise significant spaces for creating experiences that promote, in the present and in the future, integrative and inclusive environments, efficient working conditions, and effective learning in the context of higher education.
Students' mental health has implications for their academic life. It is important to know how to identify warning signs and what to do when we detect them. Experience shows that teachers can make a difference in the decision-making process for requesting psychological support. This educational session, aimed at teachers and organised by the Student Counselling Office of the Social Action Service in partnership with the Iscte Pedagogical Council, aims to answer these and other questions related to students' mental health.
This session aims to promote reflection on Special Educational Needs (SEN) in higher education, address the main challenges teachers may encounter, and explore effective strategies to make learning more accessible and inclusive. During the meeting, the procedures and agents involved in granting student status with SEN will be discussed, clarifying the recognition process and available support. The diversity of special educational needs will also be explored, allowing a better understanding of the different student profiles and their specificities. In addition, practical suggestions will be presented to make the classroom more accessible and inclusive, thereby promoting teaching that responds to diverse learning styles. Finally, there will be a space dedicated to sharing experiences between teachers, through the exchange of pedagogical practices and collective reflection on inclusion in higher education.
Educational research – from Schön (1983) and his "reflective practitioner" approach to Edmondson (1999) and the concept of psychological safety – demonstrates that error, when intentionally exploited, can be a powerful catalyst for learning and pedagogical innovation. This interactive session will have a dual approach: on the one hand, we will explore how student errors can be used as effective pedagogical tools, promoting a growth mindset (Dweck, 2006) and encouraging active learning; on the other, we will reflect on the impact of teachers' own errors on teaching, and how their analysis can foster professional development, according to the perspectives of organizational learning (Argyris & Schön, 1978) and practice-based in evidence (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).
This session will challenge higher education teachers to reformulate their perception of errors, promoting more effective, innovative, reflective and inclusive teaching. Teachers who wish can also register to present their experiences and practices.
Empathy is not just a desirable trait – it is an essential tool for more effective and humane higher education. Advances in neuroscience show that empathy activates brain circuits that improve cooperation and reduce conflicts. At the same time, research in educational psychology proves that empathetic relationships between teachers and students increase the motivation and academic performance of both groups. In this interactive session, designed for both teachers and students, we will combine science and practical application through experiential exercises. Through these exercises, both groups will better understand the challenges of the other group, challenge their perceptions, and develop concrete strategies to improve communication and collaboration. Anyone who wishes can register and also present their experience and practices.
2024
The Pedagogical Council organises two Pedagogical Sessions to promote issues related to ecological sustainability in teaching and learning at Iscte. These sessions are designed as spaces for sharing, reflection and debate.
The sessions will begin with two 15-minute presentations by two teachers, aimed at launching discussion and sharing ideas and experiences.
On 9 December from 3 PM to 4:30 PM, the debate will be launched by Carlos Coutinho, who will talk about how he addresses the ecological footprint of digital technologies in the curricular unit (CU) of "Cloud Technologies and Systems," and by Helena Lopes, who will talk about how she addresses the challenges posed by ecological sustainability in the "Labour Economics" UC.
The Pedagogical Council organises two Pedagogical Sessions to promote issues related to ecological sustainability in teaching and learning at Iscte. These sessions are designed as spaces for sharing, reflection and debate.
The sessions will begin with two 15-minute presentations by two teachers, whose objective is to launch discussion and sharing of ideas and experiences.
On 11 December from 11 AM to 12:30 PM, the session will be led by Ana Simaens, who will address the integration of environmental themes across curricular units in the management area, and by Cristina Sousa, who will talk about how she approaches sustainability and ecological transition in the "Economy of Knowledge and Innovation" UC.
Learning styles refer to the different ways in which people prefer to receive, process and retain information. As Teachers, we daily face the reality of having students with different learning styles in our classroom – some who favour individual work and reading, others group work and discussion, and still others who prefer predominantly expository methods. We often do not fully recognise these differences, nor do we adapt our methodologies to address them effectively. This session aims not only to support Teachers in identifying and understanding students' diverse learning styles, but also to explore active learning methodologies that align with each style - applying these will enable the creation of a learning environment that encourages and enhances participation, critical thinking, and knowledge retention.
Active learning methodologies are instructional methods in which students are at the centre of the learning process – examples include problem- or project-based learning, collaborative or cooperative learning, debates, simulations, among many others. Despite the extensive evidence already published on the merits and results of active learning compared to the traditional lecture method, the pace of adoption of these methodologies has remained low. Two of the most widely documented barriers to adoption relate to the lack of knowledge of these methodologies and the caution that Teachers show in their application, not wanting to risk applying a methodology that has not been properly tested. This session is designed to address these barriers, aiming to equip participants with the knowledge and practical experience necessary to (re)design their teaching sessions and maximise the knowledge acquired there.
Iscte is committed to sustainable practices, promoting sustainability across the Planet, People and Prosperity dimensions, inside and outside the university campus. Therefore, in the context of its activities, it intends to contribute to the sustainability transition through the creation of knowledge, innovation, education, training and culture for the sustainability of students, as well as teachers, researchers and technicians. At the academic level, its operationalisation is achieved by identifying the Sustainable Development Objectives associated with each curricular unit (CU), in the respective curricular unit form (FUC). In this session, we will discuss challenges and opportunities and share experiences to promote sustainability-oriented pedagogical practices.
Designing educational programs should not just be about offering old and new knowledge to students. You must also seek to stimulate, inspire, activate and reach your full potential as a human being. Following the conversation and reflection in the pedagogical session on 24 June 2024, led by Rita Jerónimo and Sara Soares on active learning in the classroom, the master's degree in Development Studies (MED@ISCTE) wants to challenge the ISCTE community to explore, discuss and help create a new and potential pedagogical model to be experimented with in the second semester of the program: a laboratory of development practices. A pedagogical model co-constructed by teachers, students and partner organisations (active in the area of global development) focused on the active and critical participation of students that inspires them to be more autonomous, responsible and collaborative.
The Pedagogical Council, in conjunction with Iscte-Sintra, organises a session to share pedagogical practices. This session is open to teachers from all Schools who wish to share ideas and experiences about student assessment methods, pedagogical strategies they apply in their respective UC and reflect on new pedagogical and assessment methods that could be implemented. Each teacher will have 15 minutes for their curricular unit, of which 5 minutes will be dedicated to presenting their pedagogical strategy and the remaining 10 minutes to exchanging ideas and suggestions among everyone present. All teachers interested in joining this sharing will be very welcome. Joana Martinho Costa, a member of the Iscte-Sintra Installation Committee, will host the session.
Classrooms are increasingly plural. Iscte is increasingly a university with a great capacity to attract international students, whether through mobility programs or, in particular, to fulfil an educational and life project by completing its bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. Many of these students who Iscte welcomes come from the Global South and choose a university in the Global North for their training. Given the context of increasing diversity in the classroom and the debates on the decolonisation of academic curricula, this session aims to explore and discuss ways to develop more plural and decolonial programs that accommodate and promote this diversity. The session is structured around the different components of the teaching-learning process: theoretical, empirical and pedagogical perspectives that reflect a more plural and integrative curriculum.
The student's psychological suffering has implications for their school life. Experience shows that teachers can make a difference in the decision-making process for requesting psychological support. But, to do so, it is important to identify warning signs and know what to do when we detect them. This educational session, aimed at teachers and organised by the Student Counselling Office of the Social Action Service in partnership with the Iscte Pedagogical Council, aims to answer these and other questions related to students' psychological suffering.
The Portuguese language, like other languages with international projection and a long literary and administrative history, today presents a significant degree of variation resulting from its geographical dispersion — it is a pluricentric language — and its multifunctional uses in society. The purpose of this session is to describe fundamental aspects of the functioning of Portuguese in two areas of personal interaction that prove to be critical in the academic context: the challenges of the coexistence of European Portuguese with the normative varieties of Brazil and the other CPLP countries, and the adoption of registers and styles of written and oral communication appropriate to work and coexistence in a university environment. The characteristic features of current varieties of Portuguese are presented, the traces of the formal style in academic speaking and writing are identified, and some strategies to promote the effective use of Portuguese among students and teachers are suggested.
Pedagogical communication does not only happen in the classroom context, but also in the direct relationship between teacher and student. This communication also takes place through institutional documents, such as the Curricular Unit Sheets and the General Regulation for the Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (RGACC), among others. In this session, we will present and work on examples of the application of the guiding document for completing the FUC, taking into account the new version of the RGACC (which will come into force from the 2024/2025 academic year), as a basis for reflection around important pedagogical elements: learning objectives, planned activities, and assessment instruments.
The rapid development of AI is often seen as a threat, but these fears are better framed as symptoms of a larger problem. Namely, the apparent decline in the ability to think deeply, critically and flexibly, evident both in global indices such as those from the OECD and in reports from teachers. In a world where there are more students per classroom, interaction becomes more distant and assessment more standardised, there is an urgent need for a transformation of educational practices. In response, we propose thinking of tools as those that foster learning as an active, situated, and dialogical process, rather than mere exposition of content. In this approach, students engage in learning in a participatory and critical way, articulating their interests and concerns with their daily reality (immediate, national, or global) in constant social interaction. The teacher assumes a facilitative role, and learning becomes a bilateral process in which knowledge is co-constructed.
In the session "Discovering the Potential of ChatGPT in the Classroom", we will explore how this artificial intelligence tool can be a valuable ally in the educational environment. We'll start with an introduction to ChatGPT, highlighting its text understanding and generation capabilities based on an advanced language model. We will discuss practical cases of how teachers can use ChatGPT to create personalised teaching materials, answer complex questions and even simulate classroom debates. Additionally, we will address the ethical implications of using AI in education, including privacy issues. The objective is to equip participants with the knowledge needed to integrate this tool effectively and responsibly into their teaching methods, thereby enhancing student learning and interaction.
The construction of new knowledge is supported by references that must be duly presented in accordance with the institutionally established and regulated codes of academic conduct (such as documents such as the General Regulations for the Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, the Code of Academic Conduct and the Student Disciplinary Regulations), which define standards of good practice and also sanctions for cases of non-compliance, such as plagiarism.
In this session, we will discuss fraud and academic integrity, with a main focus on plagiarism in its various forms, the motivations behind its practice, and how to avoid it. We will also discuss the relationship between Iscte students and Artificial Intelligence platforms (such as ChatGPT) as a resource for learning, as well as the challenges institutions face to ensure these tools are used ethically and responsibly.
In recent years, generative artificial intelligence (AI), namely large language models and the chatbots built on them, has gained enormous public notoriety, even reaching the general media and government officials around the world. This notoriety has been accompanied by high levels of concern about potential risks: from the replacement of human beings in multiple tasks (including in areas involving creativity) to the generation and dissemination of fake news with consequent threats to social cohesion and democracy, and even existential risks for humanity. In education, particularly in secondary and higher education, generative AI can have a huge impact, sparking significant concern and forcing us to rethink many aspects, particularly assessment. The purpose of this presentation and discussion is precisely to address the issues raised by AI's impact on education, posing the question: is it a threat, an opportunity, or both?
