Integrated member

Biographical Note

She has a PhD in Education, specializing in Portuguese Language Teaching Methodology, from the University of the Azores, a master’s in Educational Psychology from the Higher Institute of Applied Psychology and a degree in Pre-school Education from the Metropolitan University of Caracas. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of the Azores, President of the FCSH Assembly, Director of the master’s degree in Teaching Informatics and Director of NICA – Interdisciplinary Centre for Children and Adolescents, at this University. She was Director of the master’s degree in Pre-School Education and Primary School Teaching for a decade and Coordinator of the Education Department at the FCSH. With several papers and articles published in the fields of Early Childhood Education, literacy and educational robotics, her teaching activity is fundamentally orientated towards teaching specific didactics and accompanying teaching internships. She has taken part in various research projects and carried out scientific refereeing for several international journals.

Research Interests

Literacy: emerging literacy and the pedagogical practices in early childhood educators and 1st Cycle of Basic Education teachers.
Educational transition processes between early childhood education and 1st Cycle of Basic Education.
ICT and educational computing: pedagogical intervention strategies for early childhood educators and 1st Cycle of Basic Education teachers.
Educational robotics and the development of computational thinking.
Digital literacy.

Relevant Publications

Costa, A.C.; Freitas, D.; Santos, A.I.; Andrea Z. Botelho, A.Z.; Parente, M.I.; Behr, A.; Rodrigues, A.M.; Hélia Guerra, H.; Cascalho, J. & Mendes, A. (2024). Where is Ocean Literacy in Oceanic Islands’ Schools? The Azores case. Marine Policy, 163, 106062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106062

Funk, G.M.; Cascalho, J.M.; Santos, A.I.; Pedro, F.; Medeiros, P.; Amaral, B.; Domingos, M.; Ramos, A. & Mendes, A.B. (2022). A simple interactive Robot to promote Computational Thinking. Frontiers in Computer Science, section Digital Education, 4. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2022.1022778

Santos, A.I.; Costa, A.C.; Botelho, A.Z.; Parente, M.I.; Cascalho, J.M.; Freitas, D.C.; Behr, A.R.; Rodrigues, A.M. & Mendes, A.B. (2022). Learning Objects in the Educational Context: the perspective of teachers in the Azores. Education Sciences, 12(309), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12050309

Sá, M.J., Santos, A.I., Serpa, S. & Miguel Ferreira, C. (2021). Digitainability – Digital Competences Post-COVID-19 for a Sustainable Society. Sustainability, 13(17):9564, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179564

Santos, A.I. & Sousa, E.J.M. (2021). I really want to learn new things! Children’s perspectives on educational transition. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 10(5), 365-375. https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2021-0145

Current PhD students

External collaborations

David Pereira – Public Policy Observatory Research Group, Federal Technological University of Paraná – Cornélio Procópio, Brazil
ICEDU – The International Institute of Knowledge Management, Sri Lanka

Alumni

Cláudia Vanessa da Silva Freitas
Interdisciplinary Pedagogical Practices as a contribution to Educational Transition (2023)

Susana Arruda
Pedagogical Materials as enhancers of children’s interest in Oral and Written Language (2022)

Eusébio José Martins de Sousa
Educational Approaches between Pre-School Education and the 1st Cycle of Basic Education (2021)

Ana Beatriz Alves
Training Readers: pedagogical practices in the context of Pre-school Education and the 1st Cycle of Basic Education (2021)

Bianca da Câmara Miranda
The transversality of written language in Pre-School Education and in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education (2021)

Carolina Carvalho Soares Cardoso
Pedagogical practice in pre-school and school contexts as a contribution to promoting reading and writing behaviors (2020)

Isabel Raposo do Vale
The educational transition in Pre-School Education and in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education (2020)