Textual production in the knowledge-based society: The case of the future social educators

Abstract

Poster presented in IAIMTE Internacional Conference: Literacies and effective learning and teaching for all

The PISA results have been showing the difficulties in literacy of the Portuguese young people with 15 years old. On the other hand the knowledge-based society is demanding, in an increasing way, from the younger and the adults a capacity to use the information emanated from several sources and available in multiples shapes.
 When the students start the higher education their needs in what concerns to their literacy level in reading and writing become higher. To give an answer to these needs it has been developed a program involving students of the 1st year (include in the 1st study cycle) designated to future social educators of a Portuguese higher education institution. In this program we conceive the written work not only as a product but also as a process without neglect its social dimension. It is also was taken into account the importance of the students involvement in the reflection about experienced written process. During this communication we intend to discuss one of the aspects trained with the students: the elaboration of the Introduction and the conclusion.
 Starting by the implementation in the classroom’s context of an activities’ guide related to the academic’s communication, involving 80 students, we collected a written texts’ corpus that was submitted to a content analysis allowing us: a) to describe the students’ conceptions about the proposed structures to the Introduction and the conclusion; b) to analyse the way the reflection about the written process contributes to the development of the skills in the academic written level in the first year of a higher course. The preliminar results of the study point the importance of the developed work in what concerns to the introduction and the conclusion followed by a reflection about the written process in the training for the knowledge-based society’s exigencies.

The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project PEst-OE/CED/UI4016/2011;Center for Studies in Education, Technologies and Health
 (CI&DETS).