With growing cultural diversity in the United States (U.S.), health disparities continue to exist among many ethnic minority populations impacting the U.S. economy. Health disparities are health differences that are noted in a particular cultural group in respect to higher rates of diseases and deaths in comparison to others. These cultural groups have common attributes and can be based on race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, income, residential location and many others. One such example is individuals of Puerto Rican heritage, the second largest Hispanic group living in the U.S. mainland. Puerto Ricans are identified to have multiple health disparities in comparison to other Hispanic and non-Hispanic population groups living in the U.S. Among other factors, common cultural health care beliefs and practices of individuals impact health outcomes. Healthcare professionals like nurses are expected to provide culturally competent care to vulnerable populations with known health disparities. Culturally competent care refers to delivering care congruent with patients' cultural beliefs and practices. Therefore, it is important to educate health professionals regarding caring for vulnerable populations. The purpose of this community-based participatory research (CBPR) study was to develop content for an educational tool, an online virtual interactive simulation (OVIS) case for developing cultural competency of nursing students in caring for the Puerto Rican population of New York City (NYC). The content development for OVIS was guided by the framework for Cultural Competency Simulation Experiences (CCSE), which was developed as a part of this dissertation. The CCSE framework guided the content development of OVIS using a CBPR approach. A community advisory board was developed which consisted of cultural, clinical and educational experts, residing in New York and Puerto Rico.

Traditionally, orthopaedic surgical training has primarily taken place in the operating room. Given the growing trend of decreasing resident work hours in North America and globally due to political mandate, training time in the operating room has generally been decreased. This has led to less operative exposure, teaching, and feedback for orthopaedic surgery residents. To solve this problem, a 3D serious game that was designed for the purpose of training orthopaedic surgery residents the steps comprising the total knee replacement procedure. Real-time, 3D graphical and sound rendering technologies are employed to provide sensory realism ensuring that the knowledge gained within the serious game can be more easily recalled and applied a real world scenario. A usability study to address user perceptions of the game’s ease of use, and the potential for learning and engagement was conducted. Results indicate that the serious game is easy to use, intuitive, and stimulating. / UOIT

Submitted by Geandra Rodrigues (geandrar@gmail.com) on 2018-03-27T19:16:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 nataliaferreiravidal.pdf: 1330964 bytes, checksum: 6c0e346127489683df86081ef52376ca (MD5) / Rejected by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br), reason: Título errado on 2018-03-28T16:16:04Z (GMT) / Submitted by Geandra Rodrigues (geandrar@gmail.com) on 2018-03-28T17:28:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 nataliaferreiravidal.pdf: 1330964 bytes, checksum: 6c0e346127489683df86081ef52376ca (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-03-28T17:36:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 nataliaferreiravidal.pdf: 1330964 bytes, checksum: 6c0e346127489683df86081ef52376ca (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-03-28T17:36:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 nataliaferreiravidal.pdf: 1330964 bytes, checksum: 6c0e346127489683df86081ef52376ca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-28T17:36:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 nataliaferreiravidal.pdf: 1330964 bytes, checksum: 6c0e346127489683df86081ef52376ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-12 / A presente pesquisa investigou o uso das simulações virtuais como alternativa metodológica ao ensino de Ciências. Compreende-se tais simulações como eventos de cibercultura e não apenas como evolução das práticas de ensino potencializadas pelo advento das tecnologias digitais de informação e comunicação. A cibercultura é um termo utilizado na definição dos agenciamentos sociais das comunidades no espaço eletrônico virtual. Para a investigação, realizamos uma oficina de formação com professores de Ciências, a fim de refletir sobre a formação docente desse profissional para atuar com os recursos de Tecnologias Digitais de Informação de Comunicação, mais especificamente com simuladores virtuais na cibercultura. A pesquisa mostra o percurso repleto de dificuldades vivenciadas pela pesquisadora até chegar à oficina, que aconteceu no Infocentro da Faculdade de Educação da UFJF e versou sobre simulações virtuais na plataforma online do PhET. O desenvolvimento da oficina, bem como todo o seu processo de preparação e de execução, foi registrado em relatórios escritos e em arquivos de áudio que compuseram a base de dados para posteriores análises da pesquisadora. O referencial teórico dialogou com a pluralidade das narrativas dos sujeitos da pesquisa, bem como com as reflexões e com as observações da pesquisadora, por meio de um levantamento bibliográfico e também pela fundamentação de estudiosos que tratam da cibercultura como Pierre Levy; da relação entre nativos e imigrantes digitais, dissertada por Marc Prensky e também da metodologia de investigação pesquisa-formação, apresentada nos trabalhos de Edméa Santos. A pesquisa-formação subsidiou o método e a metodologia deste trabalho e alicerçou a produção da oficina de formação, lócus desta investigação. Os resultados produzidos proporcionaram o confronto e a reflexão sobre o uso das simulações virtuais no ensino e também a formação dos professores para atuarem com recursos como os simuladores online. Os dados apontaram para a importância do letramento digital dos professores e sinalizaram as potencialidades do uso de simulação virtual no ensino de Ciências, além de uma reflexão profícua sobre a pesquisa-formação aplicada em ambientes de cibercultura. / The present research investigated on the use of virtual simulations as a methodological alternative for the teaching of science. These simulations are understood as an event of cyberculture and not only as an evolution of teaching procedures enhanced by the growth of the information and communication digital technologies. Cyberculture is a term used in the definition of social assemblages of communities in the virtual electronic area. In the investigation, we conducted a training workshop with teachers of science, fo the purpose of reflecting over the teacher formation of this professional to use the resources of Digital Technologies of Communication Information, more specifically with virtual simulators, in cyberculture. The research shows a path filled with difficulties, lived by the researcher through the way until the workshop, that happened in the Infocenter of the Faculty of Education of the UFJF and laid out about the virtual simulations in the PhET online platform. The outgrowth of the workshop, as well as the entire preparation and execution process, was written down in reports and audio files that compounded the database for the researcher future further analysis. The theoretical reference dialogued with the subjects of the research and his plurality of narrative, as well as the reflections and observations of the researcher, with the resource of a bibliographical survey and also the grounding of experts who deal with cyberculture whit Pierre Levy, the relation 'digital native and immigrant' present by Marc Prensky and also on the research-formation research methodology, presented in the studies of Edmea Santos. The research-formation fed the method and methodology of this work up and consolidated the production of the formation workshop, place of this research. The results obtained provide the confrontation and reflection on the use of virtual simulations for the teaching and also the formation of teachers to work with resources such as online simulators. The data displayed over the importance of the digital literacy of teachers and pointed out the potential of the use of virtual simulation in science education, moreover a profitable reflection on applied research-formation in cyberculture environments.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / As tecnologias vÃm se tornando cada vez mais presentes no cotidiano das pessoas que trabalham com educaÃÃo, em especial com a EducaÃÃo à Distancia. Entre as diversas tecnologias aplicadas à educaÃÃo, encontra-se a utilizaÃÃo de Recursos Educacionais Abertos - REA. Este estudo pesquisou alguns dos conceitos de REA associados a aprendizagem atravÃs da interatividade entre usuÃrio-aprendiz e o recurso com que ele interage. Dentro deste contexto, esta pesquisa aplicada analisou e classificou diversos REA com base no cone de aprendizagem de Dale, e em conjunto com o MÃtodo de AvaliaÃÃo Ergo-PedagÃgico â MAEP se estabeleceu recomendaÃÃes ergopedagÃgicas para criaÃÃo e avaliaÃÃo destes recursos, com Ãnfase naqueles que possuem um maior grau de imersÃo com o aprendiz, as simulaÃÃes virtuais. Esta pesquisa foi realizada com os objetos do repositÃrio digital Interred, desenvolvido pelas parcerias da Rednet, MEC e CENTEC onde foram utilizados REA presentes no mesmo para a aplicaÃÃo e testes das recomendaÃÃes aqui presentes. O resultado se revela nas recomendaÃÃes para reconfiguraÃÃo do Interred segundo os critÃrios estabelecidos de classificaÃÃo de OE â Objetos Educacionais de acordo com sua Ãrea de conhecimento e formatos, bem como para a criaÃÃo de REA altamente interativos. / The technologies are becoming increasingly present in everyday life of those who work in education, especially with the Distance Education. Among the many topics of study in this area, one of them lies in the use of Open Educational Resources - OER. Although research with OERs is a recurring theme in studies around the world, yet little explored lies within the context of the Brazilian Academy, so this study investigated some of the concepts associated OERs learning through interactivity between the learner and user-resource with which it interacts. Within this context this applied research, examined various REAS and ranked them based on Dale\'s cone of expertise, and in conjunction with the Valuation Method Ergo-Pedagogical - MAEP, settled ergo-pedagogical recommendations for creating and evaluating these resources, with emphasis on those that have a greater degree of immersion with the learner, virtual simulations. This research was conducted with the objects of the digital repository Interred developed by partnerships of Rednet MEC e CENTEC, where present the same to the application and testing of the recommendations made here. The result reveals the recommendations for the reconfiguration Interred according to established criteria for classifying LOs - learning objects according to their area of expertise and formats, as well as for creating highly interactive REAs.