Questo lavoro si occupa di studiare l’effetto delle rappresentazioni sociali della musica degli studenti universitari che diventeranno insegnanti di scuola dell’infanzia e in particolare i cambiamenti che intervengono durante il periodo di formazione universitaria sia italiana sia venezuelana. Obiettivo fondamentale è quindi realizzare un’analisi comparativa sulle seguenti tematiche: bambino musicale, competenze dell’insegnante e finalità dell’educazione musicale. Questo lavoro si è inserito all’interno del progetto “Il sapere musicale come rappresentazione sociale” (Addessi-Carugati 2010). L’ipotesi guida è che le concezioni implicite della musica funzionino come rappresentazioni sociali che influenzano le pratiche dell’insegnamento e dell’educazione musicale. Il primo capitolo, affronta i temi dei bambini, degli insegnanti e dell’educazione musicale nella scuola dell’infanzia in Italia e Venezuela. Nel secondo vengono presentati gli studi sui saperi musicali; la teoria delle rappresentazioni sociali (Moscovici 1981) e il progetto pilota realizzato presso l’Università di Bologna “Il sapere musicale come Rappresentazione Sociale”. Il capitolo successivo presenta l'analisi e l'interpretazione dell’indagine empirica effettuata su un gruppo di studenti dei corsi di formazione per insegnanti dell’Università di Mérida (Venezuela). Nel quarto capitolo si sviluppano riflessioni e discussioni riguardo i risultati dello studio comparativo; i piani e programmi di studio universitari e il profilo professionale musicale dell’insegnante. Le conclusioni finali illustrano come l’ipotesi iniziale sia effettivamente confermata: dall’analisi e interpretazione dei dati sembra che le concezioni implicite sui saperi musicali possedute dagli studenti influiscano sulla loro pratica professionale in qualità di futuri insegnanti. Si è anche osservato che le differenze incontrate sembrano essere dovute ai diversi tipi di variabili del contesto dove si trova l’insegnante di educazione musicale; e soprattutto ai significati espressi dai programmi di studi, dai contenuti didattici diversi, dai contesti sociali e culturali e dal curriculum universitario. / This work is to study the effect of social representations of music college students who will become teachers of kindergarten and in particular the changes that occur during the university education period in Italy and Venezuela. The main objective was to make a comparison on the following issues: musical child, skills of the teacher and the purpose of music education. This work is embedded within the project "The musical knowledge as a social representation" (Addessi-Carugati 2010). The leading hypothesis is that the implicit conceptions of music work as social representations that influence the practices of teaching and music education. The first chapter deals with the themes of children, teachers and music education in kindergarten in Italy and Venezuela. The second shows studies on musical knowledge, the theory of social representations (Moscovici 1981) and the pilot project at the University of Bologna "The musical knowledge as Social Representation". The third chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of the empirical investigation carried out on a group of students of teacher training at the University of Mérida (Venezuela). In the fourth chapter we reflect and discuss on the results of the comparative study, the plans and programs of graduate study and the professional music teacher profile. The conclusions illustrate how the initial hypothesis has actually been confirmed: by the analysis and interpretation of the findings seems that the concepts implicit knowledge about music owned by the students affect their practice as future teachers. It was also noted that the differences encountered seem to be caused by different types of variables in the environment of the music education teacher, and especially by the meanings expressed by the different teaching contents, the social and cultural contexts and university curriculum.

Il presente lavoro è strutturato in quattro parti analizzando e comparando le pubblicazioni del settore scientifico italiano, anglofono e tedesco di riferimento. Nel primo capitolo della tesi viene proposta una riflessione sulle parole che ruotano attorno al tema dei DSA e della disabilità. Nel secondo capitolo vengono presentati, a partire dalla letteratura scientifica di riferimento, gli indicatori di rischio che segnalano possibili disturbi specifici di apprendimento e le caratteristiche di apprendimento dei DSA mettendo in luce potenzialità e talenti spesso intrinseci. Nel terzo capitolo viene vagliata la normativa di riferimento, in particolare la recente Legge 170/2010 e le relative Linee Guida. Nel quarto capitolo, partendo dal tema della diffusione delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione (da ora in poi TIC) nel mondo della scuola, sono ampiamente trattati i principali strumenti compensativi (sintesi vocale, libri digitali, mappe concettuali, Lavagna Interattiva Multimediale) e le misure dispensative adottabili. Nel quinto capitolo viene analizzato in tutte le sue parti il Piano Didattico Personalizzato (da ora in poi PDP) e viene proposto un possibile modello di PDP pubblicato sul sito dell'Ufficio per l’Ambito Territoriale di Bologna. Nel sesto capitolo della tesi viene presentato il Progetto Regionale ProDSA. Il Progetto, rivolto a studenti, con diagnosi di DSA, delle scuole secondarie di primo grado e del primo biennio delle secondarie di secondo grado dell’Emilia-Romagna, ha visto, grazie a un finanziamento della Regione, la consegna in comodato d'uso gratuito di tecnologie compensative agli alunni che hanno aderito. La sezione empirica del presente lavoro indaga l’uso reale che è stato fatto degli strumenti proposti in comodato d’uso e le motivazioni legate alla scelta di non utilizzarli in classe. Nel settimo capitolo vengono proposti strumenti progettati per rispondere concretamente alle criticità emerse dall'analisi dei dati e per sensibilizzare il mondo della scuola sulle caratteristiche dei DSA. / This work consists of four sections and many international publications have been examined and analized. The first chapter presents a reflection about the word “Dislexya” and the differences between the Italian scientific community that does not consider it as a disability and the English scientific community that sees it as a “learning disability”. The second contains the basics and the characteristics of Dislexya, in addition, in the third one I have talked about the recent law about Dislexya, Law 170/2010 that, unfortunately is not so well-known yet, on the strength of a personal cognitive survey for parents and teachers in Bologna. The forth contemplates the main technological means (TTS, text-to-speech, digital books and ISB, Interactive Smart Board) and the projects like “Classi 2.0” and “Lab-InT”, which are relevant to teachers from all sectors at primary and secondary level (ages 6-13) to spread the use of technology inside the school context. The fifth concerns the PDP, a document for teaching plan that can be easily modified by teachers for their own particular classroom and the sixth chapter is dedicated on ProDSA, a regional project about students with Dislexya in Emilia Romagna, that consisted of giving a laptop and text to speech for free. The seventh deals with a range of different ways of promotion about Dislexya, by providing ideas which can stimulate and support the teachers and the parents, like different materials available to download from the official instructional site of Emilia Romagna and from my personal website www.inclusione.it as well. The final part refers to how much important is to leave room for technologies inside the inclusive context because they can favorite a good setting oriented to the instructional design and an accesible environment for everyone.

Il presente lavoro si rivolge all’analisi del ruolo delle forme metaforiche nella divulgazione della fisica contemporanea. Il focus è sugli aspetti cognitivi: come possiamo spiegare concetti fisici formalmente complessi ad un audience di non-esperti senza ‘snaturarne’ i significati disciplinari (comunicazione di ‘buona fisica’)? L’attenzione è sulla natura stessa della spiegazione e il problema riguarda la valutazione dell’efficacia della spiegazione scientifica a non-professionisti. Per affrontare tale questione, ci siamo orientati alla ricerca di strumenti formali che potessero supportarci nell’analisi linguistica dei testi. La nostra attenzione si è rivolta al possibile ruolo svolto dalle forme metaforiche nella costruzione di significati disciplinarmente validi. Si fa in particolare riferimento al ruolo svolto dalla metafora nella comprensione di nuovi significati a partire da quelli noti, aspetto fondamentale nel caso dei fenomeni di fisica contemporanea che sono lontani dalla sfera percettiva ordinaria. In particolare, è apparsa particolarmente promettente come strumento di analisi la prospettiva della teoria della metafora concettuale. Abbiamo allora affrontato il problema di ricerca analizzando diverse forme metaforiche di particolare rilievo prese da testi di divulgazione di fisica contemporanea. Nella tesi viene in particolare discussa l’analisi di un case-study dal punto di vista della metafora concettuale: una analogia di Schrödinger per la particella elementare. I risultati dell’analisi suggeriscono che la metafora concettuale possa rappresentare uno strumento promettente sia per la valutazione della qualità delle forme analogiche e metaforiche utilizzate nella spiegazione di argomenti di fisica contemporanea che per la creazione di nuove e più efficaci metafore. Inoltre questa prospettiva di analisi sembra fornirci uno strumento per caratterizzare il concetto stesso di ‘buona fisica’. Riteniamo infine che possano emergere altri risultati di ricerca interessanti approfondendo l’approccio interdisciplinare tra la linguistica e la fisica. / The present work deals with the role of metaphorical thinking in the public communication of contemporary physics. We focus on the cognitive aspects: how to disseminate complicated formal physical concepts to a non-professional public maintaining the ‘correct’ disciplinary meaning, that is aiming at communication of ‘good physics’. The focus is on the nature of the explanation and the problem is how to evaluate the effectiveness of public scientific explanation of advanced physical topics to a non-professional audience. For this purpose we have looked for formal tools apt at analyzing the linguistic features of dissemination texts. We have drawn our attention to the role of analogical and metaphorical forms in the construction of ‘actual’ physical meanings because they obviously play an important role in introducing new concepts from previous ones when dealing with contemporary physics phenomena that are far from the ordinary perceptive domain. For the purpose of our investigation the conceptual metaphor perspective, within the framework of cognitive linguistics, appeared to be the most promising analytical tool. We investigate the research problem by analyzing a set of ‘relevant’ analogies and metaphors taken from popular science literature. In particular an analysis of a case study, within the framework of conceptual metaphor, is presented : Schrödinger’s analogy for ‘elementary particle’. The results of the analysis suggest that the conceptual metaphor perspective might be a potential tool both to assess the quality of analogical forms used in explanation of contemporary physics and to design new and ‘better’ analogies and metaphors. Besides, in a recursive process this analysis could help to focus on those meaningful cognitive aspects that characterize, and refine, a ‘complete’ and ‘correct’ physical concept. We think that fruitful results of inquiry might come from a deeper interdisciplinary approach between linguistics and physics.

The research hypothesis of the thesis is that “an open participation in the co-creation of the services and environments, makes life easier for vulnerable groups”; assuming that the participatory and emancipatory approaches are processes of possible actions and changes aimed at facilitating people’s lives. The adoption of these approaches is put forward as the common denominator of social innovative practices that supporting inclusive processes allow a shift from a medical model to a civil and human rights approach to disability. The theoretical basis of this assumption finds support in many principles of Inclusive Education and the main focus of the hypothesis of research is on participation and emancipation as approaches aimed at facing emerging and existing problems related to inclusion. The framework of reference for the research is represented by the perspectives adopted by several international documents concerning policies and interventions to promote and support the leadership and participation of vulnerable groups. In the first part an in-depth analysis of the main academic publications on the central themes of the thesis has been carried out. After investigating the framework of reference, the analysis focuses on the main tools of participatory and emancipatory approaches, which are able to connect with the concepts of active citizenship and social innovation. In the second part two case studies concerning participatory and emancipatory approaches in the areas of concern are presented and analyzed as example of the improvement of inclusion, through the involvement and participation of persons with disability. The research has been developed using a holistic and interdisciplinary approach, aimed at providing a knowledge-base that fosters a shift from a situation of passivity and care towards a new scenario based on the person’s commitment in the elaboration of his/her own project of life.

Il processo di riforma a carattere europeo che ha condotto alla nascita di uno Spazio Europeo dell’Istruzione Superiore ha conosciuto diverse tappe fondamentali, fra cui, per esempio, la ripartizione in cicli e l’adozione dei crediti ECTS. Una di queste tappe, ossia il passaggio da una pianificazione della didattica basata sui contenuti ad una basata sui risultati dell’apprendimento, ricopre un ruolo di primo piano nel presente progetto di dottorato. Lo studio qui descritto ha esaminato, da un punto di vista sintattico e semantico, un campione di obiettivi e risultati dell’apprendimento di insegnamenti di alcuni corsi di laurea di primo e secondo ciclo, delle scienze umanistiche, in Austria, Germania, Italia e Regno Unito. L’obiettivo del progetto è proporre uno schema per una classificazione a faccette di obiettivi dell’apprendimento denominato FLOC. Tale schema è adottato per classificare gli obiettivi dell’apprendimento di quattro contesti linguistico-culturali (nei paesi summenzionati), dando vita a FLOC-AT, FLOC-DE, FLOC-IT e FLOC-EN. Queste quattro classificazioni forniscono inoltre il contesto per un’analisi contrastiva multilingue fra unità di obiettivi di apprendimento. / As part of the transition to a student-centred approach in higher education, in the EHEA, programmes and curricula are now expressed not only in terms of course content, but also of learning objectives, learning outcomes and developed competences. In the framework of this study learning objectives and learning outcomes describing learning units (in a number of master and bachelor degree programmes) have been structurally and semantically studied, in order to outline the features of a pilot classification of learning objectives. The research project described in this work suggests a faceted classification scheme of learning objectives (FLOC, Faceted Classification of Learning Objectives). FLOC is tested out in four different linguistic and cultural contexts in which units of learning objectives from disciplines of the humanities – in Austria, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom – are classified according to a common scheme. The resulting four classifications – FLOC-AT, FLOC-DE, FLOC-IT and FLOC-EN – provide also the context for a contrastive multilingual analysis.

La tesi affronta il tema dell'innovazione della scuola, oggetto di costante attenzione da parte delle organizzazioni internazionali e dei sistemi educativi nazionali, per le sue implicazioni economiche, sociali e politiche, e intende portare un contributo allo studio sistematico e analitico dei progetti e delle esperienze di innovazione complessiva dell'ambiente di apprendimento. Il concetto di ambiente di apprendimento viene approfondito nelle diverse prospettive di riferimento, con specifica attenzione al framework del progetto "Innovative Learning Environments" [ILE], dell’Organisation For Economic And Cultural Development [OECD] che, con una prospettiva dichiaratamente olistica, individua nel dispositivo dell’ambiente di apprendimento la chiave per l’innovazione dell’istruzione nella direzione delle competenze per il ventunesimo Secolo. I criteri presenti nel quadro di riferimento del progetto sono stati utilizzati per un’analisi dell’esperienza proposta come caso di studio, Scuola-Città Pestalozzi a Firenze, presa in esame perché nell’anno scolastico 2011/2012 ha messo in pratica appunto un “disegno” di trasformazione dell’ambiente di apprendimento e in particolare dei caratteri del tempo/scuola. La ricerca, condotta con una metodologia qualitativa, è stata orientata a far emergere le interpretazioni dei protagonisti dell’innovazione indagata: dall’analisi del progetto e di tutta la documentazione fornita dalla scuola è scaturita la traccia per un focus-group esplorativo attraverso il quale sono stati selezionati i temi per le interviste semistrutturate rivolte ai docenti (scuola primaria e scuola secondaria di primo grado). Per quanto concerne l’interpretazione dei risultati, le trascrizioni delle interviste sono state analizzate con un approccio fenomenografico, attraverso l’individuazione di unità testuali logicamente connesse a categorie concettuali pertinenti. L’analisi dei materiali empirici ha permesso di enucleare categorie interpretative rispetto alla natura e agli scopi delle esperienze di insegnamento/apprendimento, al processo organizzativo, alla sostenibilità. Tra le implicazioni della ricerca si ritengono particolarmente rilevanti quelle relative alla funzione docente. / This doctoral thesis explores the issue of innovation in school education, a topic international institutions and school organization are increasingly interested in for the economic and socio-political implications involved. The research undertaken aims at offering a contribution to the systemic and analytic studies in the field of learning approaches innovation, focusing on a theoretical investigation and empirical analysis. The concept of learning environment has been approached from different perspectives, focusing mainly on the project framework "Innovative Learning Environment" (ILE) of the Organization for Economic and Cultural Development (OECD). A holistic approach is at the basis of the above project, making the learning environment the key factor to educational innovation in keeping with 21st century skills. The criterions used in the project framework have been used for analyzing an experience proposed as a case-study, Scuola-Città Pestalozzi in Florence, selected as in the school year 2011/2012 it carried out a transformation "plan" of the learning environment affecting above all the features of time/school. The qualitative research aimed at bringing out the interpretations of the actors: from the analysis of the project and the material provided by the school a guideline for an exploratory focus-group has followed, leading to the choice of the issues of the semi-structured interviews to primary and lower secondary schools teachers. As for the results, the transcriptions of the interviews are interpreted through phenomenographical analysis selecting text units logically connected to relevant conceptual categories. The empirical material thus analyzed has pointed out some interpretative categories in relation to the nature and to the aims of teaching/learning experiences, to the organization process, to sustainability. Of special interest among the research results are those played by the teacher role.

This study aimed to explore the impact of eLearning on quality teaching in higher education and to implement Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) that targeted the quality challenges in practice. It was a mixed method research composing of three stages. It initially focused on university teachers’ perception of quality teaching, problems, and strategies in practice to understand the actual usage of eLearning by practitioners. Seventeen university teachers participated in the inquiry of stage 1. It found the common perception of quality teaching was students’ deep understanding of the learning subject. Besides, large class teaching was the most common problem faced by teachers who already achieved quality teaching in small classes, which became the research focus in the inquiry of stage 2. CSCL was selected as a potential eLearning strategy that targeted quality challenges in large class teaching due to its theoretical benefits. the inquiry of stage 2 aimed to explore the impact of CSCL on quality teaching in large classes. Considering the institutional influence on teaching approaches, it defined the case in the university level. Two universities composed of ten teachers were investigated. It found the majority of participants perceived a limited quality in large class teaching, and this limitation was due to two issues: insufficient teacher-student interaction, and the difficulty in checking students’ understanding in the learning process. Besides, CSCL was not widely adopted in practice, and adopted strategies did not target those two issues mentioned above. The inquiry of stage 3 designed and implemented CSCL activities in an authentic large university class with the aim to explore its impact. It indicated CSCL helped to improve teaching quality in large classes – students’ deep understanding - by enhancing interaction and feedback in the learning process. In sum, this three-stage study revealed the practical challenges of quality teaching in higher education, then designed and implemented eLearning activities to tackle them.

Catalysts are of great importance in many different fields, including the energy and the environmental sectors. It is important to produce them with simple preparation technique and to enhance the catalysts surface-to-volume ratio. The work undertaken in this thesis concerns the synthesis of nanostructures by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) and R.F. sputtering deposition and the tailoring of their structures by varying deposition parameters. We synthesized Cobalt oxide nanoparticles (NPs) by PLD and studied the influence of the deposition parameters (i.e. substrate temperature, target-to-substrate distance and partial pressure of Oxygen in the chamber) on the final structure and crystalline phase of the NPs. The deposited NPs can be divided in two main categories: small NPs having a diameter of about 5 nm, and big NPs of size ranging from 50 to 400 nm. Depending on the value chosen for the deposition parameters, small NPs have CoO- or Co3O4 crystalline phase, and NPs can have a core/shell structure. The phase composition of the core and of the shell also vary according to the deposition conditions. We synthesized thin film of Co-B NPs by PLD. Depending on the energy density, the laser process is able to produce well-dispersed spherical Co NPs partially embedded within B-based film matrix in a single-step deposition. The small size, the polycrystalline nature of Co NPs, and the presence of Boron matrix is important for catalytic performance of the Co-B film. The catalytic activity of the Co-B has been tested in hydrolysis of chemical hydrides (ammonia borane and sodium borohydride). PLD deposition of C-film, to serve as support for Co-B NPs, was performed at different Ar pressures (from 10 to 50 Pa) to tailor film roughness in order to investigate the role of porous and irregular C- surface on supporting Co-B NPs acting as catalysts. The measured hydrogen generation rate attained with C-supported Co-B catalyst film is higher than both unsupported-Co-B film and conventional Co-B powder. Multilayer ITO/Cr-doped-TiO2 thin films have been synthesized by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering in order to sensitize TiO2 in visible light and to lower the charge recombination rate in the Cr-doped-TiO2. When the multilayer films were exposed to visible light, we observed that the photocurrent increases as function of the number of bilayers by reaching the maximum with 6-bilayers of ITO/Cr-doped- TiO2. The superior photocatalytic efficiency of the 6-bilayers film implies higher hydrogen production rate through water-splitting. Spontaneous growth of Lead nanowires (NWs) have been observed in composite Al-Pb film deposited by R.F. sputtering deposition. The parameters of deposition and the storage of the Al-Pb films after deposition has been changed in order to understand the growth process of NWs. Evolution of NWs growth was also observed inside a SEM chamber. We propose that a stress-driven mechanism and the corrosion occurring on the films surface in environment atmosphere are the cause of NWs growth.

In this work we discuss some of the most interesting new doors that the diffusion of low-cost, high-tech devices is opening. It is divided in two main sections. In the first part, Chapter I, the general research framework in which we are working is presented. Then, in the second, third and fourth chapters several examples of practical applications regarding the presented topics, all designed and realized by the author (within his research group) are discussed. In particular: a workshop about scientific visualization held at the University of Trento in Chapter II; a teaching/learning sequence based on a low-cost spectrometer in Chapter III; a mediated reality setup for physics education in Chapter IV.

In questo lavoro di tesi sono stati delineati i tratti salienti dell’approccio educativo montessoriano, evidenziandone da una parte la profonda complessità nonché attualità che lo caratterizzata e dall’altra le numerose conferme sia dalla didattica considerata innovativa, sia dalle scienze psicologiche. È stato inoltre presentato un percorso di ricerca volto a monitorare la recente sperimentazione dell'approccio pedagogico montessoriano in alcune scuole primarie della provincia di Trento. La ricerca é stata condotta utilizzando sia strumenti di natura qualitativa (come una check list osservativa prodotta ad hoc per la ricerca), sia questionari standardizzati, con l'intento di confrontare i dati raccolti con un campione rappresentativo di una più vasta realtà scolastica.