abstract: Overview: Transition from the pediatric to adult care setting for 'emerging adults' (ages 18- 26) continues to develop as a growing concern in health care. The Adolescent Transition Program teaches chronically ill 'emerging adults' disease self-management skills while promoting a healthy lifestyle. Transferring this knowledge is vital for successful health care outcomes. Unfortunately, patients who have been transferred to the adult care setting, report that they felt lost in the system due to lack of communication between care teams, inadequate support systems, and insufficient disease management knowledge. To address these gaps, the design of the physical environment must adapt to these challenges while also meeting the needs of various chronic illnesses. Methodology: Design thinking or human-centered design was utilized as the vehicle to discover unmet 'emerging adult' and adolescent health clinician needs. Ethnographic research methods involved observations at adolescent health clinics and in learning environments outside of the healthcare setting as well as interviews with 5 outpatient adolescent clinicians. A survey was also conducted with 16 'emerging adults' to understand how they learn. Lastly, a literature review explored the history of the adolescent, adolescent development, adolescence and chronic illness, and The Adolescent Transition Program. Results: Findings revealed that physical environment must be conducive to meet a variety of clinical and education activities such as chronic disease management, support adolescent development, and should be more human-centered. The space should transform to the patient education or clinical activity rather than the activity transforming to the space. Five design recommendations were suggested to ensure that the outpatient clinic supported both clinician and 'emerging adults' needs. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.D. Design 2014

abstract: For this master's thesis, a unique set of cognitive prompts, designed to be delivered through a teachable robotic agent, were developed for students using Tangible Activities for Geometry (TAG), a tangible learning environment developed at Arizona State University. The purpose of these prompts is to enhance the affordances of the tangible learning environment and help researchers to better understand how we can design tangible learning environments to best support student learning. Specifically, the prompts explicitly encourage users to make use of their physical environment by asking students to perform a number of gestures and behaviors while prompting students about domain-specific knowledge. To test the effectiveness of these prompts that combine elements of cognition and physical movements, the performance and behavior of students who encounter these prompts while using TAG will be compared against the performance and behavior of students who encounter a more traditional set of cognitive prompts that would typically be used within a virtual learning environment. Following this study, data was analyzed using a novel modeling and analysis tool that combines enhanced log annotation using video and user model generation functionalities to highlight trends amongst students. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Computer Science 2014

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare how preschool teachers at kindergartens with focus on outdoor learning and without any specific focus work on the young children´s learning in the outdoor environment and in biology. Interviews have been conducted to investigate this. The respondents to the interviews were nine active preschool teachers at three different preschools, one preschool with outdoor learning focus and two preschools with no specific focus. The survey shows that specializations that are important for how educators use the outdoor environment. At preschool A with outdoor learning focus the teachers chose to take out materials that are traditionally inside materials such as beads and Lego while at preschool B without specific focus they chose to take in natural Engelska översättning  materials like chestnuts instead. At preschool C the preschool teachers use outdoor environment exclusively for free play. At preschool A the forest was used as a complement to the preschool yard and they had their own home place where they went once a week. They spent the whole day in the forest and they had both planned activities and free play. Preschool B went to the forest 4 – 5 times per term. They spent to a few hours in the forest and had motor skills for the small children as a focus. Preschool C had gone to the forest only one time. Biology became a major part of the activities of preschool A because they spent a lot of time outdoors and in the forest and that they had cultivation on the preschool yard. At preschool B, the preschool teachers followed the children's interests for small insects and snails and worked on and thus received biology. At preschool C, the preschool teachers had actively chosen to remove biology in favour of the small children’s motor skills and language learning.     Keywords: Preschool, Learning environment, Outdoor, Preschool teachers

Abstract The digitalization of the society, the changing structures of education and the tightening resources have hastened the development of open learning environments. The aim of this study was to develop a ubiquitous 360° learning environment (360° ULE) on histotechnology (HT) education and evaluate its effects on student satisfaction and on HT knowledge in the biomedical laboratory science degree. In addition, the purpose was to provide systematic and transparent information on the development process. The study proceeded in two phases, i.e. development and evaluation. In the development phase, the criteria for ubiquitous learning environments (ULE) and the use in higher education were defined by a scoping review. Based on the review the first version of ULE was produced in the histotechnology (HT) context. The ULE was piloted in a study where an experimental group (n = 29) studied via ULE and a control group (n = 28) via a conventional web-based learning environment (WLE). The data was collected at the end of the term by an electronic questionnaire, and it was analyzed statistically. In the evaluation phase, the effects on the student's HT knowledge of (n = 115) and on satisfaction (n = 112) were evaluated in a quasi-experimental study. The data was electronically collected in the beginning and at the end of the term and analyzed statistically. The results from scoping review showed that the ULEs were not widely used in higher education. The criteria for ULEs were defined as flexibility, context-awareness, personalization and interactivity. These criteria were emphasized in the production of the ULE, evaluated in both phases. Based on the pilot study the flexibility, context-awareness and personalized operations were perceived as positive, whereas interactivity was seen as needing further development. In the final study, the students were very satisfied with the used ULE with significant improvements in their HT knowledge. Based on the results the development process of 360° ULE was stated as effective and valid. The process was described systematically and transparently. Further development, optimization, and evaluation was recommended when implementing the 360° ULE as a part of HT curricula in the biomedical laboratory science degree. / Tiivistelmä Yhteiskunnan digitalisoituessa, koulutuksen rakenteiden muuttuessa ja resurssien tiukentuessa avointen oppimisympäristöjen kehittäminen korkeakouluopetuksen tarpeisiin on välttämätöntä. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kehittää ubiikki oppimisympäristö (ULE) histoteknologian opetukseen ja arvioida sen vaikutuksia bioanalyytikko-opiskelijoiden tyytyväisyyteen ja tietoon histoteknologiasta. Tavoitteena oli tuottaa uutta tietoa, jota voidaan hyödyntää kehitettäessä tulevaisuuden oppimisympäristöjä ja arvioitaessa 360o -tekniikan laajempaa hyödyntämistä koulutuksen eri osa-alueilla. Tutkimus eteni kahdessa vaiheessa: oppimisympäristön kehittäminen ja sen vaikuttavuuden arviointi. Ensimmäisessä vaiheessa määritettiin ULE:n kriteerit kartoittavan kirjallisuuskatsauksen menetelmällä ja kuvattiin niiden käyttöä korkeakouluopetuksessa. Tämän perusteella kehitettiin ULE:n ensimmäinen versio, histoteknologian (HT) opetukseen, jota käytettiin pilottitutkimuksessa. Koeryhmä (n= 29) opiskeli ULE:ssa ja vertailuryhmä (n=28) perinteisessä verkko-oppimisympäristössä (WLE). Aineisto kerättiin sähköisellä kyselyllä opetuksen jälkeen ja analysoitiin tilastollisesti. Tutkimuksen toisessa vaiheessa arvioitiin ULE:n vaikuttavuutta opiskelijoiden tietoon histoteknologiasta (n=115) sekä tyytyväisyyttä (n=112) oppimisympäristön käyttöön. Aineistot kerättiin kvasikokeellisella asetelmalla bioanalyytikko-opiskelijoilta ennen ja jälkeen opetuksen. Aineistot analysoitiin tilastollisesti. Kartoittava katsaus osoitti ULE:n vähäisen käytön korkeakouluopetuksessa. Tärkeimmiksi kriteereiksi osoittautuivat joustavuus, tilannesidonnaisuus, personoidut toiminnot ja interaktiivisuus. Näitä ominaisuuksia painotettiin kehitystyössä ja arvioitiin molemmissa vaiheissa. Pilottitutkimuksen tulosten perusteella joustavuus, tilannesidonnaisuus ja personoidut toiminnot nähtiin positiivisina, kehitettävää interaktiivisuudessa, jonka perusteella ULE:a optimoitiin varsinaista tutkimusta varten. Tulosten mukaan opiskelijat olivat erittäin tyytyväisiä ULE:n käyttöön ja heidän osaamisensa vahvistui merkittävästi. Tulosten perusteella kehitysprosessi todettiin tehokkaaksi ja luotettavaksi. Prosessi kuvattiin järjestelmällisesti ja läpinäkyvästi. Tulosten perusteella suositellaan kehittämistyön ja optimoinnin jatkamista, jonka jälkeen ULE voidaan liittää osaksi bioanalytiikan HT opintoja ja opetussuunnitelmaa.

Submitted by Jean Medeiros (jeanletras@uepb.edu.br) on 2018-04-09T15:34:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Sérgio Nilson de Faustino.pdf: 42690030 bytes, checksum: 4268fc77ce04e3f14d1cb5c02da6518e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Secta BC (secta.csu.bc@uepb.edu.br) on 2018-04-10T15:07:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Sérgio Nilson de Faustino.pdf: 42690030 bytes, checksum: 4268fc77ce04e3f14d1cb5c02da6518e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-10T15:07:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Sérgio Nilson de Faustino.pdf: 42690030 bytes, checksum: 4268fc77ce04e3f14d1cb5c02da6518e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-10 / The present work deals with a proposal for the teaching of electrochemistry concepts in Basic Education from a Virtual Learning Environment (AVA) using the Moodle collaborative tool, with a CTSA (Science-Technology-Society-Environment) approach aiming at minimizing The learning difficulties of the students in the concepts in electrochemistry in High School. The students' interactions with the platform during the course design and implementation and the interactions in the AVA in use were studied. The methodology chosen was qualitative- quantitative research. As a data collection instrument, questionnaires were used to evaluate the proposal for the electrochemical teaching process and the didactic proposal presented. Data collection was carried out at a public high school in the city of João Pessoa- PB. The reference framework used was based on Vygotsky's theory, highlighting the social interactions between the subjects and the process of internalization of the knowledge, that through it is that the subjects begin to carry out their activities, that under guided guidelines they develop gradually, they learn to realize Them independently. The target audience were xx high school students of the public network of the State of Paraíba. The results were systematized in graphs and tables were then discussed. After analyzing the data obtained, we conclude that the study pointed out that the use of the virtual Moodle learning environment when planned and systematized has the potential to collaborate with meaningful learning, as long as it provides a favorable environment for pedagogical mediation. At the end of this research was carried out a tutorial as an educational product so that the school can take advantage of this pedagogical proposal. / O presente trabalho trata-se de uma proposta para o ensino de conceitos de eletroquímica na Educação Básica a partir de um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem (AVA), utilizando atividade colaborativa no Moodle, com enfoque CTSA (Ciência-Tecnologia-Sociedade- Ambiente) visando minimizar as dificuldades de aprendizagem dos estudantes nos conceitos em eletroquímica no Ensino Médio. Foram objetos de estudo as interações dos estudantes com a plataforma Moodle durante a elaboração e organização do curso e as interações no AVA em seu percurso. A metodologia escolhida foi a Pesquisa quali-quantitativa. O instrumento de coleta de dados aplicado foi o questionário para avaliação da proposta para o processo de ensino de eletroquímica e da proposta didática apresentada. A coleta de dados realizou-se numa escola pública de ensino médio na Cidade de João Pessoa- PB. O pressuposto teórico utilizado tomou como base a teoria de Vygotsky, destacando as interações sociais entre os sujeitos e o processo de internalização dos conhecimentos. Pois, por meio dela é que os sujeitos começam a desempenhar suas atividades, através de orientações guiadas se desenvolvem gradativamente, aprendem a realizá-las de maneira independente. O público alvo foram 17 alunos do ensino médio da rede pública do Estado da Paraíba. Os resultados encontrados foram sistematizados em gráficos e Tabelas. Após a análise dos dados obtidos, concluímos que o estudo apontou que o uso do ambiente virtual de aprendizagem Moodle quando planejado e sistematizado possibilita um ambiente favorável à mediação pedagógica e colaborativa, com a aprendizagem bastante significativa por ser interativa e possibilitar ao estudante o acesso às aulas virtuais. Ao final desta pesquisa foi realizado um tutorial como produto educacional para que a escola possa usufruir desta proposta pedagógica.

Esta investigação verificou a aplicabilidade da Educação a Distância com vistas a instrumentar um público de acadêmicos, docentes e profissionais da área de saúde, para o uso do programa de banco de dados e estatística EPI INFO. Os objetivos da investigação foram planejar o conteúdo programático e implementar um curso online sobre construção e manuseio de banco de dados de estatística EPI INFO, verificar as facilidades e as dificuldades na implantação da Educação a Distância (EaD) e descrever a avaliação dos alunos relativa ao Curso no Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem. O Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem (AVA) utilizado para desenvolvimento do Curso foi CoL (Cursos Online). O conteúdo foi desenvolvido e organizado em quatro unidades: Unidade 1: Criação do Questionário; Unidade 2: Entrando com Dados; Unidade 3: Gerenciamento Básico de Dados na Análise; Unidade 4: Análise Intermediária: Estatísticas Básicas e Recuperação dos Dados. Foram inscritos 32 alunos; destes, 10 participaram efetivamente. Os alunos que completaram o Curso avaliaram de maneira satisfatória a utilização da Internet como ferramenta de aprendizado. O Curso Epi Info desenvolvido na modalidade a distância apresentou, nos itens avaliados, com noventa a cem por cento De Acordo: O conteúdo foi bem distribuído e foi acessível aos discentes; As informações apresentadas estavam corretas e bem estruturadas; O uso de imagens corresponde às informações do texto; O conteúdo foi variado e atingiu o objetivo do módulo; A apresentação das aulas seguiu uma seqüência lógica e agradável, abordando os principais temas de interesse; A apresentação visual foi adequada ao objetivo do estudo; O acesso foi rápido; O texto foi apresentado de forma clara; Os exercícios foram relevantes para o reforço do conteúdo; A apresentação do menu de entrada foi clara e de fácil visualização; Utilizam-se de forma eficiente os recursos da plataforma; O ambiente facilitou a interação e a comunicabilidade. Com sessenta a oitenta por cento os itens De acordo são: O programa foi de fácil execução; Permitiu navegabilidade nos conteúdos. Contrário aquilo que se pretendia, o Curso deveria ter iniciado com uma data pré-determinada para todos os alunos, pois, ritmos de variações irregulares de aprendizagem, prosseguiam sem muita interação entre si, não contribuindo, assim, para o crescimento conjunto do grupo. Os ambientes digitais de aprendizagem possuem elementos que configuram como um novo contexto educacional, diverso do presencial, e por isso é fundamental que se criem processos e estratégias que respondam às novas necessidades e circunstâncias dos novos modelos. Portanto, não é possível adaptar os modelos presenciais, simplesmente. / This investigation verified the applicability of distance learning aiming to equip an audience of scholars - professors and professionals of the health area, to use the data bases and statistics program EPI INFO. The objectives of the investigation were to plan programmatic content and implement an online Course concerning construction and handling of the data bases and statistics program EPI INFO, ascertain the ease and difficulties involved in the implantation of Distance Learning (DL), describe students assessment regarding the Course in the virtual learning environment. The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for Course development was CoL (On Line Course). The content was developed and organized into four units: Unit 1: Designing of Questionnaire; Unit 2: Entering Data; Unit 3:Basic Handling of data in the analysis; Unit 4: Intermediate Analysis: Basic Statistics and Data Recovery. 32 students were enrolled of whom 10 effectively participated. Students who completed the Course evaluated Internet as a satisfactory learning tool. Course EPI INFO developed in the online modality presented in the evaluated items with ninety to one hundred percent I agree: content was well distributed and accessible to students; information presented was correct and well structured; use of images corresponds to text information; content was varied and met module objectives; classes presentation followed a logic and pleasant sequence covering the main issues of interest; visual presentation was adequate to the purpose of the study; access was quick; test was clearly presented; exercises were relevant to content reinforcement; presentation of entrance menu was clear and easily visualized; platform resources are efficiently used; environment facilitated interaction and communicability. The I agree items with sixty to eighty percent are: program was easily executable; it allowed navigation through contents. Contrary to what was intended, the Course should have begun with a pre-set date for all students, since students with irregular variation rhythms of learning went on without much interaction with one another, failing to contribute to the conjoint growth of the group. Digital learning environments have elements that configure a new educational context, different from that of presential learning, and for this reason it is crucial that new processes and strategies be created, so that they respond to the new necessities and circumstances of the new models. Thus, it is impossible to simply adapt new presential models.

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / Nas duas Ãltimas dÃcadas houve um considerÃvel avanÃo no uso de Tecnologias da InformaÃÃo e ComunicaÃÃo Digitais no processo de ensino e aprendizagem, tanto na modalidade de EducaÃÃo presencial quanto a distÃncia. Neste contexto, o uso de Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem - softwares criados para o suporte a cursos atravÃs da Internet - vÃm crescendo e seu acesso se tornando cada vez mais diversificado, indo de computadores desktop a celulares smartphones. Desta forma, a complexidade de criaÃÃo destes ambientes se torna cada vez maior e exige tÃcnicas de Engenharia de Software e GestÃo de Projetos cada vez melhores para garantir a qualidade do produto gerado e a satisfaÃÃo do cliente. Tendo em vista tal cenÃrio, o presente trabalho propÃe o uso de Metodologias Ãgeis tanto no desenvolvimento quanto na gestÃo de projetos de ambientes virtuais como uma soluÃÃo mais interessante que a tradicional forma de criaÃÃo de softwares baseada somente na qualidade do produto, esquecendo, muitas vezes, a satisfaÃÃo do cliente e a motivaÃÃo dos desenvolvedores / In the last two decades there has been considerable progress in the use of Information Technologies and Digital Communication in the process of teaching and learning, both in the form of classroom education as distance. In this context, the use of Virtual Learning Environments - software designed to support the courses via the Internet - is growing and access becoming increasingly diverse, ranging from desktop computers to mobile smartphones. Thus, the complexity of creating these environments becomes increasingly technical and requires Software Engineering and Project Management always better to ensure product quality and customer satisfaction generated. Given such a scenario, this paper proposes the use of Agile methodologies in the development and project management of virtual environments as a more interesting way than traditional software delivery based only on product quality, forgetting often , customer satisfaction and motivation of developers. This paper reports the adoption of agile methodologies in the development of the SOLAR AVA 2.0, showing that it is possible to succeed in both the technical level and at the organizational and personally with the adoption of agile practices in the development of AVAs that can be proven through experiments done with the satisfaction surveys with users and project developers.

The provision of educational sources on the Web through specific portals or by public libraries has given democratic spaces to both students and teachers to support their educational routine. However, it is always a challenge to make all that diversity of resources useful to each individual having into consideration their needs. This dissertation seeks to contribute providing students and teachers with a computational environment to help in the learning process. This solution connected to a Learning Virtual Environment and an Exercise Virtual Environment allows students to have an automatic tutorial support, which has references and content targeted to their learning level. This solution allows to the teachers not only support their didactic work with the students, but also it permits to view the status of each student against curricular elements that should be addressed in the teacherâs discipline. Such approach can help the teacher in making adjustments and improvements to the course. ESignifica, a recommendation system was developed according to the filtering hybrid techniques, that add a content and a collaborative filter as well. The developed solution was tested with a student group from the Calculus subject that belonged to the Electrical Engineering course from the Federal University of Cearà â UFC, academic years 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Recommendation System developed and the experimental results achieved are presented in this dissertation. / A oferta de recursos educacionais na web por meio de portais especÃficos ou de bibliotecas pÃblicas de conteÃdo tem proporcionado espaÃos democrÃticos a alunos e professores no apoio a suas prÃticas acadÃmicas. No entanto, tornar Ãtil a diversidade de recursos disponÃveis levando em consideraÃÃo as necessidades especÃficas de cada indivÃduo à ainda um desafio a enfrentar. Inserindo-se neste contexto, este trabalho, propÃe um ambiente computacional a alunos e professores que seja capaz de sugerir, de maneira seletiva, conteÃdos de apoio ao processo de aprendizagem. Integrando um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem a um Ambiente Virtual de ExercÃcios, o Sistema de RecomendaÃÃo sugere ao aluno referÃncias a conteÃdos adequados ao nÃvel de dificuldade apresentado durante a realizaÃÃo de exercÃcios interativos propostos. AlÃm disso, a partir do rastreamento das interaÃÃes dos alunos com os exercÃcios interativos e compilaÃÃo de resultados, o sistema permite identificar, atravÃs de relatÃrios, os conteÃdos com os quais os alunos vÃm apresentando maiores dificuldades, tanto do ponto de vista individual como coletivo, instrumentalizando professores à realizaÃÃo de medidas proativas. O sistema de recomendaÃÃo desenvolvido, denominado eSignifica, foi especificado segundo as tÃcnicas de filtragem hÃbrida, combinando filtragem de conteÃdo e filtragem colaborativa. A soluÃÃo desenvolvida foi testada com turmas de alunos de uma disciplina de CÃlculo Fundamental do curso de Engenharia ElÃtrica da Universidade federal do Cearà â UFC nos anos letivos de 2012, 2013 e 2014. O Sistema de RecomendaÃÃo desenvolvido e os resultados experimentais alcanÃados demonstraram a possibilidade que um trabalho preventivo pode resultar em um melhor rendimento da turma, assim como apresentar as dificuldades mais relevantes da turma pode servir de auxÃlio ao professor para um planejamento de aulas mais eficaz.

A Educação a Distância tem crescido de forma muito expressiva nos últimos anos. Com esse crescimento, a preocupação com a qualidade em cursos ofertados nessa modalidade tem aumentado. Para nortear gestores sobre o que é qualidade nessa modalidade de ensino, referenciais de qualidade foram criados pelo Ministério da Educação, objetivando orientá-los na concepção e na condução dos seus cursos. Um dos fatores abordado nesse referencial de qualidade se trata de que o estudante deve ser o centro do processo educacional, no qual os cursos devem prever vias efetivas de comunicação para que o estudante não se sinta isolado e consequentemente venha a abandoná-lo, diminuindo os índices de retenção dos estudantes e aumentando os índices de evasão. Portanto, o tema presença social, que é a forma com que o estudante se sente pertencente ao seu curso, contribui para o aumento da qualidade do mesmo. Diante disso, foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico sobre o tema e seus benefícios para essa modalidade de ensino. Também foram apresentadas estratégias que podem ser utilizadas para fomentar a presença social, no que tange o ambiente virtual de aprendizagem quanto aos professores/tutores e estudantes. Porém, para que a presença social seja detectada é necessário que se tenha um instrumento válido e confiável. Diante disso, foram pesquisados instrumentos existentes que pudessem contribuir para atingir o objetivo desta pesquisa. Na pesquisa foi encontrado um instrumento validado num contexto educacional que se mostrou importante para esta pesquisa. Esse instrumento, para ser validado no contexto em que a pesquisa foi realizada, passou por tradução, consulta a especialistas e pré-teste, antes da sua aplicação. Posteriormente, o instrumento foi aplicado para estudantes de um curso de graduação de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior particular e para seus professores/tutores. Para verificar a confiabilidade do construto, foi utilizado o alfa de Cronbach e para a validade do construto foi utilizada a análise fatorial. As análises dos dados mostraram que o instrumento, resultado desta pesquisa, é confiável e válido, podendo contribuir efetivamente para mensurar presença social em cursos de graduação a distância e contribuir com estratégias para melhorar ações nos cursos. / Distance education has increased quite significantly in recent years and this growth has in turn heightened concern about the quality of courses offered in this mode. To guide course managers on what is quality in this type of education, quality guidelines were created by Brazils Ministry of Education in order to guide them in the design and conduction of their courses. One of the factors discussed in this quality referential regards that the student should be the center of the educational process. This means that the courses should provide effective means of communication so that the student does not feel isolated and as a result abandon the course, thereby decreasing students retention rates and increasing dropout rates. Therefore, the theme social presence, which is the way for a student to feel he belongs to his course, contributes to increasing the quality of the course. Therefore, a literature review was conducted on the subject and its benefits to this type of education. Additionally, strategies that can be used to foster social presence were presented both in terms of the virtual learning environment as well as teachers/tutors and students. However, for social presence to be detected it is necessary to have a valid and reliable instrument. Therefore, the existing instruments that could help achieve the goal of this research were investigated and an instrument validated in an educational context was found, which was vital for this research. For this instrument to be validated in the context in which the research was conducted, prior to its application, it was translated and experts were consulted and pre-test were performed. The instrument was then administered to undergraduate students in a private Higher Education Institution as well as to their teachers/tutors. Cronbach\'s alpha was used to verify the construct reliability and the factor analysis was used to verify the construct validity. The data analysis showed that the instrument, the result of this research, is reliable and valid and can effectively contribute to measure social presence in undergraduate distance courses as well as contribute with strategies to improve course activities.

A presente dissertação se propõe a analisar o curso de Licenciatura em Letras/LIBRAS criado pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, na modalidade de Educação a Distância, quanto aos seus aspectos de acessibilidade para surdos no seu ambiente virtual de ensino aprendizagem, no atendimento às necessidades da comunidade linguística surda para aprendizagem e a comunicação e interação, tanto entre os educandos surdos, quanto entre educandos/tutores/professores das disciplinas. Foram pesquisadas duas turmas de alunos surdos dos polos no Rio Grande do Sul, em Santa Maria e Porto Alegre, grupos estes que iniciaram as atividades acadêmicas em 2006 e 2008, respectivamente. Foi construído um questionário de pesquisa para ser aplicado às duas turmas de alunos surdos desta Licenciatura, que foram disponibilizados em dois tipos de arquivo: texto em Português e vídeo em Língua Brasileira de Sinais, LIBRAS. Isso possibilitou aos alunos escolherem a opção de resposta na modalidade de língua que se sentissem mais confortáveis, respeitando assim sua condição linguística de primeira e segunda línguas, L1 e L2. Este instrumento estava focado em três grupos de perguntas. O primeiro procurou a caracterização do grupo, no segundo buscamos investigar as questões de comunicação/interação no ambiente e, por último, as questões específicas de acessibilidade para surdos no ambiente virtual de ensino aprendizagem. Após esta coleta, foi feita a análise dos dados nos questionários respondidos pelos alunos, apontados os pontos positivos e negativos, e tabulados a partir das categorias definidas nas respostas. Foi possível perceber que, apesar de ser um curso projetado para alunos surdos e de ter as questões de acessibilidade ao ambiente virtual de ensino aprendizagem priorizadas e efetivadas positivamente, ainda assim encontramos aspectos que interferem no processo de ensino/aprendizagem e que, em função disso, podem prejudicar sua formação acadêmica. / This master thesis analyzes the undergraduate course of humanities/LIBRAS created by the Federal University of Santa Catarina, in Distance Education modality, with regard to accessibility aspects for the deaf within its virtual teaching/learning environment in the treatment of deaf’s linguistic community needs and with respect to communication and interaction between both deaf students and students/tutors/professors. We surveyed two groups of deaf students from the poles of Rio Grande do Sul, in Santa Maria and Porto Alegre, which has started their academic activities in 2006 and 2008, respectively. We have mounted a survey questionary to be applied to two groups of deaf students in this undergraduate course, which were then made available in two file types: text in Portuguese and video in Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS). It has allowed the students to choose the answer option in the type of language they feel most comfortable, respecting their linguistic condition of first and second languages (L1 and L2). This questionary was focused on three groups of questions. The first sought to distinguish the students; the second attempted to investigate the issues of communication/interaction into the environment; and finally, the third attempted to find specific issues of accessibility for the deaf in the virtual teaching/learning environment. Next, by analyzing the data collected in the questionaries answered by the students, we have marked the positive and negative points and we have tabulated results in categories defined by the answers. It was possible to notice that, despite of being a course designed to deaf students and despite of having priorized and positively effected the accessibility issues in the virtual teaching/learning environment, we can yet find aspects that interfere with the teaching and learning process and that, therefore, may prejudice academic formation.