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- STICKY COSTS IN THE CLASSROOM: RETHINKING MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING EDUCATION FOR REAL-WORLD FINANCIAL CHALLENGESPublication . Lucas, Ana; Azevedo, Graça; Oliveira, J; Lima Santos, LuísIn recent years, research on cost behavior in accounting has advanced significantly, particularly with the introduction of the concept of “sticky costs.” These costs exhibit asymmetry, meaning they increase more rapidly with rising activity levels than they decrease with falling activity. This phenomenon challenges cost management as it complicates earnings predictability and financial stability for organizations. While the concept has gained traction in management accounting literature, its integration into higher education curricula, specifically in degree programs in accounting and management, remains limited. This study aims to analyze the incorporation of the sticky costs concept into the curricula of management accounting courses within degrees in management and accounting at Portuguese universities. The empirical research will involve analyzing the course syllabi to assess how topics related to the asymmetrical behavior of costs are addressed, either explicitly or implicitly, and to determine how these concepts can be better integrated into academic programs to enrich student learning. The study will evaluate the extent to which new theoretical approaches to cost behavior are integrated into the curriculum, comparing them with traditional models that classify costs as either fixed or variable. Furthermore, this research will explore the pedagogical implications of teaching sticky costs within management accounting curricular units, discussing how this knowledge can improve students’ understanding of the cost dynamics within real-world organizations. The study will also assess whether properly addressing sticky costs can better prepare students to tackle the complex financial challenges faced by organizations, particularly in today’s dynamic economic environments. This study also contributes to the broader conversation around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 4, which aims to ensure inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all. By integrating concepts such as sticky costs into management accounting curricula, the study seeks to promote a more relevant and practical education, equipping students with a deeper understanding of the financial challenges organizations face. Furthermore, by addressing the financial sustainability of organizations, this research indirectly supports SDG 8, which aims to promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, as well as increased productivity and decent work. The proposed curriculum updates not only enhance the quality of education in management accounting but also reinforce the role of higher education institutions as agents of change, fostering more responsible business practices aligned with global sustainability goals. This research will contribute to improving the academic formation of future professionals in accounting and management, providing both theoretical insights and practical recommendations for curriculum design. Ultimately, it seeks to align educational practices with the evolving needs of the business world, ensuring that students are equipped with the tools necessary for navigating complex financial landscapes and contributing to sustainable economic development.
- Game-Based Learning in Higher Education: A Comparative Study In Tourism DegreesPublication . Pais, Sónia; Chagas, Laura; Pires, AnaNew strategies regarding student-centered approaches have emerged in higher education contexts, in order to promote student motivation and engagement towards the learning process. Online quiz platforms such as Kahoot! seem to contribute to the consolidation of learning, particularly through content review. A quantitative survey was conducted among 86 students from a higher education institution offering undergraduate degrees in the area of Tourism, specifically within the subjects of English and Statistical Analysis. Following a consistent application of Kahoot! quizzes in class for reviewing purposes, the survey was implemented in order to allow for an examination of how the students perceived the usage of this game-based learning tool. Results show that most students consider the use of Kahoot! in classes to make learning more challenging and dynamic, while positively contributing to content consolidation.. However, the results obtained evidence that further studies are needed to confirm the effect on the use of Kahoot! in student performance.
- Turismo no ensino superior português: a integração de línguas estrangeirasPublication . Cardoso, Paula; Pires, Ana; Chagas, LauraO crescimento do setor do Turismo em Portugal nos últimos anos tem contribuído de forma significativa para a economia do país, correspondendo a aproximadamente 20% do PIB, e estimando-se que haja atualmente cerca de 900.000 trabalhadores nesta área. A oferta de licenciaturas na área científica do Turismo e Lazer vem, por isso, responder às necessidades formativas dos profissionais de Turismo e as estatísticas demonstram que o número de vagas e estudantes tem vindo a crescer nos últimos anos, tanto a nível do ensino universitário como politécnico. De entre as diferentes áreas de conhecimento essenciais à formação destes profissionais, o ensino de línguas destaca-se pela sua importância para a comunicação com turistas internacionais. O presente estudo tem por objetivo caracterizar a atual oferta formativa de línguas estrangeiras nos cursos de licenciatura em Turismo, no sentido de se identificar a relevância atribuída a esta área científica. A partir da análise da oferta de cursos na área de Turismo, em funcionamento nas instituições de ensino superior público e politécnico no ano letivo de 2022/2023, conclui-se que existe uma crescente diversidade e relevância da oferta de línguas na área do Turismo, embora com alguma discrepância em aspetos formais, como as designações das Unidades Curriculares e do número de créditos atribuídos às diferentes línguas estrangeiras.
- Account for variation by field in publication: Bibliometric databases’ analysis in a Portuguese Higher Education InstitutionPublication . Malheiros, Cátia; Gomes, Conceição; Campos, Filipa; Eurico, SofiaThis study seeks to examine the variation by field in publication practices in a Portuguese Higher Education Institution (HEI), where both research in Social Sciences and in Hard Sciences is conducted. The intention is to raise the issue of the suitability of bibliometrics for the Professors/researchers’ evaluation considering their areas of research, as well as understanding the sort of use they make of these instruments. Different bibliometric Databases were managed to analyze the use given to them by all the researchers in this HEI and to find out the main differences in its use according to the researched field of study. These results might represent a valuable source of information for HEIs in the process of finding the balance between the different procedures and format for the evaluation of researchers, to identify their in/ability to proficiently use these tools and to study the suitability of each tool to different profiles.
- Using an escape room activity to enhance the motivation of undergraduate life science students in mathematics classes: A case studyPublication . Pais, Sonia; Sousa, Ana; Pires, AnaMathematics is one of the school subjects where demotivation, dislike and failure are frequent concerns. To address this, it is important to actively engage students in the classroom and employ resources that make math classes more appealing and captivating, leading to meaningful learning experiences. Active, cooperative, and participative learning methods should be prioritized over traditional didactic teaching and the mere transmission of knowledge. Active learning methods offer alternative approaches to the conventional lecture format, actively involving students in the learning process. The concept of an escape room, a gaming experience where participants must solve challenges to escape from a locked room, has gained popularity in educational contexts. The educational escape room is an extension of this concept, aiming to promote real-time problem-solving, teamwork, and discovery of clues and mysteries to facilitate active learning. By engaging in various tasks within a room, students work together in teams, fostering an active learning environment. The educational escape room offers several benefits, including the enhancement of problem-solving skills, student performance, and motivation. By incorporating gamification strategies into teaching and learning processes, this approach proves to be an effective way of promoting active learning in mathematics. In this paper, we present a case study that explores the use of an educational escape room with first-year undergraduate students from a Portuguese higher education institution, with the goal of improving their mathematical problem-solving skills. The study aims to evaluate how escape rooms can contribute to increased student motivation. To assess the perception of students regarding this escape room methodology, a quantitative survey was conducted. The findings indicate that using the escape room as an educational approach effectively increased student interest and improved learning outcomes in mathematics.
- Pedagogy in digital age after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study with undergraduate life science studentsPublication . Pais, S.; Bernardino, S.; Pires, A.Technologies are part of the daily lives of young people, especially those who were born in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the so-called "Generation Z", and it is imperative to reflect on what their needs are, how they learn, the role of technologies and the type of pedagogies to adopt. After the generalized lockdown imposed by the Covid19 pandemic, millions of students and teachers faced new challenges as they progressively come back to their face-to-face school activities. Despite all the constraints caused by the pandemic, this is an opportunity to move towards an innovative and transformative educational model for the future, which must avoid sending us back to the negative aspects of past educational practices. During the lockdown, with emergency remote teaching (ERT) being put into practice, the teachers involved in this study were faced with the need to adapt activities and didactic materials to be used remotely. This included the promotion of asynchronous tasks/activities, which could be developed autonomously by students. Technologies have multiple benefits in the field of Education, such as improving student performance and motivation. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are tools that may be used to innovate the way Biochemistry is taught and they may facilitate students' learning. Being aware of these benefits, one of the authors of this work decided to adapt and introduce part of the activities and teaching materials prepared for the ERT, in the face-to-face teaching of her lecture classes after lockdown, more specifically with the use of videos for content development and using an active learning methodology, in which students use their mobile phone or personal laptop to do research and perform mini-assessment tests. To understand how these changes were perceived by the students, a quantitative survey was conducted. The participants in the study are undergraduate students from a Portuguese higher education institution enrolled in the curricular units of Metabolic Biochemistry and Biochemistry I, from the 2nd year, 1st semester of Marine Biology and Biotechnology and Biotechnology degrees, respectively. The didactic approach adopted by the teacher and the activities developed made the learning process more interesting and promoted a more positive attitude towards Biochemistry.
- Gamification in education: The case study of the use of IdeaChef as a learning strategy in the hospitality master's degreePublication . Sousa, A.E.; Pais, S.; Viana, A.S.Nowadays we live in an ever-changing society. The educational context is no exception and requires a renewal of paradigms. Profound changes to the role and function of the professor and the students are particularly vital. Active, cooperative and participative learning methodologies must be privileged, breaking with magisterial education and the mere transmission of knowledge. The increasingly recurrent adoption of gamification strategies in teaching-learning processes is intended to ensure that students learn and deepen knowledge in an active and collaborative manner. Several studies highlight the positive impact of the adoption of gamification strategies in teaching/learning, both in student motivation and in the development of soft skills (teamwork, creativity, decision-making, leadership, communication and critical thinking). Game-based learning thus promotes students' interest and involves them in this process. In this sense, the board game ideaChef was used in the lessons of the E-Business subject, with the Master's students of Hotel Management.This game is a method and tool (board game that uses cooking metaphors), which allows teams to create solutions ("recipes") for a certain challenge, need or problem. Based on the proposal presented, related to the course contents, the students, with the support of cards and dice from the game, are invited to define ideas for solutions for the challenge, through interaction and team spirit, feedback and permanent debate. At the end of the game, students present their solution to the challenge, as if it were a cooking recipe (final ideas and conclusions obtained). Learning the contents of the subject through the game allows students to apply theory to practical cases, promoting their integration and preparation for real-life situations. After using the game in class, a semi-structured interview was applied to the students in order to assess the impact of the game on their learning. This evaluation was also carried out through the final report (solution found to the challenge) delivered by the students. The preliminary results of the study indicate that students considered that the novelty of the game and the possibility of solving practical cases by playing, contributes to a better understanding of theory and therefore has a positive impact on learning.
- Escape rooms as an innovative language learning tool in higher education tourism degreesPublication . Pires, A.; Pais, S.; Sousa, A. E.We live in an ever-changing society. The educational context is no exception and requires a renewal of paradigms. Profound changes to the role and function of the professor and the students are particularly vital. Active, cooperative and participative learning methodologies must be privileged, breaking with magisterial education and the mere transmission of knowledge. The escape room is a game experience that challenges participants to leave a room where they are locked in. In order to reach the key to the exit door, players need to overcome a varied set of challenges. Following the increasingly recurrent adoption of gamification strategies in the teaching and learning processes, the educational escape room stems from this game experience and has students solving challenges in a team in real-time. In educational escape rooms, players/students discover clues and solve mysteries, fulfilling different tasks in a room to learn in an active way. Some of its benefits include improving student performance and motivation and fostering active learning. This paper presents a case study on educational escape rooms used in the German class with a group of first-year tourism students from a Portuguese higher education institution. Besides providing a motivating and challenging learning strategy, the aim of the escape room was to revise the content taught in classes. The study aims to evaluate how escape rooms can contribute to increasing students' motivation. A quantitative survey was conducted to gather information about students’ insights on the use of escape rooms.
- The use of diversified active learning methodologies in mathematics classes: A case study with pre-service teachersPublication . Hall, A.; Pais, S.Mathematics is one of the school subjects where demotivation, dislike and failure are frequent concerns. It is necessary to engage students in the classroom and look for resources that make classes attractive and engaging, thus leading to meaningful learning experiences in mathematics. Active learning methodologies provide alternative options to traditional lecturing, actively engaging students in the learning process. The use of a single methodology may not be the best option to address this problem. A diversified approach that incorporates various methodologies and their combinations appears to be a preferable solution, as diversity not only leads to a more dynamic teaching style but also attends to the variety of preferences and needs of the students. In this work, we present a case study where we implemented and combined a range of active learning strategies to enhance student engagement and success in mathematics. Across one semester of undergraduate coursework, we emphasized collaborative group work and discussion groups, integrated peer teaching, flipped classroom, and role-play methodologies, used game-based learning through Kahoot! and Quizizz, and regularly incorporated mathematical magic tricks. The participants in the study are pre-service teachers from a Portuguese higher education institution enrolled in a first year mathematics course. In order to understand how these methodologies were perceived by the students, a survey was conducted. Our findings suggest that this multi-faceted approach effectively increased student interest and improved learning outcomes in mathematics.
- Taking school outdoors: Mathematical trails as a teaching resourcePublication . Ambrósio, H.; Hall, A.; Pais, S.Everybody should have opportunities to experience mathematical learning, solve challenges, and become more knowledgeable. Indeed, governmental recommendations present in the introduction of the mathematics Portuguese curriculum state that “No human being should be deprived of the opportunity to learn and benefit from the unique scientific and cultural heritage that mathematics represents” [1, p. 2]. We have designed a mathematical trail, in the village of Vieira de Leiria, in which geometric /mathematical elements stand out. Our aim is, first of all, to promote the interest in the study of mathematics, through observation of the surrounding environment, in particular of outdoor elements with decorative art. We also intend to establish mathematical links that make mathematics a useful, important subject, with connections to the world around us. The trail has an educational component and explores specific topics of the mathematics curriculum of the 5th and 6th years: isometries and symmetry. This activity, in the form of a rally-paper with a sequence of challenges and problems along the trail, encourages students to explore the concepts in a different, more playful and interactive way. Furthermore, it involves students in the discovery, preservation and enhancement of Portuguese heritage. In order to assess the perceptions of the students regarding the pedagogical approach used in the experience, a questionnaire was applied. This paper describes this teaching experience and the main results of the applied questionnaire. We conclude that this teaching experience had a very positive impact on the students, contributing to a better understanding of the covered curriculum, the importance of mathematics and its relation to everyday life, as well as feeling more motivated to study mathematics.