Educational Background

• Oregon State University,
  Learning Experience Design (LXD) Certificate (2020 - PRESENT)

• Universidad Nebrija,
  Master in Neuropsychology & Multiple Intelligences (MI): Adult Education (2019 - PRESENT) 

• Universidade Lusíada do Porto,  Bachelor of Arts (BA), Design (2007 - 2010)

I see LEARNING as an ongoing process that takes place throughout one’s lifetime and beyond a formal educational context. It can occur at any time and place, and there’s no age limit to learn. The studies on neuroplasticity carried out by Blakemore and Frith (2007) tell us that the brain is able to learn for a lifetime and continually adapt to the environment: “Individual brains, like individual bodies, are different from each other but there is almost nothing that you cannot improve or change.”
Besides neurodiversity, the environment of each learner contemplates plasticity and flexibility in different degrees. Emotions play an important role too: In recent years, neuroscientists such as Joseph Le Doux and Antonio Damasio have conducted important research that has shaped the way that brain learning is perceived. For me, this means that both educators and learners should learn the skills necessary to manage their emotions and be able to transform them into positive behaviors. Learners’ brains respond differently to stress, psychological trauma, and threat.

I believe TEACHING should be diverse and adapted to each individual’s learning style. As an educator, I view myself as a facilitator of knowledge who enables a learner to become an experimenter, responsible for their own learning outcomes. I believe that as an educator it’s crucial to believe in each individual’s capacity to learn and embrace neurodiversity; no learner is less capable. Intelligence is more than the concept of IQ; it’s our ability to think, understand, elaborate, use information and experiences to solve complex problems or create. Intelligence isn’t stable or static, and it cannot be measured merely through tests and assessments. I believe that different types of intelligence play different roles in our personal development, therefore it’s important to understand how each mind expresses itself (Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, 1983). It is my responsibility as an educator to be flexible, to encourage and nurture each individual, regardless of their qualifications, and respect their self-concept and self-efficacy.

As a UX educator and LX designer, I expect learners to learn not only the technical concepts and user-centered process’ frameworks, but also develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. It’s equally important for my learners to be equipped with the tools and skills that will allow them to succeed in tomorrow’s job market and make a difference in our industry: active listening skills, empathy, teamwork, communication, collaboration.
UX is a multidisciplinary field with the ultimate goal of improving User Experience, therefore it’s important for learners to understand that there’s not a specifically right or wrong way to achieve a project’s goals. I expect learners to be able to advocate for the users, drive social impact through a customer-first approach, and ultimately create products and experiences that make people’s lives better.

I’m able to implement my philosophy of teaching through actionable measures: 

• Project-based learning to promote exploration and discovery learning through experimentation.
• Use technology in the classroom to promote active learning, both independently and in small groups through collaboration.
• Use a variety of tools and training materials that will consider different learning styles and types of intelligence: visual, kinesthetic, tactile,…
• Ensure that the learners understand what is expected from them by being transparent about evaluation criteria and project goals.
• Develop a learner-centered curriculum that takes into consideration neurodiversity.
• Encourage participation, not perfection. Positive error should be encouraged, it’s part of constructive learning.
• Develop a safe and threat-free learning environment where learners are treated equally and feel comfortable to express their own opinions.
• Request feedback and iterate constantly on learning strategies and adapt them based on learner’s needs.

I believe as educators, we need to apply what we teach and practice our beliefs by leading by example. Therefore, I believe that lifelong and brain-based learning applies to my work as an educator and my own professional growth as well.
I believe my professional development is continuous and lifelong, so it’s important for me to keep updated with new findings in the education and UX field, while learning new and relevant skills.
A challenge many brain-based learning educators face is understanding their own brain, and managing stress, exhaustion and fatigue. I believe the development of emotional intelligence (IE) is equally important to both learners and instructors so we can become conscious educators. Neuroscience and education in neuropedagogy must be a collaboration: the educational community must benefit from the discoveries of neuroscience.
An important way to measure my impact as an educator is through the skills and knowledge that my learners apply to their own work as professionals: “In the long term, education must aim for active use of knowledge and skill” (Perkins, 1992). I want to be able to assess continuously effective ways for my learners to apply effectively what they learn to real case scenarios.
Feedback is essential through the learning process. It’s important to use both formative and summative assessment strategies to assess the level of understanding of learners and evaluate what is working or not so we can adapt and evolve our learning strategies.