On 18 April, Lurdes Veríssimo, a Professor at the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (FEP-UCP), gave a training session at Colégio Paulo VI in Gondomar on the topic: "Is there a magic formula to motivate my students?”. The session, which brought together around 30 teachers and other education professionals, looked at different theories of motivation and discussed strategies to promote student learning.

Lurdes Veríssimo was invited to lead the session as part of the existing partnership between the Faculty of Education and Psychology and Colégio Paulo VI for curricular practice and research (Let's Care Project Partner). "Colégio Paulo VI has been an important partner of our faculty in hosting students for curricular internships in education and research," said the Professor, who is also a member of the Research Centre for Human Development (CEDH).

In her lecture, Lurdes Veríssimo spoke about the importance of self-determination theory and the cognitivist approach to motivation in the development of pedagogical strategies that promote student motivation and academic success.

For the faculty, this type of initiative is fundamental to the dissemination of scientific knowledge to society. "We have a responsibility to share our knowledge with the educational community and to contribute to the training of increasingly qualified educational professionals", she adds.