Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Due to the constant improvements of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), a concern came up to figure out if the major graduates on ICT careers have the knowledge and skills required by the Costa Rican society. Therefore, an opportunity was suggested to test the current theory, the employers opinions and the academic offer in public universities which will provide and identify aspects where there might be room for improvement. In the article provided, a qualitative methodology was utilized by doing a documental revision from recent studies at a national level related to ICT and the study curriculum of public universities in Costa Rica: Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC), Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), Universidad Nacional (UNA), Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED) y Universidad Técnica Nacional (UTN). Furthermore, twenty six stakeholders from information technology companies were involved with graduates in this area, which provided a list of needs and improvements in the formal education. Among the aspects found, soft skills, specializations like Big Data, Deep Learning or Internet of things and the high demand of unsatisfied professionals. At last, a highlight of the study contributions input in the current final profile process, in the elaboration of new academic options o in the creation of current continuing programs.

The aim of this article is to describe the education quality conceptions This descriptive-correlated study applied a survey named, “Cuestionario empleado en el Estudio de la Percepción de Profesorado Universitario sobre variables que afectan a la calidad de la educación universitaria” (EPPU) was given to a sample of 462 professors from the University of Cuenca, in Ecuador. The data was collected on 2018. For data analysis was used descriptive statistic and no parametric test The results show that: the conception of educational quality, most of the professors identify themselves with the idea that quality consists in educating students so that they become capable of assuming a social commitment. Moreover, the academics think that the university, as an institution, is identified with the idea that quality consists in the achievement of the institutional objectives and mission. There were no correlations of the students’ characteristics and the conception of educational quality with the variables sex, age and professors’ experience. Regarding student’s characteristics, professors highlight the vocation for studies and the attitude of students towards learning, which generates an effect on the improvement of educational quality according to professors. The study concludes that quality conceptions according to the university professors show a preference for quality as transformation focused on student training with social responsibility.

For higher education institutions, innovation becomes a key and consubstantial objective with its activity of training professionals, who provide solutions to society's problems. Universities invest huge resources to achieve their goals in innovation; however, these investments are not always perceived by the student body, which generates feelings of dissatisfaction and lack of commitment. The purpose of this article is to know the perception of those who study in public, cofounded and private universities, in the province of Pichincha, in Ecuador, about the resources made available by their universities, in order to guide public entities on the innovation needs that universities present. For this reason, during the period between March and May 2019, surveys were applied to a sample of 768 university bachelor students, from the province of Pichincha, to evaluate four categories of items, differentiating in the study the perception of students of social and exact sciences, and coming from different types of universities. The results indicate that those who study in public universities have a different perception of those who attend private and cofounded universities and those aspects of infrastructure and teaching related are the most relevant, so it is concluded that it is recommendable to prioritize investment in innovation in the mentioned topics, starting from the type of faculties and universities where the perception is more negative.

This article analyzes the results of a curricular investigation carried out in Nicaragua, in the period 2018-2019 and in the regular modality, provided by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education and managed by the teacher training schools, which grants the title of Primary Education Teacher and that is attended simultaneously with the secondary from the ninth grade. The purpose was to contrast what the evidence suggests is necessary to know and be able to do in order to teach early grade literacy (EGL), and the content of the primary education teacher training curriculum. The methodology followed a qualitative approach based on curriculum mapping, interviews with teacher trainers and teachers-in-training, and classroom observations of subjects related to child development, EGL content, and assessment of learning. Among its main findings, it is worth noting that there is a partial and insufficient alignment of the content of the curriculum with the evidence on effective instruction of this subject. Gaps were identified in content, course bibliographies and time spent on teaching with respect to actual training needs. It was also found that in many classes what is prescribed is different from what is implemented due to the context and individual and institutional experiences of the teacher trainers. The research concludes that key issues critical to effective EGL instruction are not included in the curriculum, evidence is not being considered in the teacher training program, and insufficient time is being given to teaching and practice on instruction. 

This article summarizes the findings of the research study "Pre-service teacher training in early grade literacy (EGL) for the Primary Education major at the University of Costa Rica", specifically the one taught at the Rodrigo Facio branch. The study analyzed EGL pre-service teacher training, was conducted with a qualitative-descriptive methodology and took place from July 2018 to July 2019. Data were collected and analyzed based on the triangulation of information obtained from three sources: (1) mapping of pre-service teacher training curricula in the area of EGL including eleven courses covering the following three dimensions: Child Development, Knowledge of EGL Content and Evaluation of Learning; (2) eight interviews with teacher trainers and twelve interviews with teachers-in-training; and (3) five observations of university classrooms. The study results suggest that the link between the pre-service training programs, the classroom practice developed by the teacher trainers, and the practical knowledge required by the teachers-in-training to teach EGL requires greater integration and articulation. The implications of these findings need to be reviewed and analyzed by those who coordinate the Primary Education degree and those who serve as teacher educators. It is necessary to align course curricula to what evidence recommends for effective development of literacy skills in this century.

One of the main limitations to educational progress in Central America is the poor quality of teacher training. Because of this, the majority of those teaching at the primary level, have not mastered Early Grade Literacy (EGL) content knowledge and skills. The objective of this article is to present research findings which analyze the state of EGL pre-service teacher education at the National Pedagogical University (UPNFM) of Honduras. The data comes from a mapping of the EGL courses of the Basic Education Teaching Curriculum for the I and II Cycles in the bachelor’s degree field, against a conceptual framework based on current evidence on the teaching of EGL. In addition, teacher trainers and teachers in training were interviewed and observed. This qualitative study was carried out from July 2018 to March 2019. The results show that the strength of the program is the curricular design based on the competency-based education model. However, courses related to EGL teaching are insufficiently aligned with the scientific evidence. There are gaps in the curriculum that weaken the teacher training process and result in gaps in teacher trainees’ mastery of EGL content and pedagogical knowledge. These findings are presented along with recommendations for improving teacher training as a part of other efforts to provide greater opportunities to children.

The majority of teachers in Central America are unprepared to teach early literacy. Most of them have not learned how to do it during their preservice teacher education. Numerous education programs lack resources, time, and evidence-based approaches to prepare prospective teachers of literacy. This paper shows the results of a qualitative research conducted between 2018 and 2019; it studied literacy education for preservice teachers (LEPT) at a university in El Salvador. First, an analysis of the LEPT plan was carried out based on an evidence-based conceptual framework of what teachers should know and learn to effectively teach early literacy; second, interviews were conducted with university teacher educators and prospect teachers; and third, a documentary analysis of class plans prepared by teacher educators was also carried out. The results show the characteristics, strengths and gaps of the training plan within the scope of early literacy. Conclusions and recommendations on adaptation of the preservice teacher education plans, to be consistent with current research evidence on what is and how to do effective literacy teaching, are presented.

Between the years 2014 and 2015 researchers started to work as supervisors in the teaching practicum. From that point on, every year they noticed that the student-teachers struggle regarding how to assess English at the elementary school level. Since students from the Bachelor “Elementary Education with a minor in English” already take an evaluation course, researching the reasons for that weakness was key to better support our students. That is why this article presents the results of the qualitative research carried out in 2016 aiming to explore the need for designing an evaluation course taught in English and tailored to the students enrolled in the Bachelor “Elementary Education with a minor in English” at the University of Costa Rica, Western Campus. Through the use of an exploratory and phenomenological design, the researchers interviewed thirteen student-teachers, nine former students from this bachelor, an experienced elementary school teacher, and two authorities from the Ministry of Public Education of Costa Rica (MEP) to obtain their perspectives about the course ED0196 “Evaluation of the Learning Process in Early Childhood and Primary Education.” Also, the syllabus of the course was analyzed based on what students must know to assess a foreign language. Data showed that although students learn about many instruments and assessment criteria, many of them are not tailored to assess English as a Foreign Language but other core subjects. Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that the course ED0196 does not meet the needs of these students, and therefore, the university needs to design a course specifically tailored for them.

The analysis on the educational modalities by competences creates a research area, the present theoretical - methodological exploration is oriented towards the analysis and reflection around the processes of teaching and learning, notions and evaluative practices in the implementation of the competency-based approach in Professional and Technical High Schools in Costa Rica. The research begins with a brief critical analysis on the notions, the curriculum and the evaluative practices under the competency-based approaches, to then contrast them with those generated in the Costa Rican context under the modality of the Education based on Labor Competency Standards (EBNC), implemented by the Ministry of Public Education of Costa Rica. To answer the research question a narrative was constructed, these includes the critical analysis of the theoretical, teachers and student discourses about the notions of competence and the evaluation practices in the EBNC, the analysis took place between 2015 and 2016. The aim was to put in perspective the need for an education that integrates the different aspects of knowledge and that transcends the emphasis of the labor skills towards an education that allows to develop the knowledge of how to live in the world as an active citizen, and where, in addition, diversity is recognized as a construction of significance of different worldviews, in the sense of interpretation horizons proposed by the hermeneuts, that is, to give meaning as a human being of the daily experiences of the actors in the educational system within the learning processes.

The identification of prejudices towards people with disabilities that underlie the university population is a necessity in order to be able to design appropriate inclusive policies aimed to eradicate barriers to a non-discriminatory universal education. At present, however, there is no a specific assessment instrument available for this population, which allows for a needs assessment for updating, training or academic formal training in university institutions.The objective of the project was to develop a specific psychometric scale, for the university setting, that would allow quantifying prejudice towards people with disabilities that would guarantee their reliability and validity evidence. From the quantitative approach of the construction of psychometric scales, a battery of items was developed from a previous qualitative study done in 2017 and 2018 and the ambivalent prejudice model. Based on previous assessments by expert judges, an initial scale of 72 items was designed and administered to an incidental sample of 551 people, from three university institutions: UCR and UNA (Costa Rica) and UPSA (Spain). After the psychometric analysis, a 24-items scale was obtained with an internal consistency of .89. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis shows adequate adjustment rates GFI > .95; AGFI > .90; NFI > .95) for a 4-factor model: Benevolent Idealization, Contact Avoidance, Sexist Prejudice Amplification, and Perception of Excess Demands. The results allow us to conclude that this scale has satisfactory reliability, and sufficient evidence of validity based on the content and internal structure.