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

This article shows the results of a descriptive pilot study that measures stereotypes regarding ageing. The incidental sample of 78 students was drawn from a group of college students majoring in Primary School Education. The primary goal was to determine the existence of stereotypes associated with ageing using the CENVE questionnaire (Questionnaire on the Evaluation of Negative Stereotypes on Ageing, (Blanca, Sánchez y Trianes, 2005). The results revealed that stereotypes do, in fact, exist and that more educational outreach is required for both teachers and primary school students to dismiss negative stereotypes about the elderly.

Scores on standardized tests and school performance are inadequate indicators that have been used to measure and assess quality for teaching-learning processes. Given this context, Other Quality Indicators (OQI) defined by Chile´s Ministry of Education seek to remedy this weakness by supplementing traditional metrics with a group of indexes associated with personal and social development of the students. Objective: Draw a profile of the trend for school coexistence climate and its dimensions comprised by a cross-cutting OQI to report on conditions that foster learning. Method: Student, Teacher and Parent questionnaires addressing school context analyzing perceptions about organization, safety  of contextual questionnaires and respect of the educational space with inferential statistical modelling. Results: Perception and assessment about the state of coexistence in the school and classroom is determined by the role, position and responsibility of the evaluator. This explains the critical perspective of the students, the impartiality of the teachers and disassociation of the parents with the status of contexts of relationships at school. Given the intrinsic nature of everyday life and forced sharing of reduced physical spaces, classroom relationships are particularly problematic. Conclusions: The problems associated with OQI, emphasizes the need to strengthen education to learn to live as a community, particularly when stakeholder perceptions are strongly populated by social desirability that are naturalized due to deteriorated climates of routine, everyday life of coexistence.

Dispositional strategies used by university instructors for class design and execution promotes meaningful learning in virtual classrooms. This study analyzes eight types of instructional designs used for university courses. A qualitative-phenomenological focus methodology was used in four virtual classrooms together with semi-structured interviews with one professor and five psychology students enrolled in a distance university program. Four types of matrixes were used for content analysis to identify motivational aspects and types of meaningful learning in the aforementioned instructional setting. Data analysis was used to validate this study through an instrument triangulation process. According to the results: (a) Dispositional strategies may promote meaningful learning with discursive content of the activities and feedback through synchronous and asynchronous communication. (b) Strategies used by the instructors to motivate students were not previously designed or intentional, but rather, the result of an intuitive process. (c) Motivational strategies used by the instructors use of phrases or images that motivate students to work on the thematic content. Based on the study results, it is recommended for purposes of future educational research on distance learning, to develop and execute previously designed instruction with effective communication fostered by the teaching staff to promote effective communication as well as learning and use teaching strategies that will motivate intentional learning pertinent for virtual classroom dynamics that demonstrates flexibility and adapts to student needs.

Mexico is currently undergoing a social crisis. On the one hand, it experiencing alternating elections which many consider to be the advent of a new form of politics which also brings with it the hope of ending poverty, insecurity and deterioration of the educational system. Based on this scenario, this article discusses premodern conditions that are prevalent in Mexico and which have obstructed the development of the country´s economy, educational and social security sectors. It also highlights the complexity of the different types of factors that  involved in social deterioration. The article questions how poverty, crime and education are superimposed and emphasizes the need to contain high school drop-out rates which are tied to difficulties in entering the job market and its consequential relationship to poverty. Dropping out of school also encourages youngsters to commit crimes. Education is perceived as one of the solutions to fight crime and poverty – however, not education as it currently stands. Academic problems would first have to be resolved, such as preventing school dropouts in both High School and College as well as improving coverage, which requires a differentiated type of education.

The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast on-ground, hybrid, online, and flipped teaching techniques in the L2 classroom as to determine which delivery method best promotes student learning, target language use, and language spontaneity among students. Data was collected for three semesters at a college in the Midwestern region of the United States from different sections of the same introductory-level Spanish course. The differences between the class sections was the delivery method (one for each type of the aforementioned methods). A sample group of 53 participants were compared with the on-ground/traditional class section final and oral exams and compared with the on-ground/traditional section using unpaired t tests. Each of the class instructors maintained a journal to document qualitative classroom experiences. The study concludes that no one group performed statistically better than the other group on the oral exams. There were no statistically significant differences on the final exams, except with the online class group which performed worse. The delivery method selected should be based on student, community, and departmental needs. However, instructor journals noted greater target language use in the flipped and hybrid sections.

This study took place in Chile at the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción Faculty of Education. The objective of the study was to gain insight about the perception of Education Majors regarding a Philosophy of Education course. The methodology involved a descriptive, qualitative design presented within a case study based on in-depth interviews. The response through which the authors were able to build a narrative detailing perception and the different variables associated with the objective.  Responses were categorized and analyzed using Nvivo 11 software. The most significant results reveal that students are not motivated to take Philosophy of Education or any other type of philosophy course. Yet, they do demonstrate that the study of philosophy is an important part of the Education Major curriculum. More educational resources must be offered, such as additional teaching strategies to help Education Majors further develop their reflexive skills and a renewed didactic approach towards the study of philosophy.

This article addresses teacher perception regarding how excessive amounts of extracurricular activities could interfere with regular lessons and, ultimately, affect student academic performance. A survey probing personal opinions regarding this phenomenon was completed by thirty teachers from public and private primary schools and high schools in the Costa Rican province of Puntarenas. The main objective of this study was not only to determine teacher perception, but also to compare collected data with already existing theory on this subject. Results show that even though some of those activities are relevant in training students to become good citizens and future professionals, an overload of extracurricular activities will negatively impact their achievements and knowledge acquisition.

Education majors training to become high school teachers must possess good reading comprehension skills. It is, therefore, necessary to be able to gauge this skill among future teachers. This objective of this study was to test current reading comprehension skills among a group of student teachers through a test involving a text about the importance of Media in teaching, followed by twelve comprehension questions. The questions explored three areas of reading comprehension: 1) literal, 2) inferential and 3) analogical. The sample group included 56 Education Majors specializing in High School English and Mathematics at the Escuela Normal Superior in Northwest Mexico. Based on the data collected, students had the most difficulties with literal and critical questions.  The importance of this study is that it helps identify challenges faced by undergraduate students in this area at this institution and emphasizes the need to foster the development of reading comprehension skills. 

In a world where everything seems relative and changeable, leaving nothing unaltered, our current context of higher education/university learning faces a situation where it is sold on only one way of doing things to ensure success. The rhetoric of neoliberal discourses has enough traps to convince active members of the educational-training community who yearn for future job stability to fulfill prevailing requirements in order to improve their performance although it may include actions that defy traditional education or training. This study comprises a bibliographic review on the ethical-social conditions embodied in teacher training and the consequences for the university teaching staff and future teachers who are currently being trained. Significant conclusions drawn from this study include educational-training analysis and impact on attainment of scientific knowledge as well as social, economic and educational consequences for future teachers and society if there are no alternatives to this model.

This qualitative case study examines the perceptions of three novice EFL teachers regarding their past mentoring experiences in school settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit their overall  views as well as obtain insight to specific aspects of this process according to the Five Factor Model on Mentoring (Hudson, 2007). Findings indicate that the personal attributes of mentors were perceived as being most relevant. However, based on the perception of the teachers, aspects such as school requirements and feedback are not widely considered by their mentors despite the fact that these elements impact the mentoring process. It is expected that by analyzing teacher perceptions, more knowledge will be gained about future EFL student teacher preparation so that programs will be able to better address the specific needs of mentees during their practicum period.