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

The profile of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher education programs in Chile requires graduates to communicate effectively and master phonetic-phonological, lexical, morpho-syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic aspects of the English language. Graduates should possess an advanced level of oral proficiency which entails an adequate balance of fluency and accuracy in oral communication. Attaining a correct balance between oral fluency and accuracy from the start of EFL pre-service teacher training programs is currently a goal of Chilean Universities. The objective of this article is to analyze EFL oral communication development and propose a theory-based didactic model to address and overcome EFL teacher constraints in Chile (first year EFL pre-service teachers) regarding fluency and accuracy in oral communication development. The proposed didactic model is based on a theoretical revision of constructs in Second Language Teaching literature. The proposed model contributes to the developing research that can support the progress of fluency and accuracy in EFL pre-service teacher oral communication, which is limited by second/foreign language teaching theories, methodologies and approaches which require further study.

Since the last decade, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education has been on the rise. Flipped classrooms use ICTs as resources in which students use videos to learn theories and concepts and the teacher plays the role of a facilitator or mediator. This study shows the results of how ICTs were used for a Computer Science 1 class by  group of students from high school No. 1 from the public school system in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. The subjects of the study included 90 students during the first semester. A four-stage research - action methodology was used that included: 1) an action plan, 2) development of the action, 3) observation of the action and 4) reflection. Three didactic situations involving Computer Science were designed, developed and assessed to strengthen the use of  Technology using the Schoology educational platform, Apple Clips, Movie Maker and YouTube. Finding reveal that 92% of the students preferred flipped class compared to traditional classes. Only 8% preferred the traditional system. Technology helped maintain the attention of the students, particularly when the teacher used recorded video of the class to better understand the subject matter. As a result, student approval towards the subject also increased.

A study was conducted among university students and professors during a university course on systematic thought focused on citizenship using a theory grounded methodological approach.  The objective was to identify notions regarding citizenship based on the responses obtained from the students and instructors so that strategies can be developed to transform course dynamics and teaching practices.  Based on the results of this study, participant citizenship is understood as an activity aimed at coexistence and social transformation where is the university serves as a setting for citizen transformation.

Costa Rica opened the doors to its first preschool, Escuela Maternal de Costa Rica in 1925 in the city of San José. This article attempts a pedagogical analysis of educational practice as taught by the country´s first teachers and understand the philosophical bases and profile of the that they aspire to educate. The results were obtained according to a methodology of symbolic interaction from collecting and analyzing original manuscripts, scientific and literary writings, historical photographs, and items recovered from the former preschool building, such as puppets and furniture. The preschool promoted organized and free play, as proposed by German pedagogue Friedrich Fröebel. It also established a school canteen, and emphasized manual skills as proposed by the Agazzi sisters. A state-of-the-art gym was also planned based on the principals of Belgian pedagogue Decroly. Other features of this pioneer Costa Rican institution included use of the psychoanalytic method, and healthcare support for families as established by Italian pedagogue Maria Montessori. The end result was an eclectic vision that significantly impacted twentieth century early childhood education.

The goal of this scientific article is to describe the different types of arguments made by advanced Geography students and understand how explicit and underlying epistemological assumptions of the study plan guide students in constructing these arguments. The methodological design is descriptive with a qualitative scope. The sample included 26 students from the state university of Resistencia, Argentina. Data collection sources included the Geography Major Study Plan and the result of arguments prepared by the students. It can be concluded that the current study plan is well directed at developing proper arguments in this subject matter. It is advised, however, that such curricular requirements do, in fact, undermine other geographic perspectives that are necessary skills for future geographers.

This study sets forth an academic approach that applies the concept of entropy (the second law of thermodynamics) to the foundations of education. The concept of entropy is based on the notion of uncertainty in a changing world that is subject to chance and which is not represented in a static educational system which possesses a degree of theoretical mobility but has little didactic and evaluative mobility. As a result, entropy becomes a favorable setting for the type of transformation that education must undergo to respond to the needs of a non-static system. This article analyzes the context of the Colombian educational system, a low-entropy system that is organized, systematic and hardly adaptable to the changing actuality of our contemporary world.

Academic assessments have always been used by universities to gauge student learning. Yet, they have remained unchanged through time. The objective of this essay is to take a snapshot of current teaching and assessment practices. It is the essence of today´s university teaching staff to go far and beyond their traditional duty and continuously challenging their students to seek learning experiences outside of the classroom. Concepts taught by professors and lecturers should not only be based on market regulations and economic guidelines. They have the duty to focus on the individual and promote critical thinking in a world that is less creative and thought-driven and more focused on replication of knowledge, simultaneous repetition, rote memorization of information and frivolous numerical measurements.

Analyzing the college dropout phenomenon is complex, given the different social, family, individual and institutional factors that come into play. This study attempts to uncover various sociodemographic and motivational variables associated with the reasons associated with freshman students who dropped out a college. The study is based on a cohort of from 2011, 2012 and 2013, which included both active and those who had dropped out of a State Costa Rican University. A questionnaire was drafted that included both open and close-ended questions. The questionnaire was validated by a group of experts and a focal group. Afterwards, a non-probabilistic sample of 519 students completed an online and phone survey. The results of a chi-square test reveal that dropping out of school was associated with not being able to enroll in a student´s first choice major, lack of interest in the career path the student was admitted to and student desire to attend another college. The main finding in this study is that motivational values have the highest impact on a student´s decision to withdraw from school. Based on the results, we recommend appropriate vocational testing to reduce student probability of dropping out and create a strategy to keep students motivated during their first two years of college.

This study the Aristotelian logic requirement included on the admissions exams in eight of the eleven state universities in Lima, Peru. A comparison of Aristotelian logic and quantificational first-degree logic revealed the shortcomings of the former versus the latter after analyzing the syllabi of the following state university departments: Engineering  at the National University of Callao, Education at the  Enrique Guzman y Valle National University and the José Faustino Sánchez Carrion University; and Technology at the National Technological University of South Lima, the National University of Cañete and the National University of Barranca. All content dealing with Aristotelian logic was extracted from the manual used by test preparation centers to teach prospective applicants. The objective was to determine contradictions and faults found in first-order quantificational logic questions. A qualitative analysis was performed  through a literature review. Research for the logic in this study is divided into 1) Aristotelian Logic 2) Class Logic, 3) First-Order Quantifiable Logic, 4) Boethius Traditional Square of Opposition, 5) Special recommendations, 6) Immediate inferences based on operations and 7) Categorical Syllogisms. it is concluded that quantifiable first-order logic has progressed significantly within the study of logic, that it must be included within the areas to be studied within the Admissions exams for universities in Lima-Peru. There is a need for empirical research to fill any gaps found in this study.

The definition for “expectation” by the Spanish Royal Academy of Language is “the hope to accomplish or achieve a set goal”. In the educational field, the relationship between expectation and satisfaction has been studied from two different, but complementary perspectives - one that focuses on educational quality and the other on the psychological well-being of the student. However, expectation has not been a topic of great interest in the past few years. For this reason, strategies must be created to impact student retention at universities. This study seeks to identify student expectations for first-year dental students at the CES University in Medellín, Colombia based on three cohorts (2017-1, 2017-2 and 2018-1). A quantitative, observational, descriptive and comparative study was conducted using a non-randomized sample of 152 freshman dental students at Medellin´s CES University. The CIA-A questionnaire was validated in Chile using a similar population (first-year medical students). The majority of the responses (72.2%) were provided by females residing in the Medellin metropolitan area with statistically significant differences with regards to origin and previous major. Although the factors analyzed among the cohorts were similar, the 2017-2 cohorts had the highest averages for each of the items. Results revealed that student participation was the component with the highest student expectation and that attributing more value to student participation is a key issue to prevent students from abandoning their studies.