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

As the main facilitators of teaching and learning, faculty developers’ views as individuals and as members of their academic communities are essential to higher education research. Yet, developers’ perceptions of their own growth and learning as practitioners are underrepresented in the extant literature. This qualitative study explored perceptions of a peer observation of teaching (PoT) program and its role in building a community of practice (CoP) amongst a nine-member team of faculty developers in a large university in Saudi Arabia. Participant data were collected through semi-structured interviews after two years of the program.  A thematic content analysis of  interview responses revealed four themes: 1) authentic collegiality and mutual communication improved through the shared experiences, which provided a foundation for the CoP; 2) participants’ perceptions of PoT shifted from an evaluative experience to a developmental one with noticeable challenges; 3) teaching and learning strategies and practices were enhanced from the observation experiences;  and, 4) PoT contributed to building community through shared practice and/or sense of belonging. Implications of this study support explicit discussions about the foundation and underlying values of proposed PoT and related programs; a balanced, outcome-oriented yet still developmental program with follow-up opportunities; and, learner-centered and sustainable development that empowers a bilateral role and identity as both academician and faculty developer.

Dropout limits the personal and social benefits of education. In this sense, states and educational institutions seek to prevent and mitigate this phenomenon through the development of public and institutional policies, however, the complexity of the phenomenon is such that these policies are insufficient and are not fully articulated with the realities of students, hence the persistence of high dropout rates. Thus, the objective of this article was to establish the causes of student dropout in rural higher education using a conceptual model based on systems thinking from the narratives of a group of Colombian students. A qualitative study was carried out with the participation of 19 students. The analysis was carried out using open coding to identify the variables that had an impact on this educational phenomenon and was completed with a model based on a causal loop diagram. The results showed that work and family obligations, the student's financial condition and the role of teachers are the most recurrent variables in the participants. Finally, based on the variables found and the model, actions are proposed that should be incorporated into the framework of public and institutional policies to prevent and mitigate the dropout phenomenon.

Collaborative online learning (COL) has been associated with positive outcomes, such as critical thinking, shared problem-solving skills, and deep learning. Such outcomes require pedagogies that consider students’ backgrounds, including the cultural context in which they operate. This study reflects upon the role of culture through the lens of the Community of Inquiry Framework (CoI) and the elements of social - and teaching presence. German and Thai students were selected due to cultural differences in values of power distance, collectivism, and femininity. 20 in-depth interviews on students’ experiences with COL were conducted. Findings revealed differences in perceptions of and factors influencing social- and teaching presence across the two samples. German students were hesitant to initiate contact with non-familiar classmates through digital communication tools. The use of the camera overall supported social presence but also affected Thai students negatively, who were more concerned about the judgment, and emotions of classmates. Teaching presence differed as social media and messenger applications were more readily utilized for collaboration in Thai universities. While the presence of the lecturer in break-out rooms increased Thai students' voicing behavior, German students opened up as the lecturer was absent. The possible influence of educational-, national- and cybercultures is being discussed.

This study explores cross-cultural integration of Chinese top-up students in a UK university from the perspective of loneliness. Existing research on integration has underplayed loneliness. This study used semi-structured interviews to collect data at three key transition points during the top-up year. The findings suggest that students experienced loneliness both within and beyond their group, notwithstanding a number of reasons why they might be expected to be less lonely than other international students. Loneliness seemed to have a significant impact on cross-cultural integration, and participants were also unable to form strong bonds within their cohort of Chinese top-up students, and unable to experience healthy solitude. There are implications for the pre-departure preparation of such students, for the institutions hosting such students, and for responses to the social and emotional challenges they experience.

Research has found that the coercive dominant discourse (CDD) can have a negative impact on girls’ sexual pleasure. In this vein, a previous study found that girls who described relationships under the CDD as exciting also recognized a lack of sexual pleasure in these. One of the elements underlying this apparent contradiction was an identified mismatch between what the participants had experienced in such relationships, characterized for being disdainful, and what they had told their friends. Nonetheless, more research is needed in order to better understand how girls’ narratives about their sexual-affective relationships differ from the ways in which they experienced them. The current study aims at identifying and analysing the presence of fake narratives in the interactions girls have with their peers regarding sexual-affective relationships. To this end, 10 communicative interviews were conducted with girls between 18 and 21 years of age. Results show that while participants recognize feeling a lack of pleasure in those disdainful relationships, they portrayed these as exciting when telling their peers about them, suppressing the negative feelings around them. These findings corroborate the presence of fake narratives in relation to disdainful relationships and bring new insights into the aspects these fabricated stories are built around.

Studies on entrepreneurship at university are increasing given the socio-occupational demands placed on university graduates. Consequently, it is studied how entrepreneurship is promoted in the degree of Pedagogy in Spanish universities, understanding these processes, due to the relevance of the area as a means of innovation and improvement of educational quality. From an interpretative approach, a qualitative methodology is applied through the integration of mixed techniques; specifically: 1) documentary analysis of 934 subjects from the 19 public universities where the degree under study is taught, and 2) 20 semi-structured interviews with teaching staff. The results provide an overview of how entrepreneurship is considered in the curricula of the Spanish universities offering the degree. Specifically, the curricular elements are analyzed, with emphasis on teaching methodology. More deeply, the teaching staff's perspective allows us to understand the meaning of the integration of entrepreneurial competences in university programs, the predisposition of students to acquire them and the development of a teaching methodology that allows for more constructive, conscious, and meaningful learning processes based on these competences. Finally, the results are discussed, establishing conclusions and proposals for curricular improvement and educational quality in higher education.

Introduction: There is no globally accepted precise definition of surgical education. Educational theories and theoretical frameworks that support the teaching of surgery are fragmented and scattered, without being part of an integrated model that allow a holistic approach with academic rigour. Objective: To obtain an approximation of the concepts and theories used in surgical education that can potentially be included in an integrative model. Methods: A scoping review of the literature about surgical education and its theoretical-conceptual frameworks was carried out, relationships between concepts were determined when appropriate. The analysis was structured as follows: challenges of surgical education, educational paradigms, structured vs. unstructured programs, characteristics of an effective surgical mentor, cognitive theory of learning in the operating room, taxonomies for teaching and learning of surgery, from novice to expert model, and models for surgical teaching. Results: The concepts that support the teaching of surgery are multiple; its application and utility have been demonstrated in medical and non-medical learning contexts. The use of these concepts or models by mentors provide schemes that facilitate the assessment and, when appropriate, the modification of teaching strategies. The theoretical grounding of surgical teaching allows migrating from programs based on arbitrary time periods or workloads to planned and modulated learning experiences. Conclusions: There are theoretical resources that can be used in the whole spectrum of surgical education, from the selection of the surgical apprentice to the autonomous performance of the experienced surgical professional. The use of these concepts or theories makes it possible to achieve quality surgical teaching, limiting the effects of chance in learning.

This manuscript describes the organization, progress of the students and results of the Mexican MD/PhD program, explained as a case study. PECEM is the acronym for the Program of Combined Studies in Medicine that began in 2011 at the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). PECEM is developed as a unique program, as an MD/PhD that includes a Bachelor’s and a Doctor of Medicine degree in a single curriculum in a period of eight years (16 semesters). Along with medical bachelor studies, PECEM students undertake seven research stays, with a duration of six months each, in several areas and with different advisers. After internship, the year of social service and five more semesters, they complete their doctoral thesis and graduate. Eleven students have already graduated (five from the first generation and six from the second generation); of these, 10 received their degree with honors and were already accepted in high quality institutions in different countries to continue their training as researchers or as specialized clinicians.

This article focuses on the data analysis phase in qualitative research. After locating the investigative moment in which the hermeneutical act takes place, different strategies are presented to approach the data analysis. The paper focuses on the proposal of analytical questions. Based on the texts of Jackson and Mazzei, the assembly of data and theories is described in three movements: first, the disruption of binomials like theory / practice, subject / object, inside / outside, researched / researcher, to understand the way they constitute each other; second, the elaboration of analytical questions based on authors’ concepts to think about the data; and third, evince the flexibility of both when being stressed to reveal socio-cultural processes of interest and generate new knowledge.