Education Institutions In Mexico Research Articles

Level of sedentary lifestyle of workers in a higher education institution in Mexico

Currently, the workload and strict schedules lead employees to neglect their physical and mental health, which leads them to have a more sedentary life, which can become a risk factor for work-related diseases and mortality. The objective of this research is to determine the level of sedentary lifestyle by analyzing the variables associated with this behavior, in administrative and academic workers of a higher education institution in Mexico. The research followed a descriptive design and correlational, applying the Deming cycle methodology, for which information was collected through a direct survey and data analysis with a statistical program, on physical activity and sedentary lifestyle, in the in which a total of 108 respondents participated. A high prevalence of sedentary lifestyle was observed, present in 66.6% of the population studied and it was verified that 47,2% of the workers did not comply with the minimum recommendations for physical activity. The study revealed a high prevalence of sedentary behavior in workers. In addition, a dependency relationship of sedentary lifestyle with physical activity, gender and glucose levels was identified, these being the variables that explain this behavior in a significant way.

Inclusion applied in Higher Education Institutions in Mexico

Inclusion applied in Higher Education Institutions in Mexico

Expanding horizons for the future with an open educational model for complex thinking: external and internal validation

PurposeThe challenges facing 21st-century society are becoming increasingly complex, requiring the development of new citizen competencies. This study aims to validate an educational model focused on developing complex thinking in higher education students. Current educational models lack future-ready competencies, necessitating the emergence of new models to guide future generations toward the common good.Design/methodology/approachThis was an adaptation of the causal-layered analysis (CLA) applied to 415 participants from higher education institutions in Mexico, Panama and Spain. Sessions were designed to present the proposed educational model and explore participants’ perceptions of its significance and contributions to future education.FindingsKey findings include the following: participants perceived complexity as difficult and challenging; causes of problems were linked to outdated educational models requiring replacement by those that develop students’ competencies; participants envisioned changes that would develop individuals capable of understanding and transforming society; and participants recognized the model’s transformative potential, offering a novel proposal for 21st-century education.Originality/valueThis research sought to gather opinions from different stakeholders using the CLA methodology, providing a deep understanding of participants’ perspectives on the proposed solution.

Aseguramiento de la calidad y evaluación de programas y cursos en línea

The objective of this work is to explore the categories, criteria and indicators necessary to evaluate the quality of the educational programs and the instructional design of their courses on e-learning. This is, with the intention of generating indicators and/or instruments for quality assurance and its evaluation that serve intrinsic purposes to the instructional design, to the operation of the courses object of the design and the educational programs in this modality, as well as to administrative purposes in higher education institutions. For this, different models are examined, and the context of the official Mexican evaluation models is reviewed. Finally, recommendations are integrated according to the situation of Higher Education Institutions in Mexico.

Personality and leadership style in generation z: A quantitative study in a higher education institution in Mexico

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to discern the combination of personality traits that most contribute to effective leadership styles in individuals belonging to Generation Z.Design/methodology/approach: We utilized a structural equation model to analyze data from 244 higher education students in Mexico. This approach allowed us to examine the relationship between personality traits, leadership styles, and perceived effectiveness.Findings: Our findings indicate that the transformational leadership style is the most impactful among Generation Z individuals. Furthermore, the personality traits of openness and conscientiousness emerged as the most influential in relation to effective leadership styles.Research limitations/implications: Despite valuable insights, limitations exist due to small sample size (n=244) from one institution, restricting generalizability. The cross-sectional nature provides a snapshot, not accounting for societal/technological shifts affecting Generation Z over time. Self-reported data may suffer from biases. The cultural context focuses solely on a Mexican educational setting. Future research calls for larger, more diverse samples across institutions/countries with longitudinal data to offer enhanced, nuanced understanding of evolving leadership and personality traits within Generation Z.Practical implications: Organizations could enhance effectiveness by fostering transformational leadership among Generation Z employees through coaching/training programs tailored for this cohort. Academically, business curricula would benefit from integrating insights on aligning leadership styles with inherent personality traits.Social Implications: Transformational leadership emergence within Generation Z may propagate leaders equipped to drive innovation, convey visionary goals, and evoke follower commitment to address pressing societal issues.Originality/value: To our knowledge, this study represents the first investigation within the Mexican context examining the interplay of personality traits, leadership styles, and effectiveness among Generation Z individuals.

Intellectual capital and organizational performance: the case of basic education institutions in Mexico

El presente trabajo tiene como propósito analizar cómo influye el capital intelectualen el desempeño organizacional de los establecimientos de educación básica privada del sur de Sonora, México. Esta investigación se realizó bajo una metodología cuantitativa, con un alcance correlacional. La construcción de un marco teórico sólido permitió aplicarun cuestionario a un total de 81 directivos de los centros educativos de nivel básico del sector privado. A fin de cuantificar la relación entre las variables, se utilizó la técnica de regresión lineal múltiple, en la que el 60,5% de la variabilidad en el desempeño organizacional se explica por el capital intelectual. Los resultados confirman que en el contexto educativo privado los activos intangibles tienen un impacto positivo y relevante en el desempeño organizacional.

Leadership in a Private Higher Education Institution in Mexico:

Leadership for the new digital era and the 4.0 industry comes with some challenges for organizations across the board; and, in the education field, for institutions and educators alike. Understanding the need to transform and innovate processes is necessary to offer high-quality programs to students and competitive opportunities to educators. In Higher Education (HE) institutions, it is of great urgency to assign and distribute such leadership skills and tasks to educators and students, to provide and ease specific tasks at hand, and to encourage collaborators in the development of leadership skills for the classroom and to promote lifelong leadership skills for students too. In Mexico, the HE system looks to include new ways to innovate, collaborate and even compete with other national and foreign institutions for the most qualified human capital. Tecnologico de Monterrey, a private institution, is not only one of the top-ranking universities in Mexico, but it also has a strong emphasis on leadership development for its students and collaborators. The case of Sonora Norte Campus is a successful one, its empowerment approach toward building, nurturing, and developing quality leaders. A qualitative study was conducted to identify the practices of the institution and the leadership practices in the institution's different schools. We conducted semi-structured interviews with leaders and collaborators which resulted in understanding the leadership dynamics on the campus, the different styles of leadership among its collaborators as well as some of the challenges they face. This study provides a look into the leadership in a private HE institution, and some of its successful practices. This study proves to be relevant for other heads of HE institutions in the world (and in other Tecnologico de Monterrey campuses nationwide) interested in adding and researching effective leadership practices to their agendas.

Evaluation of online learning readiness in the new distance learning normality

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced teaching and learning in higher education. The transformation towards digital education challenged Faculty and students. This research examines the online learning readiness of students in a Higher Education Institution in Mexico. Specifically, we investigated how much prior digital skills, as well as having used the digital resources available by the university, influenced their academic achievement in distance learning settings. Seven dimensions of online learning readiness were selected to evaluate the student's preparation for the online learning process. Questionnaires were applied before the start and at the end of digital courses. Follow-up tools were offered to support the student, and two groups were observed, users and non-users of the digital devices. It was observed that students who used the support developed significantly better critical thinking, problem-solving, and time organization skills than non-users. On the other hand, although the evaluations were not significantly different, the lowest averages were found in the non-user group. Our results indicate that prior training in the use of digital tools is essential for the success of online education; in the same way, a timely follow-up with technical and pedagogical assistance is necessary for developing competencies. Training more autonomous and independent students capable of distance learning in a global world demands experts in digital education urgently. Educational institutions must embrace new technologies and teaching methods to meet the ever-changing needs of students. This research is expected to play a crucial role in promoting constructive discussions and facilitating informed decisions concerning the creation of future educational models.

Data Analysis in Factors of Social Entrepreneurship Tools in Complex Thinking: An exploratory study

This work presents the results of an exploratory pilot that analyzes the factors that influence self-reported social entrepreneurship competency and previous family backgrounds that might positively influence the development of the set of sub-competencies of complex thinking. It has been observed that individuals who put into practice the competencies that make up complex thinking perform better in overcoming the challenges of generating social value in contemporary society. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 47 students attending a private Higher Education Institution in Mexico using the “Profile of the Social Entrepreneur Instrumentóó. The data analysis comprised 1) validation of the instruments reliability, 2) tendencies and the frequency distribution of the data, 3) grouping by entrepreneurial family background, 4) the principal component analysis and 5) a clustering analysis. Our results support that forming Complex Thinking competencies for social entrepreneurship is not directly influenced by previous family experiences. Still, they recognize that these experiences are relevant in helping students become familiar with entrepreneurship-related issues. This paper empirically supports the hypotheses that social entrepreneurship experiences affect the correlations between social innovations and resolving complex global public problems.

Job satisfaction, organizational commitment and burnout in teachers in Mexico

The study's objective was to determine the relationships between the proposed variables that impact to the Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment and Burnout through the Psychological Empowerment mediator variable. The variables proposed as impact factors were Structural Empowerment and Remunerations for the case of teachers from public middle-higher education institutions in Mexico. The study had a non-experimental design, being a correlational and causal research. The measurement instrument was applied to a sample of 167 teachers, whose data were analyzed using the structural equations method. The findings show which of these direct and indirect effects are generating significant effects. Subsequently, the analysis of the contrast and impact differences between the segmentation groups was proposed: by gender, marital status, schooling and employment status. One limitation was to carry out the cross-sectional study, with the data collected in a single moment. It is recommended to continue with the analysis of Burnout in other contexts and organizational areas.

Use of Drone Photogrammetry as An Innovative, Competency-Based Architecture Teaching Process

The use of drones is becoming increasingly popular in various fields. In the case of education, initiatives have emerged in which they are included as tools to develop student’s knowledge, and their use is becoming more frequent. This research aims to present a case study in which students used drones in an architecture course at a higher education institution in Mexico. It sought to develop transversal competencies in students, such as digital transformation and cutting-edge technologies by studying spaces using photogrammetry with drones. The results showed that students increased their motivation and were able to perform a more detailed analysis of the architectural space in which they conducted the study. Additionally, they were able to capture and analyze information from architectural study processes more quickly. Aerial photogrammetry is a geospatial data collection method that offers several advantages over other methods. These advantages include higher resolution, wide coverage, flexibility, lower costs, and increased safety. Aerial photogrammetry can capture high-resolution images of large areas of land in a single flight, making it an efficient and adaptable tool for a variety of applications and environments. Additionally, it can be more economical and safer than other methods, as it avoids ground contact and reduces risks to personnel and equipment. This study is considered attractive, as it presents an example of the implementation of emerging technologies in architectural education.

An exploratory study on barriers and enablers for women leaders in higher education institutions in Mexico

Mexico, the second-largest economy in Latin America after Brazil, has a gender gap index score of 76.4% in 2022 compared to 75.7% in 2021 and is ranked 31 out of 146 countries for 2022. Mexico has become one of the world's leaders in gender-political equality, which shows that the gender ceiling is cracking, and it is yet to see if gender parity is achieved in other sectors as well. The women's leadership topic has been widely researched in many countries, but with this changing dimension in the political sector, it is important to know if any changes are happening in the education sector as well. This exploratory research aims to identify what motivates women to take up leadership roles and whether they still experience barriers in higher education institutions (HEIs). This study was conducted with 22 women participants from Mexico's HEIs. The study used a qualitative narrative research design to understand what enablers and barriers are experienced by Mexican female academics. The study identified four key barriers and four enablers that affected women's career and leadership development. Gaining a deeper understanding of the barriers and enablers that affect women's career and leadership development can be used to investigate how culturally appropriate developmental relationships can create ways to overcome the barriers they experience. Further, the study's implications can support human resource development initiatives.

Academic literacy among the university students in Mexico and Spain: A holistic perspective.

Currently, young people have access to a large amount of information, so they must have the ability to critically analyze the texts they are exposed to in order to choose those that are useful for their training or research process, as well as to have the necessary skills to interact efficiently with the texts, especially with those specialized documents corresponding to their area of study. In this regard, this article aims to identify how cognitive, emotional, attitudinal, digital and personality aspects influence the development of academic literacy skills in university students. Research was conducted with the mixed method, in which quantitative instruments were applied and analyzed: a Likert scale questionnaire to measure the perceived level of mastery of academic literacy skills, which was applied to a sample of 595 students from higher education institutions in Mexico and Spain. In addition, a test was applied to identify personality type. For the qualitative part, the case study was chosen and the qualitative instruments applied were interviews with a teacher and a student and a focus group with five students. The findings identified were as follows: (a) the cognitive aspect of academic literacy is the one with the lowest perceived mastery by students, (b) having a positive attitude favors the development of academic literacy, (c) by knowing the aspects of their personality that can favor the development of academic literacy, students can seek strategies to improve that competency, (d) the emotional part has repercussions in the process of developing the competence of academic literacy, (e) students prefer to interact with texts in digital spaces and therefore must learn to interact critically in virtual environments, (f) Mexican students perceive themselves to have a higher level of mastery of the academic literacy competency than Spanish students. The literature review and the mixed methods study allowed identifying the relevance of approaching academic literacy in university environments in a holistic manner through the analysis of the influence of cognitive, attitudinal, emotional, digital and personality aspects.

Análisis de condiciones de precariedad en profesores universitarios con base en el tipo de contrato

Through the bibliographic identification of the several dimensions that characterizes labour precarity and using analysis of conglomerates and multinomial econometrics, based on data from the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (2017), this paper present eviden­ce of the existence of job insecurity conditions among a subset of the teaching staff employed in higher education institutions in Mexico. The results allow us to observe that there is a strong association between having a temporary contract or not having it, and the existence of precarious work conditions. In the most precarious conglomerate are localized the teachers without a contract, who, in addition to lacking social security, obtain the lowest income.

Novus Projects: Innovative Ideas to Build New Opportunities upon Technology-Based Avenues in Higher Education

This study describes a funding initiative that promotes educational innovation in a higher education institution in Mexico. This initiative, known as Novus, and carried out at Tecnologico de Monterrey, encourages professors to present educational innovation proposals by funding and monitoring research projects that promote student learning and competencies. These projects are based on digital technologies and pedagogies developed on the 26 campuses distributed throughout the country. This article presents a case study in which the historical data of Novus projects from 2012 to 2021 are reviewed. The results show that using digital technologies in these projects has favored more than 65,000 students on more than 1700 courses and the 1000 professors who teach these formative experiences. In addition, there are similar initiatives, especially in Latin America; however, they are still too few to contribute to improving student learning in an unprecedented time. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital transformation of educational institutions has been accelerated, with many challenges and obstacles. Therefore, showing the result of initiatives that favor the professionalization of teachers through technological projects based on evidence will illustrate the possibilities for higher education to develop these experiences. This study aims to communicate the main ideas and findings that originated in the projects created with this initiative and to show how these experiences have impacted the teaching-learning processes of university students through the innovation proposed by teachers. The dissemination of these results can generate interest so that other institutions understand the benefits of this initiative and can continue to generate new opportunities for these contexts.

PROFCAST: DIGITAL DIDACTIC RESOURCE IN THE TEACHING OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Introduction: As in other countries in the world, the social confinement derived from COVID-19 has led to a significant alteration in the work of higher education institutions in Mexico, this led to the suspension of face-to-face school activities and the development and implementation of new teaching-learning strategies, such as the use of digital teaching resources.
 Objective: The objective of this work is to present a strategy that favors the teaching-learning process during and after confinement due to COVID-19.
 Materials and Methods: A search was carried out in the school databases Dialnet, Redalyc, Scielo, Scopus and Google in a time range from 2017 to 2022. Through the following keywords: "digital teaching resources", "podcast of chemical engineering", "Profcast" and "virtual engineering education".
 Conclusions: Chemical Engineering teachers should consider developing and implementing the Profcast as a viable teaching-learning strategy for the training of human resources.

Transforming Higher Education Using WebVR: A Case Study

The transformation of education through emerging technologies has been an imperative due to the pandemic of COVID-19, which has forced higher education institutions to propose strategies to provide better experiences for their students. The objective of this research was to identify the challenges and opportunities of using WebVR tools for the development of academic activities, with the intention of interpreting how these technological tools are combined with educational practices among teachers and students. The context was placed in an activity of a graduate level course in online format, in a private higher education institution in Mexico. A qualitative study was conducted with a case study design to account for the perception of the participants regarding the value of the user experience, the analysis of the integrated tools and the contribution of this WebVR tool to the development of competencies in educational practice. The results show that if the technical requirements and a basic level of appropriation of digital competencies are met, including this type of emerging technology will bring benefits to the educational practice, such as the development of transversal and disciplinary competencies, improvement of interaction and socialization of participants, as well as motivation by incorporating playful elements.

Sustainability: A Public Policy, a Concept, or a Competence? Efforts on the Implementation of Sustainability as a Transversal Competence throughout Higher Education Programs

The concept of sustainability emerged globally in the 1987 Brundtland Report. Initially, it comprised three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. Over time, sustainability became a global necessity that led to the establishment in 2015 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), so that sustainability became a public policy of extreme urgency. Thirty-four years later, there is an imperative need to expand the original concept not in a public policy but in a competence that graduates of higher education develop, regardless of their studied academic program. We propose sustainability as a transversal competence. Our work describes the path that a higher education institution in Mexico, Tecnologico de Monterrey, has followed to accomplish this task. The new educational model Tec21 based on challenge-based learning experiences has a focus on the development of sustainability competences and actions ownership towards solving the problems described in the 17 SDGs. Our proposed definition for the sustainability transversal competence is: “The student possesses the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for the successful performance of the task and the resolution of problems related to the challenges and opportunities for sustainability in today’s world”. Thus, education is both an objective and a means to achieve all the other SDGs.

A Local Health Situation Room for COVID-19: Recommendations for Decision-Making From a Higher Education Institution in Mexico

Introduction: The Situation Room is a physical or virtual space where experts systematically analyze information to characterize a health situation, especially during emergencies. Decision-making processes are made toward solving health needs and promoting collaboration among institutions and social sectors. This paper presents the context and circumstances that led the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) to install a local health situation room (HSR) to address the COVID-19 pandemic at this institution based in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, a narrative is also made of its working processes and some of its results.Methods: The design of this situation room for COVID-19 was based on the methodology established by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/WHO. This local-type situation room was installed on February 12, 2020. The health problem was characterized, and strategic lines, objectives, and goals were established; the first analysis was derived from an action plan deployed at the UdeG. The strategic lines were situational diagnosis, preventive actions, and containment strategies.Results: The situation room influenced the activities of the UdeG before the epidemic cases started in the state. One of the actions with the greatest impact was developing a mathematical model for predicting COVID-19 cases. Subsequently, new models have been developed according to the epidemiological evolution of the disease, helping manage the epidemic in the state. Another important result was the early closing of face-to-face university activities, reducing contagion risks and the mobility of more than 310,000 students, faculty, and administrative personnel throughout Jalisco.Conclusions: A consequence of the closure was that the confinement generated by the pandemic was the change to virtual meetings from April 2020 to date; but at the same time, this working format was a strength, since it influenced the decision of the university board to change all the academic activities to virtual format before other educational, economic, and social activities in the state did. By April 2020, the situation room transcended its institutional boundaries and was invited to participate at the Jalisco State's Health Committee. Its recommendations have helped to maintain the state with one of Mexico's lowest COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates.

Sharing Research Data: An Analysis of the Interest of Social Scientists in the Context of a Mexican University

Open Science and open research data have the potential to speed up the processes of science and to generate benefits to society. However, the openness of research data and science cannot be taken for granted since there is a trend toward the capitalization of knowledge. In addition, each area of knowledge differs in terms of the data used and the rules that govern each scientific community. The aim of this article is to analyze social researchers’ interest in sharing research data within the context of a Mexican university. Based on the constructivist grounded theory approach, 12 interviews were conducted with social scientists from a higher education institution in Mexico. From the analysis, four categories associated with the researchers’ attitudes of sharing their data emerged. The findings exhibit that researchers’ interest in sharing their scientific data is prone to (1) selectively sharing, (2) perpetuating the system, (3) protecting privacy and (4) considering resources. These results show that the scientists interviewed show an opposite inclination to Open Science, since they are not willing to share their data openly, including the fact that within the Mexican context, the practice of sharing data openly is not encouraged.