Latin American University Research Articles

Del Valle, D. (Comp.). (2020). La universidad latinoamericana hoy:A dos años de la CRES 2018 y frente a los desafíos de la pandemia.(Prólogo Y. Socolovsky). Buenos Aires: IEC-CONADU

This collective work collects the papers presented on August 3 and November 6, 2020 in the virtual conferences A map of the Latin American university today, organized by the Regional Platform for University Integration (PRIU) of the Institute of Studies and Training of the National Federation of University Teachers of Argentina (CONADU) and the UNESCO University and Regional Integration Chair.

Disrupting curricula and pedagogies in Latin American universities: six criteria for decolonising the university

ABSTRACT Since the colonial era, Latin American universities have been subjected to narratives about what it means to be a university. Drawing on the concept of coloniality, this paper examines curricular and teaching practices in higher education that aim to decolonise Latin American universities, a particular topic that has been under-investigated. By means of a systematic literature review and a thematic analysis, 40 papers authored by at least one scholar affiliated to a Latin American university were examined. The analysis identified three levels of educational practices (macro, meso and micro) that revolve around the principle of intercultural indigenous education. Further, six essential criteria (cultural, epistemological, relational, ecological, economic, political) in decolonising university education are proposed. The paper concludes by offering insights about decolonising curricula and teaching practices in universities and the ways in which decolonial educational initiatives based on critical border thinking and socialisation of power might transform Latin American universities.

Entrepreneurial intention among Latin American university students

PropósitoEste artículo analiza cómo las variables del contexto universitario (educación emprendedora y aprendizaje adquirido) y las variables cognitivas (control de conducta percibido, intenciones de implementación y actitud) influyen en la intención emprendedora de los estudiantes universitarios latinoamericanos.Diseño/metodología/aproximaciónEl análisis empírico es por medio de un modelo lineal multinivel (jerárquico) con una muestra de 9012 estudiantes universitarios de nueve países latinoamericanos, a saber: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, México, Panamá, y Uruguay.ResultadosEn general, el contexto universitario y las variables cognitivas contribuyen a explicar la intención empresarial de los estudiantes universitarios. Mientras que el aprendizaje adquirido (program learning) constituye una variable que explica la intención emprendedora de los estudiantes universitarios directa e indirectamente, matricular cursos de emprendimiento influye negativamente en su intención emprendedora.Originalidad/valorUna premisa central en este estudio es que el proceso emprendedor de los estudiantes universitarios es un fenómeno multinivel, resultando el contexto universitario y las variables cognitivas factores clave para explicar la intención emprendedora. Nuestros resultados apoyan esta premisa y contribuyen a la literatura sobre emprendimiento en países emergentes. No obstante, nuestros resultados revelan una imagen más matizada del papel del contexto universitario en la intención empresarial de los estudiantes universitarios.

The Influence of Teacher Training on the Moodle Platform and ESL Language Learning on Students at a Latin American University

Objective: To accurately know the influence of teacher training on the Moodle platform and English learning in ESL students at a Latin American university. Materials and Methods: For this pre-experimental study, the pre- and post-tests were applied to a sample of 29 students and then processed with the SPSS (Statistical Analysis Software) program. Results: The pre-test reached an average score of 13.86 compared to the post-test, which reached an average score of 17.83. This indicates a positive influence with an increase of 3.97 points, P =000. Therefore, the hypothesis stating that ESL students are able to learn in a virtual class is accepted. In the four specific hypotheses, increases of 4.00,3.50, 3.74 and 4.20 points between the pre- and post-tests, respectively, verify the improvements. Conclusion: We can conclude that there is a positive influence with the Moodle platform teacher training in the learning of English as a second language. Clear evidence is shown in the increase of 3.97 points between the pre- and post-tests, which indicate an academic progress of the students of a regular average to very good. Objectivo: Conocer la influencia de la capacitación de docentes en la plataforma Moodle y aprendizaje del inglés básico en estudiantes de ingles basico de una universidad. Materiales y Método: Para este estudio pre experimental para ello se aplicó el pre y pos test a una muestra de 29 estudiantes, que será procesada con el programa SPSS. Resultados: El pretest alcanzó un promedio de 13.86, a comparación del postest con un puntaje promedio de 17.83, con ello una influencia positiva con un incremento de 3.97 puntos. P = .000, se acepta la hipótesis planteada. En las hipótesis específicas también se comprobó un incremento de 4.00 , 3.50 , 3.74 y 4.20 puntos, respectivamente. Conclusión: Existe una influencia positiva de la Capacitación docente plataforma Moodle en el aprendizaje del inglés básico, ya que entre la prueba pre y pos test se experimentaron un aumento de 3.97 puntos, lo que permite señalar un progreso académico de los estudiantes de un promedio regular a muy bueno.

Climate change and environmental health in undergraduate health degrees in Latin America.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE:Analyze the incorporation of climate change and environmental health courses in the curriculum grids of Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition and Clinical Psychology undergraduate courses in Latin American universities.METHODS:Descriptive and cross-sectional document review. Curriculum grids of the top ten Latin American universities were analyzed according to the rankings of QS Latin American University 2020, Times Higher Education World University 2020 and Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019. The presence of courses related to climate change and environmental health was sought in each curriculum grid.RESULTS:104 of the 161 universities included in the study offered Medicine courses, 93 Nursing courses, 77 Nutrition courses and 118 Clinical Psychology courses. Most of the curriculum grids incorporated courses in public health and/or epidemiology (more than 70%); however, between 22% and 41% included courses on environmental health, and only one curriculum grid had a course on climate change in Medicine and Nursing (1%).CONCLUSIONS:Courses on climate change and environmental health have been scarcely introduced in the curriculum grids of the health field in Latin American universities. This could weaken the important role that health professionals play in providing health care to the population.

University Extension in Dispute: Neoliberal Counterreform and Alternatives in Latin American Universities

The neoliberal university project contains a program aimed at terminating the critical traditions of Latin American university extension. The program combines two models introduced as the legitimate and dominant orientations of the current university-society relationship: linkage and university social responsibility. At the same time, alternatives of great academic and political power for university extension on the continent include integration of critical education into the curriculum, partnerships with social movements, popular cooperative enterprises, holistic programs, and repoliticization of the polis.El proyecto universitario neoliberal contiene un programa destinado a poner fin a las tradiciones críticas de la extensión universitaria latinoamericana. El programa combina dos modelos que se presentan como las orientaciones legítimas y dominantes de la actual relación entre el espacio universitario y la sociedad: vinculación y responsabilidad social universitaria. Al mismo tiempo, las alternativas de gran poder académico y político para la extensión universitaria en el continente incluyen la integración de la educación crítica en el currículo, asociaciones con movimientos sociales, empresas cooperativas populares, programas holísticos y una repoliticización de la polis.

Global environmental change and planetary health in the curriculum of undergraduate health professionals in Latin America: a review

BackgroundPeople living in Latin America are already affected by global environmental changes and several health inequities, increasing the risk of poor health. Health professionals have a key role in tackling these threats and their consequences by providing direct care and advocating for public health policies. Hence, health professionals should be taught about global environmental changes, climate change, and policy advocacy, which could be included under the planetary health frame. Unfortunately, whether these ideals have been included in the undergraduate curriculum in Latin American universities is unclear. We aimed to analyse the incorporation of courses on climate change, environmental health, and planetary health in the curriculum of undergraduate health professionals in Latin America. MethodsIn this review, we did a documentary analysis of the curriculum of undergraduate health professional programmes that had been published on each university website. We selected the ten best Latin American universities for each country according to the QS Latin American University 2020, Times Higher Education World University 2020, and Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019 rankings. Between April 6 and May 5, 2020, we reviewed the curriculum of the nursing, medicine, nutrition, and psychology courses at these universities, looking for the phrases “climate change”, “environmental health”, and “planetary health” in the names of the courses offered. FindingsWe included 161 universities and reviewed 392 courses. We identified 276 (70%) courses that incorporated public health or epidemiology, or both; however, only 118 (30%) courses covered environmental health, and only two (1%) courses were on climate change. None of the universities included in our review offered a planetary health course. InterpretationOur findings imply that new Latin American health professionals are receiving insufficient training on environmental matters, which comprise roughly 25% of the global burden of disease. As we enter the Anthropocene epoch and rapid global environmental changes, health professionals need to be aware of the challenges and actively involved in the responses to protect the population and the environment. The planetary health approach facilitates this awareness and preparation. Planetary health education includes concepts regarding the holistic association between global environmental changes, natural systems, human health, and sustainability, among others, encompassing a broader perspective than just environmental health FundingNone.

Perceptions on Regulation and Asymmetry of Information as Critical Factors in University Governance in Latin America

This article analyzes the results of an inquiry into Latin American university community members’ perceptions about regulatory processes and asymmetries of information, as influential factors in the governance of Latin American universities. It does so, by examining the national laws in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico. Previous studies in this continent have not considered these aspects and perspectives. Our research found significant differences between countries in terms of the Board of Directors’ capacity to act and the control mechanisms they can employ—which can be interpreted as national differences in the availability of their resources and their regulatory capacities. On the level of asymmetry of information, there are differences between countries, which depend on the position of the university members in their institutions. Thus, regulation and information are important factors when it comes to the governance of Latin American universities, and can explain its’ diversity.

Open Innovation during Web Surfing: Topics of Interest and Rejection by Latin American College Students

The university is currently involved in complex processes of open innovation through permanent dialogue with institutions and companies in the economic, social, and political fields. Professors, researchers, students, and other members of the institution take part in these processes. This is a phenomenon that has emerged in today’s network society due to digitalization and globalization. It is therefore essential, in this context of open innovation, to know the behaviors, habits, consumption, or lifestyles of university staff and students to achieve, in the best and most effective way, integration of higher education in this new reality. How we interact and communicate with the surrounding people has transformed with wider access to the Internet and the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially through smartphones and the use of apps and social networks (WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). This digital revolution has reconfigured our interests, dispositions, and social participation. From the university field, knowing the interests of students who access the Internet is of vital importance to guide teaching methodologies, adapt content, facilitate communication processes, develop digital literacy practices, etc. The present research, focused on the Latin American sociocultural space, has a double objective: (GO1) to know which are the issues of most interest and consumption for university students; (GO2) to determine which issues they reject while they surf on the Internet. A quantitative research has been developed (n = 2482) based on the validated questionnaire COBADI®. The topics of greatest interest to the Latin American university students were, in this order: “use of social networks”, “news”, “music”, “education”, “work”, and “videos”. The fact that they put education in fourth place, as students, shows that it is not a high priority in their use of the network. On the opposite side, those that show more rejection are “celebrity journalism”, “online games”, and “pornography”. Among their topics of rejection is also “politics”, which is not prioritized by university students. These topics have been presented in different proportions according to the country analyzed, depending on their specific social and political circumstances, and have experienced a different evolution from 2012 to 2019—the time covered by the study.

Metodologías utilizadas por los profesores universitarios en la docencia y evaluación de la comprensión lectora

Durante los últimos años, en la Educación Superior se siguen empleando enfoques, modelos, estrategias, técnicas y metodologías diversas, pero ¿qué se sabe acerca de la efectividad de estas para la incorporación de la competencia genérica de comprensión lectora avanzada (CLA) en los planes de estudios de las instituciones universitarias? Para dar respuesta a esta pregunta de investigación se plantea el presente estudio de carácter descriptivo. Este se materializa en el diseño y la aplicación de un cuestionario ad hoc online para evaluar la CLA en Educación Superior, a una muestra accesible de 280 docentes de una universidad latinoamericana de la costa Caribe. Todo ello, mediante el análisis de la enseñanza, evaluación, y utilidad, además del conocimiento e interés en las competencias genéricas. En este sentido, los análisis realizados evidencian patrones diferenciales estadísticamente significativos en el uso de las estrategias instruccionales disponibles, de las técnicas, de los medios empleados y de las herramientas web existentes para garantizar la optimización de la CLA en función del departamento al que están adscritos. Se discuten las implicaciones para la mejora de la enseñanza y evaluación, así como las limitaciones y perspectivas futuras.

The implementation of ICTs in the English language classroom in a Latin American university

This investigation was carried out in Mexico in the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH) with the purpose of exploring and analyzing to what extent the English teaching practices at the tertiary level involve the use of ICTs. Through and electronic survey, the opinions of 50 teachers of English at the UAEH were analyzed. The results showed that ICTs play an essential role in language teaching and they also have a significant field presence. However, despite their importance, ICTs are not being fully incorporated in the university and we are still not getting the most of it. The methodology for the initial phase of the project was a questionnaire. The qualitative part included a case study method that explore specific cases. For this stage, semi-structured interviews were carried out with key participants chosen from the information gathered in the questionnaires. The third source of data includes the analysis of the documents that make up the legal framework in reference to the implementation of ICTs in the teaching of a foreign language.

Modeling and Solving a Latin American University Course Timetabling Problem Instance

Timetabling problem is a complex task that is performed by a number of institutions worldwide, which has been usually addressed as an optimization problem where every approach considers the particular constraints of each institution under consideration. In this paper, we describe, model, and propose a solution to the timetabling problem at the División Académica de Ciencias y Tecnologías de la Información of the Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (UJAT), México. We modeled the specific constraints of this problem instance using the Object Constraint Language (OCL) of the Unified Modeling Language (UML), and we validated the model while using the state-of-the-art tool USE: UML-based Specification Environment. The solution strategy tackles the problem in two stages: (1) ACA: academic assignments, i.e., assign lectures to professors and (2) TTP: the timetabling process. We developed a Tabu Search customization named Tabu Search with Probabilistic Aspiration Criterion (TS-PAC) in order to solve the timetabling problem, and we developed a software prototype to test our proposal. Two feasible timetables for two different semesters were obtained according to the modeled constraints.

Universities and social innovation for global sustainable development as seen from the south

Potential contributions of universities to social innovation are explored with special attention to Southern countries. The normative guide is the notion of Sustainable Human Development understood as stressing the agency of least-advantaged sectors. The main challenges stem from decreasing sustainability and increasing inequality. Their impacts are highly dependent on how the tension between economic growth and environmental protection is managed. Improving actual perspectives demands harnessing advanced knowledge to foster inclusive and frugal innovation. For this to occur, universities need to be main actors. The context in which they act is analyzed with reference to the National Systems of Innovation conceptualization. Possible evolutions of universities as agents of social innovation are discussed with the aid of the Multi-Level Perspective. The importance of the Southern experience of innovating in scarcity conditions is highlighted and illustrated with the specific experience of a Latin American university. The cooperation of universities with weak social actors in ways that involve advanced knowledge appears as a key theoretical issue and as a difficult practical problem for the effective engagement of universities in social innovation. The diverse issues that such engagement needs to integrate conform an ambitious research program, of which the paper aims at giving a first glimpse.

USA-Latin American Experiential Learning Project: The Instructor Balancing Act

ABSTRACT Experiential learning (EL) projects require planning, patience, and commitment on the part of the organizing and facilitating instructors. Language, culture, time zone, and institutional diversity exacerbates the inherent difficulties in conducting virtual, international EL projects. This manuscript discusses an ongoing multi-country project between a prestigious private university in the United States and several Latin American university contributors to execute a joint student experiential learning consulting project. The authors develop an intuitive instructor-focused jobs demands-resources model of involvement in international, virtual, experiential learning projects and triangulate the propositions with extant literature, interview responses in the ongoing case project, and survey data from participants in a similar project.

Revolución inconclusa

Este trabajo tiene la finalidad de abordar la cuestión de la reforma universitaria latinoamericana y sus desafíos actuales. Para ello, se pasó revista al movimiento reformista en las dos primeras décadas del siglo XX con el objetivo de conceptualizar y caracterizar el desarrollo universitario y de establecer una cierta periodización de éste. La conjetura central es que existe una relación estrecha, no mecánica, entre contexto sociopolítico y universidad. La universidad latinoamericana siguió de cerca los procesos de expansión del Estado y de industrialización e integración de la región, con la mediación de la cultura política académica de las clases medias y núcleos universitarios. Con base en análisis documental, revisión bibliográfica y observación de algunas instancias previas a la realización de la Conferencia Regional de Educación Superior (CRES 2018) se concluye que la región debe construir una respuesta propia, dada la ausencia de una visión estratégica convergente entre los actores principales.

Critical Pedagogy and L2 Education in the Hemispheric South

Author(s): Echeverri-Sucerquia, Paula Andrea | Abstract: Colombia, as other Latin American countries, has not been indifferent to the power of English as the language of business, international communication and academia. Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a great push in the country to promote the teaching of English: language policies have been formulated, ideal levels of proficiency have been established (based on a framework initially designed for European countries), and a national English curriculum for all grade levels has been distributed among schools. The status English has gained competes with that of other foreign languages and more evidently with heritage languages.The field of L2 education in Colombia is experiencing a tension between neoliberal interests of L2 education to support social mobility and the nation’s economic growth and political power (with a focus on linguistic and communicative competence), and alternative academic agendas grounded on the analysis of the influence of social, cultural, and economic factors on L2 teaching and learning, and on learners’ identities.In this article, I use the example of an analysis of L2 education, from a critical pedagogy standpoint, using a Latin American university as a context to depict such a contrast. This University is a place where there is confluence of diverse languages that have different social statuses: English as lingua franca, European and Asian foreign languages, and heritage languages. I argue that critical pedagogy, partly inspired in the work from intellectuals from the Hemispheric South, serves as a framework to guide analyses of power in the relationship between these languages and L1, and the effect of such relations of power on learners’ identities. Also, I contend that by using critical pedagogy in this context, it becomes transformed, nurtured, as it overlaps and dialogues with other knowledges developed in the Hemispheric South.

Paulo Freire y el pensamiento crítico: Palabra y acción en la pedagogía universitaria

El pensamiento crítico y la educación liberadora han estado presentes en el modelo educativo de diversas instituciones latinoamericanas desde la segunda mitad del siglo pasado, sin embargo, en la actualidad aún son muchas las interrogantes con relación al mismo. Por ello, desde la revisión de diversas fuentes de información se seleccionaron textos relevantes y pertinentes a la presente temática dando como producto este ensayo, en el cual se intenta una reflexión desde las ideas planteadas por Paulo Freire y la concepción del pensamiento crítico para hacer una aproximación a su inserción en el quehacer educativo en el escenario de instituciones universitarias latinoamericanas. Pues en ese espacio de formación se hace urgente la sensibilización de individuos para que cada quien desde su ámbito asuma su compromiso en forjar la conciencia de aprender, la valoración del rigor intelectual y la aplicación de acciones para mejorar su contexto.

Las dinámicas familiares en torno al videojuego social Fortnite

In 2017 the company Epic Games created the videogame Fortnite. This game has become the cross-platform survival and open experience with the greatest penetration worldwide. The rapid increase of use has spread alarm voices among parents and the media have echoed these concerns criticizing the game for being responsible for most afflictions suffered by children and adolescents. 178 The study is based on an understanding of the game as a key element in personal and social development. Therefore, this project aims to explore and describe the specific interactions emerging as a result of the penetration of Fortnite into family life, seeking to extend our understanding of the phenomenon and the potential effects that it may produce in the family dynamics. The research also seeks to categorize the dynamics generated, emphasizing more specifically on implications for parents in terms of educative mediation. Concerning the methodology, this is a qualitative exploratory case study, in which observations and in-depth interviews are the main sources of data collection. According to the analysis of the first interviews and observations, it is possible to provisionally hypothesize that, unlike simplistic views spread through mass media of Fortnite as a new dangerous addictive platform for young people, the diverse contexts and realities that configure each family make this type of linear interpretations highly problematic. Most technological devices affect the interaction and relational dynamics already installed in families. Throughout the last forty years, television and offline video games have been playing a significant role in shaping the family relationships. Online environments today increase such influence. The complex interrelations generated in blended social ecosystems, such as 'what is' or 'what is not' permitted, the mechanism of videogame banning or use as a form of punishment or reward, the myths, and ignorance on the part of adults concerning the ‘virtual’ socialization of youth and the relevance of this practice among young people, are some of the contributions that can be drawn from this investigation. This presentation exposes the collaborative work conducted by researchers of Universidad Austral (Argentina) and Universidad de los Andes (Chile), which has gained the first place in the award provided by the Network of Latin American University Institutes of Family (REDIFAM).

De la responsabilidad social empresarial a la responsabilidad ambiental universitaria

Este artículo indaga inicialmente por la categoría Responsabilidad Social Universitaria, cuyo primer hallazgo identifica dos grandes tradiciones de su emergencia, una derivada-de, que se fundamenta en tres perspectivas de la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial: teorías de la agencia, teorías de la legitimidad y teorías de la institucionalidad; y la otra tradición es denominada, originaria-en la universidad latinoamericana, que promueve el surgimiento de la Responsabilidad Ambiental Universitaria. A partir de un enfoque cualitativo el diseño documental que permite el abordaje de diversas bases de datos: informes, proyectos y programas ambientales en el interior de un caso de manejo de residuos sólidos en una universidad colombiana. Se puede destacar que en el marco general de las prácticas y acciones ambientales de la universidad se hibridan de forma alternada perspectivas de Responsabilidad Ambiental Universitaria matizadas desde las perspectivas de la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial y la Responsabilidad Social Universitaria.

Aprender para la emancipación de la persona: El papel de la praxis de la docencia universitaria en Latinoamérica

¿Cuál es el papel de la praxis de la docencia universitaria en Latinoamérica? Esta es la pregunta sobre la cual pretenden girar los argumentos de este ensayo. Desde una visión del Sur Global, en el aula universitaria se acumulan experiencias, valores, actitudes, creencias, comportamientos y conocimientos que son parte de la riqueza del acto de aprender y de contestar la construcción de prácticas violentas del orden heteropatriarcal, colonizado y capitalista. Esto es importante porque muchas de estas prácticas se interpretan por la mayor parte de personas como cotidianas en nuestra sociedad latinoamericana.
 Son tres aspectos fundamentales los que se identifican en la praxis de la docencia universitaria para que el aprendizaje conlleve un componente liberador de la estructura heteropatriarcal, colonizadora y capitalista para la persona: puede estar sustentado en reconocernos como personas, como constructores del conocimiento y la historia y, como seres autónomos con la capacidad de consentir, disentir y resistir frente a las diversas formas de violencia en nuestras localidades.