School In Bogota Research Articles

Working by projects: A way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom

This document presents the result of a qualitative action research developed with thirty-three third grade students at a public school in Bogota. This action research aimed at describing and analyzing the role of project work in the development of critical thinking in third grade efl students and to describe and document the way in which those students developed their writing skills through this methodology. The participants developed different inquiries related to topics they were interested in exploring and related to the recycling project of the school. The data were collected during eleven sessions carried out along eight months through field notes, artifacts, and audio recordings. The results show that through project work the students enhanced their emerging critical thinking skills and their writing process; improved their interactions with their classmates, discovered that learning English was something useful for their lives, and therefore they acquired more confidence in writing and speaking in English. Additionally, they became more reflective, organized and critical about what they think, what they say, and about what happens around them.

Relación entre el tiempo de uso de las redes sociales en internet y la salud mental en adolescentes colombianos.

El objetivo de esta investigación es determinar si hay diferencias entre grupos de adolescentes de grado 7° de la ciudad de Bogotá, con diferentes tiempos de uso de las redes sociales en problemáticas de tipo internalizante, externalizante, la soledad percibida, el funcionamiento familiar y el sexo. El estudio con diseño ex post facto valoró el efecto del tiempo de uso de redes sociales a tres niveles (bajo, medio y alto) a través de un cuestionario socio demográfico diseñado para tal fin: el LSRQ, el FACES III, CDI y el YSR. Participaron 96 estudiantes con un rango de edades entre los 11 y 15 años. Se encontró que entre los participantes con un elevado tiempo de uso de las redes sociales, eran mayores los problemas de tipo externalizante (conducta agresiva, ruptura de reglas y problemas de atención). Se discute la necesidad de que en futuras investigaciones se enfaticen los factores positivos que para el desarrollo de los adolescentes puede tener el uso de las redes sociales a través de Internet.

Norma moral, norma social subjetiva y actitudes como predictores de la intención de iniciar relaciones sexuales en la adolescencia

<p>La Teoría de la Acción Razonada (TAR) ha permitido identificar las variables que predicen la intención de los y las adolescentes para comenzar a tener relaciones sexuales, y se ha demostrado que la inclusión de la variable norma moral incrementa el poder explicativo de la TAR para las adolescentes mujeres, pero no se había establecido si ésto aplica a los hombres. Es por ello que este estudio pretendió, en primera instancia, corroborar la consistencia de la TAR y la inclusión de la variable norma moral, para predecir la intención de los y las adolescentes para iniciar sus relaciones sexuales, así como establecer si las variables que predicen la intención son las mismas para ambos sexos. Se tomó una muestra de 355 estudiantes voluntarios de tres colegios privados de Bogotá, Colombia, militar (33,5%), laico (32,7%) y religioso (33,8%). Del total de la muestra el 52% fueron hombres y 48% mujeres. El 41% pertenecían al 9º grado, 42% a 10º grado y 17% al grado 11. La edad promedio fue 15,33 años (DT = 1,03). Se les aplicó un cuestionario estructurado de autoinforme con 136 preguntas, previo consentimiento informado pasivo escrito de sus padres de familia. Para este artículo solamente se tuvieron en cuenta las variables: actitudes hacia las relaciones sexuales en la adolescencia, norma moral, norma social subjetiva (norma de padre y amigos) e intención de tener relaciones sexuales. Con el análisis de regresión múltiple se confirmó que la variable norma moral mejora el poder predictivo de la TAR para predecir la intención para iniciar a tener relaciones sexuales en la adolescencia, que la norma social subjetiva de los amigos es determinante en la intención de los hombres, mientras que para las mujeres es la norma social subjetiva de los padres. Los hallazgos son determinantes para el diseño de estrategias que permitan prevenir el embarazo adolescente.</p>

Generalizing figural patterns with students of 8 and 9 years old: an interpretation of the semiotic means of objectification mobilized

Abstract:This paper reports the semiotic objectification means that arose among 7 and 8 year-old children from a school in Bogota D.C., Colombia ina math class, when they addressed a generalization task of figural patterns as a process of meaning production. The analysis was conductedaccording to the cultural theory of objectification (Radford, 2008), particularly the layers of generality and the semiotic means of objectificationdeveloped by the student it. Found that students in this study identified the semiotic means employed by Radford (2010) and were located ina layer of factual generality.

Prevalence of flatfoot in school between 3 and 10 years. Study of two different populations geographically and socially

Children present with flatfoot from birth and it resolves along infancy. There have been several risk factors identified for the development of flatfoot: male sex, young age, overweight and obesity. The prevalence of flatfoot decreases with age. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of flatfoot in two different populations with different social, cultural and geographically characteristics in Colombia. This is a cross sectional study made on school children between 3 to 10 years of age, from several schools in Bogota and Barranquilla. From 940 total children 60% were from Bogota. Flatfoot was diagnosed according to physical exam. We found a global prevalence of flatfoot of 15.7%, distributed 20.8% in Bogota and 7.9% in Barranquilla. The children from 3 to 5 years had a prevalence of 30.9%, decreasing significantly after this age. It was found that children 3 to 5 years old from Bogota had a prevalence of flatfoot of 38.3% while children from Barranquilla only 17.3%, decreasing significantly in children older than 6 years. In the multivariate analysis we found an association between flatfoot with age, city, gender and body mass index. We found a bigger prevalence of flatfoot in the population of Bogota compared to Barranquilla suggesting an influence of social, cultural and racial factors in the development of flatfoot. The diminished prevalence of flatfoot in children over 6 years of age suggest that therapeutic measures before this age are not recommended.

"Inclusive English classrooms: requirements, implications and limitations. -A qualitative case study-"

Abstract This article presents the results of a qualitative case study which attempted to answer the following research questions: What are the perceptions that the educational community has of inclusive education in the English language classrooms? What are the parameters that this school follows in order to work with inclusive English classrooms? And what strategies are being used in the classrooms in order to respond to students'individual needs? The study was developed approximately during eight months in a public school in Bogota. Class observations and interviews to different members of the educational community were done and questionnaires to teachers and students with special educational needs were applied in order to provide a thorough description of the processes of inclusion in the institution. The findings revealed that although some few teachers use some personal strategies in order to respond to some students'individual needs, there are still many obstacles that become a barrier for the successful development of an inclusion process in the institution and lacks that need to be attended to and supplied.

Caracterización de factores asociados con comportamiento suicida en adolescentes estudiantes de octavo grado, en tres colegios bogotanos

ObjectiveTo establish the probability for suicide risk and/or mental disorders, together with related factors among high school students in 3 schools in Bogota. MethodsCross sectional study of 309 adolescents. ResultsThe average age was 13.83 ± 0.9, female dominance (58.6%) and a 3rd socioeconomic stratum (68.3%). The suicidal risk behavioral probability and/or mental symptoms was 47.6%, 26.5% exhibited some suicide manifestations, 14.23% had experienced suicidal ideas in the last 3 months, 3.55% had had suicide attempts at least once in life, and 8.73% had suicidal ideas in the last 3 months with suicide attempts. The risk of suicidal behavior and/or mental disorders was explained jointly by depression (OR=27.9, 95% CI: 3.5-223. 1), low self-esteem (OR=11.8, 95% CI: 2.5-56.5), severe family dysfunction (OR=3.4, 95%CI 1.2-9.7), being female (OR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.2-3.8) and being 15 or older (OR=1.9, 95% CI: 0.967-3.9). Psychological abuse followed by physical mistreatment was associated with suicidal behavior and /or mental illness while good family relationships were associated to lower probability. ConclusionDepression, low self-esteem, severe family dysfunction, female gender, older age (≥15) and domestic violence are risk factors associated with suicide and/or mental disorders in adolescents; good family relationships are associated with lower risk.

Diseño metodológico para la investigación de las rutas de estudio y aprendizaje. Reporte de investigación

¿Qué aspectos se pueden tener en cuenta en el momento de definir un diseño metodológico para abordar las rutas de estudio y aprendizaje de los estudiantes de grado séptimo de varias escuelas de Bogotá, cuando trabajan el tema de proporcionalidad en el aula de clase? Pero sobre todo, ¿con qué instrumentos de indagación se puede contribuir para el análisis de la complejidad del aula de clase? Responder las anteriores preguntas es el propósito fundamental del presente documento, producto de una experiencia investigativa de varios años, en el proceso de construcción de la metodología como parte del proceso mismo de investigación.

From PYP to MYP: Supporting transitions across the IB continuum

In our school, a K-12 IB world school in Bogota, Colombia, offering all 3 programs, this transition was problematic. Students experienced a decrease in academic achievement and many behavioural issues. For example, during the 2008 – 2009 academic year, 38% of our students failed at least one subject area in any given marking period, and a total of 17% of our students failed one or more subjects for the year. (Data taken from 2008 2009 academic results) Although very concerning, this pattern was consistent with current research in the field, which states, “Achievement declines across transition may reflect [a] lack of continuity in curriculum from elementary to middle school.” (Akos, Queen & Lineberry, 2005, p. 37) In addition to the academic decline, we also faced discipline problems and many bullying cases.

Red de docentes de inglés: ¿una posibilidad para la continuidad de grupos de estudio?

Nowadays the development of networking on the part of teachers is promoted in order to work with agendas built in a collaborative, continuous, and flexible way, as well as in accordance with teachers’ needs. We report on qualitative research of five English teachers in public schools in Bogota. They took part in a professional development programme and met in study groups in order to conduct an action research project. At the end of the programme the teachers started working as a net with the intent to continue their professional development. Information gathered through journals, surveys, and interviews allowed us to identify factors associated with the continuity of the study groups which emerged in the professional development programme as well as some implications for networking.

Media as Medium in Colombian Education: How Media and ICT are Changing Communication and the Curriculum in the School

We describe how secondary school students are engaged in designing school newspapers, broadcasting radio shows and using ICT in classrooms as opportunities for communication and learning. The central goal in this project was to set up the school dynamics where radio, newspaper, television, video, images and ICT ́s play the role of additional inputs and increase the community interest in literacy. We present some practical initiatives that demonstrate the possibilities of media literacy based activities in a public school in Bogota, Colombia.

International skeletal society outreach in Colombia

The Colombian ISS outreach program was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Diagnostic Imaging of the University Hospital of San Ignacio at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ) in Bogota and as a part of the XXXV Congress of the Colombian Radiological Association (ACR) in Cartagena from August 3 to 6, 2010. Both meetings were enthusiastically attended with an average of 140 participants per day. Members of the ISS outreach team included Dr. Javier Beltran from Brooklyn, NY, Dr. Diego Jaramillo from Philadelphia, PA, and Jenny T. Bencardino from New York, NY. All lectures were given in Spanish. The program in Bogota was held at the Carlos Galan Auditorium of the PUJ from August 3 to 4, 2010. Bogota is the capital city of Colombia and has a population of over 8 million people. Currently, there are more than 100 higher education institutes and ten medical schools in Bogota, which play a vital role in the life of the city and its economy. In 2007, Bogota was named a World Book Capital City by UNESCO [1]. Bogota is the first Latin American city to receive this recognition, and the second one in the Americas after Montreal. No wonder that many refer to Colombia’s capital as “The Athens of South America” [2]. The attendees to the outreach program in Bogota were radiologists, orthopedic surgeons, technologists, residents, and fellows in radiology and orthopedics. The audience was very engaged, and the use of a digital interactive response system added greatly to their learning experience. The Outreach program in Cartagena was held at the Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala Convention Center, from August 5 to 6. Cartagena is a city of almost 1 million people located on the Colombian Caribbean coast. Its colonial walled city and fortresses have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel Love in the Time of Cholera is set in Cartagena. The city is very often used as a gathering place for international and national conventions. The 2010 ACR annual meeting in Cartagena had an attendance of 800 radiologists both local and from other Latin American countries. The musculoskeletal program lasted 2 days. The topics of the Outreach Program in Colombia were both basic and advanced in the areas of general and pediatric musculoskeletal radiology with an average of eight lectures per faculty member. All of the ISS Outreach Program teachers participated as jurors of the Evaluating Committee scoring scientific papers and educational exhibits presented at the ACR meeting in Cartagena. The Colombian outreach program provided us with a unique opportunity to interact academically and share professional experiences with a large body of radiologists from Colombia and other Latin American countries. Some of the information presented in this report was collected informally during our visit. Located in northern South America, Colombia is bordered to the north by the Caribbean Sea between Panama and Venezuela, to the east by Venezuela and J. T. Bencardino (*) Department of Radiology, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, 301 East 17th Street, New York, NY 10003, USA e-mail: jenny.bencardino@nyumc.org

ICT in the professional development of EFL teachers: perceptions and challenges.

This article summarizes and analyzes the findings of one aspect of a research project that explored a proposal mediated by ICT, for the professional development of a group of teachers of English. The general objective of the project was to analyze the effect of the proposal on the development of the listening skills, Intercultural Competence, and professional development itself of a group of sixteen English teachers from several public schools in Bogota. One part of the study focused on the teachers' perceptions of the proposal. The other one deals with the aspects that could possibly have an influence on the implementation of the proposal on the daily teaching practice of the participants. The data were gathered through surveys, interviews, and logs, which evidenced that even though teachers value the proposal for its meaningfulness and usefulness, they face various kinds of difficulties and tension in its application.

Bilingualism Models: Do They Strengthen or Weaken the Oral Communicative Process in Contexts of English as a Foreign Language in Fifth Grade Primary Students?

This project presents a common and mistaken use of language that a group of fifth graders at a private bilingual school in Bogota (Colombia) experienced at class time. In a common English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom situation which encompasses models of bilingualism that may be considered “difficulties,” the author proposes some strategies to improve the communicative oral process in English, avoiding code switching and code mixing in their speech. The present research is part of a proposal on class time reading and oral activities and its applicability is up to date due to the fact that it is based on current research-tested language strategies. I conclude that code switching and code mixing may be correlated to the student’s deficiency in target language competence, but I also conclude that if the activities focus on the three aspects of accuracy, rate, and prosody, students can experience an improvement in their communicative oral process. Likewise, it was observed that the use of the native language in the form of code switching can be accepted for the clarification of a message, but only in specific circumstances (as long as teachers do not let students use the language inappropriately). The present research is offered to scholarly communities to perhaps be organized into a workshop which may make language users aware of how to improve the linguistic, syntactic, and semantic usages of a second language.

The growing gap between colombian education policy, official claims and classroom realities: insights from mathematics teachers' conceptions of beginning algebra and its teaching purpose

Since 1994 when the General Law of Education was issued, educational authorities have been claiming that Colombia has embarked on an educational revolution [‘La revolucion educativa’ (n.d.). From the Colombian Ministry of Education website: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co. Retrieved 23 Nov 2004] where schools have curricular autonomy, and are to improve the quality of education by attending to the needs of the communities they serve. Teachers are urged to engage in a continuous process of constructing the curriculum which is to be anchored in the fundamental aim of educating critical citizens. The findings of this study carried out with the participation of 13 mathematics teachers with a range of teaching experiences and from different schools in Bogota, show a totally different picture. Instead, for the teaching of school algebra, teachers emphasised the purpose of training pupils in the manipulation of symbolic expressions, as the prerequisite knowledge for the next school mathematics level and ultimately for the External Examination. I offer explanations for the identified gap and argue for the crucial need to create conditions for change at the education systemic level and for the actual empowerment of teachers.

THE GAME “YOUNG SCIENTISTS “ AS ACTIVE SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR EXTRA-CURRICULAR WORK IN THE SCHOOL

In this work the results of organizing the scientific game “Young scientists” are shown. This game was carried out in three secondary and high schools in Bogota with about two hundred students from 9th grade. Different teams of students competed with each other answering questions and doing special tasks in this game. This activity, outside normal classes, showed positive results in increasing level of students’ interests to study science subjects and provided space for raising motivation, stimulating learning and developing high levels of skill in students. Key words: scientific game, young scientists, motivation, extra-class activities.

USO DE TECNOLOGÍAS DE INFORMACIÓN EN EL AULA. ¿QUÉ SABEN HACER LOS NIÑOS CON LOS COMPUTADORES Y LA INFORMACIÓN?

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) can be means to improve learning. Therefore, for some time efforts have been made in Colombia to equip public schools with computers, educational software and Internet access, even though there is little research done to identify what happens in the classrooms when teachers and students use ICTs. This qualitative study addresses this gap by documenting how ICTs are used in two classrooms, the types of learning that teachers promote and the learning appreciated in students' performances. Nonparticipative interviews, surveys and class observations were done in two third grade classes of computer science in a public school in Bogota. These data were categorizated and compared. The results show uses of ICTs focused in transmitting knowledge, reinforcing learnings and developing skills for the operation of the computer. Students are not obtaining great progresses in their technological abilities in these classes. The study also shows that the students' performance is below the one indicated in international standards.

El concepto de competencias en los contextos de la evaluación externa: un estudio de caso

This article analyzes the differences between the students of two public schools in Bogota. The selected population belongs to the lower soicial stratification in the city. Thus study has been done in the frame of massive evaluation developed in bogota from 1998 to 2001. The results of the research show the importance of the pedagogical focus on projects and the constructionof an academic community to increase the competences os the two groups. In the other hand, the text relives the quality of writing production obtained when the students writes to an audience not only the teacher evaluation. From this experience is inferred the importance of the means of comunication at school.

A Study of Suicide-Related Behaviors among Colombian Youth: Reflections on Prevention and Implications for Health Education

This study examined risk behaviors related to depression and suicide among adolescent students enrolled in public schools in Bogota, Colombia. Data were collected from 1,692 respondents who completed a modified version of the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Measures of central tendency, chi-square, and analysis of variance tests were used to analyze the data. Findings from this study revealed that 21% of the participants expressed suicidal ideation; fantasizing about suicide transcended to an actual plan in 19% of the cases; and 16% reported at least one attempt in the 30 days preceding the study. This article presents selected literature on the relationship between culture and suicidal risk behavior, methodological considerations in cross-cultural research, and implications for suicide prevention for Colombian adolescents and U.S. health educators.

Neuropsychological Test Scores, Academic Performance, and Developmental Disorders in Spanish-Speaking Children

Limited information is currently available about performance of Spanish-speaking children on different neuropsychological tests. This study was designed to (a) analyze the effects of age and sex on different neuropsychological test scores of a randomly selected sample of Spanish-speaking children, (b) analyze the value of neuropsychological test scores for predicting school performance, and (c) describe the neuropsychological profile of Spanish-speaking children with learning disabilities (LD). Two hundred ninety (141 boys, 149 girls) 6- to 11-year-old children were selected from a school in Bogota, Colombia. Three age groups were distinguished: 6- to 7-, 8- to 9-, and 10- to 11-year-olds. Performance was measured utilizing the following neuropsychological tests: Seashore Rhythm Test, Finger Tapping Test (FTT), Grooved Pegboard Test, Children's Category Test (CCT), California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version (CVLT-C), Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT), and Bateria Woodcock Psicoeducativa en Espanol (Woodcock, 1982). Normative scores were calculated. Age effect was significant for most of the test scores. A significant sex effect was observed for 3 test scores. Intercorrelations were performed between neuropsychological test scores and academic areas (science, mathematics, Spanish, social studies, and music). In a post hoc analysis, children presenting very low scores on the reading, writing, and arithmetic achievement scales of the Woodcock battery were identified in the sample, and their neuropsychological test scores were compared with a matched normal group. Finally, a comparison was made between Colombian and American norms.