University In Mexico Research Articles

Exploring the Determinants of Behavioral Outcome: A Study of Online Learning Among College Students in Mexico

We investigated the effects of prior visits to a given web site, social media mode and learning style of Internet users on their Behavioral Outcome based on an online search task. Currently, little research attention is given to Mexico regarding this topic. The research methodology was a laboratory experiment conducted in a university in Mexico, with a total sample of 120 subjects. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design. There were eight block-treatment (2 x 4) effects, assigned randomly to the subjects. The data analysis of the results and contributions of the study are presented and interpreted within the framework of Kolb’s experiential learning theory.

Cadxela: An educational tool for supporting the global software engineering education at undergraduate level

AbstractThe Global Software Development (GSD) strategy has introduced many benefits into the modern software industry, but it has also created many risks that can negatively affect the quality of the final product. Moreover, this approach is still in constant evolution and, therefore, diverse issues and challenges related to geographical, temporal, and sociocultural distances are also present. Therefore, many universities around the world are increasing their efforts in creating programs to prepare more skilled graduates to work in globally distributed environments. However, providing GSD courses among universities distributed in different locations is not so profitable and normally involves a high number of collaborations among various teachers and students that traditional teaching approaches cannot support. In this study, the Cadxela tool is presented to enable undergraduate students to acquire practical experience in GSD and improve their communication and teamwork skills. An empirical evaluation was conducted on Cadxela involving students and teachers from five universities in Mexico, Spain, Chile, Cuba, and Peru. The participants developed a total of 15 projects to experience different problems related to geographical, temporal, and sociocultural distances. The obtained results from pre and post‐evaluations showed that Cadxela can contribute to facilitating the development of practical projects on GSD undergraduate courses, while students develop their knowledge, social skills associated with this topic as well as teamwork and communication skills. Finally, the data collected on the teachers' perceptions suggested that Cadxela can also be a useful tool for introducing the GSD approach at the undergraduate level.

Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic Uncertainty in Negative Emotional States and Resilience as Mediators against Suicide Ideation, Drug Addiction and Alcoholism.

This research uses structural equation modeling to determine the influence of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic as an independent variable in the negative emotional states and resilience (as mediating variables) vs. drug addiction, alcoholism, and suicide ideation as dependent variables in 5557 students from a public state university in Northern Mexico. The five variables are related through eight hypotheses and tested using partial least squares. We used an adapted questionnaire sent by email in May 2020. Findings show that uncertainty facing the COVID-19 pandemic had a direct and significant influence on negative emotional states and a significant inverse effect on resilience; in the trajectory, drug addiction and alcoholism, and suicide ideation are explained.

El Ecosistema Emprendedor en las Principales Instituciones de Enseñanza e Investigación Agrícola de México

This study analyzes the entrepreneurship associated with the two most important agricultural universities in Mexico to recognize the actors that interact in this process in order to propose actions that enhance the transfer of knowledge from the academy to the productive sector. Through a qualitative study, the structure and functions of the actors involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of these institutions were identified. It is concluded that the universities studied generate knowledge and technological developments with the possibility of commercial utility. However, most of them are not commercialized because their promotion is left to the responsibility of entrepreneurs, so that the results of the analyzed ecosystem are circumstantial and are not the result of a well-defined strategy. For this reason, changes are proposed in the roles in the structures of the institutions that allow them to develop towards entrepreneurial universities.

Competencies in Digitalization: An Experiment in an International Course

This research aims to explore competencies in the digital global context through an international experiment conducted at the Veracruzana University in Mexico and the Public University of Navarre in Spain. In this paper, we report test scores of a course from both universities (N = 85). The course was grounded on Industry 4.0 and digital transformation. Students were required to work in international teams through virtual communication and coworking tools. The main findings show that digital competencies though necessary, do not seem sufficient. Additionally, the research identifies the most developed competencies (decision-making and cognitive development competencies) and the competencies that need to be strengthened (digital competencies). From a practical perspective, the international experiment facilitates a collaborative learning scenario.

The Importance of Information for Effective University–Firm Technology Transfer: The Case of ICAT–UNAM

As part of their mission, faculties, centers, and research institutes of public universities in Mexico, develop technology products to a certain level of maturity. Normally, project development teams are devoted to building the hardware and software of the technology products but rarely deal with the commercial and technology management information required to advance the business plan for technology transfer. Socio￾economic, organizational, and new project development information is normally prepared by personnel in the university’s technology transfer office. Using a case study methodology, this article highlights the importance and the value of the information provided by technology studies undertaken throughout the different phases of a Research Development and Innovation (R&D+i) project, until the point of technology transfer negotiations. The presented study involves the case of a Mexican public R&D institute, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Association between Stress and Metabolic Syndrome and its Mediating Factors in University Students

In this study, we evaluated the association between perceived stress and indicators of metabolic syndrome and how this association is mediated by sleep problems, unhealthy eating habits, and night eating syndrome, in addition to serum levels of ghrelin and cortisol in university students. We recruited 192 students from a public university in Mexico. Weight, height, waist circumference and blood pressure were taken in accordance with standard protocols. Validated questionnaires were used to assess perceived stress, sleep quality and eating habits. Fasting blood samples were taken to measure ghrelin, cortisol, triglycerides, glucose and HDL-C. Path Analysis indicated direct positive effects of stress over PSQI (β = 0.341) and NES (β = 0.443); PSQI over NES (β = 0.233) and NES over glucose (β = 0.170), triglycerides over LDL-C (β = 0.215), waist circumference over SBP (β = 0.259). Likewise, standardized negative regression weights of PSQI over Diet Quality Index (β = -0.239) and ghrelin concentrations (β = -0.132), ghrelin over Diet Quality Index (β = -0.188) and waist circumference (β = -0.147). Diet Quality Index over triglycerides (β = -0.184); sleep duration over systolic blood pressure (β = -0.242); waist circumference over HDL-C (β = -0.256). Psychological stress leads to increased indicators of MetS via decreased sleep quality, inadequate eating habits and eating behavior in university students.

Higher Education Student Emotions

This article presents the perception of 611 students from public universities in Mexico about online classes in pandemic times. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Vygotsky's contributions are taken, especially those related to emotional manifestations. It is concluded that the most important factor in this change is the emotions that are identified as an impulse to act during online classes, given the didactic and pedagogical components, resources, and supports for students that promote learning. This proposes a framework for considering the emotional aspects of positive engagement in students learning online. There is evidence of some balance between the advantages and disadvantages of online education. It also suggests that women perceive more negative emotions such as disappointment and frustration in the online education experience. The teacher, being a vicarious learning model, can innovate in education by promoting peripheral participation with other playful activities that involve abstract, applied, and situated learning.

Prevalence of burnout syndrome in students at a university in northeastern Mexico

Prevalence of burnout syndrome in students at a university in northeastern Mexico

Gamification as a Strategy to Increase Motivation and Engagement in Higher Education Chemistry Students

In the last year, educational experiences have become increasingly challenging due to teaching classes remotely. For this reason, it has been necessary to develop educational strategies that accompany the use of new technologies to maintain student interest. One of these methodologies is gamification, implemented in school environments more frequently due to the pandemic and whose impact on student motivation and engagement needs to be explored. The literature shows that student participation in these contexts should be increased when applying this methodology, where teachers can also provide greater support. This research proposes improving these aspects by developing a gamification strategy that can be easily replicated in other environments. This study was carried out for a chemistry course at a university in central Mexico. This proposal details the short-, medium-, and long-term bonuses which stimulated and motivated students and achieved specific objectives. We also present the quantitative results of a questionnaire applied to 48 engineering students to identify their perceptions of how gamification could increase motivation and engagement in learning the subject of chemistry. In addition, pre- and post-knowledge tests were applied to determine whether there were changes in the learning outcomes. The results indicated that gamification increased student motivation and engagement, improved attitudes, promoted actions such as keeping the camera on during lectures and regular attendance, and improved student grades. This study fills the need for planning strategies to help improve student motivation in online classes and proposes an instrument to measure the results. It can be helpful to those interested in applying or adapting it in other disciplines.

Challenges and opportunities for universities in building adaptive capacities for sustainability: lessons from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean

ABSTRACT Capacity building is defined as a process by which stakeholders increase their knowledge, skills and resources in order to improve their ability to adapt in a fast-changing world. Universities play a key role in the promotion of sustainability and implementation of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through capacity building. However, universities in developing countries face significant challenges in the implementation of capacity building programmes for sustainability given the lack of procedures that facilitate the systematic integration of multiple stakeholderś epistemologies, methodologies and objectives. In this paper, we present a capacity building approach as a problem-focused process that follows a multi-domain/multi-stakeholder scheme, and provides alignment with the functions and responsibilities of different sectors of society. The approach involves the use of a decision-support tool for sustainability that enables stakeholders to actively participate in decision-making processes. We illustrate the implementation of the capacity building approach through two case studies and show how general and specific capacities tailored to the different stakeholders can be developed. Our approach to capacity building accentuates the role of universities in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean as research and innovation hubs that could help design and implement flexible, transparent and robust strategies towards achievement of sustainability in the region. Key policy insights Capacity building to address the sustainable development goals should aim to develop sets of interlinked capacities for sustainability across stakeholder groups. Capacity building should take into account the regional institutional contexts in which universities in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are embedded. Effective implementation of capacity building must be tailored to the different roles and functions of the actors involved. Thematic, technical, evaluative and procedural domains provide a comprehensive framework to build capacities, which can be continuously adapted according to the functions and responsibilities of the actors. Capacity building approaches to address climate change vulnerability require decision-support tools to inform policy-making.

Latin american production on solid waste management in scopus, 2010 - 2020

Solid waste management has become a critical problem in developing countries, therefore, with the aim of analyzing the Latin American scientific production on solid waste management in Scopus, a retrospective descriptive study was conducted considering as the unit of analysis the publications on solid waste management in journals indexed in Scopus, during the period 2010 to 2020. The search included all published and indexed articles, using the fields Article Title, Abstracts, Keywords, having as search term the word "Solid waste management". As result, 494 articles were found, of which 420 are original, 58 are reviews, and the rest are letters, editorials, conference papers, and notes. Brazil stands out as the largest producer of solid waste management knowledge (62.5% of Latin American production), followed by Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. On the other hand, 158 international institutions have participated in the Latin American production and only 10 have produced more than 10 articles, with universities in Brazil and Mexico standing out. Among the most productive journals, Waste Management and Waste Management And Research stand out; and the researchers with the most publications are Liséte Lange and Sandro Donnini Mancini. It is concluded that research on solid waste management in Latin America in the period 2010 - 2020 is still deficient compared to other areas of the environmental field. The Latin American countries with the highest production in this area are Brazil, with more than 50%, followed by Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina.

On the effects of the electromagnetic radiation in human health by using mobile telephone in Mexico

In this paper it is shown the experimental measurements made of the generated radiation by mobile phones, and the corresponding conclusions when comparing them with the values provided by the manufacturers. The so-called specific absorption rate (SAR) is calculated from the amount of electromagnetic energy emitted by mobile phones and absorbed by the human body. It was found that the measurements obtained are within the allowed values, which suggests that the radio frequency emitted by these mobile phones does not have negative effects on human health. These devices have a SAR value provided by the manufacturers, but such values are not completely reliable However, the possibility that its use may cause other harm to human health is not ruled out. The measurements and experimental results were part of the development of a project at a Public University in Mexico City. Â

Language Learning in the Time of COVID-19: ELT Students’ Narrated Experiences in Guided Reflective Journals

This article presents the results of a qualitative study of the lived experiences and emotional responses regarding language learning of 29 students in a bachelor's degree in English language teaching (elt) offered at a public university in central Mexico. The study was grounded in sociocultural theory and was carried out at a time when the students' classes changed overnight to online learning due to the worldwide covid-19 pandemic. In this program, students learn a foreign language within a theoretical framework of second language acquisition (sla) and document their language learning experience (lle) through reflective journals. One month into the new online modality, they were asked to write in their journals about a historical artifact that would represent their experience dur­ing the pandemic for a historian 100 years in the future. A constant comparative method of analysis of their narrated stories reveals the challenges faced and ensu­ing emotions: from overwhelming anxiety to youthful optimism. These results provide an appreciation of students’ complex emotions regarding their language learning process while in the midst of a worldwide pandemic and highlight the importance of creating activities that promote reflection.

SPECIFICATION OF A BUSINESS TRAINING MODEL USING THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM BEFORE COVID-19

Since its inception, the Internet has been a hegemonic factor in academic and professional training, although its use as a tool for information processing has not even been explored. In this sense, the objective of this work was to establish the reliability and validity of an instrument that measured the perception of Internet use. A non-experimental work was carried out with a non-probabilistic selection of 340 students from a public university in central Mexico. The results show a total percentage of variance explained by two perceptual dimensions that allude to the search and selection of information, although the type of design limited the results to the research scenario, suggesting the inclusion of factors related to the beliefs of use of Internet and the provisions as determinants of intentions and the use of digital networks.

Construct Validity of a Scale to Measure the Job Satisfaction of Professors at Public Universities in Central Mexico during COVID-19

Until May 2021, six and a half million deaths had been directly and indirectly associated with COVID-19. This pandemic has impacted the traditional classroom by transferring it to online environments. The objective of this study was to establish the construct validity of an instrument that measures professors’ job satisfaction. A cross-sectional psychometric study was carried out with a selection of 100 professors from public universities in central Mexico. Three main factors were found to explain 56% of the total variance: information need, perceived usefulness, and technology adoption. Although the research design limited the results to the study setting, suggesting the extension of the work towards validity and convergent of the construct.

Individual-level characteristics of environmental sustainability among students in a higher education institution: the role of happiness and academic performance

Purpose Students play an unequivocal role in sustainable universities as they are theorized to embody the mission of a sustainable university through a sustainable lifestyle and spread sustainability practices during their professional careers. Despite this, it is not well known how or why students come to embody a sustainable lifestyle. This study aims to better understand the relationship between happiness, academic achievement and sustainability behaviors among the student population in a Mexican higher education institution. Design/methodology/approach In a questionnaire study, engineering and psychology university students at a large public university in northwestern Mexico answered questions regarding their environmental sustainability behaviors, happiness and academic performance. A stratified random sampling technique was used to obtain the sample population that best represents the entire population. After chi-square tests, it was confirmed that the three variables were independent of one another. Therefore, a series of correspondence analyses were conducted to examine clusters or patterns that could indicate relationships among the three variables. Findings The main finding from this work was that the happiest and most academically astute participants were only slightly environmentally sustainable or not sustainable at all. The lack of environmental sustainability in students from one of the most top-rank sustainable universities in Mexico does not align with previous sustainability reports. External factors to the university, such as cultural values and extreme weather conditions, may have influenced students’ sustainability behaviors. Research limitations/implications As with any other questionnaire study, the provided data is subject to interpretation, judgment and bias. In addition, the environmental and happiness index used in this study are not free of criticizing, and some author had disputed its efficacy. Finally, this study’s findings did not determine any causality or directionality between any of the latent variables. However, causality and directionally between environmental sustainability-happiness and happiness-academic performance have to be found in both directions. Practical implications Despite the unsustainability of students in this study, this study has several contributions. First, it provides an evaluation of a sustainable university from the perspectives and behaviors of students. The views of students as they relate to the complexities and visions of a sustainable university have remained relatively underexamined. Second, these analyses point to specific sustainability-oriented challenges and inadvertent barriers (e.g. extreme weather patterns) toward the embodiment of a sustainable lifestyle. These challenges and barriers suggest that sustainable universities need to address the dynamic changes inherent in sustainable development. Finally, this study indicates that the link between happiness, academic performance and sustainability may be more complicated and driven by cultural and structural barriers. The issue of barriers, as they relate to sustainability behaviors, is highly relevant and presents important opportunities and questions for future research. Originality/value This study provides an evaluation of a sustainable university from the perspectives and behaviors of students. Students’ views as they relate to the complexities and visions of a sustainable university have remained relatively underexamined. Second, these analyses point to specific sustainability-oriented challenges and barriers as they relate to the embodiment of a sustainable lifestyle. These challenges and barriers suggest that sustainable universities need to address the dynamic changes inherent in sustainable development. Finally, this study indicates that the link between happiness, academic performance and sustainability may be more complicated and driven by cultural and structural barriers.

Tutors’ and Tutees’ Behaviors, Attitudes, and Perspectives Regarding EFL Peer Tutoring in Higher Education in Mexico

This article reports on the findings of a mixed methods research study on tutors’ and tutees’ behaviors and attitudes during the tutoring sessions and their perceptions about English language peer tutoring at a bilingual, international, and sustainable university in central Mexico. Observation, peer assessment, and semistructured interviews results suggest that tutees and tutors asked and answered questions and had a positive attitude towards error correction in almost all the sessions. Likewise, they reveal that participants clarified doubts, seemed motivated, motivated their peers, and had a constructive attitude towards teaching and learning from a peer most of the time during the tutoring. Furthermore, results indicate that the participants were positive about the experience, the sessions, their peers, and the influence in their learning.

Atoms in the campus: Van de Graaff accelerators and the making of two major Latin American universities in 1950s Brazil and Mexico

ABSTRACT This paper deals with two cases of acquisition and construction of Van de Graaff accelerators in 1950s Latin America, at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the University of São Paulo, respectively. A comparative approach allows us to appreciate the significance of this particular technology within scientific, cultural, commercial, and political processes. Van de Graaff accelerators appeared as an affordable technology to engage in experimental nuclear physics and to be part of the atomic age. The circumstances that motivated physics communities in Brazil and Mexico to choose this specific technology took shape in close interactions with US institutions and scientists. These inter-American alliances involved precisely the main companies and groups that competed for the market of this technology around the world. These accelerators also intertwined with the building of campuses for two major Latin American universities, occupying then a singular place (physically and symbolically) within their execution. This paper engages with comparison for the common goal of going beyond frameworks and methodologies tied to the nation, while integrating the study of connections and interactions, as well as the interplay of multiple scales.

Universities and programs promoting health in Mexico

Introduction: Universities are the ideal place to promote health because it offers facilities to provide comprehensive care as marked by the World Health Organization (1986) in the Ottawa Charter for health promotion. This is how this work seeks to describe the health promotion programs of universities in Mexico to generate relevant information on this particular topic. Objective: To describe the health promotion programs of higher education institutions in Mexico. Methodology: The review was carried out in PUBMED, CROSSREF, LILACS, SCIELO and government institutions indexing sources. For the selection of articles, it was considered to analyze government pages such as RMUPS and public and private universities due to lack of information. The review criteria that were taken into account were the objective, areas of attention, type of user, level of prevention and finally operation of the health promotion programs of the universities. Results: Of the programs of institutions of higher education reviewed it was found that they have similarities regarding their objectives where the majority promote the adoption of healthy lifestyles, in addition to the fact that a wide group of services such as medical care, nutritional care, and psychological care as the main, the operation of the program is diverse and 100% manage a level of primary prevention. Conclusions: There is a clear and direct interests by the authorities of the different universities in Mexico, there are currently 43 institutions that make up the RMUPS.