Communication in the Seventh Grade Classroom

Reflections on communication in the learning process at the level of the seventh year of secondary education based on the methodological and pedagogical approaches, considered in research of a multidisciplinary team of the CIDE of UNA (National University), with the aim of building the “teaching performance profile for the seventh year of Costa Rican education”. It demonstrates the role of teachers to ensure favorable communication links to the learning process, not only to capture the attention and interest of students through varied and systematic motivations, but also by the honesty, openness, personal example and involvement in the task, problems and aspirations of students.

National university`s students perspective of teachers and college education: their characteristic and classroom environment

This article presents the results of a research project in which the characteristics of university teachers and classroom environment were studied from the students´ perspectives. The study was based on a mixed design, this one attempts to develop a profile of the teachers, with the participation of students being trained in pedagogy majors. The results indicate that the students underline the importance of personality and psico-pedagogical characteristics in contrast with the theoretical findings, which point more towards professional characteristics.

Educational Inclusion in the Regular Classroom: an Asperger Syndrome Case

The following paper resulted from the final research project conducted for my Master’s Degree in Teacher Training for Teachers of Primary Education (1st – 6th grade of the Basic General Education). This research project was conducted under the supervision of the Rural Education Division of the Center for Research and Teaching in Education (CIDE-UNA, Spanish acronym), in coordination with the Central America Educational and Cultural Coordination (CECC). The research is qualitative with an interpretative approach. Our main objective was to analyze the process of inclusive education in the regular classroom for a person with Asperger’s Syndrome, defined as a type of social impairment. The case study method was used in this research, as it allows a deeper study. A girl was chosen from a public school in an urban area of San José, Costa Rica. Three techniques were used to obtain information: interviews, questionnaires and documentation (personal file, behavior record, and psychological assessment) related to the girl with Asperger. The triangulation of sources was used as a method of analysis. The conclusion of the project was that regular schools may have children miss-diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, and that our schools are still far from achieving inclusive education, but efforts are being made to achieve it. For a more opportune intervention, some recommendations based on this study were provided to the family and the school of the girl with Asperger.