Competencies Required in Education Research and Teaching Systematization according to Students from the Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education Programs of the University of Costa Rica

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of two online forums carried out with the participation of 42 students of the Licenciaturas  in Preschool Education, Primary Education and Secondary Education of the University of Costa Rica. The main purpose of the forums was to determine the insights of the participant students about the competencies they have achieved in the field of education research, and which have been the essential tools for them to systematize their own teaching practices. The discussion forums were part of the course FD5091 Métodos de Investigación Educativa [Education Research Methods] of the School of Teacher Education, delivered from March-April 2010.  Of the sample, 60 percent were students of the Preschool teaching program, 35 percent were from the Primary Education teaching program and 5 percent were from the Secondary Education teaching program in the fields of Science, Mathematics and Social Studies. According to the insights and beliefs showed by the participants –both, the future teachers and the profession practitioners–, there are no opportunities for research or systematization of their own teaching mediation, in the current work situation.(1) Translator’s Note: In Costa Rica, the “Licenciatura” is a one-year post-Bachelor study program, usually including thesis. “Primary Education” refers to students from the 1st to 6th grades, and “Secondary Education” refers to students from the 7th to 11th grades.

The virtual class as a knowledge democratization model

This paper presents the conceptualization and use of a virtual classroom in the course EIF-200 Fundamentos de Informática, first course in the Information Systems Engineering career of the Universidad Nacional of Costa Rica. The virtual classroom is seen as a complement to the class and is conceived as a space that allows to centralize teaching resources, thereby promoting the  democratization of knowledge among students and teachers. Furthermore, this concept of virtual classroom helps to reduce the culture of individualism, present many times in university teaching practices, and contributes to create new opportunities to learn from other colleagues within a culture of reflection, analysis and respectful dialogue aimed to improve the teaching practices.

Reflexiones en torno a la vinculación de la educación y el género

Recibido 18 de enero de 2011 • Aceptado 09 de marzo de 2011 • Corregido 05 de mayo de 2011   El siguiente artículo plantea una reflexión acerca de cómo la educación, desde la escuela, propicia, a partir del currículo oficial y del currículo oculto, una serie de elementos que tienden a hacer diferencias en cuanto a género. Además, se plantean una serie de aspectos tales como la televisión, las prácticas pedagógicas de los grupos de docentes, que inciden directamente en la discriminación sexista. Se muestran, también, algunas recomendaciones que aportan de investigadores para contrarrestar la discriminación por género. Finalmente se presentan las conclusiones.

Repensar la educación y la pedagogía: algunas reflexiones críticas

Certainly it becomes necessary to reflect on the school not only as a place of permanent cultural construction, influenced by multiple relationships, but also on how it becomes the place where these connections band together and set up new ones. In every analysis on education and pedagogies, it must not be left behind the fact that curricular designs explicit and condition the school practices. Likewise, these outlines also determine the intentionality of the teaching practices. These ideas constitute the basis guiding the reflections of this investigation, which more than appearing as theoretical issues, are actually visualized like practical possibilities. The arguments that are expressed here gather the most significant concerns conveyed by the authors. They account for the approximate outcome of the reading and the reflection on the personal teaching practice gained within the university classrooms and the experience of working with high school students.

Percepción del uso de TIC en las prácticas pedagógicas de los profesores de Educación Especial

Recibido 08 de julio de 2011 • Aceptado 26 de agosto de 2011 • Corregido 14 de octubre de 2011   El siguiente artículo tiene por finalidad exponer los resultados de la aplicación de un cuestionario sobre la percepción y uso de recursos tecnológicos dentro de las prácticas pedagógicas de los profesores de educación especial que se desempeñaban en grupos diferenciales de la comuna de Chillán, Chile, durante el año 2009. La aplicación de este cuestionario se hizo mediante la herramienta 2.0 Google Docs, en donde los profesores plasmaron sus respuestas, las que más tarde fueron tabuladas y analizadas mediante pruebas estadísticas con un diseño descriptivo. El cuestionario aplicado a los profesores de grupos diferenciales fue creado y validado para la presente investigación, lo que pone a disposición de la comunidad científica una herramienta precisa y de fácil aplicación.

Towars a chemical reagents and residues management at the teaching laboratories of the Chemistry School of the Universidad Nacional

The academic activities carried out at the School of Chemistry make indispensable to develop actions oriented toward the consolidation of a reagent and residue management system, especially in the teaching laboratories. The project “Management of reagents and residues in the teaching laboratories of the School of Chemistry” works under the Green Chemistry values which designs products and chemical processes that reduce or eliminate the use and production of dangerous substances, to benefit the environment. With a preventive vision, a change from the  laboratory practices is looked to select those with less environmental impact. Additionally, residue quantification is made and its management protocols are developed for each practice. The project has several stages: diagnose, action implementation, student, teacher and administration personnel training and evaluation during the process and at the end of it. The article describes methodological aspects of the project operation emphasizing on reagent and residue quantification through flow diagrams.