This work analyzes the problem of geography teaching in the Departamento del Atlántico, Colombia, which has been affecting this school discipline for many decades and is still far from being solved. It emphasizes its causes, its impact on the poor quality of education and ends with some conclusions and recommendations aimed at overcoming it. It is a descriptive and explanatory...
This reflection article examines the importance of adapting cultural material to meet student needs and program objectives in two different educational contexts: Indonesia and Colombia. A needs analysis was done at both universities, resulting in material adaptation and development. While intercultural understanding and communication was the content of classes taught in both...
This article includes the reflections in a community of practice, formed by different faculty members of the Universidad del Norte, on the development of questions. This event was held during the year 2012 with the support of the Center for Teaching Excellence (CEDU) and the purpose was to relect on the structure of type test questions based on the peer instruction method...
This paper shows the results of a research which aimed at describing the conceptions of professors concerning teaching and assessment of academic writing. Ten professors of Psychology, five working in a French university and five working in a Colombian one, were interviewed on two subjects: what are the recommendations they communicate to their students when these have to write...
This paper shows the results of a research which aimed at determining the effectiveness of an educational support program related to the language aesthetics: poetry. By using the quantitative approach with a quasi - experimental design, two groups (experimental and control) were measured with a pre-test and post-test, and results were compared. Significant improvements were found...
This paper shows the results of a research aimed at identifying the factors that prevent teachers from implementing technological resources in the classroom. The study was carried out with the participation of teachers, parents and students from the Centro Educativo Alto Quebradón, Caquetá, Colombia. The methodological approach used was the mixed one, because data were collected...
Language is undoubtedly the most powerful semiotic resource in every society. Identities, idiosyncrasies, ideologies, and feelings can be evidenced through, and at the same time constructed by, language. Discourse Analysis aims to discover the intentions and meanings in and behind language and how these can (re)construct social structure, relationships, and change. The purpose of...
The purpose of this paper is to show how teacher reflection, that uses the implicit and explicit conceptions of teaching and learning as the focus of analysis, constitutes a strategy to re-describe or give a new hierarchy to concepts rooted in traditional assumptions or transmission, predominant in teaching practices that lack effectiveness in the teaching and learning processes...
First level undergraduate students are usually required to read academic texts. These genres suppose specific reading practices, which are not always made explicit (Carlino, 2005). Hence, a correct understanding of such texts requires specific strategic, lexico-grammatical and discursive competences. These competences can be acquired under the guidance of teachers who are willing...
This research paper describes the results of the implementation of virtual learning in an undergraduate International Relations English Course at Universidad Del Norte. The purpose of the course modification was to improve students critical thinking skills and coherence in writing. This experience was carried out for one year with the participation of 80 students of four groups...
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of geometrical instruction on flat representation of multicube modules in a group of students. The study uses a quantitative, preexperimental design with pretest and posttest with only one group. The subjects, selected by intentional sampling, were students of first semester of Industrial Design Program, aged between 17 and 22...
This descriptive study uses a quantitative, cross-sectional design that reviews some pre-reading skills that account for student readiness in a sample of preschoolers from a low socio-economic background in the Caribbean region of Colombia. Several measures were used: dibels, pls 4, nepsy ii and the bohem-3 to assess auditory comprehension, phonological awareness, speed of naming...
The use of technology in learning environments can contribute to achieve learning goals provided the training needed to use and apply such resources. Here we present the results of the study of the teaching strategies mediated by technology and employed by basic education teachers. The objective was to identify and describe such strategies by means of the socio-cultural paradigm...