scholarly journals Student Workload and Degree Profiles: the experience of CLAR credit in Latin America

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Alarcón ◽  
Pablo Beneitone ◽  
Roberto de Armas ◽  
Sérgio Kieling Franco ◽  
Letícia Suñé ◽  
...  

There is growing consensus in Latin America on the necessity to reorganize the degree profiles in a competence-based and student-centred system, with identified learning outcomes, innovative learning and teaching strategies, and new methodologies for assessing competences which could be useful for students. There is also agreement on the need to build up a solid Latin America Higher Education Area —based on common benchmarks—among which a shared regional academic credit system is highly relevant. Not all Latin American higher education institutions are familiar with an academic credit system. In the countries where academic credits do exist they are generally based on traditional views which focus on teaching and transmission, rest on different concepts and definitions and consider diverse scopes for their application. With few exceptions, these countries do not use a credit system as a unit of measure of student workload to achieve learning outcomes and competences. This paper sheds light on a proposal for a common academic credit system for Latin America (CLAR) which comes out of one of the many nuances of Tuning discussion and is referred to the expected outcome 6: “Political-and educational orientations for the establishment of a system of academic credits for Latin America” (Proyecto Alfa Tuning América Latina: Innovación Educativa y Social, 2011-2013). The new credit system that this paper advocates for Latin America is based on the principle that 60 credits measure the workload of a full-time student during one academic year. As such, a CLAR credit is conceived as a unit of value that estimates the student workload, measured in hours, which he/she typically requires to achieve learning outcomes and pass a course or a semester. In order to calculate the value of CLAR credit two elements are considered: the duration of the academic year and the annual student workload. To estimate the annual student workload, a specific survey was applied in 18 countries, 189 universities and 15 subject areas. This paper shows the major results that were brought out by 10,086 questionnaires, which were responded to by students and university professors. As a result of this survey, the student workload of a full-time study programme in Latin America amounts to around 1,440 to 1,980 hours per year and in those cases one credit stands for around 24 to 33 working hours.

1971 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. García

Preliminary results of a study on medical education in Latin America carried out by the Department of Human Resources Development of the Pan American Health Organization are given in this article. Each of the Latin American schools of medicine existing at the end of 1967 and at the beginning of 1968 was visited by a researcher for approximately seven days. During this period specially prepared questionnaires were completed. An analysis of the data reveals the presence of three types of imbalances: (1) imbalance between the system of secondary education and that of medical education, (2) internal imbalance between the system of higher education and medical education, and (3) imbalance between the system of health services and that of medical education. The study of the data compiled may serve as a basis for the proposal of activities leading to harmonious development of the health manpower sector.


2017 ◽  
pp. 26-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Knobel ◽  
Andrés Bernasconi

The higher education sector in Latin America has fallen short of its promise of spearheading cultural, social, and economic progress for the region. As higher education changes to meet the challenges on the new century, the few flagship universities of Latin America are called upon to lead. However, these universities face both internal and external obstacles that hinder their full modernization, threatening their leadership.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1425-1431
Author(s):  
Andi Rahman

The current Covid-19 pandemic has had many effects on human life globally, including the implementation of education. This study aimed to obtain the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on learning outcomes in higher education. The research method used is a cross-sectional study. The data were taken from the test results at the end of the lecture, observations, and interviews. The research was conducted at the University of Muhammadiyah Lampung, IPDN Jatinangor Campus, and the Ahmad Dahlan Institute of Technology and Business, with 120 students participating. The data analysis technique used the percentage technique and cross-tabulation. The study results concluded that student learning outcomes decreased in the 2020-2021 academic year compared to the 2019-2020 academic year. The decline in learning outcomes includes knowledge, skills, and psychology. This finding has implications for the understanding of education personnel regarding online teaching and learning design during the Covid-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
Ricardo Gaete Quezada

Latin American higher education in recent decades has experienced the main world trends, relative to the massification of student access, insufficient state funding, increase of private institutions in the tertiary education system, as well as a regional debate on its consideration as a good public guaranteed by the State, increasing the relevance of the university mission in solving global needs. Through the comparative method developed through a documentary analysis, the influence in Latin America of the Supranational Policy on social responsibility of UNESCO higher education institutions is analyzed. The results show this influence in the Region, through the Declarations of the UNESCO World Conferences on Higher Education, materialized in the actions developed by the International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC), such as the holding of the Regional Conferences on Higher Education or the creation of the Regional Observatory of Social Responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean (ORSALC). In addition, there is an academic debate between the concept of university social responsibility, established in the Region since the beginning of the new Millennium, related to managing the impacts of university work on its stakeholders, evolving towards the recognition of higher education as a good public and a human right as an expression of a territorial social responsibility, effectively contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It is concluded that the analyzed Supranational Policy must consolidate its influence in the Region in the long term, by implementing some actions key strategies, such as strengthening the Latin American Higher Education Area or research on the contributions that Latin American universities must make to effectively guarantee higher education as a common good in the Region. 


1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Felipe Herrera

The degree conferred upon me by the University of America with the concurrence of the 24 universities of the Republic of Colombia is a powerful incentive to the work of the Inter-American Development Bank in the field of higher education and research in Latin America. You will forgive me, then, if I take this occasion to mention the role of the Inter-American Bank as the “Bank of the Latin American University,” a role which has placed it in the vanguard of an impressive process of international cooperation for the modernization and decisive expansion of higher education in the Hemisphere. The $55 million it has loaned to 71 institutions in 17 countries bear eloquent testimony to an abiding preoccupation of the Bank in its brief years of existence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Arooba Ahmed ◽  
Jia Jun Joel Wen ◽  
Maribel Flórez ◽  
Pedro Iacobelli ◽  
Lilian Ferrer

Latin America and Asia have been tied for hundreds of years through a transcontinental trade network, which has culminated in their current economic interdependence. This interdependence necessitates cooperation, which can be bolstered through cultural understanding between the two continents. International student mobility is one way to foster intercultural relations, which are currently quite low between these regions. Canada has faced a similar struggle as Latin America to attract students in the Americas when faced with competition from US universities, but has had some successes which Latin American countries could learn from. This study therefore completes a scoping review of the literature to categorize barriers and enablers to academic mobility between higher education institutions (HEIs) in Asia, Canada, and Latin America and synthesizes relevant suggestions. An integrative literature search of qualitative and quantitative studies was conducted using six different databases. After considering inclusion and exclusion criteria, 33 studies were selected and analyzed. The results were categorized into six themes: Cultural, Academic and Professional, Linguistic, Economic, Program Structure, and Political Climate. Each theme included factors which enabled or hindered student mobility between Asia and the Americas. The findings highlight the need for Latinamerican HEIs to emphasize relevant initiatives and qualities that go beyond rankings, boost the use of English among academics and staff, actively reach out to Asian partners, and collaborate to develop credit transfer policies compatible with Asian institutions. These considerations could be all the more timely considering students are currently more open to virtual international opportunities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, generating possibilities of greater collaboration between these regions of the world.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-451
Author(s):  
Rocio Serrano ◽  
Washington Macias ◽  
Katia Rodriguez ◽  
María Isabel Amor

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a questionnaire to assess the expectations of university teachers about the importance of generic competences in Higher Education Institutions of Ecuador (E-DUC, acronym in Spanish), based on the competences typology from the Tuning Latin America Project. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire with Likert scales was administered to 458 university teachers from seven universities in Ecuador. Exploratory and confirmatory analyzes have been carried out to validate the theoretical model. Findings After the validation process, four groups of generic competences were confirmed and the measurement model showed high levels of reliability, as well as content and construct validity. Research limitations/implications Since tuning project has an international scope, the research could be replicated in other Latin American countries for comparability purposes regarding teachers’ perceived importance of generic competences in teaching activity. In addition, further research can relate teachers’ expectations with teaching performance and other constructs, based on a broad theoretical framework. Practical implications These technical characteristics allow the use of E-DUC as an instrument to measure the expectations of teachers on the general competences that are worked on in higher education in Ecuador. Data about these perceptions are useful for the design of teachers’ training programs, curriculum reforms and other higher education policies. Originality/value It is the first research carried out in Ecuador and Latin America in order to validate a scale for measuring the expectations of teachers about the importance of the generic competences proposed in the Tuning Latin America Project.


2018 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
Alma Maldonado-Maldonado ◽  
Felicitas Acosta

Women in Latin America have experienced physical and psychological violence; discrimination; lack of equal opportunities; less recognition for their work, abilities, and capacities. The #MeToo and Time's Up movements (2017) are dealing with the issue of women's role in present-day society and highlight cases of male power towards women. This article offers a reflection on this discussion at universities in the region.


Author(s):  
Mtra. Silvana Lorena Lagoria

Desde fines de la década de los ochenta y comienzos de los noventa, se produjo en América Latina una serie de cambios que permitían vislumbrar un panorama desafiante para la educación regional. En ese contexto, nos proponemos reconstruir el escenario político-educativo latinoamericano y argentino, con el fin de comprender los desafíos y los cambios que debe enfrentar la educación superior actual. Para alcanzar nuestro propósito, en las páginas siguientes analizaremos el modo en que se fue configurando una nueva agenda educativa en el contexto de las políticas globales de los años noventa. Paralelamente, haremos referencia a un caso particular: la educación argentina. Teniendo como marco referencial los cambios que se gestaron en esa época y proyectándonos más hacia nuestros días, al final del trabajo concluiremos con un apartado donde nos dedicaremos a reflexionar acerca del modo en que estos cambios influyen en la educación superior y el panorama que se vislumbra en este nivel.AbstractSince the end of ‘80s and the beginning of ‘90s, followed a series of changes in Latin America that allow to visualize a challenging future for regional education. In this context, we propose to reconstruct the context socio-political-educative of Latin American and Argentina, in order to understand the challenges and changes that higher education must confront today. To achieve our objectives in the following pages we will analyze the way it was setting up a new educational agenda in the context of global politics of the ‘90s. In parallel, we will make reference to a particular case: education in Argentina. Taking as a reference the changes that were generated at this time and projecting towards the present day, at the end of this work we will conclude with a section dedicated to reflect how these changes affect higher education and the panorama glimpsed at this level. Recibido: 05 de marzo de 2012Aceptado: 03 de septiembre de 2012


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