The initiative was born from collaborative work between the Directorate of Institutional Studies and Planning and Microsoft to support the PMI FIPULS Institutional Improvement Plan for pedagogies.

For the second consecutive year, “Hack your class” was held, a training session that Microsoft professionals carried out for teachers belonging to the University of La Serena, where they had the opportunity to update knowledge and learn new techniques, in order to apply them in classroom and offer it as innovative material to its students.

This training, which was jointly organized by the Graduate Monitoring Office and Microsoft, was part of the cooperative work carried out by the Directorate of Institutional Studies and Planning and the multinational technology company, which since 2017 has cooperated with different projects. intended for the implementation of new technologies and learning processes to the educational community of the University of La Serena.

The Microsoft professionals who gave the talks were present on the occasion, as well as the person in charge of the Chilean Education Community, Raimundo Valenzuela, who was emphatic in emphasizing the commitment that the organization has adopted with the teachers and students of pedagogy, ensuring that " As a company we seek to empower students and teachers around the world to achieve more through technology. That is why we look for these types of instances in order to bring teachers from all regions of Chile closer to educational innovation, so that they dare to enhance learning with technology and manage to inspire students.”

The Director of Institutional Studies and Planning, Mg., was also present at one of the sessions. César Espíndola, who assured that this work is carried out within the framework of the University's policies of continuous improvement and links with the regional and national environment, and added that these instances not only benefit ULS teachers but also graduates. of the pedagogies, who were interested in participating in this transfer event.

The teachers received this training in an intensive day in blocks, where they were able to learn about technology that can be incorporated to stimulate new ideas in the class process.

ULS teachers and pedagogy graduates learned about the OneNote system that facilitates note-taking, information collection and multi-user collaboration, and offers the possibility of adding drawings, diagrams, photographs, multimedia elements, video and scanned images.

“We know the importance of education and how innovation positively impacts the lives of Chilean students. That is why we will continue working with Chilean teachers so that they can empower themselves and continue inspiring thousands of students in Chile with the aim of preparing them for the world of tomorrow,” said Microsoft professional, María José Correa.

Microsoft has already trained more than 7 teachers from different institutions in the country and has led for a couple of years the global initiative called Hack The Classroom, which seeks to encourage teachers from around the world to innovate.

The prototype seeks to be an innovative technological solution for the teaching and learning of microscopic biology, especially in public educational establishments in the country that do not have access to expensive optical microscopes.

The teaching of cell biology at a microscopic level is scarce in school and mainly rural educational centers, due to the lack of technological equipment to carry out practical laboratory work. In short, the main problem that microscopy has in the second basic cycle of Natural Sciences is the high cost of optical microscopes, since their prices range between 150 thousand and 2 million pesos.

Given this background and as a way to contribute to the teaching and learning of microscopic biology in public educational establishments, both urban and rural, in the Coquimbo Region, and taking into account the new curricular bases and study programs of the MINEDUC , the specialized technician Edgardo Mundaca, and the professor of Biology and Natural Sciences, Mariano Rodríguez, with the sponsorship of the Research and Development Directorate (dependent on the Vice-Rector's Office for Research and Postgraduate Studies) and the Department of Biology of the University of La Serena , designed and created a smartphone adapter, made from electronic and household waste, that allows microscopic images to be captured.

Edgardo Mundaca, who is an official at the ULS, explained that the idea was born in 2014 after receiving groups of professors and students from various establishments at the University, an instance in which they realized that many of them did not know how to use microscopes. , mainly because there are no resources to have this equipment in schools. “This year we have gone to the establishments and that reality has not changed,” said the author of this adapter built with sustainable material (toilet paper tubes, ice cream sticks, batteries, LED light, elastics, etc.) and that is adaptable to any mobile device.

“88% of schools in Latin America do not have laboratory implementation. "This means that there is low scientific literacy," said Mariano Rodríguez, a graduate from the state campus, who added that the low-cost prototype could be used as a technological tool for teaching microscopic biology in the second basic cycle (5th grade). , 6th, 7th and 8th grade). 

To ensure the permanence of this technological resource in the curriculum, manuals for the construction and use of Micro-Hoek were designed, led by a multidisciplinary team from the University of La Serena. The construction manual -protected by DIBAM- can be download here and will be available soon on the website of the Department of Biology of the house of higher education.

“The manual is free and each person in their homes and schools will be able to make their adapter. Anyone will have access to this guide,” said Mundaca, who is emphatic in indicating that Micro-Hoek has a social purpose.

Rodríguez, meanwhile, pointed out that next year they hope to incorporate the prototype and its manual in public establishments in La Serena and Coquimbo, and announced that later they will consider adding “founded didactic proposals, using didactic models of analogical teaching, conceptual change, inquiries that Today, at the Latin American level, they are widely used and have theoretical references.”

See photo gallery

The activity is organized by the ULS Graduate Monitoring Office and those interested can register at www.phoenix.cic.userena.cl or go directly to the meeting.

On Tuesday, December 04, at 15:00 p.m., in the Marta Vitar Auditorium room of the Isabel Bongard Campus, the talk will be held: “Characterization of the recruitment and selection processes of Directors for Chile in the Coquimbo Region ”, where the current situation of the appointment processes of directors of municipal educational establishments in the area will be addressed.

This activity will feature the presentation of the Regional Coordinator of the Central-North Zone of the Education Area of ​​Senior Public Management, Jimena Mendoza Inzunza.

The talk is aimed at students with a graduation profile, graduates and graduates of the pedagogy careers of the ULS, as well as the Directors and Coordinators of the pedagogies of the state campus.

The activity is organized by the Graduate Monitoring Office of the U. de La Serena and those interested can register at www.phoenix.cic.userena.cl or go directly to the meeting.

The instance is framed within the complementary spaces carried out by the graduates in “Didactic Innovation for the Initial Training of Teachers” and in “Development of Competencies for the Support of Internships in the Labor Context of the FID” taught by the Integrated Management Unit of Pedagogies (UGIP).

Under the need to delve into the topics addressed in the different modules of the UGIP diplomas and generate instances of pedagogical dialogues, various academic activities were developed in which two guests from the Alberto Hurtado University (UAH) participated, the Academic Vice-Rector, Dr. Pedro Milos, and the researcher Dr. Alejandra Morales.

In this context, and in the first instance, a discussion was held focused on the academic team of the UGIP and professionals from other institutional units, in which the challenges of university teaching and how it is presented in the field of didactics were addressed. and innovation. In addition, experiences were exchanged on the development of Institutional Improvement Projects in the area of ​​pedagogies of both houses of study.

“University teaching is a social practice that, unlike others, occurs in an institutional context, and this means that it has certain purposes. So we have two conditions that should help us, first the fact of having institutional support and consequently this makes it easier for us to define what our goals will be,” said the Academic Vice Chancellor of the UAH.

Likewise, two parallel talks and workshops were given aimed at the participating professors of the respective diploma courses, which were also attended by undergraduate students. One of them was carried out by Dr. Milos and was titled “Innovation in teaching by the trainer of trainers: Critical nodes and proposals for improvement”, focused on the relationship between teachers and students based on the teaching and learning processes.

“Innovating involves a certain clarity of what one wants to achieve, introducing a new element into a specific activity. When we talk about innovation, we are talking about an improvement or a change in which a new element is introduced that has to be implemented. If it does not produce an improvement, it is not an innovation, which must be effective and possible to disseminate (reproduce). So why innovate in the teaching of training of trainers? Well, to improve that object, processes and results,” explained Dr. Milos.

On the other hand, Dr. Morales focused her talk “Quality of trainers at the FID” in which she worked with the students of the Internships in Work Context diploma, on the definitions and models that are currently used in practical training.

“There is a view that says that theory is needed to understand practice, and another that states that the sooner the student does the practice, the sooner he will eliminate prejudices about his own training (…) From the theoretical point of view, "The practice is not a rational or conscious act, but rather it is developed according to an act of planning," said the teacher.

In this way, the activities allowed the development of spaces for updating and deepening in topics of university teaching, didactics, innovation and work practices both for the students of the two diplomas, as well as for the UGIP professionals who participate in related academic work. It should be noted that these updating activities are part of the actions of the Institutional Improvement Project (PMI FIP ULS1501) related to strengthening the training and updating of the institution's academic body, which must be consistent with the new curricular approach to ULS pedagogy courses that begin in 2019.

Source: Integrated Pedagogy Management Unit - PMI FIP ULS1501 - CM ULS 1755

The former academic went into voluntary retirement in October of this year after 36 years at the institution.

The Faculty of Engineering reported that Dr. Jorge Oyarzún Muñoz, former academic of the Mining Engineering Department, who went into voluntary retirement last October, after 36 years at the institution, was appointed as Professor Emeritus of the University of La Serena, at the proposal of the Council of the Faculty of Engineering, which was accepted and presented by the Rector Avilés before the Honorable Board of Directors. This designation was ratified by Exempt Decree No. 458 of November 14, 2018.

“Dr. Oyarzún hopes to continue his academic activities, except in formal teaching, in particular scientific research in geological-mining and environmental matters, and the training of new researchers. Naturally, the writing of the Geoenvironmental briefs and the Geomining notes, of the monthly bulletins associated with the Environmental Civil Engineering and Mining Engineering careers respectively, will continue,” said the Dean, Dr. Mario Durán Lillo, who added “the Faculty of Engineering wishes Professor Oyarzún much success.”

Dr. Oyarzún is the author or co-author of digital books on geology, mineral exploration and mining-environment, freely available at www.aulados.net/GEMM. Additionally, he is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and a member of the Mine Water Association.

The activities carried out are part of an ethnomusicological research project financed by the Music Fund of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage.

As one of the dissemination activities with the progress of the results of the ethnomusicological research project: “Turbans and Dances of Andacollo in their Music. Aesthetics and emotions of a popular faith", whose execution is in charge of professors Daniela Banderas and Lina Barrientos, from the Department of Music of the University of La Serena, two talks have been given to groups of high school students from the Region of Coquimbo.

The first, on Tuesday, October 23, was held at the Pedro Aguirre Cerda College of the Arts in La Antena, La Serena; and the second, on Tuesday, November 6, was offered to a group of students from the Pedro Regalado Videla Órdenes High School, at the Casa del Encuentro Ciudadano de Andacollo.

“The student body listened carefully to the historical background of the formation of the Religious Turban and Dance Dances that participate in the Festival of the Virgin of Our Lady of the Rosary of Andacollo since the mid-1752th century, specifically since 1798 the first ones and since XNUMX the seconds,” explained academic Lina Barrientos.

They were also able to appreciate the music of both dances, both current and old, thanks to illustrations through recordings that they were able to listen to and films that they were able to see from different periods, detecting changes or transformations that the Turban and Dance Dances have had, as well as aspects that have been preserved according to the tradition of family heirs of the Religious Dance, this in terms of their clothing and symbolic objects, such as the saber or sword; their dance, in relation to the steps and choreography; his music, changes in some melodic and rhythmic turns, without harmonic accompaniment due to ceasing to use the guitar and the lack of a series of musical instruments, such as the mandolin, the button accordion, the triangle.

Finally, the talks ended by addressing devotion, a relevant aspect, present in all the rituality of these dances, manifested in a deep faith of the promising adults, as well as projected in boys and girls who dance, sing and/or They play instruments as an expression of prayers and/or thanks to the Virgin.

In the talks, the students were accompanied by their respective teachers; However, in the talk offered in Andacollo, the mayor of the commune presented the event, while the teacher and director of the establishment, Lorena Araya, introduced the two academics and thanked them. Other professors and scholars of popular religiosity of Andacollo also attended. “The presence of Don Manuel González, coordinator of the Dance Dance No. 13 of Maitencillo and the presence of Don Juan Robles, head of the Dance Turbante No. 1 of La Serena, who is 80 years old and who stated that during 79 years old he dances to the Virgin of Andacollo, because his mother gave him to the Virgin at the age of one year,” said Lina Barrientos.

These activities have been able to be carried out thanks to the financing of the Fund for the Promotion of National Music of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, 2018 competition, a project that has been hosted and sponsored by the Research and Development Directorate (DIDULS) dependent of the Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies, and by the Department of Music of the University of La Serena.