The tour was part of the university's commitment to linking with the community and presenting its academic offerings.

Informative talks and delivery of material regarding the academic offering and benefits of the University of La Serena, contemplated the promotional activities that the institution carried out in educational establishments in various communes of the Atacama Region and the Province of Choapa, with the purpose of guiding and providing important details that students must take into account when making the decision to enter the higher education system.

On the occasion, professionals from the Corporate Communications Department met with students from different schools in Copiapó, Vallenar, Illapel, Los Vilos and Salamanca, and were able to establish ties with the counselors and teachers who, in addition, are alumni of the ULS, strengthening thus the link with the only state university in the Coquimbo Region.

The visits were carried out through the coordination of the Promotion area and allowed material to be delivered to the establishments with complete information on the careers, scholarships and benefits that the school provides to regular students.

The students who received the information from the university were able to ask all relevant questions regarding the curricula, study times, infrastructure and university life in general. “It is a university that has prestige and a lot of history, so it gives us support when choosing it,” said a student from the Pedro Troncoso Machuca High School in Vallenar.

The visit was framed in the commitment of the house of studies to the connection with the community and in the interests that the establishments showed in knowing the academic offer of the house of higher studies.

The activity was organized by the project “Comprehensive Support for ULS Students, within the framework of inclusion and universal accessibility (ULS1799)”.

With a Pentagon Room at full capacity, the First National Meeting on Inclusive Teaching Practices and the second version of the regional meeting on this topic “Differences enrich our learning” were held at the University of La Serena, with the aim of promoting the exchange of inclusive educational practices and experiences in kindergartens, schools and high schools in the Coquimbo Region and other parts of the country. The activity was organized by the project “Comprehensive Support for ULS Students, within the framework of inclusion and universal accessibility (ULS1799)”.

At the conference, which was attended by university authorities, professors and special guests, it was noted that the way of addressing the issue of inclusion is diverse, and that although not all educational institutions have specific practices, they do make the effort to have an open door policy, recognizing that there are endless aspects that must be taken into account, from the form of accessibility to the training of staff to work with people with different abilities.

At the meeting, the SENADIS lawyer, Carolina Hernández, spoke, referring to the legal provisions that institutions face and what the process is that they must have when having to declare that they are an inclusive organization.

Today, educational institutions have been included in an agreement, through a declaration as a country, in the United Nations space, to move towards the elimination of poverty and social exclusion, stating that development not only has to do with the accumulation of wealth, but with access to education, participation and democracy.

Teachers from different schools in the Coquimbo Region, nursery educators from the ULS Kindergarten and representatives from establishments in Talca and Alto Hospicio also presented.

The academic and person in charge of the project “Comprehensive Support for Students of the University of La Serena, within the framework of inclusion and universal accessibility”, Dr. Georgina García, emphasized the need to maintain an integrative policy, respecting diversity and different aspects of this, ensuring that if a school ensures the development of the full potential of its students, it favors inclusion, social justice and democracy, in addition to the development of the entire community.

While the Academic Vice-Rector, Dr. Jorge Catalán, valued the holding of this event and indicated that “it is not only important for academics and pedagogy students to know about these experiences, but also for practicing teachers who are also part of our educational community, can learn from their colleagues in a clear example that inclusive education is possible when people come together committed to quality education and fundamental human rights.”

It should be noted that in 2007 the University of La Serena created the Disability Support Program, an instance that originated in the Department of Extracurricular Activities of the DGAE and whose fundamental purpose was to promote inclusive higher education processes for students with disabilities. in order to equalize educational opportunities that would allow us to respond to the academic, social and emotional demands that the professional training process implies.

In this context, since 2017, what is called the project “Comprehensive Support for Students of the University of La Serena, within the framework of inclusion and universal accessibility” began to be launched, which seeks to provide support in infrastructure and in aspects keys in support of the inclusion framework.

The program is currently financed by the MINEDUC State Universities Strengthening Fund and seeks to interact in different areas, whether academic, health, or social. In this last aspect, awareness campaigns have been carried out internally and locally, motivational talks for schoolchildren with disabilities, seminars, conferences, networks and dissemination activities at a regional, national and international level.

The biologist, Dr. Fabián Jaksic, gave a keynote lecture at the University of La Serena as part of the activities of this meeting in which researchers, teachers and students from Chile and Argentina participate.

At the U. of La Serena, the master conference was held by Dr. Fabián Jaksic Andrade, biologist, academic at the Pontificia Universidad Católica and director of the Center for Applied Ecology and Sustainability, who in 2018 was awarded the National Prize for Natural Sciences of Chile for its contribution to the creation of a school of ecology and biodiversity in our country.

The presentation by the biologist specialized in the field of community ecology research was titled: “History, ecology and impacts of the invasion of the European rabbit in southern South America” and was part of the activities of the Second Binational Congress of Scientific Research Chile - Argentina that takes place from November 6 to 9 in La Serena as part of the Integration Committee of Paso Agua Negra and the Commission of Higher Education Institutions.

Dr. Fabián Jaksic pointed out that both countries “share many aspects of environmental ecology, community ecology and, at the same time, similar threats. In this particular case, the fact that binational interactions are made, especially pertinent with regard to the threats that occur with the invasion in Chile and Argentina of beavers, red deer, wild boar, bison, rabbits, the hare, from the Argentine parrot. We have a tremendous exchange on both sides of the Cordillera that we are addressing independently, but to the extent that we realize that colleagues on the other side of the Andes have similar problems, we can manage to confront these situations both in research and in practice. control of exotic species (…). “There are situations in which binational strategies are required to confront these threats to biodiversity.”

After the presentation by Dr. Fabián Jaksic, presentations began on the thematic lines of “Energy, Present and Future” and “Geoscience, Environment and Sustainability”, by representatives of the universities of La Serena, Católica del North and National of San Juan and the Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones, CEAZA.

Collaborative work between institutions

During this meeting, the Rector(s) of the host university, Dr. Jorge Catalán, along with stating that the participation of the University of La Serena in this Congress is an example of the institutional commitment to strengthening scientific research, and the generation of knowledge and its dissemination, highlighted the collaboration between institutions of sister nations and “the commitment of our institutions to not only be reproducers of knowledge, but also to be generators of knowledge, but not of any kind of knowledge, of knowledge that has local, national and international relevance and relevance. That is a great challenge for our institutions.”

For her part, the president of the Commission for the Integration of Higher Education Institutions of the Coquimbo Region, Adriana Ledezma, expressed that “the first objective of this Congress is to deepen the collaborative work between the Higher Education institutions of both countries, with the I wish that joint research that favors Chile and Argentina can originate. As for the second objective, it is the possibility of promoting dialogue between researchers from the Coquimbo Region with the Province of San Juan, and without a doubt we have already been experiencing this since the first days of the Congress. In this way we are preparing to face and repair common problems that require solving with a joint scientific-technological response. This is how this academic event becomes a substantial link in the Chilean-Argentine integration process.”

The Binational Congress brings together nearly 200 researchers, academics and undergraduate and graduate students from Chile and Argentina, who participate in a series of master classes, presentations and posters.

Its organization is in charge of the Commission of Higher Education Institutions of the Coquimbo Region, made up of the University of La Serena, Universidad Santo Tomas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Universidad Central, Technological University of Chile INACAP, Universidad Bolivariana, Universidad Pedro of Valdivia, University of Aconcagua, Professional Institute of Chile, Institute of the Central Valley and AIEP Professional Institute, in addition to the National University of San Juan and the Catholic University of Cuyo.

The initiative was born within the actions framed in the Plan for Institutional Improvement of Pedagogies -PMI FIP ULS1501- as a way to promote pedagogical research within the University of La Serena.

One of the objectives of the PMI FIP ULS1501 is to strengthen the academic body that intervenes in the training programs of the eleven pedagogy courses taught by the university, and one of its strategies is associated with the incentive of Applied Pedagogical Research, the that involves all actors in the educational system.

In this context, through the Integrated Management of Pedagogies Unit (UGIP), various workshops have been developed that have addressed the main aspects of Applied Pedagogical Research, in accordance with the main goals of the project. One of the recent actions aims to create a Nucleus that promotes new research in the area of ​​education, mainly in the lines of pedagogy, innovation and didactics.

The proposal is developed within the “Applied Pedagogical Research” subunit of the UGIP, coordinated by Dr. Fabián Araya, and was presented to the Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte, and to academic researchers interested in being part of this initiative. “The Institutional Improvement Project has highlighted the importance of research in the context of pedagogy as a tool for producing and updating knowledge and as a way to diagnose the weaknesses and strengths of teacher training programs. and in this line it is important to generate actions that are sustained over time within the University,” explained Dr. Haylen Perines, in charge of leading this work together with the group of UGIP researchers.

In this way, the team seeks to generate a research core in initial teacher training, which increases scientific knowledge and productivity levels in pedagogies. Furthermore, this purpose is consistent with the current requirements demanded by national accreditation systems.

To date, the team has defined possible lines of research focused on Didactics and learning, Educational innovation, Professional development, and Curriculum development and learning evaluation, topics that are addressed in coherence with the CNA and institutional reality.

“The great work to follow must focus on developing and concretely establishing the lines and sublines of the Nucleus, applying for projects and linking with other universities in other research fields, so that each effort and work contributes to the macro objective of the University , which is strengthening the initial training of teachers,” emphasized Dr. Araya.

Profile of the researcher

On the occasion, librarian Francia Meza, who is part of the Applied Pedagogical Research subunit, conducted a brief training on the creation of a correct researcher profile, specifically on the ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) platform.

“The researcher's profile is a personal account in a certain web environment or database, which allows managing a scientific signature and thus facilitates research activity. There are different platforms where you can create researcher profiles. One of them is ORCID, which is mandatory, since all publication magazines are requiring it and even as part of the curriculum,” explained the professional.

The ORCID profile unifies the work developed by researchers on a single platform, giving the public greater accessibility, location and visibility, which facilitates the dissemination of publications.

For more information about the Nucleus, contact Dr. Haylen Perines at email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Source: Unit for the Integrated Management of Pedagogies (UGIP) | PMI FIP ULS1501 – CM ULS 1755

The platform has active courses such as EducaMus Profes, offered as training, and EducaMus Estudiantes, aimed at students of Pedagogy majors.

Currently, music education is included as a mandatory curricular discipline in Chile's primary school system. You are assigned up to two pedagogical hours of class per week. Of the teachers who teach it, only 2,25% have musical training (Ministry of Education of Chile (2015). The rest have the obligation to teach the subject, but they lack the didactic and musical skills necessary to do so. These skills They should be developed during their initial training period.

Despite this evident need, several studies show that the majority of Chilean universities do not take into account basic musical education in the curricula of pedagogical careers. On the other hand, full-time teachers dedicate more than 40 hours a week to their work, making it very difficult to attend in-person continuing training courses. Continuing training centers (CPEIP) do not offer continuing musical training courses and there are not many private offerings of this type of courses either. As if that were not enough, the supporters of educational centers do not generally have a proactive attitude towards the continuous training of their teachers, not recognizing the hours of training in their work day. Finally, in the new teaching career, the updating needs of teachers are added obligations for them and directly affect their performance.

In order to collaborate in the improvement of this training, EducaMus has been designed, an online platform hosted on the Digital Campus of the University of La Serena and designed to host massive online courses. These courses are dedicated to initial and continuous training of the teachers of our country, both in Basic General Education and in Kindergarten Education. Specifically, the active courses within the platform are EducaMus Profes (offered as a training course) and EducaMus Estudiantes (offered for students of Pedagogy majors). The advantage of these courses is that the user sings using the computer microphone and the software evaluates their intonation. Also, the user hits rhythms using computer keys, with the program associated with the course in charge of evaluating its rhythmic accuracy.  

The EducaMus courses have been carried out within the framework of the “Digital Platforms for Artistic Education” project, financed by Conicyt through the Advanced Human Capital Attraction Program. Its director is Dr. Mario Arenas, from the Department. of Music from the ULS, and the guest researcher is Dr. Jesús Tejada, from the U. of Valencia.

Getting to know the different campuses of the house of higher education was one of the objectives of the visit.

The Accompaniment and Effective Access to Higher Education Program (PACE) of the University of La Serena coordinated a visit to the state campus for the third-year students of the Pedro Pablo Muñoz School in the commune of La Higuera, in order for them to learn about college life.

The students' visit began at the ULS Headquarters with the cordial welcome of the Academic Vice-Rector and institutional representative of the PACE Program, Dr. Jorge Catalán, who delivered a message of optimism and focused on wanting is power, appealing that students should make an effort, be responsible and fight for what you want with conviction.

On the other hand, the Executive Coordinator of the PACE ULS Accompaniment Program, Viviana Romero, expressed her pleasure at the students' interest in getting to know the university environment. “I am very happy to be able to welcome all of you today and see in your faces the desire to get to know our house of higher education, since becoming part of the experience of knowing other realities is essential to expand your world and, above all, expand your odds. You come from a commune far from the university centers and that is why I hope that the visit is beneficial and that you enjoy it,” she expressed during the welcome.

Along these same lines, the director of the Pedro Pablo Muñoz School, Alejandra Zúñiga, said that “I sincerely have no words other than gratitude for the management of the PACE Program and the wonderful reception by the Academic Vice-Rector and the PACE ULS team; I feel that it is wonderful that my students have this opportunity to get to know the University from the inside, since it is not the same as what we or the school teachers can tell, adding that we are in La Higuera, a commune relatively far from educational institutions. higher, so living the experience is something else.”

On the other hand, the PACE ULS Coordinator and social assistant of the school, Claudia Vega, stated that “it is a great opportunity for the children to approach the university environment early, this makes them begin to visualize themselves within this world from now on or in the case of some of my students has awakened their interest in entering higher education and, furthermore, the fact that they were able to be part of university classes, as well as learn about different areas of the University, seems to me to be a success.”

As for the visit, it included a tour of the Andrés Bello Campus facilities and a visit to the Department's classes. of biology. Also the visit to the Isabel Bongard Campus, Irma Salas Library and the Ignacio Domeyko Campus.

The student of the Pedro Pablo Muñoz School, Gastón Castillo, stated “it has been an enriching experience, since all of our course was able to get to know the University from the inside, it is completely different from being told to live it, I liked it a lot and in addition to that they give me desire to continue studying and learn more about what courses are taught and all that.”

Source: Press PACE ULS Program