The state campus is part of the Learn Chile project, within the framework of its internationalization work.

Learn Chile and ProChile organized the Seminar “Development Cooperation and Internationalization as a Positioning Strategy for Higher Education”, which took place in Talcahuano, Biobío Region, and was attended by representatives of the University of La Serena, through its Office of International Relations and Faculty of Sciences.

At the meeting, experts from the Chilean Agency for International Development Cooperation, National Accreditation Commission, Fundación Imagen de Chile, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of the Interior and Public Security analyzed the role of the academy in the international cooperation, together with the impacts of the new quality assurance system of higher education and the current immigration legislation on international student mobility.

The main advances and challenges faced by Learn Chile and Chilean higher education institutions in their international opening processes were also presented.

ULS Alliance - Learn Chile

It is worth remembering that Learn Chile is a sectoral brand formed by 24 Chilean Higher Education institutions, among which is the University of La Serena, within the framework of its internationalization work. As a result of this work, the state university of the Coquimbo Region participated this year in the NAFSA international fair, which was held in Philadelphia, United States, and which brought together more than 9.500 people from 3.500 universities from 110 countries around the world. In addition, it is projected to take part in another continuation project of Learn Chile.

See information about Learn Chile, Higher Education, internationalization and student mobility.

Source: Learn Chile

The work was presented at the XXIV National Meeting of Educational Researchers (ENIN) 2018, which had the support of the Ministry of Education and the sponsorship of CONFAUCE, and took place between August 29 and 31 at the University of Antofagasta.

Constituted as a space that allows sharing work in the field of education, the XXI ENIN Meeting brought together different actors from the school system, who in this version reflected on the “Challenges of Education in the XNUMXst Century.” On the occasion, the thematic axes were related to Educational Inclusion, Innovation in Research in Education and Pedagogy, Neurosciences, Teacher Professional Development, and Educational Policy and Management.

In this context, Dr. Hugo Tapia, researcher at the Integrated Management of Pedagogies Unit (UGIP) of the University of La Serena, participated in the Innovation in Education round table: ICT for education, with the presentation “Adaptation of an instrument for measuring TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy And Content Knowledge) in in-service teachers in Chile”, which presented the bases of the questionnaire and its respective validation.

“As part of the DIDULS PR 17511 project 'Characterization of Pedagogical Technological and Content Knowledge in Teachers of the Province of Elqui', the adaptation to the local context of the Schmidt et al. questionnaire was carried out to measure Pedagogical Technological and Content Knowledge. practicing teachers in the Chilean educational system. That is, we took the proposal of Schmidt and his team, which was focused on measuring this type of knowledge in teachers in training, and we adapted it to use it with Chilean teachers who are working in schools. This involved adapting the contents of the questionnaire as well as the language used to refer, for example, to the curricular bases,” explained the researcher.

Challenges of XNUMXst century Education

Regarding the central theme of the meeting, Dr. Tapia stated that “XNUMXst century education faces challenges that, in one way or another, it has had to consider before: helping to humanize human beings. Without delving into this expression, I believe that the school system is in a context in which the recognition and respect of identity, as a condition for the construction of a freer and more equitable society, emerges as a permanent requirement. In this regard, every process carried out and every result sought must focus on each person being able to fully develop their identity with others. Because, and here a second challenge is present, it is not just an isolated identity, but it must be carried out in an educational context that encourages it to occur for one's own well-being and that of the nearby and global community.

Furthermore, he added that a third challenge arises related to “redefining learning and how to achieve it in the educational process, building learning environments more open to change, that take advantage of the opportunities that technologies give us, for example, to redefine and humanize them; permanently evaluate the knowledge to be addressed and update it; Listening to students, giving them a more leading role in the various stages of their training, among others, are aspects that must be considered," said the researcher.

In this way, the conferences held in three days allowed the participants from the different national universities to carry out an academic reflection on the projection of education in the current century.

“The meeting was an important space to learn about the experiences of other institutions and researchers on issues such as teacher training, research on teaching and learning strategies, public policies, among others. But it not only becomes a space to learn what others are researching, but also to get to know the researcher as a subject with important professional experience. Knowing what researchers do in other institutions, their concerns, interests and challenges allows us to humanize and contextualize the work that exists behind each paper presented. It is also important to comment that this type of meeting allows the creation of work networks that can be very beneficial for our work,” he concluded.

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

At the meeting, the academic presented the topic: "Impact of the Independence process on the regional society of Atacama and Coquimbo 1810-1820."

The Director of the Department of Social Sciences of the University of La Serena, Mg. Hernán Cortés Olivares, participated as a speaker at the International Symposium: "Views on the Chilean Independence Process", organized by the History Commission of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH), OAS Chile Section and the Extension Center of the Senate of Chile.

At the meeting, the academic presented the topic: "Impact of the Independence process on the regional society of Atacama and Coquimbo 1810-1820."

The event held on August 30 in the premises of the former National Congress (Santiago), had the participation of renowned historians from the Chilean Society of History and Geography of Chile, National University of Cuyo, National University of San Luis, University of Concepción, University of Los Lagos and University of Chile, and the director of the Senate Library.

The students witnessed a rehearsal by the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra and attended a talk given by the composer and academic, Fernando Guede.

The students of Architecture Workshop I, led by academics Álvaro Saavedra and Alejandro Orellana, participated in a series of activities together with academics from the ULS Music Department.

During the morning, they were received by the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra, in the general rehearsal of their VI Season Concert “Aires De España”, under the direction of the North American David Handel. The participation of the Architecture students in the rehearsal, framed in the didactic activities of the subject, had the purpose of strengthening the students' development of observation through an acoustic-visual sensory experience.

During the afternoon, the students attended a talk given by the composer Fernando Guede, an academic from the Department of Music. On this occasion, Professor Guede presented some of his compositional works, explained the ancient links between architecture and music, and delved into the introspective dimension of the creative process.

For professors Saavedra and Orellana, in addition to the cultural contribution to the training of students, “these activities represent a great opportunity to link with related disciplines within the university community, with the institutional will to deepen ties between academic units.”

The internship took place at the Chemistry Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso.

Within the framework of actions linked to the generation and implementation of technological resources for science education, ULS academics, Francisco López and Claudio Palma, from the Department of Biology, and Carlos Urrutia, from the Department of Education, carried out an internship two days in the Chemistry Didactics Laboratory of the Chemistry Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso.

The objective of this internship was to generate learning sequences aimed at incorporating augmented reality into secondary education content. On the occasion, the academics were able to work with Dr. Cristian Merino, in particular areas linked to research in science didactics and development of teaching-learning experiences linked to the use of technological resources as mediators of learning in science.

Professor Francisco López, director of the project, pointed out that “this visit was established within the framework of the set of LIITEC-ULS national research internships scheduled for this year, taking into account the strategic alliance with the Chemistry Didactics Laboratory of the Institute. of PUCV Chemistry, and allowing progress in the development of theoretical frameworks linked to the representations of science that high school students construct, as well as qualifying the work carried out by LIITEC in the design of teaching and learning experiences.

For Professor Urrutia, the experience was highly valuable to the extent that “it constituted a unique opportunity to evaluate the progress of the LIITEC-ULS project, in terms of the review and analysis of measurement instruments linked to both the implementation of resources "technological tools with augmented reality, as well as the measurement of representations of particular biology content in high school students." This, he added, paying special attention to the importance of “feedback the processes of design and development of technological resources of the laboratory, and which are in charge of Dr. Mauro San Martín, academic of the Department of Mathematics of our institution.”  

The internship has made it possible to verify the quality of the work carried out by LIITEC, given the permanent need to submit the different products involved in the project to the judgment and analysis of external specialists. In this sense, Professor Claudio Palma emphasized the relevance of carrying out field experiences that make it possible to come into contact with specialists in the subject, valuing the opportunity to access it, “especially in the face of the need to adequately guide the development of learning sequences linked to the technological resources that LIITEC generates.”

Currently, the LIITEC-ULS project is on the verge of beginning field work, aimed at determining the impact of the incorporation of augmented reality on the representations that high school students have regarding biology content. This is part of the collaboration agreements signed by the laboratory with the Gregorio Cordovez and Gabriela Mistral high schools in La Serena.

The event took place at the University of Atacama, Copiapó, on August 16 and 17.

Different topics related to teacher training were addressed at the III Conference of the State University Network for Initial Pedagogical Training, RUEFIP, an opportunity that included the participation of the coordinator of the UNESCO Technical Secretariat for Regional Teacher Strategy, Carlos Beca. ; the representative of the Center for Improvement, Experimentation and Pedagogical Research (CPEIP), Magdalena Fernández, and the coordinator of the Continuing Education Network of the Consortium of Universities of the State of Chile, Pablo González.

“As a Network of teachers we are preparing guidelines, criteria, forms on how to address quality teacher training systems at the national level. What we are going to do now is to articulate ourselves with the undergraduate network through the quality network, in such a way that we can both develop different elements and be able to have only one product that gives us the identity of State universities," he explained in on the occasion the National Coordinator of the RUEFIP network, Dr. Roberto Canales.

The day included the participation of fifteen state universities of the RUEFIP, which worked in workshops focused on the three objectives set by the Network: Quality Assurance, Pedagogical Research and Generation of principles oriented for an Initial Diagnostic Evaluation for the FID.

In this context, and representing the University of La Serena, Dr. Fabián Araya, alternate executive director of the PMI FIP ULS1501 and the Integrated Management Unit of Pedagogies (UGIP) participated; Dr. Sandra Álvarez, academic coordinator, and the researcher Dr. Rodrigo Ruay.

“The role that the team assumed in the RUEFIP Conference was to participate in the work tables, whose topics responded to the three objectives set by this Network. Likewise, the team's participation was based on disseminating central aspects of our PMI, its progress and challenges,” explained the academic coordinator.

Among the conclusions obtained in the conference, it was agreed to continue with the Network work, socializing the tensions and challenges that each higher education institution presents in terms of teacher training.

The next meeting will take place at the University of Chile during the month of November, an opportunity in which the progress of each house of study regarding the three objectives set by the Network will be analyzed.

It should be remembered that there are sixteen state universities that make up the RUEFIP network, among which are the University of Atacama, the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences, the University of La Frontera, the University of Santiago de Chile, the University of Playa Ancha, the University of La Serena, the University of Antofagasta, the Arturo Prat University, the University of Chile, the University of Los Lagos, the University of Magallanes, the University of Valparaíso, the University of Talca, the University of Tarapacá, the University of Bío-Bío and the University of O'Higgins.

Source: Integrated Pedagogy Management Unit (UGIP) | PMI FIP ULS1501 - CM ULS 1755