Search

This paper studies the effect of transfers from the General Participations System (SGP) on Colombian municipal development indicators during 2003-2017. A Municipal Development Index is proposed, considering indicators of educational achievement, health coverage, and crime rates. This index is studied in the municipal context using spatial autocorrelation techniques. A panel-type econometric model was estimated to evaluate the effect of transfers on the index. The results suggest that increases in education, health, culture, and recreation transfers generate positive, differential effects on the index. Transfers to the health sector have the most significant impact on the index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the externalities generated by the implementation of the instrumental policy of school breakfasts in Santiago de Cali. It starts by a historical analysis of the educational sector in Colombia, pointing out its pros and cons, which are given by the lack of coordination of the resources allocated and the policies. Also, a reflection about the meaning of public policies’ coordination and institutional change, which are integrated by the transferences of policies implemented through legal instruments, is proposed through the examination of public policy and public management. In this regard, the State has played a relevant role regarding the obligations in the educative sector: disponibility, access, quality, and permanence. Finally, the paper reveals the results of such instrumental policy in the educative sector and the whole city, showing evidence regarding the creation of public value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is the impact assessment analysis of the pilot project Rede@prender carried out in Colombia under the Programme EUROsociAL within the overall context of the Euro-Latin American cooperation. The first part of the paper introduces to, on the one hand, the Euro-Latin American cooperation model and the Programme's overall philosophy, while on the other hand presents the contents of the Colombian policy on education in citizenship competencies within which context the project was carried out. The second part elaborates an in-depth analysis of the main characteristics of the pilot project and tries to give account of its impact and achieved results. Finally, the third and inal part of the text contains some considerations on the application of the evaluation criteria, best practices and lessons learned from the project Rede@prender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explain the factors that determine the gap in the level of English language proficiency between public and private schools, and to determine whether it has narrowed over time as a result of public policies to generalize bilingualism in Colombia. The language scores on the Saber 11 tests for 2008 and 2013 were analyzed for this purpose. An educational production function that involves family, personal and school factors and an approach to the unobservable component of the skill is introduced. The difference in performance has remained more or less constant, but with a slight reduction; however, the unexplained portion, attributable to the students' motivational component, was found to have declined considerably, indicating that public policies are working in terms of helping students to become interested in learning a foreign language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an empirical study whose main purpose is to determine the scores of technical efficiency (ET), pure technical efficiency (EPT) and scale efficiency (EE) in the district educational institutions (IED) of Santa Marta through the data envelopment analysis, and, at the same time, to establish protocols of improved for inefficients institutions. Using CCR-O (Charnes, Cooper y Rhodes) and BCC-O (Banker, Charnes y Cooper) models, the study evaluates the relative efficiency of 44 public institutions, which are analyzed in two categories: Group 1 (IE with less than or equal to 2000 students) and Group 2 (IE with more than 2000 students). In general terms, the empirical findings reveal that 20% of the evaluated institutions are CCR-O efficients and 43% are BBC-O efficients. On the other hand, 80% of inefficient educational institutions have operational scale (EE) issues and 57% also have administrative difficulties (EPT). The results also show that the worst extent of performance is IE John F. Kennedy (ET=0.304), (EPT=0.886) and (EE=0.343). Moreover, the IE Normal Superior para Señoritas (efficient IE), which is evaluator of 17 inefficients institutions, and San Francisco Javier College, which evaluates 15 inefficients institutions, are configured as the institutions that present the best practices and in role models. Finally, IED Nueva Colombia, IED Normal Superior San Pedro Alejandrino and IED Liceo del Sur Víctor de Lima are efficients institutions, however, they are not evaluators of none inefficient institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops elements of reflection on the constituent components of the Franciscan identity, from the place where educational speeches are exercised, as a proposal for the training of trainers from the appropriation of values and Franciscan principles as a proposal of life, in the midst of a world immersed in a profound crisis of sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Colombian Government has adopted a policy to improve communication skills in English at all education levels and especially in higher education, but little has been written about the achievements of the policy. This paper examines changes in the distribution of students' English proficiency level between the start and completion of their higher education programs. The results suggest an improvement in the distribution after graduating from higher education, characterized by a greater impact at higher scoring levels and an increased polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to analyze the progress and challenges of inclusive education in Colombia, through a comparative analysis of policies and strategies developed within the country and the measures taken by Spain in the same direction. Nine categories were defined for this analysis, based on the key elements identified in the international agreements with names preceded by "UNESCO": 1) the inclusive education approach, 2) focus groups, 3) responsible parties and resources, 4) teaching and learning strategies, 5) curriculum design, 6) educational levels, 7) teacher training, 8) community involvement and 9) evaluation and monitoring. The sources of information include official documents from the agencies in each country that oversee and direct educational services, as well as national legislation currently in effect. The results of this analysis indicate the two countries in question are not so far apart in terms of their legislation and recognition of the principle of inclusion. This shows Colombia has adapted its policy on education to reflect international guidelines. However, it is clear the implementation of these guidelines is still far from inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2004, the district of Bogotá has built massively schools of great capacity and infraestructure known as Megacolegios (Mega-schools). By 2010, the city counted with 42 new school which were built in the areas of the city with the highest demand for educational access. This paper uses matching techniques to measure the impact of the megacolegios in the students performance on the Saber 11° estandarized test. The results show that the megacolegios have no impact on the students performance. Nevertheless, The megacolegios do mitigate the negative relation between performance and some students characteristics like over age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The empirical literature on the impact of violent conflicts on educational outcomes has focused on the impact of violence on human capital accumulation, neglecting other relevant outcomes such as educational equity. Using the empirical implementation of Ferreira and Gignoux (2011) of Roemer (1998)'s conceptual framework of equality of opportunities, this paper estimates the impact of conflict intensity on educational equity in Colombia, as measured by the school performance in the Saber 11° test, for the period 1997-2010. To deal with potential biases due to reverse causality or omitted variables, we use the apprehension of murderers by the public force as a source of exogenous variation of violence in an instrumental variables estimation. The results suggest that conflict increases equality of opportunities in educational attainment. By increasing school dropout, conflict induces a positive selection in terms of ability and effort for the proportion of students who remain in the system. This suggests that caution is needed when interpreting patterns of educational equity based on outcomes rather than processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research context that this article seeks to show the different models of college, from the evolution and development of universities and their management in Latin America, particularly in Chile, and how they affect the development of societies, both past and contemporary, highlighting some similar and different characteristics that they have. It should be noted that the Chilean model of education has been considered to have a great impact on some countries in Latin America, especially in Colombia. Moreover, the general objective of this research was the reflection on the reforms of higher education in Latin America and the impact these reforms have had in recent years in Chile, which seem to have created a high dissatisfaction in the social context, due to the excessive commercialization of educational services. For the development of this paper an extensive review of the literature, which accounts for the phenomenon to be investigated is made and semi-structured interviews were carried out to experts in the field, which helped to understand what authors explain in the literature concerning models and educational reforms in Latin America and the current situation of education in Chile, thereby achieving a clear vision of the reality of the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present the organization and implementation of an immersion course in Spanish as a foreign language (SFL) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) of Australia, and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ), Bogota, Colombia. The course was conducted over two weeks in November 2012, and 10 Australian students participated. We present the experience and its results, among which we highlight the improvement in communicative competences, as well as cultural and intercultural competences of students, especially for having worked aspects intrinsically related such as language and culture. It is concluded that this type of courses allow a greater linguistic development and an invaluable cultural and intercultural learning for students that are in the acquisition process of the so called intercultural communicative competence [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to clarify the current situation of the Deaf community in Bogotá in regard to the permanence and access to higher education. The study was carried out based on the analysis of the current national and international legal framework that relates to people with disabilities, and specifically to the Deaf community. With a deep analysis of the existing legal framework, this paper will attempt to determine whether or not this framework is sufficient in fully guaranteeing the right to education of Deaf people, taking into account the variables of permanence and access to education, and the discussion on whether the Deaf community may or may not be considered a linguistic minority. Furthermore, this investigation will attempt to determine the flaws in case law, legislation and public policies that have thus far been implemented, while also highlighting policy recommendations that can be adopted from a constitutional standpoint on the fundamental rights to equality and education for people with disabilities, all under the social model that defines this concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The communications revolution has led to important transformations in people (Adell, 1997). In this new age, the importance lies on human capital, in the way the human being captures and verifies information, in their ability for getting the information and transform it into knowledge (Cordeiro, 1998; Consejo Pontificio para las Comunicaciones Sociales, 2002). The impact of this revolution has permeated various spheres, including the education sphere and has brought both positive and negative incidences. Among the positive ones, it is important to highlight a greater coverage, new models of teaching-learning, and more flexibility, all these features contribute to the universalization of education. Unfortunately, the cyberspace in the educational process has generated deep changes in behavior of students and teachers, in their habits and values, and not all of these changes have been beneficial. Some behaviors that undermine ethics have become popular, being the plagiarism one of them. The aim of this paper is to analyze the university plagiarism problem. We present a review of the regulations and laws on copyright and we make an analysis on the impact of plagiarism. Finally, we propose a series of actions that universities can implement to counteract this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exploration about the perception of a cooperation mechanism based on confidence to overcome social dilemmas among students characterized as digital natives in the classroom in a Colombian university. A mixed research method was conducted in the first semesters of interdisciplinary courses of the Faculty of Education Sciences of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia. The results suggested that the mechanism for cooperation based on trust promoted the collective action of the students in the classroom. As a conclusion we suggest that the adoption of rules, strategies and standards which promote confidence building could improve the level of cooperation in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the media competence conceptualization and its treatment in curricula at Primary Schools of Colombia and Spain. We specifically focus the language area, because it is one of the most related area to the development of media competence. We propose a revision of the situation in both countries from a series of dimensions, with the aim to check whether the proposed curriculum of each country ensures or enhances the development of media competence and determine which dimensions are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the goal of building a more detailed critique regarding the concept and practice of certain cultural categories in Colombia, this study intended to analyze legal, political, institutional and academic on Colombian public education. Culture has played a major role in the public arena of Colombia at the beginning of the century. As a means of development, promoting national culture became the aim to achieve progress. However, much remains to be done in Colombia to get a proper understanding of the approach and the role of culture as an essential element for development. The aim of this paper is to analyze the main views built in the last three decades (legal, political, institutional and academic), this analysis shows that not only have not been consistent but sometimes have been contradictory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an article of reflection out of the research project Argumentation and critical thinking developing in digital learning contexts. An initial phase was designed to understand the theoretical elements of critical thinking and to identify the students' perceptions on the course Building Citizenship and on the Philosophy Licentiate Bachelor programme at the Open and Distance National University --UNAD Colombia. The perceptions are in line with the critical thinking theory and also aimed to elaborate a concept that allows for founding the building of later didactic strategies. In that sense, the paper discusses the theoretical established referents for the comprehension of critical thinking from the views of the Frankfurt school and from the Latin-American postures, and the considerations given by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the differences in the degree of professionalization of teachers in Colombian educational institutions. We break down the inequalities in the supply of teachers according to their degree of professionalization using the Theil index. Next, we estimate the determinants of professionalization, taking into account characteristics of the school and the municipalities where the institutions operate. We evaluate two hypotheses: first, whether more public spending on education personnel by local authorities has helped to improve the level of teacher training in government institutions; and we assess the impact of the teacher professionalization law of 2002 on the degree of teacher professionalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a research on Information and Communication Technology -ICT; it specifically focuses on computer use and knowledge of the Internet existence by vulnerable population. La Escuela Busca al Niño (EBN-Santa Marta) Project was selected as a context of research. This was operated by Universidad del Magdalena and was supported by Ministry of National Education, UNICEF, ECOPETROL and Santa Marta Council. The project aim was to provide care for children and adolescents in vulnerable conditions, outside the education system, and their families. In this study, a characterization of 2481 persons of family cores beneficiaries of project was done. The results showed that access levels to computers and knowledge of Internet existence was very low, highlighting that 94% of the population under study has not access to a computer and do not know about Internet existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of research on socioeconomic inequality in Bogota's secondary education (year 2009). The results show that socioeconomic student level is significantly associated both to educational access (public or private), and to educational quality (ranking in State test - ICFES). This demonstrates that in Bogotá not only does each social class study separately, but also that rich people have access to a better education than poor people. This situation of social segregation (apartheid) aggravates some of the already pervasive Colombian problems: lack social mobility, economic inequality and illegitimacy of the political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein we present some features of the epistemological crises in the educational field, behind the notions of development and communication for development; we also outline some emerging outlooks for each of those features. Thus, in this paper, we share some significant experiences in community communication from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Cali campus) as initiatives that attempt to redeploy the value of different knowledge fields, of intercultural education, of new ways of arranging economic and social life beyond development, as well as the value of invigorating and making visible such transformation proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper picks up the discussion on Norbert Elias' social development concept, as a theoretical model which may contribute to the sociologic and historical studies on indigenous peoples in Latin America. Highlighting the case of Manuel Quintín Lame in Colombia, overcoming the traditional visions of social scientists and aiming at new cognitive instruments is suggested here, in order to achieve a reading in the light of notions of figuration, process continuity and intercultural education. The aim is to go beyond the genealogic explanations with the subsequent search of alternatives in process sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experience of project incubation for business initiatives is presented in the paper. That experience was developed by the management of technological based projects at Free University of Cali, with the participation of students and professors of the University. There were formulated 18 projects in different economic activities, managing to reach the business plans, to incubate a 38% and to formalize a 17%, with an expectation about the achievement of the total incubation of the projects; taking into account the low desertion level to the program and the market, technical, legal, financial an economic viability that show the business plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compiles some of the main extant reflections on the teaching of French as a Foreign Language in Colombia and its developments vis-à-vis linguistic policies. Our purpose is to start a research revolution in the teaching of French as a Foreign Language that includes new teaching contexts, such as social practices in and among French and French speaking sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on cognitive science's postulates, we propose an innovative way to teach journalism. The method stands on three main points: freedom vis-à-vis narrative approaches, playfulness vis-à-vis the appropriation of knowledge, and room for rectification in the process of evaluation. This paper collects the developments of an experience where this teaching method was applied during a class-course of journalism, having previously analyzed the competence and skills with which the students first arrived, and finally proposing a flexible methodology that articulates the contents, the workshops, and work produced with each group's profile. The strategy here set out, was selected as the best educational innovation experience at Universidad del Norte in 2007, and is updated every semester through course feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical study of the different procedural systems is a pending task in our legal field. Additionally, it is difficult to find academic texts that develop a global revision and a historical reconstruction of the essential characteristics of the main procedural criminal systems in our time, more precisely, of systems that would allow us to comprehend our existing system and its evolution. This paper's intention is to locate such characteristics and examine said evolution in the context of the new Accusatory System and its Criminal Procedure. In order to do so this study will verify which characteristics and institutions still remain, and which have been transformed or removed from the Colombian criminal procedural system. All this information has been compiled in order to undertake a historical evaluation of our systems of Criminal Procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining Human Capital and Signaling theories and a previously unavailable data source, this paper seeks to explain recent graduates' labor income in Colombia. Data from a National Education Ministry survey is used given its comparative advantages on providing specific information such as field of study and features of the education institution. The main result is that some specific features as male gender, residence in Bogotá, having parents with higher levels of education, or a degree obtained from a private institution, enhance the probability of obtaining a higher labor income. Some regularities as field of study and occupational position also explain higher wage levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of research carried out to evaluate the proposal and the effectiveness of the Colombian model for the accreditation of academic programs by analyzing both its bases and the results of implementing the process in technological programs. Taking what was found as a starting point, the paper puts forward a proposal to improve the accreditation model in the following aspects: widening the participation of the members of the institutions in the evaluation process; designing a model for outside evaluation to encourage communication between those who apply to the evaluation and the program to be evaluated; supporting the process of institutional improvement; diversifying the accreditation organisms and models; and creating an external evaluation as a tool for the Consejo Nacional de Acreditación's accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual education has taken hold within the Latin American educational system as a methodology that provides vocational training to people whom, for various reasons, cannot access classroom education. This paper aims to review the literature on the current state of virtual education in Colombia and the factors associated with dropout in Virtual Learning. As findings during the literature search, we encountered that during the period between 2000 and 2012 in Colombia 38,136 students were enrolled in this modality, demonstrating the immense acceptance of these programs and the impact thereof. However, despite the number of enrolled, dropout rates are high. According to the System for Dropout Prevention in Higher Education, in 2013 there were a total of 48,850 students who dropped out of distance education programs, which represents 38.2% attrition and therefore a retention index of 61.8%. These figures suggest the need for studies to determine the factors that lead students to make the decision to desert. In this regard, the Colombian context studies of this phenomenon are in very early stages and most have adopted theoretical models grounded in distance-traditional education. However, some factors that may be associated with dropout in this modality are related to technical aspects and socio-cultural characteristics of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]