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The article describes some of the changes in the curricula of the Escuela de Trabajo Social de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) (School of Social Work of the University of Costa Rica) from 1950 to 1980, a period during which social work came of age. The results of the analysis show the main influences of the period, including national historical events and differences with curricula proposed by the United Nations (UN), influences that later informed the debate on Latin American social work. The paper points out the importance of recognizing these influences as the primary critical impulse behind the development of curricula for Costa Rican social work in the 20th century. [TRANSLATION]

The present paper is aimed at introducing elements for discussing the consequences derived from a process called 'institutionalization of knowledge.' The matrix presents a number of five theses dealing with concept of deprivation of knowledge legitimacy of common people exerted by institutionalized intellectuality. Hence, the article makes reference to institutionalization processes of knowledge based on the school and its curriculum, implications of what is called the alliance between the wise intellectual people and knowledge as a means of power, and finally the importance of establishing research competences in teacher training programs for them to understand as well as empower them with the reality they are living, i.e. communities of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents descriptive cross study on teachers at the School of Medicine of Universidad de La Sabana in the year 2005. The teacher's role as provider of information, role model, facilitator, evaluator, planner, resource designer, researcher and change agent was investigated and evaluated by means of degree of importance and performance application. The teachers have a clear idea of the importance of roles as well as of the fact that they lack the competences necessary for their applicability. Therefore, applicability is low. These findings are similar to the ones in other world-wide studies and highlight the need of paying attention to the pedagogical training and formation of the doctor-teacher. Such training and formation should enhance and improve the teachcability of medical, social and populational sciences of the curricular scheme in a medical school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of the reorganization of the study plan, the problem of curricular reforms in medical schools is delimited by clarifying key concepts. Differences between curriculum and study plan are established and an attempt is made to study in depth the concepts of integrality, organisation and flexibility as variables contributing to the complexity of present curricular development in order to propose evaluation as necessary and sufficient, keeping in mind that evaluation establishes the news of difference which is essential in processes where information flow is always open to reality. The paper states that-as it happens in complex systems- evaluation in the systems of medical education is a systematic ordering of the observation of the news of difference within the different stages of the process. Its main functions and characteristics will allow for the gathering of information which is useful to the process itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General science development and Cuba education achievements together with systematic improvement of Academic Curriculum in Cuba universities demand a permanent refinement of performance attitudes of teachers as well as of students. On the other hand the need arises to involve students to community endeavours science the very first years of their career and this, in turn is reflected into necessary changes to their hydraulic engineering academic curriculum with purpose of graduating a high quality engineer. As a consequence of the above, the Irrigation and Drainage engineering has been adapted to this new situation. In this paper consideration is given to the main changes that have been introduced in the discipline in the context of the new academic curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the problems we have in a current society educated in the visual culture to teach Audio-visual Narrative in such a way that it takes a constant work of learning in the practical activity. Using this criterion, we begin studying the previous cultural parameters and continue with the practices, evaluation methods and feedback between pupils and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of a more inclusive project focusing on students' trajectories during the first year in different university undergraduate programs, a line of work is found which questions the "supply of education" which students receive in their first-year university courses. The perceptions that professors in the first year have about their students become the standpoint from which some of the characteristics of those supplies of education are derived and structured, and in that sense they become objects of interest in this paper. A first systematization of these perceptions from material collected at interviews with first-year professors is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the current proposals about ethical education in psychology undergraduate programs within Mercosur regional context, particularly in Argentina. The organisation processes carried out by the psychology professional community of Mercosur is analyzed. As a consequence of it, the Psychologists' Committee of Mercosur and Associated Countries was founded with the main objective of establishing common standards for psychology undergraduate education and the ethical framework for the regulation of the profession. With respect to Argentina, the processes generated by the psychology academic community are analyzed. With the creation of the Association of Psychology Academic Units and the cooperation of the Federation of Argentinean Psychologists (Fe-PRA), the psychological community has put forward a threefold proposal: i) Activities related to the Professional Degree, ii) the Direct Risk involved in an unethical practice, and iii) the Curricular Contents that should be taught at university. Ethical and deontological contents are included in all the mentioned activities. Finally, it is worth noting the importance of the developments related to professional ethics and deontology taking place in Mercosur context as well as in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we characterize the term reflexive mathematics teacher in order to elucidate teacher training programs and analyze teachers' development and its relation to their professional knowledge. We describe some of the research variables that are used to characterize and train reflective mathematics teachers. With this purpose, we introduce some theoretical considerations and present some of the research projects we are currently working on concerning the reflection processes of preservice teachers in a methods course of the mathematics degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To take right decisions in medicine from an ethical-moral point of view is a complex matter and to learn to do it must constitute one of the goals of medical training. A way to contribute to achieve this is to integrate a complete theoretical training in Medical Ethics and Bioethics with a true correlation in clinical practice experience. To take into account what students think and feel about the issue is a good reference to start. In the present paper the results on a workshop about the topic, carried out with medical students in advance training, are presented together with reflections raise in the workshop development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical Education is a rich field in gender meanings and principles. Within school practices, it is thus positioned as one of the spaces for the strongest identity building as regards gender and sexuality. These meanings and principles, understood as a result of social and historical practices, classify and order the world and experiences of girls and boys in a segmented, fragmented way. Based on the relevance of a broad notion of curriculum as an articulating mechanism of some knowledge-power relations at school, this paper provides a comparative approach in Physical Education, from the standpoint of gender and the production of sexual difference. By curriculum we understand not only the prescriptive framework featured in the "written" curriculum, but also the "hidden" curriculum, i.e., those social mandates that regulate schooling practices. Our analysis is focused on the Physical Education curricula in Canada and Argentina. First, we look at the curricular issue as seen on the written text, focusing on Health and Physical Education curricula in the province of Ontario, Canada, and the area of Physical Education in Argentina's introductory courses at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Then we analyze some aspects of the hidden curriculm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previous condition to effectively insert the nature of science in the science school curriculum requires setting up the agreements on the main features of the curriculum contents that should be explicitly addressed into the science classroom. This paper shows some agreements that have been attained through an empiric methodology of research, which is based on the assessment of the questions included in the Questionnaire of Opinions on Science, Technology and Society (COCTS) by a panel of 16 expert judges. The reached consensuses are limited here to the specific issues of the epistemology of the science, which not only include issues of philosophy of science but also the definitions of science and technology and their relationships. The results display both some appropriate traits as well as those more numerous inadequate traits revealed by the empirical analysis that has been carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has the purpose of contributing evidence about the complexity to which the schools and the teaching staff have to afford when they have to deal with the changes of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and their educational use. We begin with the presentation of the investigation from which this text comes and argue that the professional histories of life constitute important evidence to understand what is happening at schools. Then, we focus on the situation of the ICT in education. All the teachers who participate in this investigation, except one, said that ICT were the cause of transformations and important changes for education and also an object of personal and professional questions and reflection, whether they were used in the classroom or not. That is why we studied this topic from three different angles. In the first place, we briefly referred to how the ICT ate changing the way in which people relate with information and how they place themselves in front of learning; to face difficulties of education systems and start using ICT oriented to get ah improvement of school and the learning process of students and teachers. Finally, and before the conclusions, we take some extracts of the professional lives of eleven teachers that offer their corporized experience in relation with the ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives a summary of how the different information and communication technologies have changed the societies which have used them through the years. Consecration and adoption of different technologies have fulfilled beliefs and expectations that eventually have come true. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What can we do to help children and teenagers to learn about media? The author thinks that we have to encourage media education at schools on the basis of distinct general objectives and setting up special programmes to learn media in formal contexts. Moreover, this paper also considers that it is necessary to do the same out of school working with a global proposal that integrates all contexts and includes teachers training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper places Greece in the European media education context analysing teachers' attitudes towards media. It describes a practical proposal consisting in the implementation and development of a media literacy training programme for Elementary School based on investigation and learning theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents the culmination of the study about the evolution of Hydraulic Engineering Education in Cuba from their beginnings until the present time. Since the establishment in 1976 of the Ministry of Higher Education (MES) a process of continuous improvement in the curriculum of studies of university careers was accelerated and the Higher Polytechnic Institute José Antonio Echeverría was founded. When the so-called plan A was established in 1977-1978 Hydraulic Engineering had three specializations. During the following years plans B and C and their variants were applied until the present time that e new curricular design is under elaboration (plan D). It must be said that the plan C that started its application in 1990-91 represents the most profound and radical transformation in the field of curricular design seen until this moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issues about the nature of science are today considered a core content of the scientific and technological literacy for all. However, the inclusion of the nature of science in the science school curriculum is not easy and requires some conditions. One important condition is setting up previous agreements on the specific features and contents of the nature of science that could be translated into the classroom practice for its explicit use in school science education. This paper reviews some contributions of the science education research to achieve this condition. Finally, an empiric methodology designed to achieve consensus on the nature of science is put forward; the description embraces the agreements on the appropriate as well as on the inappropriate features of the nature of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of the curricula of the Librarianship Course of the Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FEC) of the Unesp Marilia is analyzed, beginning with the first of them, that was based on the Minimum Curriculum established by the Ministry of the Education in 1962, until the most recent, of 2003, based in the Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais, established in the "Diretrizes e Bases" Law of 2001, having as a focus the study of the so-called "instrumental" subjects, that are today part of the Nucleus of General and Instrumental disciplines. Usually, curricula research is focused in the specific subjects, letting apart the generic competences. This paper evaluates how these disciplines has contributed to the education of the professional librarian in the different curricular reformularizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper consists on carrying out the methodological foundations for the structuring of the discipline program Engineering Sciences for the new "Study D Plan" of the Career Agricultural Engineering. This program is characterized by a systemic focus of the contents; a design of the system of abilities of the subjects that conform it in general way; it also incorporates the semipresencial methods during the teaching in not more than 20% of the total of hours; the actions are introduced to carry out in an explicit way the formation of the transcendental values of the career; the concrete actions for each curricular strategy settle down, the computer level that is demanded by each subject and the English language standing out. There are twelve recommended aspects to improve or to be incorporated as novel in this program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the objective of studying the role of initial teacher education in the construction of primary teachers' identities, this paper characterizes and relates the teacher education curricula concerning 4 periods of the last 30 years (through documental analysis) with the basic professional professional identities, the professional trajectories and the current identities of teachers formed in those periods (through biographical analysis). The conclusions indícate that each particular curriculum produces different basic professional identities (from 1974 on with a quality which is, at least, average), but also that, in the professional trajectory, these identities end up by being similar and, generally, less rich. It is emphasized the need to invest, in elementary school, in the quality (exigency) of the working contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at taking into consideration the necessary curricular innovation that, due to the TIC integration must be presented at present-day educational centres. It also reflects on the optimizing degree and the most direct consequences of its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents partial results of the research project Graduate Tracer Study for Education Science with a concentration in Education Administration, carried out between 2003 and 2005. It discusses the general theoretical framework of this type of studies, notes relevant aspects of the historical-social development of modern careers, and gives an overview of graduate profiles and of the degree track of Education Administration at the University of Costa Rica. Partial results are presented on the opinion of the 2003 graduates in Alajuela, along with the information analysis obtained through the focal group technique. Some conclusions are highlighted in relation to the advantages and limitations of the tracer studies for change and innovation in the college curricula in general, and particularly, related to the experience of using this tool in the department of Education Administration. [TRANSLATION]

This paper's objective is to analyze if teachers performing development in nursing care subjects corresponds to competence education, according to planning, implementing and assessing teaching and learning processes. It is based on a qualitative and descriptive study, implemented during the first term of 2005 at La Sabana University. One of the main findings associated with subjects programming is that subjects have the basic elements of competence education regarding to know, know how and know how to be. However this programming does not express the methodology to be implemented in the classroom, nor is present a particular relationship among didactic strategies, assessment process and competences achievement. Class developing evidenced that teachers clearly and concisely handle the topics; in spite of that, there are differences between an amateur teacher, who is focused on content, and an expert, who is able to naturally cope with processes and analysis fostering. The most common methodology used by teachers in the classroom is asking and answering inquires, while presenting or debating any particular topic. Regarding the assessment process, it is mainly focused on content, except for practical subjects where know, know how and know how to be are assessed as a whole. Self-evaluation and co-evaluation are still pending of implementation in order to complete the picture of competency education. Recovery, a valuable tool for competence education, is applied to all the subjects; it allows to individual assessing of students achievements, setting up an improvement plan leaded by teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to provide an approach to the possibilities that the curriculum of the higher degree in music based on the LOGSE offers for the study of traditional music. It makes a revision of what the different territorial curricular developments and the diverse conservatories - especially the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya - have considered as traditional music, in the light of the traditional and the popular as well with reference to their own traditions and those of others. Moreover, it takes into account the specificity of this music because of its special social significance and its presence in some conservatories primarily conceived for other purposes. Thus, it seems advisable to be especially cautious in the implementation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Educacao & Sociedade is the property of Centro de Estudos de Educacao e Sociedade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper makes an presentation of the methodological process followed for the opening of the bachelor's degree in Archival Science of the University of Costa Rica, as a further education for undergraduates, that not only takes into account the instruments used in the institution for these cases, but also the evolution experienced by the career, international tendencies and the definition of curricular areas as a form of giving answer to market demands. Therefore, the steps followed and the way in which the career approach to them is stated. Finally, the proposal is presented as a form to illustrate the application of the methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the atomic structure is fundamental in order to understand the behaviour of materials; for this reason, the curricula of introductory courses to engineering generally include subjects regarding such knowledge. Teaching and learning of atomic models entail a large number of problems, as shown by research works that have been carried out, aimed at finding alternatives to solve such problems. Based on a critical assessment of the results of research works taken as a basis for this paper, a proposal for the teaching and learning of atomic models was designed; it is based on the theoretical foundations of the didactics of experimental sciences and was carried out with first semester students of the engineering programs. The didactic and pedagogic strategies included in the proposal aimed at helping the students to achieve a conceptual, methodological and axiological change which would lead them to build up their mental models of the atom in such a way that they were in accordance with the admissible mental rigor for engineering programs and with scientific atomic models. Also, it was expected that the students would develop explanations on materials behaviour, conceptually and methodologically based on the atomic models that they had rebuilt. The results gained with the instruments that were designed to give judgement on the learning results that were produced, contrasted positively with the formulated hypotheses as a good number of the students involved were successful in achieving the objectives. Likewise, most students acknowledged the importance of learning these subjects in order to build up their knowledge of materials, whose significance in their professional formation is widely recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper is presented a theoretical articulation of the notion of "mathematical convention" as knowledge generation process in the framework of the socioepistemologic approximation in Mathematics Education. To achieve this, is done a brief description of the basic notions of the socioepistemologic approximation and are presented the basic evidences that allow to interpret the "mathematical convention" as a generator of knowledge in this framework. Later we are sketched some examples that give evidences of the operation of this notion as constituent process in the construction of the mathematical knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show that the hidden curriculum approach is relevant for math teaching at different levels of the French education system, from senior high school to tertiary education to first year of math secondary teacher training. Considering that the existence of learning necessities non explicitly cared about by any institution is a phenomenon that is impossible to avoid, we propose several ways to manage with the difficulties that creates this curriculum ignored by the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the theoretical basis of a didactic proposal. It begins from the consideration that the difficulties in the learning process of mathematics among university students of sciences and engineering areas, not only obey to causes of pedagogical or technical order, but fundamentally, in the way in which the mathematical knowledge is selected, articulated and organized with didactical aims. We considered then, that the determination of "what to teach" and not only "how to teach" positivist classic posture is a didactic problem. This search has allowed us to formulate a reasonable >conjecture: it is possible to reconstruct the didactic discourse of a part of the mathematical analysis taking as a central idea the prediction notion >and its links with the Taylor's serie. In another sense, this hypothesis indicates that it is possible to redesign the curriculum and its didactic discorse around of that, we considered, was indispensable for the genesis of the knowledge. We will consider to the Taylor's serie, its contextual antecedents, motivations, situations, temporary evolutions, presentations on classic texts and possibilities of use, some still unexplored in current texts. The article provided with the theoretical base that sustained a Doctoral research in the field of Physics Didactis in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the very beginning of this new century the university has been living paradigmatic changes. Reflecting on new qualifications that can fulfil the new professional demands is not the only issue on discussion. If the European Space of Higher Education (ESHE) really aims to achieve its foundational objectives, it should incorporate in the curriculum some citizenship related subjects. This paper aims to explain what competences should become part of the curriculum so that the university itself contributes in the education of citizens ethically and morally compromised with our society and with the development of a European citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the situation of teacher education in Europe at the beginning of this century? It is not self-evident that we know all the answers, or at least some of the more important ones, in spite of so many specialised publications dealing with developments in European teacher education. This paper provides some insights into what institutional teacher education measures in the 25 Member States are promoting by way of convergence. Teacher education institutions are far from being the same in structure, professional culture, curriculum development ... across the European Community. There is growing realization of the importance and complexity of the integration of a European dimension in teaching and teacher education. And, no doubt, the development of a European dimension as inherent part of teacher education is now linked by a common professional concern: the making of competent teachers, more transparent structures and educational quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyze the tendencies in engineering education facing the new schemes of globalization and fast technological growth. Labor internationalization is a current phenomenon, which produces competitive schemes of educational and professional performance, such as accreditation systems. The organism in charge of accreditation programs point out that the most important aspect in engineering programs is curricula, which needs to consider five groups of courses: basic science(30%), engineering science (34%), Applied engineering (15%), social science and humanities (12%) and other courses (8%). An important branch of engineering is the agricultural engineering whose challenge is to preserve the environment and at the same time to maintain a healthy economy. In this prospective the most important agricultural engineering areas in the future will be: Biotechnology in post harvest processes of fundamental products, polluted residue treatment, robotics and automation. The future engineer should be capable of assimilating current technology in order to improve them to be used by investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the results of a larger project on The curriculum in action and the role of text books which attempt to understand the processes of internalisation of knowledge from a epistemological and political perspective. The research material combines data collected from recorded material, class rolls, school folders, text books and interviews to school teachers. The subjects of the study are English and Math teachers of third level of the General Basic Education (GBE), and of the two post GBE level (Poly-modal) in Santa Rosa. The data for the analysis have been organized according to these areas: 1) Treatment of teaching contents, 2) Teachers' attitude towards contents, 3) Sources of information, 4) Teaching and learning activities. From the data analysis we observe that the school would neither help students to reconstruct acquired knowledge, nor would it lead them to use it consciously in their everyday life, losing the school its educational role. The procedural and conceptual contents analysed in all the cases show that the information overload -with a mailed fragmentation of content and alienated from the students' common experience-, are present in most text books. In this way, books do not contribute to structure a line of thought and lose their educational purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of virtual media as a support to formal higher education requires a methodology able to support the teacher's specific educative needs and the pedagogical requirements of diverse subjects and knowledge areas. This paper presents the methodology used on the construction of Learning Virtual Environments as a complement to the face to face activities of ten different disciplines courses on the Universidad de los Andes, at Bogotá (Colombia). The procedure and balance of this methodology are part of the reflection contained in this document. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we intend to analyse the express curriculum of primary school in the Franco period, to identify the changes experienced in the school education way of approaching the study of the social code, traditionally linked to the subject of urbanity, as a result of the social, political and educational changes of this long historical cycle. For such purpose, we focus on two main sources, namely legislation, which reflects the true educational goals of each political stage along the regime, and texbooks, loyal picture of the practical application of such goals in the schools. Among the most important changes in the approaches to the social code in education during the Franco period, the analysis shows a clear trend towards the feminisation of urbanity as a subject, which strengthens its presence in the specific girl's curriculum, with its visibility degree depending on the subject designations. Other significant changes are the gradual dissolution of the discipline into related fields of study, linked to modern concepts of civic and social education, and its curricular approach in the scope of habituation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present the need to introduce recent History in the secondary school curriculum, discuss the difficulties implied in such decision, challenge the objections raised by the "Historical Corporation" and advocate for its importance in the development of individuals as citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how some of the most important concepts of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) can be expressed in terms of Implementation Theory (IT). First, it explains some of the expressions used by the NIE, such as institutions, transaction costs, property rights and methodological individualism. Afterwards, it gives a wide definition of the IT in order to establish correspondences between both theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the origin and the philosophical assumptions of the Spanish reform typology of contents, assumed by Argentine educational transformation in the 90s. It tries to show that the theses of social constructivism --rooted in Kantian idealism-- and of psychological formalism, are still in force. The criterion of selection of curricular contents --social significance-- is also discussed, attempting to show that the basic principles assumed by this criterion lead to relativization of pedagogical statements. The need to approach curricular theory from a metaphysical and anthropological foundation is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws a blueprint of communication as a field of knowledge focusing on the specific case of Colombia. It analyzes communication as an interdisciplinary field, the tension between research and teaching, and the characterization of Social Communication and Journalism training in Colombia. It concludes that the contexts of globalization and the job flexibility have affected the development of the curriculum resulting in a fragmentation and hyper-professionalization of the field. These multi-dimensional and transversal contexts demand that the research goes beyond the one-dimensional and functional thinking. It also demands creative students who can also be innovators and who can be able to understand the complexity of the times by proposing alternative solutions to the current problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Working Papers on Operations Management is the property of Editorial UPV and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)