L2 Reading During Higher Education in Colombia

This article aims to analyze the challenges that higher education in Colombia will have in the coming years based on the analysis of national and international trends. The study was mixed in nature and descriptive in nature in which multiple data collection techniques were used. Initially, the analysis of documentary sources was used to collect the information of interest and, subsequently, the Delphi survey and the Regnier Abacus were used, with the participation of experts, to prioritize relevant trends. In this regard, thirty-two (32) national and international trends are identified, among which aspects such as the global and regional scarcity of resources, the development of ICT, the increase in climate change, the expansion of nanotechnology and the technological convergence, among others. Subsequently, due to the large number of trends, they were systematized and consolidated into four (4) future vectors, namely: 1) Demography; 2) Resources; 3) Technology; 4) Higher Education Institutions. Finally, based on the vectors, three scenarios were constructed that constituted challenges for higher education in Colombia.

While positive psychology has drawn increasing interests among researchers in the second language (L2) acquisition literature recently, little is known with respect to the relationship between positive psychology and mental processes during L2 reading. To bridge the gap, the present study investigated whether and how positive psychology (self-efficacy) influences word reading strategies during L2 sentence reading. Based on previous studies, eye-movement patterns with first-fixation locations closer to the beginning of a word can be characterized as an attempt to process the word with a local strategy, whereas first-fixation locations farther away from the beginning and closer to the center of a word can be considered as an attempt to use a global strategy. Eye movements of a group of Japanese learners of English (N = 59) were monitored, and L2 reading self-efficacy was used to assess the participants’ positive belief toward their L2 reading skills. Based on Fredrickson’s (1998) broaden-and-build theory, we predicted an effect of L2 reading self-efficacy on participants’ first-fixation locations. Results from mixed-effects regression showed that while reading strategies depended in part on other factors such as L2 reading proficiency and word properties, L2 self-efficacy influenced reading strategy. The present data suggest that while more self-efficacious L2 readers prefer a more efficient global strategy, attempting to read the word as a whole word, less self-efficacious L2 readers tend to employ a local strategy, focusing more on sublexical information. These findings lend support to the broaden-and-build theory in the context of L2 processing. The present study has implications for how positive psychology works along with L2 proficiency in the development of strategic selection during reading.

The objective of this study is to analyze the factors that determine the inequality in writing competence at higher education in Colombia. A linear hierarchical econometric model was estimated for obtaining the factors that determine the quality in higher education. Quality was used as a proxy through the results in the Saber Pro test in writing competence for the year 2014. The main results were that there is inequality in quality between the groups of students (90%), universities (5.8%), departments (2.3%), and regions (1.9%), where the first group presents the biggest gap. The factors that determine the difference in writing competence are: personal (being a woman, unmarried, and the value of the tuition); family (occupation of the mother and father, having benefit in health, having dependents, being granted a scholarship, having a greater number of academic credits, among others; and regional (dwelling in regions with high levels of poverty).

The interest in including mobile learning (m-learning) in training processes has grown considerably. In recent years, there is evidence of a progressive research production on the subject; especially in Latin America, it is seen as an alternative to bridge the educational gaps. In the context of higher education in Colombia, most university students work full-time and study at night, it makes it difficult for them to do internships and makes them feel vulnerable when taking on job positions associated with their profession. Our goal is to create a virtual internship laboratory supported by a mobile application developed specifically for this purpose. It combines Problem-Based Learning (PBL) with Action- and Decision-oriented Research (ADR). Through a descriptive qualitative study, a mobile application is designed and validated to promote the university-business relationship, it was named Academic Program for the Relationship with Companies (PARCE, i.e., Programa Académico de Relacionamiento con Empresas). The introduction contextualizes university education in Colombia and the receptivity of mobile learning, subsequently, the article describes the technical characteristics and qualities of the developed mobile application, as well as the methodology, approach, and data collection process. The information is analyzed by descriptive statistics categorized by dimensions to assess the impact of the mobile application on internship processes in a higher education institution. The academic performance was positively assessed with respect to the development of skills and professional abilities acquired and enhanced thanks to the flexibility of the mobile application and the PARCE program. Although it has been designed especially for internship processes, it is adaptable to different areas of knowledge and educational levels. The most recurrent rating of the program, on a scale from 1 to 5, by entrepreneurs was 4.82.

The aim of this paper is to examine the state of higher education in Colombia and estimate the efficiency of different academic programs from institutions of higher education in the country. To estimate efficiency measures, we use stochastic frontier techniques and the results of the Saber Pro test. Estimations evaluate the effect of variables associated with the teaching staff and infrastructure of institutions, and environmental factors that are not directly under the control institutions, such as the family income and parental education. Results highlight the importance of environmental factors, suggesting that while many institutions have margin to improve their efficiency, many of them are restricted by the influence of students’ socioeconomic factors.

The study examined whether individual differences in high school first language (L1) reading achievement and print exposure would account for unique variance in second language (L2) written (word decoding, spelling, writing, reading comprehension) and oral (listening/speaking) proficiency after adjusting for the effects of early L1 literacy and verbal skills, cognitive ability in L1, and L2 aptitude. Participants were administered measures of L1 word decoding, spelling, reading comprehension, phonological awareness, receptive vocabulary, listening comprehension, and cognitive ability in 1st through 5th grades; L2 aptitude in 9th grade; and L1 reading achievement, L1 print exposure, and L2 proficiency in 10th grade. The findings showed that L1 reading achievement in 10th grade made significant and unique contributions to L2 word decoding, L2 reading comprehension, L2 listening/speaking, and overall L2 proficiency after adjusting for the effects of L1 literacy and verbal skills, cognitive ability in L1, and L2 aptitude. Subsequent analyses showed that L1 print exposure variables made unique contributions to L2 reading comprehension, L2 decoding, L2 writing, L2 listening/speaking, and overall L2 proficiency even after adjusting for the effects of L1 literacy and verbal skills during elementary school, cognitive ability in L1, L2 aptitude, and 10th‐grade reading achievement. The results suggest that stronger L1 reading skills are related to stronger L2 outcomes and that opportunity for and engagement in L1 literacy experiences may also be related to differences in L2 proficiency.

IntroductionEnvironmental education (EE) has been extensively studied and promoted in Latin America, particularly in Colombia, through educational policies and regulations at all educational stages. While EE is well-established, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is gaining increasing global importance, especially with the advent of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite this, there remains a lack of knowledge, application, and research of ESD within engineering programs in higher education. This study aims to explore these gaps and assess the acceptance of ESD compared to EE among engineering students in Colombia.MethodsA survey was conducted among 406 engineering students from eight universities in Colombia that offer undergraduate engineering programs. The survey included both Likert scale questions and open-ended questions. The objective was to measure students’ knowledge and perception of ESD, identify the roots of EE within engineering programs, and evaluate the progressive integration of ESD in these curricula.ResultsThe results revealed the deep-rooted presence of EE in Colombian engineering programs and a gradual incorporation of ESD into these curricula. However, significant gaps were identified. The majority of students demonstrated limited knowledge of ESD and Sustainable Development (SD). Furthermore, there was a noticeable lack of academic areas or subjects within the engineering curriculum that specifically promote the knowledge and application of ESD. Students’ responses also highlighted the unusual convergence between EE, a traditionally conservationist field, and ESD, which is more development-oriented.DiscussionThis research identifies several critical challenges faced by engineering education in Colombia. The limited awareness of ESD among students suggests a need for enhanced integration of sustainable development concepts within engineering curricula. The lack of academic subjects dedicated to ESD further exacerbates this issue. Based on these findings, a transition strategy is proposed to bridge the gap between EE and ESD in Colombian higher education. This strategy aims to provide a smoother transition and better integration of sustainable development principles within engineering programs, ultimately supporting the development of engineers equipped to address contemporary global challenges.

Dropout from Higher Education in Colombia: A Peer Effects Approach

As a result of current economic conditions, developing countries have had to re-examine their methods for funding higher education. The World Bank has suggested several policy changes to help countries such as Colombia cope with the situation. The goal of these changes is to allow more equitable access to education, to increase the resources flowing to education, and to derive maximum benefit from this increase in funds. The proposed changes include decentralizing management, expanding private schools, and introducing student loans and selective scholarships, and cost-recovery in higher education.

Towards a True Anthropological Service Perspective in Higher Education in Colombia

All countries and particularly the less developed face serious difficulties in the financing of higher education. This has also been true of Colombia, where private higher education has grown more rapidly than the official sector to the point of accounting for 60% of total enrollment due to the State's inability to increase the number of its institutions and to provide them with growing budgets.

La educación superior en Colombia se encuentra en la actualidad en un punto coyuntural de grandes cambios que beneficiarán en forma directa a los estudiantes, los docentes y a la sociedad. La formación médica no es ajena a estos cambios y para fortuna nuestra se plantea ahora un nuevo modelo donde el punto de partida es el alumno, lo que ha permitido buscar otras estrategias cuyo planteamiento es que el trabajo académico no debe reducirse a escuchar las explicaciones del docente o hacer lo que éste señala. La acción del profesor de hoy es más de orientador y facilitador del conocimiento, no un transmisor del mismo para que el alumno tenga una actitud activa y trabaje en la construcción de sus propios conocimientos, de tal manera que aprenda y comprenda los conceptos adquiridos.

This is a reflection that attempts to analyze the role of universities in Colombia during the peacebuilding process. It is necessary to state out the relevant practices that the educational community has been used to empower education during war times. Moreover, it is critical to understand several facts that Colombian higher education has faced during the conflict and the post-conflict. The circumstances that the education in Colombian has been exposed to is just a sign that interventions and improvements are necessary to achieve a sustainable peace were minorities, students who have been victims of the conflict, and individuals that need support through education opportunities need to be a priority. It is important to know how instructional practices have become key tools that contribute to peacebuilding by the teaching of moral values, principles, concepts about the importance of the family, knowledge about good aspects of citizenship, and culture, and leadership strategies which enhance learners’ attitudes towards becoming citizens able to build a strong society that guarantees a positive future to its generations. This article shows that peace education is an essential element in achieving a sustainable peace around Colombia, where thousands of learners have been affected by the war that has frustrated their dreams and has hypnotized their hopes of living in a secure country where the possibilities to achieve a successful future turn each time further. This reflection is a resource for students and teachers to dig in their daily practices and interiorize the manners in which they can contribute positively to peacebuilding from the academy.

<p>Reading Chinese is one of the most challenging tasks for learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL learners). Studies showed that effective use of strategies (e.g. inferring meaning from context) helps to enhance reading comprehension. However, so far, most studies about reading Chinese as a foreign language have focused on lower-level processing (e.g. word learning strategies, the effects of orthography on word acquisition, etc.). Studies about reading process and strategies of adult CFL learners engaging in independent Chinese text reading are extremely limited, and few studies compare reading strategies and perceptions of successful and less successful CFL readers. This study filled these gaps by investigating adult CFL learners’ reading strategies and comparing strategy use and perceptions of successful CFL readers and less successful ones. Using the Compensatory Model of Second Language Reading (Bernhardt, 2005; 2011) as the theoretical framework, this study answered three research questions with sub questions: 1. What are the reading strategies used by adult CFL learners? (a) What are overall reading strategies used by adult CFL readers? (b) What are effective strategy combinations used by adult CFL readers? 2. How do successful adult CFL readers apply and perceive reading strategies when reading in Chinese? 3. How do less successful adult CFL readers apply and perceive reading strategies when reading in Chinese? Qualitative research methods were used to collect and analyze the data. Twelve college level third-year Chinese learners were asked to read a Chinese text, finish a think-aloud task (verbally express their thought process), recall the content of the text, answer several text-related questions, and engage in semi-structured interviews. This study identified 14 bottom-up strategies and 12 top-down strategies. The effective reading strategy combinations used by CFL readers included 1) inferring word meaning by accessing context cues, character meaning, and mental lexical networks; 2) monitoring comprehension by using context information, rereading, summarizing, noticing text structure, paraphrasing, or translating difficult parts; 3) segmenting Chinese words by checking the dictionary, conducting grammar analysis, and referring to mental lexicons. Through comparing the cases of successful and less successful CFL readers, this study revealed that successful readers were good at using context information, monitoring comprehension, and distinguishing important text segments from less important ones. They showed confidence in applying reading strategies and consciously acquired and practiced using strategies while reading. Less successful readers, on the other hand, had more difficulties in decoding characters and words as well as understanding complicated sentence structures. They did not trust their ability to infer about words and phrases, and relied more on the dictionary and translation. In addition, compared with less successful readers, successful readers used more top-down strategies, and they had better metacognitive competences in applying a wide range of strategies effectively. The findings of this study provide useful pedagogical implications to improve Chinese reading instruction and a better understanding about reading Chinese as well as L2 reading.</p>

The paper summarizes the experience in higher education institutions financing, substantiates the trends in their financial support models diversification. The study systematizes approaches to the organization of higher education institutions financing under market conditions and reveals their advantages and disadvantages in terms of the effects at the level of an individual and society as a whole. It defines tools and models of the financing under orientation on demand, supply and strategic purposes of the national development. The study proves the need to substantiate the rational balance of individual and social effects in higher education institutions financing, which can be achieved through a combination of market self-regulation and state regulation of the higher education services market. The system of methods was used in the study, namely: monographic – to define the research aim and conclusions, the method of theoretical generalization of foreign and domestic scientists was used to critically analyze the existing approaches to the organization of financing the work of agricultural education higher institutions. General scientific methods of cognition, such as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, systemic integrated approach, were used to systematize the models of financial support for higher agricultural education institutions and to generalize the conclusions. The paper substantiated that the state should take leading positions in higher education institutions financing. The role of state funding in ensuring sustainable development of agricultural education higher institutions has been identified considering the specificity of educational services and their role in ensuring sustainable development of the agricultural sector of the economy and rural areas. It is argued that the current conditions of free economic development and challenges the institutions face requires focusing on consumer demand and adjusting their educational services through prompt updating the changing educational programs based on modern research, attracting a larger number of stakeholders in the financing model formation. The modern tendencies typical of the market of educational services determining the expansion of the participants of the organization of financing the higher education institutions activity, are considered. The importance of financing elements focused on the innovations development, the role of which will grow in the future, especially in the form of competitive and targeted financing is revealed. It is proved that the results-based approach to the organization of financing also reduces the risks of macroeconomic inefficiency and contributes to reducing the information asymmetry. The obligatory presence of the state in the organization of research funding in higher education institutions is justified due to the positive impact of research on educational services quality and increases their value for an individual and society. The paper considers options for market-oriented higher education financing and the state's demands in terms of the concept of management, public and private funding methods, the education fee. It is established that the changing conditions of the market of educational services require a revision of targets for state funding due to the following factors: increased number of foreign students, use of information and communication technologies, increase in the integration of higher education institutions nationally and internationally. Key words: higher education institution, higher agricultural education, concepts of higher education institution management, methods of free economic education financing, sources of higher education institutions financing.