AVALUO PLUS
Facultad de Artes y Ciencias / College of Arts and Sciences
Universidad de Puerto Rico / University of Puerto Rico
Mayagüez
Editores / Editors
Ricardo R. Fuentes-Ramírez
Departamento de Economía / Economics Department
Rosita L Rivera
Coordinadora de Avalúo / Assesment Coordinator
Junta Editorial / Editorial Board
Carlos Ríos Velázquez, Departamento de Biología y Programa de Biotecnología, Universidad de Puerto Rico – Mayagüez
Ingrid Rodríguez Ramos, Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Puerto Rico – Mayagüez
Eva Rodríguez-González, Especialista en Avalúo, Facultad de Artes y Ciencias – Universidad de Nuevo México
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Sinopsis
El tercer volumen de la revista Avalúo Plus explora el avalúo académico y las áreas que impactan en el aula desde diferentes perspectivas y disciplinas en las artes y las ciencias. Los autores de esta edición representan las disciplinas de economía, humanidades, ciencias sociales, español e inglés.
Cada artículo llama nuestra atención sobre la visión del alumno como participante activo en la dinámica del aula. Los artículos ejemplifican las formas en que la evaluación no se limita a un producto, sino más bien a un proceso de autorreflexión como educador.
Los ejemplos concretos y prácticos aquí incluidos pueden ser replicados e implementados en cualquier disciplina de las artes y las ciencias. Las sugerencias e implicaciones pedagógicas incluyen el uso de los resultados de la evaluación y avalúo para generar diversos diseños curriculares. Otra implicación en varios de los artículos es ampliar la definición de evaluación y avalúo a una participativa y cómo esta perspectiva puede ser implementada en el diseño de prácticas de evaluación y avalúo.
Esta publicación será de interés para los educadores en los campos de las artes, las ciencias y muchas otras áreas de estudio, así como para los administradores, los responsables de la formulación de políticas y los investigadores en el contexto de la educación superior.
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Synopsis
The third volume of the Avalúo Plus journal explores academic assessment and areas that impact the classroom from different perspectives and disciplines in the arts and sciences. The authors of this edition represent the disciplines of economics, humanities, social sciences, English and Spanish.
Each article draws our attention to the view of the learner as an active participant in classroom dynamics. The articles exemplify ways in which assessment is not limited to a product, but rather a process for self-reflection as an educator.
The concrete and practical examples included here can be replicated and implemented in any discipline of the arts and sciences. Pedagogical suggestions and implications include using assessment results to generate various curricular designs. Another implication in several of the articles is to expand the definition of assessment to a participatory one and how this perspective can be implemented in the design of assessment practices.
This publication will be of interest to educators in the fields of arts and sciences and beyond as well as to administrators, policymakers, and researchers in the context of higher education.
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Tabla de Contenido / Table of Contents
Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades del Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades de la Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Mayagüez: Experiencias de aprendizaje en servicio, 2018-2023
Ingrid Rodríguez Ramos & Reinaldo Rosado-Silva 1
Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de Economía en lograr los Objetivos Educativos Departamentales
R. Fuentes-Ramírez
Avalúo y Reflexión sobre Estudios Culturales: Enfoques Prácticos
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences in an Intermediate English Course at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez
Melissa Fuentes-Beníquez
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Rosita L. Rivera & Diana Rodríguez
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities
Eva Rodríguez-González
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……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 32
Ricardo
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Adriana Mangones Cervantes
56
79
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Avalúo Plus
Revista de Avalúo del Aprendizaje 2024, Volumen 3 Número 1, 1-31
Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades del Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades de la Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Mayagüez: experiencias de aprendizaje en servicio, 2018-2023
Ingrid Rodríguez Ramos &
Reinaldo Rosado-Silva
Resumen
Este artículo discute el proceso de avalúo a nivel de curso para la experiencia de aprendizaje en servicio que ofrece el Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades (IUDC) de la Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Mayagüez (UPRM). Se reflexiona sobre el concepto de aprendizaje en servicio (AS) y se destaca que este modelo permite al estudiantado contribuir significativamente a la comunidad mientras desarrollan habilidades y adquieren conocimientos académicos. La literatura consultada respalda los beneficios del AS, incluyendo el desarrollo de competencias cívicas, sociales y académicas. Se recomienda priorizar la necesidad de apoyo institucional para la implementación efectiva del AS. Se estudia el caso de la UPRM y se presenta el IUDC como modelo de aprendizaje en servicio que aplica la Investigación Acción Participativa (IAP). El artículo describe tres proyectos realizados en el IUDC dirigidos al avalúo de curso. Por último, se reflexiona sobre la participación del estudiantado en el proceso de avalúo y se propone transformar el diseño por el de avalúo participativo. En conclusión, el artículo destaca la importancia del aprendizaje en servicio y aboga por enfoques participativos en la evaluación de la experiencia educativa.
Palabras Claves
Avalúo participativo, Aprendizaje en servicio, Investigación acción participativa
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Introducción
El aprendizaje en servicio es un enfoque educativo que integra el servicio a la comunidad con la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. (Sedlak, Doheny, Panthofer, & Anaya, 2003). Este modelo se sustenta en la participación por parte de los estudiantes en actividades con la comunidad como parte del ejercicio académico La idea principal es que los estudiantes aprendan y desarrollen habilidades a través de experiencias prácticas mientras contribuyen de manera significativa al entorno comunitario. Este enfoque promueve la responsabilidad cívica, la conciencia social y el compromiso hacia el servicio, al mismo tiempo que refuerza los conceptos académicos (Asunción, 2017). De esta manera el modelo permite, a las instituciones de educación, responder de manera integrada a tres dimensiones que son: la académica relacionada a conocimientos, otra relacionada al desarrollo de actitudes y formación de valores a través de la reflexión estructurada de la experiencia y finalmente la de contribución real a los asuntos comunitarios. (Maldonado-Rojas, 2020)
Existe amplia literatura justificando el aprendizaje en servicio como modelo o herramienta educativa en la que el estudiantado deja de ser un mero receptor para convertirse en constructor de su propio conocimiento y el profesorado deja de ser un transmisor para convertirse en guía y acompañante en el proceso (Rodríguez & Rosado, 2023). Por ejemplo, estudios consultados por los autores antes citados evidencian que la experiencia en aprendizaje en servicio beneficia el proceso en términos de adherencia, aprendizaje de destrezas, desarrollo personal, responsabilidad cívica, la consciencia cultural, objetivos de aprendizaje de estudiantes (SLO, por sus siglas en Inglés) comprensión de la diversidad, la solidaridad, trabajo en equipo, comunicación, iniciativa, competencias organizacionales, ética, liderazgo, autoestima, solidaridad y conocimiento práctico (Rodríguez & Rosado, 2023) Además de los autores consultados en ese artículo, existe evidencia de cientos de estudios incluidos en trabajos de meta análisis y revisiones sistemáticas de trabajos cualitativos que también apuntan a los beneficios del aprendizaje en servicio en todos los elementos mencionados anteriormente (Eyler, Giles, Stenson, & Gray, 2001; Novak, Markey, & Allen, 2007- extendido por Warren, 2012; Conway, 2009; Celio, Durlak, & Dymnicki, 2011; Yorio & Ye, 2012; Salam, Awang Iskandar, Ibrahim, D.H.A., & Farook, 2019; Culcasi & Venegas, 2023) y un metaanálisis de 35 artículos que evidencia que el aprendizaje en servicio promueve el
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desarrollo de la empatía (Gordon, Pink, Rosing, & Mizzi, 2022)
Aun así, se reconoce que para que se materialice la incorporación de este tipo de estrategia debe existir una apertura a la innovación por parte de las instituciones y el profesorado (Lorenzo-Moledo, Ferraces-Otero, Perez-Perez, & Naval-Duran, 2019) . Lorenzo-Moledo y sus colaboradores (2019) alegan que, aunque la mayoría de los profesores están de acuerdo en que el aprendizaje por servicio es beneficioso debido a que promueve el compromiso y la responsabilidad cívica, la mayoría de la facultad no se involucra en esta práctica en las Universidades, a menos de que sea requisitos de los currículos Afirman también que existen, entre los docentes, algunos detractores del uso del AS por considerar que involucrarse en actividades de servicio puede suponer una pérdida de tiempo que termina restándosele al estudio de las materias. Los pocos artículos que hacen referencia a las actitudes apuntan a que la resistencia hacia el aprendizaje en servicio se encuentra mayormente en hombres blancos de mayor edad con mucho tiempo en la institución, personas que no acostumbran a llevar a cabo trabajo voluntario o comunitario y personas que dan clases en instituciones que no apoyan o favorecen el aprendizaje en servicio (Napoli, 2011).
En el ámbito institucional un factor común para la poca participación es el relacionado a la falta o frugalidad en el apoyo por parte de la gerencia de algunas universidades. Napoli (2011), como respuesta, propone recomendaciones para aumentar el involucramiento de la facultad en este tipo de tarea que incluyen: promover y difundir los recursos existentes que proveen experiencias de aprendizaje en servicio dentro de la Institución, proveer guías para incorporar las herramientas al salón de clases, proveer incentivos a la facultad (monetario, de tiempo o social), articular claramente las expectativas de servicio y convertir esta iniciativas en una prioridad dentro de la misión de la Universidad, las guías del currículo y la misión de los departamentos.
En el Recinto de Mayagüez de la Universidad de Puerto Rico existen dos prácticas que se encuentran en sincronía con las recomendaciones de Napoli (2011). La primera es la inclusión del servicio como uno de los componentes de la Misión de la Universidad. A estos efectos la Ley Núm. 1 del 20 de enero de 1966, Ley de la Universidad de Puerto Rico según enmendada contiene el siguiente texto como tercer elemento en el cumplimiento de la misión:
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Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
“Procurar la formación plena del estudiante, en vista a su responsabilidad como servidor en la comunidad” (p.3) Esta ley incluye entre sus objetivos: trasmitir e incrementar el saber por medio de las ciencias y de las artes, poner los conocimientos al servicio de la comunidad como meta de los profesores, investigadores, estudiantes y egresados de la UPR y el desarrollo de valores, consciencia social y colaboración. (Ley de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, según enmendada. , 2013, pp. 3-5).
La segunda práctica que forma parte de las operaciones de la UPR en Mayagüez es la de promover y difundir los recursos existentes para fomentar el aprendizaje en servicio. Esta se cumple de manera comedida a través de los anuncios en las orientaciones de estudiantes y la promoción a través del Cartero del Recinto 1 .
La recomendación relacionada a la provisión de guías claras para la realización de AS y la relacionada al apoyo a la facultad (de tiempo, financiero y reconocimiento), no se encuentran dentro de la operación regular en la Institución. Ambas recomendaciones están basadas en las razones que la literatura presenta como responsables de la poca involucración por parte de educadores en prácticas de AS Las barreras al logro de la implementación del aprendizaje en servicio como una prioridad (aún con la evidencia asociada a su efectividad) están relacionadas a que los programas y actividades de aprendizaje en servicio no siguen tradicionalmente la ruta habitual en un programa de grado y, a menudo, requieren más tiempo y recursos financieros. Chan (2023) recalca que ante estos obstáculos los docentes deben proporcionar fundamentos y justificaciones de por qué esta pedagogía del aprendizaje es efectiva, eficiente, y digna de apoyo continuo. El monitoreo y la evaluación de los programas de aprendizaje en servicio son vitales, y brindan a los financiadores, la gerencia, los maestros y los estudiantes información sobre los fundamentos del programa, las recomendaciones relevantes y la garantía de calidad. Estos procesos de evaluación ayudan a determinar si el programa funciona para el grupo de estudiantes objetivo, a refinar la entrega del programa, a identificar cualquier inquietud en curso y a proporcionar evidencia y justificación para el apoyo continuo del programa (Chan, 2023)
1 Mecanismo de envío de anuncios a todos y todas las integrantes de la Universidad por correo electrónico
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El aprendizaje en servicio dentro del Instituto Universitario de las Comunidades: Una experiencia interdisciplinaria e intercomunitaria.
El Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades (IUDC) de la Universidad de Puerto Rico – Mayagüez (UPRM) se organizó en 2003 con el propósito de crear un puente entre la Universidad y las comunidades del entorno. Como parte de los servicios, ofrece oportunidades de práctica a los estudiantes utilizando un modelo que por sus características cumple con las condiciones para considerarse un curso de aprendizaje en servicio. (Rodríguez & Rosado, 2023). La experiencia de AS del IUDC incorpora a la facultad, estudiantes, estudiantes mentores y actores de la comunidad en el diagnóstico de necesidades de los sectores vulnerables de la población y búsqueda de estrategias para satisfacerlas. La práctica en el IUDC se caracteriza por una identidad flexible debido a que el estudiantado puede involucrarse de tres formas: de manera voluntaria, como actividad dentro un curso que requiera este tipo de experiencia práctica y a través de la matrícula en un curso INTD equivalente a un crédito. Independientemente del estilo y nivel de participación de cada estudiante, esta experiencia funciona como una clase de práctica que contiene un protocolo en forma de manual (equivalente a un prontuario extendido), un modelo de trabajo, unas estrategias de enseñanza, técnicas de avalúo e instrumentos de evaluación dirigida bajo la supervisión de un profesor o profesora. Esta experiencia promueve la Investigación relacionada al trabajo de Campo a través de la metodología de la Investigación Acción Participativa (IAP) que integra la metodología científica con la experiencia ética de la acción hacia la búsqueda de soluciones (Nelson, 2015). La perspectiva de IAP ha sido hermanada con la historia de los movimientos populares debido a su compromiso con la legitimación del saber local por encima de las tendencias elitistas y excluyentes. Este modelo ganó legitimidad y reconocimiento durante la década de 1980, con los movimientos liberadores de América Latina y ha sido retomada contemporáneamente por estructuras de gobierno y países desarrollados al hacerse evidente que las formas tradicionales de saber que proponen soluciones externas desprovistas de sensibilidad al contexto fallaron, no dejando otra opción que recurrir a estrategias participativas (Cornish, et al., 2023) A lo largo de las décadas, IAP se ha relacionado con tres movimientos sociales contemporáneos: los movimientos de descolonización, la coproducción de conocimiento y la inequidad social y la solidaridad (Cornish, et al., 2023).
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Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
Por esta razón, estas estrategias están utilizándose cada vez más en el trabajo con poblaciones en minoría, oprimidas e invisibilizadas, por lo que es responsable incluirlas dentro del conjunto de saberes en la formación para las Ciencias Sociales y ámbitos relacionados. A estos efectos Perz y Colaboradores (2022) alegan que los días de investigación guiada externamente se convertirán en cosa del pasado.
Reconociendo la importancia de las estrategias de Aprendizaje en Servicio para la formación universitaria, comprendiendo la necesidad cada vez mayor de formar estudiantes en estrategias de investigación participativas, reconociendo que la práctica del IUDC incorpora tanto el aprendizaje en servicio como el aprendizaje de modelos alternativos de hacer Investigación, y entendiendo que el apoyo institucional es importante, los autores consideraron comenzar un proceso de avalúo. El avalúo a nivel de curso es justificado por Chan (2023), cuando plantea que se debe hacer monitoreo y avalúo de este tipo de experiencias con el propósito de presentar a los interesados (stakeholders) información sobre la efectividad, promover el mejoramiento continuo a través del refinamiento de la impartición de la experiencia y justificar la necesidad de apoyo continuo.
El monitoreo y avalúo se comenzó a llevar a cabo durante el semestre de agosto a mayo de 2021 y continúa hasta el presente. El avalúo a nivel curso del IUDC ha programado tres proyectos que esperamos culminar con la publicación de un informe detallado de los resultados, un manual revisado del IUDC y un kit de avalúo del curso/práctica. A continuación, describimos los proyectos realizados que forman parte de este ciclo de avalúo:
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Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
Primer proyecto de avalúo
En 2021 los investigadores nos dimos a la tarea de educarnos con respecto a las estrategias utilizadas en el Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades para organizar las prácticas. Como parte de este proceso identificamos los escritos que había disponible en la oficina de SIEMPREVIVAS 2 desde la que corren las actividades del Instituto (que no cuenta con un espacio físico propio para la gerencia de proyectos). Se leyeron los documentos entre los que se encontraban el Manual de aprendizaje y servicio en comunidades (Canals Silanders & Seijo Maldonado, 2017) 3, formatos de evaluación de estudiantes y mentores, y algunos de los informes llevados a cabo como trabajo final por los estudiantes que se involucran en la experiencia práctica (o curso).
En este proceso de inmersión en la literatura del Instituto nos percatamos de que no habíamos identificado documentos recientes que evidencien el avalúo sistemático y exhaustivo de esta experiencia de enseñanza-aprendizaje. La información que hemos identificado sobre las fortalezas y ámbitos de oportunidad nos llega de manera informal por parte de la facultad que colabora con el Instituto, aquellos que han colaborado en el pasado y los estudiantes mentores, se nos indicó que la práctica/curso en el IUDC es una herramienta educativa que promueve tanto el aprendizaje de destrezas de investigación y entrevista, como un cambio de actitudes por parte de los estudiantes hacia las poblaciones desventajadas del país. Ambas, la primera afirmación y la segunda se encuentran reconocidas en la literatura (y resumidas en la introducción de este artículo), para justificar las experiencias de aprendizaje en servicio. Sin embargo, a los investigadores nos interesó obtener datos actuales del IUDC a través de un avalúo sistemático a nivel de curso que evidenciara lo que ya identifica la facultad y mentores como fortalezas de esta práctica/curso También nos interesó identificar las oportunidades para fortalecimiento de esta experiencia de AS, y revisar las herramientas existentes en el IUDC para avalúo de aprendizaje a nivel estudiante.
2 Oficina ubicada en el área de residencias del Recinto desde la que se llevan a cabo iniciativas de apoyo a las personas sobrevivientes de violencia de género.
3 Quinta edición del Manual desarrollado para el Instituto Universitario para Desarrollo de las Comunidades que explica cómo llevar a cabo las actividades de servicio en las comunidades y como se evaluarán las mismas.
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Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
Discutimos el diseño de un ciclo de avalúo que nos ayudara a obtener información en ciertos ámbitos: Promedio de participación del estudiantado en la práctica, cantidad de estudiantes asignados por cada comunidad 4 , contenido, alineamiento del manual con las mejores prácticas de aprendizaje en servicio, claridad en los procesos e instrucciones para la práctica, fidelidad con el manual, avalúo de mentores y facultad y avalúo del aprendizaje de los y las estudiantes (incorporando conocimiento, destrezas y actitudes). Para evaluar la cantidad de participación se procedió a promediar el número de estudiantes por semestre que presentaron un cartel o estuvieron incluidos en la redacción del informe final 5 . La cantidad de estudiantes por comunidad se evaluó dividiendo la cantidad promedio de estudiantes por semestre entre la cantidad promedio de informes realizados. El contenido se evaluaría a través del análisis de los seminarios, instrucciones, manuales y adiestramientos ofrecidos El alineamiento con las mejores prácticas se evaluaría a través de una tabla en la que se parean las estrategias utilizadas en el curso según determinadas por el manual con la lista de mejores prácticas evidenciadas en la literatura (Honnet,1989; Jones, 29021; Howard, 2023) La claridad en los procesos e instrucciones para la práctica se informaría a través del análisis de contenido del Manual y con entrevistas o encuestas a los estudiantes que han pasado por la experiencia de práctica /curso. La fidelidad se trabajaría a través de un instrumento que facilite el análisis del informe final entregado por los y las estudiantes con el propósito de determinar si los contenidos de este siguen las instrucciones detalladas en el manual. Aun no se han organizado las herramientas para llevar a cabo el avalúo de claridad en los procesos e instrucciones, labor de facultad, mentores y aprendizaje de los y las estudiantes, sin embargo, se plantea la necesidad de identificar entre el manual y los apéndices aquellos documentos y ejercicio que pueden convertirse en herramientas de avalúo.
Durante el año académico 2021-2022 se revisaron todos los informes realizados desde 2018 hasta 2021 con el propósito de determinar el número de estudiantes por
4 Como parte de la práctica del Instituto se asigna los y las estudiantes a una comunidad en algún pueblo de Puerto Rico tomando en consideración las preferencias, el lugar de trabajo y residencia de cada estudiante.
5 La ejecución en la práctica/curso se evalúa utilizando varios criterios: las hojas de evaluación de los y las estudiantes por parte de la comunidad y mentores, un afiche (poster) académico, una presentación oral final de la IAP comunitaria y un informe escrito.
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comunidad y el tipo de actividades o intervenciones llevadas a cabo por los estudiantes
El propósito era determinar si el contenido del informe arrojaba información que fuera de acuerdo al paradigma de investigación acción participativa que informa la práctica y el tipo de estrategias de recolección de datos que los estudiantes tienen la oportunidad de practicar Se determinaron categorías que pudieran ser útiles para lograr este propósito. Las categorías determinadas en ese momento fueron: estrategias de acercamiento a la comunidad, estrategias de recolección de datos, nivel de participación, tipos de intervenciones llevadas a cabo en la comunidad para atender las necesidades de la comunidad y congruencia de las actividades realizadas con el input recogido en la etapa de recolección de datos (Rodríguez-Ramos, Rosado-Silva, & Seijo-Maldonado, 2021) 6 Además, aunque no había sido previsto en el plan inicial de avalúo, aprovechando el momento histórico en el que se encontraba el país (en un cierre por pandemia), se procedió a comparar los tipos de intervenciones llevados a cabo en dos periodos distintos, el periodo pre pandemia y el periodo pos pandemia, utilizando metodología cuantitativa
Luego de hacer el análisis pertinente se encontró que la participación comunitaria promedio fue de 39 comunidades por semestre y el promedio de participación de estudiantes fue de 89 por semestre, lo que implica una distribución de 2.3 estudiantes por comunidad. Este número, aunque cercano al extremo bajo para un equipo multidisciplinario, se encuentra dentro de los límites para los equipos multidisciplinarios en la investigación (Brown, et al., 2023) En términos de las estrategias de acercamiento a comunidad, se procedió a identificar cuáles estaban presentes en los informes, y en que modalidad se habían ofrecido, sin embargo, no se calculó la frecuencia de la inclusión de estas estrategias en los informes. Las categorías presentes en los informes fueron: Reunión organizativa, revisión de informes, búsqueda en las redes, ronda inicial en automóvil 7, lecturas de calle 8 , caminatas por la comunidad,
6 El modelo IAP requiere de una acción para la solución de los problemas o necesidades identificadas en la recolección de datos. Estas acciones tienen que ser congruentes con lo que la comunidad ha identificado como prioridad.
7 El Manual de Aprendizaje y Servicio en Comunidades (Ed. 2017) informa que el equipo debe realizar una “ronda” en automóvil para tener un “mapa mental” de la geografía y tamaño de la comunidad
8 El Manual de Aprendizaje y Servicio en Comunidades (Ed. 2017) operacionaliza las lecturas de calles de la siguiente manera: Este ejercicio de observación consiste en caminar por los diferentes sectores de la comunidad, distintos días, a distintas horas (Ejemplo: días de semana y fines de semana, en la mañana, en la tarde o en la noche).
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entrevistas informales 9 De estas estrategias se contabilizaron las utilizadas para recoger datos en cada una de las comunidades. Las tres estrategias de recolección de datos que aparecían en los informes que fueron: lecturas de calle, encuestas y entrevistas informales. No se evidenció el uso por parte de los equipos de trabajo de otras estrategias de recolección de datos que aparecen listadas en el Manual de Aprendizaje y Servicio en Comunidades del IUDC (Canals Silanders & Seijo Maldonado, 2017) como historias de vida y grupos focales. La siguiente tabla presenta la media por informe de cada una de las estrategias que estuvieron presentes en los informes de los y las estudiantes para una población de 154 informes:
Tabla 1: Media de cada una de las actividades de recolección de datos para un total de 154 informes de agosto de 2018 hasta mayo de 2021.
Tipo de intervención Media
Esta información permite estimar que cada estudiante llevó a cabo 3.41 lecturas de calle, menos de una encuesta y 5.34 entrevistas durante el periodo del semestre. La media de lecturas de calle fue superior a la cantidad mínima de lecturas requeridas por el Manual (Canals Silanders & Seijo Maldonado, 2017) Sin embargo, en dicho documento no se indica un número máximo o mínimo de utilización de las demás estrategias, por lo que no se establece un criterio de comparación utilizando el manual. Para estas se tomará en consideración la comparación temporal. Es decir, evaluar las diferencias a través de Durante las caminatas se observa qué actividades realizan las personas de la comunidad, qué se escucha en los hogares (programas de TV, radio, música); en qué espacios de la comunidad se observan reuniones de personas (identificando género y edad estimada); el espacio territorial (calles, veredas, ríos, quebradas, montañas, árboles); estructuras (de las viviendas, carreteras, negocios, parques); anuncios, promoción de actividades y de consumo así otros aspectos que considere de interés para conocer la comunidad.
9 El Manual de Aprendizaje y Servicio en Comunidades (Ed. 2017). Sirve para comenzar a conocer a las personas y entenderlas, es una excelente estrategia que resulta en conocer nuevos amigos y amigas, así como darnos a conocer en la comunidad. La comunicación oral nos permite intercambiar ideas y conocimientos de una forma efectiva y directa. Se caracteriza por la falta total de estructura y control. Básicamente consiste en acumular y documentar tanta información como sea posible sobre diversos temas que se dialogan
10
Lecturas de calle 7.86 Encuestas .57 Entrevistas 12.30
Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
periodos de uno y medio años. La elección de uno y medio años como periodo a medirse no fue arbitraria, si no que estuvo basada en la disponibilidad de expedientes para revisar en el momento. Había informes disponibles de un periodo de tres años, desde el 2018 al 2021. Dado que el cierre por pandemia había ocurrido a la mitad de dicho periodo, se utilizó esa marca temporal para dividirlos en dos grupos. El análisis (prueba T de Student) de las diferencias relacionadas a los periodos de tiempo arrojó diferencias significativas que evidencian una disminución considerable de participación en actividades en el periodo de cierre por pandemia (Rodríguez-Ramos, Rosado-Silva, & Seijo-Maldonado, 2021). Se evaluarían los datos nuevamente una vez se regresara a la educación presencial.
En términos de la clasificación de las actividades de intervención con necesidades, estas se codificaron y se dividieron en dos categorías principales que fueron: las actividades congruentes con las necesidades identificadas por la comunidad y actividades incongruentes con las necesidades identificadas por la comunidad. Las actividades congruentes fueron: restauración de áreas comunitarias (3), entregas de suministros (4), desarrollo de inventarios de necesidades (7), actividades para unir a la comunidad (10), restauración de viviendas (2), reuniones y correspondencia con autoridades (18), coordinación de asistencia legal (4), orientación sobre violencia doméstica (1), recogido de escombros (4), desarrollo de liderato comunitario (3), asistencia tecnológica (2), planificación (1), ayuda con propuestas (1), educación COVID (3), entrega de opúsculos (1) limpieza de playas (1), otros (9).
Las actividades no congruentes con las necesidades expresadas por la comunidad fueron: Talleres de siembra y huertos caseros (7), Actividades recreativas (10), Charlas, clínicas y ferias de salud (7), entregas de suministros (12), Limpieza de playas (4), Talleres de manejo emocional (3), Limpieza de hogares y patios (4), recopilación de datos para instalación de sistemas 21), recogido de basura (2), talleres (5), censos e inventarios (2), hacer listados de información de contacto (1), redacción de propuestas (1), repartir opúsculos (2), repartir and sanitizer y mascarillas (3), realizar videos para dar a conocer a la comunidad (3), otras (1).
A estos efectos, se operacionalizan las actividades congruentes como aquellas que
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son solicitadas por la comunidad o van dirigidas a resolver un problema identificado en la evaluación de necesidades. Las no congruentes están relacionadas a iniciativas dirigidas por los estudiantes, mentores o profesores de algún curso. En el artículo presentado en el Congreso Hab-Com (Rodríguez-Ramos, Rosado-Silva, & SeijoMaldonado, 2021) se lleva a cabo el análisis de diferencias en ambos periodos de estudio 10 . La siguiente tabla muestra los promedios por informe de actividades congruentes y no congruentes en el periodo de tres años que comenzó en agosto de 2018 y acabó en mayo de 2021
Tabla 2: Promedios por informe de actividades congruentes y no congruentes en el periodo de tres años que comenzó en agosto de 2018 y acabó en mayo de 2021
Promedio
Tipo de actividad
Actividades que atienden las necesidades encontradas en la comunidad 1.27
Actividades que no van dirigidas a las necesidades encontradas en la comunidad 1.23
Total de actividades realizadas 2.5
Como se puede observar el 50.8 por ciento de las actividades que se realizan en la comunidad son congruentes a las necesidades y el 49.2 por ciento son incongruentes. Esta tendencia se mantuvo consistente (aproximadamente la mitad de las actividades no responden a las necesidades comunitarias) aun cuando el número de actividades ocurridas durante la pandemia disminuyó significativamente. Hubo un aumento en el porciento de actividades no congruentes durante la pandemia y una disminución en las incongruentes (ver Rodríguez-Ramos, Rosado-Silva, & Seijo-Maldonado, 2021)
10 El estudio indicó que tanto las lecturas de calle como las entrevistas habían disminuido significativamente. Las encuestas se mantuvieron bajas. (Rodríguez-Ramos, Rosado-Silva, & Seijo-Maldonado, 2021)
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Tabla 3: Porciento de actividades congruentes a las necesidades de la comunidad antes y durante la pandemia
Tipo de actividad
Actividades que atienden las necesidades encontradas en la comunidad
Actividades que no van dirigidas a las necesidades encontradas en la comunidad
Porciento pre pandemia
Porciento durante pandemia
De los resultados de ese primer estudio se concluyó que cerca de la mitad de las intervenciones no cumplían con el criterio de ser seleccionadas de manera participativa como requiere el modelo de IAP 11. También se encontró que, aunque el modelo promueve una variedad de estrategias de recolección de datos (mayormente cualitativas)
los estudiantes se circunscriben al uso de dos estrategias principales que son las lecturas de calle y las entrevistas no estructuradas. Otra observación fue la capacidad que tiene el manual para ser ampliado para incluir otras estrategias de recolección de datos que pueden ser útiles 12
Se especuló sobre posibles razones para que la mitad de las intervenciones cumpla con el paradigma participativo:
11 Contreras, (2002) afirma: «Cualquier acción exógena (intervención, investigación, organización) que persiga el desarrollo de una comunidad o grupo social, debe suscitar la activa participación de la comunidad en el proceso mismo. De lo contrario no puede ser garantía de éxito».
12 Desde el punto de vista metodológico el IAP se concibe como un modo amplio y flexible. Opta por cierto eclecticismo metodológico, aunque se suelen utilizar técnicas de recolección de información de tipo etnográficocualitativo. La flexibilidad se hace necesaria porque este tipo de investigación ofrece volver sobre los datos las veces que sea necesario, para reinterpretarlos y contrastarlos con otras fuentes. El proceso investigación no puede ser lineal, ya que no sólo es necesaria la descripción exacta, sino que también se analizan y recopilan las impresiones del propio investigador (Krrausse, 2002)
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52.33 46.30
48.04 53.4 Total de actividades
100.3 99.7
realizadas
a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
1. Dilatar el comienzo del proyecto 13 puede estar restringiendo las posibilidades de que se dé una experiencia completamente participativa
2. Puede deberse a falta de información sobre cómo llevar a cabo las estrategias participativas.
3. La dificultad para llevar a cabo un cambio de esquemas (de lo paternalista a lo participativo) en un periodo de 6 meses.
También se especuló porqué, dado a que el modelo IAP se caracteriza por la flexibilidad y el uso mayormente de estrategias cualitativas de recolección de datos, los estudiantes solo usan dos de las estrategias:
1. Es posible que el adiestramiento no cubra de manera detallada otros métodos de recolección de datos que vayan más allá de las lecturas de calle y las entrevistas no estructuradas.
2. Los pasos para llevar cada método no se encuentran descritos de una manera sistemática en el manual, lo que dificulta la comprensión.
3. La dificultad para desarrollar conocimiento en métodos cualitativos, llevar a cabo el contacto con la comunidad, recoger los datos y llevar a cabo una actividad en un periodo de 6 meses 14 .
Se recomendó lo siguiente:
1. Llevar a cabo un análisis detallado de las narrativas de las intervenciones dentro de los informes y cuan dirigidas se encuentran las mismas desde un paradigma participativo.
2. Llevar a cabo entrevistas con los estudiantes para determinar manejo del tiempo y si la expectativa de llevar a cabo una actividad al final de semestre es viable en todas las comunidades
3. Llevar a cabo un análisis de contenido del manual para determinar el nivel de detalle en la explicación de las estrategias de recolección de datos.
13 Los resultados de un estudio llevado a cabo por (Ahmed, Bernhardt, & Shivappa, 2023) mostraron que los estudiantes casi siempre postergaban tareas como estudiar para los exámenes y mantenerse al día con las tareas.
14 Zapata y Rondán (2016) afirman que uno de los aspectos centrales es el de construir una relación de confianza entre los investigadores locales y los facilitadores o investigadores externos. Por supuesto, esto toma tiempo y muchas veces hay que superar la desconfianza inicial. Además, en una IAP es necesario tener flexibilidad para adaptarse a los cambios que pudieran darse a lo largo de la investigación y esto cuenta también para los tiempos.
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4. Evaluar el contenido de los talleres para determinar el número de estrategias que se incluyen en los mismos
5. Incluir en los talleres otras estrategias de recolección de datos.
6. Llevar a cabo un análisis de cómo dividen el tiempo los estudiantes al llevar a cabo la práctica/curso de IUDC
Tomando en consideración las recomendaciones se comenzó a pensar en un proceso de avalúo más detallado. Se comenzó la evaluación del manual y se añadieron talleres de mapas comunitarios, fotografía y otras estrategias de recolección de datos en los adiestramientos ofrecidos a los y las estudiantes a principio de cada semestre. Se incluyó el mapa comunitario como criterio de evaluación dentro de los informes de final de semestre. Se llevó a cabo un taller de ética más dirigido al proceso con una lista de principios éticos en la investigación comunitaria.
Segundo proyecto de avalúo
Siguiendo las recomendaciones de llevar a cabo un avalúo de la experiencia del Instituto que fuera más detallado, se hizo un análisis del contenido del Manual (Canals Silanders & Seijo Maldonado, 2017). Este análisis del contenido del manual tenía tres propósitos fundamentales. El primero era determinar unas categorías relacionadas a las destrezas y actividades que se llevan a cabo en la experiencia de la práctica/curso, con el propósito de compararlos con los resultados u objetivos de aprendizaje (SLO’s) y las mejores prácticas en el aprendizaje en servicio (Honnet & Poulson, 1989; Howard, 2021; Jones & Abes, 2023) . El segundo, era utilizar estas categorías para llevar a cabo un análisis de fidelidad de la experiencia con las instrucciones del módulo. El tercero era determinar qué instrumentos existentes dentro del Manual pueden utilizarse como herramientas en el proceso de avalúo.
El contenido del manual alineado con las mejores prácticas se publicó en Rodríguez y Rosado (2023). En dicho análisis se encontró que cada una de las partes del manual existente al momento, conceptualmente cumple con una o más de las mejores prácticas.
Se utilizaron las categorías de contenido para llevar a cabo el análisis de fidelidad, utilizando los informes del año 2022 se determinó la frecuencia con la que aparecía cada una de las categorías en los informes finales realizados por los y las
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estudiantes. En la siguiente tabla (tabla 4) aparecen los datos descriptivos del cumplimiento con cada una de las partes del manual basado en la revisión de informes del año 2022.
Tabla 4:
Resultados del Análisis del cumplimiento con el manual basado en la revisión de los informes de 2022
Revisión del Manual
Talleres sobre metodología investigación acción participativa, ética en el trabajo comunitario, trabajo interdisciplinario, trabajo en grupo, técnicas de recolección de datos, bases de datos y diversidad.
Desarrollo de una misión, visión y objetivos por cada grupo de trabajo
Revisión de Manual
Grupos multidisciplinarios -colaboración interdisciplinaria
Revisión de literatura sobre las comunidades a impactarse
Desarrollo de mapas comunitarios y otras técnicas de recogido de datos.
Continua supervisión por parte de mentores y profesores.
Experiencias de trabajo con horarios flexibles cerca de las comunidades donde residen los y las estudiantes
El método IAP promueve la participación de la comunidad en todas las fases del trabajo de investigación.
Desarrollo de diarios reflexivos sobre la experiencia
Carta de mi para mí comparando las ideas y visiónprevio a comenzar el proyecto y luego de haberlo finalizado.
Existen instrumentos para que la comunidad, los coetáneos, los mentores y los profesores evalúen la ejecución del estudiantado.
El estudiantado del IUDC es alentado a culminar el proyecto que ha comenzado a través del establecimiento de un compromiso inicial y motivado por la facultad.
Existe un manual que explica y clarifica los roles de cada uno de los grupos involucrados en el proceso.
Estudiantes deben presentar un Afiche, un informe escrito y un informe oral que demuestre la ejecución en el proyecto comunitario
Frecuencia
2 seminarios al año que incorporan las destrezas mencionadas
100%
Frecuencia
100%
No calculado
83 % destrezas de lecturas de calle, 72% -destrezas de entrevista 66% -uso de mapas comunitarios
No contabilizado
No contabilizado
54.5 % actividades -congruentes con las necesidades comunitarias
77 %
77 %.
No contabilizado
77 %
No contabilizado
89 % de los trabajos muestran excelencia
94% participa en redacción
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De este análisis se concluyó que hacen falta instrumentos que sirvan para determinar aquellos ámbitos que no pudieron ser calculados con la revisión de los informes:
1. La evidencia de una revisión de literatura y datos secundarios para las comunidades no pudo ser evaluada debido a que no existía una estructura uniforme para el desarrollo de un escrito que evidenciara que esa revisión se llevó a cabo.
2. La frecuencia de reuniones con los mentores y evaluación continua por parte de los mismos no se encontraba presente porque, aunque el manual contiene una lista de asistencia, no se establece claramente que actividades deben ser incluidas en dicha hoja. Por otro lado, la mayoría de los informes no contenían dichas hojas entre los apéndices.
3. Tampoco se pudo determinar la frecuencia con la que los y las estudiantes son asignados a comunidades accesibles a su lugar de residencia o trabajo.
4. No se hizo un análisis profundo de la organización del manual ni de su efectividad en comunicar las instrucciones para llevar a cabo el proceso de IAP en las comunidades.
Sin embargo 8 de los 13 elementos del manual que fueron analizados se encuentran diseñados de acuerdo con las mejores prácticas de aprendizaje en servicio, sugiriendo que es muy posible que, en su estructura, la experiencia del Instituto contenga suficientes elementos para promover el aprendizaje de destrezas y desarrollo de actitudes que la literatura adjudica al aprendizaje en servicio (Jones & Abes, 2023; Honnet & Poulson, 1989; Howard, 2021)
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Este segundo análisis llevó al desarrollo de un kit de avalúo que contiene 5 instrumentos:
1. Instrumento de avalúo 1: Medida en que el trabajo cumple Expectativas y Compromisos de Proyectos IAP en Comunidades
2. Instrumento de Avalúo 2: Cumplimiento con la metodología
3. Instrumento de Avalúo 3: calidad del Informe ejecutivo
4. Instrumento de Avalúo 4: Experiencia subjetiva de aprendizaje
5. Instrumento de Avalúo 5: Resumen de Evaluación a estudiantes por mentor
Se establecería un proceso de evaluación de validez de contenido de estos cinco Instrumentos utilizando el Índice de validez de contenido de Lawshe (Gilbert & Prion, 2016), y se procedería a solicitar permisos correspondientes de la junta de revisión institucional (JRI) para administrar los instrumentos.
Durante el mes de mayo de 2023 se llevó a cabo una reunión con los estudiantes mentores en la que se realizó una tormenta de ideas sobre estos procesos de avalúo. La idea era obtener información sobre sus experiencias utilizando el Manual, llevando a cabo las actividades del Instituto y obtener recomendaciones sobre la dirección a seguir en el proceso de avalúo. Se esperaba que de esa colaboración se pudieran desarrollar más instrumentos que junto a los que habían sido desarrollados pasarían por procesos de validez de contenido por jueces y JRI
Como resultado de esa reunión los estudiantes crearon un comité de trabajo para evaluar la experiencia y llevar a cabo recomendaciones sobre el formato del manual
Tercer proyecto de avalúo
Al mismo tiempo en que los estudiantes se estaban organizando, durante el mes de junio de 2023 se llevó a cabo una revisión de los informes correspondientes a enero 2022, agosto 2022 y enero 2023. El propósito de este tercer análisis consistía en comparar los datos que se tenían previo y durante la pandemia (Rodríguez-Ramos, Rosado-Silva, & Seijo-Maldonado, 2021) con la experiencia luego de que se volvieran a abrir las actividades académicas a su formato presencial posterior a la crisis por COVID19. Para propósitos de esta comparación se obtuvieron las frecuencias y porcientos para
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las variables que habían sido evaluadas en 2021 y comparadas para los periodos de pre pandemia y durante la pandemia: promedio de lecturas de calle por comunidad por semestre, promedio de encuestas, promedio de entrevistas y porciento de actividades congruentes 15 y no congruentes por año.
Luego de haber contabilizado las tres estrategias de recolección de datos que aparecían en los informes (lecturas de calle, encuestas y entrevistas informales), se obtuvo la media por informe de cada una de las estrategias para una población de 27 informes.
Tabla 5: Media de cada una de las actividades de recolección de datos para un total de 27 informes de enero de 2022 a mayo de 2023
Tipo de intervención
Media post pandemia
Cuando se compararon estos datos con los del periodo durante la pandemia se encontró que solo hubo diferencias significativas relacionadas al número de lecturas de calle realizadas, pero no a la cantidad de entrevistas, encuestas o actividades congruentes e incongruentes. Es decir que, aunque luego de terminar el periodo de cierre por pandemia las actividades de lectura de calles aumentaron comparado con las que hubo durante el periodo de cierre, las entrevistas informales (que habían disminuido significativamente) permanecieron en un número similar al del periodo de pandemia, sugiriendo que se ha mantenido el promedio bajo de intervenciones y actividades que caracterizó al periodo de aislamiento. No se llevó a cabo una comparación de las diferencias entre el periodo pre pandemia y pos
15 Actividades congruentes se refiere al reconocimiento de la voz comunitaria a través del desarrollo de actividades que van de acuerdo a lo que la comunidad ha identificado como necesidad en lugar de la interpretación del grupo de investigadores e investigadoras.
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Lecturas de calle 5.51 Encuestas 1.77 Entrevistas 5.85
Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
pandemia pero los números sugieren que, aunque el promedio de lecturas de calle ha aumentado, aún no ha alcanzado los niveles del periodo pre pandemia 16
Tabla 6: Comparación entre cantidad de intervenciones periodo post pandemia y durante la pandemia mediante prueba t (110) de Student con las comunidades participantes.
Tipo de intervención Media post
t (110) de student P
Actividades que atienden las necesidades encontradas en la comunidad
Actividades que no van dirigidas a las necesidades encontradas en la comunidad
de actividades realizadas
En la Tabla 7 se muestra la T de Student para evaluar las diferencias entre actividades congruentes e incongruentes en cada uno de los periodos. Encontrando
16 En el artículo de Rodríguez, Rosado y Seijo (2021) se indica que la media pre pandemia para lecturas de calle era de 13.8, mientras que la media post pandemia es de 5.51.
20
pandemia
pandemia
Lecturas
5.51 1.93 4.2678* p<.001 Encuestas 1.77 .38 1.52 p>.05 Entrevistas 5.85 4.73 1.01 p>.05
Media durante
de calle
.37 .2857 .75 p>.05
.37 .33 .28 p>.05 Total,
.56 .58 .03633 p>.05
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que aun cuando hay diferencias en el número de actividades en cada periodo, no hay diferencias significativas en los porcientos que apunten a una tendencia de aumento de actividades no congruentes en ninguno de los periodos al compararlas con las congruentes, aun cuando los datos crudos pudieran sugerir una tendencia a que se den más actividades incongruentes en el periodo durante la pandemia. Esto implica que los estudiantes tienen igual probabilidad de llevar a cabo actividades que respondan a las necesidades de la comunidad como actividades que están desvinculadas al resultado de la búsqueda de los datos sobre las necesidades. Esta tendencia se ha mantenido en un 50% independientemente de la variable pandemia.
El desarrollo de actividades congruentes es un indicador de la comprensión del paradigma participativo. Se recomienda estudiar las variables que propician el desarrollo de actividades que no van de acuerdo con la visión comunitaria.
(Contreras, 2002; Krrausse, 2002).
Tabla 7: Comparación entre cantidad de intervenciones congruentes vs incongruentes en cada periodo estudiado mediante prueba t de Student con las comunidades participantes.
Además de evidenciarse que aproximadamente la mitad de las intervenciones no se llevan a cabo de acuerdo al paradigma, estos resultados apuntan a una merma en el
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Tiempo
intervención Media actividades que atienden Media actividades que no atienden T de student P Prepandemia (N 62) .9838 .9032 .0032 P>.05 Durante pandemia (N 85) .2857 .33 .3289 p>.05 Post pandemia N (26) .37 .37 0.0 p>.05
de
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número de actividades que se llevan en las comunidades que no ha mejorado después del regreso a la “normalidad” pos pandemia, esto requiere de una evaluación con mayor detenimiento.
Conclusiones generales del proceso
Como se mencionó en la introducción, uno de los principales beneficios del aprendizaje en servicio es el desarrollo de competencias de aprendizaje de destrezas, desarrollo personal, responsabilidad cívica, la consciencia cultural, objetivos de aprendizaje de estudiantes (SLO) comprensión de la diversidad, la solidaridad, trabajo en equipo, comunicación, iniciativa, competencias organizacionales, ética, liderazgo, autoestima, solidaridad y conocimiento práctico y empatía (Rodríguez-Ramos, RosadoSilva, & Seijo-Maldonado, 2021) . Sin embargo, la principal barrera es que muchos de los educadores y educadoras tienden a estar menos motivados a utilizarlo debido a la falta de apoyo institucional y la falta de guías e instrucciones (Napoli, 2011) Se podría incrementar el interés de las Instituciones, y por consiguiente la participación del profesorado, educando sobre la seriedad y profesionalismo involucrado en el AS, mostrando evidencia de la calidad de los cursos dirigidos por este modelo y dando seguimiento a los resultados de aprendizaje del estudiantado (Napoli, 2011) La calidad del modelo se puede evidenciar a través de un proceso de avalúo a nivel curso y los resultados de aprendizaje de los y las estudiantes se pueden evidenciar a través del avalúo del aprendizaje Este avalúo resulta en sí mismo un reto porque una característica definitoria del AS es que supone un aprendizaje holístico, integral y vivencial, que implica no sólo a la institución académica, sino también al entorno comunitario. Lorenzo Moledo y colaboradores (2019) explica: “Cuando reflexionamos y actuamos en pro de una necesidad real nuestra responsabilidad por aprender se torna en una experiencia contextualizada y no fragmentada y, por tanto, susceptible de dotar de sentido y significado a las asignaturas que cursa el estudiantado. Las oportunidades de aprendizaje que ofrecen las situaciones reales permiten abordar la responsabilidad social universitaria de manera más compleja y holista, ampliando las posibilidades de que el rendimiento académico de los alumnos mejore.” (pp. 42-43)
Si vemos el aprendizaje en servicio como un tipo de aprendizaje experiencial y
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holístico podemos percatarnos de que el avalúo de un número de competencias tan disímiles no es fácil. (Chan, 2023). La revisión de literatura arroja algunas ideas de cómo llevar a cabo el avalúo del aprendizaje a través del uso de herramientas como Blogs (García, 2019), portafolios, diarios reflexivos, observación directa, afiches, contratos de aprendizaje, presentaciones y reportes escritos (Chan, 2023) y cada uno de ellos tiene sus ventajas y desventajas. Estas estrategias se encuentran detalladas en el compendio del Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades. No obstante, los autores que exponen estas estrategias subrayan la imperiosa necesidad de concebir una rúbrica que posibilite la transformación de la información recopilada mediante dichas estrategias en datos que puedan ser informados y analizados con eficacia. Diversas fuentes ofrecen ejemplos enriquecedores para la elaboración de estas rúbricas. Sin embargo, la evaluación de la calidad de programas y el cumplimiento de objetivos (que son en sí mismos partes del avalúo a nivel curso) se presenta como un desafío más complejo. Aunque los estudios revisados proporcionan estrategias de avalúo del aprendizaje de los y las estudiantes, no ofrecen un formato específico para el avalúo a nivel curso de una experiencia tan singular como la del IUDC. En vista de esta carencia y la ausencia de experiencias anteriores en este ámbito, los tres proyectos de avalúo realizados hasta el momento han revelado información valiosa, al mismo tiempo que plantean desafíos y áreas que requieren una evaluación continua.
Entre los aspectos valiosos surgidos de esta experiencia se presentan elementos que son fortalezas del diseño del programa, como los son su adherencia a las mejores prácticas de aprendizaje en servicio, cumplimiento de un 66-100% de las instrucciones del manual evidenciado en los informes de los y las estudiantes y la existencia de herramientas que pueden ser utilizadas para el avalúo dentro del mismo Manual. La experiencia de avalúo ha sido beneficiosa porque ha permitido identificar los ámbitos difíciles de medir y para los que hacen falta instrumentos y rúbricas. Se obtuvo información útil con respecto a los ámbitos que requieren ser fortalecidos como son: la necesidad de identificar oficinas desde las que pueda funcionar el Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades; la comprensión del modelo de IUDC y el paradigma participativo para asegurar intervenciones que vayan dirigidas desde la comunidad y no hacia ella; la necesidad de desarrollar talleres que fortalezcan la formación de los estudiantes y aclaren instrucciones; la necesidad de evaluar el Manual
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para determinar qué cambios son pertinentes para incrementar la comprensión del contenido; la inclusión de métodos y técnicas nuevas; y la integración de acercamientos epistemológicos actualizados sobre investigación acción participativa. Por último, este proceso llevó a empoderar al grupo de mentores para volverse actores y protagonistas de su experiencia académica al haber tomado la iniciativa de crear comités de trabajo entre los que se incluye el de la revisión del Manual y los procesos contenidos en este.
La participación de los estudiantes en la revisión del Manual y del programa se considera ventajosa debido a que los procesos participativos no solo incrementan la motivación, sino que también fomentan un conocimiento que de otra manera sería inalcanzable. La reflexión sobre este proceso lleva a los autores a concluir que un modelo como el IUDC, al responder a la Investigación-Acción Participativa (IAP), no puede más que demostrar consistencia si promueve que los procesos de autoanálisis y evaluación de la experiencia de enseñanza-aprendizaje también sean participativos.
Con el objetivo de transformar el proceso tradicional de evaluación, nos aventuramos en un cambio al involucrar a los "stakeholders", en este caso, los estudiantes y los mentores. El primer paso, relacionado con la formación de un comité, ha surgido de manera orgánica. Se recomienda desarrollar una agenda de reuniones para organizar nuevamente el proceso de avalúo, pero esta vez incluyendo a los y las estudiantes como parte integral de las decisiones y actividades dentro del plan de avalúo nivel curso y de aprendizaje de los y las estudiantes.
Reflexiones sobre la recomendación de avalúo participativo en este proceso
Tradicionalmente las instituciones educativas no ofrecen oportunidades reales de participación, convirtiendo a los estudiantes en receptores (Recabarren- Herrera, 2013) Sin embargo, la adopción de un enfoque participativo en el avalúo implica considerar a los estudiantes no solo como receptores pasivos de conocimiento, sino como agentes activos en la construcción y evaluación de su propia experiencia educativa.
La participación de estudiantes en su proceso de enseñanza tiene diversos beneficios para su aprendizaje y para su desarrollo integral por varias razones.
Primeramente, la involucración de los estudiantes en la planificación de tareas y
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Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
evaluaciones aumenta su compromiso con su proceso de aprender y motivación. Si el resultado de la educación está en el estudiante mismo hace sentido que el estudiante se involucre en el mismo. Esto promueve la autodirección y la autorregulación. Por otro lado, involucrarse en el proceso de avaluó implica poder conectar los objetivos a las herramientas que se utilizarán para la observación lo que va a promover que el estudiante esté consciente tanto del plan de estudios como los objetivos promoviendo una conexión con el material. (Hidalgo & Perines, 2018)
Este enfoque, al abrir espacios para la voz y la perspectiva de los estudiantes, revela capas de comprensión y percepción que pueden pasar desapercibidas en evaluaciones más convencionales. La participación activa de los estudiantes en la evaluación no solo añade un componente de empoderamiento, sino que también enriquece la calidad del proceso evaluativo al incorporar una variedad de opiniones, experiencias y expectativas (Rodríguez-Gómez, Ibarra, Gallego-Noche, Gómez-Ruiz, & Quesada-Serra, 2012).
La decisión de involucrar a los estudiantes en el proceso de avalúo implica hacer un pare a la tarea que se estaba llevando a cabo para entrar en el uso de un modelo, que, aunque familiar por estar dentro de las estrategias que son conocidas por el IUDC representa un reto por el contexto en el que se va a llevar a cabo. Implica una revisión concienzuda de la literatura de avalúo participativo, para no caer en la tendencia observada por Hidalgo y Perines (2018) que apunta a una diferencia notable entre lo que los grupos docentes piensan y creen sobre la participación y cómo desarrollan este concepto en la realidad del aula.
La reflexión sobre el avalúo participativo de la experiencia de aprendizaje requiere de una revisión concienzuda de la literatura al respecto, que aún no se ha llevado a cabo. Sin embargo, las fuentes revisadas hasta el momento nos llevan a considerar la relevancia de cultivar un entorno educativo que fomente la retroalimentación constante y el diálogo entre estudiantes y educadores. Esta interacción bidireccional no solo mejora la comprensión mutua, sino que contribuye a la adaptabilidad y mejora continua del proceso educativo. Por esa razón, concurrente con la revisión de fuentes se establecerán una serie de reuniones con el grupo de estudiantes ya formado para invitarles a ser parte del proceso reconociendo que, al abrazar el avalúo
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Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
participativo, nos sumergimos en un paradigma educativo que valora la construcción del conocimiento y reconoce la importancia de las percepciones individuales en la comprensión global de la experiencia de aprendizaje. En última instancia, estas reflexiones nos instan a redefinir la evaluación no solo como un juicio sumativo, sino como un proceso dinámico y colaborativo que nutre la evolución constante de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje.
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Biografías de la autora y el autor
Ingrid Rodríguez Ramos, PhD
Psicóloga Clínica licenciada y catedrática auxiliar del Departamento de Ciencias Sociales de UPR Mayagüez. Tiene experiencia trabajando como terapeuta individual, grupal, familiar y de parejas, desarrollando programas clínicos, incorporando el arte con intervenciones de psicoterapia, escribiendo protocolos y manuales de tratamiento y trabajando con comunidades terapéuticas, así como con el empoderamiento y desarrollo de comunidades físicas. Es una de las organizadoras Del Congreso de Trabajo y
Desarrollo Comunitario en la UPR Mayagüez Realiza trabajos creativos en los campos de las artes plásticas y la literatura. Sus ámbitos de interés en la investigación son Desarrollo Comunitario; Resiliencia Comunitaria; Terapia familiar y psicoeducación; Violencia de Género; Arte y Psicoterapia; Psicología, estigma y exclusión; y Perspectivas psicológicas sobre pobreza y desigualdad social. Actualmente es co-investigadora de un proyecto subvencionado con fondos CDBG-WCRP del Departamento de Vivienda para la elaboración de planes de resiliencia comunitaria.
Reinaldo Rosado-Silva, PhD
Catedrático Auxiliar del Departamento de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Mayagüez. Tiene un doctorado en Historia de Puerto Rico y el Caribe en el Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe en 2021. Rosado-Silva es un científico social puertorriqueño comprometido con la enseñanza, el servicio, el activismo y la investigación a un nivel superior. Ha publicado y presentado foros locales e internacionales. Rosado-Silva se ha desempeñado como mentor de organizaciones estudiantiles, diseñador de nuevos cursos y organizador de eventos para el Primer Congreso de Trabajo y Desarrollo Comunitario en la Universidad de Puerto Rico en el Recinto de Mayagüez. Sus ámbitos de interés en la investigación son: planificación comunitaria, política de vivienda pública y asuntos urbanos. Ha presentado y publicado local e internacionalmente. Actualmente es co-investigador de un proyecto subvencionado con fondos CDBG-WCRP del Departamento de Vivienda para la elaboración de planes de resiliencia comunitaria.
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Avalúo a nivel de curso de la práctica en comunidades
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Hidalgo, N., & Perines, H. (2018). Dar voz a los protagonistas: La participación estudiantil en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Revista Educación, 1-28.
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Krrausse, M. (2002). Investigación-acciónparticipativa: una metodología para el desarrollo de autoayuda, participación y empoderamiento. En J. Durston, & F. Miranda, Experiencias y metodologías de la investigación participativa (págs. 4156). Santiago, Chile: CEPAL. Ley de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, según enmendada. . (2013). 2013-04-30, 3-5.
Lorenzo-Moledo, M., Ferraces-Otero, M., Perez-Perez, C., & Naval-Duran, C. (2019). El profesorado universitario ante el aprendizaje-servicio: variables Explicativas. Revista de Educación, 37-61. doi:DOI: 10.4438/1988-592X-RE-2019-386-426 Maldonado-Rojas, M. &.-O. (2020). Aprendizaje-servicio como estrategia metodológica en estudiantes de tecnología médica. FEM: Revista de la Fundación Educación Médica, 287-292. Obtenido de https://dx.doi.org/10 Napoli, R. (24 de 10 de 2011). Service-learning: a study of faculty attitudes at Rowan University. Thesis and Dissertations , pág. 102. Obtenido de https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/103/
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Nelson, D. (2015). Participatory action research: A literature review. Unpublished.
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Novak, J., Markey, V., & Allen, M. (2007). Evaluating Cognitive Outcomes of Service Learning in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis. Communication Research Reports., 149-157.
Perz, S., Arteaga, M., Baudoin, A., Brown, F., Huaman Mendoza, E., Araújo Pereira de Paula, Y., . . . Selaya, G. (2022). Participatory Action Research for Conservation and Development: Experiences from the Amazon. Sustainability, 1:233.
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Warren, J. (2012). Does Service-Learning Increase Student Learning?: A Meta-Analysis. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 56-61.
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Avalúo Plus
Revista de Avalúo del Aprendizaje 2024, Volumen 3 Número 1, 32-49
Incorporando métodos cualitativos
para evaluar el rol de los cursos de Economía en lograr los Objetivos Educativos
Departamentales
Ricardo R. Fuentes-Ramírez
Resumen
El Comité de Avalúo del Departamento de Economía llevó a cabo un ejercicio con el propósito de recoger la percepción estudiantil sobre la contribución de los cursos de economía a su formación, con relación a ciertos objetivos educativos de este departamento. Con este fin, se desarrolló un cuestionario que fue distribuido por correo electrónico a los estudiantes del departamento, y se organizó un grupo focal para los estudiantes den su último año del programa de bachillerato. Se obtuvieron recomendaciones de los estudiantes para fortalecer el logro de los objetivos departamentales. Entre estas, se destaca su recomendación de incorporar a los cursos mayor contexto histórico y visiones alternativas a las ideas dominantes. Similarmente, expresaron el deseo de diversificar el ofrecimiento de cursos y los marcos teóricos utilizados para incorporar nuevos enfoques y temas, destacando áreas como la desigualdad de género y cursos de economía aplicada.
Palabras Claves
Educación económica, Pluralismo en la enseñanza, Reforma curricular
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Introducción
El Comité de Avalúo del Departamento de Economía llevó a cabo un ejercicio con el propósito de recoger la percepción estudiantil sobre la contribución de los cursos de economía a su formación, con relación a ciertos objetivos educativos de este departamento. Los objetivos educativos en los cuales el ejercicio se enfocó fueron:
● Proveerle a nuestros estudiantes las herramientas teóricas y prácticas que les permitan entender y analizar el entorno económico, social e internacional de forma tal que puedan tomar decisiones racionales, y proponer soluciones a problemas socioeconómicos.
● Capacitarlos para desempeñarse profesionalmente en sus áreas de trabajo.
Con este fin, se desarrolló un cuestionario que fue distribuido por correo electrónico a los estudiantes del departamento, y se organizó un grupo focal para los estudiantes en su último año del programa. Este ejercicio se da en un contexto donde la Asociación de Economistas de Puerto Rico ha promovido estudios y diálogos multisectoriales sobre el estado de los currículos universitarios de economía. Estos esfuerzos surgen de la preocupación de que los currículos de economía están dominados por visiones conservadores sesgadas hacia perspectivas de libre mercado, y que marginan problemáticas urgentes para Puerto Rico, como la desigualdad de género y el cambio climático (Defendini-Torres, 2023; Fuentes-Ramírez, 2023). Esta problemática no es exclusiva de Puerto Rico, sino que conversaciones similares se llevan dando en departamentos de economía alrededor del mundo desde la última crisis financiera em 2007-2008 (Beker, 2018) Aunque generalmente los ejercicios de avalúo no requieren aprobación del Comité para la Protección de los Seres Humanos en la Investigación (CPSHI), dado a que el ejercicio forma parte de una agenda investigativa más amplia, se solicitó la misma. 1
1 Aprobada por CPSHI el 21 de febrero de 2023 (Núm. de Protocolo 2023020015).
Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de economía 33
Diseño del Cuestionario y Grupo Focal
Para recoger la percepción estudiantil sobre la contribución de los cursos de economía a su formación, y en particular a su capacidad de proponer soluciones a problemas socioeconómicos, se le presentaron dos casos de problemáticas socioeconómicas en Puerto Rico. Estos fueron seleccionados por su relevancia y pertinencia a la situación actual en la isla.
El primer problema socioeconómico que se le presentó a los estudiantes fueron los altos niveles de pobreza y desigualdad en la isla. Este tema se seleccionó porque la pobreza y la desigualdad se encuentran a la raíz o profundamente entrelazadas con varios de los problemas socioeconómicos críticos para Puerto Rico. A modo de ejemplo, estos problemas están relacionados con la criminalidad, la deserción escolar, la economía informal, la baja participación laboral, la emigración, entre otros.
El segundo problema socioeconómico presentado a los estudiantes fue la desigualdad de género. Este fue seleccionado ya que en enero 2021 el gobernador Pedro R.Pierluisi declaró mediante Orden Ejecutiva una emergencia por violencia de género. El Estado de Emergencia por Violencia de Género fue extendido hasta junio de 2023. Las mujeres sufren de desigualdad salarial, son más propensas a caer bajo el nivel de pobreza, y la mayoría de los hogares pobres son liderados por mujeres (Caraballo-Cueto, & Segarra-Alméstica, 2019). La desigualdad salarial y la feminización de la pobreza a su vez están profundamente relacionadas con los problemas de violencia de género (de Jesús Dávila, 2017).
Para ambos problemas socioeconómicos, se les preguntó a los estudiantes cuán preparados se sentían para proveer soluciones relacionadas a esa problemática socioeconómica, en escala Likert de 4 puntos (1- Nada Preparado 4-Muy preparado). Luego, se le pregunta al estudiante cuánto entiende que los distintos cursos de economía contribuyeron a su capacidad de proveer soluciones a estos problemas.
Finalmente, para los distintos cursos de economía, se le pregunta al estudiante si conoce y entiende con precisión cómo las herramientas teóricas y prácticas de este serán aplicadas en el ambiente laboral, en escala Likert de 4 puntos (1- No sé cómo serán aplicadas 4-Entiendo a profundidad como serán aplicadas).
Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de economía 34
El 24 de febrero de 2023 se les distribuyó el cuestionario a los 51 estudiantes activos en el Departamento de Economía durante el 2do semestre del año académico 2022-2023. El cuestionario cerró el 3 marzo de 2023 y obtuvo 19 respuestas (37.25%). 13 de las mismas fueron estudiantes que se encontraban en cuarto año o adelante. Esto implica una alta tasa de participación de los estudiantes avanzados próximos a graduarse, lo cual es ideal ya que han tomado la mayor cantidad de cursos y son más apropiados para evaluar el nivel de preparación o capacitación.
Como complemento al cuestionario, se llevó a cabo un grupo focal con estudiantes matriculados en el curso ECON 4392-Métodos de Investigación en Economía II, el último curso de economía requerido en nuestro programa.
Hallazgos
Para estudiar la capacidad para proveer soluciones a problemas socioeconómicos, el análisis de datos se delimitó a los estudiantes de cuarto año en adelante. Como se mencionó anteriormente, estos estudiantes ya que han cogido la mayor cantidad de cursos y son más apropiados para evaluar el nivel de preparación o capacitación.
En ambos casos de problemas socioeconómicos, en promedio los estudiantes reportaron sentirse moderadamente preparados, aunque levemente más preparados en el área de Pobreza y Desigualdad (Promedio= 2.69) que en el área de Género (Promedio = 2.62). Sin embargo, al comparar las Figuras 1 y 2, se puede observar que una proporción mayor de estudiantes se considera “poco preparado” para proveer soluciones en el caso de género (54%) relativo al caso de pobreza y desigualdad (31%).
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Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de economía
Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de economía
Figura 1. Autodiagnóstico de preparación para proveer soluciones a problemas socioeconómicos: Pobreza y Desigualdad
Figura 2: Autodiagnóstico de preparación para proveer soluciones a problemas socioeconómicos: Desigualdad de género
En el caso del área de pobreza y desigualdad, podemos observar en la Tabla 1 que en promedio los estudiantes entienden que los cursos que más contribuyeron fueron ECON 3085 (Desarrollo Económico y Social de Puerto Rico), las Electivas en Economía, y ECON 4307 (Evaluación de Proyectos), en ese orden. Por otro lado, los estudiantes entienden que los cursos que menos contribuyeron fueron ECON 3021 (Principios de Microeconomía), ECON 4017 (Econometría) y ECON 3091 (Teoría Microeconómica), siendo este último el que menos contribuyó.
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Tabla 1. Contribución de cursos a capacidad de proveer solucionesPobreza y Desigualdad
Curso Contribución 3091 2.461538 Baja
Moderada
Moderada
Moderada
Los estudiantes tenían la opción para mencionar las electivas que entienden más contribuyeron a su capacidad de proveer soluciones en el área de pobreza y desigualdad (ver Tabla 2). Los cursos que se mencionaron con mayor frecuencia fueron ECON 4074 (Economía y Derecho), ECON 4085 (Economía Internacional) y ECON 4018 (Economía del Sector Público).
37
4017
4055 2.769231
3092 2.846154
4307 3.076923
Electivas 3.230769
3085 3.538462
2.583333
3021 2.769231 Moderada 3022 2.769231 Moderada
Moderada
Moderada
Significativa
Tabla 2. Electivas que contribuyen a capacidad de proveer soluciones - Pobreza y Desigualdad
destacadas Menciones
En el caso del área de género, podemos observar en la Tabla 3 que en promedio los estudiantes entienden que los tres cursos que más contribuyeron fueron ECON 3085 (Desarrollo Económico y Social de Puerto Rico), ECON 4055 (Historia de Pensamiento Económico), y las Electivas en Economía, en ese orden. Por otro lado, los estudiantes entienden que los cursos que menos contribuyeron fueron ECON 3092 (Teoría Macroeconómica), ECON 3022 (Principios de Macroeconomía), y ECON 4017 (Econometría), siendo este último el que menos contribuyó.
Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de economía 38
Electivas
Economía y Derecho 4 Economía Internacional 3 Economía del Sector Público
Economía Ecológica 2 Organización Industrial 2 Economía del Turismo 2 Economía Urbana 1 Problemas Especiales No especificado 1 Economía Azul 1 Problemas Contemporáneos de la Economía de Puerto Rico 1 Fluctuaciones Económicas 1 Economía del Trabajo 1 Regulación y Antimonopolio 1 Economía Ambiental 1 Moneda y Banca 1
3
Tabla 3. Contribución de cursos a capacidad de proveer soluciones - Desigualdad de Género
Curso Contribución
4017 1.583333 Baja
3022 2.076923 Baja
3092 2.076923 Baja
3021 2.153846 Baja 4307 2.153846 Baja 3091
Baja
Baja
Baja
Moderada
Nuevamente, los estudiante tenían la opción de mencionar las electivas que entienden más contribuyeron a su capacidad de proveer soluciones en el área de desigualdad de género (ver Tabla 4). Los cursos que se mencionaron con mayor frecuencia fueron ECON 4015 (Desarrollo Económico) y ECON 4018 (Economía del Sector Público).
Tabla 4. Electivas que contribuyen a capacidad de proveer solucionesDesigualdad de Género
Electivas destacadas Menciones
Desarrollo
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Electivas 2.307692
4055 2.384615
2.230769
3085 2.692308
económico 2 Economía del Sector Publico 2 Economía Ecológica
Economía y Derecho
Economía del Trabajo
1
1
1
Podemos notar que, en ambos casos, el curso ECON 3085 (Desarrollo Económico y Social de Puerto Rico) estuvo entre los cursos que más contribuyeron a la capacidad del estudiante de proveer soluciones a la problemática socioeconómica. Por otro lado, en ambos casos el curso ECON 4017 (Econometría) estuvo entre los cursos que menos contribuyeron, y el curso ECON 3091 (Teoría Microeconómica) fue el único curso que fue catalogado con “baja contribución” en ambos casos. Además, en el caso de género, solo un curso fue catalogado con “contribución moderada”, y los demás fueron catalogados con “contribución baja.” Similarmente, los estudiantes identificaron menos electivas que contribuyeron a su capacidad de proveer soluciones en el área de género. Esto sugiere que el currículo debe ampliarse para incorporar herramientas adicionales, de forma que nuestros estudiantes se sientan más preparados para proveer soluciones a los problemas socioeconómicos más relevantes para la isla.
Finalmente, en la Fig. 3 se ilustra que los estudiantes consideran que tienen un entendimiento moderado sobre cómo las herramientas de sus cursos serán aplicadas en el mercado laboral. La única excepción a esto fue el curso ECON 4307 (Evaluación de Proyectos), donde en promedio los estudiantes reportaron sentir un entendimiento a mayor profundidad sobre cómo esas herramientas se aplicarían en el mercado laboral. Los siguientes dos cursos donde reportaron mayor entendimiento fueron ECON 3085 (Desarrollo Económico y Social de Puerto Rico) y ECON 3022 (Principios de Macroeconomía). Los cursos donde reportaron menor entendimiento sobre cómo las herramientas se aplican en el mercado laboral fueron ECON 3091 (Teoría Microeconómica), ECON 4055 (Historia del Pensamiento Económico), y ECON 4017 (Econometría). Para este análisis se utilizaron los 19 estudiantes que participaron.
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Figura 3. Entendimiento de aplicaciones en el mercado laboral
Hallazgos adicionales del Grupo Focal
A. Mayor énfasis en las Aplicaciones de la Teoría Económica
El grupo focal permitió entender a mayor profundidad algunos de los patrones que se observan en los resultados anteriores. Cónsono con los hallazgos del cuestionario, los estudiantes expresaron la necesidad de fortalecer la secuencia medular incorporando:
1. Mayor contexto sobre el origen de los modelos que se discuten en la secuencia de Microeconomía (3021 & 3091) y la secuencia de Macroeconomía (3022 & 3092), sus aplicaciones, y su efectividad.
2. Un componente práctico dentro de los cursos en la secuencia de Microeconomía (3021 & 3091) y la secuencia de Macroeconomía (3022 & 3092), o un curso nuevo específico para “Aplicaciones de Teoría Económica”, donde se le presenten a los estudiantes estudios de casos de la vida real donde tenga que aplicar las herramientas que se enseñan en dichos cursos.
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Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el
En el Recuadro 1 se muestra un extracto de una conversación entre los
estudiantes del grupo focal que ilustra claramente estos puntos:
Recuadro 1.
Estudiante 1: Con las Micro pude ponerle nombre a muchas cosas que no sabía tenían nombre en la parte de negocios, trabajando en el negocio de mi familia… Pero nunca lo he necesitado en donde estoy trabajando o en los proyectos que he realizado…Faltaba contexto. Nos dan formulas, y puedo hacer la formula feliz de la vida… fácil, pero ¿Para qué se usa? ¿Para qué la estoy usando? Pasaba el examen y pasaba la página porque no sabía cuál era el propósito. No sabía el propósito del modelo económico, ni sabía el por qué… por qué nos lo están enseñando, si funciona o no funciona.
Estudiante 2: Estoy en la industria ahora mismo y se ven muchos de los conceptos. Uno está en conversaciones o en reuniones y los conceptos se usaron. Pero las fórmulas no.
Estudiante 3: Micro no encaja con proveer soluciones a los problemas socioeconómicos. Micro ayuda quizás para identificar lo que está pasando, pero no cómo solucionarlo.
Estudiante 1: El problema es que Micro es Neoclásico. Entramos con estos conceptos que realmente muchos son obsoletos. Vemos “ah eso tiene nombre” pero nos están dando teorías que necesitan actualización.
Estudiante 2: Aquí las clases se basan solamente en teoría. Debería haber algún tipo de implementación. ¿Cómo nosotros podemos usar esto? Dame un problema y vamos a hacer un estudio para dar soluciones a eso. Ese tipo de cosas no se están implementando en los cursos.
Estudiante 1: En Economía Ecológica eso sí se hace, y lo he aplicado en un proyecto de investigación en el que conseguí trabajo, y sé lo que estoy haciendo gracias al curso.
Estudiante 2: El problema con eso es que son electivas. No están en el currículo, así que no todo el mundo va a tener esa misma experiencia.
Estudiante 1: Mucha gente se quita de economía después de la primera Micro porque no saben cómo aplicarlo. Y se van frustrados.
Estudiante 4: Eso le pasó a una amiga mía y se fue para Mercadeo. Se graduó de allá.
Estudiante 1: ECON 3092 era bien práctica y veía cómo se podía aplicar en el mundo real.
Estudiante 2: Por la misma naturaleza de ese curso, uno puede tener mejor entendimiento de los problemas que está teniendo Puerto Rico. Con Teoría Micro, no estamos hablando de un país sino de personas, de individuos. Teoría Macro es más útil y da herramientas, veo las noticias y entiendo lo que está pasando, el curso enseña cosas que están más a la par con lo que está ocurriendo.
Estudiante 4: Macro Intermedia me ayudó. La cogí junto a 3085 [Economía de Puerto Rico]. Y se usaban muchos ejemplos de Macro. Para [entender] problemas sociales, ayudó mucho y daba mucho contexto… Se usaron muchos ejemplos de Teoría Macro para trabajos en 3085. Lo pusimos en práctica. Estudiante 5: Tanto en Micro como Macro hacen falta ‘real life case studies’. Algo que te ponga en contexto. No es hasta que llegamos a las electivas que conectamos cómo funcionan las cosas; y pensamiento crítico sobre lo que estamos viendo.
Estudiante 6: Yo pienso que Evaluación de Proyectos es la que más te hace aplicar. Tener ‘real life scenarios’ de lo que has estudiado…
Estudiante 5: Evaluación de Proyectos fue mi primera clase que es de aplicar. Pero yo preferiría una clase de Aplicaciones de Micro y Macro, en ‘real life scenarios’, antes de tirarnos a Evaluación de Proyectos. Cómo se ven estas cosas en el mundo real...
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B. Necesidad de una enseñanza pluralista
En varias ocasiones a través de la conversación, los estudiantes expresaron que están conscientes de que existen varias escuelas de pensamiento, pero que en muchos cursos se les enseñan solo algunas, y sin aclarar que hay otras perspectivas. Según Chang (2015) y Schneider (2018), en las ciencias económicas se pueden identificar las siguientes tradiciones de pensamiento económico principales:
1. la síntesis neoclásica, compuesta de las tradiciones neoclásica y la neokeynesiana,
2. La tradición austriaca,
3. la economía conductual,
4. los estudios del desarrollo,
5. la tradición institucionalista o evolucionista,
6. la macroeconomía poskeynesiana
7. la tradición marxista o la Economía Política Radical,
8. la economía feminista,
9. la economía ecológica, y
10. la tradición neo-schumpeteriana.
Los estudiantes mostraron insatisfacción con lo que, según sus perspectivas, es un desbalance curricular hacia solo un marco teórico: la síntesis neoclásica. De la conversación surgieron dos reclamos:
1. Que se revise el contenido de los cursos introductorios para que incorporen la pluralidad o diversidad del pensamiento económico.
2. Que se amplíe el currículo con cursos nuevos, o que se incorporen a cursos existentes, herramientas teóricas y prácticas de más escuelas de pensamiento.
3. Que, si un curso se va a delimitar a las ideas de una sola escuela de pensamiento, 1) que así lo refleje el título y descripción del curso, 2) que no se le presente al estudiante como verdad absoluta, y en su lugar, 3) haya un reconocimiento de que se trata de diversas teorías en debate.
Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de economía 43
El siguiente extracto de una conversación entre los estudiantes del grupo focal (Recuadro 2) ilustra claramente estos puntos.
Recuadro 2.
Estudiante 1: Las electivas me han ayudado un montón. Economía del Derecho, Economía del Sector Público, Economía Ecológica, Economía Azul… Con ellas aprendí que hay una parte social en la economía que se puede juntar con lo cuantitativo. Pero que tú puedes hacer análisis social cualitativo que aplica a la economía también.
Estudiante 2: Muchos de los cursos aquí lo trabajan todo como cuantitativo. Y dejan lo social un poco a un lado. A menos que sean ciertas electivas.
Estudiante 1: Y quiero aprender de todas las perspectivas, bien objetivamente, para yo llegar a una conclusión de lo que yo creo que es factible. En Economía del Derecho y Economía del Sector Público nos dan todo el contexto para poder tener tu propia opinión. En Economía Ecológica, con las lecturas tú puedes hacer tu propio análisis, y en las conversaciones, porque uno se sienta en círculo a hablar.
Pero en Economía Internacional y Desarrollo Económico no fue así. En Economía Internacional sólo aprendí la parte neoclásica. No sé si hay una parte más pluralista o heterodoxa de Economía Internacional porque nunca la aprendí. Después cogí Desarrollo Económico y me decían que todas esas teorías que vi en Economía Internacional eran obsoletas. Pero tampoco me dio suficiente contexto. Sí es importante la aplicación... Pero el contexto… Si no quieres repetir el pasado necesitas el contexto y la historia de lo que ocurrió. Hay unas electivas donde no se están dando todas las perspectivas. Y si tú solo coges esa clase, tú te vas pensando que eso es lo único que funciona… a menos que cojas otra…Y como mujer, esas teorías están hechas por hombres blancos. No incluyen la mujer en esos conceptos o lo que afecta la mujer… Y el curso de Historia de Pensamiento no es suficiente para atender ese desbalance. Se debe incorporar, por lo menos en Micro y Macro básicas, que se den todas las escuelas. Hablar seriamente: “esto lo tienes que aprender, pero existen otras cosas”. Porque nosotros del bachillerato vamos a seguir, pero… ¿y la gente que la coge de electiva? No van a continuar ni les va a interesar porque solo van a conocer esa parte. O incluso si son de Economía, muchos se terminan cambiando como hemos conocido personas.
Estudiante 4: Hay que mejorar cómo se están dando los primeros cursos para llamar la atención de otros estudiantes para que lo sigan acá.
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C. Necesidad de atender asuntos de género
Las estudiantes en particular, aunque también algunos varones, mostraron frustración sobre cómo se manejan asuntos de género tanto a nivel curricular como en las dinámicas en los salones de clases. Las estudiantes comunicaron que fueron expuestas en varias ocasiones a micromachismos o machismo explícito. De la conversación surgieron tres reclamos:
1. Que se incorporen a los cursos existentes las vidas e ideas de mujeres economistas, y teorías económicas enfocadas en asuntos de género.
2. Que se creen cursos nuevos para profundizar aún más en estas áreas.
3. Que se trabaje en crear consciencia de género en la comunidad universitaria
El siguiente extracto de una conversación entre los estudiantes del grupo focal (Recuadro 3) ilustra claramente estos puntos:
Recuadro 3.
Estudiante 1: La mujer… no incluyen la mujer. Yo he cogido aquí tantas clases, y en ningún momento incluyen a la mujer en nada. La única clase que habló un poco de la mujer fue Desarrollo Económico, que habla de la importancia de la mujer. Se queda corto, pero por lo menos habla de la importancia de la mujer en la economía, los efectos que tiene cuando estamos en países en vías de desarrollo, que son más fuerte sobre las mujeres. Y en Economía Ecológica, que hay teorías de mujeres. Si no es por esas clases, yo me pude haber ido pensando que economía es solo hombres blancos hablando.
Estudiante 3: De acuerdo con la compañera. Hay que incorporar clases de género. En esta concentración no hay ni una. Si quieres estudiar temas de la mujer o de género tienes que ir a otros departamentos.
Estudiante 1: Hay que hacer conciencia sobre el tema de la mujer en la economía. Yo he sentido discrimen porque soy mujer. Porque soy mujer me han dicho que me quede en Puerto Rico estudiando porque afuera es muy difícil para mí. He tenido compañeros que me quieren dar clases a mí de cómo me tengo que comportar para que yo sea escuchada. Yo creo que eso se debe hablar en las clases para hacer más conciencia, en los hombres específicamente; pero también en las mujeres que estamos tan acostumbradas que se normaliza. Quiero que me vean equitativamente. Si se habla de esos conceptos y la mujer en las clases, quizás se crea más consciencia de estos temas.
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Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de economía
El extracto anterior incluso conecta con otro objetivo educativo del departamento: “Capacitarlos para desarrollar sus destrezas de comunicación y trabajo en equipo, con conciencia social y ética, de forma que alcancen una formación integral como seres humanos.” El asunto, además de ser urgente por la situación que se vive en el país, es particularmente relevante para la economía como disciplina, ya que es una de las disciplinas en donde menos avances se ha hecho en incorporar la participación de la mujer. Prácticamente todas las ciencias sociales y la mayoría de las ciencias naturales han superado la economía en términos de representatividad de las mujeres (DefendiniTorres, 2023).
D. Otras recomendaciones curriculares
De la conversación surgieron otras recomendaciones curriculares, como, por ejemplo:
1. Convertir ciertas electivas en economía en requisitos del programa.
2. Convertir cursos de redacción, tanto en inglés como en español, en requisitos para los estudiantes del programa.
El siguiente extracto de una conversación entre los estudiantes del grupo focal (Recuadro 4) ilustra el contexto en el que surgen estas recomendaciones:
Recuadro 4.
Estudiante 2: Hay cursos electivos que deben ser [requisito] del currículo… Las electivas son lo que te llevan a poner en práctica lo que has aprendido.
Estudiante 1: Economía Ecológica, con lo que estamos viviendo ahora mismo, que haya gente que se gradúe sin coger una clase de Economía Ecológica o ambiental… por lo menos salir con algún conocimiento… saber que eso existe. La gente escucha economía y piensa en crecimiento, que lo que queremos hacer es acabar con el mundo y olvídate del cambio climático. Pero no es así. Hay una teoría ecológica que existe que se está luchando para que se aplique.
Estudiante 6: Para mí Desarrollo Económico, me ayudó mucho. Me ayudó mucho ver como la economía [como disciplina] ayuda a mejorar otros países. Ver los problemas de otros países. Ver como otros son exitosos o han sido empobrecidos.
Estudiante 1: Algo que no se cubre en nuestro currículo es escribir. Las electivas de español e inglés, de redacción o “technical report writing”... Lo más urgente es eso, aparte de todas estas cosas que hemos discutido, que entiendo que importan, pero esto de escribir es lo más importante.
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Comentarios Finales
En base a los hallazgos anteriormente discutidos, el Comité de Avalúo recomendó los siguientes cursos de acción:
1. Revisión de los cursos de las secuencias de Microeconomía y Macroeconomía para incorporar aplicaciones con ejercicios prácticos y casos de estudio del mundo real, que además permitan al estudiante ver cómo las herramientas se aplicarían en el mercado laboral, y/o crear cursos nuevos con estos fines.
2. Revisión de los cursos de las secuencias de Microeconomía y Macroeconomía para incorporar y presentar de forma objetiva la pluralidad de perspectivas, tradiciones y escuelas de pensamiento económico que existen en la disciplina, promover el pensamiento crítico en el estudiante para analizarlas según sus propios criterios, y crear cursos nuevos con estos fines.
3. Revisar el ofrecimiento de las electivas en economía con miras a asegurar pluralismo económico. Esto incluye incorporar y presentar de forma objetiva las diversas perspectivas, tradiciones y escuelas de pensamiento económico que han abordado el objeto de estudio del curso electivo. En caso de que un curso electivo se delimitará a una sola tradición o escuela de pensamiento, se recomienda que así lo refleje el titulo y la descripción del curso.
4. Incorporar a los cursos existentes las vidas e ideas de mujeres economistas, teorías económicas enfocadas en asuntos de género, y las tradiciones que se enfocan en estas áreas, particularmente la Economía Feminista.
5. Crear cursos nuevos para profundizar en las vidas e ideas de mujeres economistas, teorías económicas enfocadas en asuntos de género, y las tradiciones que se enfocan en estas áreas, particularmente la Economía Feminista.
6. Fomentar en estudiantes y profesores la consciencia de género, o una perspectiva crítica de género fundamentada en una consciencia social y ética, a través de los cursos de economía, y además con actividades y/o talleres.
7. Debido a su pertinencia a la realidad puertorriqueña, convertir en requisito del programa de bachillerato los cursos ECON 4038-Economía Ecológica, ECON 4015-Desarrollo Económico, y ECON 4018-Economía del Sector Público.
8. Convertir en requisito del programa de bachillerato los cursos ESPA 3208Redacción y Estilo y INGL 3236-Technical Communication (anteriormente titulado “Technical Report Writing”).
Incorporando métodos cualitativos para evaluar el rol de los cursos de economía 47
En términos del proceso de avalúo, el Comité de Avalúo del departamento pudo constatar que complementar el ejercicio cuantitativo con un ejercicio cualitativo, los grupos focales, resultó ser muy efectivo. Con el grupo focal se logró validar la información generada con el cuestionario, y además permitió profundizar en los asuntos que se identificaron en el mismo. Sobre todo, el grupo focal permitió a los estudiantes comunicar en más detalle sus inquietudes o recomendaciones. Esto sugiere que cuando sea viable, es recomendable incorporar ejercicios cualitativos, como entrevistas a profundidad o grupos focales, al proceso de avalúo.
Biografía del Autor
Ricardo R. Fuentes-Ramírez es Catedrático Auxiliar del Departamento de Economía de la Universidad de Puerto Rico-Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (UPRM). Completó sus estudios subgraduados en Economía en UPRM, y luego completó su PhD en Economía en la Universidad de Massachusetts-Amherst. Sus principales áreas de estudio son políticas de desarrollo económico y la economía social y solidaria. Actualmente es co-investigador en un proyecto subvencionado con fondos CDBG-WCRP del Departamento de la Vivienda para la elaboración de planes de resiliencia comunitaria, co-investigador en un proyecto con fondos de la US Economic Development Administration para proveer asistencia técnica a organizaciones sin fines de lucro, investigador principal en un proyecto con fondos de la Junta de Planificación de Puerto Rico para actualizar y modernizar la producción de indicadores económicos oficiales, y preside la Asociación de Economistas de Puerto Rico durante el término actual 20232024.
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Referencias
Beker, V. A. (2018). On pluralism and economics. International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 9(1-2), 204-215.
Caraballo-Cueto, J., & Segarra-Alméstica, E. (2019). Do gender disparities exist despite a negative gender earnings gap?. Economía, 19(2), 101-126.
Chang, H. J. (2015). Economics: the user's guide. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Defendini-Torres, M. (2023, 27 de octubre). Hacia otros saberes: imaginando otras pedagogías económicas. Presentación en la Trigésima novena asamblea anual de la Asociación de Economistas de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico. de Jesús Dávila, A. (2017). El Reto de Enfrentar la Feminización de la Pobreza en Puerto Rico. Ceteris Paribus: Revista de Investigaciones Socioeconómicas, 7. Recuperado de: https://www.uprm.edu/ceterisparibus/el-reto-de-enfrentar-lafeminizacion-de-la-pobreza-en-puerto-rico/ Fuentes-Ramírez, R. R. (2023, 27 de octubre). ¿Dónde están las teorías desarrolladas por y para las mujeres? Una evaluación crítica de los currículos de economía en Puerto Rico. Presentación en la Trigésima novena asamblea anual de la Asociación de Economistas de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Schneider, G. (2018). The evolution of economic ideas and systems: a pluralist introduction. Routledge.
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Avaluo Plus
Revista de Avaluo del Aprendizaje 2024, Volumen 3 Numero 1, 50-55
Avaluo y Reflexion sobre Estudios Culturales: Enfoques Practicos
AdrianaMangonesCervantes
Resumen
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Avalúo Plus Revista de Avalúo del Aprendizaje 2024, Volumen 3 Número 1, 56-78
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences in an Intermediate English Course at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez
Melissa Fuentes-Beníquez
Abstract
This paper discusses data from a larger study in which the author studied the experiences of Intermediate English students at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. Data were collected through a questionnaire intended as a self-assessment in two different sections of the course. The study focuses on three major areas (1) what students learned learned in the course, (2) relevance of English in their academic and professional lives, and (3) skills they would like to improve. Pedagogical implications include the need to discuss with students and ensure their understanding of course objectives and expected outcomes at the beginning of the course and that students in writing courses should be exposed to a variety of language learning skills and assessment beyond brainstorming and writing essays such as grammar review, new vocabulary in context, and speaking activities.
Keywords
student’s learning experience, ESL, language awareness, assessment
56
Introduction
Students at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez are placed in one of three language tracks during their first year: (1) Basic English, (2) Intermediate English, or (3)Advanced English. For students placed in Intermediate English, the curriculum includes essay writing based on different genres. Students read a variety of texts based on different themes. The course description includes the analysis of selected readings, such as essays, fiction, poetry or drama, and practice in writing compositions with attention given as needed to grammar and idiomatic expressions. This study provides a glance at what students think regarding their language learning experiences in their Intermediate English course.
Research Questions(s)
The research questions that guided this study are part of a larger survey:
1. What did you learn in your INGL 3103: Intermediate English 1 course?
2. Do you believe that what you learned in INGL 3103 is useful for the main courses within your major?
3. What skills in English do you believe you need to improve?
Participants
The participants in this study came from three sections of first-year students enrolled in the Intermediate English sequence of courses in UPRM. This track consists of four courses: INGL 3103: Intermediate English I, INGL 3104: Intermediate English II, and two second-year English courses. The content of their first-year courses focuses primarily on academic writing; evaluations are conducted almost exclusively through essays, although additional forms of assessment are up to each instructors’ discretion. Formally, all the course objectives emphasize successful achievement of essay writing and rhetorical techniques, as proposed by the university-developed Master Syllabus of Intermediate English. Proposed instructional strategies include lectures, in-class discussions, reading and writing workshops, independent and guided research, presentations, group work and analysis, as well as the use of technology.
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 57
Oral and written communication is the main objective stipulated on these syllabi. This goal is also aligned with the Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) at the institutional level. In the case of INGL 3103: Intermediate English I, this emphasis on communication could be interpreted from the following course objective: “Respond to different audiences and different kinds of rhetorical situations” (UPRM Department of English, 2019, p. 1). This specific objective is established as a learning outcome in the area of rhetoric and composition within the syllabus, but both of these skills are communicative in nature.
Data Collection Procedures
Data were collected through the following instruments:
(1) A sociodemographic survey used to gather information on students’ demographic information, educational background, experiences communicating in English, a self-assessment of writing skills, experiences with literature, what they would like to improve, and activities that they would like to see be done in the classroom (See Appendix A for the questionnaire.)
(2) A questionnaire for students consisting of open-ended questions expanding on topics mentioned in the survey: experiences communicating in English, a selfassessment of writing skills, experiences with literature, what they would like to improve, and activities that they would like to see be done in the classroom For confidentiality and anonymity purposes, pseudonyms are used for all participants throughout the study.
Data Analysis
The quantitative socio-demographic data from the surveys was used to categorize recurring ideas among groups to understand whether expectations and reported needs are common for specific groups within the student population. Quotes from the openended questionnaires also served as evidence to support and triangulate the data collected from the quantitative demographic portion of the surveys
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 58
Participant’s native language self-reported data includes 56 (91.8%) claiming Spanish as their first language and the remaining 5 (8.2%) reporting English instead. Interestingly, there was slightly more variety in their parents’ first languages with reports of one of their parents (addressed as Parent (1) in the survey) distributed as 57 out of 61 (93%) being native speakers of Spanish and the remaining 4 (7%) spoke English as their first language. Meanwhile, for the second parent (Parent (2)), 54 (89%) spoke Spanish natively, 5 (8%) spoke English, and 1 (2%) spoke Hindi.
Regarding school education, participants fell into the expectation of their population with the majority having studied in private schools. More precisely 63.9% received a private education growing up, which is presumed to provide students with greater emphasis and opportunities to learn English as a second language. The remaining 36.1% of participants were products of the public education system.
Participants were also inquired if they received any tutoring for English growing up. 85.2% claimed not having received tutoring services while the other 14.8% reported that they did.
Question 1: What did you learn in your INGL 3103: Intermediate English 1 course?
The first coding set corresponds to Question 1 of the open questions section which asked, “What did you learn in your INGL 3103: Intermediate English 1 course?” The themes that emerged from the data were the following:
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 59
Table 1. What Students Learned from their INGL 3103 and INGL 3104 Courses Theme Definition
Essay Writing
MLA Formatting Conventions
Reading
Speech
Grammar
Review of Concepts Learned in High School
Not Much (of learning)
A
lot (of learning)
The student reports learning about the writing process for essays to argue, analyze, explain, reflect, inform, or narrate events, ideas or concepts with more advanced requirements and rigor than High School
The student reports learning the guidelines for academic document writing, citing and referencing as set by the Modern Language Association.
The student reports developing their reading comprehension of texts of various levels of difficulty.
The student reports practicing spoken communication in English.
The student reports learning about the structure of the English language and how it is applied in different forms of academic writing
The student feels as if the lessons offered in Intermediate English I served as a review of the content learned throughout high school.
The student feels that the material learned in their Intermediate English I course was minimal or none at all.
The student did not detail exactly what they learned in their Intermediate English I course but seemed satisfied with the material offered throughout it.
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 60
The first theme to appear among the responses to this question was essay writing. Having responses be associated to this theme was unsurprising given that the 2020 version of the INGL 3103: Intermediate English I syllabus establishes teaching essay writing as one of the primary objectives. What this number of responses leaning towards this theme entails is that the course met one of its primary learning outcomes, and students feel confident about what they learned there. Here are some expressions that students made regarding their learning experience in INGL 3103. To keep the participants’ privacy, their names have been replaced by pseudonyms:
• “For the most part, we’ve learned about the MLA format and essay-writing. Last semester was also mostly about learning how to express ourselves through writing” (Gianna Paola, emphasis added).
• “I learned how to better my essays (reflective, research, etc.) . . .” (Carolina Patricia).
• “I mainly learned how to construct essay drafts to make statements more enticing and powerful as the final product is reached” (Roman Herrera).
All these examples from the quotes confirm that students received instruction in essay writing as the INGL 3103 syllabus established. These responses show students expressing certainty in their academic writing development and attributed their improvement to their experiences in the course. The second theme that was most recurring in the responses to this question was MLA formatting. When this theme came up in students’ feedback it was usually in juxtaposition with other themes within the same response. However, there were a few instances where this theme was the only one present within the response, hence one of the reasons why MLA was set as its own theme rather than including it under the theme of writing. One example of this is the previously presented quote by Gianna Paola, which goes as follows:
“For the most part, we've learned about the MLA format and essay-writing last semester was also mostly about learning how to express ourselves through writing, while this semester has been more focused on reading novels, poems, etc. and analyzing what we've read. For me, this has been more of a review since these activities were a constant in my English classes during my high school years, but I do insist it is still a learning experience because every experience is
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 61
new and different, and this has also helped me practice and improve my writing skills.”
The third theme had to do with reading comprehension and literary analysis. In INGL 3103, reading takes a secondary role to writing. Students most often engage in reading through their library research to support their essay-writing process, or they read to discuss their textbook or any supplementary material in-class. Reading takes a more prominent role in INGL 3104: Intermediate English II, which is the course the participating students were taking when they were recruited. It is plausible that their experiences in the second course of the Intermediate English sequence may have impacted their responses. Gianna’s response is also a good example for this influence in students’ answers when she claims, “For the most part, we've learned about the MLA format and essay-writing last semester was also mostly about learning how to express ourselves through writing, while this semester has been more focused on reading novels, poems, etc. and analyzing what we've read” (emphasis added). As can be seen, Gianna makes the distinction between both courses.
Fourth is the theme of reviewing concepts from high school. Many of the responses that were coded with this theme came from students that informed coming from bilingual schools or having taken advanced English courses in school. The majority of students that were surveyed for this study were admitted to the university at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and no advanced placement tests were offered by the College Board that year. It might be for this reason that some students that could have been eligible for Advanced English courses for their first-year English requirement were placed instead in the Intermediate English sequence.
Examples of these impressions of INGL 3103 as a review from what was learned in high school can be found in these quotes:
• “For me, this has been more of a review since these activities were a constant in my English classes during my high school years, but I do insist it is still a learning experience because every experience is new and different, and this has also helped me practice and improve my writing skills.” (Gianna Paola)
• “To be frank, I studied in a bilingual school all my life in which the majority of the classes were in English (with the exception of Spanish and Puerto
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 62
Rican History of course). That definitely prepared me to take this English class smoothly and without conflict. So, as far as what I've learned goes, for me it was pretty much a review, meaning the majority of the things that were taught here I had already learned in high school English. However, I will say that the professors here made the class more enjoyable.” (Fernando Torres)
From these quotes above there are 2 noticeable trends the first one being that INGL 3103 helped reinforce and polish further the skills they had already possessed before entering the university; the second was their attention towards the positive learning experience they had in the course. While for these students INGL 3103 served as a review, they seemed satisfied with the course.
Fifth was the theme of students informing not having learned much during their semester taking INGL 3103. Most do not go in-depth about why they feel this way aside from one student that informed having taken advanced English classes in high school. Many of the responses were only a few words long.
Examples of quotes of students expressing not having learned anything or not much are the following:
• “I didn't learn much because it was a pretty basic class and throughout high school I took advanced english[sic] classes that helped me develop good reading and writing skills” (Perla Fernandez).
• “I did not learn much because the class was based on handing in essays each week and that was pretty much it” (Hernan Cruz).
• “Not much but I enjoyed writing the essays” (Ciara Collazo)
In sixth place are the themes of Speech and Grammar. In both, only two responses reflected these themes, and the feedback is minimal but explicitly signaling to the themes. Starting with the theme of Speech, the responses that brought this topic up were the following:
• “Writing Essays[sic] and reinforcing my reading and dialect” (Adrian Torrado, emphasis added)
• “I polished my English[sic] speaking” (Carlos Pellot)
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Following up with the theme of Grammar, the responses had a similar result to the previous theme where there were few responses, and they were very general when talking about grammar. There were only two responses associated with this theme and they were the following:
• “I learned how to better my essays (reflective, research, etc.) and how to identify passive and active languages amongst other things” (Carolina Patricia, emphasis added)
• “I learned how to write better essays and focus on my grammar” (Jailene Rosas, emphasis added).
The last theme that emerged from the data was “a lot (of learning).” This theme was created because of one response to the question that did not expand on the respondent’s learning experience in Intermediate English I, yet according to them, they “learned a lot actually” (Braulio Correa). His comment does not fit in with any of the other themes, and it was the only one to come up to simply state that the student had learned in the course. From Braulio’s expression, one could assume that at least he was satisfied with his educational experience when taking INGL 3103.
Question 2: Do you believe that what you learned in INGL 3103 is useful for the main courses within your major? Explain.
The second question (Q2) of the questionnaire inquires more about how students can transfer the skills learned in class with their majors or professional future by asking them, “Do you believe that what you learned in Intermediate English I is useful for main courses within your major? Explain.” For this question, out of the 61 respondents, 58 answered this question. Students’ responses to this question could be divided into four major categories: “Yes”, “No”, “Somewhat”, and “Uncertain.” The students that did not respond are also accounted for in how all the responses to this question are represented in the chart below:
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 64
Figure 1: Overall Opinions of Usefulness of English Learned in INGL3103 and INGL 3104
Because the question inquired if the content of Intermediate English I would be useful in the long term for core courses within students’ majors, the category with most responses was “Yes” with 73% (45 responses), in second place, with 14% (9 responses), is the category of “Somewhat,” in third place is the category of “No” with 6% (4 responses), and lastly, there is the category of “Unsure” with 2% (1 response) The remaining 5% come from the 3 students that did not respond to this question.
Considering, that there are multiple themes of responses asserting the value of what was learned in INGL 3103: Intermediate English I, the discussion will cover these first Then, the discussion will move on to the disserting or more ambiguous themes.
Students’ responses became more nuanced as participants expanded on their reason to respond this way. As seen in the table above one of the four categories, “Yes”, received enough responses with shared themes that the category could be expanded to 4 different themes as shown below:
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 65
Table 2. Assertions of Usefulness of English Learned in INGL3103 and INGL 3104
Theme Definition
General Benefits
Benefits for Academic Success
Benefits for Professional Career
Benefits for Everyday Life
The student simply responded yes to the question of if the content of the class would be useful for their major.
The student believes there are specific benefits to applying the skills learned in Intermediate English I in other courses for their major and specifies the areas where they would use these skills.
The student believes that the skills learned in Intermediate English I can be applied and are impactful in their professional careers.
The student believes that the skills learned in Intermediate English I can help them connect and communicate with others to build relationships.
While most responses agree that the content of INGL 3103 has had some sort of application outside the classroom, their reasoning varies extensively as can be reflected in the themes shown in the table above. Some students were broad and simplistic in their responses by answering this question just with a “yes” and no further commentary or minimal explanation of any benefits received from their learning like for example, “Yes, the experience that I gained is useful” (Juanito Cortes). For this reason, these answers warranted the creation of the theme of “Yes (in general).” Although these responses did not highlight much of these students’ reasoning, they at least signal some regard for what they gained from the course.
Within the responses where students agreed with the premise that what they learned in Intermediate English I would be useful for other courses in their major, most seemed to express that writing assignments had become easier or more manageable for them or they at least see the potential benefits for when they might have to write in other
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 66
courses. For example, the student, Fernando Torres brings up some applications his polished writing skills might have in his core courses by expressing that, “In biology for instance, you have to partake in investigations at one point and most of them are in English and they require a good developed essay and research paper.” Meanwhile others gave answers that indicated now having a more structured writing process thanks to the course. One student revealed that their former instructor “gave the class some outlines for the three types of essays we were required to do. Because of this, I considered that my writing improved a little bit and I still use outlines to write essays both in english[sic] and spanish[sic]”
Closely associated to the theme discussed above was the theme of answers coded as “Benefits for Professional Career.” The responses that aligned with this theme addressed the benefits students considered that they gained form what they learned in INGL 3103. Some of the responses under this theme were:
• “I believe it is useful because If I get a job in the united states[sic] I am now more prepared to be able to give presentations or to write any sort of report in English.” (Andres Dominguez)
• “yes it allowed me to practice how to organize my thoughts and write/speak more eloquently which is useful for a physician” (Sasha Cruz) Most of the career-oriented responses reflect the perspective of English as a language of opportunity. Opportunity is defined differently across these students’ responses. For some, like Andres –a mechanical engineering student–, opportunity means getting a job in an English-speaking country like the United States and being literate in English would be the key to receiving these opportunities. Others consider English’s value for their professional growth overall. Meanwhile, there is Sasha’s more pragmatic perspective where the focus is being able to speak and write more effectively.
The last group of responding affirming seeing usefulness from what they have learned in INGL 3103 was the set of responses coded as “Benefits for General Life.” Most answers here are related to relationship building with other English speakers and other non-academic or non-professional circumstances. The following quotes serve as example of this theme:
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 67
• “Yes, it is super useful as I will use these abilities during class and in every other aspect of my life” (Keila Velasquez, emphasis added).
• “It is, because making connections with English speaking people is very important” (Arnaldo Romero).
There were some students’ comments that were responses that were ambivalent in their perspective or were denying any benefit from what was learned in INGL 3103. How these perspectives were considered as themes and defined are detailed in the table below:
Table 3. Ambivalence or Negation of Usefulness of English Learned in INGL3103 and INGL 3104
Theme Definition
No
Somewhat
Unsure
The student feels that the content learned in Intermediate English I is not useful for their major, profession, or life in general.
The student is ambivalent about whether what they learned in Intermediate English I will be useful for them. They acknowledge some skills that could be applied in their majors, careers, or lives, but do not consider their learning experience to be prominent enough to be considered impactful.
The student does not know nor explains how the skills learned in Intermediate English I might be applicable to their major, career or life. Hence, they did not expand on the matter.
Those that responded negatively and offered an explanation to their opinion for the most part claimed that they already knew English. Such is the case with Hiram Barea when he commented, “No, I already know English.” On the other hand, there are slightly more nuanced responses following a similar line of thought as Hiram’s. Perla
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 68
Fernandez responded, “Not really because I didn’t find myself learning a lot in last semesters[sic] class and the english[sic] I need to know for my other classes I already know.” It is likely that Hiram equates knowing English with communicative competence meanwhile Perla’s comments seem to lean more towards the skillset that is taught in INGL 3103
Following up with the remaining responses, there was a group of students’ comments that was ambivalent with either agreeing or disagreeing to the idea that what they had learned in INGL 3103 was useful. However, when it came to offering feedback, the responses that ended up coded under this category offered additional insight as to why the students felt indecisive about the value of their learning experience in INGL 3103. These students’ reasons were varied discussing areas like critical thinking, clarity of expression, academic writing, reviewing and reinforcing skills, academic honesty in writing, and feeling that the course did not meet all its objectives.
On the other hand, there was a student that appeared to expect something more from the class while recognizing some value to what he had learned in INGL 3103. This student, Hernan Cruz, explained, “I think that at some level it is important for me to perfect my writing skills but I do believe too that the requirements for the course weren’t met last semester because we only did essays.” Here, rather than simply being ambivalent Hernan seems to present and condition his positive beliefs of the usefulness of the course under his understanding of having met the objectives or “requirements” of the course. It appears as if Hernan acknowledges the importance of writing to some extent. However, his comments give the impression that he expected to develop a more varied skillset form the course.
Question 3: What skills in English do you believe you need to improve? Explain.
Question 3, was intended to gather information by asking students, “What skills in English do you believe you need to improve? Explain.” Data collected are summarized in the table below:
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 69
Table 4. Skills
Themes Definitions
Writing Skills
Skills for Increasing Vocabulary in English
The ability to convey ideas effectively through the composition of texts while applying the most suitable tone, structure, and word-choice for any given communicative situation
The possession and progressive acquisition of an expansive lexicon that allows for ease of expression and adaptability of communication in English as a second language with little to no reliance on translators
Applied Grammar Skills
Critical Reading Skills
Spoken Communication Skills
The understanding and application of the linguistic rules and structure of the English language to be able to produce comprehensible strings of words that effectively convey a message
The ability of understanding texts at multiple reading levels and extracting ideas from the materials read in their context
The ability to verbally express ideas fluently and confidently in different situations
Writing Skills. The first theme appearing in Q3 to be discussed is Writing Skills. Any of the students’ responses that showed concern from anything that pertained writing was coded as belonging to this theme. Areas of students’ concern that were connected to writing were: the writing process, spelling, document formatting conventions, writing for professional environments, and, more vaguely, writing in general. The multiplicity of perspectives regarding writing coming up in students’ responses, show the overall awareness students have about the diverse uses for composition skills.
When it comes to writing, it seems that for students, the writing process for essays seems to be the first idea to come to mind. Some students struggle to come up
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 70
with ideas for their writing. For instance, the student Salome Viera believes that “I [Salome] need to improve my writing skills and how to come up with ideas on what to write about. At times I find myself wasting time trying to figure out what to write about.” Here Salome acknowledges that she struggles with the brainstorming process. For cases like her, creating workshop-like lessons where students receive guidance through the brainstorming process might be useful. When it comes to the brainstorming process for writing vary on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, offering some guidance at the moment of that stage of pre-writing could help in preparing students with techniques to breakdown and understand writing situations, prompts, or assignments and narrowing or expanding the scope of a piece of writing to meet the purpose and expectations required in any given assignment.
Aside from struggles in the pre-writing stage, other students focused their responses on the broader subject of essay writing. Some students consider essay writing as their weakest skill overall while others pinpoint specific areas where they could improve the quality of their essays. An example of the former opinion is Fernando Torres’s expressions where he responds:
Honestly, I speak better English than I do Spanish even though English is my second language but I've been speaking it for the past 15 years. Therefore, I like to consider myself an almost perfect English speaker. However, essays have been my weakest point. Even though I have improved my writing in the past year, there's always room for more improvement.
While Fernando confidently self-assesses his level of proficiency in English as high, he feels that he sometimes struggles with writing essays. What Fernando’s response shows is an apparent understanding of the specific qualities of essays as a distinct genre. He understands that his skills in writing generally are decent yet believes that there is more that he could improve in the area of essay writing.
Even though there were students expressing specific applications a considerable group communicating to need or want to improve in their writing generally without offering much detail about their motives while simultaneously claiming different levels of expertise of English. The following quotes are some samples of these expressions:
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 71
• “I believe I have mastered english[sic] pretty well. I would say though I would love to improve my writing skills” (Yamilette Guzman, emphasis added).
• “I think my writing skills are moderate, however there is always room to grow” (Javier Mercado).
• “I still need to get better at writting[sic] and speaking [in] English” (Caleb Sevilla, emphasis added).
In these responses, students are not being specific about what part of writing they would like to improve, yet they do provide a self-assessment about how skilled they are at writing. Some, like Yamilette, believe that they have “mastered” English, considering themselves fully proficient in the language, yet consider that there are areas where they could be better.
Skills for Increasing Vocabulary in English. Often overlapping with the idea of wanting to improve writing in general, students expressed a desire and concern to expand their lexicon without the need to resort to translating software or applications. While the intersection with the theme of writing in some responses was frequent, it was not consistently reoccurring in conjunction with the first theme because a considerable amount of students exclusively presented their concerns over lexical expansion without mentioning it as part of their writing. Since the topic of students’ lexicon might be interpreted to extend to other areas of linguistic expression outside of writing, answers identified as being concerned about increasing vocabulary were labeled under their own theme.
Some examples of students’ responses under the theme of “Skills for Increasing Vocabulary in English” were the following:
• “I have to improve my writings[sic] skills because I still struggle with finding the right words to use. But I can still get the message to go through.” (Hernan Cruz)
• “I need to improve more my writing skills because I still use apps to translate, and I want to be in point were[sic] I don't need to use them or to use it very little when I want to express my ideas, opinion, etc.” (Sarahi Riollano)
• “I would probably need to improve in expanding a bit more my vocabulary because I do not use more “professional” words when I'm writing my essay.” (Alyssa Pintor)
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 72
Applied Grammar Skills. This third theme, Applied Grammar Skills, also often appeared in conjunction to the more general theme of writing in students’ responses. However, while Applied Grammar Skills are part of writing, these skills influence other forms of linguistic communication such as speech production and comprehension. For this reason, the theme to be discussed in this section is analyzed separately from the theme of writing.
As mentioned above a common trend with this theme is that it appeared or was mentioned by students next to other themes. An example of this happening is Gianna Paola’s commentary when she expresses, “It would be nice to review grammar and vocabulary again, since it has been quite a while since I last practiced this, and as experienced as I am with the English language, I still confuse some words' spelling, quotation rules and other basic aspects” (emphasis added). Here, Gianna displays an interest in reviewing a variety of skills that are building blocks of the established learning outcomes for the course. Notably, among this skillset, grammar is present and a concern for her although she considers herself proficient in English. Gianna does not specify which areas of grammar she would like to address, yet this could be identified in the classroom through diagnostic assessment.
Critical Reading Skills. For responses categorized under this fourth theme, Critical Reading Skills, students were brief and did not offer many details in their responses. The three responses corresponding to this theme were: “Reading and understanding” (Angelica Lopez), “Analysis in literature” (Arnaldo Romero) and “symbolism” (Alexandra Serrano). All three deal with different aspects of reading critically, ranging from gaining an understanding of what is being read, analyzing literature, and lastly and more specifically comprehending literature. These represent different levels of reading and engaging with a text and applying critical thought throughout the process of reading.
Spoken Communication Skills. A significant amount of students’ responses corresponded to the fifth and final theme for this question, Spoken Communication Skills. The students’ responses that fall under this theme have multiple concerns that narrow down from this main theme unto four categories: (1) General Spoken
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 73
Communication, (2) Public Speaking, (3) Conversational English, and (4)
Pronunciation. These categories are further defined in the table below:
Table 5. Communication and Speaking
Category Definition
General Spoken Communication
Public Speaking
Conversational English
Pronunciation
Students did not specify what skills within spoken communication they would like to improve upon.
Predominantly formal communicative situations pertaining to speaking to a broad audience such as presentations or speeches.
Communicative situations in varying degrees of formality that require interpersonal speaking for example: conversations or interviews.
Students are concerned with sounding as close to Standard American English as possible.
General Spoken Communication. Although most of the participants that mentioned area of spoken communication skills recognize specific contexts for this type of communication in which they would like to develop, there was a group of students that did not identify any precise area to improve in their speaking. However, within this same portion of participants, that did not point to a determined area of spoken communication, there were responses that offered insight about why they feel they need to get better in their speaking skills overall. An example of one of these elaborate answers comes from the student, Ian Davila, when he states:
I think that my speaking skills need some work. Many of these classes focus a lot on writing, and while that is very important, with enough time anyone can revise
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 74
and redo drafts until they are satisfied. Speaking is not so, because with it you have to think on the spot and that can be a challenge sometimes.
Other students expressed similar thoughts to Ian albeit more concisely. One of these students was Lemuel Texidor with his comment where he reflects that he would like to get better at “Talking [in English] because I[Lemuel] do not practice it.” His brief remark highlights the importance of practice for him when it comes to improving and gaining confidence when speaking in English. However, practice in speaking is only possible when participating in a community that engages in communicating in the target language, which is something that became more challenging to recreate in distance courses.
Public Speaking. Moving from the more general responses to more specific ones, the next category of student input within responses coded under the theme of Spoken Communication Skills is Public Speaking. Most of the responses categorized here are brief and simply reflect students’ interest in practicing public speaking skills. Some simply stated that they want to get better at “Speaking in public” (Cynthia Ramirez) which could refer to speeches or presentations, while others were more precise with their interest with comments like, “I think I need to work on my presentation skills” (Andres Dominguez). These specialized scenarios for spoken communication that these students wish to practice can happen in formal situations. It is up to each instructor of the Intermediate English courses to develop learning experiences that lead students to exercise their public speaking abilities. Notably these responses do not express the lack of practice of public speaking, but rather that these students see this as an area in which they can develop themselves more.
Conversational English. The third category of Spoken Communication was labeled as Conversational English for a set of participants that demonstrated an interest in getting better at holding a conversation. Some of the points made in these responses categorized as discussing Conversational English overlap with those responses that dealt with spoken communication in general; the main difference here is that students explicitly drew attention to their preoccupations towards their conversational skills.
One student’s concern over developing her conversational English came mainly because of the lack of practice throughout the COVID-19 lockdown. This student,
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 75
Vanessa Luciano, admitted, “I believe I need to practice more of my english[sic] conversation skills. I constantly read and watch shows in English but since quarantine I don’t have anyone to practice my English.” Like Lemuel’s comment had previously shown, Vanessa shows herself worried the lack of practice for holding a conversation in English which brings attention to the need of a community of practice to apply and exercise an individual’s skills in speaking in a target language. Vanessa also mentions that she is often immersing herself in content in English but recognizes that this input is not enough to reach her desired level of proficiency for the language.
Pronunciation. The final category of responses discussing spoken communication is pronunciation. Having an accent can influence an individual's selfperception regarding proficiency in a second language. Multiple students addressed their interest in minimizing their accent. Some of these responses were:
• I wish to improve on my writing skills even more since I wish to move on the med school, and I really need to blow the admissions officers away with my personal statement. Also, it would not hurt to improve my dialect as well. (Jared Castro, emphasis added)
• I believe that my English is well developed when it comes to grammar. I would like to improve with my accent though (Jean Cabrera, emphasis added)
• I think I need to improve my pronunciation and way of speaking. (Helena Valdez)
These students all share a common concern but are labeled differently. Based on the context of their comments, “dialect” (Jared Castro), “accent” (Jean Cabrera), and “pronunciation and way of speaking” (Helena Valdez), all stand for the same aspect of their speech. These students seem worried about how they sound when they speak. Speaking in a way that is closer to Standard American English seems valuable to them.
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 76
Conclusions and Recommendations
Based on the data collected, the following are the recommendations for INGL 3103 instructors:
1. Make sure that students have clear expectations of the course regarding the importance of writing and speaking or communication in general and how the course will include activities to assess these skills.
2. Include activities that integrate both speaking and writing as well as making connections to their academic majors.
3. Assess students at the beginning of the semester to better understand their background and the skills they bring with them.
4. Includes multiple writing formats and not only essays to assess learners (e.g. reading comprehension quizzes and academic presentations).
5. Provide more training to instructors regarding the teaching of academic speaking and writing.
6. Meet with other faculties and consider their feedback regarding the use of English for academic purposes in the different fields of study.
In sum, students in the INGL 3103/INGL 3104 Intermediate track may continue to add different teaching and assessment strategies to meet academic communication expectations.
Author Biography
As a graduate from UPRM’s English department, Melissa Fuentes-Beníquez completed a B.A. in English with a focus in Linguistics, and an M.A. in English Education. During her time as a teaching assistant in UPRM, she taught Basic English, Intermediate English, and Composition and Reading. Melissa’s current research interests are in instructional design and literacy. Presently, she works as a 9th and 10th grade English teacher at a vocational school in Arecibo, PR.
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 77
References
Arnó-Macià, E., Aguilar-Pérez, M., & Tatzl, D. (2020). Engineering students' perceptions of the role of ESP courses in internationalized universities. English for Specific Purposes, 58, pp. 58-74.
Bonyadi, A. (2019). Discourse Analysis and Language Pedagogy: A Review. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 21(1), 128-136.
Carroll, K. S., Rivera, R. L., & Santiago, K. (2015). Questioning Linguistic Imperialism: Language Use and Needs in a Puerto Rican Agriculture Program. In Transcultural Interaction and Linguistic Diversity in Higher Education (pp. 164-187). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Chansky, R. A., Santiago, E. C., González, F. C., Denesiuk, M., Vargas, J. G., & Mazak, C. (2018). I Is for Agency: Education, Social Justice, and Auto/Biographical Practices. Revista Brasileira de Pesquisa (Auto) Biográfica, 3(8), 416-440.
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2009). “Multiliteracies”: New literacies, new learning. Pedagogies: An international journal, 4(3), 164-195.
Department of Education of Puerto Rico (2016). Revised Curriculum Framework. (R. Roman-Melendez, H. Valentin-Gonzalez, M. Vargas-Landró, B. Philpott-Perez, Eds.).
Duff, P. A. (2007). Second language socialization as sociocultural theory: Insights and issues. Language teaching, 40(4), 309.
Lum, L., Alqazli, M., & Englander, K. (2018). Academic Literacy Requirements of Health Professions Programs: Challenges for ESL Students. TESL Canada Journal, 35(1), 128.
Mazak, C. M., Rivera, R. L., & Soto, G. J. (2016). Show what you know. Spanish-English codeswitching in the Caribbean and the US, 215-233.
Pousada, A. (1996). Puerto Rico: On the horns of a language planning dilemma. Tesol Quarterly, 30(3), 499-510.
Santiago-Vega, K.N. (2012). Agriculture Students’ Language Needs in General Education Courses: A Case Study, [Master’s thesis, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez]. Dissertations & Theses @ University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez. Schmidt, J. R. (2014). The Politics of English in Puerto Rico's Public Schools. Boulder, CO: First Forum Press.
Soto-Santiago, S. L., Rivera, R. L., & Mazak, C. M. (2015). Con confianza: The emergence of the zone of proximal development in a university ESL course. How, 22(1), 10-25
UPRM Department of English (2019). English Intermediate Writing I (INGL 3103): Master Syllabus.
Understanding Language Learners’ Experiences 78
Avalúo Plus Revista de Avalúo del Aprendizaje 2024, Volumen 3 Número 1, 79-92
Assessment of Students’
Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Rosita L. Rivera & Diana Rodríguez
Abstract
This article presents the results of an assessment study conducted by the Assessment Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. This study collects student opinions about the different teaching modalities during the COVID-19 public health emergency for two academic years (2020-2021 and 2021-2022). The study collects data on the following academic areas: (1) Asynchronous distance mode, (2) Hybrid Distance Learning Mode, and (3) Modality of technologyassisted courses Within these modalities, the following were evaluated: (1) Instructional Design, (2) Platforms Used, and (3) Assessment carried out within the different modalities. This article ends with recommendations for teachers based on data analysis.
Keywords
Instructional design, Online instruction, Assessment of online instruction
79
Introduction
During the 2020 – 2021 and 2021 – 2022 academic years, the University had to reconsider the way it taught its courses due to the COVID 19 crisis. This led to a reevaluation of both the courses and the modalities that already existed prior to the pandemic. At our UPRM campus at that time, there were three modalities: (1) face-toface (100% in the classroom), (2) hybrid (25% face-to-face and 75% online), and (3) distance (completely remote asynchronously).
In the case of hybrid and distance courses, certification (06-43) required that such courses in these modalities be duly approved at the departmental level. When the need arose to deliver the courses remotely in March 2020, the term "technology-assisted courses" was used to offer flexibility to teachers and the opportunity to become certified to design their courses.
The Assessment Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences designed a questionnaire to understand how these modalities affected the teaching and learning process in the faculty departments. Data was collected through the Assessment Office and links were created for each department. To protect the confidentiality of the participants, the emails of the members of the committee were not used, but the mail from the Assessment Office was used. The results were sent to the appraisal coordinators of each department. The overall analysis of the results was done at a committee meeting. This article includes that part of that analysis.
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 80
Participants
The questionnaire collected the opinion of 320 students of our faculty who are broken down as follows:
1. Participants by Department
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 81
Figure
2: Participants by Department
3. Participants' Year of Study
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 82
Figure
Figure
Results
Figure 4. Satisfaction with Technology-Assisted Courses 2021-2021
The 200-2021 Academic Year marked the beginning of the pandemic and 40% of students expressed that they were not very satisfied, 36.3% expressed feeling satisfied, 147% not satisfied, and 9.1% well satisfied.
Students’ Satisfaction
Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 83
Assessment of
with Online
Figure 5. Satisfaction with Technology-Assisted Courses 2021-2022
During the 2021-2022 Academic Year, 49.4% said they felt satisfied, 31.9% felt not very satisfied, 9.7% were well satisfied, and 9.1% were not satisfied. This reflects that during that academic year, although we were still in the COVID 19 emergency, students felt more satisfied than the previous year. This may be because teachers were better trained and prepared to handle online courses.
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 84
Figure 7. Satisfaction with Hybrid Courses During the Pandemic
53.1% of students expressed satisfaction with the hybrid modality. 24% said they were not very satisfied, 13.1% were very satisfied, and 9.1% were not satisfied.
8. Students' Satisfaction with Online Teachers
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction
Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 85
with
Figure
The students expressed that they felt satisfied with the interaction with their professors since 45% expressed being satisfied, 35% expressed being not very satisfied, and 13.1% expressed being not very satisfied.
Figure 9. Student Satisfaction and Interaction with Other Students
In terms of student satisfaction with interacting with other students in their courses, the data reveals that they were dissatisfied or dissatisfied with online interactions.
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 86
10. Satisfaction with Course Activities
The data show that students were satisfied with the following activities: (1) accessing documents, (2) uploading documents, (3) quizzes, and (4) online forums during that academic period.
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 87
Figure
11. Modalities in which Students Took Courses During the Pandemic
During the two academic years impacted by the pandemic, students took courses in the three modalities in which the courses were offered at the time. Most of the courses were distance learning during that period, so 92% of the students said they had taken the courses in that modality. On the other hand, 77.5% said they had taken the courses in a hybrid way and 54.7% said they had taken courses in person.
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 88
Figure
Figure 12. Platforms Used in Courses
Students expressed that they used different platforms during the pandemic. They mentioned Moodle as the one that predominated in their courses, TEAMS as another of the options chosen by their teachers and Google Classrooms in third place.
Figure 13. Digital Collaborations That Made It Easier to Work on Tasks with Ease
Students expressed that working on documents online with other class members made it easier for them to complete their course activities during the pandemic. They also mentioned synchronous meetings and forums as alternatives that helped them in their processes of completing assignments in their courses.
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction
Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 89
with
Figure
14.
Digital Approaches That Helped Students Learn
The digital approaches used by teachers that helped learning according to the students' perception were PowerPoint presentations, videos, animations, and Whiteboard and Pen. Figure 15. Student Experience with Online Modalities
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 90
44.4% of students expressed that they are easily distracted, while 35.6% said they learn at their own pace. Connectivity was also a factor for 8.7% of online learning.
Conclusions
The COVID 19 Emergency was a challenging time for educators and students alike. During the second semester of Academic Year 2020-2021 the course modality changed for professors and students. Syllabi and assessment methods had to be reconsidered. This in turn affected the outcomes for students. The following year professors were more comfortable with teaching in both online synchronous and asynchronous modalities, and this shows in how students expressed their support for hybrid courses.
This study included students from all departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. However, Laboratories were not included as part of the data collection in the survey. More data is needed from specific courses and departments. Also, more data could be collected in which students' performance and learning outcomes are measured using different modalities.
As we continue teaching and learning in a post-pandemic environment, innovative technologies continue to emerge. Students' experiences have also changed how they perceive the use of technologies and computer mediated communication to learn. Professors also adapted to a new pace of learning through technology. More studies are needed in this area to better understand the impact of technology in all fields of the arts and the sciences.
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 91
Pedagogical Implications
The following are some suggestions to consider when teaching online or hybrid courses in the College of Arts and Sciences based on the data analysis.
1. Students prefer hybrid courses
2. Students enjoy working collaboratively with others through forums and documents
3. Students enjoy animation and videos as part of their classroom activities
As we collected data for this study, innovative technologies emerged as in the case of Artificial Intelligent and ChatGPT. This poses new opportunities and challenges for educators and learners. Computer mediated communication will continue to evolve, and both faculty and students should become educated in how these innovative technologies impact education in the classroom and beyond.
Author Biographies
Rosita L. Rivera, PhD obtained her doctoral degree at Penn State University and is currently a Professor in the English Department at UPRM. She teaches English as a Second Language and applied linguistics courses. Her recent publication is titled Language assessment in multilingual settings: Innovative practices across formal and informal environments for Language Science Press (co-edited with Eva RodríguezGonzález).
Diana Rodríguez Vega PhD obtained her doctoral degree at Columbia University. She is a retired professor from the Department of Kinesiology at UPRM. She has worked with assessment initiatives for over thirty years. She is currently a member of the Assessment Committee representing the Kinesiology Department in the College of Arts and Sciences at UPRM.
Assessment of Students’ Satisfaction with Online Teaching Modalities during COVID-19 92
Avalúo Plus Revista de Avalúo del Aprendizaje 2024, Volumen 3 Número 1, 93-127
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities
Eva Rodríguez-González
Abstract
Using self-reported data, the present study investigates Spanish second language (L2) learners’ learning strategies and their language anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence and self-efficacy across three levels of university L2 coursework. A total of 136 undergraduates enrolled in three levels of Spanish upper division courses participated in the study. A questionnaire administered to participants revealed three types of learning strategies that students use across course levels: Practice, Engagement, and Assistance. Students’ course level of Spanish predicted in-class anxiety, self-concept and self-efficacy regarding their speaking ability. The Engagement strategy additionally predicted gradeconfidence. Findings suggest that because self-assessment contributes to more control over speaking tasks and leads to successful language strategy use, particular attention to the role of this tool should be considered in language teaching interventions.
Keywords self-assessment, self-efficacy, L2 speaking, Spanish, language strategies, language anxiety
93
1.Introduction
Speaking another language, one of the most crucial skills in L2 learning (Cohen, Weaver & Li, 1996; Hughes, 2002; Shumin, 2002), actively involves the learner in the construction of meaning by producing information within a sociocultural environment by means of using linguistic, non-linguistic, contextual and culturally appropriate mechanisms. Self-assessment in this sociocultural context serves as a potential tool for increasing self-regulated learning. Self-regulated learners have agency over their own learning and are able to evaluate their learning experiences and the effectiveness of their learning strategies. In the case of L2 speaking, the self-regulated learner develops strategies for communicating effectively by creating language and adapting it successfully to the context (Castañeda & Rodríguez-González, 2011).
College student success is often challenged by a lack of metacognition (process of thinking about one’s own thinking and learning) and ability to self-regulate learning. One important academic challenge for college students is the realization that the strategies they have used in previous learning environments are not directly equated with self-perceptions of academic success. Because the process of self-assessment increases metacognition (Siegesmund 2016), learners also become more proficient at evaluating their progress toward completing a task, a key facet of self-regulated learning. The ability of students to effectively self-regulate their learning has been shown to be dependent on their metacognitive ability via implementation of learning strategies (Education Endowment Foundation, 2019).
This study aims to examine the nature of learning strategies College students enrolled in three Spanish courses use when speaking L2 Spanish. The three Spanish courses selected for this study were part of a series of undergraduate Spanish major coursework required for a Spanish language degree. More specifically, this study investigates to what extent self-reported language strategies in L2 speaking and coursework level serve as predictors of multiple variables that have been documented to play a role in language learning, namely, language anxiety, self-concept (knowledge and perceptions about one’s learning), grade-confidence (feeling of certainty in one’s capability of earning a specific grade) and self-efficacy (perceptions about one’s
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities 94
capability to perform a task). Building from previous studies that used questionnaires, this study surveyed L2 Spanish learners on language strategy use in speaking tasks and each of the variables mentioned above. The overall findings suggest that integrating selfassessment via metacognitive surveys into Spanish L2 courses helps both students and teachers to monitor language development, address any areas that may challenge learning and to identify areas of teaching intervention.
2. Literature Review
2.1
. Language strategies
Language learning strategies, defined as thoughts and actions that learners use to assist them in learning and using the target language, and in performing specific language tasks (Oxford, 2011), represent an important aspect of second language acquisition (SLA) research (Cohen, 1998; Erhman, Leaver, & Oxford, 2003; Dornyei, 2005; Mills, Pajares & Herron, 2007; Rivera-Mills & Plonsky, 2007). Scholars have defined strategies according to their function (cognitive, metacognitive, social, and affective) and also according to skill area (Nakatani, 2005; Naughton, 2006; Vandergrift & Tafaghodtari, 2010). Cohen, Oxford, & Chi (2002), for example, created a language strategy use inventory which asked learners to indicate the extent to which they used different strategies. Mills et al. (2007) found that students who perceived themselves as capable of using effective metacognitive strategies to monitor their academic work time experienced more success in intermediate French than those students who did not maintain this same belief. Their findings also indicated that learners who use language strategies were more successful than those who did not (see also Macaro, 2001). In this regard, “students who have the opportunity to exercise voice, agency in designing, developing and assessing their own learning have a great chance of becoming resilient and independent learners” (Victoria State Government, 2021). Thus, the ability of students to effectively self-regulate their learning is dependent on their metacognitive ability, which is academically exercised via thinking about and monitoring learning strategies.
The purpose of using strategies is to “affect the learner’s motivational or affective state, or the way in which the learner selects, acquires, organizes, or integrates new
Language
95
Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities
knowledge” (Weinstein and Mayer, 1986, p. 315). Those strategies can be used by both learners and teachers. Instructions of strategy use have been also identified as effective to enhance learners’ independent and autonomous learning (Zimmerman, Bonner, & Kovack, 2006).
Tanner’s (2012) study on metacognition in Biology undergraduate courses recommends teaching metacognitive strategies explicitly. She provides a sample of metacognitive questions to include as prompts and assignments to promote student metacognition about learning. Those questions (p. 115) are identified depending on the kind of activity (class session, homework assignment, quiz or exam) and different preduring-after stages while performing a given task (planning, monitoring and evaluating). More recently, Graham (2022)’s review of studies on self-regulatory learning strategy use concludes by highlighting the importance of encouraging students to reflect on their learning and the strategies they employed to help them develop a sense of personal agency. In graduate coursework in Linguistics, Vallejos and Rodríguez-González (2022) also recommend surveying students' metacognitive strategies to monitor learning growth and to identify areas of intervention in the classrooms. All the abovementioned studies promote the use of metacognitive strategies in college curriculum and classroom practices to contribute to enhance self-regulatory learning. Thus, an examination of the nature of language strategies used by language learners when performing tasks related to specific skills is important to be studied in relationship with other variables that have been documented to affect language learning. The study of the relationship between language strategies, self-efficacy and other variables that influence learning provides a new venue of inquiry and will contribute to the identification of effective teaching practices in L2 speaking.
2.2. Self-assessment in L2 speaking: Language anxiety, self-concept, gradeconfidence and self-efficacy
In student-centered learning contexts and related to the value of reflecting on the language strategies L2 learners use, self-assessment has been identified as a valuable tool for both teachers and learners since it requires students to reflect upon their own learning and make judgments (Klein, 2007). Previous research has recommended that teachers consider how to guide their learners toward self-regulated and autonomous learning via self-assessment (Moeller & Fu, 2015; Tigchelaar et al., 2017). Additionally,
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking
96
abilities
the documentation of multiple variables that affect language learning via self-assessment informs and complements both instruction and program assessment at different stages of learning experiences.
Such variables that have been studied in the literature in terms of L2 learning are language anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence and self-efficacy. However, more research is needed to address the impact of each of these variables in tandem with language strategies in L2 speaking to identify which language strategies may serve as a better predictor for such variables. Additionally, most of the research has focused on the effects of some of these variables in L2 learners in beginning or intermediate levels of coursework, with few studies focused on learners at more advanced levels of language coursework (Ewald, 2007; Marcos-Llinás and Garau, 2009; Torres and Turner, 2016).
2.2.1. Language Anxiety: In academic contexts, language anxiety has been defined as a subjective state of fear, tension, apprehension, and nervousness associated with communicating in the target language (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Some researchers argue that when defining L2 anxiety, one must talk about skill specific L2 anxieties (Horwitz, Tallon, & Luo, 2010; Torres & Turner, 2016). Of the four specific L2 skill domains, speaking appears to be the most anxiety-provoking skill (Kim, 2009; Young, 1986). In a study on Japanese learners of English, Matsuda & Gobel (2004) found that learners who had more positive thoughts about their own learning capabilities experienced low anxiety and felt that they had the ability to perform well (p. 22). Mills et al. (2007) found that intermediate French students with a more positive view of their abilities in L2 were more successful in transforming apprehension into positive events. Kim (2009) reported that Korean students in an English conversation course had higher levels of L2 anxiety than students in a reading course. The author identified three sources for their anxiety: (1) speaking in spontaneous conversations with classmates and the teacher, (2) speaking in front of peers, and (3) fear of negative evaluation. These results suggest that explicit training in affective strategies can help students manage anxiety related to language learning. By teaching affective strategies, those concerned with managing both positive and negative emotions, teachers can help L2 Learners develop their emotion management capabilities (Oxford, 2017).
2.2.2. Self-concept: Academic self-concept refers to students’ knowledge and perceptions about themselves in academic situations in language classrooms. Although
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities 97
the terms self-concept and self-efficacy are closely related, they are different: self-concept refers to how we perceive our abilities and unique characteristics as language learners (Example “I am an introvert as a learner”), whereas self-efficacy refers to our perceptions about our ability to successfully perform academic tasks in language classrooms (Example “I can describe an object in detail in another language”: Ferla, Valcke, & Cai, 2009). Thus, self-efficacy is considered as an active precursor of selfconcept development as self-efficacy judgements influence self-concept (Bong Skaalvik, 2003). Both constructs are important to be examined together as they are correlated with each other. The importance of examining both self-efficacy and self-concept together in language learning lies in the assumption that increases in self-efficacy has a direct and positive impact on self-concept as a language learner and user. Thus, the exercise of reflecting and building self-efficacy impacts self-concept as a successful product or outcome. With regards to the impact of self-concept, Byrne and Worth Gavin (1996) found a positive relationship between self-concept and achievement (via course grades) while Pajares and Valiante (1999) found that improved self-concept helped lower students’ language anxiety. One important aspect that is missing from previous studies is the analysis of language strategies and their influence as a predictor of self-concept (Skaalvik, 1997; Mills et al., 2007).
2.2.3. Grade-Confidence: Previous research has confirmed the influence of self-perceptions of L2 language abilities in academic language achievement (Multon, Brown, & Lent, 1991; Mills et al., 2007). In Mills et al. (2007)’s study, participants rated how confident they were that they would be able to receive a ‘B’ in their French L2 class. Although the scale was found to be reliable (α = .90), the items did not focus on specific aspects of L2 learning skills. Although course grades continue to be used to determine whether students can advance from one course to the next higher course in language related coursework, the relationship between course grades and student performance on measures of L2 ability has not been carefully explored (e.g., Brown, 2013). More specifically related to speaking L2 speaking proficiency, Brown (2013) tested oral proficiency interview (OPI) ratings with Spanish GPA, cumulative GPA, and self-assessed OPI rating in 30 students of L2 Spanish. Students' self-assessment of speaking was significantly correlated with Spanish GPA. Previous studies mostly refer to actual overall course grades or achievement based on performance in a course as a whole. Following Mills et al.’s (2017) study where they used the term grade-efficacy
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities 98
instead of course grade, the current study uses the term grade-confidence in L2 speaking as the term grade-confidence is based on a self-assessment of a predicted course grade that has yet not been confirmed as is skill-specific (vs. GPA or course grade, for instance).
2.2.4. Self-efficacy: Self-efficacy as a psychological construct refers to a person’s belief or self-assessment about his or her own competence to perform a task (Bandura, 1997). In the L2 learning context, Graham (2006) reported that L2 French learners with low self-efficacy related their failure to lack of ability, whereas those with high self-efficacy attributed their failure to insufficient effort or not having appropriate strategies. Previous research has reported the positive relationship between self-efficacy and learning strategies (Diseth, 2011; Yusuf, 2011).
The more strategies a learner uses, the more the learner feels self-efficacious (Zimmerman et al., 2006; Kim, Wang, Ahn, and Bong, 2015) and the more strategies they use (Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990; Kim et al., 2015). The understanding of language learners’ strategy uses and how it relates with self-efficacy makes significant contributions to academic success of language learners (Shi, 2018). As for L2 speaking, Ma and Winke (2019) found that self-efficacy measured by learners’ self-assessment is valuable to monitor students’ language proficiency gains. Teachers and researchers have recognized the importance of training learners in effective strategy use to promote learner autonomy and self-regulation (Oxford, 1996; Weinstein, Acee and Jung, 2011). Teachers are encouraged to use language strategies to enhance levels of self-directed learning (Murray, 2004; Raoofi, Tan & Chan, 2012; Reder & Strawn, 2001). More recently, Graham (2022) recommends incorporating in language teaching interventions self-regulatory learning strategies used to monitor and engage in self-regulated autonomous learning (also Cohen, Weaver and Li, 1995; Wenden, 2001).
3.Present study
The present study relies on self-reported data to examine the nature of language strategies used by Spanish L2 learners and to determine whether language strategies and levels of coursework predict learners’ language anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence, and self-efficacy as they relate to Spanish language speaking skills. The study continues the work that existing research studies have accomplished by examining Spanish
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities 99
language learners’ self-perceptions of language proficiency in Spanish speaking through three different levels of undergraduate Spanish coursework at a large university in the United States. The present study focuses on intermediate and advanced L2 Spanish learners with a declared Spanish major. The research questions that guided this investigation were as follows:
1. What language strategies do L2 Spanish learners use when speaking Spanish?
2. Do language strategies predict language anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence and self-efficacy (as measured L2 Spanish learners’ perception of L2 speaking skills) across different stages in language development (coursework based)?
3.1 Method
Participants: A total of 136 undergraduates enrolled in three different levels of Spanish coursework structured for Spanish majors at a Midwestern university in the U.S. participated in the present study. All 136 were native speakers of English who grew up monolingual in English. The three levels of Spanish coursework represent important benchmarks in the sequence of the undergraduate Spanish major at the collegiate level: 1)fifty-three participants who participated in the study were enrolled in the first entry course required for majors at the 300/x level (henceforth ENTRY3000); 2) forty eight participants were enrolled in different mid-point 300x level courses that were beyond the entry course (henceforth MID3000); and thirty five participants were enrolled in 400x level seminar or capstone courses (henceforth EXIT4000). Table 1 presents the distribution of participants according to their self-reported gender and Spanish academic experience prior to enrollment in coursework at the time of participation in the study.
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities 100
Table 1: Participants’ (N = 136) Spanish language academic experience prior to participation in study.
Course Entrance at Institution
Placement Test Score Placement test taken at institution
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities 101
Gender Female 74% Male 25% Non-binary, unspecified 1% Years of Spanish in High School 4 years 82% 3 years 10% 2 years 5% 1 year 1% No Spanish in High School 2%
48%
18% College-Level
test 2% Prerequisite courses
25% Transfer from another institution 7%
Study Abroad Yes Three/four
program 20% Fifteen/Sixteen
program 3% No 77%
Advanced Placement (AP) test
Examination Program (CLEP)
at the same institution
Academic
weeks summer semester
weeks semester
Materials and procedures: The present study received IRB approval. All participants gave informed consent to participate. A survey consisting of 107 questions was distributed to all participants using Qualtrics software (2018). Participants took approximately 40-45 minutes to complete the survey. The questions obtained information about background information (Questions 1-6), Language learning strategies (Questions 7-25), Language learning anxiety (Questions 26-67), Self-concept (Questions 68-73), Grade confidence (Questions 74-78), and, finally, Self-efficacy (Questions 79106). Each of these survey sections is discussed in more detail below.
The first six questions of the survey obtained information about enrollment of Spanish course at the time study took place. Other background information obtained included gender, years of Spanish study in high school, entrance mode in Spanish courses- placement tests, and study abroad experience (length and location).
In order to answer Research Question 1, which focuses on the nature of the language strategies participants reported using when speaking Spanish, the survey included 19 questions. For all 19 language strategy questions, participants had to choose their response from the following options: 1) “I use this strategy and like it”, 2) “I have tried this strategy and would use it again”, 3) “I have never used this strategy but I am interested in it”, 4) “This strategy does not fit for me”. As such, the responses represented a scale whereby 1 indicated extensive adoption of a strategy, and 4 indicated little to no adoption of a strategy (See Table 2 for details regarding strategy questions and participants’ responses). The 19 questions probing students’ strategies were designed to represent three types of strategies based on Cohen et al.’s (2002) Language Strategy Use Survey for speaking skills. The three strategies were as follows:
a. Practice strategy- Questions 7-9: Strategies to practice speaking Spanish (e.g. “Practice saying new expressions to myself”).
b. Engagement strategy- Questions 10-18: Strategies to engage when interacting with others in Spanish (e.g., “Plan in advance what I am about to say”).
c. Assistance strategy- Questions 19-25: Strategies for when student/learner cannot think of a word or expression in Spanish (e.g., “Ask for help from my conversational partner).
In order to answer Research Question 2, the survey also included questions
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities 102
related to language anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence and self-efficacy to determine whether any of these concepts are predicted by language strategies and level of coursework. Language anxiety questions were designed based on an adapted version of the Spanish language context from Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope (1986)
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale indicating classroom anxiety when speaking Spanish (Questions 26-57). An example of a question was as follows: “I never feel quite sure of myself when I am speaking in my Spanish language class.” The questionnaire also included an additional set of questions designed to measure outside-classroom anxiety (Questions 58-67). An example of a question was follows: “I would become nervous if I had to speak Spanish to someone in a store.” The responses were on a scale of 1 to 5 with lower numbers indicating less anxiety and higher numbers indicating more anxiety.
The survey also measured self-concept, which relates to participants’ own perception regarding their overall performance in their Spanish classes (adapted version of Marsh’s 1990 Academic Self-Description Questionnaire- ASQ-1). A 5-point Likertscale format was used for the six self-concept questions (1- strongly agree, 5- strongly disagree). An example of a self-concept item is as follows: “Compared to other students I am good at Spanish.” Importantly, self-concept refers to a holistic view of one’s abilities in general to perform in a Spanish class. By contrast, self-efficacy refers to the ability to perform a specific task, and thus self-concept and self-efficacy are qualitatively different constructs.
The survey measured students’ grade-confidence, that is, their confidence in their achievement-based performance in the Spanish course they were taking at the time the study took place (adapted version from Mills et al. 2007’s Grade self-efficacy). A 5-point Likert-scale format was used (1-completely confident, 5-not confident at all) with sample item as follows: “How confident are you that you will get a grade better than a C?”
To measure self-efficacy, LinguaFolio Can-Do statements (NCSSFL, 2013) for Spanish speaking (interpersonal communication mode) were used as a self-assessment tool. Such statements are based on people’s beliefs about their own abilities to perform a given task, a necessary pinnacle in self-efficacy to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1997). An example of a self-efficacy question is as follows: “I can
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discuss and solve problems in uncomplicated situations in Spanish (I can request services, such as phone, plumbing, or car repair, I can reschedule an appointment or a date if something comes up).” Participants were asked to rate each of the 28 self-efficacy prompts according to a 3-point scale, where 1= “I can do that easily and well”; 2= “I can do that”; 3= “Not yet, this is one of my goals”.
The 28 self-efficacy questions were carefully selected from LinguaFolio Can-Do statements following the American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines (2012) to provide a common method of reporting performance in terms of skill and modes of communication. Six sublevels of proficiency were represented to capture undergraduate students’ abilities in upper division Spanish language coursework. Self-efficacy questions ranged from Novice High to Advanced Mid levels Examples (1-6) provide samples of self-efficacy questions spanning each of the six ACTFL levels:
(1) Novice High: “I can ask for and give simple directions to go somewhere or do something”
(2) Intermediate Low: “I can exchange information about academic topics familiar to me”
(3) Intermediate Mid: “I can ask and answer a variety of questions about routine personal information in uncomplicated situations”
(4) Intermediate High: “I can exchange detailed information related to areas of mutual interest”
(5) Advanced Low: “I can exchange information and ideas in discussions on a variety of familiar and concrete academic and social topics”
(6) Advanced Mid: “I can maintain discussions on a wide variety of familiar and unfamiliar concrete topics of personal and general interest, and sometimes academic, social or professional topics”
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104
and
speaking abilities
To summarize, responses to questions related to language anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence and self-efficacy were scalar, with lower numbers representing more positive self-assessment (lower anxiety, higher self-concept, higher grade-confidence, and higher self-efficacy) and higher numbers representing more negative self-assessment.
4.Results
RQ# 1: Self-reported Learner Use of Language Strategies
In order to address the first research question, participants were asked to selfreport on the different types of strategies that they used when speaking L2 Spanish. Table 2 includes information regarding the three types of strategies used (first column on Table 2). It also demonstrates that participants use multiple strategies when speaking L2 Spanish (cf. info highlighted in bold in Table 2). Responses 1 and 2 confirmed language use (response 1= “I use this strategy a lot”, and response 2= “I have tried this strategy and would use it again”). For the first type of strategy use (Practice strategy) “strategies to practice speaking Spanish,” half the participants (48%) stated that they rehearse practicing new expressions to themselves (memorization technique) and confirmed practice of new grammatical structures in different situations to build their confidence level in using them (53%). For the second type of strategy use (Engagement strategy), “strategies to engage in conversations in Spanish,” only 27% of participants regularly looked for opportunities to speak Spanish to native speakers or often initiated conversations in Spanish. However, 80% relied on self-regulating techniques via planning in advance what they were going to say when speaking in Spanish (59%) and diverted the conversation to familiar topics (51%). For the third type of strategy use (Assistance strategy), “strategies for when you cannot think of a word or expression in Spanish”, 66% participants reported that they asked for help from their conversational partner and the majority (85%) looked for a different way to express and idea. Overall, participants confirmed the use of different language strategies when asking for help, addressing vocabulary gaps, and interacting with others. Response option # 3 (“I have never used this strategy but I am interested in it”) indicates that students are interested in learning more about those language strategies presented in the questionnaire as they could be helpful to L2 learners when speaking Spanish. Finally, responses option # 4 (“This strategy does not fit for me”) is more aligned with selfconcept and personality traits.
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Table 2: Participants’ ratings on different types of strategies used when speaking L2 Spanish
Practice strategy: Strategies to practice speaking Spanish
Practice saying new expressions to myself
1.I use this strategy and like it
2. I have tried this strategy and would use it again N= 49 (36%)
3. I have never used this strategy but I am interested in it N= 19 (14%)
4. This strategy does not fit for me N= 3 (2%)
Think about how a native speaker might say something and practice saying it that way
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Response (%) Mean (s.d.)
N= 65 (48%) 1.71 (0.79)
Practice new grammatical structures in different situations to build
confidence level in using them 1 N= 32 (24%) 2.02 (0.74) 2 N= 72 (53%) 3 N= 29 (21%) 4 N=3
my
(2%)
1 N= 51 (38%) 2.02 (0.93) 2 N= 37 (27%)
4 N=6
Engagement strategy: Strategies to
in
Regularly seek out opportunities to talk with native speakers 1 N= 37 (27%) 1.98 (0.79) 2 N= 72 (53%) 3 N= 20 (15%) 4 N= 7 (5%) Initiate
possible 1 N= 37 (27%) 2.01 (0.84) 2 N= 71 (52%) 3
18
4
3 N=42 (31%)
(4%)
engage in conversations
Spanish
conversations in the target language as often as
N=
(13%)
N=10 (7%)
(Continuation) Table 2
(18%)
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Direct the
to familiar topics 1 N= 69 (51%) 1.70 (0.85) 2 N= 45 (33%) 3 N=16
4 N=6
advance
to say 1 N= 80 (59%) 1.60 (0.90) 2 N= 42 (31%) 3 N=2
4 N=12
questions as a way to be involved in the conversation 1 N= 65 (48%) 1.71 (0.79) 2 N= 49 (36%) 3 N=19 (14%) 4 N=3
1 N= 57
1.92 (0.96) 2 N= 44
3 N=24
4
1 N= 23 (17%) 2.39 (0.95) 2 N= 59 (43%) 3 N=32 (24%) 4 N=22 (16%)
conversation
(12%)
(4%) Plan out in
what I want
(1%)
(9%) Ask
(2%) Anticipate what will be said based on what has been said so far
(42%)
(32%)
N=11 (8%) Try topics even when they aren’t familiar to me
Assistance strategy: Strategies for when you cannot think of a word or expression in Spanish
Encourage others to correct errors in my speaking
(Continuation) Table 2
(8%)
(2%)
Try to figure out and model native speakers’ language patterns when requesting, apologizing or complaining
Ask for help from my conversational partner
(29%)
(4%)
(4%)
(5%)
Look for a different way to express the idea, like using a synonym
Use words from my own language, but say it in a way that sounds like words in the target language
(47%)
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1 N= 80 (59%) 1.54 (0.74) 2 N= 42 (31%) 3 N=11
4 N=3
1 N= 48 (35%) 2.01 (0.89) 2 N= 43 (32%) 3 N=40
4 N=5
1 N= 90 (66%) 1.40 (0.64) 2 N= 39
3 N= 5
4 N=
(29%)
7
1 N= 116 (85%) 1.15 (0.36) 2 N= 20
3 N=0
4 N=0
(15%)
(0%)
(0%)
1 N= 21 (15%) 2.92 (1.16) 2 N= 33 (24%) 3 N=18 (13%) 4 N=64
Make up new words or guess if I don’t know the right ones to use
(Continuation) Table 2
(4%)
(67%) Use gestures as a way to try and get my meaning across
Switch back to my own language momentarily if I know that the person I’m taking to can understand what is being said
N=14 (10%) I use other strategies N= 20 (100%)
A follow-up analysis examined the use of language strategies across different stages of coursework. Table 3 provides a descriptive summary of the three types of language strategies (Practice, Engagement and Assistance) used across course level (ENTRY3000, MID3000 and EXIT4000). Participants reported using the three language strategies in each of the three course levels. Means between 1 and 1.99 correspond to use of the strategy itself. Means in the 2 range show participants have tried to use the strategy and would be interested in it in the future. Both the Practice and Engagement strategy were used more often by participants in the EXIT4000 as compared to students in the other course levels (Practice Mean= 1.77; Engagement Mean= 1.80). In terms of Assistance strategy, participants confirmed trying to use the strategy in MID3000 and EXIT4000 with higher ratings of a more solid use in the ENTRY3000 (Mean= 1.97 in ENTRY course level vs. Means of 2.07 and 2.00 for MID and EXIT course levels
Language
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Strategies and Self-assessment of
1 N= 10 (7%) 3.30 (1.05) 2 N= 30
3 N=5
4 N=91
1 N= 69 (51%) 1.65 (0.83) 2 N= 54 (40%) 3 N=4 (3%) 4 N=9
(22%)
(7%)
1 N= 57 (42%) 1.80 (0.90) 2 N= 63 (46%) 3
4
N=2 (1%)
Language Strategies and Self-assessment of L2 speaking abilities
respectively). In other words, compared to students in the other course levels, ENTRY3000 participants relied more on the use of the Practice strategy. It is possible that students in ENTRY3000 were more aware of the need to practice when speaking L2 Spanish.
Table 3: Descriptive analysis in L2 Spanish for course level (ENTRY, MID and EXIT) and language strategy types (Practice, Engagement and Assistance)
RQ# 2: Do language strategies and levels of coursework predict Language Anxiety, Selfconcept, Grade-Confidence and Self-Efficacy?
Linear regressions performed in R Studio (RStudio Team 2020) were used to measure the influence of language strategies (Practice, Engagement and Assistance) and levels of coursework (ENTRY3000, MID3000, and EXIT4000) on language anxiety, selfconcept, grade-confidence, and self-efficacy. Recall that for self-concept, gradeconfidence, and self-efficacy, the lower the number the more confident the student rating. For anxiety, the lower the number the less anxious the student rating. Thus, in the results in Table 4, for the effects of coursework, negative coefficients indicate increased self-assessment (e.g., higher self-efficacy). Strategies were also coded on a scale of 1-4, with the lower numbers indicating greater use of the strategies. Therefore, for the effect of language strategies on self-concept, grade-confidence, and self-efficacy, positive coefficients indicate that the strategy and the self-assessment are positively associated, since for both, the lower the number, the more the strategy is used and the higher the confidence (higher self-efficacy, higher self-concept, higher grade-confidence, and less anxiety).
110
Practice Strategy Engagement Strategy Assistance Strategy Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. ENTRY3000 1.98 0.46 1.89 0.37 1.97 0.43 MID3000 1.95 0.50 1.87 0.35 2.07 0.42 EXIT4000 1.77 0.59 1.80 0.54 2.00 0.49
Table 4: Linear Regression analysis indicating associations between language strategies and level of coursework on anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence and self-efficacy (significance level of .05).
Course Level (ENTRY- reference level)
The results in Table 4 indicate that level of coursework predicted in-class anxiety, where in-class anxiety was significantly lower in advanced level (EXIT4000) as compared to ENTRY3000. No significant differences were observed in terms of in-class anxiety between ENTRY3000 and MID3000. Engagement strategy influenced in-class anxiety such that the more engagement used, the less anxiety reported. The other strategies did not serve as a predictor for in-class anxiety. For outside anxiety, course level and language strategies were not significant predictors.
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and
Language anxiety Self-concept Gradeconfidence Selfefficacy In class anxiety Outside class anxiety β (SE) p β (SE) p β (SE) p β (SE) p β (SE) p
MID -.04 (.08) .67 -.02 (.05) .75 .03 (.02) .02 .02 (.13) .90 .06 (.07) .42 EXIT -.17 (.09) .04 7 -.01 (.06) .80 .01 (.02) .65 .002 (.14) .99 -.40 (.08) < .0001 Type of Strategy Practice .12 (.07) .11 -.06 (.05) .22 .19 (.02) < .000 1 .13 (.12) .27 .10 (.07) .15 Engagem ent .19 (.09) .04 .06 (.06) .32 .15 (.02) < .000 1 .47 (.15) .002 .23 (.08) .006 Assistanc e -.15 (.08) .06 -.06 (.05) .26 .24 (.02) < .000 1 -.07 .60 -.05 (.07) .50
As for self-concept, there was a main effect of course level, that is, level of coursework was a predictor of self-concept. Participants’ self-concept in the MID3000 course level was higher as compared with ENTRY3000. All the three types of language strategies predicted self-concept. In terms of grade-confidence, there were no significant differences between the three levels of coursework, suggesting that participants did not have lower confidence in grades in advanced courses (EXIT4000) nor higher confidence in grades in ENTRY3000 or MID3000. Different from what has been observed for selfconcept, engagement strategy was the only type of strategy that predicted higher degrees of confidence in grades. In the case of self-efficacy, EXIT4000 significantly predicted self-efficacy, whereas MID3000 did not. These results indicate that participants’ self-efficacy is higher in the advanced course level. As learners are more exposed to practice Spanish in multiple courses, their self-efficacy increases in terms of performance abilities in speaking. Similar to what has been observed for gradeconfidence, engagement strategy was a predictor for self-efficacy: the use of engagement strategies increased self-efficacy in speaking, whereas the other strategies did not.
Taken together, these results suggest that the level of Spanish majors’ coursework has an effect on in-class anxiety and self-efficacy, and that participants in advanced EXIT4000 levels have less in-class anxiety and higher self-efficacy as compared to ENTRY3000. However, in-class anxiety and self-efficacy in ENTRY3000 and MID3000 were not significantly different. Similar to what has been observed in other disciplines, the results suggest that ENTRY3000 participants possess more in-class anxiety and lower self-perceived Spanish language “capabilities” as compared to the more advanced participants that are about to finish their Spanish BA coursework in EXIT4000 courses. There was a main effect of language strategies predicting in-class anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence, and self-efficacy. Engagement strategy was a strong predictor of improved self-efficacy, self-concept, and grade-confidence. The other language strategies, practice and assistance, influenced positively on self-concept only.
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5. Discussion
Using self-reported data, this study sought to explore the language strategies learners employed when speaking Spanish. It also aimed to examine to what extent such language strategies and different levels of L2 Spanish undergraduate college coursework predicted language anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence and/or self-efficacy. Findings indicate that learners used multiple language strategies and indicated the ones that they would be interested in using more. Results in the linear regression analyses showed that coursework predicted in-class anxiety, self-concept, and self-efficacy. Language strategies also significantly predicted self-assessment; all three strategies predicted self-concept, whereas Engagement strategy was the only predictor of in-class anxiety, self-concept, and grade-confidence and self-efficacy. These results will be discussed in turn in the following sections followed by a discussion of how the findings can inform curriculum design and teaching practices.
5.1. Learner Strategies
The first research question of the study addressed the nature of the language strategies that L2 Spanish learners use when speaking Spanish. Participants reported the use of multiple language strategies. In the Practice type of strategy, students said new expressions to themselves as a rehearsing approach prior to speaking in front of others. They also stated they think about how native speakers might say something in Spanish and then would repeat it to themselves. The findings also indicate that students rely on testing the application of grammatical structures in their own speaking to build their level of confidence. This strategy, identified by 53% participants, confirmed that participants have tried this strategy and would like to use it again. The second type of strategy, Engagement strategy, was the most frequently used and was also the most influential strategy when predicting participants' self-efficacy, language anxiety, selfconcept, and grade-confidence. Participants relied on asking questions to be involved in a conversation and planned out in advance what they would say. They also confirmed trying to engage in topics that were not familiar to them. All the strategies identified helped participants to prepare and rehearse speaking. Findings indicate that participants have used some of these strategies once and would like to use them in the
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future. Participants reported using the three language strategies across all three course levels. Students in the advanced courses (EXIT 4000) used the Engagement strategy more than the students in the 3000-level courses followed by the Practice strategy in ENTRY and MID levels. While students did not use the Assistance strategy as much as the other strategies, they did attempt to use it, and participants reported they would be interested in using it in the future. These findings regarding strategy use when speaking Spanish have implications for language classroom instruction, design of instructional materials, and teacher preparation (see more on Teaching Interventions below).
5.2. The influence of language strategies on self-assessment
The first part of the second research question asked whether language strategies were predictors of variables that affect learning, more specifically, language anxiety, selfconcept, grade-confidence, and self-efficacy. Findings indicated that the Engagement language strategy was the only predictor of language anxiety, self-concept, gradeconfidence, and self-efficacy. These results could be explained because the Engagement strategy is mostly focused on conversations with others as an interpersonal mode of communication. The other strategies, Practice and Assistance, while they might involve others, rely more on the self. One interesting result is that Engagement strategy was found to be a predictor for in-class anxiety but not for outside class anxiety. This might be due to the peer pressure of L2 speaking in classroom settings that is not present in real-life scenarios with others that are not part of L2 learning.
Another interesting finding of the present study is related to the comparison between the results of self-efficacy and self-concept in terms of whether they were predicted by language strategies. While Engagement strategy is the only language strategy that predicted self-efficacy, all the three types of strategies examined in this study served as predictors for self-concept. This difference might be related to the fact that self-efficacious individuals hold stronger beliefs in their ability to successfully perform task situations, especially those that involve performing social engagement work (Heuven et al., 2006). The strategies related to Engagement in this study addressed the social and contextual involvement required to speak with others. Since self-concept measures a person’s overall view of themselves (vs. self-efficacy measuring ability to perform certain task), the use of multiple strategies (not only one in particular) may contribute to how people value themselves when speaking in another language,
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independently from whether the speaking involves more than one person. In other words, self-concept in speaking emerges as an umbrella or global term under which selfefficacy develops. Self-concept includes both presentational communication (related to practice and assistance language strategy types in this study) and interpersonal communication (aligned with engagement language strategy type).
5.3. The influence of course level on self-assessment
Findings indicated that the level of Spanish major coursework had a significant effect when decreasing in-class anxiety. Students in early Spanish BA coursework had more in-class anxiety when speaking in Spanish as compared to students in more advanced courses that are close to graduation (EXIT4000). These results confirm that students’ exposure to Spanish at different stages in coursework helps with language anxiety when practicing speaking in classroom settings. It is important to note that outside-anxiety did not decrease as students moved up in higher levels of coursework. This finding could be explained by the lack of substantial outside-classroom exposure participants in the study have reported via study abroad, with only 3% participants studying abroad for a period of at least one semester. Since previous research has documented that length of study abroad exposure is key to language abilities (Magnan and Back 2007; Hernández 2010), the low exposure to language immersion often documented on short-term study abroad (Hernández 2016a, 2016b) could explain that outside class anxiety did not decrease through time in different levels of coursework.
The results of the present study correlate with previous findings in the case of language anxiety as a factor that is still present in advanced levels of language coursework (Torres and Turner, 2016). L2 learners still experience language anxiety when performing speaking tasks in upper-level courses despite higher levels of performance abilities compared to those in beginning levels of coursework (Ewald, 2007; Matsuda and Gobel, 2004). These findings invite us to consider the importance of instruction and teaching interventions when producing and/or relieving students’ anxiety in classroom settings at different stages of course level. As such, the role of language teachers as persuaders becomes important as they can play a significant role in
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the development of individual self-beliefs in language learners (Bonyadi, Nikou and Shahbaz, 2012).
Results in the study also showed a main effect of course level on self-concept, with MID3000 course level being the one predicting self-concept. These findings suggest that self-concept starts to emerge in MID3000 level once students have been exposed at least one semester to Spanish L2 speaking at the college setting. Self-efficacy was also found to be predicted by course with EXIT4000 course level impacting self-efficacy. Similar to what has been found in previous studies, students in early Spanish BA coursework had lower self-efficacy in Spanish compared to those learners in more advanced Spanish EXIT4000 courses (see also Torres and Turner, 2016). However, in the present study students’ self-efficacies when performing a L2 speaking task did not increase as they moved from early to mid-coursework for Spanish majors (ENTRY3000 and MID3000). These findings suggest that improving self-efficacy takes more time than a couple of semesters, that is, it may take several semesters to feel more capable and confident in their L2 Spanish speaking abilities. Time of exposure might account for why the more advanced students in EXIT4000 that have taken several 3000 level courses felt more capable when speaking L2 Spanish. Time of exposure and practice to L2 speaking may account for the differences in the main effect of course level on selfconcept and self-efficacy. L2 learners may notice self-concept in speaking gains immediately after taking ENTRY3000 course levels and feel better with themselves after a course of practice of Spanish in general. However, for self-efficacy to be increased when performing tasks in L2 Spanish, more time is needed
Teaching interventions that include and allow for discussion of both self-concept and self-efficacy might influence self-assessment positively in both variables. Since literature on the impact of self-efficacy on learning has related self-efficacy with goalsetting and highlights the importance of the teacher (Kondo, 1999), the findings of the present study contribute to the value of creating curriculum goals and teaching materials that allocate attention to raise awareness of monitoring and evaluating learners’ beliefs about their own abilities constantly at every stage of course instruction and learning (Cotterall, 2000).
In terms of grade-confidence, findings indicated that only the Engagement language strategy predicted grade-confidence. The course level did not predict grade
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confidence. While exposure and practice to L2 speaking in languages improves through time and has a positive effect on self-efficacy, grade confidence does not necessarily improve as coursework level increases with potential self-perceived difficulty by students.
5.4. Implications for Teaching Interventions
The nature of the multiple types of strategy use self-reported by students in the present study (Table 2) can inform design of instructional materials that incorporates activities and tasks that target each type of strategy following previous research (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990 and Chamot & O’Malley, 1996). These language strategies capture metacognitive processes where students reflect on their learning. Following previous research on the value of implementing metacognition in course design and delivery, activities for language strategies in coursework when performing speaking tasks in L2 Spanish help teach students to reflect, self-identify, make connections, and monitor how their learning over an extended period of time (Negretti, 2012; Pintrich, 2002).
Some examples for consideration by language teachers are to first survey students to find out what language strategies they report using and then to “workshop” sessions once a week regarding “how to” practice language strategies that help learners to decrease language anxiety and increase self-efficacy in future similar tasks and assignments. Given the results in the current study, special attention should be paid to the Engagement strategy. During the workshop sessions, students would also share with peers their challenges and effective strategies when addressing metacognitive processes as they are engaged in L2 speaking tasks. Another example for classroom implementation purposes would suggest the in-class discussion of presentational and interpersonal speaking video fragments produced by learners in previous semesters (e.g., samples exhibiting different degrees of anxiety and/or self-correction and testimonials of learners after a study-abroad immersion experience) to notice and address successful communicative practices in L2 speaking.
An example of a follow-up intervention that could take place after the collection and assessment of data from metacognitive surveys such as the Can-Do statements used in the present study would be the implementation of Wise Feedback by language
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teachers. “Wise” is used here not as related to smartness but as an act of addressing social stigma (Goffman 1963). The implementation of wise feedback follows a culturally responsive and inclusive teaching that highlights a growth mindset message and has been shown benefits to students which have traditionally suffered from race-based stigma (Cohen, Steele & Ross, 1999; Yeager et al., 2014). Wise feedback refers to specific constructive feedback provided by instructors that conveys high expectations, the instructor´s genuine belief that those expectation can be achieved by the student and provides specific information via strategies to help the students to meet the expectations. Using wise framing for feedback helps to build trust, signal belonging, and combine high standards with the assurance that people can reach them. Wise feedback requires “wise” strategies, that is, “strategies that convey to students that they will be neither treated nor judged in light of a negative stereotype but will instead be respected as an individual” (Yeater et al. 2014: p. 806). Thus, it is crucial for instructors to provide constructive criticism, clear pathways and specific directions, and guidance on how students can achieve success (Bose 2021). In the case of language learners, their prior experiences with corrective feedback or self-perceived notions of not “being good at” languages may benefit from the infusion of wise feedback inclusive teaching techniques that can be applied to all students in any discipline. In sum, the understanding of learners’ strategies can guide the planning of strategy assessment and instruction training activities for language teachers based on the learner strategy needs identified in studies such as this one presented here [for other strategy assessment instruments, see Oxford (1990), Harris, 2000, 2001; Weaver and Cohen, 1997]).
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Implications, Limitations and Further Research
Researchers and language teaching practitioners aim to assist L2 learners when developing self-efficacy in a way that reduces anxiety and fosters a sense of achievement and confidence in L2 educational contexts (Graham 2004, 2022; Torres and Turner, 2016). As such, the self-efficacy framework, and its self-assessment tools such as the ones used in this study offer important implications for curriculum designers. By means of designing a learner-oriented language curriculum that incorporates learners' selfefficacy tools such as Can-Do statements, language teachers can help language learners develop positive beliefs about their own ability in the L2 (Arnold and Brown 1999). L2 teachers and classrooms that instill positive thinking and include self-efficacy as part of their course materials are ideal environments to foster care, respect, and mutual support. In such classrooms, teachers would promote a safe learning space where the focus is on learning instead of testing. Training in implementing anxiety-reducing techniques and course materials such as Horwitz et al.’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale would be key to destigmatize mistakes and create open conversations about anxiety (Bensalem 2018). The inclusion of metacognitive questions surveying students’ learning strategies followed by teaching interventions that lead to class discussions have a great potential and impact on student’s own agency and improved self-efficacy. The result of such activities will transfer into a more positive selfimage and better social relationships that are key when achieving (inter) language and cultural competencies.
While the current study increases our understanding of student learning strategies and how they relate to anxiety, self-concept, grade-confidence, and selfefficacy, it has not connected these findings to actual L2 speaking abilities. Thus, future research should address the relationship between self-perceived capabilities and language proficiency itself (Ziegler (Moeller, 2012). This line of investigation would allow researchers to compare the language development as documented in self-efficacy tools such as LinguaFolio’s Can-Do statements with more objective measures of ACTFL proficiency ratings. A more inclusive approach would be interesting in terms of comparing self-perception of L2 speaking proficiency, ACTFL’s Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) ratings, as well as measures of linguistic gains such as lexical
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complexity and global accuracy in the actual speech produced by learners in different stages of Spanish BA coursework. Such comparisons across multiple assessments would help determine whether any linguistic gains are identified that may not be captured in more holistic ratings such as standardized language proficiency testing methods such as ACTFL’s OPI (Lafford & Collentine, 2006). Another important consideration for future work is the assumption that only learners, or students in educational contexts, are subject to anxiety and self-efficacy. As Torres and Turner (2016) suggest, differing levels of teaching anxiety and teaching efficacy could relate to students’ levels of anxieties and their levels of learning. Thus, further research would incorporate the effect of teachers’ self-efficacy, self-concept, self-efficacy and teaching strategies on students’ L2 speaking (Zafar & Meenakshi, 2012; Torres, Arrastia-Chisholm & Tacket, 2018).
6.Conclusion
This study helps to address the application of self-assessment tools in Spanish language education from a practical perspective in language teaching. The findings from this study suggest that more active individualized student reflection may be beneficial in language teaching in college settings. In particular, it may improve metacognition when developing and tracking speaking in another language. The inclusion on course activities and reflection of statements on language anxiety (inside and outside the classroom setting), grade-confidence, self-concept, self-efficacy, and metacognitive strategies such as the ones used in the present study help to facilitate students’ self-regulating learning through different stages of coursework. This information can also shape programmatic curricular practices in a given language program. This study offered a holistic and panoramic view on how students perceive their own speaking abilities at different levels of undergraduate coursework and how self-perceptions are affected by language learning strategies, which in turn impact learning (Rao, 2016; Wu, 2008). The findings suggest that students’ input on their journey as a language learner via self-assessment is a valuable tool for increasing their self-efficacy in terms of L2 speaking, which ultimately facilitates self-regulated learning. The suggested teaching interventions call for a more reflective and inclusive practice of students’ report of self-efficacy and explicit metacognitive strategies with an emphasis on constant and repeated intervention at different course-based stages of L2 speaking development.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank and dedicate this publication in loving memory of Dr. Todd Hernandez, for his collaboration when recruiting participants, feedback, and encouragement to produce this manuscript. These pages still breathe his expertise and commitment to the language teaching profession.
Author Biography
Eva Rodríguez González is an Associate Professor at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of New Mexico. Her main areas of research are classroom-based adult language teaching and learning, cognitive approaches to language acquisition and Spanish-English codeswitching. She has extensive experience as Coordinator of Spanish language teaching in Higher Education and is currently serving as Special Assistant to Dean, College of Arts and Sciences- Assessment.
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