The society of the 21st century will be a cognitive society; the capital will turn to be

a capital of advanced knowledge and competencies to solve problems and create

new situations.

UNESCO, 1998.
3. Characteristics of the educational model

The educational model of Tec is based on specific characteristics that

all courses must have, regardless to the level or discipline.

1. Students learn to work collaboratively

It is difficult to incorporate in a brief text the principles in which the

collaborative learning is based. In previous chapters the use of team
work has been justified due to its importance in the consolidation of
the student’s learning process and in his/her social development.
However, there are anthropological and social reasons which have
made collaboration the essential element in the learning process.

Education has passed through stages which have responded to

the concept of person in each moment of its history. In the
contemporary anthropologic philosophy, individuality was stressed
and the relation aspect was set apart. This relation aspect is
emphasized in the postmodern thought at present. At the beginning
of the 20th century, John Dewey considered that schools should fulfill
two missions in the social reconstruction: help to students’
development, creating in them the wish of a continuous growth and
making them find their happiness helping others improve their
conditions.
 The collaborative experiences are the only way to
Systematically socialize future generations and satisfy the needs
of a world which is every time more urban, technological and
interdependent.
Kagan, 1985

According to this author, in order to reach these objectives, it is necessary

to stop considering intelligence as a personal possession and study the
communication and interaction processes. Men are intimately linked with
human being and must construct with them a more caring world. Collaborative
learning is a socialization experience which is oriented to get the student to
have a solidarity life and where the essence of education is based. These two
dimensions of a person, individual and social, establish a reciprocal and
dynamic relation, they do not occur separately. Individual development is
limited by individuals’relation with others and, at the same time he/she has
qualities and resources to help others in their own development.

The emphasis given to this approach is the result of the social evolution.
The progress in science and technology as well as the economic, social and
political interdependence of our society has opened the world dimensions and
demands to solidarity and collaboration. The need of solidarity within the
democracy of nations is important to overcome the lack of solidarity humanity
has. This is shown in the damage of social relations which is more obvious
with the different communication and information means.

In the educational model, solidarity applied to collaborative learning is the

most important element in the students’formation. It is more than a
characteristic, it is a philosophy of life; it is the core of the academic life of the
students and the professors. It is also included in all the activities and
processes in which the students participate.

In collaborative learning activities, besides consolidating the learning

process carried out individually, students develop at the same time abilities,
civic and social attitudes such as effective communication, know and respect
others, tolerance, collective decision-taking and mutual compromise.
Collaboration is an appropriate way to promote ethic habits of behavior.
Terms such as individualism, memorization, passive and competitive are not
associated with collaborative learning; on the other hand, the elements that are
always present in this kind of learning process are, according to the theory of
the Johnsons brothers, David and Roger:

? Cooperation. Students support each other in an efficient and effective way

in order to reach a common objective. They share goals, resources and
 achievements in a way that a student cannot be successful without the
others.
? Individual responsibility. All the students, as members of the group, have
their own assignments to carry out and these assignments are fundamental
to reach the groups’goal.
? Communication: The members of the group interchange information and
materials. They analyze the assignments and individual conclusions; they
reflect to achieve thoughts and results with a higher quality.
? Group assignments. Students learn to solve problems together developing
abilities such as leadership, communication, confidence, decision-taking
and conflict-solution.
? Reflect about the process. The members of each group evaluate the
actions and plan the changes that should be done to improve their work.

When the professor creates a respectful environment where each student is

accepted by the others and he/she feels secure to express his/her ideas, the
personal growth is strengthen in both dimensions, individual and social. When
students work collaboratively it is possible to achieve the following:

? Increase comfort and quality in the classroom.

? Encourage the intellectual strictness.
? Develop mental abilities of superior reasoning.
? Improve the self-esteem in a belonging and personal identity sense.
? Prepare him/her self for future life as a professional and as a citizen.
? Practice the ethic behavior.
? Increase the social cohesion of the group.
? Develop the interest in working and learning.

The students that have had the opportunity to participate in collaborative

learning experiences in the Institute say that they learn more when they work
with their classmates because they are able to enrich their points of view and
learn aspects that they could not have been able to learn by themselves. At
the beginning, there is resistance to this way of working which is conditioned
by the emphasis the traditional education gives to individualism. However, if
the professor manages the process well and students collaborate, they will
have a rewarding experience, improve their grades and be more successful.
Collaborative learning does not mean that all the activities must be done in
groups: it is necessary to carry out some of them individually. Some of these
individual activities are information research, analysis and personal studying.
This way, students prepare themselves to make meaningful contributions and
participate efficiently in the group.

In order to promote a constructive discussion, the classroom environment must

be respectful, tolerant and active listening.
Francisco Arellano, Teacher from Toluca Campus. 2001
 At the same time, their development is strengthened through a process where
individual and group activities are alternated.

On the other hand, the fact of working in groups does not guarantee that
students are doing collaborative learning. The professor needs to organize the
process step by step in order to reach the required conditions and with his/her
help, students can learn with common assignments. (See Figure 3.1)

In conclusion, the collaborative learning can be defined as the following:

In a group where everybody is equal, and with the professors’

direction and help, students will learn to compare their points of
view and accept their differences. They will also help each other,
show solidarity, work in common projects, establish their own
rules and carry out the obligations adopted collectively.
Project of the Teaching Reform of the Education and Science
Ministry form Spain, 1987:19

2. Students acquire relevant and deep knowledge

An important element in the teaching-learning process is the academic content

which is part of the study plans. Learning this content is the main objective in
the professional formation of student. There is change in the new educational
model which is the way these contents are taught. The most recent tendencies
are oriented to study science through real problems with the objective to form
persons able to be amazed by what happens in their environment. They
should also be able to face the world changing permanently and the great
technological advances.
The purpose of the new educational model does not use theories, concepts
and procedures contained in the program as information that should be
memorized and that should form the cultural background of the students. The
main purpose is to use them to understand the world and apply them to solve
problems of the present society.
This strategy gives an important value to the contents of a program and
helps to develop the Tec students’profile since it allows them to reflect about
the ethical, political and social aspects related to topics of the course. These
reflections are generally left in the background of the learning plan exclusively
based on the discipline. Topics such as the relations among countries, the
industrialization processes of world powers, the perspectives about the future
of our societies can only be understood if the economic, social and ethic
dimensions are taken into account. These reflections place the students in an
appropriate platform to solve the problems related to the sustainable
development, even though this global perspective is not studied in the same
way in all subjects.

The philosophy of how the contents are learned is beyond a learning process
based on reproducing and remembering everything considered important. The
concepts that are used in the classroom, and included in the textbooks, are
generally abstract concepts that are enclosed knowledge isolated and away
form the experiential world of the student. For this reason, they seem
meaningless and as a consequence do not motivate students to learn them.
As expressed by Jerome Bruner (1997): A teaching system away form reality
or presented to the students in such a fragmented and theoretical way that
makes it unrecognizable is not useful to stimulate students’interest which is
the core of a constructive activity.

When the knowledge is applied to improve the environment, students become

agents of history and stop being just spectators; they become the key of the

Figure 3.1 Diagram of the individualist learning and the collaborative learning

evolution of history. This way of having access to knowledge is important to

develop students’commitment to his/her reality and promote a more active,
responsible, critic and efficient participation.
The results that have reached educational investigators (Bruner, Piaget and
Vigotsky, among others), do not mean that the present curricula is not
coherent, but it is difficult for students and even for professors to see the
relation between the curricula and reality. (See Table 3.1)

The knowledge acquisition form real situations present important advantages

for the students:
? It develops a positive attitude toward permanent education.
? It makes the student more competitive in the professional area.
? It helps the student understand the reality in which he/she lives.
? It gives sense to his every-day work.
 ? It makes rewarding and meaningful his/her learning experience.
? It helps the long-term retention of knowledge.

Table 3.1 Diagram that contrasts the different approaches of knowledge.

Knowledge in the traditional Knowledge of the Tec’s

educational model: educational model
? is reproduced. ? It is applied to solve problems.

? does not motivate students ? Motivates students to study and

to study them. ? It is connected to real life
? is abstract and is closed into itself. ? It is used for a scientific
? is not associated to real life. comprehension of reality.
? is memorized. ? It is used for critical, realistic and
social compromise.

According to Brunner (1997) the unconnected things are easily forgotten, they
require a big effort to be remembered and unfortunately have a short life in
memory.

The learning processes mentioned above can be achieved if the student:

? Applies theory exploring and experimenting in real or simulated situations.

? Works on real life cases which require solutions based on theories or
principles.
? Explains concepts offering valid reasons.
? Solves problems in practical situations.
? Participates in investigation projects and applies acquired knowledge to
interpret a particular situation or phenomenon.

The educational model still has, as one of its main objectives, the acquisition of
knowledge, since it is necessary to understand reality, move forward in the
scientific knowledge, achieve more technological developments and, plan and
take better decisions.

Challenges for professors

Teaching contents of a course using real situations demands additional work to

the professor. It becomes a challenge to which he/she must dedicate time, effort
and creativity.

In this process the professor has to:

 ? Identify real situations which are challenging for the students. These
situations should be connected to the contents of the course and should be
described in a way that they could motivate students to study.
? Cover the content of the program incorporating the analysis of reality.
? Organize the process to give continuity to the students’reflection. It is
important to consider that they have a school schedule in which they have
a different subject and a different professor every fifty minutes.

3. Students direct their own learning process

In order to prepare students for a constantly changing world, it is necessary to get

students to learn not only relevant knowledge, but also the processes through
which they learn. This learning process prepares them to be autonomous and to
be able to educate themselves in a continuous way. It also prepares them to carry
out actions from his/ her own interpretation of social reality within a frame of
values and believes which define the obligations he/she has towards the others.
A professor helps his/her students develop autonomous learning when they
are allowed to participate in experiences in which they are able to construct their
own knowledge, this is, when students investigate, analyze and contrast
information by themselves. Professors also facilitate this process when they
propose working activities and organize the time in which they must be carried
out. Another way is to present solutions defending their ideas and communicate
them clearly so they could be understood.
In the self-learning process the professor previously establishes the criteria
students must follow to carry out the activities. For example, in a report some
criteria could be: appropriate use of technical terminology, structured ideas,
opinions based on knowledge, original presentations. All of these criteria should
be related to the objectives of the course.
On the other hand, at the beginning of the semester the professor informs the
student what behavior is expected form them. This behavior is expresses in rules
and policies to be followed, such as, the ability to administer his/her time handing
in the homework assignment established in the established dates, the
performance of the responsibilities in his/her team, the respect of the rules, as well
as the ability to negotiate.
The criteria and rules are what must be done and have several functions. On
the one hand, they are the guidelines to orient students in their process and on
the other, students learn the process performing high quality activities. They are a
reference frame used to contrast the work done, this is an essential condition that
will help the student to evaluate and the group co-evaluate themselves.
 4. Student improve his/her learning process through a
continuous evaluation

An implicit characteristic in the self-learning process is the improvement of the

students’learning process throughout the process. As a result of this evaluation
the students has the opportunity to reflect about the activities through with he/she
learns and develops the ability to improve permanently. This is the ability to learn
how to learn.
In the educational model based on the students, students generate an
endless number of products from the activities. These activities allow the
professor to have permanent information of how they have improved. With this
information, professors can evaluate the performance of the group and of each
one of its members, give feedback to the student and reflect with him/her about
the process and about the results obtained. Finally, professors can also
encourage the students to propose improvements and since he/she is the expert,
he/she can reinforce those aspects that students did not understand. These
characteristics add to the evaluation an educational function. This does not occur
in the traditional model explicitly.
This function is the core of the educational model and the thermometers of
all the other elements. It is also the essence of the professor as a facilitator and a
guide of the learning process. The importance of this dimension has taken some
change agents to conceptualize it as: the basic tool to transform the teaching-
learning process.
This evaluation is known as formative evaluation, which is integrates to the
working process and it is part of the learning process. Through this evaluation it is
possible to know how students learn: It assumes that the professor will have a
conscious and reflexive attention as one of their concerns when they teach.
(Sacritsan, 1992) The formative evaluation has the following intrinsic qualities:
? It turns the education and the learning process into a experience of
innovation and continuous improvement and, to the group formed by the
professor and the students, in an authentic community of learning,
surpassing therefore the conservative character that has prevailed in the
traditional education during many years.
? It is based on the concept that evaluation is practiced to improve. This is
close to Stufflebeam’s theory ( 1971) for whom the main objective of the
evaluation is the perfection of teaching.
? It allows the professors to carry out permanent investigations in the
classroom, being aware of learning complexity and of unpredictable
situations of the educational phenomenon.

The professor promotes the

learning process giving the
students the access to The formative evaluation contrast with the evaluation
critical dialogs they come up
with while doing their
after the learning period for example at the end of a
homework. This type of meaningful part of a subject, a unit or a course. This
evaluation is part of the evaluation tries to test knowledge, no matter how
learning process and it is not
considered a final activity
based on results.

Elliot, 1990
students work. Its view is retrospective and penalizes what has happened,
viewing the last part of the process. It pretends to determine the level of
performance and its main objective is to figure out if students have passed based
on the results obtained. This evaluation is known as summative evaluation. It is
most used and known by the professors. It does not have an educational
objective, does not help to improve the process and is considered as the final
step. This conventional evaluation method has become the goal of the learning
process in such a way that students are more worried about passing the course
than about learning.
Both evaluations, summative and formative, complement each other.
When they are used the professor should be able to make the distinction between
the different objectives, moments and ways to carry them out. However, the
administration requires the summative evaluation which is necessary to prove to
society that Tec graduate students have acquired knowledge, abilities and
attitudes which are required to practice his/her professions. The formative
evaluation will help them fulfill his mission as a professor.

Characteristics of the formative evaluation

? It is carried out with less severity than the summative evaluation; however, it
provides more information.
? It requires the student to participate in a communicative environment to be
conscious of his/her reality and to be able to propose improving alternatives.
? It is practiced through out all the learning process and allows the professor to
correct the educational action continuously before getting to the end.
? It is practiced in a frame of values which are more varied than the ones which
are exclusively academic. This way, they are applied not only to knowledge but
also to abilities, attitudes and values.
? It understands students in a more human way, since it is centered not only in
the intellectual aspect of persons but also in affective, ethic and social
dimensions.
? It gathers data not only about the students’improvements and results, but also
other aspects related to teaching such as: the professor, the methodology and
the activities and relationships and among others.
? It requires the professor to establish the criteria or reference frames that
specify the characteristics that a project of assignment should have or how
students’performance should be in order to evaluate them positively.
In table 3.2 these two evaluation types are contrasted.

Students’self-evaluation

An important component in the self-learning process is to incorporate the student

as an evaluator of his own learning process. Self-evaluation is considered as the
students’reflection about his/her own actions through a self-critic process which
will help in his/her autonomy and will promote student’s responsibilities and
obligations with his/her learning process. If students control and register their
advances, they have a chance to evaluate their progress and be conscious about
how far or near they are form their goal. After analyzing their own results students
can make improvements and can even propose alternative learning processes,
this is always done under the professors’observation and guide. ( See Figure
3.2)
The self-evaluation is framed in a democratic and formative conception of
the educational process in which all the members participate actively, and it is
incorporated as a learning process which offers the following:

Table 3.2 Summative evaluation in contrast to formative evaluation

Summative evaluation Formative evaluation

? It has and administrative and ? It is used to improve.
social function. ? It is oriented to evaluate all
? It is oriented to evaluate areas.
knowledge. ? It is integrated to the learning
? It is applied at the end of the process as an activity.
learning process. ? Students are the main
? It is carried out by the professor. evaluation agents.
? It uses formal exams. ? It uses a variety of natural
? It is stricter. situations in which students can
? It is used as if they were the participate.
main objective. ? It includes dialogue.
? It is an instrument used to reach
an educational goal.

Figure 3.2 Continuous improvement process

 ? It helps the self-learning process.
? It develops critical ability.
? It promotes the decision-taking ability.
? It gives the student the responsibility of his/her own learning process.
? It prepares the student for a continuous education.
? It teaches students to think.
? It promotes a culture of high quality.
? It performs a continuous improvement.

How to perform formative evaluation

In order to facilitate the students evaluation in different areas, the professor uses a
variety of instruments, since in each one of them are used to get certain
information. Table 2.3 shows the most used methods.

Table 3.3 Evaluation instrument

Open questions Characteristics
Oral ? They have more than one correct answer.
? Conventional questions ? They promote high-level thoughts such as
? Debates and discussions diversity and creativity. They also establish
? Students presentations different understanding levels.
? They measure conceptual comprehension.
Written ? They develop written communication.
? Essays ? They express organization of knowledge
? Answer questions and structure of thought.
? Problem-solving projects ? They allow the professor to test the type of
? Text comments operations and abilities used in the
? Reports or assignments on specific topics instruments’elaboration.
? Lab reports ? They allow the professor to evaluate the
Practices appropriate, vocabulary, originality and
? Design, creation, realization, elaboration or creativity.
construction of a product. ? They allow the professor to know the
students’learning style and intervene in
 them.
? They are techniques which are easy to be
elaborated by the professor.
Limitations
? The professor needs time to evaluate the
products done by the students.

Closed questions Characteristics

Types ? Students should identify the correct answer
? Brief answers and fill in the blanks through discrimination.
? Multiple-option questions ? They offer the possibility to discuss in class
? Matching and use the mistakes as class material:
? Ordering identify the wrong ideas and determine
? Analogies which aspects are exceeded and which
ones are missing in order to correct them.
? They promote the students’interest giving
feedback based on their mistakes and
correct answers.
Limitations
? They do not measure creativity, originality,
elaboration capacity, nor the student’s
personal way to focus on the topics and the
way he/she expresses them.
? They do not offer information about
objectives of attitudes, collaboration,
participation, responsibility, implication in
the assignment and leadership.

Observation Characteristics
? Diaries ? They are specialized to obtain information
? Observation guides which indicate the about the natural conduct and events in the
components of a specific behavior or classroom. Conduct is interpreted as a wide
learning component. range of manifestations and behaviors in
? Valuation scales activities and situations that show how
? Attitude scales. students are and act. It is not possible to
? Questionnaires with the objective to explore have access to this information through
students’attitudes. other types of evaluations.
? Less elaborated forms such as narratives, ? They are more commonly used in natural
diaries and reports. situations in opposition to exams, which are
carried out in situations specifically planned
for the evaluation.
? It is possible to use affective objectives,
interest, working habits and learning
techniques.
Limitations
? They demand the professor to be well
prepared as an observer.
? They require effort, dedication and time.
? Results are not generalized, they are
idiosyncratic, however, this can be
considered a strength.

Interviews Characteristics
They are used a special context in which there is a ? They have a lot of contributions and help to
straight relation between the professor and the obtain personalized information.
student. It is much more than just feedback of the ? They are important sources of
learning results. They demand time from the reinforcement, proximity and
professor. This is a very important function and communication.
must be part of the course plan. ? They are a relevant source to evaluate
Types of interviews according to its objective: students’attitudes, perceptions and
? Complete data form other sources assessments which affect directly the
? Offer orientation to the students. learning process.
? They allow the professor to use appropriate
reinforcements, stimulations and
orientations according to students’needs.
Limitations
? They require a context which allow and
open and sincere dialogue where the
student can feel secure.
? It requires previous training form the
professor.

Portfolio Evaluation Characteristics

? It is a very good technique to perform ? It records the students’growth and the
formative and self-evaluation. advance of his/her knowledge which occurs
? It is a container of assignments chosen by during the learning process.
the student which illustrates his/her learning ? It is a structured and continuous way to
development and achievements through out perform the evaluation.
a specific period of time. ? It allows the students to reflect and become
? It is an evidence file which shows students’ responsible of his/her learning process.
competence. ? It is also a learning activity and it develops
? It belongs to the student and it is in the student the following abilities:
administered by him/her. o Be conscious about the process.
? It is evaluated by the student and the o Obligation with his/her learning
professor. process.
o Critical thinking.
o Decision-taking ability.
o Problem management and
solution proposals.
o Be prepared for continuous
education.

Expression of students assessments

The formative evaluation is also complex in expressing its results. It does not
offer an appropriate orientation to reduce to a number all the information obtained
form the student. The expression of the evaluations always imply an information
reduction; this has required the use of complex and varied formats, such as a
rubric which is a table that has a vertical column where the categories or criteria to
be evaluated are incorporated. It also has a horizontal column where the ranges
where the professor can find the students’domain level in each one of them.
(See table 3.4 and 3.5)

Table 3.4 Rubric for an investigation project.

Ranges
Aspect to
evaluate
1 2 3 4
Boring Not practiced Clear voice. Creative
Presentation Unprepared Low voice New Uses
Disregard Mistakes in information. expressions
 Unfinished the product. Correct Movement
product. Real product
Practiced.
Accessible, it
looks real.

Originality The project is The project is The project The product

a minimum an extensive shows shows
collection or collection and evidence of evidence of
repetition of a repetition of originality and meaningful
ideas from ideas from ingenious. originality and
other persons, other persons, The project is ingenious.
products or products and more than a Most of the
inventions. inventions. collection and content and
There’s no There’s no offers new most of the
evidence of evidence of information ideas are
new ideas. new ideas original based
in logical
conclusions
and are
supported by
a good
investigation.

Table 3.5 Rubric of Group Participation

Aspect to be Ranges
evaluated
Exceptional Admirable Acceptable Amateur

Degree of All students Most students At least half of Only one or

incorporation enthusiastically actively the students two persons
of the group participate. participate. discuss and actively
members. present their participate.
ideas.

Shared Responsibility Responsibility Responsibility Exclusive

responsibility for task is is shared by is shared by reliance on
shared evenly. most group one or two one person.
members. members and
the others are
not involved.

Interaction Excellent Students Some Little

quality listening and show integration interaction;
 leadership adeptness in abilities are brief
skills exhibited; interacting; shown, they conversations;
students reflect lively listen some students
awareness of discussion attentively, are distracted
other’s views centers on the there is or did not
and opinions in task. evidence of show interest.
their discussions
discussions. and
alternatives.

Roles in the Each student Each student Students There was no

group assigned a has a role, but assigned roles effort done to
clearly defined the roles are but did not assign roles to
role; group not clearly adher to them the group
members defined or are in a constant members.
perform roles not consistent. way.
effectively.

Professors’experience

When professors apply formative evaluation they face difficulties such as:
? Students do not value an evaluation that does not affect his/her final grade,
therefore, they are not interested in evaluate something that does not have
any value. This information shows the control the final evaluation has in
the learning process.
? The professor frequently observes that students are not honest that they
need time to understand that there is an evaluation dimension which is only
used to improve and does not interfere in their final grade. As long as the
formative evaluation has a grade, it will be difficult for students to feel free
to express their opinions in an open and objective way.
? The professors’tendency to give formative evaluation the same importance
of summative evaluation, takes him/her to give a grade to the students
result and forms the students’final grade with an addition of different
percentages which belong to different situations.
? It is difficult for the professor to assume, on the one hand the role of the
students’friend which he performs as a facilitator and on the other, a judge
role when he/she has to evaluate students at the end of a course. Both
roles contaminate the relation between them.