Abstract

This paper presents the results of an international collaboration on ethics teaching for personal and professional values within the area of formal higher education using new communication technologies. The course design was based on the dialogic technique and was aimed at clarifying the students’ own values, defining their own positions related to ethical dilemmas, developing argumentative strategies and an ethical commitment to their profession and contribution to society. The online dialogue between heterogeneous groups of students based on their cultural background –the main innovation of this training– was possible thanks to the technological and administrative support of the participating universities. To analyze the effect of this innovative training we employed a quasi-experimental design using a control group, i.e., without the option of online dialogue with students from another culture. University students from Spain (University of Cantabria) and Chile (Universidad Autónoma de Chile) participated in this study. The positive results, which included better scores and positive assessments of both debate involvement and intercultural contact by students who participated in the new teaching program, support the main conclusion that the opening of international dialogue on moral dilemmas through new communication technologies contributes significantly to improve ethics training in higher education.

Abstract

Los cursos MOOC se han entendido como la última evolución del aprendizaje en red, y desde su nacimiento en 2008 se han puesto en práctica en un buen número de universidades. A pesar del éxito social de estas propuestas, tanto el diseño del aprendizaje como la eficacia de sus resultados han sido puestos en duda. Actualmente la mayoría de las publicaciones se centran más en discutir su potencial para ofrecer educación de calidad en todo el mundo a gran escala que en la medición rigurosa de los resultados de aprendizaje. El presente trabajo muestra los resultados de una investigación centrada en el diseño pedagógico de un curso MOOC cooperativo y su influencia en la motivación y en los resultados académicos obtenidos. El diseño se ha validado a través de un estudio Delphi y la variable «motivación» se ha controlado a través de un instrumento estandarizado (Instructional Materials Motivation Survey, IMMS). El rendimiento académico se ha evaluado a través de evidencias de aprendizaje. Se defiende que el diseño, definido por una utilización intensiva de redes sociales y realización de actividades por parte de los estudiantes en sus Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje, influye en el rendimiento, y es la satisfacción con la percepción del diseño la variable que media en dicha relación. Los resultados académicos obtenidos y la motivación de los estudiantes avalan la utilización de cursos MOOC cooperativos en estudios universitarios.

Abstract

InContext is a custom-designed mobile application for writing assignments intended for university students in journalism and research methodology courses. In these disciplines, it has been observed that there is a need for an educational and technological tool to guide the writing of text using preloaded templates in which students can input text and multimedia material to create articles or write research reports. Besides its ease of use, the app was intended to improve metacognitive thinking. This led to the establishment of six working hypotheses in an exploratory study. For the study, a random sample of students enrolled in the aforementioned courses was selected during the August-December 2019 semester at a private university in Mexico. They took a pre-test using the “Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire” (MSLQ) that had been translated into Spanish and already validated in Mexico. Subsequently, the students used the application and then answered the same questionnaire as a post-test. The study aimed to compare the results of the tests to see whether there was an improvement in cognitive skills. The results showed an increase in four skills: critical thinking, data search, cognitive self-regulation, and regulation of effort. The research results did indicate metacognitive development that would benefit the academic and professional work of future graduates.