Tuning impact in Latin America: is there implementation beyond design?

Abstract

Deusto International Tuning Academy is undertaking a large-scale study to analyse the impact Tuning projects may have had in participating universities. More particularly, the study hopes to provide an unambiguous answer regarding the presence or absence of the implementation of a competence-based student-centred approach in the different world regions where Tuning projects have taken place. The present article focuses only on Latin America where two Tuning projects have been developed. It describes the findings of the first two stages of the study. After reporting the data, the authors argue that there is evidence of a Tuning impact in each of three intended impact domains: (1) understanding of the importance of a shift from content- to competence-based education; (2) provision of institutional support necessary to facilitate this change; and (3) appropriate teaching, learning and assessment within the general framework of the study plans and degree profiles.

Project assessment: An international perspective.

“…Latin America. Several countries in Latin America embarked on a Tuning process between 2004 and 2013 (Beneitone & Yarosh, 2015). This involved 182 universities and 15 disciplines (including psychology) with the goal of building a Bologna-like higher education area to promote mobility within that region, as well as with other regions.…”

“…This involved 182 universities and 15 disciplines (including psychology) with the goal of building a Bologna-like higher education area to promote mobility within that region, as well as with other regions. There is evidence of increased competence-driven curricula and assessments, a shift that is receiving institutional support (Beneitone & Yarosh, 2015); more than 90% of administrators and faculty members reported a positive effect of the process. Other research suggests that Tuning projects are not universally successful (Klie & del Pilar Grazioso, 2020); for example, three universities from Guatemala participated in this study; yet, there is no emphasis on consistent learning outcomes or assessments across that country.…”

The competence approach in the Mathematics curriculum of the Middle Education. The teaching perspective about it implementation

“…El cuestionario utilizado está validado en el marco de la investigación Tuning impact in Latin America: Is there implementation beyond design?, de Beneitone, P., & Yarosh, M., (2015) La población bajo estudio está constituida por 145 (ciento cuarenta y cinco) docentes del área de Matemáticas en ejercicio en la Educación Media en instituciones educativas del Departamento de Concepción, Paraguay. El marco muestral utilizado es el registro oficial de docentes proveído por el Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, a través de sus oficinas regionales.…”

Evaluación de competencias en educación superior: conceptos, principios y agentes

“…A nivel de instituciones, proyectos como el Tuning Academy fomentan en las universidades de más de 120 países [1] un sistema intercultural para desarrollar aprendizajes, centrado en el estudiantado y basado en competencias y resultados. Estas experiencias han trascendido sus orígenes europeos (Birtwistle, Brown y Wagenaar, 2016) y se han instalado en Estados Unidos (Nodine, 2016), América Latina (Beneitone y Yarosh, 2015), Asia y África (Isaacs, 2017).…”

“…Las investigaciones revelan que el personal docente, además de reparos intrínsecos que pueda tener hacia el cambio, a menudo siente que las instituciones de educación superior le insta a formarse en competencias sin un andamiaje adecuado que le permita entender qué se espera de su actuar. La instalación de un modelo de competencias sin cuidado en los agentes puede acabar demasiado centrado en el diseño y muy poco en el paso a la práctica(Beneitone y Yarosh, 2015), o bien la…”