Eighteen students and their families were part of this event.

The Support and Effective Access to Higher Education Program (PACE ULS), through its line of work of Participatory Projects (PP), belonging to the Support Component in Secondary Education (PEM), executed the project called “Family and Coexistence, a basis for good relationships”, created in conjunction with the Pedro Pablo Muñoz School in the commune of La Higuera.

Participatory Projects belong to one of the program's lines of work, promoting the collaborative work of educational communities belonging to educational establishments attached to the government media.

The formulation of this PP arises from the students' own needs, as well as from the different actors that are part of the educational establishment. Alejandra Zúñiga, director of the Pedro Pablo Muñoz School, contextualized: “we selected a proposal that responds to our need to improve school coexistence, including the families of the fourth-year middle school students of our establishment (…) The current reality shows us that the participation of parents and guardians is really low and therefore the knowledge that they have about the individual expectations of their children is minimal, due to the lack of communication, the little interest and the trust that exists between both parties to face a different world such as higher education.”

The initiative benefited eighteen fourth-grade students of the establishment and their families. Nicolás Guerrero, in charge of Participatory Projects and PACE ULS Extension, explained the general objective of this activity: “it sought to promote collaborative work spaces to generate instances of communication and externalization of expectations towards post-secondary life projects, through a guided day of activities between students and parents of the fourth year of the Pedro Pablo Muñoz de La Higuera School, which was fully completed.”

The activity was carried out in two parts: during the morning we worked separately with two facilitators to work with the students and two with parents in order to identify expectations, views and perspectives regarding the topic. During the afternoon, the participants met in order to share the results of the morning's work and exchange opinions, emotions and perspectives. Finally, it closed with a collective commitment and the delivery of a souvenir by the team of facilitators.

The day took place in the facilities of the Gabriela Mistral Regional Library, a place that was provided free of charge and that allowed the students and parents to also visit the poet's house, thus concluding the Participatory Project.

Written by Daniel Aguayo, PACE ULS Program

This Tuesday, September 3, the second massive online course taught by the ULS through the Univrso project begins. Registration is open on the page http://univrso.userena.digital/.

The Univrso Project of the University of La Serena is an initiative that seeks to strengthen astrotourism in the Coquimbo Region through citizen training. In this sense, it has begun to teach e-learning courses that are open to the entire community.

The first, called “General Astronomy Applied to the Skies of the Coquimbo Region”, has been widely accepted by the public, who positively value the development of the course. “I am very grateful to be able to enjoy this course and that it helps me to better contemplate the universe in my region. I do not have much knowledge of astronomy, but I do have a great desire to learn,” says Professor Macarena Olivares, a participant in the course.

This Tuesday, September 3, the second massive course called “What type of Science is developed in the skies of the Coquimbo Region?” begins, where participants will be able to learn about “the astronomical and educational projects and initiatives that are being developed in our Estrella Region, in addition to the climatic and geographical conditions that make our region an ideal space for scientific astronomical observation,” explains Daniela Poblete, instructional designer of this course.

First course

During the past months, the course “General Astronomy Applied to the Skies of the Coquimbo Region” was taught, which had more than 700 people participating in its two versions.

Humberto Farías, director of the project, highlights the broad participation of citizens in the two versions of the course. “We had more than 700 people registered from the region and the country, which was very pleasant for us because we were able to see the feedback from the participants, who positively valued this ULS initiative,” says the professional.

“This makes us very happy because it reflects the community's interest in learning about our skies and, most importantly, which is the reason for this project, is to provide knowledge and tools so that the first tourist guides, who are the inhabitants of this area, we can share this knowledge with tourists,” explains Farías.

Registration for the course can be done for free on the page http://univrso.userena.digital/.

The organization at the regional level is in charge of academics from the ULS Department of Chemistry.

With the participation of 275 high school students from 28 establishments in Illapel, Salamanca, Ovalle, La Serena, Andacollo and Coquimbo, the 2019 Chemistry Olympics began, an activity organized at the regional level by the University of La Serena, through of the Department of Chemistry.

Registration began in May of this year and at the end of these, the date of the first regional test was announced, which was taken on August 24 at the Andrés Bello (La Serena) and Limarí (Ovalle) campuses of the ULS, and at the Domingo Ortiz de Rozas de Illapel High School.

Present at the beginning of this activity were the Academic Vice-Rector, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón, the Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Armando Mansilla, the Director of the Department of Chemistry, Dr. Iván Fernández, the academic of the unit and in charge of the event, Hernán Cortés from Los Santos, and teachers from the participating establishments, who They highlighted the holding of these Olympics and their objective of promoting the study of this science among young people.

Next stages

On September 28, the national test will be held, which will be taken by the 20 best regional scores of each level: second, third and fourth middle. From this evaluation, the National Commission will select the students who will represent the region in the final stage that will take place between November 6 and 8 at the University of Talca.

Subsequently, the traditional Awards Ceremony will be held, where the 20 best scores by level obtained in the regional test are invited, as well as teachers, directors and authorities. In this activity, awards are given to each of the students and to the regional representation that participates in the final stage.

Written by Patricia Castro, DirCom

The Congress organized by the Chilean Association of Educational Researchers was held on August 20, 21 and 22 at the Silva Henríquez Catholic University in Santiago.

“Identities, diversity and future: Demands for education” was the central axis of the V CIIE Congress, in which researchers from the Integrated Management of Pedagogies Unit (UGIP) of the ULS, Dr. Haylen Perines and Dr. Hugo Tapia, who are also part of the Multidisciplinary Research Institute in Sciences and Technology of the university.

In the first instance, Dr. Perines presented the communication entitled “The research training of future teachers: evaluations of university professors”, in which she presented the partial results of the study carried out with the academics of the ULS pedagogy careers in the framework of the Fondecyt Initiation project awarded by the researcher.

“Participation contributes to publicizing the research activities that we carry out as an institution, specifically in the context of pedagogies, which is consistent with the objectives proposed in the Project for Institutional Improvement of Pedagogies,” explained the professor.

On the other hand, Dr. Tapia announced the preliminary results of the DIDULS project “Characterization of technological pedagogical and content knowledge in teachers of the Province of Elqui”, which aims to measure pedagogical, technological and content knowledge ( TPACK) of practicing teachers in the Chilean educational system.

In the presentation, the results found were presented regarding the level of didactic technological knowledge and content of the teachers in the communes of Coquimbo and Vicuña, as well as the relationship of this knowledge with the variables of sex, age range and time of ICT training. . "The results are a contribution to understanding by observing that there are various types of knowledge about ICT, so the views that seek to homogenize teachers limit their capabilities and professional scope and, therefore, a diverse look must be given to the ICT training of teachers in its various phases,” explained the academic.

The participation of both researchers allowed us to delve deeper into the various topics presented and also to intertwine networks with other professionals, with the purpose of sharing experiences and specifying possible future work in the area of ​​education.

Written by Daniela Ledezma, UGIP

Members of the Executive Committee of the project, made up of representatives of the University of Valparaíso, the Federico Santa María Technical University and the University of La Serena, held a meeting in which the next activities were planned.

With the objective of analyzing the results of the workshops developed during the first meeting, commenting on the progress of the technical-financial project and defining the work for the next meeting, the second meeting of directors of the consortium between the University of Valparaíso, the Federico Santa María Technical University and the ULS, within the framework of the Sciences 2030 project.

This activity took place in the headquarters of the University of La Serena and included representatives of the 3 study houses, who defined the steps to follow within the project, in addition to the date of the next meeting.

“Based on the work carried out through this project, as a University we hope to generate a cultural change among our academics and students, focused on greater participation in technology transfer, innovation and scientific-technological-based entrepreneurship,” said the Vice Chancellor of ULS Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte, regarding the importance for the institution of being part of the Science 2030 project.

Closing this activity, the Dean of the ULS Faculty of Sciences, Dr. Amelia Ramírez, presented the book “Ethics and Research Manual for Undergraduate Students” to the participants of this meeting.           

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom

The second version of the event hopes to bring together 70 schoolchildren from educational establishments in the Coquimbo Region.

Having a real experience as university students is one of the main activities that the II version of “University for a day” has, a space that is framed within the attraction activities of the Implementation Plan (CM ULS1756) and that are executed through of the Integrated Management Unit of Pedagogies (UGIP), in order to enhance and guide interest towards a pedagogical career.

“The objective is to make visible the opportunities for training and university life that the University of La Serena offers to fourth-year high school students, with interest in training as teachers, from any educational establishment in the region, as long as they meet the requirements of application,” explains Dr. Karla Campaña, organizer of the activity and who also coordinates the program “I want to be an education professional.”

In this way, the arrival of 70 young people is expected, who will attend various training activities, in which they will be able to clarify their doubts about the teaching profession and will also participate in real classes of the pedagogy careers that are of interest.

“We hope to attract students committed to pedagogies, who are interested in preparing for five years in a renewed study plan, in accordance with the new demands in teacher training stipulated in Law 20.903,” emphasizes Dr. Bell.

The activity will take place on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, between 9:00 a.m. and 17:00 p.m., and those interested in participating must enter their data in this link Until 8 September. Those who meet the profile will be notified both the counselor of the educational establishment and the applicant student on September 24, 2019.

Written by Daniela Ledezma, UGIP