Abstract:

The need to strengthen technical training is directly linked to the prosperous development of modern societies. According to the United Nations, under the movement of education for all, identifies education and technical and professional training as essential instrument for poverty reduction and sustainable development of societies [1]. In this line, and recognizing the potential of Technical Education has for sustainable development of modern societies, the University of Santiago de Chile designs curricular and management projects, in the context of a more effective model, to improve learning outcomes for professional technical facilities it manages.

An important aspect that we considered is related to the conditions of its operation (failure of equipment and infrastructure, initial and continuous training teachers, relevance of the activities), social impact and outcomes (learning and performance) [2]. In addition, students in this type of education are also characterized by their low expectations and high levels of vulnerability, where the vulnerability would be associated with insufficient space and/or resources to take advantage of opportunities [3, 4].

We present our experience and part of a wider investigation. First, we analyze an important component of the dynamics of classroom, students’ learning styles. We consider the factors to project changes and achieve better performances in the classroom. We apply the questionnaire CHAEA different groups of students (1st and 2nd level of education) and in different periods (years 2011 and 2014) with the idea to detect changes in styles. We treat the information quantitatively with SPSSv.15 program (60% average and variance ≥ 0.98) and employ a scale of interpretation to categorize styles. The main results show significant differences in learning styles, while advancing in the training course. It was detected a strong presence of active style in the first instance, unlike the reflective style, with differences between training levels. Then in the second period we found significant differences between levels of education and technical specialties, also significant differences between periods. In this line, an aspect that we analyze to explain the results it relates to the use of information technology and communication (ICT) and new technologies (NNTT), both in the process of design and implementation processes teaching. Finally, we note that, from the first period, we achieved significant performance and show that in highly vulnerable institutions are necessary intervention process to promote inclusion, improve conditions, enhance performance and improve learning outcomes.

References:
[1] UNESCO. (2010). Educación Técnica y Profesional. Recuperado el 15 de Noviembre de 2013, de Educación Técnica y Profesional: http://portal.unesco.org/geography/es/ev
[2] Ortiz, I. (2011). Situación ocupacional de los jóvenes egresado de educación media: comparación entre los egresados de la educación técnico-profesional y los de la humanista-científica. Estudios Pedagógico, 27(2), pp. 181 – 196.
[3] Rodríguez, J. (2001). Vulnerabilidad demográfica en América Latina y el Caribe: ¿qué hay de nuevo? Seminario Internacional sobre las diferentes expresiones de la vulnerabilidad social en América Latina y el Caribe. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL/CELADE.
[4] CEPAL. (2002). Vulnerabilidad sociodemográfica: viejos riesgos para comunidades, hogares y personas. EEUU: CEPAL, Naciones Unidas, ECLAC.

Keywords:

Research projects, learning styles, vulnerability, intervention process, ICT, NNTT.