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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.7, No.6
Publication Date: June 25, 2020
DOI:10.14738/assrj.76.8524.
Hernandez, J. A. V., Chombo, R. A., & Zepeda, J. A. R. (2020). Current Education, An Innovative Change To Improve University Education
Through Innovation And Collaborative Work. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(6) 651-660.
Current Education, An Innovative Change To Improve University
Education Through Innovation And Collaborative Work
Jorge Arturo Velázquez Hernández
Autonomous University of Queretaro,
Campus Amazcala, Mexico.
Rosalía Alonso Chombo
Autonomous University of Queretaro,
Campus Tequisquiapan, Mexico.
Jorge Adán Romero Zepeda
Autonomous University of Queretaro,
Campus Conca, Mexico.
ABSTRACT
Education must migrate to issues that today's society demands,
attending to present and future scenarios in order to provide efficient
and effective solutions. The study aims to demonstrate that
collaborative work impacts the personal, educational and work
relationships of students. The work is supported by quantitative data
applied to an enrollment of 70 university students. As an innovation, the
strategies that are implemented to enhance the abilities and skills of the
students are elucidated. In Amazcala, 45% of respondents say that
teachers are not up-to-date, 52% of the sample alludes that educational
innovation does not help promote collaborative work, and 83%
mentioned that they have never managed innovation in class. In this
sense, innovation, collaborative work, communication and the use of
technology are factors that have a direct impact in the educational field
because through them the student can acquire a full development in his
school career and in the workplace, what permeates the path that
current education must follow to develop favorable knowledge in
students who are about to enter the professional field.
Key words: Communication, Current Education, Innovation, Collaborative
Work, University.
INTRODUCTION
Within the educational sector, a system is proposed that encompasses multiple factors, reforms and
approaches to work within the various levels of education that exist; However, speaking of Higher
Level implies putting into play multiple elements, which serve as the main engine for students to
develop their abilities, skills and expand their knowledge in order to be able to face different
scenarios that exist outside the University.
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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.76.8524 652
Hernandez, J. A. V., Chombo, R. A., & Zepeda, J. A. R. (2020). Current Education, An Innovative Change To Improve University Education Through Innovation
And Collaborative Work. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(6) 651-660.
Today, digital education is emerging as the most used tool by young university students who spend
most of their time interacting on their social networks or carrying out an interaction through the
various social applications that the technological era has generated. Higher Level education in the
municipality of Amealco must try to interfere in the digital age, innovate its teaching tools and
promote collaborative work in young university students so that they are able to enter the labor
market quickly and without problems, realizing of the importance of teamwork.
THE CURRENT SITUATION OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
There are many educational reforms that have emerged in Mexico, however, all aim to improve the
situation of university students in the understanding that they manage to acquire sufficient
knowledge to face the problems of the world of work. Paris (2010) says that education at the
University must promote diverse perspectives such as innovation and collaborative work where
students obtain various tools that allow them to face their immediate context to provide solutions
to the problems that arise. But, strengthening and optimizing them will require managers to have
the ability to empower everyone's passion, creativity and innovation to enhance their development.
Given this, the Ministry of Higher Education (2007) states that the training process of the new
educator is based on a Pedagogy that places the subject as the center of the educational task, taking
into account the dynamic, leading and transforming role, not only of the student, but of all the actors
immersed in this process, that is to say, the universities must try to generate an apprenticeship
based on real scenarios, because in the end, graduates will have to enter the workplace to be able
to exercise their profession.
Regarding coverage in higher education, the Center for Educational Studies (2012) said that Peña
Nieto assured "Increase coverage in higher education to at least 45%, to offer 1.5 million new places
in the country's universities." Undoubtedly, the President of the United Mexican States gave a
comprehensive education for all levels, always seeking the welfare of students, however, he did not
mention the actions to be taken to improve the various educational levels in Mexico.
Communication, an important tool in the University
It is known that communication is the main tool of human beings to exchange information and
achieve a broader discernment, because through verbal interaction, doubts are clarified and new
knowledge is generated in order to occupy it in specific situations that are required . In this sense,
communication within universities should be the main factor that helps students create meaningful
learning, where doubts are clarified through dialogue. Given this, Brönstrup, et al. (2007) mention
that the interaction between the culturally situated human being and cultural objects foster the
development of motives and perceptions of one another, that share and create common
understandings, in which language promotes dialogue between consciences.
Following this idea, Villalobos (2011) mentions that Lazarsfeld and Merton warned that "the
ubiquity of the mass media produces an almost magical faith in its great power". However, for Grupo
Comunicar (2003), the creation of interrelation spaces between these social sectors is essential to
be able to advance effectively in communication education and to project global communication
education in different directions.
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 6, June-2020
Finally, the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies (ITESM) (2012) states that the
organization, accompanied by the practice and action of projects based on the recognition of the
environment, the social situation of the subjects and the processes of communication. If you want
to promote quality education at the higher level, it is necessary and, to some extent mandatory, the
creation of an ideal communication environment between teachers and students.
Do education and universities really fulfill their teaching role?
The National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) (2006) mentions that the main characteristic of the so- called Higher Education System (SES) is its heterogeneity, both in terms of age, size, educational
offer and nature of the institutions that comprise it, as well as its presence and impact in the national
territory. In this sense, Clavero, et. Al. (2015) mentions that Universities are institutions at the
service of the nation; which forces university social actors to accompany in the solution of the most
recurring needs in the community. However, now it is the turn of the university community in
general and of students, in particular, to accept and seek promotion and the type of strategies in
students that are based on traditional models, to adapt to the situation of having new classmates
with different customs and habits due to physical bodily features and way of speaking or people of
origin, including another language to which they were already familiar (Gutiérrez, 2014).
Effectiveness of innovation in education
Innovation is thought to be related to technological issues, but the reality is different, the innovation
is aimed at promoting more real teaching, that is, contextualized to the school zone and the
problems that may arise outside the classroom. Innovation is then a planned change towards the
development of pedagogical possibilities, which assume the function of education as a transmitter
of a cultural selection of knowledge of society, in which the educational institution is immersed. The
challenge for the innovative teacher in his pedagogical practices consists in the use and application
of educational technology (Miranda, 2005). This is how Dueñas (2010) says that educational
systems are affected by the changes in society in which they are immersed, and reciprocally. In
recent decades, it is worth highlighting how the convergence of variables of different nature
(historical, philosophical, political and social), has posed new challenges for school systems,
influencing their organization and operation. For his part, Wasserman (2012) mentions that the
economic circumstances of the world, globalization, the proliferation of FTAs and the new
knowledge society have made fashion innovation. Actually, it is somewhat surprising that this
fashion is so recent, because economists have long reflected on it; Additionally, the author states
that in 1979 the American competitiveness guru Michael Porter said that the competitiveness of a
nation depends on the ability of its industry to innovate and improve, and companies gain
competitive advantages if they succeed in innovating.
Technology and collaborative work, tools that must be implemented at the university
There are many questions that must be considered at the University because it is the last step for
future professionals, that is, when they graduate they will have to face real scenarios that demand
immediate and efficient responses to solve the problems that arise. Despite the fact that universities
are organized to deliver information, the new demands force us to transform our students and avoid
offering them only additional information. That is why it is said that "transforming means helping
the student to discover and become a new being, capable of understanding and leading change"
(Salazar and Chiang, 2007: S / D).
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Hernandez, J. A. V., Chombo, R. A., & Zepeda, J. A. R. (2020). Current Education, An Innovative Change To Improve University Education Through Innovation
And Collaborative Work. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(6) 651-660.
Taking into account this transformation that is sought to be created in Higher Education, Maldonado
(2008) mentions that project-based learning is an important part of the learning process. This
concept becomes more relevant in today's society, in which teachers work with heterogeneous
groups of students, who have different learning styles, ethnic and cultural backgrounds and skill
levels, causing an innovation because it must be made clear to each One the subject to be reviewed.
Regarding the technology that must prevail in universities, Salazar and Chiang (2007) affirm that
competency-based education is linked to educational technology, the systemic approach and the
technological curriculum approach, therefore, the use of technology is considered technology. these
tools in teaching to develop meaningful knowledge that helps them in the professional field.
Based on the above, Area (2008) says that it is evident that one of the most substantive challenges
in the short and medium term of any educational policy on school integration of ICT should be the
generalization among teachers of a pedagogical model that justifies and of sense to the teaching and
learning practices that are developed with computers in schools and classrooms so that the
technologies are used in an innovative perspective from a psychodidactic point of view.
Finally, Montalvo (2011) comments that one of the fundamental strategies to contribute to the
opening of the higher education system and strengthen cooperation between institutions and
groups, is collaboration through networks, whose work leads to the generation, management and
knowledge socialization. Higher Education must take hold of tools that allow it to offer quality
teaching, which aims to improve the discernment that students acquire in the classroom, and
therefore, technology and collaborative work are perfect for creating a learning that helps them
address current and future problems.
El problema de la educación actual en las universidades
Current education must contemplate the multiple scenarios that are constantly presented, which
address the problems of various scenarios that can be found in the professional field. In this sense,
Higher Level education should aim at the full development of the students attending to the needs
that this implies, however, many educational institutions do nothing to improve the teaching- learning process or address the concerns of the students.
In this sense, the Center for Educational Studies (2013) mentions that Mexican society is not a
functionally integrated harmonic system; on the contrary, it is a society of great contrasts, with
strong latent conflicts due to the divergence of interests of its various sectors.
The new scenarios must be understood as visions of possible learning environments, today fostered
by new technologies, which help to design and create different environments that are appropriate
to the new spatio-temporal coordinates, to new educational objectives, etc., which involve to
students, teachers, institutions, programs, the occupational structure, the community, the world
regions, etc. (Fainholc, 2010: S / D)
Perhaps technological applications are becoming learning environments within educational
institutions, where teachers and students make use of them to exchange information and generate
knowledge; however, in the Amazcala community, technology is not favorable because the internet
signal is weak. Given this, teachers must make use of innovation; that is, to expand or even renew
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 6, June-2020
the tools available to them to create an enriching, interactive and interesting education for
apprentices, aimed at developing their skills.
METHOD
The research proposed is of a quantitative nature because we sought to obtain data that measured
innovation and collaborative work in current education, and for this, the survey technique was used.
The data was collected in February 2020. The population to which the research instrument was
applied was in a Higher Level Educational Institution, located in the community of Amazcala in the
state of Querétaro, with an enrollment of 70 university students studying the Agroindustrial
Engineering Degree. The following table details the situation of Higher Level students.
Table 1. Higher Education student population
Semester Mens Women
1°
2°
3°
4°
5°
6°
7°
8°
9°
10°
7
5
5
3
2
1
6
1
4
6
8
1
2
3
7
2
2
1
3
1
Total 70 students
Source: Self made
RESULTS
Below are the results obtained from the application of the survey to students of the Autonomous
University of Querétaro Campus Amazcala, where the impact of higher-level education is elucidated.
Figure 1. Promotion of collaborative work
Source: Self made
Based on figure one, the sample selected to find out if collaborative work is promoted within the
classroom, showed that 40% affirm that it is good to implement it, 36% argue that it is regular and
24% mention that it is bad. try to encourage collaborative work within the classes.
40%
36%
24%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Good Regular Bad
Is collaborative work in the classroom?
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Hernandez, J. A. V., Chombo, R. A., & Zepeda, J. A. R. (2020). Current Education, An Innovative Change To Improve University Education Through Innovation
And Collaborative Work. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(6) 651-660.
Figure 2: Teaching update
Source: Self made
Figure two addresses whether teachers are updated to offer an interactive and quality education
for university students, before this 31% comment that teachers always worry about updating to
offer a broad educational background, 45% affirm that only sometimes they are updated and only
24% said that the professors have never bothered to update to provide a better education, they
come to the classroom and transmit only information.
Figure 3. Teaching tolos in the classroom
Source: Self made
Within figure three, 54% of the surveyed population records that their teachers always use diversity
in their teaching tools within the classroom, allowing their students to project themselves as an
active individual. However, representing 46% of the remaining population, they argue that only
sometimes teachers provide various teaching tools within the classroom that make the student
become active.
31%
45%
24%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Always Sometimes Never
Is there an update by the teachers?
54%
46%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Always Sometimes Never
Is there a variety of teaching tools in the classes?
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 6, June-2020
Figure 4. La comunicación en Educación de Nivel Superior
Source: Self made
Figure four shows that the surveyed students identify communication as a relevant factor, and a
result of 92% was obtained, registering that communication is always important as a means of
innovating in higher education and getting students to participate in the development of their
knowledge. While 8% of the participants decided that only sometimes is communication essential
to innovate and achieve student participation.
Figure 5. Educational innovation and collaborative work at the University
Source: Self made
Based on figure five, of the surveyed population 52% suggest that innovation does not help foster
collaborative work in higher education, 18% say that only sometimes does innovation help to
generate teamwork, and 30% of respondents think that innovation will always be helpful to
promote work between two or more subjects within the university.
92%
8%
0%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Always Sometimes Never
Does communication help innovate the teaching.learning
process?
30%
18%
52%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Always Sometimes Never
Do innovation and collaborative work help university
education?
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Hernandez, J. A. V., Chombo, R. A., & Zepeda, J. A. R. (2020). Current Education, An Innovative Change To Improve University Education Through Innovation
And Collaborative Work. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(6) 651-660.
Figure 6. Management of educational innovation
Source: Self made
Taking figure six into account, 83% of respondents show that within higher education, teachers
never manage innovation during classes, while 14% showed that only sometimes teachers show
their management; however, the remaining 3% say that teachers are always concerned with
innovating within the delivery of their professorship.
DISCUSSION
Based on the previous results, it is envisioned that university education must walk under the edge
of constant innovation, that is, seek the tools and strategies necessary to face current and future
scenarios that demand trained and competent professionals to solve problems. that they arise. In
this sense, Sánchez, Caggiano and Hernández (2011) mention that one of the objectives that the
university has today is to collaborate with society with job creation. For this, it is necessary to
transfer the knowledge and technology that the universities possess, thus favoring cultural change
in the population, since this is a good way of returning to society the (human and economic)
investment that the university receives.
Talking about educational innovation and collaborative work at a Higher Level consists of
determining the activities, strategies and other tools that are used to enhance the knowledge,
abilities and skills of the students, fostering in them the willingness to work as a team inside and
outside the institution. educational so that they are able to face the different situations that appear
in the scenarios where they interact in an innovative way, because this is what current education
demands.
It may be the case that a factor that causes a setback is the little use of technology because we live
in an era where technological issues are dominating the work of the human being, but sometimes
the local conditions are not adequate to promote the various technological tools that help to
generate knowledge, however, the teacher must hold on to all the complements he needs to offer
innovation and classes grounded in the current context, in this way the student will become an
efficient professional in the world of work.
CONCLUSION
The current education must be outlined to attend to the needs that arise from the current society,
since it is they who give the professionals responsibilities so that they put into practice the
3%
14%
83%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Always Sometimes Never
Is innovation managed in the classroom?
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 6, June-2020
knowledge, abilities and skills that they acquired during their stay at the University. Within the
teaching-learning process, it is estimated that education will be involved in various teaching tools
such as case studies, exercises, problem-based learning, among others, but referring to collaborative
work issues because current education seeks to train professionals capable of working under
pressure and interact with different areas or personnel so that together they achieve the goals and
objectives proposed by the companies.
An important aspect to consider are the educational reforms, which are modified every six years
because the president who is elected, considers that he must carry out a change in the educational
field because he envisions a lacking education, however, what concerns everyone is that educational
institutions, regardless of their level, must strive for the full development of the students so that
they achieve the competencies, abilities and skills necessary to face the present and future scenarios
that they must constantly live through.
In this sense, the higher-level institution located in Amazcala leaves much to be said, first the
teachers do not constantly update themselves to teach their classes, data according to 45% of the
respondents, second, 52% of the sample alludes that innovation Education does not help promote
collaborative work and, lastly, 83% mentioned that professors have never managed innovation in
their classes.
Based on the above data, it is unavoidable that the teaching staff slightly modify their work in the
delivery of their chair. For this reason, considering the results obtained, it is necessary to implement
in Amazcala higher education a culture where teachers foster a commitment and collaborative
attitude so that they can in turn transmit teamwork training in their teaching, using tools that are
not necessarily technological due to the context, but dynamics that allow to make a session
something interactive and interesting that results in the union of people, knowledge and learning
to fill in situations of various kinds. Finally, it should not be forgotten that students who know how
to work in a team will be able to position themselves in any corporate once they graduate because
order, respect and discipline were encouraged from the university to carry out their activities and
collaborate with others for an end in common.
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