La investigación-acción participativa como metodología de proyectos tecnológicos caso: proyecto "gestión del recurso hídrico"

Las oportunidades de desarrollo para las comunidades en condición de vulnerabilidad deben ser acompañadas por procesos de participación en los cuales se aproveche su potencial como actores de cambios en los sistemas sociales. Estos procesos, desde el ámbito de lo público y de lo privado, deben ser guiados por proyectos de índole social en los cuales, a través de metodologías adecuadas, se logren los objetivos deseados y se genere pertenencia sobre la solución. Uno de este tipo de proyectos es "Gestión eficiente del recurso hídrico" , con el cual se busca que los estudiantes de colegio involucrados aprendan a hacer un uso eficiente de su consumo doméstico de agua, a través de la participación activa y del uso de las tecnologías de la información, para asegurar la sostenibilidad ambiental de sus municipios. Pero esto implica una serie de problemas desde lo investigativo, ya que es un proyecto de ciencia, tecnología e innovación y problemas para su sostenibilidad una vez se termine la intervención en campo. Para ello, se propone la investigación-acción participativa como una herramienta con la cual se puedan generar estas heurísticas de solución la cual, acompañada por la gestión de proyectos, permita a las personas involucrarse activamente en todos los aspectos del proyecto al tiempo que se conducen procesos investigativos orientados hacia la apropiación social del conocimiento. Como resultado de lo anterior se llevó a cabo el diseño de una comunidad de aprendizaje con los docentes del proyecto, orientado a la enseñanza de la educación ambiental en ambientes virtuales, en especial del recurso hídricoMagíster en Ingeniería IndustrialMaestrí

A Methodology to Foster Socially Just Practices in Engineering: A Systemic Approach

La sostenibilidad en el ámbito social ha sido pobremente explorada desde la ingeniería. Muchas de las aproximaciones a las problemáticas sociales se han centrado en el desarrollo de soluciones técnicas que no contemplan las dinámicas propias del entorno o de las culturas receptoras de estas soluciones. Además, algunas de estas soluciones son obsoletas como consecuencia de la falta de conocimiento técnico por parte de las comunidades para el mantenimiento y reparación, a lo cual se suma el poder disruptivo de la tecnología en la cultura y la sociedad. Aunque existen ejemplos de proyectos de ingeniería con impacto social a lo largo de Colombia y el mundo, poco se conoce sobre la estructura y dinámicas que soportan la operación y puesta en marcha de estos proyectos. Por tanto, esta tesis estudió, desde un enfoque sistémico, las características y estructuras de las prácticas de los ingenieros que participan en este tipo de ingeniería. Para ello, se estudiaron 3 proyectos de ingeniería de instituciones colombianas que estuvieron asociados a alguno de los enfoques anteriormente mencionados. Después, se analizó la información recolectada desde tres enfoques: (1) El espectro de prácticas de los ingenieros a través de una fenomenografía, (2) La estructura sistémica que permite llevar a cabo estas prácticas a través del diagrama de ciclos causales y (3) un análisis de las condiciones causales que determinan el éxito o fracaso de la aplicación de estas prácticas a través de un análisis cualitativo comparativo. Los resultados nos muestran que existen cinco categorías posibles de prácticas de ingeniería asociadas al trabajo con comunidades, las cuales permiten ubicar a los ingenieros a partir de la intensidad de trabajo intelectual y el nivel de involucramiento. Finalmente, se determinaron estrategias metodológicas para incentivar las prácticas socialmente responsables, las cuales fueron aplicadas en un proyecto para la mejora de la gestión organizacional en la región del Catatatumbo.The engineer's work is based on the conception, design, and implementation of artefact creation and improvement. These devices are nested in an economic, social, environmental, and cultural operation, on which to think what is better and worse makes sense. The difference with other professions is the direct responsibility for thinking and designing to solve problems in social systems, in most cases without contemplating the dynamics of the environment or the cultures receiving these solutions. To solve this problem, there are different theories that, from critical visions, try to reformulate the teaching and practice of engineering in social and environmental contexts of vulnerability. Then, the use of systemic models would allow us to anticipate, based on an understanding of the social system and its dynamics, solutions based on possible scenarios. Through understanding the characteristics and structures of the engineering systems of practices as human activity systems and conveying it through a systemic model, this article explores a novel approach to the problem of social justice design in engineering. The results show us that there are five possible categories of engineering practices associated with working with communities, based on intellectual work intensity and the engineer's social engagement. In addition, causal loops that reinforce or affect the application of these practices were identified and used as leverage points within the systems of practices structure.. Finally, methodological strategies were determined to encourage socially just practices implemented in a project to improve organizational management of natural resources in a FARC guerrilla post-conflict region. The results of this research will enhance the implementation of systemic design in vulnerable social contexts and the teaching and practice of engineering for human activity systems.Doctor en IngenieríaDoctorad

A Systemic Approach to Systems of Practices in Engineering Projects

The engineer's work is based on the conception, design, and implementation of artefact creation and improvement. These devices are nested in an economic, social, environmental, and cultural operation, on which to think what is better and worse makes sense. The difference with other professions is the direct responsibility for thinking and designing to solve problems in social systems, in most cases without contemplating the dynamics of the environment or the cultures receiving these solutions. To solve this problem, there are different theories that, from critical visions, try to reformulate the teaching and practice of engineering in social and environmental contexts of vulnerability. Then, the use of systemic models would allow us to anticipate, based on an understanding of the social system and its dynamics, solutions based on possible scenarios. Through understanding the characteristics and structures of the engineering systems of practices as human activity systems and conveying it through a systemic model, this article explores a novel approach to the problem of social justice design in engineering. The results show us that there are five possible categories of engineering practices associated with working with communities, based on intellectual work intensity and the engineer's social engagement. In addition, causal loops that reinforce or affect the application of these practices were identified and used as leverage points within the systems of practices structure

Antes y después de la pandemia: Predicción de la deserción estudiantil en la Universidad Sergio Arboleda

La deserción estudiantil, entendida como el abandono total de las aulas, por parte del estudiante, durante un periodo igual o superior a un año, está influenciado por múltiples factores de tipo ético, político, social, familiar y cultural. Como consecuencia de la situación generada por la pandemia de covid-19, la cantidad de estudiantes que han dejado de estudiar ha aumentado, lo que hace necesario replantear estrategias para afrontar las posibles deserciones que se produzcan en el corto y mediano plazo. A través del reconocimiento de patrones y comportamientos que no son visibles, este estudio se propuso desarrollar modelos basados en estadística para detectar, de manera temprana, a los estudiantes con alto riesgo de deserción. El objetivo de este proyecto se centró en construir un modelo de deserción estudiantil para los estudiantes de la Escuela de Ciencias Exactas e Ingeniería (ECEI) de la Universidad Sergio Arboleda, que permitirá pronosticar la posibilidad de que un estudiante abandone las aulas en cada periodo de tiempo: semestre o año. Para su desarrollo se utilizó la información socioeconómica brindada por los estudiantes al momento de ingresar a la universidad, sus calificaciones y una variable categórica de deserción. Por otra parte, para garantizar una mejor predicción en situación de pandemia, se incluyó la información económica de los padres o acudientes, a través de variables nuevas que representen el riesgo de deserción durante la pandemia. Puesto que los modelos son específicos de aprendizaje supervisado y no existe un consenso sobre el mejor modelo para aplicar, se utilizaron algoritmos de clasificación basados en redes bayesianas y bosques aleatorios. Además, se identificaron como variables significantes el promedio de notas de los estudiantes, el grupo y el resultado de la prueba Icfes. A partir de los resultados, se pudo concluir que, dada la situación actual, es necesario contar con herramientas de corto plazo para planificar estrategias que permitan enfrentar de la mejor manera posible los retos en torno a la deserción que emergieron o se consolidaron en el contexto de la pandemia

Ingenieros Sin Fronteras, Colombia: Improvement of the Water Quality in the Community of Santa Isabel de Potosi

Santa Isabel rural community is located between the municipalities of Guasca and La Calera in Colombia; it was composed of different stakeholders that coexist around the “El Asilo” creek. The people collect water from this water source for consumption and daily use. The water comes from Chingaza moorland, one of top three of water generation ecosystems in the country. Given the close relationship between the community and the ecological system, the environmental damage of this creek has generated big problems in health and quality of life of the inhabitants. Through joint work with the community was proposed a project called "Improvement of the quality of water in the community of Santa Isabel de Potosi". The group with the community is nowadays performing an analysis based on community-based decision-making taking into account the possible alternatives that could be implemented in order of diminishing in some percentage the impact of the issue and this way try to avoid the complete deterioration of the brook and the ecosystems in the area. Among the alternatives of intervention these are found: generation of a new method of community cooperation in behalf of the sanitation of the brook and the implementation of homemade filters in the improvement of the quality of the drinking water.This paper presents the analysis of the problem taking into account different points of view such as the environmental as well as the organizational one, highlighting the fact that this is not an isolated issue but an evidence of the possible environmental disaster that Colombia could live if nothing is done at the right time. Also this paper presents how engineering and work with the communities has been able to define the guidelines of intervention that are going to allow the next stage of the project, putting in practice the solutions proposed in behalf of a better quality of life

Participatory Action Research as a Methodology for the Development of Appropriate Technologies by Communities

The social and environmental development potential of countries like Colombia shows the need to articulate right from the communities, the processes and projects relevant to their territories. Furthermore when vital aspects of human health, such as access to clean water and water consumption, are also opportunities for the development of innovative technological solutions, stemming from the relationship between society and natural systems. In this context, a group of researchers together with a community of about 1,500 children and 15 teachers from schools of several towns in Cundinamarca department (Colombia) has been developing a technological platform founded on the community-based action research proposal of Ernest Stringer. This interactive technological platform, based on the use of SMS and the web, is called “La Liga del Agua”. It is a jointly constructed space where synergies between the different stakeholders around the proper use of water resources can arise, based on the self-recognition of wastewater problems on each of the participants’ homes. Thus, the problem approaches from the daily practices and the technological inefficiency, generating an empowerment of the water importance. The main theoretical foundation of this technological co-construction is based on the spirit of participatory and democratic systemic intervention, from the soft systems methodology of Peter Checkland, as well as the sociocultural vision of the community that, voluntarily, intend to solve a problem collectively, as suggested by Rusell Ackoff. In this article, we will show the jointly design process of “La Liga del Agua” platform and the incidence on the increase of the good practices of water resources usage. In addition, the results of the teaching strategies and recreational activities that seek to increase the empowerment by the actors and their interaction with the technology will be presented. To conclude, all the learnings of the proposal will be introduced, so it can be replicated on other contexts with environmental concerns

Revista Divulgación Científica Universidad del Rosario No. 6

Esta publicación tiene la decidida intención de acercar la investigación que realiza la Universidad del Rosario de Bogotá, Colombia, a un gran número de lectores para mostrarles, desde el periodismo científico, el quehacer investigativo de la institución.This publication has the determined intention of bringing the research carried out by the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia, to a large number of readers to show them, from scientific journalism, the investigative work of the institution

The DUNE Far Detector Vertical Drift Technology, Technical Design Report

International audienceDUNE is an international experiment dedicated to addressing some of the questions at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics, including the mystifying preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe. The dual-site experiment will employ an intense neutrino beam focused on a near and a far detector as it aims to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and to make high-precision measurements of the PMNS matrix parameters, including the CP-violating phase. It will also stand ready to observe supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector implements liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology, and combines the many tens-of-kiloton fiducial mass necessary for rare event searches with the sub-centimeter spatial resolution required to image those events with high precision. The addition of a photon detection system enhances physics capabilities for all DUNE physics drivers and opens prospects for further physics explorations. Given its size, the far detector will be implemented as a set of modules, with LArTPC designs that differ from one another as newer technologies arise. In the vertical drift LArTPC design, a horizontal cathode bisects the detector, creating two stacked drift volumes in which ionization charges drift towards anodes at either the top or bottom. The anodes are composed of perforated PCB layers with conductive strips, enabling reconstruction in 3D. Light-trap-style photon detection modules are placed both on the cryostat's side walls and on the central cathode where they are optically powered. This Technical Design Report describes in detail the technical implementations of each subsystem of this LArTPC that, together with the other far detector modules and the near detector, will enable DUNE to achieve its physics goals

The DUNE Far Detector Vertical Drift Technology, Technical Design Report

International audienceDUNE is an international experiment dedicated to addressing some of the questions at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics, including the mystifying preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe. The dual-site experiment will employ an intense neutrino beam focused on a near and a far detector as it aims to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and to make high-precision measurements of the PMNS matrix parameters, including the CP-violating phase. It will also stand ready to observe supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector implements liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology, and combines the many tens-of-kiloton fiducial mass necessary for rare event searches with the sub-centimeter spatial resolution required to image those events with high precision. The addition of a photon detection system enhances physics capabilities for all DUNE physics drivers and opens prospects for further physics explorations. Given its size, the far detector will be implemented as a set of modules, with LArTPC designs that differ from one another as newer technologies arise. In the vertical drift LArTPC design, a horizontal cathode bisects the detector, creating two stacked drift volumes in which ionization charges drift towards anodes at either the top or bottom. The anodes are composed of perforated PCB layers with conductive strips, enabling reconstruction in 3D. Light-trap-style photon detection modules are placed both on the cryostat's side walls and on the central cathode where they are optically powered. This Technical Design Report describes in detail the technical implementations of each subsystem of this LArTPC that, together with the other far detector modules and the near detector, will enable DUNE to achieve its physics goals

The DUNE Far Detector Vertical Drift Technology, Technical Design Report

DUNE is an international experiment dedicated to addressing some of the questions at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics, including the mystifying preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe. The dual-site experiment will employ an intense neutrino beam focused on a near and a far detector as it aims to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and to make high-precision measurements of the PMNS matrix parameters, including the CP-violating phase. It will also stand ready to observe supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector implements liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology, and combines the many tens-of-kiloton fiducial mass necessary for rare event searches with the sub-centimeter spatial resolution required to image those events with high precision. The addition of a photon detection system enhances physics capabilities for all DUNE physics drivers and opens prospects for further physics explorations. Given its size, the far detector will be implemented as a set of modules, with LArTPC designs that differ from one another as newer technologies arise. In the vertical drift LArTPC design, a horizontal cathode bisects the detector, creating two stacked drift volumes in which ionization charges drift towards anodes at either the top or bottom. The anodes are composed of perforated PCB layers with conductive strips, enabling reconstruction in 3D. Light-trap-style photon detection modules are placed both on the cryostat's side walls and on the central cathode where they are optically powered. This Technical Design Report describes in detail the technical implementations of each subsystem of this LArTPC that, together with the other far detector modules and the near detector, will enable DUNE to achieve its physics goals