Factores que inciden en el logro de la calidad del E-Learning en la Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica

La responsabilidad por parte de la Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica, de brindar una oferta e-learning, conlleva la necesidad de buscar los mejores medios para garantizar la educación de calidad que la sociedad actual demanda. Esta condición provee un escenario que permite hacer uso de distintos recursos mediados por las TIC como herramientas de apoyo y con una adecuada mediación didáctica, para facilitar el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje en la virtualidad, más conocido como e-learning. Este proceso educativo implica contemplar todos aquellos factores que de una u otra forma inciden en el logro de la calidad de una oferta de e-learning, por lo que el desarrollo de este proceso de investigación abarca una definición de estos factores desde tres áreas específicas: Académica, Administrativa e Infraestructura. Esta definición, se logra a partir de un proceso de consulta, recopilación y triangulación de información obtenida a partir del desarrollo de: una encuesta dirigida a estudiantes que matriculan cursos y asignaturas de la oferta e-learning de la UNED, un grupo focal integrado por expertos de la UNED involucrados en los procesos de diseño, planificación, desarrollo y mediación de e-learning en la UNED y por último pero no menos importante, se realiza una entrevista a expertos internacionales en tema de e-learning, reunidos en el contexto de EDUTEC 2013

Global distribution of two fungal pathogens threatening endangered sea turtles

This work was supported by grants of Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain (CGL2009-10032, CGL2012-32934). J.M.S.R was supported by PhD fellowship of the CSIC (JAEPre 0901804). The Natural Environment Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council supported P.V.W. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Thanks Machalilla National Park in Ecuador, Pacuare Nature Reserve in Costa Rica, Foundations Natura 2000 in Cape Verde and Equilibrio Azul in Ecuador, Dr. Jesus Muñoz, Dr. Ian Bell, Dr. Juan Patiño for help and technical support during samplingPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Marine biodiversity baseline for Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica: published records

The diversity of tropical marine organisms has not been studied as intensively as the terrestrial biota worldwide. Additionally, marine biodiversity research in the tropics lags behind other regions. The 43,000 ha Sector Marino of Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG, Marine Sector of Guanacaste Conservation Area), on the North Pacific coast of Costa Rica is no exception. For more than four decades, the terrestrial flora and fauna has been studied continuously. The ACG marine biodiversity was studied in the 1930’s by expeditions that passed through the area, but not much until the 1990’s, except for the marine turtles. In the mid 1990’s the Center for Research in Marine Science and Limnology (CIMAR) of the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) initiated the exploration of the marine environments and organisms of ACG. In 2015, ACG, in collaboration with CIMAR, started the BioMar project whose goal is to inventory the species of the marine sector of ACG (BioMar ACG project). As a baseline, here I have compiled the published records of marine ACG species, and found that 594 marine species have been reported, representing 15.5% of the known species of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The most diverse groups were the crustaceans, mollusks and cnidarians comprising 71.7% of the ACG species. Some taxa, such as mangroves and fish parasites are well represented in ACG when compared to the rest of the Costa Rican coast but others appear to be greatly underrepresented, for example, red algae, polychaetes, copepods, equinoderms, and marine fishes and birds, which could be due to sampling bias. Thirty species have been originally described with specimens from ACG, and 89 species are not known from other localities on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica except ACG. Most of the sampling has been concentrated in a few localities in Sector Marino, Playa Blanca and Islas Murciélago, and in the nearby waters of Bahía Santa Elena. In an effort to fill this gap, CIMAR is collaborating with ACG and a private foundation to start an inventory of the marine organisms of the conservation area. The project will be assisted by two marine parataxonomists, and all samples will be catalogued, photographed, bar coded and voucher specimens deposited at the Museo de Zoología, UCR. All the information will be available through Internet. It is anticipated that the BioMar project will fill many of the knowledge gaps and significantly more marine species will be encountered. This project could become a viable model for marine biodiversity inventories in other Costa Rican Conservation Areas (Áreas de Conservación) and in other countries.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

Nuevo ejemplar de Cuvieronius hyodon (Proboscidea: Gomphotheriidae) del Pleistoceno de Costa Rica

A lower mastodont molar was found in Nacaome river, Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. It is a Pleistocene specimen of Cuvieronius hyodon. C. hyodon and Haplomastodon waringi, mountain and savanna mastodonts respectively, have been found in the same place. This evidence and the dental morphology suggest that they were seasonaly simpatric species with different alimentary niches. Probably H. haringi fed on savanna or prairie plants (very ligneous with high silica concentration, e.g. Cyperaceae ) whereas C. hyodon consumed softer plants (the enamel is less damaged)

Natalidad de Chelydra serpentina (Testudines: Chelydridae) en Costa Rica

Three Chelydra serpentina nests were monitored from September through October 1993. Maximum natality was 92% (mean 33.73%) and seemed to be associated with high temperature potasium and a moderate concentration of calcium in the soil. Nests were located at less than 80 m from water and soil characteristics were: 21.8-22.9 oC, c1ay-loam texture penetrabilily indcx 0.27·0.87 kg/cm2, humidity 48- 74 %.Se monitorearon tres nidos de Chelydra serpentina desde septiembre hasta octubre de 1993. La natalidad máxima fue del 92% (promedio 33,73%) y parecía estar asociada con potasio a alta temperatura y una concentración moderada de calcio en el suelo. Los nidos se ubicaron a menos de 80 m del agua y las características del suelo fueron: 21.8-22.9 oC, textura franco-arcillosa índice de penetrabilidad 0.27 0.87 kg/cm2, humedad 48-74 %.Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica.Escuela de Ciencias Biológica