AHP-based software for students' self-assessment of critical thinking capacity

[EN] Students' capacity for eliciting valid and accurate assessment is crucial for their self-assessment skill. Despite the central role that self-assessment plays in current conceptions of formative and classroom assessment, little attention has been paid for measuring the students' ability for carrying out valid and accurate assessment. This ability, connected with critical thinking, can be evaluated by comparing a students¿ assessment to performance on tests. Recently, the consistency index has been proposed as a metric for measuring students¿ critical thinking capacity, affording the observation of poor performance in the judgment capacity of a sample of 23 civil engineering students. This stresses the need of improving this aspect of students¿ education, which is required not only as a transversal competence, but also for the attainment of effective self-assessment capacity. In our study, we present an educational software that implements the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method for providing students with self-assessment of their ability to issue consistent judgment, as well as for training their critical thinking capacity. This way we aim at making students aware of eventual lacks in their skill for valid and consistent assessment, as well as at giving them the opportunity of improving this aspect through self-assessment. The educational software embodies a three-step process, in which the self-assessment takes place in the last stage: first, the student is asked to carry out a conventional teacher assessment based on a set of criteria, which are then weighted by him/her through AHP without consistency control. Second, students are asked to turn on the software¿s consistency index control, which will reveal eventual inconsistencies, and accordingly revise his/her judgments until they are acceptable. Finally, the student is invited to self-assess his/her capacity to issue consistent judgment by analysing differences between their assessment with (step 2) and without (step 1) the aid of the consistency control, to reflect upon the differences between consistent and inconsistent assessment, and to think of potential causes driving to inconsistent judgment. The whole process can be performed by the students in the presented software, which serves as a platform for effective self-feedback and training of their assessment accuracy and critical thinking capacity.This research was made possible by the support of mgnesio and of the Academic Head of the Programme of Degree in Construction Engineering at the Universidad de La Frontera. The authors are grateful to the students of this program for taking part in this educational experimentation. The authors also acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which was co-financed with FEDER funds (Project: BIA2017-85098-R).Salas, J.; Sierra, L.; Yepes, V. (2021). AHP-based software for students' self-assessment of critical thinking capacity. IATED Academy. 5744-5753. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2021.1161S5744575

Consideration of Uncertainty and Multiple Disciplines in the Determination of Sustainable Criteria for Rural Roads Using Neutrosophic Logic

[EN] In Latin America, there is a wide gap between kilometers of paved ways and those with no type of protection. This situation is worse in rural areas, limiting development opportunities and inhabitants' quality of life. In Chile, there are state programs that seek to reduce the territorial gap through basic low-cost paving solutions; however, the prioritization criteria for rural roads are unclear. Multiple actors affect the rural territories, and the non-existence of reference patterns increases subjectivity in infrastructure decision making. This study attempts to determine criteria that influence the selection of rural roads in southern Chile to promote sustainable territorial development considering multiple actors and the uncertainty of the selection process. For this, a documentary review, field visits, and 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The criteria are validated through a multidisciplinary panel of experts and the application of neutrosophic numbers to address the uncertainty derived from the expert consultations. The results of this study contribute 14 sustainable criteria in order to support the planning of basic rural roads in southern Chile.This research was funded by Agencia Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo (ANID) of the Government of Chile under the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cientifico y Tecnologico (FONDECYT-INI), grant number 11190501; and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the FEDER Funding under Project PID2020-117056RB-I00.Sierra, L.; Araya, F.; Yepes, V. (2021). Consideration of Uncertainty and Multiple Disciplines in the Determination of Sustainable Criteria for Rural Roads Using Neutrosophic Logic. Sustainability. 13(17):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179854S115131

ESRA, an educational software for introducing stochastic scheduling to civil engineering students

[EN] Classical scheduling techniques are commonly employed tools in civil engineering schools worldwide for teaching project planning and management. Techniques such as the Critical Path Method (CPM), Precedence diagram method (PDM), Gantt chart or the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) present the advantage of their simplicity, ease of understanding and that they are implemented in the most accepted project management software such as Ms Project or Primavera P6. These scheduling techniques, however, present important limitations in dealing with the uncertainty inherent to construction project management. On the one hand, the deterministic approach of CPM to project planning learning reduces sensitivity and understanding of the factors that significantly alter and challenge the success of a project, while on the other hand PERT shows too limited capabilities in uncertainty modelling and underestimates the project duration standard deviation. Schedule Risk Analysis (SRA) is a stochastic method that has been pointed out to promote that students start managing projects more effectively and more efficiently. In this study, we employ an educational SRA software (ESRA) to help students understand the underlying assumption of stochastic scheduling, as well as to make explicit the advantages of stochastic scheduling compared to classical methods such as CPM or PERT. ESRA affords modelling both the uncertainty in the duration of activities, and the relationship between these uncertainties, expanding the range of planning problems, which students can now assess. This research was implemented in four stages through a workshop. First, we introduced the theoretical foundations of Monte Carlo Simulation, the method underlying most uncertainty assessment methods. Second students employed ESRA to see how this method works. Third, students worked around a case-study of the construction projects management and analysed the results, comparing those from the stochastic assessment with those of the deterministic assessment. Finally, they were asked to respond a questionnaire in which they had to address real-world decision-making regarding project scheduling that required having project uncertainties into account.Salas, J.; Sierra, L.; Yepes, V. (2021). ESRA, an educational software for introducing stochastic scheduling to civil engineering students. IATED Academy. 5788-5798. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2021.1169S5788579

The use of authentic videos to foster listening comprehension

This project is focused on analyzing the impact that videos have on the listening skill for a primary group in a public institute in Colombia. First, the panorama of education in the country is addressed to reflect the relevance of this project; then, some authors’ insights define the principal concepts which are the core to implement this project. Moreover, there is support from three case studies that provides an overview of how others have conducted similar investigations and what results they have got. The objectives to fulfill the needs of this project are established based of general and specific learning and teaching goals, and a methodology is as well proposed listing a series of techniques and strategies to be used by the practitioners and students throughout the process. The data collection is gathered taking into consideration various methods such as teachers’ journals and reflections, and students’ artifacts. After the application of the methodology during the classes and the collection of the data, three specific findings are analyzed in terms of the practitioners’ professional development, students’ responses and linguistic outcomes. Much part of the discussion is confronted with authors including the ones cited at the beginning that defined the main concepts of the project. The analysis is also based on a constant comparison of the data obtained from the ten sessions conducted. At the end, some conclusions are drawn considering the objectives and the results achieved, and they suggest that using the proper methodology, authentic videos can foster effectively students´ listening comprehension. Some limitations for applying this project are also documented

Sistema de reconocimiento facial para control de acceso a viviendas

Trabajo de InvestigaciónEste trabajo de grado presenta el desarrollo de un sistema de reconocimiento facial el cual permitirá el control de acceso a una casa. Debido a la alta inseguridad que se evidencia en la ciudad, por este hecho, se vio la necesidad de crear una solución que disminuya estos porcentajes de hurto. Con este sistema no solo se pretende brindar seguridad y confort al usuario si no incentivar el uso herramientas tecnológicas como el reconocimiento facial, y dispositivos que están en el mercado, para implementar un control de acceso para viviendas seguro y de un bajo costo.1. INTRODUCCIÓN 2. ANTECEDENTES Y JUSTIFICACIÓN 3. PLANTEAMIENTO Y FORMULACIÓN DEL PROBLEMA 4. MARCO DE REFERENCIA 5. OBJETIVOS 6. ALCANCES Y LIMITACIONES 7. METODOLOGÍA 8. RECOPILACIÓN DE INFORMACIÓN 9. DEFINICIÓN DE REQUERIMIENTOS 10. SELECCIÓN DE LAS HERRAMIENTAS DEL SISTEMA 11. IMPLEMENTACIÓN DEL PROTOTIPO 12. RESULTADOS ESPERADOS 13. CONCLUSIONES 14. RECOMENDACIONES Y TRABAJOS FUTUROS 15. BIBLIOGRAFÍA 16. ANEXOSPregradoIngeniero Electrónic

Estimation of specific yield and its variability by electrical resistivity tomography

Specific yield (Sy) is defined as the average volume of water that can be drained, per unit surface of aquifer per unit drop of head. This parameter is of critical relevance for groundwater resources assessment, but its estimation suffers from numerous difficulties, including spatial variability, hysteresis, dependence on depth to water table, or delayed drainage. As a result, no widely accepted method is available for its estimation. Here we show that most of these difficulties can be overcome by using time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to map water content variations in response to phreatic level fluctuations. We applied the method to a synthetic example and to a real site in Argentina. Results demonstrate that the approach is robust and provides a picture of how, how much and where water is being released from the soil when aquifer heads drop, which is the ultimate goal of Sy concept. ERT produced some oscillations in estimated water contents, which we attribute to inversion artifacts. Still, the error analysis and the synthetic example suggest that the impact of spurious oscillations tends to cancel out during estimation of Sy, which supports the robustness of the method. Estimated Sy is sensitive to the petrophysical law. If the slope of this law is inadequate, calculated values of Sy may be biased, but their variability patterns are well captured by the method. What is clear is that Sy is a spatially and temporally variable parameter, whose estimation is difficult. ERT represents a possible avenue to evaluate Sy and its variability.Fil: Dietrich, Sebastián. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff". - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff". - Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff"; ArgentinaFil: Carrera, Jesús. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Weinzettel, Pablo. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff". - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff". - Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff"; ArgentinaFil: Sierra, Leonardo. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff". - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff". - Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras "Dr. Eduardo Jorge Usunoff"; Argentin

A Review of Multi-Criteria Assessment of the Social Sustainability of Infrastructures

[EN] Nowadays multi-criteria methods enable non-monetary aspects to be incorporated into the assessment of infrastructure sustainability. Yet evaluation of the social aspects is still neglected and the multi-criteria assessment of these social aspects is still an emerging topic. Therefore, the aim of this article is to review the current state of multi-criteria infrastructure assessment studies that include social aspects. The review includes an analysis of the social criteria, participation and assessment methods. The results identify mobility and access, safety and local development among the most frequent criteria. The Analytic Hierarchy Process and Simple Additive Weighting methods are the most frequently used. Treatments of equity, uncertainty, learning and consideration of the context, however, are not properly analyzed yet. Anyway, the methods for implementing the evaluation must guarantee the social effect on the result, improvement of the representation of the social context and techniques to facilitate the evaluation in the absence of information.This research was funded by the Government of Chile under the Doctoral Fellowship Program Abroad (grant CONICYT-2015/72160059), the project DIUFRO DI14-0096 and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness along with FEDER funding (Projects BIA2014-56574-R and BIA2017-85098-R).Sierra-Varela, LA.; Yepes, V.; Pellicer, E. (2018). A Review of Multi-Criteria Assessment of the Social Sustainability of Infrastructures. Journal of Cleaner Production. 187:496-513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.022S49651318

Estrategia de muestreo para la estimación de la tasa de favoritismo en la elección presidencial

Se fijan los objetivos y se definen los criterios metodológicos de una Encuesta Nacional de Favoritismo en Elecciones Presidenciales. Utilizando el hecho de que el candidato H. Serpa se presentó como candidato en 1998 y en 2002 se utilizan los resultados electorales de 1998 para generar, en combinación con datos censales de 1993, una base de datos, con la que se construye la estrategia muestral para estimación de resultados del 2002. Se llega a un diseño con cuatro estratos de municipios. Uno de inclusión forzosa con las más importantes ciudades del país, un segundo estrato de ciudades intermedias, el tercer estrato con 610 municipios y un último estrato de municipios muy pequeños y de difícil acceso. A modo de prueba, se realiza un ejercicio computacional de hacer 500 estimaciones del favoritismo de los candidatos en 2002 con 500 muestras diferentes seleccionadas de acuerdo al plan propuesto. En el 96% de los casos se habría acertado dando a Uribe como ganador absoluto en la primera vuelta. Se alcanzó una confiabilidad del 94,8% y una precisión equivalente a un c.v.e igual a 3,9%. Finalmente, se aplica la metodología sugerida para producir una muestra para 2006 previendo la presentación de A. Uribe como candidato a la presidencia. Se concluye con una muestra de 85 municipios, 6.400 manzanas para empadronar y 15.800 personas a entrevistar

Estudio de futuro: centro de pensamiento y doctrina de la Policía Nacional de Colombia al año 2026

209 páginas y anexos.The study of future "Center of Thought and Police Doctrine to the year 2026" begins with the identification of a context or state of the art, that allows to know the real situation of the Thinking Center and the World Trends in front of the think tanks; in Latin America and Colombia in the face of the transformation of political and social conditions that affect the management of police institutions. Once the analysis of the information was exhausted, a process of participatory workshops was initiated with the officials that work in the Police Thinking and Doctrine Center in order to identify the strategic variables that marked the course of this investigation. Subsequently, a progressive procedure was established for the construction of scenarios to finally determine which is the most indicated with regard to global trends and the most important: the new reality of a country experiencing a post-conflict process, identifying in the scenario "AII for a new vision" the most appropriate to lead the National Police Thinking Center to be a leading think tank in the construction of the institutional vision and to contribute directly to the anticipatory capacity of the National Police.El estudio de futuro "Centro de Pensamiento y Doctrina Policial al año 2026" inicia con la identificación de un contexto o estado del arte, que permitió conocer la situación actual del Centro de Pensamiento y las tendencias mundiales frente a los think tanks; en Latinoamérica y Colombia frente a la transformación de las condiciones políticas y sociales que incide en la gestión de las instituciones policiales. Una vez agotado el análisis de la información, se dio inicio a un proceso de talleres participativos con los funcionarios que laboran en el Centro de Pensamiento y Doctrina Policial en aras de identificar las variables estratégicas que marcaron el rumbo de esta investigación. Posteriormente se estableció un procediendo de manera progresiva la construcción de escenarios para determinar finalmente cual es el más indicado con respecto a las tendencias mundiales y lo más importante: la nueva realidad de un país que experimenta un proceso de posconflicto, identificando en el escenario "Todos por una nueva visión" el más indicado para conducir al Centro de Pensamiento de la Policía Nacional a ser un think tank protagonista en la construcción de la visión Institucional y a contribuir directamente en la capacidad anticipatoria de la Policía Nacional.Magíster en Prospectiva y Pensamiento EstratégicoMaestrí