Learn about the methodological changes for undergraduate programs in ICT

Jhon Jair Quiza Montealegre, former professor at the University of Cundinamarca and former director of the telecommunications engineering program at the University of Medellín, announced the results of his project on a methodology for the curricular design of undergraduate programs in ICT.

Overall, it was concluded that it is relevant to change curricula taking into account the opinion of external agents, since in many cases students rely only on the theory of the teachers and there is no feedback on what is actually needed in the working world.

“The project was developed within a Ruta N program in 2015. Ruta N is the government entity in charge of innovation and technological development. They launched a call for proposals for universities that wanted to innovate in graduate and undergraduate programs. All the major universities in the region participated, such as the University of Antioquia, EAFIT, and the National University of Medellín, and each university presented an academic program to implement a specific type of innovation,” the professor explained.

The main problems identified for conducting the research were the divergence between the training plan and the expected professional profile of the graduate; limited relationships with industry, society and other educational institutions; and the need to comply with the guidelines of the Ministry of National Education and the National Accreditation Council.

The questions that arose and were key to the results were: How to attract new talent? How to ensure that this talent successfully completes its training process? What could make us different from other programs in telecommunications?

Given all these problems and the need to train professionals capable of facing any challenge in the workplace, several conclusions were reached, the main one being the need to work not only with teachers, but also with external agents such as companies that would hire engineering professionals.

Results to consider in undergraduate ICT methodologies:

-Classroom project methodologies: Awareness, creation, refinement, canvas model, execution and socialization.

-Co-creation techniques.

-Design of an integrated curriculum: Ensuring that the teaching methods are the most appropriate for achieving the desired outcome at the end of the course. This can be demonstrated through assessment and teaching-learning strategies.

– The program should be designed based on feedback from external agents.

“We shouldn’t cater to the interests of the professors themselves, but rather look at what’s happening outside and allow these external agents to participate in the design. We can’t be stuck with the view that each professor has their own area of work, so each one defends their subjects within their training plan, and sometimes it becomes a personal problem,” stated the teacher, Jhon Jaír Quiza Montealegre.

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