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Pre-Texts Methodology Cultural Agents of Harvard University Results of the Application of the Cultural Agents of Harvard University's Pre-Text Methodology at UAdeC Authors: MDH Veronica (Voroca) Davila, Pre-Texts Mexico Dr. Temistocles Munoz Lopez, UAdeC Dr. Jose Ma. Gaujardo Espinoza, UAdeC
Translated by Diana Serrano
Introduction, Summary
The development and application of Pre-Text began with the signing of an agreement of collaborative work that
began in June 2014 and was implemented in the classrooms until June 2015, with the goal of making this a
continual process of incorporation and regeneration.
Presentation, Summary The impact of the Pre-­‐‑Text methodology in the results indicated in the educational model and the Plan for Institutional Development at the Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila (UAdeC), was evaluated with a scientific focus developed with a research team at UAdeC and Cultural Agents at Harvard University. The positive academic achievements of those students who were exposed to the Pre-­‐‑Text methodology are discussed. The results related to intrapersonal and interpersonal development are also discussed. It is inferred that the Pre-­‐‑Text strategy positively impacts collaborative work in the classroom, which is likely to translate to general social settings. Development of the Scientific Evaluation of Pre-Texts The Pre-Text Program data analyses were conducted to elucidate the relationships between the different
variables that constitute the proposal, both the Guidelines (Conditions under which a session of a normal class is
regulated and conducted), as well as the Elements (Goals pursued related to a student's development as a
person), which were implemented during the 2014-2015 school year with students from different schools and
faculties from the Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila, in the high school diploma and bachelors level, and in
different courses. In our sample 220 students participated and are included in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Sample Identifying Data and the Number of Students per Background and educational level in
the Program Number of
School Name
Academic
Participating
Number of
Students or Faculty Level Course Teachers 54 ICH High school TLR 4 44 ICH High School History 1 11 Arts Bachelor English 1 34 Chemistry Bachelor English 1 12 Systems Bachelor English 1 22 Mobility Bachelor English 1 15 Arts Bachelor English 1 31 ICH High School English 1 Total = 220 The evaluation demonstrates the academic achievement gained due to participation in the Program, the study
also demonstrates the significant relationships between all the variables that constitute the Pre-Text pedagogical
approach, as well as identifies the strenghts and limitations of the program. This is relevant given that it is
necessary that it be congruent, relevant and coherent with the University's proposed Educational Model and
Plan of Institutional Development (PID).
The topic, addressed from the perspective of the academic evaluation of the Program, considers the differences
that exist between two groups of students: a group of students who were exposed to the Pre-Text methodology,
compared with an equivalent sample of students who did not receive any special treatment and could be
confirmed continued to receive instruction with the traditional method of teaching in a similar context. In
addition, a study was conducted to analyze the features that constitute the Pre-Text approach in relation to the
12 basic Guidelines of conduct in the classroom and its seven Elements, understood as complex variables that
specify the achievements that are hoped to be gained in regards to the students' personal development.
Academic: Grades, Summary The system of evaluation demands that students' grades be generated with the intent to measure academic achievement, it is necessary to note that grades generated in Curricular English are standardized grades, allowing for uniformity. In in school, evaluation criterion are created by each teacher, where some of the evaluation tools and grades are not standardized. Academic achievement is a result of the learning experiences that take place in the educational process, in and outside of the classroom, as a complete and continual experience, that aims to transform the student as a person. This is why our analysis led us to study the relationship between grades and the variables of Pre-­‐‑Text methodology. In the analysis of the percentiles with the box-­‐‑plot graph we can infer that the application of the methodology improves students' final average grade. (The y axis represents the grades) The following graph below indicates that in the Pre-­‐‑Text group the rate of passing was 82.9%, where 50.9% received grades between 70.0 and 79.0, 22.5% received grades between 80.0 and 89.9 and 9.5% received grades above 90, the rate of those who failed was only 17.1%. The graph below shows the results Pre-­‐‑Text group. In the graph below are the final grades for the Control group, those who were not exposed to the Pre-­‐‑Text methodology. For those in the control group 53.1% passed, where 35.8% obtained grades between 70.0 and 79.0, 13.1% received grades between 80.0 and 89.0, and 2% received a final grade above 90, the rate those who failed was 46.9%. The graph below shows the results for the Control group, those without exposure to Pre-­‐‑Text. According to the findings there is a significant difference between the two groups, favoring the group who was exposed to Pre-­‐‑Text methodology. Table 2. Relation to Teachers' Reported Grades with the Elements and Guidelines of Pre-­‐‑Text Methodology Variable Grades Practicing the concept of "classroom 0.145 in a circle" Reflective Activity – What did we do. 0.160 Reading and Comprehension skills 0.139 Civility 0.177 According to the results in Table 2, teacher's reported grades is positively related to activities in the Pre-­‐‑
Text strategies. It can be inferred that Pre-­‐‑Text strategies favor collaborative work in the classroom and that it is probably that these can be translated into the experiences in a general social context. Correlation Analysis The graph assesses the positive correlation between grades and two Pre-­‐‑Text guidelines. The first is related to the start of the session (Class sitting in a circle), as a condition to create unity with the goal to learn, in an environment of trust, respect, liberty, playfulness, admiration, and egalitarianism between students and the teacher, and that is safe. And the ending activity, (What did we do?), the reflective process of self-­‐‑evaluation. There is also a positive correlation between two elements and high grades. The firs corresponds to the principle of reading and comprehension skills, which is needed to realize the creative activities where the text “explores and discovers collectively” which allows students to move beyond simply being introduced to another, and delving into the ideas. And that of Civility, where the student recognizes and acquires the conscience to learn, and values the admiration of the self and others, all due to the exposure of the text (knowledge) in artistic activities where creativity exposes the essence of the content, and therefore the student acquires practical values such as respect, freedom of expression and a better sense of self. If we note the positive correlations between students’ final high grades with the guidelines and elements of Pre-­‐‑Text, and we organize them in the Cultural Change Model, we can observe that these variables are significant for students who achieved the greatest gains. It remains to be confirmed the degree to which a student’s personal development is affected as she/he surrenders herself/himself to a greater number of Pre-­‐‑Text experiences. With the multiple regression analysis we can demonstrate that grades can be predicted by the following variables: Civility, admiration, values and respect, that Pre-­‐‑Text promotes, analyzed with a strict Stepwise criterion. Iter. No. Action Variable R-­‐‑Squared Sqrt. Max R-­‐‑
Squared Other X's Unchanged 0.000 10.761 0 Added Civility, 0.030 10.622 0 admiration, values, and respect Unchanged 0.030 10.622 0 List of Civility, variables admiration, selected: values, and respect The previous analysis demonstrates that the variable "Civility, admiration, values, and respect" is a predictor of
good grades.
Students' Pre-Text Evaluation, Summary To realize the evaluation and the study, 21 variables are considered and their correspondence to questions that
constitute the Pre-Text pedagogical approach (Table 3) measures in a 0-10 scale, with the exception of the
grades with a scale of 0-100. Additionally, the variable Functioning without the teacher was included, to
analyze its relation to the pedagogical approach.
Variable Question Final Grade Final grade taken from the registrar Course plan In this course or class, to what extent did
the class have a defined plan? Class start punctuality To what extent did the class begin
punctually? Participation in a circle Indicate the extent to which the concept of
a circle in the classroom was practiced. Activity Instructions To what extent were instructions for
activities given? Random group formation How would you rate the random
formation teams in the classroom? Material availability To what extent were school and recycled
materials available in the classroom? There were creative and fun activities To what extent were there three or more
creative and fun activities per class? Inclusion of everyone during activities During class, how would you rate the
inclusions of all students in the activities? Control over time of execution To what extent was specific time allotted
for each activity and was the execution of
each creative activity timed? Admiration between classmates was
encouraged In this course or class, to what extent was
the admiration of other students and
teacher encouraged, due to their
contributions to the class? Reflection - what did we do? To what extent was the activity, "what did
we do?" realized? Teacher's egalitarian participation To what extent did the teacher participate
in the creative activities as much as the
students? Development of reading and
In this course or class, to what extent did
comprehension skills you develop your reading and
comprehension skills that allow you to
examine the text in such a way that you
read, write, and ask questions and share
your ideas? Development of self-confidence In this course, to what extent did you
develop the confidence to think and talk
about a subject in front of the group,
expressing your ideas openly? Motivation to learn Indicate the extent to which this course
allowed you to develop the motivation to
study independently, in such a way that
you're interested in investigating and
learning about the topic related to the
class. Development of critical thought To what extent did you develop critical
thought in this course, awakening your
desire to read and interpret the texts in a
profound and analytical way, generating
answers, asking questions, proposing new
solutions, reflecting and constructing your
ideas with the others? Development of creativity How would you rate this course in
influencing the development of creativity,
like the capacity to innovate, recreate, reutilize and recycle to explain a topic, and
make it pleasant and fun? Civility, admiration, values and respect What would be the rating that reflects this
course in civility, recognition and
admiration of others' and your own
qualities, encouraging the values of
respect, empathy, the right for all to
express themselves, and Be. Democratization of the classroom To what extent was there democratization
of the class, sharing the planning and
execution of the creative activities with
the teacher to comprehend and interpret
the topics to be learned? Function without the teacher To what extent can the group function
without the teacher? The variable Function without the teacher was added to observe its behavior, given that it implies the transfer of leadership while preserving the responsibility for the class. The preliminary analysis (Table 4) demonstrated that the instrument that was used to investigate and evaluate was adequate with a reliability of Cronbachs Alpha .887, where the minimum acceptable reliability is .80. Table 4. Items to Analyze the Reliability of the Instrument Used (The translation of the variable names are
below the table) List of Translated variables in the order they appear in the table: Variable Course plan Class start punctuality Participation in a circle Activity Instructions Random group formation Material availability There were creative and fun activities Inclusion of everyone during activities Control over time of execution Admiration between classmates was encouraged Reflection -­‐‑what did we do? Teacher's equitable participation Development of reading and comprehension Development of self-­‐‑confidence Motivation to learn Development of critical thought Development of creativity Civility, admiration, values and respect Democratization of the classroom Function without the teacher On the other hand, the descriptive statistics (Table 5) indicate, with a great level of credibility using the coefficient of variability and the Z value, that the variables with the greatest influence in the model are Availability of Materials, Reflection – what did we do, and the teacher's egalitarian participation, as had already been observed. Table 5. Descriptive Statics of the Variables that Integrate the Pre-­‐‑Text Methodology, the translated list of variables is identical to Table 4 (see above) Regarding the final grade, it was observed that it is correlated with the variables Participation in a circle (r=0.14), Reflection – what did we do? (r=0.16), Development of reading and comprehension skill (r=0.15), and Civility, admiration, values and respect (r=0.17). Factor Analysis, Summary Factor analysis is a technique used to create new artificial variables by transforming original variables. 10.02%. The factor analysis explains 42.39% of the variability in the total phenomena of the two factors, extracted with an Eigenvalue grater than 1.0, using Kaiser criteria, where the first factor explains 32.36% and the second 10.02%. Factors Eigenvalue % of the total
Cumulative
Cumulative % variability
Eigenvalue explained Factor 1 6.80 32.36 6.80 32.36 Factor 2 2.11 10.02 8.90 42.39 The factor analysis identifies two Pre-Text dimensions that confirm and explain its functions integrated through
its Guidelines and Elements, as is intended in its pedagogical proposal.
The following table displays the analysis results. Variable Factor 1. Handling of the Factor 2. Means and
Session Ends Course plan 0.63 Class start punctuality 0.64 Participation in a circle 0.61 Activity Instructions 0.44 Random group formation 0.73 Material availability 0.54 There were creative and
0.71 fun activities Inclusion of everyone
during activities Control over time of
activity execution Admiration between
classmates was
encouraged Reflection - what did we
do? Teacher's egalitarian
participation Development of reading
and comprehension Development of selfconfidence Motivation to learn Development of critical
thought Development of creativity Civility, admiration,
values and respect Democratization of the
classroom Function without the
teacher 0.64 0.22 0.72 0.26 0.72 0.58 0.26 0.61 0.73 0.66 0.72 0.69 0.24 0.38 0.63 0.69 0.31 0.56 0.37 Considering the results regarding the two factors that were considered, the Handling of the Session and the
other factor, the Means and Ends of the Pre-Text methodology, we could infer that even when they are separate
analysis, they could have a relationship. This relationship could expose us to an assumed dynamic to help guide
our understanding. Consequently, taking the factor analysis results could be schematically captured in the SP
model below: Interfactorial Analysis of Guidelines and Elements, Summary The interfactorial analysis demonstrates the underlying and evident structure of the Pre-Text methodology and
the Element's (means) variables and the Guidelines (pedagogical conditions) that define it. The first factor shows that the guidelines to handle a session and the means and ends that are achieved with PreText, as well as its cyclical dynamic articulation in the educational process. Model of the Main Variables that are dependent of the Teacher Iteration Action
Ind. Variable %
FProb.
this
Change
Value Level Step in
Lambda 0 None 1 Entered There were
11.64 4.05 0.000 creative and
fun activities 2 Entered Class start
10.72 3.67 0.001 punctuality 3 Entered Development
10.29 3.49 0.001 of reading and
comprehension 4 Entered Development
11.66 4.00 0.000 of Creativity 5 Entered Motivation to
7.33 2.38 0.023 learn 6 Entered Inclusion of
7.97 2.60 0.014 everyone
during
activities 7 Entered Civility,
7.67 2.48 0.018 admiration,
values and
respect Wilks'
Lambda 1 0.884 0.789 0.708 0.625 0.579 0.533 0.493 Teachers include in this study: Teacher Code Arturo Urrea 1 Doris Nicolas 2 Eduardo Figueroa 3 Luz G 4 Magda 5 Miguel B 6 Miriam Mtz 7 Susana Arrellano 8 Students' Achieved "Elements" of Pre-Text Objectives, Summary The graphs show a student's perceptions who has experienced the methodology in her or his class, where the orange part represents the initial state and the red area encompasses a student's perception after the application of Pre-­‐‑Texts in her or his classroom. Students in both the Curricular English and the Bachilerato demonstrate a significant progress in the elements of Reading and comprehension skills, confidence to express oneself, motivation and critical thought, elements that influence academic improvement; however, progress is also important in Creativity, Civility and democratization of the classroom. We are able to demonstrate that the methodology functions in the way it was designed to meet its objectives. Students Self Evaluation regarding grade progression Curricular English High School Diploma Analysis of the Compatibility of the Pre-­‐‑Text Methodology with the UAdeC's Educational Model and the Plan of Institutional Development UAdeC's Educational Model Pre-­‐‑Text Pedagogical Methodology ...Our Mission Pre-­‐‑Text Elements (Means) We are a public institution that offers Motivation to learn superior and high quality education, Civility, admiration, values and respect where knowledge of science, technology and the humanities is generated, disseminated, preserved and Democratization of the classroom applied. We encourage, with a humanistic focus, the universal values associated with the sciences, the arts, and sports, providing a holistic formation to our students. The student must achieve development Pre-Text Principles of knowledge and not only be left with Development of all the intelligences,
numeric grades void of meaning. The teacher must design activities for those creative, musical, interpersonal and
emotional, through collaborative work
students that do not achieve the (learning together without a leader and
learning objectives on the first try. playfully) Main Policies and Guiding Principles Pre-Text Guidelines and Elements Development of Creativity Drive the formation of diverse artistic expressions to stimulate sensitivity and Creative and Fun Activities createivity Pre-Text General Objectives Some of the strategies to stimulate the development of ability to think, are: Transform the teacher into a facilitator of
learning • Change of perspective over the role of the teacher and student Allows students to design the class, also
• Move from the provider of allows for leadership handling the group,
information to the facilitator of integrates her or himself as a participant
the process of thought that and
as a resource during the activities
generate knowledge (functions of the teacher in the
pedagogical work) Pre-Text Guidelines Strategies to adquire and integrate knowledge: Collaborative work in randomly selected
• Reciprocal learning groups • The student constructs knowledge and demonstrates Students design sessions with creative and
comprehension through the playful activities that will help the group
process and systematization of learn the concepts, while studying and
information reconstructing the concepts in a creative
fashion Pre-Text Guidelines and Elements Values The university reaffirms its institutional Civility, admiration, values and respect endeavor: Justice, liberty, Democratization of the classroom responsibility, commitment, honesty, solidarity, respect, tolerance and dialogue Pre-Text Results of the Study Strategy 1.1.4: Improve the quality of the process of learning-­‐‑teaching Development of reading and
comprehension skills Strategy 1.5.1: Give lessons that transverse ethics, art, culture and the Motivation to learn values of a high school diploma and a bachelors. Development of Critical Thought Strategy 1.5.3: Supporting the Civility, admiration, values and respect development of talents Creative and fun Activities Strategy 1.5.5: Assigning school projects of sustainability, gender equality, and social responsibility Objective 1.6: Decrease drop-­‐‑out rates Study Results and failing By increasing grades through the Pre-Text
pedagogical methodology, the index for
Strategy 1.6.8: Evaluate the impact of the stated strategies on the decrease of failing a grade is reduced by 30% and the
index for passing a class is increased,
drop-­‐‑out rates and failing consequently
dropping out due to
academic reasons is reduced Conclusions, Summary The present empirical evidence suggests that the application of the Pre-Text pedagogical methodology in the
current UAdeC courses impacts, not only students' holistic development, but also their academics. The Guidelines (pedagogical conditions), and the Elements of the Pre-Text methodology are significantly
associated with the students' final grades.
Adherence of the Pre-Texts Guidelines in the educational process, is closely related to the Pre-Text Element's
methodology (goals of the human development in students' development), making it a pedagogical approach. Pre-Text methodology is congruent with the contents of the Educational Model and the UAdeC's PID. 1. , a fundamental conditional for their holistic and human development.
2. Pre-Texts coincides with UAdeC's ME guidelines, "not keep only numerical grades without any
meaning," it impacts the human formation and the students' life style that as a future professional learns
across the lifespan.
3. The Pre-Text pedagogical process is valued, approved and accepted by students, both its Guidelines
(pedagogical conditions) and its Elements.
4. The learning and application of Pre-Text Guidelines (pedagogical conditions) change the teacher to a
facilitator of learning.
Pedagogy is the theory and scientific practice of education, we could think that it is the way in which a person's
education is realized in terms of reflection and applied knowledge. We could also say that pedagogy is also an
object for investigation. Recommendations, Summary • Continue to use the Pre-Text program as a pedagogical approach within the UAdeC
• Systemize the pedagogical Pre-Text model according to the teaching practices and its relation to the
Educational Model and the PDI achievements
• Continue and expand the study and evaluation of Pre-Texts to contribute to the Educational Model and
the PDI achievements
• Recognize professors' participation in Pre-Text, within the program of teacher performance stimuli
• Develop a communication program for the dissemination of the practice of the methodology
• Executive immersion workshop for school principals and faculty
• Create a UAdeC support team for the Pre-Text methodology