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Differentiated geographical and institutional contexts imply the need to examine the effectiveness of non—conventional approach learning methods in contrast to generalist assumptions. One way is to examine the perceptions of undergraduates of a teaching method applied to specific individuals, geographical contexts, and their relationship to achieving the objectives of the course. This study analysed students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the Project-Based Learning (PBL) method within the Colombian Caribbean. The study used both Chi-square, Wilcoxon rank sum and independent variable correlation tests in a survey of 340 students in the Economic Development undergraduate course in a total of four cohorts over two years. The students compared the PBL to a traditional teaching method to fulfill the course’s objectives, identifying cross—curricular skills that were considered better and worse during the learning process. It was found that only competencies of Autonomy and Critical Thinking had significant positive perceptions when using the PBL revealing that perceptions of students form a complementary tool that contributes to the analysis of the usefulness of teaching methods in different geographical contexts.

Nowadays the use of the mobile learning has an impact in the teaching of a second language since it is incorporating in the processes of learning in order to support the different abilities of the language particularly the oral skills. However, there are few studies that deal with improving writing skills through mobile devices. This article describes a quantitative study to test the effect of using academic and non-academic resources in mobile devices to develop writing skills in English in a group of freshmen university students. The theoretical framework used in this research examines the Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday) specifically, the genre theory of Martin & Rose (2007) and the approach of language learning assisted by mobile devices (MALL). The student’s writing skills were evaluated in the texts produced by them according to the generic structure of the text, cohesion, accuracy and mechanics aspects (spelling/capitalization and punctuation) before and after the m-learning experience. The data show a better performance in the student’s writing skills after using the resources; the results correlated significantly with the number of times of academic resources reviewed by students.

Nowadays the use of the mobile learning has an impact in the teaching of a second language since it is incorporating in the processes of learning in order to support the different abilities of the language particularly the oral skills. However, there are few studies that deal with improving writing skills through mobile devices. This article describes a quantitative study to test the effect of using academic and non-academic resources in mobile devices to develop writing skills in English in a group of freshmen university students. The theoretical framework used in this research examines the Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday) specifically, the genre theory of Martin & Rose (2007) and the approach of language learning assisted by mobile devices (MALL). The student’s writing skills were evaluated in the texts produced by them according to the generic structure of the text, cohesion, accuracy and mechanics aspects (spelling/capitalization and punctuation) before and after the m-learning experience. The data show a better performance in the student’s writing skills after using the resources; the results correlated significantly with the number of times of academic resources reviewed by students.Hoy en día el uso de tecnología móvil ha impactado en la enseñanza de una segunda lengua ya que en los procesos de aprendizaje se están implementado el uso de dispositivos móviles con el fin de apoyar las diferentes habilidades de la lengua, particularmente la oral. Sin embargo, son pocos los estudios que apuntan a mejorar la habilidad de escribir. Este artículo describe un estudio de corte cuantitativo realizado para determinar el efecto del uso de recursos académicos y no académicos en dispositivos móviles, en el desarrollo de habilidades escriturales en inglés, de un grupo de estudiantes universitarios de primer ingreso. Esta investigación se fundamenta en la perspectiva Sistémico Funcional (Halliday) específicamente en la teoría de géneros de Martin & Rose (2007) y en el enfoque de aprendizaje de lenguas asistido por tecnología móvil. Se evaluaron las habilidades escriturales en los textos producidos por los estudiantes en torno al a la estructura genérica del texto, cohesión, aspectos mecánicos y gramaticales, antes y después de la experiencia con tecnología móvil. Los resultados revelan mejoras en las habilidades escriturales después del uso de los recursos, correlacionándose significativamente con la frecuencia de consulta de los de tipo académico.

El objetivo de esta investigación es aumentar la comprensión lectora de estudiantes de primer ingreso de la Universidad del Norte a través del uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC), como estrategia fundamental que permita al estudiante enfrentar su cotidianidad con aparatos tecnológicos, e incentivar su motivación e interés para mejorar su proceso de comprensión lectora y sus resultados académicos. De forma intencional, se tomaron dos grupos de control: uno con alta implicación en TIC y otro de comparación no equivalente, con baja implicación, para medir la funcionalidad de la propuesta y la aceptación y motivación del estudiante a partir de la inclusión de TIC en su proceso formativo. Se diseñaron materiales para que los estudiantes de Competencias comunicativas 1 estimularan su comprensión lectora mediada por el uso de las TIC y realizaran tareas colaborativas virtuales y presenciales. El análisis de resultados arroja que entre ambos grupos no hubo diferencias significativas en el pretest y en postest, así como en la medida e impacto, por lo se concluye que el utilizar las TIC no es factor determinante para elevar su nivel de comprensión lectora, pero resulta interesante como estrategia didáctica y de incentivo para los estudiantes.

The objective of this research is to find improvements in the reading comprehension of freshmen students of Universidad del Norte through the use of ICT as a basic strategy that allows students to face their daily lives, with technological devices and to encourage students ‘and interest motivation in order to optimize their process of reading and their academic results. Two control samples were taken intentionally; one group with a high involvement in ICTs and a non-equivalent comparison group with a low involvement of ICT, to measure the functionality of the proposal, the acceptance and motivation of the students of the insertion of ICTs in their learning process. Materials were designed for students of "Communicative Skills 1”, arouse their reading comprehension mediated by the use of ICT, doing virtual and classroom collaborative assignments. The results triggered that there were no significant differences in the pretest and posttest groups, as well as the measurement and impact which allows concluding that the use of ICT is not a determinant factor to improve reading comprehension, but it is an interesting tool as a didactic and motivational strategy for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]