Columbus Association and PUCRS join efforts for international program

Aimed at faculty, program discusses new methodologies to engage and evaluate students in hybrid learning environments

Photo: Anna Shvets/Pexels

In an unprecedented partnership, PUCRS and Columbus Association (Asociación Columbus) have launched the training program Diseño y Evaluación de Ambientes Híbridos para el Aprendizaje. The program is aimed at university professors from all over Latin America and anyone interested in the area. It aims to discuss changes in the teaching and learning processes in hybrid environments, an issue that has become even more necessary since the urgent need for online teaching amid the pandemic. 

The Dean of Undergraduate Studies and School of Technology Professor, Dr. Adriana Kampff will be one of the facilitators of the program, along with Prof. Alejandra Bautista, of Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios (UNIMINUTO) and Prof. Kelly Henao Romero, of Columbus.

The program seeks to develop participants’ skills in: 

• Designing results-based learning strategies, as opposed to content-based teaching;  
• Developing active learning methodologies for that purpose; 
• Integrating the use of new technologies in the learning processes; 
• Assessing learning from a gradual perspective.  

“Today, with so many challenges for Higher Education, it is necessary to reflect upon the potential of hybrid curricula. This type of curricula is based on the learning objectives, and include active and engaging methodologies, adequate resources for mediation and assessment criteria that show that students have mastered the topics that are taught in class”, Adriana Kampff says. 

For Kelly Henao, from Columbus, the program comes as another innovative initiative, resulting from the partnership between Associacion and PUCRS. “This new alliance seeks to congregate the forces, experience and knowledge of the two institutions to strengthen the capacities of universities in Latin America. In the midst of this crisis they are being challenged to developing meaningful and high quality learning experiences in virtual and face-to-face environments”, she completes. 

The 50-hour PUCRS-and-Columbus Association-certified program will be delivered over the course of 7 weeks, entirely online, via Moodle and Zoom platforms. Classes will be delivered in Portuguese and Spanish, and are scheduled to begin in August. Interested faculty can find out more about fees and registration here. 

About Columbus Association 

Columbus is an association of universities in Europe and Latin America. Its main objective is to promote international cooperation and institutional development of universities, through the improvement of management processes and structures. The President of PUCRS Br. Evilázio Teixeira is member of the administrative board (Latin America) 2018-2020.