The current universal and territorial Cuban university is going through a process of completion of a new study for it, because its first experience in the graduation of students through a state exam, occurred in the 2007-2008 academic year, manifesting a set of insufficiencies that express the need to study the topic in depth and to look for new alternatives that will lead to the improvement of this process and all those who interrelate with it.
In correspondence with this reality and after a study of the manifestations identified in the Municipal University Venues (SUM) of Sancti Spíritus, based on a facto-perceptible study, to respond to this problem, a methodological proposal is developed that combines the conception of the evaluation with the results of the professional training process at the end of the study culmination, to establish its dynamics in the Accounting and Finance career that takes place in the SUM of Sancti Spíritus.
For the factoperceptible characterization, as well as for the elaboration of the methodological proposal and its validation, a set of theoretical, empirical and qualitative-level methods were used, which resulted in methodological workshops at the Faculty, CUSS and SUM level, viability, relevance, applicability and practical feasibility of it, which will be implemented in this course.
Introduction
The problem of the application of evaluation in times of profound educational changes places us before the need to subject it to a new analysis to achieve its improvement.
The evaluative practices in the university institutions are not perfected at the same rate that the educational transformations take place in the formative process of the students, this calls more and more to reconceptualize them, approaching the reality in which it manifests itself.
In light of the controls carried out on the development of the current training process for higher education professionals, certain manifestations have been noted, which lead us to reconsider certain evaluative practices, such as:
- The evaluation is not carried out with the organization that demands the current conditions of the Cuban universities, and in correspondence with the students who are trained under the diversity of modalities that are given in it, putting at risk the quality and effectiveness of the training process. The use of forms, types, procedures and tools to evaluate in the new conditions of the professional training process is limited (universalization in the professional training process intensively and massively), this makes the evaluation lose its objectivity in the new development times and in unison very stereotypically outlines this process, hindering its dynamics by not causing the course of development of the evaluation subjects.The evaluative process that the teacher directs does not contribute to the self-regulation of the subject in training, so the regulatory function of the evaluation is not being fulfilled at the desired levels, such reality lacerates the evaluative role of the student and self-knowledge to face consciously their professional development and the fact of tracing their personalized self-learning strategies based on their own evaluative awareness for which they need to be trained has been slowed down. There are few professional skills to assume the formative evaluation in a way that not only The apprehension of knowledge is considered, but together with it, it is possible to evaluate skills, attitudes, feelings and evaluative orientations as an undivided totality in the development of personality.reason why the regulatory function of the evaluation is not being fulfilled at the desired levels, such a reality lance the evaluative role of the student and the self-knowledge to consciously face their professional development and the fact of outlining their personalized strategies has been stopped of self-learning from their own evaluative consciousness for which you need to be trained. Few professional skills are appreciated to assume the formative evaluation in such a way that not only the apprehension of knowledge is considered, but together with it, it is possible to evaluate skills, attitudes, feelings and value orientations as an undivided totality in the development of personality.reason why the regulatory function of the evaluation is not being fulfilled at the desired levels, such a reality lance the evaluative role of the student and the self-knowledge to consciously face their professional development and the fact of outlining their personalized strategies has been stopped of self-learning from their own evaluative consciousness for which you need to be trained. Few professional skills are appreciated to assume the formative evaluation in such a way that not only the apprehension of knowledge is considered, but together with it, it is possible to evaluate skills, attitudes, feelings and value orientations as an undivided totality in the development of personality.Such reality weakens the evaluative role of the student and the self-knowledge to consciously face their professional development and the fact of tracing their personalized self-learning strategies from their own evaluative awareness for which they need to be trained has been slowed. They appreciate few professional skills to assume the formative evaluation in such a way that not only the apprehension of knowledge is considered, but together with this, it is possible to evaluate skills, attitudes, feelings and value orientations as an undivided totality in the development of personality..Such reality weakens the evaluative role of the student and the self-knowledge to consciously face their professional development and the fact of tracing their personalized self-learning strategies from their own evaluative awareness for which they need to be trained has been slowed. They appreciate few professional skills to assume the formative evaluation in such a way that not only the apprehension of knowledge is considered, but together with this, it is possible to evaluate skills, attitudes, feelings and value orientations as an undivided totality in the development of personality..
All this calls for a review of the different ways in which the evaluation strategies that university students go through are conceived and how much they contribute to their professional development.
One of the great dilemmas in this sense is expressed in the process of Universalization, which by its model, requires that students face a comprehensive and differentiated evaluation system, with specific nuances, where it is not always possible to examine the acquired competences and It becomes an instrument for your professional and social development.
In correspondence with this problem, the student who is trained under the Universalization model, must undergo a state examination at the end of their studies, which due to its particularities, requires an evaluative strategy that provides the student with a closing that expresses the cognitive and affective values acquired throughout the training process.
This is not always achieved, and more than a rewarding experience, the examination becomes a traumatic act, with disastrous outcomes in most cases. These results are often caused by insufficient organization, orientation and conception of said process.
Methodological support of the evaluation process at the culmination of studies at Cuban universities.
Based on what is expressed by RM 210, of the MES, in its article 150, that the state exam is a type of evaluation that aims to verify the degree of mastery that the student has of the general objectives of the career, through evaluative exercises directly related to the modes of professional performance. This exercise should become a tool that provides the student with a gauge of how far they have reached competencies and the evaluators, how far has been the quality and effectiveness of the training process.
In this sense, this type of evaluation must become a space for the construction of meanings and meanings, so the evaluation process must be characterized by being highly participative and constructive.
Assuming this didactic model, the culmination of study, based on a state exam, must be developed to verify in the students the commitment, flexibility and significance in the training process of professionals, which must be expressed in the quality of said evaluation process. To this end, it is proposed that the process of study completion should have the following characteristics:
- That allows self-correcting educational action on an ongoing basis. That it is the result of the entire educational process. That involves and holds the entire educational system as a whole accountable. That allows to regulate and guide the evaluation, from a formative and integral conception. That it is oriented to the development of competences and capacities, instead of only behaviors or observable performance. That guides both the evaluated and the evaluators and the evaluation process itself as a result of the dynamics of the training process in general. That it collects information not only on the progress of the students from the conceptual, procedural and attitudinal point of view, but also on all the other aspects that interact in it: performance, methodology, resources, relationships, among others.
In this sense, the culmination of study must be dynamic, transforming itself to the same extent that the student develops the communication skills established in the process itself. With these premises a space for exchange, reflection and development will be built, which contributes to expressing the quality of the educational process and the values reached by the students.
Considering these reflections, the Accounting and Finance career is oriented towards the search for alternatives that contribute to developing an evaluation process for the culmination of study in the Universalization model, which guarantees the student security in the results and expresses the efficacy and quality of the training process developed.
The educational reality, manifested so far, suffers from a preconceived system as an expression of an evaluative process, capable of generating the desired results. This situation has led to seeking alternatives that are oriented towards the solution of the problem posed.
In methodological workshops, career meetings, analysis and debates in the Board of Directors and the Scientific Council of the career, as well as the application of surveys and interviews with teachers, both at Headquarters and at University Venues, reflected for the sake of exposing: the characteristics that reflect the existing conditions in each training scenario; the causes that justify the evaluation problem for the completion of the study; the potential of human and material resources available for said process; the intention of the conception of the study completion exam; and the possible ways and strategies to follow to develop an evaluation process as required by Higher Education, and in compliance with the provisions of articles 159, 202, 203 and 204 of RM 210, 2007 of the MES.
From this phenomenal process, the need to expose and evaluate all the alternatives that allow the completion of the study process has been derived, considering the possibility of integrating evaluative forms that make said process more flexible, and guarantee satisfactory results to the student.
Methodological proposal for the dynamics of the evaluation of the culmination of study in the Accounting and Finance degree.
The present work is based on these results and it is proposed to develop a methodological proposal for the dynamics of the evaluation for the culmination of study of the students of the Accounting and Finance degree who are trained under the Universalization model. This proposal is characterized by:
- Be inclusive, flexible and participatory. Have a process nature. Be eminently formative. Be contextualized. Be diverse. Enhance the constructive and the developer. Be motivating. Employ multiple methods and sources of information. Be governed by ethics.
In accordance with the conception of the proposed evaluation, evaluating the results of the culminating training process means evaluating not only the final results of this process, in terms of the student's competencies, knowledge, abilities and values, but also evaluating the training process., in itself, their advances and setbacks and this in turn means evaluating to what extent the remaining configurations or components of the teaching and learning process have intervened in achieving these results.
The exchange of prior knowledge and the negotiation of interests must be created to form a common pattern of interests and prior knowledge that allows the new evaluation situations and results to be successfully faced.
The methodological proposal consists of a set of stages, which must go through three moments of exchange, where the projection and organization of the study completion exercise, the orientation of the actions and tasks to be completed by the students are related, as well as execution and control.
The following figure illustrates the outline of the proposed methodology.
As can be seen, the proposal goes through five phases or stages in its realization, which are related in a systemic way, so that it constitutes a whole, and is expressed in the final results that the student must achieve.
At first, students will begin a process of designing and structuring a project that is oriented towards arguing a professional problem, extracted from its performance reality, which manifests itself and is in need of solution. To achieve this purpose, it is necessary to start with a workshop where the student is oriented to the bases of the final evaluation and the structure and organization that it will have.
In this project, the objectivity, timeliness and novelty of the problem that arises, the objectives to be followed, the justification for it, as well as the methods and techniques to be followed, must be established. For the development of this activity, the students will rely on the levels of help of the tutor.
Parallel to this activity, students will receive consultations planned by the professors of the specialty, where they will comply with the different general objectives of the program prepared by the National Career Commission, in correspondence with the objectives of the professional model.
In a second moment, through a second study completion workshop, students will present the issues raised, in front of a court, previously appointed by the CUSS rector, where a report and a grade will be issued, which will grant credit to the exam accomplished.
At this time the student will be oriented, what will be the profile of the specialty to which he must integrate. This selection of the career profile is in correspondence with the object and field of the profession where the professional problem that you will address in your research is inserted. From this moment, each teaching department will have developed a program that interdisciplinarily relates the contents and objectives, which the student will systematize during their preparation, which will be oriented towards a specific profile of the specialty, which can be Accounting, Cost and Auditing.; of Finance and Economy; or Business Administration.
From here, in a third stage, students will systematize information related to their professional problem, make diagnoses and outline possible solutions to the problem. This whole process will be carried out based on a case study, which must comply methodologically with three essential moments.
First, a proactive phase, where the professional problem is founded and justified at an epistemological level, through theoretical characterizations. Second, an active phase of field work, where it will be accessed and a characterization of the selected entity will be elaborated, and of the business process where the problem manifests itself, making use of empirical-level methods and techniques. Proposed solutions will be outlined from the results. In a third phase, postactive, the possible results to be obtained will be evaluated, or those obtained, if applicable.
In the case study, the contents that link the problem with the subjects that make up the selected specialty profile must be captured. The written report must be drafted and delivered on the assigned date. The formal details of the report must be established depending on the methodological requirements established by the departments in charge.
The delivery of the report marks the fourth stage of this methodology, where the courts, previously appointed by the Rector of the CES, will act on functions, which will meticulously review the results achieved by the students and the relationship of these results with the evaluation objectives, contained in the program of the specific profile of the specialty drawn up.
Once these actions have been carried out, a list of problematic situations will be drawn up, in the form of questions, that can take the form of a written or oral exam, through report cards. These professional situations will be related to the content of the different subjects that make up the profile of the specialty, selected by the student, in turn being integrated into the results expressed by the case studies addressed by the students.
From this moment on, the date on which the final examination of study completion will be carried out is defined, which will be carried out in the last proposed workshop. The student presents and develops two essential tasks, he will answer the activities formulated by the court in writing, during an assigned time, and then he will orally present the most significant results of his case study, relating the answers to the questionnaire that he has answered.
This space must be reflective and educational, where new ideas and problems can be generated. After this activity, the court meets secretly and will agree on the final grade, which will be influenced by the credit obtained at the end of the first stage of this evaluation process. This requirement is established in article 204 of RM 210 of the MONTH.
This is how the methodological proposal is formed, which will be analyzed and debated with the group of professors of the race, in projected methodological workshops and other exchange spaces, to deepen their dialectic, and perfect it in such a way that it meets the needs and expectations, both managers and actors of the training process. Finally it will be approved by the Dean of the Faculty and the Director of the Municipal University Venue.
Conclusions
The considerations made on the evaluation of the completion of study express the integrative, participatory, developer and constructive nature of the professional training process, taking the student to a fundamental level within said process, stimulating the approach by the students, of situations not foreseen by the teacher; as a result of the advances and needs that both at the individual and group level are created. Based on this concept of evaluation, such a process becomes more flexible and guarantees the student new ways of achieving the objectives proposed in the study plan and demonstrating the skills developed in vocational training.
A methodological proposal is prepared, which due to its flexibility and comprehensiveness, organizes and streamlines the evaluation process aimed at completing the study of Accounting and Finance students, allowing it to develop the skills acquired in the training process, and integrates professional reality, with the academic and investigative, in an instructive, developer and educational process.
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