SUMMARY
The work deals with the use of mental tools for intellectual production. The intellectual product is the result of the interaction of various mental processes that are objectified when applied to the study of reality. Five mental tools have been used in the development of the Intellectual Work Methodology Course, the first for planning activities, the second for the visualization of problems and alternative solutions, the third consisting of a logical framework for the organization of work intellectual, the fourth corresponding to the formalization of the results, and the fifth for the evaluation of gradual improvement. University students systematically produce tautological documents, which are expressed through monographs, theses, scientific articles, and others,Since they identify the reliability of their sources, they discover truths, with which they will achieve new ones to finally socialize them. In conclusion, mental tools constitute a very important medium for current intellectual production and are easily adaptable to work in any area of knowledge. It is recommended to generalize the use of these tools in the university environment.
INTRODUCTION
Professors and university students need mental tools to produce alternatives to social and natural environment problems in their research work. In this regard, however, some mental tools for intellectual production have long been used inappropriately for planning, organizing, evaluating, reporting, and scientific notes. One of the great weaknesses of the elaboration of intellectual work has been its systematization, which has limited the meeting of more researchers in the discovery of the truths of the current surrounding reality.
These deficiencies are based on the absence of the exercise of the capacities to identify, analyze, and judge the intellectual product, due to ignorance of the processes and mental functions. These processes, such as analysis and synthesis, are present during school work; however, it is difficult to make them evident, unless students are led to the acquisition, processing, and production of information (Sternberg, 1985). Consequently, ignorance of these mental processes and functions contributes significantly to the inappropriate use of tools in intellectual production.
Sternberg (1988) identifies three components of intelligence, the first of which corresponds to the ability to do things well, or practical intelligence; the second, corresponding to the ability to assimilate novelties through experimental intelligence; finally, it refers to the ability to process information in an effective way. Naturally, this third component is closely related to the present research work, since the systematization or mental structuring of the organization of information leads us to the production of critical judgments in logical and tautological reasoning.
Competitive academic and professional success is due to the skill students and professionals have developed to perform critical reading and calculating; similarly, representations of schemas or processes in the brain demonstrate intelligence to solve problems (Gardner, 1993). The use of mental capacities in an orderly and systematized way makes us outstanding people if we demonstrate that we know how to properly use physical and cognitive tools (Norman, 1993). Furthermore, we can become smarter when we have regular and sustained access to using the appropriate tools, which through learning and management will become more effective (Perkins, 1995) making people using these tools highly competitive.
The most relevant effects of the inappropriate use of mental tools in intellectual work are related to the disorganization of processes, the low intellectual production, as well as the low motivation and confidence - even frustration, in some cases - to be scientific researchers. This problematic situation maintained over time makes higher education institutions with few contributions or alternatives to solve problems in regions where they are justified in their operation and purposes.
This negative situation changes as the students and teachers involved in higher knowledge produce information, when they recognize and have meta-cognitive control of the processes, and carry out constant and sustainable exercises in solving problems, using two or more sources of information., hypothetical thinking, reflection, and inductive - deductive reasoning (Feuerstein, 1999), especially enhancing personal development, human sensitivity, knowledge and skills to understand problem situations and carry out viable alternatives.
The concepts of intelligence where the methodology presented here resides correspond to the following approaches (lecture notes, Dra. Violeta Tapia, 2004):
Structuralist Psychogenic: (representatives Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner) considers intelligence as a cognitive function subject to transformation; knowledge is built and is dynamic; There are three components to this approach, namely content, structure and function, it also proposes a sequence and interaction of structures and self-regulation.
Intelligence Triarchy: (Representative Robert Sternberg) considers intelligence as the ability to acquire, process, and produce information in problem solving, with an emphasis on cognitive processes that lead to intelligent behavior; the components of intelligence are in terms of the individual's internal world, his external world, and his own experiences in the world.
Multiple Intelligences: (representative Howard Gardner) considers intelligence as a set of independent skills linked to different areas of the brain, which function as a system to solve problems and produce personal and social results; the components are multiple intelligences such as linguistic, musical, logical - mathematical, visual - spatial, kinesthetic - corporal, intrapersonal, interpersonal, naturalistic.
Cognitive Structural Modifiability: (representative Reuven Feuerstein) considers intelligence as the organism's propensity to be modified in its own structure in response to new internal and external stimuli; the components of intelligence include the operations and functions to organize operative structures, the context and social interaction being very important.
This research work shows a set of mental tools that help in the organization and production of intellectual work, and also describes the strategies for using the tools applied to a practical case in the Professional School of Business Administration of the University Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic Church (USAT), Chiclayo. In this way, a very important area of research has been generated in the country and the production of initial information in particular is rooted in this document. Other research works related to the use of mental tools are being coordinated by the USAT with foreign researchers; Also, the application of these tools in various areas of knowledge and pedagogical approaches is under study.
METHODS
The responsibility of working with students alternative learning methodologies, in order to motivate in them a permanent state of knowledge and skills, developing their capacities and potentialities, motivated in me a reflective analysis on systematization of the information that they should use to train as researchers. The first method consisted, then, in seeking, through my own inductive-deductive reasoning, answers to the question of what should be the most appropriate alternative method for university students to use it as a tool again and again, according to your academic needs. The result of this reflection was embodied in the design of the "logical framework for the organization of intellectual work." Then,This finding motivated the search in other bibliographic sources for similar works, with no apparent success in media libraries and the Internet. Then, the search was directed towards the theoretical bases of the conceptions of intelligence and its educational implications, which are the conceptual framework where this proposed methodology is developed.
The unscheduled scientific observation method was applied to the 60 students from the USAT School of Business Administration, in order to monitor and detect their attitudes regarding the implementation of the program and the degree of satisfaction or difficulty that they experienced. found in the application of mental tools.
Twenty students were randomly selected to apply the systematic interview method. The professor in charge of the research interviewed each of the selected students, without showing that they were questioning questions or that they would lead to any qualification. On the contrary, the interview climate was quite pleasant, cordial and productive. Their attitudes regarding the acceptance or rejection of the use of mental tools, advantages, difficulties, alternatives, and suggestions for improving the use of these tools were recorded.
42 items were developed on the Likert-type Attitude Scale; The survey was applied to 60 regular students participating in the Intellectual Work Methodology Course corresponding to the Academic Semester 2005-I at the USAT. The validation of these reagents was carried out by professionals, two with a doctorate in Education and two with a master's degree in Educational Psychology, in order to obtain reliability in the measurement instrument.
RESULTS
100 percent of the students who used the mental tools for intellectual production in the Intellectual Work Methodology Course, expressed their acceptance and confidence when presenting their results in the four research papers in real settings where they were applied. The first research topic dealt with the ecological impact of human activity, the second topic was linked to further research on a particular aspect that has been of interest to you in the development of the subjects corresponding to the current academic semester, the third topic requested It consisted of sustaining their expectations of personal development in the Career, and the fourth topic dealt with metacognition in the application of mental tools in their previous works.
The following Mental Tools for Intellectual Production were identified:
First Tool Comment
This tool allows the researcher to focus his ideas on what he intends to do, helps to have an overview of the activity in general, shows the profile of the activities.
The objective of the research work makes sense when it has been properly planned in its components of justification, setting, time, methodology and cost.
Second Tool Commentary
The left column allows us to visualize the central problem to be studied, the causes that originate it as well as the effects that they produce. The major effect is the problematic situation that becomes constant over time, if the adverse conditions identified in the causes are maintained. Therefore, positive changes must occur towards the corresponding side in the right column, where we identify the means and strategies that lead towards the general purpose.
Third Tool Comment
The central alternative to investigate is moved from the previous tool. A number of questions are produced through brainstorming. These questions are selected according to the expected answers, that is, if the answer includes definitions, concepts or classifications, then we are only dealing with an identification process; but, if the answers involve reflection and logical reasoning, then a subtitle is placed for each question of this type, to search for the corresponding arguments. This phase also allows prioritizing the levels of importance and concatenation of the subtitles. The arguments come from two sources, first from the work of other researchers and constitute true propositions, and second from the logical reasoning of the direct authors of the subject under study,who must construct true propositions through their reasoning. At the end of the process, they will have managed to have a set of true propositions or tautology of the subject under study. What follows is the known way to prepare the report.
Fourth Tool Commentary
There are various formats of publication of the intellectual product such as monograph, essay, scientific articles, and others; which are used according to the level of reasoning and tautologies generated in the critical judgment phase. The author or authors must take into account if they have worked on a variable in the objective, which leads us to use the monograph or monographic thesis format, or if it is a hypothesis testing report with the proper statistical adjustment that leads us to towards a thesis format; or if it is to follow the format of a specialized magazine.
Fifth Tool Commentary
The number of meetings or consultancies determine the gradual progress in the intellectual production of the students, generally the first consultation meeting the interested parties present their progress less than 50%, and the teacher, for his part, will also record the appropriate percentage of progress in this session, and so on. The research and production works acquire a special dynamism since the students and the teacher are involved and each joint effort means shared achievements. The pertinent observations will be written down that help to improve the work until achieving 100%.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Scientists need mental tools to produce alternatives to social and natural environment problems, in order to make the processes of analysis and synthesis (Sternberg, 1995) evident since they are university students. In this sense, it is very important to develop the mental skills to effectively process information (Sternberg, 1988) since not only critical reading but also calculation leads to academic success for students (Gardner, 1993), due to the ability to solve problems with a particular representation in the brain of schemas or processes. The use of physical or cognitive tools makes us brighter (Norman, 1993) and makes people more intelligent because of the access they have to the appropriate tools.Learning processes are most effective when these cognitive tools are used efficiently (Perkins, 1995). These details, still limited in the bibliography, allow us to affirm that mental tools for intellectual production constitute a sustainable activity in scientific knowledge.
In conclusion, five appropriate mental tools were obtained for planning, visualization of problems and alternatives, organization of mental work, formalization and evaluation of intellectual production.
REFERENCES
1. FEUERSTEIN, Reuven (1999)
2. GARDNER, Howard. (1993)
3. NORMAN, DA (1993) "Cognition in the Head and in the World", in Cognitive Science, 17, 1-6.
4. PERKINS, David (1996)
5. SHELBY J. Boardman (1999) "Proceedings of the annual meeting of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society", in Minneapolis in November, 1999.
6. STERNBERG, Robert (1985, 1988)
