Perspectives of university teaching in Costa Rica in times of digital media

Abstract

Perspectives of university teaching in Costa Rica in times of digital media examines an educational approach to understand the space of learning that takes place in higher education. For that, a selection of viewpoints of digital media and university teaching are discussed in the light of a tradition: the Journeyman Years. The key research question is: what is a space of learning in higher education from the students and professor's perspectives at the Universidad de Costa Rica? Pertinent to this topic, other sub-questions are: what kind of spaces of learning are being ofered at the Universidad de Costa Rica? How to reconsider the space of learning at a university? Chapter Two introduces the Wanderjahre (Journeyman Years) story, a leading metaphor for this manuscript where an approach to learning in terms of space is presented. Chapter Three examines two diferent knowledge approaches: frst, mechanistic thinking is highlighted in relation to digital media. Humans learn of natural phenomena through rational means, seeking to demystify and unveil a true world. Second, romantic thinking is featured in relation to higher education. Individuals learn about the world by engaging in practice while being social, experiencing directly the world in continuous change. Chapter Four presents an interpretation of the previous theoretical perspectives. After a selection of reviewed concepts, Learning by Wandering is proposed, a structure to analyze the construction of the space of learning in higher education. Chapter Five describes an ethnographic case study of the space of learning at the Universidad de Costa Rica, where 150 students and eight university teachers throughout diferent contexts are studied. Chapter Six features the major relevant fndings in my thesis to analyze university teaching in terms of space. In this chapter, a list of recommendations for the Universidad de Costa Rica is ofered, in order to foster higher education in terms of space.