Strengthening of Reasoning Levels in higher education students through the use of Learning Strategies (Problem-Based Learning and Collaborative Learning) Using ICT’s

Abstract

Introduction. In the educational context, information and communication technologies imply a paradigm shift in learning-teaching processes both in the renewal of knowledge and practices and in evaluating knowledge appropriation. In this sense, in the present paper we analyze the incidence of the implementation of didactic strategies, problem-based learning (PBL) and collaborative learning (CL) in the strengthening of reasoning levels through the integration of technology to higher education.Method. This research presents a quantitative approach and a quasi-experimental design in which 35 students of the “Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca” (Bogotá, Colombia) participated: they were given a pre and a post-test using the Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning.Results. With the collected information and after performing a descriptive statistical analysis it is possible to affirm that an 85.29% of total students are still at concrete reasoning level. However, those students that participated in the didactic strategy of PBL showed improvement in their reasoning level, going from concrete reasoning level to formal and post-formal level.Conclusion. The results obtained allow us to conclude that there is no statistically significant difference in the improvement of the reasoning skills before and after the application of the didactic strategies, since when comparing students reasoning it is evident that most of them are still in the concrete reasoning level, that is, they remain linked to an empirical reality with a pre-operational thinking.