Colloquia on Education UC: research, academic dialogue and new perspectives
December 17, 2025
During 2025, the UC Education Colloquium Cycle incorporated an expanded academic conversation format, bringing together researchers and doctoral students around the presentation and discussion of recent studies.
Sharing and discussing research findings from faculty members is the central objective of the UC Education Colloquium Series, meetings organized by the UC Education Research Ecosystem, comprised of the Faculty of Education's Research Office, the Doctoral Program in Education, and the Center for Educational Policies and Practices (CEPPE). These forums aim to strengthen academic reflection, promote interdisciplinary exchange, and highlight research as a key input for improving educational policies, practices, and debates.
This year, the series incorporated a change in its format: each colloquium, in addition to the main presenter, included the participation of an academic as a commentator, who offered observations on the presentation, provided a critical perspective, and opened a dialogue with the attendees. This approach enriched the discussion and fostered in-depth conversations about the approaches, methodologies, and future directions of the research presented. A total of 12 colloquia were held throughout the year, with the participation of 25 academics as presenters and commentators.
Discover here the latest presentations from the UC 2025 Education Colloquium Series:
Impact of structured games and reading predictors in children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds
The presentation, which drew on the results of two Fondecyt and Fondef projects in which the academic participated and led, began with a widely shared consensus: play plays a key role in child development, by articulating different cognitive, social and affective domains.
Balladares explained that children's participation in games fosters quality interactions, which are linked to better learning outcomes and the development of various skills. However, she cautioned that there is still little evidence on the effects of interventions based on structured games. "Of the limited data available, the results show positive evidence for socio-emotional and cognitive skills, although primarily in areas such as mathematics and science," she noted. Learn more at this link.
Strengthening curricular coherence in the FID English UC practice courses
The exhibition addressed the challenges facing the practical training of future English teachers, particularly in relation to course progression, its alignment with the graduate profile and national standards.
Following the graduation of the first cohort of the English Pedagogy program, the need to systematically examine how the progression of professional internships is structured became evident. “It was crucial to understand to what extent the initial, intermediate, and final stages of these internships either promote or hinder the development of future teachers’ pedagogical skills,” David explained. Learn more at this link.
Modeling practices in future physics teachers: contributions to their training
Within the framework of the Fondecyt project 11220317, Soto presented a study focused on modeling as a fundamental scientific practice in schools. From this perspective, the aim is for future teachers not only to learn physics content, but also to develop the ability to construct, improve, and apply scientific models to explain, predict, and interpret real-world phenomena.
One of the central themes of the presentation was a critique of traditional physics teaching methods, which often focus on the mechanical resolution of problems. In contrast, modeling proposes starting with everyday phenomena and promoting argumentation, collaboration, and the progressive construction of explanations, bringing school science closer to authentic practices and contemporary socio-scientific problems, such as climate change or energy use. Learn more at this link.
Future teachers of English and interculturality: reflections from initial training
Camila Galdames and Juan Caviedes
Camila Galdames, an academic at the UC Faculty of Letters, and Juan Caviedes, a doctoral student at the UC Faculty of Education, presented research that explores the perceptions, experiences, and challenges faced by future English teachers regarding interculturality during their initial training.
The study, based on focus groups and course program analysis, shows that the development of intercultural skills is often implicit or poorly structured within the formal curriculum. “Students perceive that they are not learning about culture, since it is introduced without being explicitly stated as part of the educational process,” explained Galdames. Caviedes, for her part, emphasized the importance of personal trajectories and prior experiences in developing a critical intercultural perspective. Learn more at this link.
Project provides guidelines for Trial and Simulation in Initial Teacher Training
Paulina Labra
Paulina Labra, Coordinator of Basic General Pedagogy Practices, presented the main findings of a FONDEDOC project aimed at providing guidelines for the implementation of Trial and Simulation strategies in Initial Teacher Training.
The project envisions the development of a digital support resource for teacher mentors, which systematizes guidelines, examples, and implementation criteria. “We aim to unify criteria, establish a shared language, and materialize it in concrete resources for teacher mentors. There are still challenges and avenues for further research,” Labra noted. Learn more at this link.
Trayectors: an innovative proposal that links educational research with teacher professional development
Macarena Salas and Dany López
The activity included presentations by Macarena Salas and Dany López, both PhDs in Education from our Faculty and co-founders of Trayectics, as well as academic commentary by Macarena Yancovic, assistant professor at the UC Faculty of Education.
Trayectics is an innovative platform created by PhDs in education that seeks to strengthen pedagogical practices through contextualized training, use of educational data and technological mediation.
During the presentation, it was highlighted that this platform is the first digital professional development program for teachers based on a training model that integrates: cutting-edge educational research, technology and artificial intelligence, and educational analytics for pedagogical decision-making. Learn more at this link.
Artificial intelligence in education
Implementing a systematic training plan on artificial intelligence in education for pedagogy students is the objective of the research being developed by academic Álvaro Salinas, which he presented at the colloquium entitled “Artificial intelligence in education: proposal of a teacher training plan”, and which had the participation of academic Magdalena Claro as a commentator.
The project addresses the areas of Learning Assessment, Curriculum, Academic Integrity, Literature Reviews, and Learning Tutor.
