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The document "Competencias en la educación superior: experiencias investigativas y enfoques innovadores" is a comprehensive academic book published by Universidad de Antioquia and Institución Universitaria de Envigado (2020) that addresses the concept of competencies in higher education with a focus on theoretical approaches, research experiences, and innovative pedagogical proposals.

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The document "Competencias en la educación superior: experiencias investigativas y enfoques innovadores" is a comprehensive academic book published by Universidad de Antioquia and Institución Universitaria de Envigado (2020) that addresses the concept of competencies in higher education with a focus on theoretical approaches, research experiences, and innovative pedagogical proposals.

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Emphasis on competency-based education as a shift from content-centered teaching to learning-centered approaches focused on knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values.

Presentation of competencies as dispositions for action and self-organization, involving cognitive, affective, volitional, and motivational elements.

The book addresses the challenges of developing generic (transversal) competencies pertinent to the 21st century, such as intercultural competence, critical reading, teamwork, and sustainability.

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Concept of Competencies in Higher Education

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Concept of Competencies in Higher Education

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Competencies involve a dynamic integration of cognitive, affective, volitional, and motivational elements including knowledge, skills, attitudes, and emotional dispositions enabling individuals to act and self-organize in complex, uncertain real-world situations.

The book presents competencies as learnable, transferable, and integrative, beyond mere knowledge acquisition to include ethical and social dimensions.

Competencies are framed not simply as work-related skills but as crucial capabilities for professional, academic, personal development, and active citizenship.

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Importance of Competencies for 21st Century Challenges

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Importance of Competencies for 21st Century Challenges

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Higher education must develop competencies that empower students to handle complexity, uncertainty, globalization, intercultural interaction, and sustainable development.

There is an emphasis on moving from content-centered education to learning-centered approaches that highlight competency development and student protagonism.

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The document contains research experiences about promoting intercultural competencies, critical reading and thinking, teamwork skills in health sciences, communication in citizenship education, and sustainability competencies.

Example: The internationalization of higher education in Colombia aims to integrate intercultural competencies as part of global citizenship education.

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Didactic Proposals for Competency Development

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Didactic Proposals for Competency Development

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Innovative pedagogical strategies involve active methodologies, problem-based learning, integration of technological resources, and coherent didactic systems balancing instruction, development, and ethical education.

The document illustrates teaching methods aligned with a constructivist and socio-cultural approach, fostering critical literacies and communication skills.

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Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is positioned as a key competency area for educators and students to empower transformative action on environmental, social, and economic challenges.

The book includes frameworks such as the “A Rounder Sense of Purpose” project with defined sustainability competencies for educators, including systemic thinking, anticipation, normative reflection, collaboration, critical thinking, and responsible action.

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The document reviews Colombian national policies influencing competency-based higher education, including the integration of sustainability, environmental education, and interculturality.

Higher education institutions in Colombia play a central role in linking national sustainability goals (e.g., UN Sustainable Development Goals) with societal needs and professional qualifications.

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Despite progress, there remain challenges such as low clarity in competency conceptualization, gaps between curricula and labor market needs, and the need for teacher training in competency-based education.

The document advocates for systemic curriculum reform, pedagogical innovation, interdisciplinary approaches, and sustained teacher development to effectively foster competencies.

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The importance of competencies as dispositions that integrate knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to act effectively in complex situations. Competencies facilitate self-organization and adaptive action in diverse contexts, including in higher education.

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Internationalization policies in Colombian higher education seek to promote intercultural competencies as part of the global citizenship and sustainable development goals framework. This involves embedding intercultural dimensions in curriculum and institutional strategies beyond simple mobility programs.

Technical education in Colombia is delivered via formal higher education institutions and also through Education for Work and Human Development (ETDH) programs focused on occupational competencies. Both approaches emphasize competencies but differ in legal frameworks and application contexts.

Critical reading and thought are considered key generic competencies for higher education students to enable social transformation and democratic citizenship. Developing critical literacy includes cognitive, linguistic, pragmatic, cultural, and affective competencies.

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Teaching teamwork as a generic competency is analyzed in Argentine Kinesiology and Physiotherapy curricula, highlighting challenges of curriculum integration and the need for progressive competency teaching embedded in practice.

A didactic proposal for competency development emphasizes the coherence between activities, objectives, methods, resources, and evaluation within a systemic didactic framework. The approach focuses on holistic student formation integrating instructive, educational, and developmental dimensions.

Competencies for education for sustainable development (ESD) include systems thinking, anticipatory, normative, strategic, collaborative, critical thinking, self-awareness, problem-solving, creativity, reflection, responsibility, and decisiveness. These competencies require transformative pedagogy and educator training.

The University Técnica del Norte (UTN) in Ecuador implements competency-based education focused on sustainability for forestry professionals, emphasizing integration of theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and social responsibility aligned with local and global sustainability challenges.

Colombian higher education institutions face challenges in integrating education for sustainable development into curricula consistently, with opportunities in research, community engagement, and forming graduates with a sustainability mindset and competencies.

The concluding reflections highlight competencies as socially constructed, integrative, dynamic, multifunctional, and transferable systems of action that include cognitive, procedural, and affective components. Competencies in education need to transcend rote knowledge to adaptive, meaningful learning supporting autonomy and reflective practice.