Abstract

ZAMORA E, Gerardo. Virtual postgraduate vs. presential training in the field of the mining environment - experience and expectations. REV. MAMYM [online]. 2020, vol.5, n.1, pp.39-52. ISSN 2519-5352.

Abstract In the framework of the Inter-institutional Agreement between the Technical University of Oruro and the Department of Human Development, Education and Employment of the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (SG / OAS), On the one hand, the two-month classroom course on "Management of Environmental Mining Waste: Revaluation, Retreatment and Environmental Closure; and on the other, in the virtual modality, the one-year Specialty course in "Mining Environmental Engineering". The analytical contents of the first three subjects of the postgraduate course of the Specialty in Mining Environmental Engineering are similar to those of the course in Management of Mining Environmental Liabilities; in addition, each of these initial subjects were taught by the same teachers who have extensive academic careers; who also used the same teaching material for the development of their classes in both modalities; in addition, at the end of the respective modules, they took similar assessment tests; only in the first case, the courses were developed in the classroom mode; while in the second case, in the virtual modality through the Moodle online teaching platform. The objective of this research work was limited to comparing the results of academic training achieved in the first three subjects of both groups of professionals, based on the statistical test of "t de estudent" to try to demonstrate the hypothesis that denotes:" The academic performance of participants in a classroom postgraduate course is similar to that of participants in virtual courses, for a degree of significance of 95%". After a statistical analysis of the results obtained and which are based on the averages of the grades achieved by the students in the three similar modules in both postgraduate training modalities, the hypothesis proposed was accepted. It was also established that, in the process of teaching in the virtual modality, the courses are more accessible and equitable, and have greater demographic and cognitive coverage; besides being able to be more sustained, permanent and without borders or barriers, independent of time and space; but also, more academically, financially and socially sustainable.

Keywords : Virtual postgraduate courses - Postgraduate training in the mining environment.