Proposal for the Curricularization of Student Practices With a Territorial and Interdisciplinary Approach at the National University Chorotega Campus

Abstract

The Chorotega Regional Campus of the National University of Costa Rica has experience articulating courses at a single level (intralevel), between levels (interlevel), and between careers. The campus also has experience with the region’s institutions and social organizations linked to these institutions to develop extension activities. The present article aims to present a methodological proposal for the curricularization of student practices in an interdisciplinary approach, starting from the territory’s needs in coordination with local stakeholders. The proposal is based on the review of a study case: the sustainable tourism management career of the Chorotega Regional Campus, whose experience contributes to the topic. The campus characteristics also allowed establishing the conditions that must be fulfilled to make possible the curriculum. The curriculum proposed here establishes a process of four stages, which are not linear, and some occur simultaneously. The first stage consists of setting the training route, which includes reviews of the experience in each career, with the participation of career coordinators, professors, students, institutions linked to organizations, and members of organizations, to identify aspects to be improved. The second stage comprises a training process. In the third stage, mechanisms will be established to link careers to develop a multidisciplinary approach. The fourth stage documents experiences that allow collecting lessons learned at the end of each year. The process concludes with the identification of challenges that must be faced to curricularize student practices linked to design and monitoring of courses in a concatenated inter- and intralevel; it also identifies costs, which implies having funds to support the proposal and requires the interinstitutional articulation to make it a reality.