Geographical thinking and territorial knowledge as a fundamental basis in the formation (not only instruction and training but also in human and social perspective) of better engineers and citizens

1. Synergies between geographical thinking, citizen
training and virtual education, for the
understanding-management of problems of the
society-territory complex
Carlos Hernán Castro Ortega, PhD (student),
Geographer MSc, Engineer
chcastroo@udistrital.edu.co
Inter-institutional Doctorate in Education-DIE-UDFJC / Engineering
Faculty, Director of the PENSANTE, Research Hotbed
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá, Colombia
Source: t.ly/wggl

2. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
2

3. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
3

4. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
4
Doctoral research project
“CULTURAL ARTEFACTS AND
PEDAGOGICAL MEDIATIONS
IN FIELDWORK FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
TERRITORIAL KNOWLEDGE
AND INTEGRAL EDUCATION
OF ENGINEERS”

5. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
5
Main idea
Geographical thinking and
territorial knowledge as a
fundamental basis in the
formation (not only instruction
and training but also in
human and social
perspective) of better
engineers and citizens
“Geographical knowledge is the
thermometer by which the
enlightenment, commerce,
agriculture and prosperity of a
people are measured. Their
stupidity and barbarism are always
proportional to their ignorance on
this point”
Francisco José de Caldas (1768-
1816)
Father of Colombian geography

6. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
6
Fields (axes) of
education and
application
THERE IS A CURRICULAR PROGRAM
Cadastral and Geodetic Engineering,
Faculty of engineering
Francisco José de Caldas, Distrital University
Bogotá, Colombia
Source: t.ly/7f5b
- CADASTRE --- MULTI-PURPOSE
CADASTRE
- GEOMATICS
- GEODESY
- LAND ADMINISTRATION AND LAND
MANAGEMENT
GEOGRAPHICAL
KNOWLEDGE FOR
TERRITORIAL
KNOWLEDGE
Source: t.ly/c7u4

7. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
The Mission Statement of Cadastral and Geodetic Engineering states:
“The comprehensive training of proactive and socially committed
engineers; with a critical spirit, analytical, global and argumentative
thinking; competent for the generation, administration and management of
geographic information oriented mainly towards knowledge of the
territory; its planning and management with criteria of equity,
sustainability; using cutting-edge techniques and geotechnologies”
Source: https://ingenieria.udistrital.edu.co/mod/page/view.php?id=19907

8. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
Indigenous Period: 19000 B.C. - 1499
A.D.
Spanish Conquest 1499-1550
Spanish Colony, 1550-1810
Independence from Spain, 1810-1819
Republican period 1819 onwards
political parties, territorial division
Industrialisation (from the beginning of
the 20th century)
Urbanisation (accelerated from mid-20th
century) Approximately 60 years ago the
country became urban (main trigger was
violence)
Colombia: Some
of background
From second half of the 20th
century
Subversive groups
Paramilitary groups
Drug cartels
Drug trafficking
Terrorism
Forced Displacement
21th century
Peace Process
Land Restitution
Multipurpose Cadastre

9. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
After this slide and before
continuing, it is fair to
highlight that despite the
difficulties Colombia has
very valuable things, for
example: Biodiversity,
natural and cultural
heritage, great
sportsmen, resilient,
hard-working and kind
people
Phyllobates terribilis
Mavecure Hills
Caño Cristales: the most beautiful river in the world
Colombia: Some
of background

10. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
According to the above, in a world with so many
changes, problems and uncertainties…
¿Is it still relevant to continue giving primacy in the
teaching and learning of these engineers, mainly in
the instrumental and technological application
issues?

11. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
Not, because...
The Cadastral and Geodetic Engineering is closely
related to strategic issues for the territorial knowledge
and development of Colombia: the regularisation and
formalisation of property, land restitution, the
implementation of the Havana peace accords and more
recently the multi-purpose cadastre.

12. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
1. The tools must be at the service of rational, critical and engineering
thought processes; it cannot be that students and teachers are
subordinated to the tools and technologies.
2. Examining the forms, structures and organisational dynamics of
territories are tasks that precede interventions through administrative
and planning instruments.
3. We are getting used to articulating philosophical and thought
foundations, research, geography and engineering..
CONTENTS AND
WORKING STRATEGIES

13. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
4. We are interested in the balance between the usual heuristic
approach to engineering, reflective and critical thinking and
hermeneutics.
5. Motivate practical work on systematic thinking and observation,
fieldwork and spatial representations. These are issues that must go
beyond the mere use of geotechnological tools.
6. When studying the territory, approaches such as the
phenomenological, qualitative and ethnographic are not incompatible
with certain methods and objectives of work in engineering.
CONTENTS AND
WORKING STRATEGIES

14. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
Territorial
configuration
We want to
transcend
Spatial configuration

15. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
Since 2016, the positioning of virtual education
towards the future has been taken into account:
Moodle
Google
Classroom
questionnaires
Surveys
Forums
VLO-virtual
learning
objects
Wikis
Zotero Mendeley
Scorm
activities
Ardora
HotPotatoes
Glossaries
Glossaries
Games

16. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
SOME DIDACTIC AND PEDAGOGICAL RESULTS
1. Formative and not only summative evaluations
2. Students are encouraged to develop critical reviews and state of
the art through literature reviews as essential steps in constructing
theoretical frameworks and formulating research ideas.
3. Some models, prototypes and technological artefacts that
usually result from engineering works, are problematised and take
the form of research projects.

17. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
SOME DIDACTIC AND PEDAGOGICAL RESULTS
4. Workshops have been proposed where the students themselves
participate in their evaluation with the help of previously designed
and agreed rubrics.
5. Thanks to the hotbeds, students are linked to university research
structures, fostering leadership processes, teamwork, research and
other competencies required by today's engineers.

18. Carlos Castro ,
DIE/FACING-UDFJC, Colombia
BECAUSE IT'S WORTH SHARING:
The articulation of all of the above (philosophy, research,
geography and engineering) seeks to contribute to an
integral approach in the training of future engineers; to
construct and deconstruct categories, processes and
strategies that pursue the development and management
of territorial knowledge, within the framework of citizen
practices with a planetary conscience

19. I’m done with my presentation
Thank you