exámenes transversales

English translation: multi-campus examinations

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:exámenes transversales
English translation:multi-campus examinations
Entered by: Charles Davis

01:41 Jan 29, 2012
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Education / Pedagogy / Education
Spanish term or phrase: exámenes transversales
Algunos indicadores que permiten medir la eficiencia de los métodos pedagógicos son la observación de ciertas clases por parte de asesores metodológicos de la Unidad Tecnológica Educativa (UTED), la observación y seguimiento de talleres prácticos, el cálculo de indicadores de eficiencia de cada docente, los resultados de **exámenes transversales** y los resultados de las evaluaciones de asignaturas, entre otros.

No tengo más contexto.

¡Muchísimas gracias!
María Eugenia Wachtendorff
Chile
Local time: 09:13
national / cross-campus examinations
Explanation:
I think "transversal" is one of those words that means different things in different places. In Spain, as Noni has said, it is a kind of "buzzword" in education and means cross-curricular or multidisplinary: cutting across subject boundaries. It probably means this in Latin America too.

However, here I think it probably means something different. Since you are in Chile, María Eugenia, the context may well be Chilean. The subject of "exámenes transversales" at university level is discussed in a number of Chilean sites, and generally, if not always, in relation to the DUOC UC (Dirección de Desarrollo Curricular - Universidad Católica), a multi-campus institution with thirteen "sedes" across the country, from Alameda to Valparaíso:
http://www.duoc.cl/sedes.html

The reference here to the Unidad Tecnológica Educativa suggests that it probably is referring to DUOC UC, which has an UTED on each campus; see for example http://www.duoc.cl/info2/367/n30.html .

Unfortunately, the main DUOC documents on exámenes transversales are not on open access; you have to be registered. However, the site’s glossary offers this definition:

“Examen Transversal (ET)
Es una instancia en la que se recoge información sobre el desempeño de un estudiante con respecto a las competencias y unidades de competencias asociadas a una misma asignatura y/o módulo a partir de evidencias específicas.
Los exámenes transversales se aplican al término del período lectivo en el período dispuesto en el calendario anual como “período de examen” y se extiende a las distintas sedes donde se dicta la asignatura y/o módulo y al total de secciones de la misma. [...]”
http://www.duoc.cl/ddc/glosario.php

I think the highlighted phrase gives us the vital clue: “exámenes transversales” are exams set and taken by all the DUOC UC campuses where a given subject is taught, as opposed to the usual exams set and graded by the course teacher on a single campus.

This is confirmed by the following comment:

“Por otro lado los famosos examenes transversales que según ellos es para que en ese día todas las sedes que imparten ramos de construccion tengan el examen que los hace otros profesores y que no tienen nada que con las materias pasadas en el semestre y entonce esos examenes son todos malas notas y por ende casi reprobacion de ramos.”
http://www.reclamos.cl/reclamo/2008/dec/duoc_uc_no_respetan_...

This echoes a common complaint among DUOC students: they find that the exámenes transversales contain material they have not covered, and they blame their own teachers for failing to cover the syllabus properly.

So I think we are talking here about national examinations in this particular institution. You could perhaps call them “cross-campus examinations”. This expression is rare, but I’ve found one example from the University of Durham in the UK:

“Cross-campus Examinations
Noted: that the Department of Psychology operate some cross-campus modules and it would be helpful for them if some examinations could be co-timetabled at Durham and Queen’s Campus, Stockton.”
http://www.dur.ac.uk/committees/Faculty-of-Science-SubCommit...



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs (2012-01-29 15:28:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This idea of being examined by people outside your own college or campus is an important educational issue in itself; it is inherently more testing for the students, and may be regarded as more objective: they are being evaluated by people who don't know them at all. This is the case with A Levels in Britain, for example, which are national, as opposed to the Bachillerato in Spain, where the result depends entirely on the class teacher's assessment. It also constitutes a test of the teacher, since the results achieved by his/her pupils can be seen as a test of his/her own teaching. This, I think, is why these "exámenes transversales" help to "medir la eficiencia de los métodos pedagógicos", as the context says. When the students are taught and assessed solely by the course teacher (as usually happens), no such external check exists.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 hrs (2012-01-29 16:21:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Note also, by the way, that if the DUOC's definition applies here, these exams are neither cross-disciplinary nor comprehensive. They are examinations on particular "asignaturas" or "módulos", taken by students studying the asignatura/module at all the different campuses.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day7 hrs (2012-01-30 09:05:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

That's great, María Eugenia, I'm very glad. I thought it must be this DuocUC thing. Just an afterthought on what to call it in English: maybe "national" is too general a term, since these exams are held within this particular institution rather than nationwide. "Cross-campus" is probably better, though maybe it could be misinterpreted as referring to exams held across a particular campus. I wonder whether "multi-campus" could be used here, to make it completely clear. DuocUC is what you could call a multi-campus university, so it makes sense, I think.

Here's an example of the term:

"The little corporations could be very small, say two or three friends selling their services to the Modern Language Department to teach beginning French or Spanish, or could be huge, selling services university-wide. In the long run, larger companies will try to buy up the smaller firms and try to achieve some economies of scales. How that would work out is unknown, because I am uncertain as to the scale economies realizable here, but I suspect they are sizable (e.g., developing a common curriculum usable on many campuses, offering common multi-campus exams, perhaps have some lectures provided at multiple campuses simultaneously using distance learning techniques)."
http://centerforcollegeaffordability.org/archives/329

Maybe the word "common" would go well here too.
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 13:13
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2cross-sectional examinations
Darius Saczuk
4 +1cross-disciplinary / multidisciplinary examinations
Jenni Lukac (X)
3 +2national / cross-campus examinations
Charles Davis
4cross-curricular exam(intation)s
Noni Gilbert Riley
3Cross-curricular tests
Toby Wakely
Summary of reference entries provided
Cross-cutting exams
Peter Cummings

Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
cross-sectional examinations


Explanation:
A suggestion

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 mins (2012-01-29 01:59:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another possibility: COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION - based on my review of some college websites in Latin America.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2012-01-29 03:53:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Examen Transversal por Campo de Conocimiento para el Nivel Licenciatura - Estadística (ExTra-Es)





¿Qué es?


Es una prueba que evalúa el nivel de dominio que logran los estudiantes de licenciatura en cuanto a sus conocimientos y habilidades estadísticos.

I think I'd go for a "(final) comprehensive examination". In my university (CUNY) most final exams testing students' grasp of a broad sample of their discipline are called "comprehensive examinations".



Darius Saczuk
United States
Local time: 08:13
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in PolishPolish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 521

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Rafael Molina Pulgar
4 mins
  -> Mil gracias, Rafael. :-)

agree  José Julián
1 hr
  -> Mil gracias, José. :-)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
cross-curricular exam(intation)s


Explanation:
The concept of cross-curricular subjects first became common in educational jargon after the LOGSE reform to education in Spain at the beginning of the 1990s.

Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 13:13
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 91
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
cross-disciplinary / multidisciplinary examinations


Explanation:
www.ub.edu/sl/ca/alt/recursos/terminologia/lexic-ub/cos.html
competencias transversales. general ... convocatòria d'examen. convocatoria de examen ..... University Entrance Examinations [PAU] ... cross-disciplinary ...; www.ucalendar.uwaterloo.ca/.../course-SMF.htm... -
A multidisciplinary examination of selected topics in human sexuality. The significant principles dese.mo.gov › Educator Quality -
14 Jun 2011 – Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education ... Concurrently, the exam also measures three cross-disciplinary competencies: ... sex education and some of its most relevant methods and ...;

Jenni Lukac (X)
Local time: 13:13
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 266

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Eliza Ariadni Kalfa
1 day 3 hrs
  -> Cheers and thanks, Eliza. Have a good week.
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Cross-curricular tests


Explanation:
Sometimes you can translate the word "examinación" for test, but I might be barking up the wrong tree here.

Example sentence(s):
  • assessing higher order thinking in cross-curricular tests

    Reference: http://www.iaea.info/documents/paper_2b7130e3.pdf
Toby Wakely
Spain
Local time: 13:13
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
national / cross-campus examinations


Explanation:
I think "transversal" is one of those words that means different things in different places. In Spain, as Noni has said, it is a kind of "buzzword" in education and means cross-curricular or multidisplinary: cutting across subject boundaries. It probably means this in Latin America too.

However, here I think it probably means something different. Since you are in Chile, María Eugenia, the context may well be Chilean. The subject of "exámenes transversales" at university level is discussed in a number of Chilean sites, and generally, if not always, in relation to the DUOC UC (Dirección de Desarrollo Curricular - Universidad Católica), a multi-campus institution with thirteen "sedes" across the country, from Alameda to Valparaíso:
http://www.duoc.cl/sedes.html

The reference here to the Unidad Tecnológica Educativa suggests that it probably is referring to DUOC UC, which has an UTED on each campus; see for example http://www.duoc.cl/info2/367/n30.html .

Unfortunately, the main DUOC documents on exámenes transversales are not on open access; you have to be registered. However, the site’s glossary offers this definition:

“Examen Transversal (ET)
Es una instancia en la que se recoge información sobre el desempeño de un estudiante con respecto a las competencias y unidades de competencias asociadas a una misma asignatura y/o módulo a partir de evidencias específicas.
Los exámenes transversales se aplican al término del período lectivo en el período dispuesto en el calendario anual como “período de examen” y se extiende a las distintas sedes donde se dicta la asignatura y/o módulo y al total de secciones de la misma. [...]”
http://www.duoc.cl/ddc/glosario.php

I think the highlighted phrase gives us the vital clue: “exámenes transversales” are exams set and taken by all the DUOC UC campuses where a given subject is taught, as opposed to the usual exams set and graded by the course teacher on a single campus.

This is confirmed by the following comment:

“Por otro lado los famosos examenes transversales que según ellos es para que en ese día todas las sedes que imparten ramos de construccion tengan el examen que los hace otros profesores y que no tienen nada que con las materias pasadas en el semestre y entonce esos examenes son todos malas notas y por ende casi reprobacion de ramos.”
http://www.reclamos.cl/reclamo/2008/dec/duoc_uc_no_respetan_...

This echoes a common complaint among DUOC students: they find that the exámenes transversales contain material they have not covered, and they blame their own teachers for failing to cover the syllabus properly.

So I think we are talking here about national examinations in this particular institution. You could perhaps call them “cross-campus examinations”. This expression is rare, but I’ve found one example from the University of Durham in the UK:

“Cross-campus Examinations
Noted: that the Department of Psychology operate some cross-campus modules and it would be helpful for them if some examinations could be co-timetabled at Durham and Queen’s Campus, Stockton.”
http://www.dur.ac.uk/committees/Faculty-of-Science-SubCommit...



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs (2012-01-29 15:28:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This idea of being examined by people outside your own college or campus is an important educational issue in itself; it is inherently more testing for the students, and may be regarded as more objective: they are being evaluated by people who don't know them at all. This is the case with A Levels in Britain, for example, which are national, as opposed to the Bachillerato in Spain, where the result depends entirely on the class teacher's assessment. It also constitutes a test of the teacher, since the results achieved by his/her pupils can be seen as a test of his/her own teaching. This, I think, is why these "exámenes transversales" help to "medir la eficiencia de los métodos pedagógicos", as the context says. When the students are taught and assessed solely by the course teacher (as usually happens), no such external check exists.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 hrs (2012-01-29 16:21:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Note also, by the way, that if the DUOC's definition applies here, these exams are neither cross-disciplinary nor comprehensive. They are examinations on particular "asignaturas" or "módulos", taken by students studying the asignatura/module at all the different campuses.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day7 hrs (2012-01-30 09:05:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

That's great, María Eugenia, I'm very glad. I thought it must be this DuocUC thing. Just an afterthought on what to call it in English: maybe "national" is too general a term, since these exams are held within this particular institution rather than nationwide. "Cross-campus" is probably better, though maybe it could be misinterpreted as referring to exams held across a particular campus. I wonder whether "multi-campus" could be used here, to make it completely clear. DuocUC is what you could call a multi-campus university, so it makes sense, I think.

Here's an example of the term:

"The little corporations could be very small, say two or three friends selling their services to the Modern Language Department to teach beginning French or Spanish, or could be huge, selling services university-wide. In the long run, larger companies will try to buy up the smaller firms and try to achieve some economies of scales. How that would work out is unknown, because I am uncertain as to the scale economies realizable here, but I suspect they are sizable (e.g., developing a common curriculum usable on many campuses, offering common multi-campus exams, perhaps have some lectures provided at multiple campuses simultaneously using distance learning techniques)."
http://centerforcollegeaffordability.org/archives/329

Maybe the word "common" would go well here too.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 13:13
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 676
Notes to answerer
Asker: Spot on, Charles. Although DuocUC is my oldest client, this particular area is new to me. Thank you so much!!

Asker: Multi-campus is perfect. Thanks again, Charles, from the bottom of my heart! :)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yvonne Gallagher: multi-campus seems like best option in this context//inter-campus might also work
1 day 1 hr
  -> I agree: "multi-campus" is what I think I would use. "Inter-campus" would work too, I think. / Forgot to say thanks!

agree  Noni Gilbert Riley: Great research!
1 day 2 hrs
  -> Thanks very much, Noni :)
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Reference comments


1 day 11 hrs
Reference: Cross-cutting exams

Reference information:
Google "cross-cutting" and you will see things like "cross-cutting issues" coming up and these show the key to the problem you are trying to solve. I think there might be an entry on cross-cutting examations. In Europe the term "cross-cutting" is certainly widely used in the accepted sense of cutting across subject matter/ issues / themes and deriving benefit from the comparison and the sharing involved with this

Peter Cummings
United Kingdom
Native speaker of: English
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