REA: Revista Científica Especializada en Educación y Ambiente https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea <p style="text-align: justify;">La Revista Científica Especializada en Educación y Ambiente es una publicación especializada a cargo de la Extensión Universitaria de Soná. De carácter semestral, de acceso abierto y arbitrada, centra su atención en la promoción de la investigación en dos vertientes ineludibles y urgentes: las Ciencias de la Educación, las Ciencias Ambientales y biología..</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"> </p> <p style="text-align: justify;"> </p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Categoría índice: Artes y Humanidades - Ciencias Agropecuarias Ciencias exactas y naturales </p> es-ES rea_upexus@up.ac.pa (Pablo Díaz) luis.rodriguez@up.ac.pa (Luis rodríguez) Fri, 23 May 2025 19:38:47 +0000 OJS 3.3.0.11 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 Editorial https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7337 Camila Lizbeth Cisneros Ábrego Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7337 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Greenwashing in Latin America and the world https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7288 <p>The research aims to make known the meaning of greenwashing and its impact on consumers. The methodology was applicative and exploratory, it was developed taking different documents that are part of the information analysis, considering certain exclusions. Greenwashing is used by companies in order to appear to be a socially responsible company, they manipulate advertising campaigns and make false claims. Awareness of greenwashing is on the rise, and consumers are more alert than ever to real sustainability actions being taken by brands. On the part of the business sector, ecological marketing is being developed that promotes the sale off ecological products that reduce the negative impact on té environment. ITB is concluded that sustainability is part of the consumer's purchasing decision and is a good strategy to develop ethical business marketing.</p> Manuel Fernando Pumasunco Rivera Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7288 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Hypothesis of progression https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7289 <p>This article analyzes the ongoing training of primary school teachers in Veraguas during 2011, 2021, and 2023, with an emphasis on environmental education. It examines their participation in training organized by the Ministry of Education and other agencies, in addition to self-directed training, essential for developing competencies and pedagogical practices oriented toward environmental education. Through the application of qualitative questionnaires converted into quantitative data to 322 teachers, it was determined that 79.3% had not received recent training due to the absence of training programs in the previous two years. This hinders contextualized teaching and a sustainable connection with the environment. Interviews with environmental education coordinators, evaluated using a network of criteria and a quantitative approach, confirm this scenario; 66.7% of responses were partial, although they highlight the use of manuals and guides as key resources. This study highlights the importance of ongoing training to address environmental challenges in the educational environment.</p> Melitza Anany Tristán Mojica , Rodolfo Elias Salazar Atencio Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7289 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Impact of OVA as a technological innovation for teaching programming in fifth grade students at the Carmen Cielo Herrera Ortiz General Basic Education Center https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7290 <p>This article presents the results of the impact of the “World of Blocks” OVA as an innovative pedagogical strategy for teaching programming to fifth-grade students at the Carmen Cielo Herrera Ortiz General Basic Education Center. The educational software was developed using the ADDIE model and the Exelearning platform. A quantitative approach was adopted, employing a single-group pre-experimental design and a post-test in a non-probabilistic sample of 34 students. Data was collected through a digital questionnaire with closed-ended questions on a Likert scale, with a validity and reliability coefficient of 0.70 using Cronbach’s Alpha. The descriptive analysis revealed students rated the OVA's impact as medium to high, highlighting its role in integrating technology into classrooms and contributing to the gradual reduction of the digital divide in vulnerable communities.</p> Nazareth Martínez Rodríguez , Gloris Batista-Mendoza Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7290 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Role-playing is a strategy to engage students in the process of acquire a second language in an interactive way. This systematic review is a research based on the improvement of the speaking skill of EFL students through role play technique. EFL learners https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7291 <p>Role-playing is a strategy to engage students in the process of acquire a second language in an interactive way. This systematic review is a research based on the improvement of the speaking skill of EFL students through role play technique. EFL learners showed difficulty in the learning process to improve their speaking skill. This review objective was to prove that role play help EFL students to improve speaking skill using role plays. In this project a quantitative and qualitative methods were combined to demonstrate the role play impact in the acquisition process. For this review, twenty scientific articles were selected to find out if the role-play technique helps to improve speaking skills in EFL students. Role-play is an innovative and interactive technique to the improvement of English in EFL learners. The scientific articles researched demonstrated an improvement of the speaking skill. Also, the studies showed that role playing is a successful technique to improve the speaking skill of language acquisition.</p> Daryelin Blackman , Aleojin Ríos Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7291 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Neurodidactic strategies and their influence on the development of socioemotional competences in 10th students of the General Tomás Herrera Institute, in the year 2022 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7295 <p>The research aims to determine how neurodidactic strategies influence the development of socio-emotional competencies in 10th-grade students at the Instituto General Tomás Herrera (2022). A non-experimental, descriptive, mixed-method design was used with a sample of 55 students. A 21-question questionnaire was administered with yes, no, and sometimes repeated responses. The instrument's reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.79), indicating good internal consistency (George &amp; Mallery, 2003).</p> <p>The results demonstrate that neurodidactic strategies positively influence the development of socio-emotional competencies and thinking skills. Stress was identified as the main socio-emotional problem, directly affecting social, emotional, and intellectual development. Furthermore, the need for training in leadership, decision-making, and emotional regulation was evident. It is concluded that the strategies strengthen socio-emotional skills and promote meaningful learning, highlighting their importance in education.</p> Kenia Itzel Mela Ramos , Ramona Elvira Araya , Daniel Cisneros Valencia , María Ashaw , Yelitza Aguilar Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7295 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 The use of generative artificial intelligence in automatic evaluation https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7296 <p>The use of generative artificial intelligence in educational contexts is the subject of multiple studies, especially because of the implications it may have. Therefore, this research sought to analyze the use of generative artificial intelligence in automatic assessment. The research was based on a descriptive literature review, using scientific articles as primary sources of information. The search was carried out by means of key words consulting the academic databases Scopus, Scielo and Google Scholar. The results yielded 11 articles corresponding to the object of study. In conclusion, very little scientific evidence was found focused specifically on the use of generative artificial intelligence as a means of automatic evaluation in education, which leaves room for the development of a new line of research.</p> Sebastián Reyes Alvarado Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7296 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 The interference of mother language in english second language adquisition https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7299 <p>This study explores linguistic interdependence, with the aim of identifying how native language knowledge influences the acquisition of English as a second language, generating linguistic interferences. A non-experimental, descriptive design with a quantitative approach was used. The target population consisted of first-year English students at the Soná University Extension, University of Panama. The sample consisted of 19 students selected through non-probability convenience sampling. A questionnaire validated by linguistic experts, which yielded a Cronbach's alpha of 0.85, was used to assess linguistic interference errors from Spanish in the acquisition of English. The results revealed incidences of errors in false cognates, use of prepositions, verb tenses, and literal translations, indicating critical areas for teaching English as a second language and highlighting the need for specific strategies to improve students' linguistic proficiency.</p> Nelva Luz González Bravo , Pablo Díaz Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7299 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Difficulties in structuring a paragraph in English by third year students, Bachelor's Degree in English, Soná University Extension, University of Panama https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7300 <p>Structuring a paragraph has become a vital component now of learning English as a second language since writing is considered as an important communication tool nowadays. This investigation aims to determine the main difficulties Junior students, English school, from Universidad de Panama, Sona branch present now of structuring a paragraph in English. This is so important because writing a paragraph is necessary for their academic development and to enhance the other language skills. This study has a non-experimental design and a quantitative approach with one applying. Firstly, it was applied a questionnaire which was valid by judges with a 0,80 Cronbach Alfa analysis and then a written test. Those instrumentations led to identify the difficulties and thus, to achieve the objectives. The results found in this study mean that Junior students at University of Panama, Sona Branch are presenting difficulties related to writing the supporting ideas, grammar, and punctuation marks.</p> Oscar Benito Romero Camarena , Aurora Inés Reyes Cerrud Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7300 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Scientists’ warning on the environmental impact of electronic gadgets https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7301 <p style="margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Cell phones have revolutionized communication, but they have also created significant environmental challenges. The rapid growth in cell phone ownership has driven demand, exacerbating the environmental impact of their production, use, and disposal. Their production involves the extraction of valuable, but often environmentally harmful, minerals. Furthermore, the manufacturing process is energy-intensive, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. At the end of their useful life, cell phones become part of the growing mountain of electronic waste (e-waste). This reflection critically examines the life cycle of cell phones, from resource extraction to disposal, highlighting the environmental consequences and proposing solutions from the author's perspective.</span></p> Carolina A. Vaccaro , Karen Courville Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7301 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Virtual environments learning effectiveness in Project-based education https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7335 <p>In recent years, education has experimented with changes driven by digital technology integration. This study evaluated the effectiveness of virtual learning environments in implementing project-based learning (PBL) at the Technical University of Babahoyo, specifically targeting A2 Level students according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Employing a quantitative and descriptive approach, data were collected from 200 students through questionnaires regarding their participation, learning quality, and soft skills development. The results indicated a significant increase in student motivation and participation, improvement in academic performance, and enhancement of communication, collaboration, and time management skills. However, technical challenges and the need for training in digital platforms were identified. These findings suggest that virtual environments can enhance the effectiveness of PBL, provided that technological challenges are adequately addressed.</p> Daniel Contreras , Jorge Tapia , María González Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7335 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Community empowerment and sustainable development in rural areas https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7336 <p>This study aims to identify and prioritize community issues and propose collaborative solutions through a participatory approach. The Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was utilized to actively involve local producers in the process of identifying and prioritizing problems. This approach enabled the collection of qualitative data through workshops, group discussions, and community voting. The instruments included structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and participatory mapping techniques. The study area was the agroecological community of Membrillal, involving 15 producers who generated problems and solutions through a bottom-up approach, facilitating democratic and transparent data collection. The results showed that producers prioritize social and environmental issues over economic ones: water management, lack of associativity, and the need for supportive public policies were identified as critical areas. The proposed solutions include technical studies, training, and strengthening cooperatives. It is recommended to evaluate the long-term impact of water management and reforestation initiatives, investigate gender dynamics in rural work, analyze successful associativity models, study the impact of rural-urban migration, and explore the use of advanced technologies in sustainable agriculture.</p> David Gortaire-Díaz , Roddy Real-Roby , Erika Mora-Herrera Copyright (c) 2025 https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/rea/article/view/7336 Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000