Actions for the Construction of a University Policy in Literacy

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17227/01234870.41folios143.155 This article aims at reporting some of the findings of a research study conducted at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana-Bogotá (PUJ-Bogotá), as part of a multi-case study carried out by thirteen universities in Colombia which belong to the academic group Red de Lectura y Escritura en Educación Superior (REDLESS). In this study, students’ initial preparation in reading and writing is characterized in order to identify its impact on their subsequent academic development. To do so, student’s development during the final two years at high school (Educación Media) was first analyzed along with their preparation during the first year at university and its possible impact on their academic development during their majors. In addition to these data, the contents of a university course designed to prepare students in literacy was analyzed along with the perceptions of the teachers in charge of it and those of disciplinary courses. The results offered by the intersection of such diverse sources of information are used to make some proposals aimed at consolidating an institutional policy for literacy and other derived factors such as orality and the transformation and construction of knowledge.