Flexibility and Rigidity of the Curriculum of a Civil Engineering Major. Analysis from the Theory of Complex Systems.

Abstract

This paper exposes the analysis of the curriculum of the Civil Engineering Major of the Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology (FACET) of the National University of Tucumán (UNT) applying techniques of Complex Systems Analysis. The representation of a complex system was performed by applying the Theory of Graphs. This theory is a branch of mathematics that studies the properties of graphs. A graph is a set of vertices or nodes joined by edges, which can be directed or not. It is applied to search for the paths of a network and perform a connectivity analysis. In this way, nodes (Subjects) with connectivity problems were determined, the determination of the hierarchies in the network, the nodes with "congestions", etc. (Aldrich, 2015) proposes to analyze the curriculum as a complex system, with nodes that represent the courses and the links between nodes are the previous requirements that the student must meet to access them. As a result, degrees of heterogeneity in the design of the prerequisite coursework of subjects, preponderance of certain specific disciplines over works, as well as a certain rigidity in its structure were detected, which would be corresponding to the results of delay and abandonment in the career. As a final conclusion, we can highlight the usefulness of this type of tools and analysis to find patterns and relationships that otherwise remain little visible. We believe that this type of analysis can serve, when making a new study plan and / or seeking solutions to problems in one that is implemented, to discover the causes of some problems that are "hidden" in the structure of the plan and that are not easily visible.