The formation of argumentative competences. A challenge within higher education

Introduction: The topic of the formation of argumentative competences has gained ground in higher education, however it is unknown how the teaching management in Ecuador contributes in the formation of these competences, so a research was drawn up with the objective of identifying elements Of the teaching process that contribute to the formation of argumentative competences in university students, belonging to four selected universities. Method, was carried out from the phenomenological qualitative approach, in the city of Quito, in 2016, using the universities UISEK, UNIBE, UPS and the UCE, participated 13 teachers to whom an interview was applied, besides the revision to official documents like The Maya curriculum, syllabus and educational model. The information was processed in frequencies and by hundreds. Results showed a low presence of subjects that stimulate the argumentative competences, which did not exceed 16, 2% in the humanistic careers, and 14% in the techniques, in the career of Psychology was the highest observed the presence of said Subjects, with 17.2%. Teachers recognize low knowledge about argumentation theory, as well as their poor articulation in syllabus and syllabus, however 46.16% considered that it is taken into account during evaluative activities. Conclusions: The Maya curriculum, syllabus and university educational models contain few possibilities to stimulate argumentative competences and teachers recognize that they are articulated poorly but are implemented in some forms of evaluation.