The science of teaching: Tec professor is a global leader in education

Jorge Membrillo, a research professor at Tec de Monterrey’s Mexico City campus and member of the Institute for the Future of Education, has dedicated his entire life to teaching.

Between conferences, awards, and presentations, Membrillo, who holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from King’s College London, has focused on carrying out various community service projects, from specializing in challenge-based learning to making efforts to preserve his birthplace of Xochimilco.

These projects have led to him being recognized as a global leader in science and education; he shares with CONECTA what motivates him to continue “creating conscious students".

Education as a vocation

Beyond his passion for science and biology, Jorge always had a connection with pedagogy, even before he was born. 

From a family of teachers, including his parents and siblings, Membrillo studied at the National Teachers’ School from high school onwards, and pedagogy was always a passion in his life.

Subsequently, Jorge studied for a degree in Basic Biomedical Research at UNAM, in addition to a stay as an associate researcher in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard University.

After his studies, he decided it was time to combine his two passions, teaching and research, so he started teaching and following in his parents’ footsteps.

“Teaching is one of the best professions there is, and being a teacher and researcher is the best way to develop what I studied,” he says.

“Teaching is one of the best professions there is, and being a teacher and researcher is the best way to develop what I studied".

A global leader in education

Throughout his teaching career, Membrillo has realized the importance of teachers today, and that it goes beyond simply imparting knowledge. 

“Students need much more. It’s not just about lecturing to passive and receptive students. Nowadays there are strategies where students have to actively develop their ideas and skills,” he says.

That is why Jorge specialized in a specific branch of pedagogy, challenge-based learning, an area in which he has become a global leader, becoming the most-cited person in the world on the subject.

He has taught various training courses and participated as a keynote speaker at international conferences; he has been invited to universities in Asia and Europe and has trained over 100 teachers at institutions in Ecuador and Colombia.

“This model leads me to understand education as an active process. Students develop their own ideas, but they also develop their own strategies for solving challenges,” he explains.

A project to preserve Xochimilco

Jorge Membrillo Hernández also coordinates various academic projects, but one of them holds a special place in the professor’s heart: the axolotl project.

This academic challenge from the Tec is part of the REACH alliance, a global consortium of cross-sector partners, which brings together universities such as the University of Toronto, Oxford University, and University College London.

The project combines biological research, conservation of the Chinampa landscape, and legal analysis on the subject, involving students from International Relations, Law, Sustainable Development Engineering, and Medicine.

Jorge emphasizes the importance of not just preserving the axolotl species, but the entire Xochimilco region, since, in addition to being a native of this place, he underlines the cultural and environmental value that this area has to Mexico City. 

“I’m from Xochimilco and I’m very proud to be from the land of flowers. This city has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; even though we might not know it, we’re right next to a city that, if lost, would mean losing part of the history of humanity.

That’s why it’s important to speak out and preserve it, because no one protects what they don’t know,” shares Jorge Membrillo.

Finally, the professor hopes that, like him, students are never left with questions, and he encourages them to awaken their curiosity.

“Don’t let anyone stop you from asking; the answer might be a long way off, but you can always team up with someone who knows how to find it,” he concludes.

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