María Alejandra Zuccoli

Shared horizon

Human hospitality

Hospitality is the horizon guiding these experiences: creating the conditions for every student to feel welcomed, recognized and supported. ALTAX provides a framework that enables each person to reconnect with their own human experience, recognize their abilities and, informed by neuroscience, discern the possibilities they can develop.

Evidence portfolio

Projects and experiences to explore

Each image opens a completed project or experience. Together, they reveal what had to be created, produced and directed to make each one possible.

Training · Teams

Motivating Work Teams

A Coursera course on motivation, leadership and teamwork.

Creation · Training

View course

Communication · Artificial Intelligence

Mente Periodística IAX

An application of ALTAX to observation, communication and decision-making.

Creation · Production

Watch video

Education · Conference

Conexión Endorfinas

A TEDx talk on enjoyment, motivation and talent activation.

Creation · Communication

Watch talk

Education · Assessment

PANCOE

A learning and assessment experience developed with students since 2012.

Creation · Production · Direction

View experience

Music · International Production

Dios no se muda

A song and communication experience created during the pandemic.

Production · Direction

Watch video

Collective Action · Communication

Inconsciente Colectivo

A campaign and flash mob for World Voice Day, inspired by Enrique Shaw’s joy.

Production · Direction

View the recording

Academic Publication · Springer Nature

The Role of Pleasure to Improve Tourism Education

A 2023 book by Alejandra Zuccoli and Maximiliano E. Korstanje that systematizes the PANCOE experience and the role of pleasure in tourism education.

Research · Authorship · Education

View publication

PERFIL EDUCATION · OPINION

Press · Education

Education: Pleasure as a Path to Better Learning

An article published in Profile on the approach developed in the book and the role of pleasure in learning processes.

Outreach · Education

Read article

Profile

Career and Approach

Professor of Communication at Universidad de Palermo and creator of the Pleasure Lab. Consultant and facilitator in team development, leadership and neuroscience applied to learning. Her work integrates neuroscience, agile methodologies and talent management to design educational and organizational experiences focused on motivation, self-management and well-being. She is co-author of The Role of Pleasure to Improve Tourism Education (Springer Nature, 2023) and creator of PANCOE, the educational assessment method at the heart of the book.

Four dimensions through which to read the journey

Teaching, Creation, Production and Direction

These are neither personal labels nor a test: they are a way to observe the role that emerges in each completed experience.

01

Teaching

Teaching Communication as a practice of listening, expression, observation and meaning-making with others.

Communication · Learning · Classroom · Support

02

Creation

Recognizing a possibility that does not yet exist and giving it a concept, name, structure and language.

ALTAX · PANCOE · AMORE · SMARTED

03

Production

Building strong teams so they can achieve a shared goal together.

Experiences · Courses · Media · Culture

04

Direction

Recognizing, supporting and translating a shared spirit in order to sustain the vision.

Academic Leadership · Innovation · Teams · Training

Experience

Academic and Leadership Career

Universidad de Palermo

Professor and Experience Designer

Teaching in COE and BEL. Creation of the Pleasure Lab and development of formative assessment, leadership, motivation and well-being initiatives.

Centro de Estudios Terciarios River Plate

President and Head of Educational Innovation · 2023–2026

Design and ministerial approval of the Higher Technical Degree in Online Sports Journalism, approved through RESOL-2025-333-GCABA-MEDGC, together with innovation, communication and academic development processes.

Teaching and Communication Career

Universidad del Salvador, Universidad de Palermo, Instituto Universitario River Plate and Obra Cardenal Ferrari. Production of radio programs, content and cultural experiences.

Systems and Experiences

Main Creations

ALTAX

An activation, decision-making and assessment system that organizes traces, evidence and IntraData to formulate, test and correct hypotheses without replacing personal agency.

PANCOE

A learning and assessment experience that gathers evidence produced by students to recognize transformations, habits, talents and skills.

AMORE + SMARTED

Models for observing dimensions of a process and translating the meaning that drives action into decisions and observable small steps.

Laboratorio del Disfrute

A space created at Universidad de Palermo to research and apply the role of pleasure, motivation and experience in learning.

Organizing Traces

From Experience to a Verifiable Decision

ALTAX gathers traces (observable records of lived experience) and organizes them without turning them into diagnoses (fixed definitions of a person). Every interpretation remains open to verification and development.

RecordGather traces (words, images, actions, emotions or specific situations that leave a record).
DistinguishSeparate the source (where the information comes from), the hypothesis (a provisional explanation) and the evidence (data that allow it to be verified or corrected).
TestCompare the interpretation with real responses and experiences. Differences also provide information and prevent a hypothesis from being mistaken for truth.
ActivateTurn what has been observed into a small step (an action that is feasible, measurable and open to review).

“Rather than giving them something of our own, we must help them discover the good they already have within themselves.”