Red U (Dec 2017)
What do they think college students’ face research training?
Abstract
In the 21st century, in a context of techno-logical change in which increasing amounts of new information and knowledge is produced on a daily basis, it is considered that a fundamental transversal skill to be strengthened in universities, especially in distance education, is students’ strategic learning. The research proposes an operational notion of strategic learning, which integrates in a single category, the characteristics of learning to learn, lifelong learning and self-regulated learning. Although these categories hold basis and consensus in the academic community, they are not necessarily integrated into the competency pro-files that guide the educational programs. This research paper presents an analysis of the contribution and impact of the training process on the development of investigative skills in college students. Methodologically holistic research was assumed, operationalized from a triangulated mixed design. The sample was selected randomly, with the participation of 104 students last semester at the Universidad de la Guajira. The techniques and instruments used were the discussion forums and content analysis qualitatively, while quantitatively an attitude scale was applied against research training, with a level of reliability Cronbach’s alpha (α:0.849) and indicators of internal consistency (correlation item - scale) positive and greater than (r: 0.30). The statistical data processing was performed in the SPSS program version 21. From the results of a qualitative nature, it is emphasized that the existence of curricula in the field of research training, is no guarantee of development of investigative skills. In the quantitative order, it highlighted that 90% of students considered the program to which it belongs must reevaluate how research training guides. The contrasting findings identified the need to create spaces for reflection for the development of strategies for educational innovation to enrich the curriculum models, as well as the promotion of extracurricular activities for the development of investigative skills scenarios.
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