The influence of using ICT in high-skills competences and ICT competences. A structural model

Education and Information Technologies - University students have to master new competences to be able to completely form part of Knowledge Society, which are known as 21st-century competences....     

Learning styles and approaches to learning in excellent and average first-year university students

We assessed the learning approaches and learning styles of a sample of 148 excellent students selected from 11 degrees from nine centers of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), and we compared the results with those of a sample of 133 average students from the same centers. We found that excellent students took deeper approach than average students and that they preferred reflective and theoretical learning styles. Average students adopted a more surface approach, and they preferred active and pragmatic learning styles. Greater academic achievement was related to the deep approach and to the reflective and theoretical learning styles. Poorer academic achievement was related to the surface approach and an active style. University professors may reinforce the deep approach by placing high aims for students which go well beyond reproducing knowledge but use other complementary methods other than expository teaching: problem solving, case studies, designing projects, raising questions, discussion and negotiation in the classroom, etc. To accomplish this, teachers must encourage students to be committed, and these methods help do that. It also helps to introduce more demanding evaluation procedures which do not merely involve repeating what has been learnt, but include training guidance that offers students feedback.     

Learning to learn at university. The effects of an instrumental subject on learning strategies and academic achievement / Aprender a aprender en la universidad. Efectos de una materia instrumental sobre las estrategias de aprendizaje y el rendimiento académico

Self-regulated learning is very important at university, since students must manage the strategies and abilities necessary to be autonomous and effective in their learning. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of a course designed for this purpose on learning strategies and students’ achievement of first-year university students. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was used, with an experimental group and a control group, applying measurement instruments before starting and after finishing the course. The learning process was analysed on this course, with students being trained in the use of relevant learning strategies — metacognitive strategies, strategies for processing and using information and affective and motivational strategies. The sample consisted of 47 students, 23 of them belonging to the experimental group and 24 of them to the control group, from various degrees at the University of Valencia. The results confirmed significant improvements in the learning strategy scores of the experimental group compared to the control group. There was also an improvement in academic achievement, but in this case the differences were not statistically significant.     

A basic model of integration of ICT by teachers: competence and use

The process to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT), where teachers play a decisive role, is complex. The objective of this study is to build a basic model that connects teachers’ ICT technological and pedagogical competences with the use of these technological resources by teachers (both personal-professional use and use with students). The model also considers how personal and contextual factors influence this relationship. A secondary analysis study was used, whose sample included 1095 male and female Primary, Secondary and Higher Education teachers from the Valencian Community (east Spain). Information was collected with a questionnaire from two survey design studies. Using an MIMIC model, teachers’ integration of ICT was optimally modeled. This model shows a complex relation between competence and use. Technological competences influence pedagogical competences and personal-professional use, while pedagogical competences influence personal-professional use and use in class. Use in class is influenced by both pedagogical competences and personal-professional use. Personal and contextual factors influenced the four dimensions of use and competence. This basic model of the relationship between teachers’ ICT competences and using these educational resources helps us to understand the complex process of integrating ICT into classrooms. Therefore, this model is a key element to guide teacher training in ICT.