Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

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The objective of this study was to find out if the relation between State - Test Anxiety (S-TA) and Exam Performance (EP) varies between two groups of students from different terms. The study was conducted on 76 Psychology program students (87.1 % female) in the fourth term (n = 44), and the seventh term (n = 32), from a private university located in Lima Metropolitan Area, between the ages of 18 and 30 (M = 22.07). The State Test - Anxiety Inventory (S-TAI) and two brief measures—academic self-efficacy and academic emotional exhaustion—were applied. The relation found between S-TA and EP was negative and significant, but of different magnitude according to the academic term. The implications of the study are discussed.

This methodological article explains a conceptual and practical approach to Structural Equation Models or Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). SEMs are considered among the most powerful tools for the study of causal relationships in non-experimental data. They are a combination of factor analysis and multiple regression and are composed of two components: the measurement model and the structural model. The measurement model describes the relationship between a series of observable variables; while in the structural model the relationships between variables are hypothesized; i.e., the relationships between latent variables are described with the use of arrows. Performing a SEM involves five stages: (1) A specification of the Model; (2) Identification of the Model; (3) Estimation of the Model; (4) Evaluation of the Model and (5) Re-specification of the Model. This article provides a series of guidelines on “best practices” for SEM analysis, with examples using the AMOS program.

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) includes the development of intercultural awareness as one of its main axes. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to examine the perceptions that CLIL teachers have regarding Intercultural Competence (IC) and the elements that contribute to its development. Through an open-question survey, we analysed the opinions of 59 Primary Education CLIL teachers from Cordoba. For the analysis of the qualitative data, Atlas.ti has been used on its two options: the textual and the conceptual analysis, thus generating the corresponding networks. On the other hand, SPSS v. 21 was used for the quantitative data analysis. The results show that CLIL teachers define IC closely linked to linguistic competence, and that communicative activities play an important role.

There is a debate about the concept of mobile learning and the emergence of mobile devices in higher edcation. This research was developed from a qualitative approach, with the participation of eight university faculty members through a discussion group. The objective was to understand the following aspects: (a) the faculty’s concept of mobile learning; (b) their perspective on using smartphones and tablets in the classroom; and, (c) the implications in the teacher-student relationship upon the incorporation of these devices in higher education. From the data obtained, we can confirm that there is a construction of the concept of mobile learning that comes from everyday praxis. The incursion of tablets and smartphones in the classrooms has been natural. Concerns regarding the management and control of these devices in class were identified, in addition to the concern about their educational benefits or harms. It is concluded that there is an interest and agreement about mobile learning and the use of mobile technology in higher education.

This paper presents an analysis of the implementation of information and communication technologies in higher education with the aim to contribute knowledge on trends regarding their social appropriation. To that effect, documents of public policies and scientific literature containing guidelines developed by international organizations and explaining different alternatives to guide the process of integrating technologies in education were reviewed. Then, some research works on problems derived from the technology appropriation process without changes in the teachinglearning process are commented. For this, the learning theory of connectivism is discussed as the possible reference framework for this analysis. Findings point to focus attention on learning processes more than on investing in equipment, and highlight the importance of using technologies in education within the context of the fourth industrial revolution in the digital age.

This research was aimed at determining to what extent factors prior to university admission, motivational factors, and institutional experiences explain the academic persistence of students in the University Leveling Term (CIU) at the Simon Bolivar University - Coastal Campus. An explanatory-type quantitative study was proposed, which involved a non-experimental cross-sectional retrospective causal relationship design. The sample consisted of 101 students (50.5% female) with an average age of 17.90 years (SD = 2.37). The study found a significant relationship between some variables explaining academic persistence, which were: a) having a lower orientation toward academic goals; b) a higher score on the maladaptive pattern; c) a higher score in the perception of the Mathematics professor’s evaluation; and d) a higher score in the final performance. This set of variables explains 56.4% of the academic persistence in the CIU program for the study sample. Based on results, this research posits a possible explanation for the academic persistence and analyzes the importance of comparing findings with new research works in different academic settings.

Since the beginning, science activity has been conceived as a male-gender occupation. Despite the efforts to bring women into scientific research communities, there is still much to be done. In view of the foregoing, a study was conducted with the aim to identify, with a gender-based approach, the types of teaching and learning styles at the technological institutes in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. For that purpose, an instrument with closed-ended and multiple-choice items was applied to assess the teaching models used by teachers of those institutes. This exploratory, descriptive and ex post facto study covered 9 institutes and 396 students (55.8% men and 44.2% women) who were participating in a research project. Results showed that teachers, regardless of their gender, prioritize experiential learning through discovery, following the premises of meaningful learning and constructivism, therefore being necessary to reinforce the learning environments and teaching strategies they use, guiding them towards alternative models, mainly within the Science-Technology-Society approach.