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

The present work investigates a sample of 45 Strategic Plans applied by the same number of Spanish universities between the years 2000 and 2020, to learn the relevance and the treatment that continued training of Teaching and Research Staff receives in the strategic plans. The content analysis method has been used to identify and compute objectives and different aspects that universities explicitly relate to the training of teachers in these plans. The repertoire of variables has been elaborated inductively through the continuous review of the documents.The results allow us to appreciate that continuing training of teaching and research staff is taken into account in the universities’ plans. However, this training receives unequal and generally unsystematic treatment in the corporate documents; moreover, universities tend to emphasize some topics to the detriment of others, focusing mainly on teaching and very little on the management and development of directive functions. Finally, the universities, as a whole but not individually, associate the continued training of the teachers with a wide and varied repertoire of topics, which suggests the possibility of moving forward to a more articulated and integral model of continuing training applicable to the set of Spanish universities.We believe the results are useful in order to improve the content and planning of the continuing training of the teachers with a more systematic and integral focus, considering the importance of the training of teachers and researchers for the management of the changes that universities propose, especially taking into account the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on the digital and pedagogical transformation of universities.

International cultural immersion experiences are deemed one of the most effective ways to prepare multicultural and global citizens. The purpose of the study was to determine: (1) first-year and final-year university students’ levels of Intercultural Sensitivity (henceforth IS); (2) if there was a relationship between IS and experiences of intercultural contact; and (3) the variables that might predict the development of IS. A longitudinal method and a correlational-predictive design was used. The sample comprised 1645 (52.5% women and 47.5% men) undergraduate students from 8 public universities and one private university in Andalusia (Spain) with a mean age of 23.29 (SD = 4.99). The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) was used to measure IS, and the Intercultural Experiences Inventory (IEI) was administered to explore students' intercultural experiences. Findings highlighted that there is little change in the IDI scores among first-year and final-year students, and most students were found to be in the intermediate stages of intercultural development (the minimization stage according to Bennett’s model, characterized by the widespread belief that everyone is quite similar). The lack of development found in the students’ IS could have something to do with the lack of opportunity to reflect and think about cultural differences. Positive correlations were found between IS and mobility experiences and intercultural friendships, and negative correlations were found with the number of intercultural interactions and language knowledge. Having mobility experiences, being female, and having friends from other cultures were predictive variables of IS. Finally, the educational implications are discussed.

In recent decades, the pillars of the multilingual school have been established in the European Union, embodying in countless innovative and pioneering proposals worldwide in the recovery and transmission of minority languages. In this sense, the curricular design in the Basque Country and Navarre orbits around three languages: Basque, Spanish and English. The proposal of this study consists of; on the one hand, exploring and describing pre-service teachers’ (students taking childhood and primary education degrees) beliefs on multilingualism and modern methodologies to draw the most remarkable characteristics. On the other, measuring the influence of two variables in the development of such beliefs: one, the practicum and, two, the academic year. To do this, a quantitative approach is applied and an online questionnaire is used to gather the beliefs of 564 undergraduates in four universities. Descriptive and variance analysis (ANOVA) were conducted to explore and compare the differences between groups and measure their significance. Findings show that pre-service teachers’ hold an updated system of language teaching beliefs rooted in current theories of thought about multilingualism. Specifically, pre-service teachers’ beliefs appear to be closely related to the characteristics of communicative methodologies that favor the oral aspect of languages and comprehension over correctness of the language. In addition, pre-service teachers’ practicum and the academic year prove to be significant variables to shape their beliefs toward more modern language teaching approaches aligned with current theories about multilingualism. On this basis, creating and implementing specific courses about applying multilingual approaches to language teaching in both degrees may foster further significant language learning to teachers’ future generations.

Higher education students need to be more autonomous when they change to this new learning environment. This is one of the reasons why many students find the transition to higher education a challenging experience, also shown by the high dropout rate in the first year of higher education. Researchers in this area have pointed out different academic, sociodemographic, psychological, and sociocultural variables that may explain students’ adaptation to higher education. In this line of investigation, there have been calls for more longitudinal research to understand how students adapt to their arrival at the university. In this longitudinal study, 148 participants filled out a learning diary/survey on a weekly and bi-weekly basis during their first university year, reporting their satisfaction, challenges, emotions, motivation, and learning strategies. Three main conclusions can be extracted from the data. First, satisfaction levels and challenges fluctuated throughout the year, showing that students experience their transition through different phases and that there are variations within the year. Second, assessment activities (e.g., exams) are the major emotional and motivational triggers decreasing positive emotions and increasing negative emotions. And third, participants reported the use of strategies mostly for processing or memorizing the content in contrast to an extremely low number of more advanced self-regulatory strategies. We recommend some actions to improve students’ transition to higher education, such as reconsidering assessment practices and designing intervention programs to help students in this new environment.

The aim of this paper is to generate knowledge based on the results of an educational intervention to improve Media and Information Literacy (MIL) carried out with 104 adolescents from Spain (Basque Country) and Colombia (Bogotá) aged between 13 and 15 years (year 3 of Compulsory Secondary Education). The CMI questionnaire was administered prior to the intervention for the pretest assessment. The same questionnaire was administered again after the intervention, at the two posttest times, with changes being made to the content of certain items, although not to the structure. The study was divided into two phases. The first comprised the pretest and two posttests (one immediately after the intervention and the second three months later). The second comprised 11 sessions focusing on four dimensions of MIL: Media access and use, Language and critical understanding, Production and programming processes, and Transformation of reality through communication. The study was quasi experimental and included an experimental and a control group in both contexts, following a case analysis design in which cases were interpreted in a contextualized manner.To analyze the immediate and differed impacts, a covariate factorial design was used (ANCOVA). The most important results include positive changes in the Spanish context in the Language and critical understanding dimension immediately after the intervention; and positive changes in the Production processes dimension in the Colombian context, both immediately after the intervention and three months later.

The implementation of inclusive, quality, and sustainable education requires committed, enthusiastic, and consistent teachers who have positive attitudes towards inclusion and, in particular, towards learners with Special Educational Needs - SEN - who are increasingly common and present in classrooms. Research has shown how training in inclusion is related to more favourable attitudes. However, the effect of academic engagement of university students on their attitudes towards inclusion and the mediating effect of such training on this relationship has not been examined. The purpose of this study is to test whether academic engagement of university students, specifically in the field of Education, influences their assessment of inclusion training, and whether a better assessment increases positive attitudes towards the inclusion of students with SEN. The surveyed sample consisted of 942 students from the Pre-school and Primary Education Grades with a mean age of 20.98 years (S.D = 3.44). Statistical analyses included Student's t test and mediation analysis. The results indicate that women have higher scores on academic engagement, valuing inclusion training and attitudes towards the inclusion of students with SEN. Academic engagement was directly and positively related to more favourable attitudes towards inclusion, and valuing training had a mediating effect of more than 50% on the relationship between academic engagement and attitudes towards inclusion. It is considered and suggested to promote a basic-level teacher training based on the development of high levels of engagement through quality theoretical and practical experiences and to include Inclusive Education as a relevant and transversal element in order to obtain a Higher Education that favours positive attitudes towards inclusion.

University students face many challenges that affect their mental health during this stage. Psychosocial aspects, such as resilience, help to address the imbalance they often experience in their daily lives. The aim is to find the relationship between students' resilience and their mental health, while analyzing the mediating role played by personality factors between these variables. To carry out this study, a sample of 692 university students belonging to different Degrees of Education answered three questionnaires voluntarily, one to measure resilience (RS-14), another to measure personality factors (Big Five) and another to measure mental health (MH-5). A mediational model based on Structural Equations was proposed for this analysis. The results indicate that resilience is able to significantly predict students' mental health directly and that it also predicts all personality components assessed in students. Furthermore, it was found that of all the personality factors examined, only neuroticism was found to be predictive of mental health. Furthermore, resilience is positioned as a mediating factor between mental health and personality factors. Specifically, resilience emerged as a significant mediator in the relationship between agreeableness, neuroticism and openness and mental health. Moreover, all other personality factors are directly related to resilience. In the same way, the results also confirm the need to train pre-service teachers in psychosocial factors in order to prevent future problems in their subsequent professional performance.

Self-efficacy in the use of ICT is a key predictive variable of success for students in higher education. This study intends to explore a range of variables (gender, age, previous experience, training and attitudes towards ICT) related to the use of ICT by mature students, as well as analysing the relationship between these variables and perceived self-efficacy. For this purpose, a survey was administered to 382 students who were preparing to enter the University of Seville through one of the specific routes reserved for students over 25, 40 and 45 years of age. The data were analysed through descriptive procedures and multiple regression analysis. Factor analysis revealed the existence of two dimensions: self-efficacy in information processing software, and self-efficacy with the Internet, both considered as dependant variables. The results showed that these two dimensions of self-efficacy are associated respectively with the use of information processing software and the Internet. Older student groups tend to feel less competent in the use of ICT, especially in relation to Internet self-efficacy. Training appears to be a relevant precursor of a student’s competence in using basic information processing software, but not for using the Internet. For mature students, competence in the use of the Internet seems to be an attitudinal issue, so a positive attitude towards ICT facilitates developing their own confidence with using the Internet. The paper concludes by stressing the need for higher education institutions to be aware of and pay special attention to the "digital divide", and to the peculiarities that older university students may present. 

The main goal of this study was to analyze the relationship between pupils’ perception of their schools as inclusive schools and their sociometric status. For this, a sample of 881 students belonging to 43 primary classrooms (6 to 12 years old) of different educational levels, of which 98 pupils presented specific educational support needs (11,12 %), all of them enrolled in ordinary schools in the region of Extremadura (Spain). A questionnaire, based on the peers nomination method and attributes association, was used to analyze sociometric status. The Questionnaire on the Children's Point of View, taken from the Index for Inclusion (Booth, Ainscow & Kingston, 2006), was used to assess the pupils' perception of their schools. The study showed that the perception that pupils have of their schools, whether they have specific needs for educational support or not, is significantly associated with their sociometric status, and more specifically, the rejection they receive in their classrooms from their peers. The results also indicated that students with specific educational needs feel more supported by teachers than by their peers. This leads us to reflect on whether the organizational measures adopted by schools affect their inclusion. Hence, the need to periodically assess grouping strategies and pupils´ perception of their schools.

A high percentage of university students postpone their academic activities, which leads to academic and personal difficulties. The aim of this work is to identify and describe academic procrastination and its link to the use of metacognitive learning strategies, socio-affective strategies, and academic performance in pre-service teachers. The sample was made up of 794 bachelor’s and master’s degree students in teacher education who completed the Academic Procrastination Scale, the Procrastination Assessment Scale-Student (PASS), and the Metacognitive Strategies and Socio-affective Strategies scales of the ACRA scales. Descriptive, correlational, sample contrast, and hierarchical linear regression analysis shows there is a high percentage of students who habitually procrastinate, and who believe their behavior to be detrimental to them. Academic procrastination is negatively related to academic performance and the use of metacognitive and socio-affective strategies. Women evidence a lower level of academic procrastination than their male counterparts, although they believe it to be more detrimental to their academic activities. There are also differences in that women attribute the problem more to a lack of empathy and lack of self-confidence, whereas in men the problem is linked to the search for excitement. The variables which most predict procrastination are the low use of metacognitive strategies and the lack of energy and self-control. No differences were found between the years of the degree, age or regarding whether students are working or not, or the dedication this entails. We discuss the implications of the results in specific actions aimed at reducing procrastination behavior in university students.