Éxito académico, compromiso y autoeficacia de los estudiantes universitarios de primer año: variables personales y desempeño del primer semestre

Higher education can be hugely transformative for students and has an important role in empowering human capital, innovation, and society’s social, cultural, and environmental development. The expansion of higher education has promoted access for a more heterogeneous mix of students, but ensuring access does not guarantee academic success. This paper aims to analyse predictors of academic achievement in 447 first-year students in their 1stand 2ndsemesters, considering variables including sex, age, parents’ educational level and grades on entering higher education, along with levels of students’ academic engagement and self-efficacy after some weeks at university. Results show statistically significant paths for sex, age, and GPA to 1st-semester achievement, for parent’s educational levels to perceived self-efficacy, for students’ academic engagement to 1st-semester achievement, and 1st-semester achievement to 2nd-semester achievement. Students’ academic engagement also had an indirect effect on the 2nd-semester achievement. The correlation between academic engagement and self-efficacy was positive, strong, and statistically significant. The model explained 35.2% of the variance in 2nd-semester achievement and 15.0% of the variance in 1st-semester achievement. Knowledge about predictors of academic achievement and the importance of engagement and self-efficacy will support timely interventions, promoting success and preventing failure and dropout.La educación superior puede ser extremadamente transformadora para los estudiantes y tiene un papel importante en la formación del capital humano, en la innovación y en el desarrollo social, cultural y ambiental de la sociedad. La expansión de la educación superior promovió el acceso de una mezcla de estudiantes más heterogénea, pero garantizar el acceso no garantiza el éxito académico. Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar los predictores de desempeño académico en 447 estudiantes de primer año en el 1er y 2do semestre, considerando variables como sexo, edad, nivel educativo de los padres y calificaciones al ingresar a la educación superior, junto con los niveles de compromiso académico e autoeficacia de los estudiantes tras algunas semanas en la universidad. Los resultados muestran trayectorias estadísticamente significativas para sexo, edad y GPA hasta el desempeño del primer semestre, para los niveles educativos de los padres hasta la autoeficacia percibida, para la implicación académica de los estudiantes hasta el desempeño del primer semestre y el desempeño del primer semestre hasta el desempeño del segundo semestre La participación académica de los estudiantes también tuvo un efecto indirecto en el desempeño del segundo semestre. La correlación entre compromiso académica y autoeficacia fue positiva, fuerte y estadísticamente significativa. El modelo explicó el 35.2% de la varianza del rendimiento académico en el segundo semestre y el 15.0% de la varianza del rendimiento académico en el primer semestre. El conocimiento sobre los predictores del rendimiento académico y la importancia del compromiso y la autoeficacia respaldará las intervenciones oportunas, promoviendo el éxito y previniendo el fracaso y el abandono

Percepciones positivas del consumo de cerveza entre estudiantes universitarios portugueses

The abusive consumption of alcohol by college students has negative effects on both individual and public health. Positive expectations about alcohol are related to behaviours and patterns of consumption frequently acquired in adolescence. Objective. This study analyses the impact of individual variables (gender, age at first drink, being away from home, and first option degree course) on beer consumption in first-year college students. The moderating effect of positive perceptions about alcohol consumption will also be considered. Method. The sample comprised 214 first-year college students at a Portuguese public university. Results. Positive perceptions of alcohol consumption had an impact on levels of beer consumption and the rate of beer consumption could be explained by just four student variables: age at first drink, gender, first option degree course, and positive perceptions of alcohol consumption. The indices of model fit were adequate. Conclusions. Interventions targeting reductions of student’s alcohol consumption should consider the effects of positive perceptions of alcohol.El consumo abusivo de alcohol por parte de estudiantes universitarios tiene efectos negativos tanto en la salud individual y pública. Las expectativas positivas sobre el alcohol están relacionadas con comportamientos y patrones de consumo frecuentemente adquiridos en la adolescencia. Objetivo. Este estudio analiza el impacto de las variables individuales (género, edad al primer trago, estar fuera de casa y primer curso de grado de opción) en el consumo de cerveza en estudiantes universitarios de primer año. También se considerará el efecto moderador de las percepciones positivas sobre el consumo de alcohol. Método. La muestra comprendió 214 estudiantes universitarios de primer año en una universidad pública portuguesa. Resultados. Las percepciones positivas del consumo de alcohol tuvieron un impacto en los niveles de consumo de cerveza y la tasa de consumo de cerveza podría explicarse por solo cuatro variables de los estudiantes: edad al primer trago, sexo, curso de primer grado y percepciones positivas del consumo de alcohol. Los índices de ajuste del modelo fueron adecuados. Conclusiones. Las intervenciones dirigidas a las reducciones en el consumo de alcohol de los estudiantes deben considerar los efectos de las percepciones positivas del alcoholCIEd – Research Centre on Education, Institute of Education, University of Minho, projects UIDB/01661/2020 and UIDP/01661/2020, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT. Joana R. Casanova received funding from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) as a Doctoral Grant, under grant agreement number SFRH/BD/117902/201

Ser diplomado do ensino superior: escolhas, percursos e retornos

Textos selecionados a partir de comunicações apresentadas no 3.º Seminário “Ser Diplomado do Ensino Superior: Escolhas, Percursos e Retornos”, realizado pelo ObservatoriUM - Observatório dos Percursos Académicos dos Estudantes da Universidade do Minho (Campus de Gualtar, 9 de junho de 2017).Este trabalho é financiado pelo CIEd - Centro de Investigação em Educação, projetos UID/CED/1661/2013 e UID/CED/1661/2016, Instituto de Educação, Universidade do Minho, através de fundos nacionais da FCT/MCTES-PT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Difficulties in academic adaptation and intention to drop out of students in the first-year of Higher Education

O ingresso no Ensino Superior é um momento determinante na vida dos estudantes, caracterizado por inúmeras mudanças nas diferentes áreas de vida. Considerando a riqueza do contexto do Ensino Superior em termos de desafios e oportunidades que coloca aos estudantes, as primeiras semanas de frequência universitária são particularmente relevantes. Ainda que a maioria dos estudantes vivencie esta fase com entusiasmo e satisfação, alguns estudantes experienciam mais dificuldades na sua adaptação académica, o que pode contribuir para situações de insucesso académico e ponderação de abandono da formação. O presente artigo apresenta um estudo com 611 estudantes do primeiro ano do Ensino Superior de uma universidade pública do norte de Portugal, provenientes de cursos de diferentes áreas científicas. Através de uma análise de regressão hierárquica analisamos, num primeiro momento, o impacto das variáveis média acesso ao Ensino Superior, idade, sexo, situação de emprego, habilitações académicas da mãe e do pai, e, num segundo momento, o impacto das dificuldades na adaptação ao Ensino Superior, frequência do curso de primeira opção de escolha e universidade de primeira opção de escolha na intenção de abandonar de estudantes do primeiro ano do Ensino Superior. Os resultados sugerem impacto diverso das variáveis independentes, quando se considera a amostra geral de estudantes e estes agrupados por áreas científicas dos seus cursos. Com base nos resultados, sugerem-se formas de apoio institucional que permitam mitigar os riscos de insucesso e abandono dos estudantes do primeiro ano do Ensino Superior.Higher Education is a defining moment in the lives of students, characterized by numerous changes in different areas of life. Considering the richness of the Higher Education context in terms of the challenges and opportunitiesit posesto students, the first weeks of university attendance are particularly relevant. Although most students experience this phase with enthusiasm and satisfaction, some students experience more difficulties in their academic adaptation, which can contribute to situations of academic failure and pondering about dropping out of training. This paper presents a study with 611 students from the first year of Higher Education at a public university in the north of Portugal, from courses in different scientific areas. Through a hierarchical regression analysis, we analysed, at first, the impact of the variables mean access to Higher Education, age, gender, employment status, educational qualifications of the mother and father, and, at a second moment, the impact of difficulties on adaptation to Higher Education, attendance of the first-choice course and first-choice university with the intention of dropping out of students in the first year of Higher Education. The results suggest a different impact of the independent variables, when considering the generalsample ofstudents and these grouped by scientific areas of their courses. Based on the results, forms of institutional support are suggested to mitigate the risks of failure and dropout of students in the first year of Higher Education

Estudos de validade da escala de percepções positivas e negativas sobre efeitos do álcool

OBJECTIVE To describe the process of elaboration and validation of the Scale of Perceptions about Alcohol Consumption in Higher Education Students in a Portuguese sample, considering the relationship between alcohol use rates and students' perceptions about the effects of this consumption. METHODS The validation study included 531 Portuguese college freshmen who answered the instrument, which is composed of five items that express positive perceptions and five items that express negative perceptions about the effects of alcohol consumption. RESULTS Evidence of content validity, internal structure and external variables were obtained. The results of the factor analysis confirm the distribution of positive and negative perceptions by two different factors according to the theoretical model. Adequate internal consistency indexes were obtained for each dimension. The data obtained showed expected correlations between the perceptions and consumption behaviors of the students, indicating evidence of criterion validity of the scale. Moreover, the study showed that different consumption patterns between men and women, with higher alcohol consumption in the students' households and restaurants or cafés by male students, in addition to the similarity in the consumption pattern between the two genders in parties and bars or nightclubs. CONCLUSION The data obtained show the validity of the instrument. In the discussion, the article presents considerations about the responsibility of higher education institutions in the prevention and reduction in consumption rates among their students.OBJETIVO: Considerando a relação entre as taxas de uso de álcool e as percepções dos estudantes sobre os efeitos desse consumo, descrever o processo de elaboração e validação da Escala de Percepções sobre o Consumo de Álcool em Estudantes do Ensino Superior em uma amostra portuguesa. MÉTODOS: Participaram do estudo de validade 531 estudantes portugueses do primeiro ano do ensino superior que responderam ao instrumento, composto por cinco itens que expressam percepções positivas e cinco itens que expressam percepções negativas sobre os efeitos do consumo de álcool. RESULTADOS: Evidências de validade de conteúdo, de estrutura interna e baseadas em variáveis externas foram obtidas. Os resultados da análise fatorial confirmam a distribuição das percepções positivas e negativas por dois fatores diferenciados em acordo com o modelo teórico de partida. Índices adequados de consistência interna foram obtidos para cada dimensão. Os dados obtidos mostraram correlações esperadas entre as percepções e os comportamentos de consumo dos estudantes, indicando evidências de validade de critério da escala. Em acréscimo, o estudo indicou haver padrões de consumo diferenciados entre os sexos, registando-se maior consumo de álcool nas residências e nos restaurantes ou cafés por parte dos homens, além de similaridade entre os dois sexos no padrão de consumo em festas e bares ou discotecas. CONCLUSÃO: Os dados obtidos evidenciam a validade do instrumento. Na discussão dos dados, o artigo apresenta considerações sobre a responsabilidade das instituições de ensino superior na prevenção e redução das taxas de consumo entre a sua população estudantil. DESCRITORES: Adulto Jovem. Educação Superior. Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas, psicologia. Comportamentos de Risco à Saúde. Inquéritos e Questionários. Estudos de Validação.This study is funded by CIEd - Centro de Investigacao em Educacao, project UID/CED/01661/2019, Institute of Education, Universidade de Minho, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT. Joana R. Casanova receives funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology, through a doctoral fellowship with the reference SFRH/BD/117902/2016

Anticipated adaptation difficulties to higher education: a study with first-year students

A qualidade da adaptação e sucesso no Ensino Superior está relacionada com características prévias dos estudantes, sendo que a literatura sugere diferenças de género, de tipos de estudos e de background familiar nos resultados dos estudantes. Além de variáveis socioculturais nesta determinação, variáveis mais sociocognitivas como as expetativas de resultado e a autoeficácia parecem influenciar as experiências adaptativas dos estudantes. Este estudo caracteriza as dificuldades antecipadas de adaptação de um grupo de 931 estudantes de uma universidade pública portuguesa, que acedem ao primeiro ano do Ensino Superior, uma semana antes do início das suas aulas. A análise das dificuldades antecipadas, avaliadas em três domínios – adaptação académica, integração social e autonomia -, é feita em função da área do curso frequentado, do sexo e do agrupamento em estudantes de primeira geração (pais sem frequência do Ensino Superior) ou estudantes de famílias com formação superior. Os resultados sugerem o impacto destas variáveis, sobretudo em termos da antecipação de dificuldades de integração social e autonomia, apontando para maiores dificuldades antecipadas nas mulheres, estudantes de primeira geração e estudantes de cursos de ciências sociais e humanas. Discutem-se implicações para a investigação e intervenção e contexto de Ensino Superior.The quality of adaptation and success in Higher Education is related to students’ entry characteristics, as literature suggests the impact of gender, the field of studies, and family background on students’ results. In addition to sociocultural factors, social-cognitive variables such as outcome expectations and self-efficacy also influence students’ adaptation experiences. This study characterizes the anticipated difficulties presented by a group of 931 first-year students matriculating at a Portuguese public university, one week before the beginning of classes. The analysis of anticipated difficulties, assessed in three major domains – academic adjustment, social integration, and autonomy -, is conducted concerning the field of studies, sex, and grouping in firstgeneration (students’ whose parents do not have a college education) or students from families with higher education backgrounds. Findings suggest the impact of these variables, namely regarding anticipated social integration and autonomy difficulties, suggesting higher anticipated difficulties by women, first-generation students, and students in social sciences and humanities courses. The results are discussed regarding implications for research and intervention in Higher Education

Factors that determine the persistence and dropout of university students

Background: The increase of students in higher education means a more heterogeneous student body, complicating the identifi cation of the variables that infl uence students´ decisions to stay in or drop out of university. The objective of this study is to analyze the infl uence of these variables on students’ decisions by establishing specifi c groups of students based on performance. Method: A study was carried out with 2,970 fi rstyear university students from Portugal, using the decision tree technique. Results: Academic performance is confi rmed as a determining variable in the decision to remain or drop out, allowing us to establish three groups (high, medium and low achievement), in which different types of variables act as mediators: sex, type of course (licenciatura [BA] or mestrado integrado), the fact of studying at the students’ fi rst-choice university or the mother’s educational level. Conclusions: Without neglecting the weight of academic achievement as a priority variable, we must consider these secondary variables in the confi guration of student groups in order to plan support policies to avoid higher-risk students dropping out.Antecedentes: el aumento de estudiantes en la educación superior supuso una mayor heterogeneidad del alumnado, complicando la identifi cación de las variables que infl uyen en la decisión de los estudiantes de permanecer o abandonar los estudios. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la infl uencia de algunas variables en tal decisión estableciendo grupos específi cos de estudiantes en función del rendimiento. Método: se ha realizado un estudio con 2.970 alumnos universitarios de primer año de Portugal recurriendo a la técnica de los árboles de decisión. Resultados: el rendimiento académico se corrobora como variable determinante en la decisión de permanencia o abandono, permitiendo establecer tres grupos (alto, medio y bajo rendimiento), en los cuales actúan como mediadoras de forma diferencial otro tipo de variables como: el sexo, el tipo de estudios realizados (licenciatura o mestrado integrado), el hecho de cursar estudios en la universidad elegida como primera opción o el nivel de estudios de la madre. Conclusiones: sin restar peso al rendimiento académico como variable prioritaria, debemos de considerar estas variables secundarias en la confi guración de grupos de estudiantes de cara a planifi car políticas de apoyo para evitar el abandono de los estudiantes en situación de mayor riesgo.This work is funded by CIEd – Research Centre on Education, projects UID/CED/1661/2013 and UID/CED/1661/2016, Institute of Education, University of Minho, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT. Joana R. Casanova received funding from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) as a Doctoral Grant, under grant agreement number SFRH/BD/117902/2016. Antonio Cervero Fernández-Castañón received funding from the Severo Ochoa Program of the Government of the Princedom of Asturias as a Doctoral Grant, under grant agreement number BP16014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Co-creation of educational commons spaces to reverse inequalities: project SMOOTH and the Children's Club

This article presents an action-research project from the EU-funded SMOOTH project, which focuses on the potential of Educational Commons to address educational inequalities. The project adopts an emergent paradigm that views spaces for collaboration, content co-creation, socialization, governance, and play as catalysts for reversing inequalities. The action-research, conducted in a disadvantaged non-formal education setting in northern Portugal, involved children aged 8–10 years old. Over a span of 10 months, the innovative action-research program aimed to achieve several objectives: (1) reversing inequalities faced by vulnerable social groups, (2) strengthening inter-cultural and inter-generational dialogue and social integration, (3) developing essential social and personal skills, and (4) creating smooth spaces of democratic citizenship based on equality, collaboration, sharing, and caring. By understanding the tensions and conflicts that emerge in children's everyday situations, the project sought to build and foster community through embracing differences. This article analyzes the characteristics, behaviors, challenges, and strengths observed during the 30 sessions. The results provide insights into the dimensions of Children as commoners, in terms of sharing and care, cooperation and collective creativity and active citizenship. This research contributes to the exploration of Educational Commons as a means to promote equity and transform educational contexts

Satisfaction with Life Scale: Evidences of validity and reliability among Portuguese college students

Este artigo apresenta novos dados sobre a precisão e validade dos resultados na Escala de Satisfação com a Vida (SWLS) junto de estudantes universitários. Uma amostra de 545 estudantes provenientes de uma universidade pública portuguesa foi considerada. A unidimensionalidade da escala foi confirmada, apresentando todos os itens cargas fatoriais superiores a .60, ainda que a sua invarância em função do género dos estudantes não se tenha confirmado, desaconselhando comparações de resultados entre homens e mulheres. As correlações moderadas em sentido positivo e negativo com os afetos positivos e negativos avaliados através da Escala de Afetos Positivos e Negativos (PANAS) traduzem evidências de validade de critério. A consistência interna dos resultados nos cindo itens da ESV situou-se em .77, sendo considerada adequada até pelo número reduzido de itens.This paper presents new data on the reliability and validity of results in the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) among university students. A sample of 545 students from a Portuguese public university was considered. The unidimensionality of the scale was confirmed, with all factor loadings higher than .60, although their invariance according to the gender of the students was not confirmed, and it was not advisable to compare the results between men and women. Moderate positive and negative correlations with positive and negative affects assessed through the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) translate evidence of criterion validity. The internal consistency of the results in the fifth items of the ESV was .77, considered adequate face the reduced number of itemsFCT/SFRH/BD/117902/201

Construcción de un cuestionario transcultural de motivos de abandono de la enseñanza superior

O abandono no Ensino Superior é um tema relevante pela sua incidência e consequências negativas no estudante, família, instituição e sociedade em geral. Procurando conhecer os motivos da intenção de abandono, investigadores do Brasil, Espanha e Portugal convergiram na construção de um questionário de avaliação transcultural. Atendendo à multidimensionalidade das causas de abandono, o questionário abarca seis dimensões: Social, Acadêmica, Professores, Saúde e Bem-estar, Institucional e Financeira. A análise fatorial, com amostras autônomas de estudantes do 1º ano do Brasil, Espanha e Portugal, mostrou uma distribuição adequada dos itens nas seis dimensões, com alguma discrepância na dimensão Professores na amostra do Brasil. Os índices de consistência interna atingiram níveis adequados nas seis dimensões (valores entre 0,74 e 0,91). Futuros desenvolvimentos devem testar a dimensionalidade do questionário e a sua invariância nos três países, incluindo já variáveis psicológicas e académicas para análise da validade de critério.The dropout in higher education assumes relevant percentages, with negative consequences for the students, family, institution and society in general. In order to know the reasons for the dropout intention, researchers from Brazil, Spain and Portugal converged on the construction of a transcultural questionnaire. Face the multidimensional nature of dropout causes, the questionnaire assesses six dimensions: Social, Academic, Faculty, Health and Wellbeing, Institutional, and Financial. The factorial analysis, with autonomous samples of first-year students from Brazil, Spain and Portugal, showed an adequate distribution of the items by the six dimensions, with some difficulties in Faculty dimension in Brazilian sample. The internal consistency of items reached adequate levels in those six dimensions (values range from .74 to .91). Future developments should test the dimensionality of the questionnaire and its invariance in all three countries, including other psychological and academic variables for criterion validity analysis. Keywords: higher education; dropout reasons; first-year studentsEl abandono en la enseñanza superior es un tema relevante por su incidencia y por sus consecuencias negativas a nivel personal, familiar, institucional y social. En búsqueda de conocer las razones de intención de abandono, investigadores de Brasil, España y Portugal participaron en la construcción de un cuestionario de evaluación transcultural. Dicho instrumento, de naturaleza multidimensional, se organiza en seis dimensiones: Social, Académica, Profesorado, Salud y Bienestar, Institucional y Financiera. El análisis factorial, con muestras independientes de los estudiantes del primer año de Brasil, España y Portugal, mostró una distribución adecuada de los ítems en las seis dimensiones, con alguna discrepancia en la dimensión Profesorado en la muestra brasileña. Los índices de consistencia interna alcanzaron niveles adecuados (valores entre .74 y .91), si bien que se debe realizar nuevos estudios para probar la dimensionalidad del cuestionario y su invariancia en los tres países, incluyendo las variables psicológicas y académicas para analizar la validez de criterio(undefined