Attitudes towards research y self-regulated learning in university students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The attitude to research has cognitive, affective and behavioral components, while self-regulation of learning has phases such as: planning, execution and evaluation. These variables in university education are intrinsically related during the process of interpreting reality and thus in the development of adequate learning. OBJECTIVE. To determine the relationship between attitudes toward research and self-regulation of learning in a sample of university students in Ecuador. METHOD. It is an empirical-quantitative research, the scope of which is comparative, correlational and predictive, through the Scale to Measure Attitudes toward Research (EACIN) and the Inventory of Self-regulatory Learning Processes (IPAA). RESULTS. A total of 222 university students from three public universities in Ecuador participated.59.5% were women and the remaining 40.5% were men. Their age is between 17 and 20 years of age (M= 20.9 years; WD= 2.33). In the inter-gender analysis, the difference was in the emotional dimension, which was more significant for women. The correlation of attitudes towards research and emotional self-regulation is confirmed. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. The cognitive dimension of attitudes towards research is the one with the greatest implication with self-regulation of learning, while the planning dimension of self-regulation of learning has the greatest implication with attitudes towards research. In conclusion, linear regression shows that attitudes predict self-regulation by 19% of changes in variance.