Mendive. Journal on Education, 21(2), e3200

Translated from the original in Spanish

Original article

Learning strategies and academic performance in students of a private denominational university

Estrategias de aprendizaje y rendimiento académico en alumnos de una Universidad confesional privada

Estratégias de aprendizagem e desempenho acadêmico em estudantes de uma universidade de denominação privada

Ysrael Alberto Martínez Contreras¹ http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0865-057X
Alfonso Valverde Rodríguez² http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0289-8665
Lourdes Marlene Yaque Rueda³ http://orcid.org/0009-0009-4754-5319
Mario Sarian González⁴ http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2271-0532

¹ National University of San Marcos. Peru. ymartinez@pucp.edu.pe
² Southern Scientific University, Lima. Peru alfonso_valverde@hotmail.com
³ César Vallejo University, Callao Branch, Peru yaqlourd@uvcvirtual.edu.pe
⁴ Autonomous University of Chile. Chile sarian.mario@gmail.com

Received: September 6, 2022
Accepted: March 13, 2023

ABSTRACT

Learning strategies and academic performance is a topic to be reconsidered in Higher Education during the pandemic. The objective of the research is to determine the correlation between ACRA learning strategies and academic performance in students of the first three cycles of the Administration School of a private confessional university. The materials consisted of the questionnaire called the Adaptation, Coding, Recovery and Support (ACRA) scale and the notes of the study subjects. The general method was the hypothetical-deductive one and the statistical one as the specific method. The main results consisted of how the students of Communication II and National Reality achieved 100% at the low level such as social interactions and extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. In addition, all three groups scored low on acquisition strategies in their evaluations. The main conclusion was that both variables have a significant relationship, because according to Spearman's Rho 0.821, a high positive correlation is indicated in the university higher educational organization.

Keywords: Higher Education; learning strategies; students; knowledge management.

RESUMEN

Las estrategias de aprendizaje y el rendimiento académico es una temática a reconsiderar en la Educación Superior durante la pandemia. La investigación tiene como objetivo el determinar la correlación entre las estrategias de aprendizaje ACRA y el rendimiento académico en los estudiantes de los tres primeros ciclos de la Escuela Administración de una universidad confesional privada. Los materiales estuvieron constituidos por el cuestionario denominado la escala de Adaptación, Codificación, Recuperación y Apoyo (ACRA) y las notas de los sujetos de estudio. El método general fue el hipotético-deductivo y como método específico el estadístico. Los principales resultados consistieron en cómo los estudiantes de Comunicación II y Realidad Nacional lograron el 100 % en el nivel bajo como las interacciones sociales y motivación extrínseca e intrínseca. Además, los tres grupos obtuvieron niveles bajos en las estrategias de adquisición en sus evaluaciones. La principal conclusión fue que ambas variables tienen relación significativa, porque de acuerdo al Rho de Spearman 0.821 se indica una correlación positiva alta en la organización educativa superior universitaria.

Palabras clave: Educación Superior; estrategias de aprendizaje; estudiantes; gestión del conocimiento.

RESUMO

Estratégias de aprendizagem e desempenho acadêmico é um tema a ser repensado no Ensino Superior durante a pandemia. O objetivo da pesquisa é determinar a correlação entre as estratégias de aprendizagem ACRA e o desempenho acadêmico em alunos dos três primeiros ciclos da Escola de Administração de uma universidade privada confessional. Os materiais consistiram no questionário denominado Escala de Adaptação, Codificação, Recuperação e Suporte (ACRA) e as anotações dos sujeitos do estudo. O método geral foi o hipotético-dedutivo e o estatístico como método específico. Os principais resultados consistiram em como os alunos de Comunicação II e Realidade Nacional atingiram 100% no nível baixo, como interações sociais e motivação extrínseca e intrínseca. Além disso, todos os três grupos pontuaram baixo em estratégias de aquisição em suas avaliações. A principal conclusão foi que ambas as variáveis possuem relação significativa, pois segundo Spearman's Rho 0,821, indica-se alta correlação positiva na organização de ensino superior universitário.

Palavras-chave: Educação Superior; estratégias de aprendizagem; estudantes; gestão do conhecimento.

INTRODUCTION

From regular basic education, university students in Peru have managed to use various techniques to learn, highlighting among them the so-called acquisition, coding, recovery and support strategies (Román and Gallego, 2008) in the generation of their knowledge, according to their experiential learning expertise. It is necessary to recognize how the demands of professional training drive students to be strategists of their own knowledge. The theme is based on the students, who establish their learning strategies in the Administration School of a private confessional university.

Learning strategies are useful for the university student (Alarcón et al., 2019). The essential cognitive processes of information processing are the scales of learning strategies made up of acquisition, encoding, recovery and support (Restrepo et al., 2021). In the acquisition scale (Restrepo et al., 2021) attentional strategies (Noguera & Salsa, 2022) stand out to learn numbers as a priority for information achievement; these make reiteration work, which offers information in interaction with the attentional ones. In the coding scale (Restrepo et al., 2021) it is responsible for creating and organizing all the necessary information, complementing it with previous knowledge and discovering structures with more relevant meanings that will form a solid knowledge base. It includes the following sub-strategies: mnemonics strategies, elaboration strategies and organization strategies.

On the retrieval scale (Restrepo et al., 2021) they are strategies to retrieve information, referring to everything that favors how to search for data in your memory and how to generate your own answers, considering search strategies that are conditioned to how you they organize knowledge in memory and its final codification. The relevance of these "schemes" (knowledge and abstract structures) then integrate the search fields executed by the individual, being coherent to function in the coding.

The support scale (Restrepo et al., 2021) is made up of strategies to carry out and process all the information in its natural processes, through metacognition, storing it, improving it or keeping it unproductive or deforming the functional sequence in the cognitive aspect of learning. The support strategies guide and increase the potential in the Acquisition (scale I) of Encoding (scale II) and Recovery (scale III), motivating and generating self-esteem and attracting attention that allows ensuring a precise environment for the proper functioning and integration of the entire cognitive system.

Regarding academic performance (García, Miranda & Romero, 2022), knowledge is regulated by participating variables such as the use of technology in the face of the teacher's incentive to generate better student achievement at a quantitative level. Likewise, as attributed by Martínez et al. (2020), has the dynamics between the expectation of the teaching work and the satisfaction of the student's effort. In the first place, the teacher assumes the classroom with expectations of achievement indicators that allow him to meet the profile of the graduated student, as well as obtaining basic skills or specialty skills. Academic performance is multicausal (Céspedes et al., 2022) affected by various factors, both personal and institutional. These factors can be: biological such as genetics or psychological such as intelligence, personality, emotional factors, level of motivation, learning style or learning strategies.

The problematic situation consists of how students identify their learning strategies, which favor or limit their academic performance in a private confessional university, which does affect learning in their undergraduate training. The objective of the research is to determine the relationship between Learning Strategies and academic performance in students of the first three cycles of the Administration School of a private confessional university.

Two benefits to participants have been considered. First, it allows students to maximize their comprehension skills in their specialty knowledge. In addition, they will have references of how their learning strategies are in apprehension and recovery, which would favor their academic performance according to the parameters of pass and fail, favoring the fulfillment of their academic credits and thus endorsing the improvement of their future professional performance in the society.

Secondly, it provides support to the tutoring team, who would assume psycho-pedagogical strategies to treat their students in a better way. Teaching support processes, such as academic tutoring, seek to minimize weaknesses in the understanding and evaluation of knowledge in general courses and specialty courses, in order to meet the profile of the graduate of the professional school selected in our research. The scope occurs when working with academic tutoring in the difficulties that can be minimized in the course of undergraduate training.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Regarding materials, the questionnaire called the Adaptation, Coding, Recovery and Support (ACRA) scale was used, consisting of 119 items, which are subdivided into factors to facilitate the collection of information on the variables studied and has validity and reliability according to your manual. The grades were obtained by having access to the final record of grades for the courses studied during the semester.

The hypothetical-deductive method was used as a general method, and specifically the statistical method (Creswell, 2018), because they were adjusted to the reality and time of the students, to whom the surveys and the collection of cycle notes were implemented. The population consisted of 180 students, enrolled in three subjects: University Work Methodology (60 participants), Communication II (60 participants) and National Reality (60 participants). The students are from the first three cycles of the Administration School of a private confessional university which was applied in a census. The inclusion criteria were: students belonging to the subject of University Work Methodology, Communication II and National Reality, in the academic semester; students who agree to be part of the study and sign the informed consent; students who are studying for the first time the subjects included in the research; regular undergraduate students; students who are in good health.

Ethical observation: the due administrative process of informed consent was complied with with each of the participants.

The main limitation in the investigation process was referred to the administrative processes according to the current formats. This limitation was resolved by complying with due administrative process and in accordance with current official documents provided by the university.

RESULTS

The analysis is detailed below, according to our investigation of the university organization selected to test the hypotheses formulated. The Spearman's Rho statistical correlation test was used, since the data to be correlated does not resemble the shape of the normal distribution, the results of which are shown in the following tables.

H: The application of ACRA Learning Strategies has a direct correlation with the academic performance of students in the first three cycles belonging to the Administration School of a private confessional university.

Six tables resulting from the research are described below (tables 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6).

Table 1- Correlation between ACRA learning strategies and academic performance

According to Spearman's Rho 0.821, a high positive correlation is indicated and according to the scale obtained whose value is p-0.000, which is less than the level of significance 0.01, I can confirm the General Hypothesis, that the application of ACRA Learning Strategies have direct relationship with the academic performance of the students of the first three cycles, belonging to the Administration School of a private confessional university.

H1: if there is a relationship between the Acquisition Strategies and the pass-fail rate and credits in students of the first three cycles of the School of Administration of a private confessional university.

Table 2- Correlation between the acquisition scale and academic performance

According to Spearman's Rho 0.777, a high positive correlation is indicated and, according to the scale obtained whose value is p-0.000, which is less than the level of significance 0.01, I can confirm the Specific Hypothesis H 1 that the application of the _Scale of Acquisition is directly related to the academic performance of students in the first three cycles belonging to the Administration School of a private confessional university.

H₂: if there is a relationship between the Coding Strategies and the pass-fail rate and credits in students of the first three cycles of the Administration School of a private confessional university.

Table 3- Correlation between the coding scale and academic performance

According to Spearman's Rho 0.035, a very low positive correlation is indicated and according to the scale obtained whose value is p-0.882, which is greater than the level of significance of 0.05, I can reject the Specific Hypothesis H 2 that there is _no relationship between the Coding Strategies and the pass-fail rate and credits of the students of the first three cycles belonging to the School of Administration of a private confessional university.

H₃: sqi there is a relationship between the Recovery Strategies and the pass-fail rate and credits in students of the first three cycles of the Administration School of a private confessional university.

Table 4- Correlation between the recovery scale and academic performance

₃ can be confirmed that the application Recovery Scale is directly related to the academic performance of students in the first three cycles belonging to the Administration School of a private confessional university.

H ₄ : if there is a relationship between the Support Strategies and the pass-fail rate and credits in students of the first three cycles of the Administration School of a private confessional university.

Table 5- Correlation between the support scale and academic performance

The value -p 0.503 obtained is greater than the level of significance of 0.05; therefore, the null hypothesis is not rejected, determining that the proportion of students whose opinion is in favor of Specific Hypothesis H ₄ that there is a direct relationship between support strategies and the pass-fail rate and student credits. Therefore, the existence of Support Strategies cannot be accurately determined; It could, however, be said that there are indications of no pass-fail rate and credits in students, as expressed by 60% of students.

Table 6- Performance Frequencies

7.2% have a low level of academic performance 0-10, 75.6% the medium level 11-17 and only 17.2% between 18-20 high levels. Students are in a medium level of management of their grades through the use of learning strategies.

DISCUSSION

The research demonstrated the direct correlation between learning strategies and academic performance in the curricular experiences of the University Work Methodology, Communication II and National Reality subjects in students of the first three cycles of the School of Business Administration of a denominational university. private. The results found confirmed that the ACRA Scale (Román and Gallego, 2008) is relevant for students of the first three cycles of Business Administration in the undergraduate program of a private confessional university. The results of the Acquisition Scale, which contains seven factors and 20 items; the Coding Scale, with 12 factors and 46 items; the Recovery Scale, which has four factors and 18 items, and the Support Scale, which has nine factors and 35 items, make explicit how to link the academic needs of students.

In reference to the first cycle students of University Work Methodology, made up of 60 students, who were evaluated on the acquisition scale, the scores obtained at the high level are minimal; Thus, in the first cycle it was 3.3%, although the average grade was 13, it is evident that the review aloud and the mental review (Román and Gallego, 2008) occur with a greater incidence during the partial or final evaluations, because they are of incidence in their final average of curricular experience of the first cycle of a Peruvian confessional university. The mental review is usually repeated in each of the participants, which evidenced the need to reinforce their learning by sitting down, before the evaluations, looking at their notebooks or reprints. For its part, the review aloud was evidenced by repeating in a whisper before the evaluations the concepts or applications of the subjects taught as a result of their experience in the previous educational level (Chiecher & Bossolasco, 2021).

Likewise, in the coding scale they only reached 13.3%, which determined that during the practical weeks in classroom sessions, the students apply the grouping to establish similarities or differences in the categories or displacements, from the theory, to their respective application in social contexts; the use of applications or exercises, both group and personal, considered readings of the syllabus or readings selected by the teacher to be read, and discussed during the sessions. On the other hand, the use of self-questions to redound and minimize possible errors in the conceptualizations, applications or results of classroom work during the school year, in which theory and practice were contrasted, favored reflection and decision-making generated by successful experiences. previous.

Also, in the recovery scale only 3.3% was obtained, which revealed the use of response planning (Román and Gallego, 2008); that is to say, they assumed by consensus of majority or simple matter the best answer alternatives, evaluating their academic and social relevance, and the search for clues (Román and Gallego, 2008) through the use of the applications of their mobile phones, which linked to links to magazines or business administration texts

On the support scale they reached 3.3% using self-knowledge (Román and Gallego, 2008), which induced the student to respond safely to their own doubts in the classroom; likewise, self-management or regulation (Román and Gallego, 2008) for which they assertively assume a coherent position, even when there is pressure from classmates to change the decision of the final report in each learning session.

In reference to the students of the second cycle of Communication II, it was evaluated that in the acquisition scale the low level was 86.7%, which evidenced the regression of learning strategies, even when the students approve the curricular experience.

He highlighted the use of the epigraph strategy (Román and Gallego, 2008), which consisted of titling the main or secondary ideas is an infrequent practice during class sessions, rather they were recovered during partial evaluations and final exams. Then, linear underlining (Román and Gallego, 2008) with thick lines, one line or double line was infrequent, given by reprints or mobile phones when highlighting with applications of different colors. This is how the strategies were applied according to the academic need of the student. Thus, the students of the second cycle optimized their academic base in favor of better averages (Céspedes et al., 2022).

intra-content relationships and paraphrasing (Román and Gallego, 2008). In the first case, extrapolating the contents of administration through casuistry requires interconnections at an epistemological, methodological and ontological level, for which the student enters into a contradiction between what is and should be to ensure his margin of anxiety within academic procedures, assuming a winning position, without considering its moral or legal implications. Then, in the second case, when they are asked to write the texts in a descriptive way (paraphrase) they usually change the beginning or the end of the text to be treated as a reflection. In addition, they highlighted the examples elaborated in an identical way, without considering the subject, the action and the consequence, which were possible to paraphrase. It is necessary to make the student listen to himself so that he improves his academic construction in favor of the course averages.

In the recovery scale, the low level was 90%, since the students resorted with difficulty to the written response and search for codings (Román and Gallego, 2008). Thus, in the first, writing an explanatory text of five lines was a work of seven weeks before the partial. During the midterms and finals, they insisted on writing short three-line texts without an introduction, explanation and closing, which led to doing writing exercises during the course in classroom workshops. Searching for codings because they were conventional required effort, because in the context of word-of-mouth marketing they had to distinguish between the customer and the user before a product, good or service, which demanded the exercise of casuistry by sessions in order to establish commercial differences at an epistemological level. It was necessary for the student to assume his physical or technological limitations in favor of his weighted grades (Céspedes et al., 2022)

On the support scale, they reached 100% low level such as motivation and self-control (Román and Gallego, 2008) who ensured their participation in the classroom. The first was the product of being a second cycle student, recognizing the obligation to pass their courses and have a beneficial average in their weighted average. The second was self-control in group work with their peers and in their actions before the teacher to ensure favorable support at the time of the public evaluation in the classroom.

In reference to the students of the third cycle of national reality, it was found that in the acquisition scale the low level was 83.3%, where exploration and particular underlining are established (Román and Gallego, 2008). In the first, they handle exploration better because they have some expertise in specialized vocabulary, due to their one-year stay at the university. The underlining responded to their individual ways of understanding the applications of the specialty in academic and empirical contexts. If they made an effort to comply with the evaluation times, they obtain better results in academic performance (Najarro, 2020).

On the coding scale, they reached 56.7% at the intermediate level, where metaphors and concept maps were found (Román and Gallego, 2008). Thus, in the first place, the use of metaphors requires a vocabulary minimizing doubts, confusion and ambiguities so that metaphors derived from specialized texts can be used. Students need academic challenges in the classroom to carry out activities that encourage them to make an effort in favor of their grades (López, Agüero & Jiménez, 2021). The students, unaware of the academic term, gave different answers from the context of the specialty. Second, concept maps require a conventional construction process; then, each student assumes a coherent variant in their studies. However, they were unaware of the design, the conditions of the categories attached to the ellipses, the distribution by levels and the conventional exceptions, which is why they obtained minimum scores in the classroom work during the cycle. Thus, an effort is required from the student to have better grades in favor of their final score in the average of curricular experience during the pandemic (UNESCO and the International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2020).

On the recovery scale, they reached 91.7% at the low level, since they resorted to written responses and search for codings with difficulty (Román and Gallego, 2008). The first was a constant in students, who do not write according to the canons of syntax and morphosyntax, which is evidenced in classroom experiences during the cycle. Secondly, it was necessary for the students to elaborate their codings in a consensual manner because it creates problems when they transcribe the preliminary document of the group secretary, who writes the final report in classes, which decreased their grades, affecting their academic performance.

On the support scale, social interactions and extrinsic and intrinsic motivation (Román and Gallego, 2008) in the classroom reached 100% at the low level. In case one, a conviction of presentation of group academic papers without review of the members was established; if it is personal, it is assumed that it is good because it is original, to the detriment of the epistemological categories used in the final work. In the second case, the extrinsic motivations are the support for the continuity of the academic work; however, its compliance does not ensure an optimal product, generating low academic performance (Ríos, 2022).

The findings are linked to the theory of Román and Gallego (2008) regarding learning strategies directly. However, the media should emphasize that they were only applied to students of mother tongue in Spanish, which opens up their future application in other intercultural contexts. The limitations of the acquisition, codification, recovery and support strategies were evaluated based on being urban in the private sector of Lima; It is necessary to expand the research in other populations of the country.

As a conclusion, we can state that the application of ACRA Learning Strategies has a high positive correlation with the academic performance of students in the first three cycles belonging to the Administration School of a private confessional university, according to the value obtained from Spearman's Rho 0.821. (General Hypothesis).

The application of learning strategies in the acquisition scale has a high positive correlation with the academic performance of students in the first three cycles belonging to the School of Administration of a private confessional university, according to the value obtained from Spearman's Rho 0.777 (Specific Hypothesis H₁).

The application of learning strategies in the coding scale has a very low positive correlation with the academic performance of students in the first three cycles belonging to the School of Administration of a private confessional university, according to the value obtained from Spearman's Rho 0.035 (Hypothesis Specific H₂).

The application of Learning Strategies in the Recovery Scale has a high positive correlation with the academic performance of students in the first three cycles belonging to the Administration School of a Peruvian confessional university, according to the value obtained from Spearman's Rho 0.763 (Specific Hypothesis H₃₎ .

The application of learning strategies in the support scale is not related to the pass-fail rate and credits in students of the first three cycles belonging to the Administration School of a private confessional university, according to the value obtained from Spearman's Rho 0.503 (Specific Hypothesis H₄).

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Conflict of interests:

The authors declare not to have any interest conflicts.

Contribution of the authors:

The authors participated in the design and writing of the work, and analysis of the documents.

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