E. Marchena Consejero1, 2, A.M. Araujo Hoyos1, 2, C. Romero Lopez Alberca1, 2, I. Menacho Jimenez1, M.M. López Sinoga2, M. Aguilar

Villagrán1, J.I. Navarro Guzmán1

1 Departamento de Psicología. Facultad Ciencias de la Educación. Universidad de Cádiz

2 Servicio de Atención Psicológica y Psicopedagógica, UCAsap@uca.es

INTRODUCTION (1).The promotion of an optimal environment for the

development of the new curriculum established by the implementation of the European Higher Education Area implies the need for new responses from our universities.

In this context, we must place the establishment of “guidance, reception and support systems for students on the new degree programmes at the University of Cadiz (UCA)" which involves the development of an innovation project by the Psychological and Counselling Service (SAP) in collaboration with other units at the university. This project has led to the establishment of the Learning Support Programme (hereafter PAA)

INTRODUCTION (2).SAP, in collaboration with the UCA Library Resource

Centre for Learning and Research, have created an open space for the effective integration of resources and services offered.

This programme falls within the framework of the initiative known as "learning commons”, or learning spaces, previously adopted in other national and international universities (e.g. http://www.bcit.ca/learningcommons/), which seek to achieve effective collaboration between the interests of students and libraries to support study both inside and outside the classroom. The objective of the learning space focuses not on helping students to "manage" information, but rather to help them "manage" their learning.

METHOD (1).

ParticipantsThe PAA has involved 16 teachers during the

first semester of the 2010/2011 academic year including lecturers and researchers from the Departments of Psychology and Didactics, as well as professionals from the UCA Library. A total of 395 students attended 45 sessions. We collected 301 screenings and 362 assessment questionnaires from the workshops.

METHOD (2).Materials A-Survey of Student Satisfaction with the Learning Support Program. It consists of 15 items that assess, through a Likert scale of 5 categories, the level of student satisfaction with the workshops. B-Self-registration of Learning Skills. 13 screening-type self-reports were designed to collect students’ self-perceived levels of competence in each skill included in the PAA. C-Leaflets on key issues related to Learning Skills. This is a set of 14 leaflets that are intended to serve as an aid to understanding the nature of the variables that can improve students’ academic performance as well as guiding and advising teachers in tutoring.

METHOD (3).PROCEDUREThe PAA is divided into thirteen workshops related to the thirteen selected learning skillsThe workshops are divided into two levels: Level I: Basic (NI) and Level II: Advanced (NII). They are free of charge and voluntary (without the recognition of free credits) in the afternoon, and on different days of the week to cover the maximum range of options for students.Students interested in the PAA could enroll for any workshop through a computer application designed for this purpose.

METHOD (4).PROCEDUREThey were carried out in small groups (maximum 20 participants) in the learning spaces at the Puerto Real, Cadiz and Jerez libraries. Each workshop followed a standard methodology: 1) completion of self-registration of skills screening questionnaire, 2) theoretical and practical content, 3) evaluation of the activity through an opinion questionnaire. Both questionnaires were conducted online through the Moodle platform at the University of Cadiz.

METHOD (5).Organization and structure of the

workshopsThe PAA is divided into thirteen workshops

related to the thirteen selected learning skills, organization and time management, use and management of information, basic computer skills, analysis and synthesis, attention and memory, information search and registration, reading skills, self-control, written communication, oral communication skills, writing scientific papers, teamwork, and motivation.

RESULTS (1)Opinion Questionnaire on the Learning Support

Programme (N = 362) Frequency table p2, p3, p4, p5,p6,p7,p8,p9 and p10

Level of Acceptance f p2 f p3 f p4 f p5 f p6 f p7 f p8 f p9 f p10

1. Not at all 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 12. Not very 17 6 3 5 18 4 0 4 03. Slightly 60 29 11 48 63 23 18 23 254. Fairly 141 132 85 119 113 112 67 120 1015. Very 142 195 263 189 164 223 277 215 235Total general 362 362 362 362 362 362 362 362 362

p2. Appropriacy, timing and quantity of prior informationp3. Registration and admission systemp4. Appropriacy of venue and resources usedp5. Appropriacy of dates offeredp6. Appropriacy of timetablingp7. General ratingp8. Teacher ratingp9. Materials ratingp10. Interest and transferability of content

RESULTS (2)Self-reporting screening for the Learning Skills (N

= 232)

The screening for each workshop shows students’ level of competence in the skills involved:  Time Management and Organization: 64.3% of female students and 40% of male students demonstrated an appropriate level of competence in these skills.

Use and management of information: library resources:  8.3% of female students and 100% of male students were not proficient in the use and management of information.

RESULTS (3)Analysis and Synthesis: All participants scored within

the area of medium difficulty in this competence.Attention and memory: 85.7% of students scored

inadequately in this area.Linguistic competence: reading skills: 66.66% of

females and 50% of males need training in reading strategies.

Self-control and relaxation techniques: The male scores in "motor manifestations" reflect less interference from anxiety than girls. Girls also showed higher levels than boys in “cognitive manifestations”.

RESULTS (4)Linguistic competence: written

communication: The variable with the highest percentage of students (64.86%) with an inadequate level was "attitude to writing."

Oral communication skills: 64.28% of women and 50% of men reflect average difficulties in oral communication skills. 

Writing scientific papers: 62.5% of all students attending the workshop showed acceptable levels in this competence.

RESULTS (5)Teamwork: The variable with the highest

percentage of students (85.35%) with a score classifying them as inadequately skilled was "social climate”.

Motivation: No student obtained a score lower than 32, the cut-off point implying inadequate skill levels.

DISCUSSION(1)

The most popular workshops were "Linguistic Competence: Written Communication" (17.21%), "Self-Control and Relaxation Techniques" (16.45%) and "Attention and Memory” (12.91%). In this regard we note that, sometimes, detected deficits did not coincide with student demand. For example, the workshop on "Analysis and Synthesis" had an attendance rate of 7.6% and the screening for 100% of the group showed scores below the acceptable level. 

DISCUSSION(2)Finally, we would like to stress that for future editions of the PAA  improvements should be added with regard to the assessment of the impact of such training on the overall performance of students, thus enabling us to  identify more clearly and precisely the use and  generalization of these learning strategies.