| dc.description.abstract | In recent years learning strategies have become
one of the topics that aroused great interest
among scholars in the field of educational
psychology. This interest has determined them to
conduct researches focused on exploring their
impact on the academic achievement, the
learning of a second language and their link with
the teaching style. Nonetheless, less attention
has been paid to other aspects that can explain
their development during secondary education.
This study aims to know if the use level of the
learning strategies varies according to the grade,
gender and the type of school that students
attend. Therefore we applied a Learning
Strategies Questionnaire to a total of 355
secondary students (185 boys, 170 girls) of the
first (n= 157) and fourth grade (n=198) from six
schools with different ownership –public, private
and State subsidised– in Lugo (Spain). Our
results reveal that students have an adequate
level of learning strategies. Notwithstanding, first
graders show a higher global competence of
their use than fourth graders (p˂.001).
Concretely, the first ones obtain higher levels in
the scales of motivation (p˂.001), attitude
(p˂.05),
thought
formulation
(p˂.001),
transference (p˂.001), critical thinking (p˂.001),
reflexion (p˂.01), planning (p˂.001) and
evaluation (p˂.05). On the other hand, male
students reflect better emotional control than
female (p˂.001). In contrast, female students
show a better level of organization (p˂.001) and
evaluation (p˂.01). Lastly, students in public
schools show a lower general competence level
in the use of their learning strategies than their
counterparts in State subsidised (p˂.01) and
private schools (p˂.05). We can conclude that
secondary students’ learning strategies worsen
as they advance in their academic path. These
data indicate that teachers not only rethink their
pedagogical practices, but they also review the
didactical materials employed in their classes;
mainly in public schools. Besides, it would be
convenient to carry out concrete actions in order
to improve the learning strategies, e.g. through
workshops on study techniques. In this case, the
person in charge bears in mind that students,
according to their gender, have different
necessities and should conduct personalized
actions taking into account their particular gaps. | es |
