No abstract

Numerous studies have been conducted to explore students' employment of motivational and self-regulated learning strategies (SRL). Research highlights the importance of having motivated students equipped with strategies that help them selfregulate their learning, this being highly important when learning is acquired through online learning programs. Nonetheless, such research has been scarce with Vocational Education and Training (VET) students; this is the gap in the literature this paper aims to address. The article analyzes the degree to which VET students employ motivational and SRL strategies by comparing them according to the learning mode chosen. To achieve this, a quantitative approach was adopted to carry out a cross-sectional study. A total of 577 first-year VET students responded to an online questionnaire based on some of the motivational and SRL strategies scale included in Pintrich's model. Statistical analyses were applied to test two hypotheses. Pintrich's model was validated through a confirmatory factor analysis considering its application to Catalan VET students for the first time. The results reveal significant differences between classroom and online students in terms of levels of metacognitive self-regulation and effort regulation when starting a VET program. However, this difference might not be entirely explained by the learning mode chosen. The findings of this study will provide VET researchers and practitioners with a greater understanding of their students' characteristics when starting the program and the means to develop strategies that ensure their engagement throughout the course.

Secondary school is a high-risk academic period for young immigrants from disadvantaged environments. Despite this, some students are successful in their transition to post-16 education. The present study examines the relationship between resilience and completing school in immigrant young people in Spain. A mixed method design was followed. Ninety-four students in their fourth year of compulsory education participated; they included 19 different nationalities. Results of this study suggest that students who continue their studies beyond obligatory education have higher levels of resilience. The findings also suggest the activation of the relational dimension of 'social capital' in young people. Factors such as academic self-concept, the presence of peers as models of school success and the social capital available in their networks are also relevant.

Este estudio presenta el efecto de las metodologías narrativas para el fomento del pensamiento reflexivo en la construcción del conocimiento y el desarrollo competencial de los estudiantes de los Grados de Maestro de la Universidad de Barcelona. Se ha utilizado un método mixto con un diseño de triangulación que combina técnicas complementarias: un cuestionario sobre el pensamiento reflexivo autoadministrado a 215 alumnos/as de dos asignaturas obligatorias y grupos de discusión para profundizar en la narrativa del proceso, la vivencia y la satisfacción del aprendizaje por parte del alumnado. El tratamiento de los datos se ha llevado a cabo mediante la triangulación de técnicas estadísticas y procedimientos de análisis de datos cualitativos para la profundización secuencial de la información. Se concluye que la escritura y el relato reflexivos favorecen una relación pensante con lo que hace el estudiante, y requieren de su autorregulación y actitud proactiva en un proceso de aprendizaje participativo-guiado donde se auto-y-co-forma. El uso de actividades basadas en la reflexión también contribuye a aumentar la conciencia del sentido del aprendizaje, el esfuerzo por aprender y a valorar diferentes puntos de vista. En el plano de la enseñanza implican un cambio de enfoque hacia una docencia orientada al aprendizaje, con nuevos espacios donde el soporte y la retroalimentación integrados en la evaluación formativa cobran una gran relevancia y requieren mayor tiempo que en situaciones de enseñanza-aprendizaje tradicional.

This article describes an intervention aimed at fostering reflective thinking in order to investigate its impact in the learning process and competences development of two groups of second-year students on the Early Childhood Education Degree at the University of Barcelona. The design of the study was based on experimental parameters which we characterise here as quasi-experimental with a quasi-control group. The apparatuses used were narrative approaches as vehicles for reflection on students' own activities. A self-administered questionnaire (with closed and open written responses) assessed the effects of the intervention. The resulting data were analysed with triangulated statistical techniques (lexicometry and bivariate statistics). Our findings confirm that reflective thinking through narratives is valuable for the meaningful understanding of knowledge and its reinterpretation from the standpoint of students' self-regulation of their own learning.