Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023)

Time management practices allow users to meet their needs and pursue their goals within set deadlines. At university, time management is an important factor in promoting academic adaptation and good mental health. This article is based on a time management workshop for higher education students conducted over two years. A total of 17 students from public (n = 14) and private (n = 3) universities participated in the workshop, with a mean age of 28.4 years (SD = 15.3), of whom 14 were women. A Descending Hierarchical Classification (CHD) was employed using the software Iramuteq to analyze the participants’ conceptions about different time management strategies (both previously adopted and newly acquired), the difficulties involved in using them, and the lack of opportunities to implement them. The results revealed difficulties in relation to meeting deadlines for academic tasks, avoiding distractions, procrastination and maintaining study-life balance. The findings highlight the importance of providing students with spaces to accommodate their time management needs during their time at university.

Academic performance is influenced by multiple variables, including learning strategies. Learning strategies are conscious, intentional mechanisms used to process, encode and retrieve information with the intention of applying and transferring it to the achievement of a learning goal. The aim of this research was to analyse the impact that the use of learning strategies has on the academic performance of university students. The data for the study were collected using a non-experimental quantitative survey approach, based on a sample of 639 first-year students from the Faculty of Education at the University of La Laguna and the Faculty of Education Sciences at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The survey was conducted using an adapted version of the Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Learning Strategies of University Students (CEVEAPEU). Academic performance was assessed based on students’ average mark at the end of the first four-month period. The results revealed significant differences in academic performance based on students’ use of cognitive, metacognitive and resource-management learning strategies. The findings point to possible ways to educate and orient students with regard to learning skills and strategies as a determining factor in lowering drop-out rates and boosting academic performance.

This work presents a descriptive, cross-sectional, qualitative study of the problem-solving procedures used by a group of first-year university students in response to a specific set of quantitative reasoning (QR) problems. The aim of the research is to analyze the students’ responses to the problems posed in order to assess their quantitative reasoning performance and determine if it matches the expected construct, according to which QR problems are associated with the analysis processes necessary for their resolution (namely, generalization, exemplification and validation). The sample for the study consisted of a group of 20 first-year university students (mean age 19.85 ± 0.81 years). The data were obtained from a single data collection from each subject in the form of a cognitive interview during the completion of a university admissions test comprising eight QR problems. Prior to testing, the problems were assessed by experts and associated with a series of analysis processes and procedures (analysis categories) necessary for their resolution. The think-aloud protocol analysis of the interviews revealed that the procedures associated with each analysis process coincided in most instances with the processes and procedures predicted by the experts. The findings of the study offer valuable insights for QR assessment test developers.

Vaccination is an important preventive measure to reduce the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in terms of morbidity, mortality and hospitalisation. Furthermore, it can play an important role in the return to ‘normality’ on university campuses. This study analyses attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and their relationship with the intention to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine among university students. A cross-sectional study was carried out in March 2021 with a convenience sample of 238 students at a Brazilian higher education institution. The data for the study were collected using an online questionnaire comprising information on sociodemographic data, a scale of attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19 vaccine, and a question about intention to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine. The students surveyed revealed a high intention to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine when offered. Students who showed more positive general attitudes towards vaccination and weaker beliefs that vaccination would cause adverse effects or be unsafe were found to be more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. This type of information is essential for universities in order to invest in campaigns to debunk misconceptions about the side effects of the vaccine.

Based on bioecological and resilience theory, this study analysed to what extent the perception of a set of protective factors (social skills, family support and school climate) differs according to sociodemographic characteristics such as gender and school failure of 6th grade students. Data were collected from a sample of 448 students from public schools in the state of Rio de Janeiro using the Short Version of Inventory of Social Skills for Adolescents, the Scale of Childhood Perception of Support for the Family Environment, the School Climate Questionnaire and the Questionnaire with demographic information. The main results of the statistical analysis indicated differences in self-control and affective approach between boys and girls, and that students with no experience of school failure reported more affective family support. The findings of the study offer important implications for future research and for educational programmes aimed at adolescents.

The aim of this study is to identify the meanings attributed to Project-Based Learning (PBL) by university psychology students in relation to the activities involved, effort required and learning acquired in a blended learning environment prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the distance learning substitute implemented during lockdown. The study uses a qualitative-phenomenological methodology to examine the participants’ experience of both modalities. The data were obtained from the discourse of 130 university psychology students: 67 blended and 63 distance. The analysis consisted of thematic coding based on a book of emergent categories and subcategories. The findings show that students in both modalities learned a range of different content, skills, knowledge and abilities through their project. More research is required to examine the impact of learning modality and PBL teacher experience.

Anxiety disorders and depression have increased as a result of COVID-19. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of the pandemic and gender on death imagery, death anxiety and attitudes towards death among a group of high school adolescents. A month before the beginning of the pandemic, tests measuring death imagery, death anxiety and attitudes towards death were handed out to 195 participants, and 134 participants took the same tests three years later, right after the end of the pandemic. The comparison of pre- and post-pandemic scores shows no significant differences in death imagery or death anxiety between the two. After the pandemic, participants showed higher Approach Acceptance (AA) and Neutral Acceptance (NA), while women were found to experience more Fear of Death (FD) and higher Escape Acceptance (EA) than men. Results are explained considering the times at which the tests were taken as well as the participants’ characteristics.

The practice of mindfulness has been shown to be associated with executive functions and enhanced socioemotional skills in childhood. Despite the potential benefits, however, there are still few structured programs in Brazil that may be implemented in a school context. The aim of this study is to carry out a cultural adaptation of the Kindness Curriculum for Preschoolers, a mindfulness-based program designed to improve socioemotional skills among preschoolers, for use in Brazilian public schools. The lessons of the original program were translated and adapted to Brazilian Portuguese and piloted in a Brazilian public school with the participation of 19 children aged 5-6 years, and their legal guardians and teachers. Feasibility was assessed through qualitative analysis of the verbal reports collected in meetings with the teachers. The possible impact of the program on emotional regulation skills, empathy, inhibitory control and theory of mind was analyzed using neuropsychological and behavioral assessments of the children before and after the pilot. The results reveal indicators of adequate feasibility of the adapted version, as well as improvement in measures of empathy and inhibitory control. Future studies, such as clinical trials, will be necessary to better investigate the program’s effectiveness.

Family background and educational intervention: Understanding students’ socio-historical circumstances highlights and examines the need for schools to take into account the family background of pupils at risk of social exclusion. The book explores how family, teachers and schools can work together to pool and exchange valuable knowledge and educational resources. The theoretical analysis is accompanied by practical examples of educational actions in different countries and contexts, as well as an experience designed and implemented by the authors in a local context.

Children and young people spend most of their time in the school context in the company of their peers. For this reason, schools must be familiar with the tools needed to teach and promote coexistence and must integrate that teaching into the rest of the school’s activities in a programmed and systematic way. To achieve this, schools must first define the skills students need in order to learn to interact with each other appropriately. Restorative coexistence teaches us to learn from conflicts and live together in harmony, and how to unite groups, resolve disagreements, communicate effectively and build community through dialogue.

Artificial intelligence, and in particular ChatGPT (a type of large language model developed by OpenAI), has been introduced into education as a way to improve learning and interaction in the classroom. ChatGPT is capable of processing and understanding natural language and adapting to students’ learning speeds, and can be used as a tool for class preparation, student feedback and assessment, and the creation of digital and interactive educational resources. Several studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in improving academic performance and student motivation. However, proper implementation of ChatGPT requires appropriate training and consideration of certain limitations and challenges.