Autoeficacia para el aprendizaje de la investigación en estudiantes universitarios

The aim of this study was to analyze the university students’ self-efficacy for learning how to conduct research and how these ideas interact with their conceptions about research. The sample was made up of 1,304 students from Universidad Técnica de Machala, Ecuador. A questionnaire about self-efficacy for learning how to conduct research was applied to these students. The results of this study show that the ideas of self-efficacy are being formed. Students see research as a requirement for continuing their professional career; therefore, it is from that idea that research is conceived more as product than as a process. There exists a relative interest and confidence in conducting research. As a result, it has been determined that ideas of efficacy in the linear model do not change the research notions that university students have. It was also found that university social representations determine the strength and direction of personal beliefs in the ability to learn how to conduct research.