University Of Chile Research Articles

Adaptation and Validation of the Perception of Anomie Scale in Chilean University Students.

The Perception of Anomie Scale (PAS) is a measure used to evaluate the state of society and whether it is disintegrated and deregulated. Although widely used, the psychometric properties of reliability, validity, and measurement invariance according to sex have not been studied in the Chilean university population. To explore these properties, a cross-sectional study was carried out with 383 students from public (45.7%) and private (54.3%) universities, with a mean age of 21.5 years (SD = 3.3). A CFA and ESEM were performed, which confirmed the two-factor correlated structure, achieving better goodness-of-fit indices by eliminating five items (RMSEA = 0.09; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.95). This also provided evidence of reliability and measurement invariance according to sex. This study provides evidence of the psychometric quality of the PAS scale, thus allowing its use in the Chilean university context.

Learning-oriented motivation: Examining the impact of teaching practices with motivational potential.

This study compares the predictive ability of nine different types of motivational practices on the motivational orientation toward learning. Given the nature of undergraduate studies, identifying the most predictive motivational variables on learning orientation allows us to focus our efforts on those motivational practices to guide students to deploy their cognitive resources by focusing on learning and not only on obtaining good grades. The study included Chilean university students from health (n = 398) and education (n = 365) programs. A Bayesian multiple regression was carried out in both groups. The results show strong evidence of a specific effect of motivational practices on motivational orientation towards learning. Although the impact on motivational orientation toward learning may vary slightly across different fields of study, the primary predictors consistently are practices that emphasize importance and foster autonomy. The effect of utility-focused motivational practices is observed only within the predictive model for the group of health students.

Internationalization and disciplinary differences: Tensions in the academic career in Chilean universities

AbstractThis article broadens the knowledge about the experience of academics in relation to how the internationalization of research has changed in a southern country and tensions that have risen depending on the different disciplines. This work resulted from interviews and documentary data collected mainly through semi‐structured interviews with 57 administrators (including University rectors, provosts, vice‐rectors and deans from multiple disciplines) who had been involved in developing the research strategies. Findings suggest that trends between disciplines differ notoriously. Publishing in foreign countries is more likely to happen to academics from hard sciences. Social sciences and humanities' research activities are often performed in books and book chapters. This translates into an initial disadvantage for social sciences in terms of internationalization since the result of their work is often less visible abroad than scientific indexed papers. This difference might be problematic if used as an indicator of academic productivity and recognition without considering disciplinary differences, especially in countries where research capacities and internationalization are still under development.

Cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the online learning climate scale for Chilean university students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed university teaching and learning formats, leading to a significant increase in online learning. Consequently, the crisis has facilitated the potential development of this educational modality. However, researchers need adapted and validated instruments to assess the online learning climate in universities. This study aimed to adapt and psychometrically validate the Online Learning Climate Scale (OLCS) for Chilean university students. Quantitative research was conducted with a non-experimental and cross-sectional, design executed in two phases: the first was oriented to the cultural adaptation of the instrument, and the second was focused on analyzing its psychometric properties in a sample of 491 university students. A translated and culturally adapted version was obtained, composed of 15 items distributed in a factorial structure composed of four dimensions that showed excellent adjustment to the data [χ2 (84) = 189.628; p < 0.001; CFI = 0.979; TLI = 0.973; RMSEA = 0.051 (IC90% 0.044-0.059); SRMR = 0.028]; internal consistency was estimated through Cronbach's alpha and ranged between 0.892 and 0.955, and strict invariance between men and women was achieved. The Online Learning Climate Scale (OLCS) is a valid and reliable measure for measuring the online learning climate within the Chilean higher education context so that it can be used both in research and in monitoring management programs in educational environments.

Regional inequalities among state universities in Chile: Perspectives on centralization and neoliberal development

Drawing on perspectives from top state-regional universities’ authorities (known as rectors) and public statistics on higher education, we discuss the sources of regional inequality in the Chilean university system. While there is scarce research on regional inequality for Chilean higher education, it is a well-recognized concern within global debates. In this study, the testimonies of rectors link perceptions of regional inequality to the historic, political, and managerial dimensions that have determined their institutions’ development. As the problem of regional inequality stems from a tradition of political centralization, the neoliberal transformations, imposed since 1981, were singled out by the rectors for institutionalizing patterns of marketization that reinforced “inequalities of origin” for state-regional universities. Since the 2000s, trends of massification, regulation, and student protests reshaped higher education, leading to sectorial reform in 2018. However, competitive disadvantages are seen to continue to hinder the public role of state-regional universities. Institutional development strategies emerged, under the direction of rectors, to compensate for such inequalities, differentiating between winners and losers of neoliberal higher education. This article characterizes the modes of reproduction and overcoming of regional inequalities among state universities under neoliberal policy.

Measuring and characterizing cyberbullying among Chilean university students

Measuring and characterizing cyberbullying among Chilean university students

Does Quality Matter? Quality Assurance in Research for the Chilean Higher Education System

This study analyzes the research quality assurance processes in Chilean universities. Data from 29 universities accredited by the National Accreditation Commission were collected. The relationship between institutional accreditation and research performance was analyzed using length in years of institutional accreditation and eight research metrics used as the indicators of quantity, quality, and impact of a university’s outputs at an international level. The results showed that quality assurance in research of Chilean universities is mainly associated with quantity and not with the quality and impact of academic publications. There was also no relationship between the number of publications and their quality, even finding cases with negative correlations. In addition to the above, the relationship between international metrics to evaluate research performance (i.e., international collaboration, field-weighted citation impact, and output in the top 10% citation percentiles) showed the existence of three clusters of heterogeneous composition regarding the distribution of universities with different years of institutional accreditation. These findings call for a new focus on improving regulatory processes to evaluate research performance and adequately promote institutions’ development and the effectiveness of their mission.

Satisfaction level and correlation between performance and self-evaluation of physical therapy students in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) designed to assess clinical reasoning

Introduction: The Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) is an instrument that allows evaluating clinical reasoning among physical therapy students, considering that knowing the correlation between their performance and their self-evaluation, as well as their level of satisfaction with this instrument, is essential. Objectives: To determine the correlation between performance and self-evaluation (perceived performance) of physical therapy students in an OSCE designed to assess clinical reasoning, and to evaluate their level of satisfaction with this instrument. Materials and methods: Analytical cross-sectional study conducted in 159 physical therapy students from a university in Chile who participated in an 11-station OSCE. Performance checklists and answer sheets were used for performance evaluation (passing score: 70% of the maximum score per station and in the OSCE). Two perception surveys were also used, one for self-evaluation of performance (for each station) and another to determine the students’ level of satisfaction with the OSCE. The correlation between performance in the OSCE (overall score, score by station, and score by type of station) and perceived performance was determined using the Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Results: The level of satisfaction with the OSCE was high in 57.23% of the students. The correlation between the total score in the OSCE and perceived performance was significant, but weak (Rho=0.31; p&lt;0.001). In students with a low satisfaction level with the OSCE, the correlation between performance and perceived performance was not significant (Rho=0.15; p=0.23), while in those with high satisfaction level it was significant and moderate (Rho=0.48; p&lt;0.001). Conclusions: Most students reported a high level of satisfaction with the OSCE. However, in most stations, the correlation between observed and perceived performance was weak and very weak.

Psychometric validation and gender invariance analysis of a revised version of the attitudes towards research scale (EACIN-23) in a Chilean university student sample

Psychometric validation and gender invariance analysis of a revised version of the attitudes towards research scale (EACIN-23) in a Chilean university student sample

What do STEM+ Students from Two Chilean Universities do with their Teachers’ Written Feedback Comments Recorded in their Drafts and how is this Related to their Final Grades?

Feedback is crucial for assessing and learning; thus, teachers usually provide written feedback comments (WCF) to students. The purpose of this study is to identify what students do with the written feedback in tasks from the STEM+ discipline area and how it is related to the result of their grades, identifying the type of genre in each discipline. Participants were 5 university teachers and 57 students studying marine biology, phono audiology, and nutrition who performed 671 actions in authentic materials previously given by teachers from an intact class categorized in a corpus analysis. For this reason, this research follows a correlational longitudinal non-experimental approach. To achieve the objectives, the study uses Gardner and Nesi’s genre theory (2012) for text classification and a modified version of Faigley and Witte’s taxonomy (1981) to compare the decisions made by students concerning feedback comments made by teachers. Thus, the study compares the initial and final versions of each text based on teacher comments and correlates these findings with students’ grades. Results of this study indicate a significant correlation between students’ adoption of feedback and their grades. Furthermore, the two main life sciences genres from Gardner and Nesi’s study (2012) were found in the corpus.

Exploring Democracy Beyond the State: Students’ Union Democracy in Chilean Colleges

Political scientists have studied state democracy for decades using sophisticated methods for conceptualization and measurement to evaluate the explanatory power of various theories. They have paid little attention, however, to democracy in nonstate political systems. This paper fills this gap by characterizing democracy in college student government and investigating the factors affecting the levels of students’ union democracy (SUD) in Chilean colleges. Utilizing concepts from political science and sociology, the study identifies different dimensions of SUD with data from 162 campuses in 2018. The dimensions are aggregated to build an index of democracy for students’ unions. Although the majority of Chilean university students attended colleges with democratic unions, our findings reveal a deficit in democratic student representation in most institutions. The article also draws from the comparative politics, trade union democracy, and higher education literatures to explore the factors that vary by institution that could explain differences in levels of SUD. Ordered logistic regression analyses suggest that SUD is associated with institutional quality, membership in inter-university organizations, and student body size and socioeconomic makeup. The results increase our understanding of the features, status, and correlates of democracy beyond the state.

Tutorias universitárias em períodos de interrupção acadêmica: um relato a partir da experiência

ABSTRACT The social crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic represent periods of academic interruption that will affect the learning of Higher Education. Given this panorama, university tutors will acquire relevance as a strategy to be able to face this crisis and allow an exchange of experiences and emotions. The objective of this report is to present a tutorial strategy developed between the years of 2019 and 2020, in the context of an academic and psychoeducational support program of a state university in Chile. This strategy consists of six phases: (1) Initial meeting; (2) Diagnosis; (3) Planning; (4) Implementation; (5) Evaluation; (6) Close the process. The development of this proposal demonstrated the emotions importance, dialogue and the valorization of the student’s experience in their learning process and adaptation to the university. In addition, it provides an action framework for academic and psychoeducational support linked to university tutoring programs.

Employment of accounting professionals: A descriptive analysis for Chile

Purpose: The objective is to descriptively analyze the employment of accounting professionals from a university in Chile, contrasting their situation with the national average.Methodology: The analysis employed frequency distribution tables, contingency tables, Chi-square tests, and correlation coefficients. Data were obtained from a survey administered to 184 accounting graduates between 2012 and 2021 from a university in Chile.Results: The findings indicate that employability is higher among graduates from the studied university; however, their gross income is lower compared to the national average.Implications: The results are useful for improving aspects of the curriculum to better align with current and future labor market trends for accounting professionals. Additionally, it calls for an exploration of the determinants that explain the employment situation, with the aim of identifying potential areas for professional development.Value: Although there are existing studies on the employability of accounting professionals, this work contrasts a local reality with the national average to identify differences that can be translated into curricular improvements and public employment policy to balance labor market conditions.

Comparison of the level of direct contact with the natural environment in Chilean university students according to the geographical area where they live

Introduction: Contact with nature is essential for the physical and mental health of people, especially in university students. However, this link has been lost in recent decades due to the growth of cities. The objective of this study was to compare the level of direct contact with the natural environment in Chilean university students according to the geographic area where they live.Methods: Quantitative research was carried out with an analytical descriptive design. 272 students from 6 Chilean universities located in different geographic areas (north, center and south) participated. The scale of contact with nature was applied online. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine significant differences between the response distributions according to geographic area.Results: Students from the central area reported greater contact with nature in their daily lives (45.40% in levels 4-5). On excursions, those from the south led (45.16% in levels 4-5). In physical activity, those from the south also had the highest percentages (58.06% in levels 4-5). Significant differences were found between zones in all dimensions (p&lt;0.05).Conclusions: In general, students have little contact with natural environments, with those from the north reporting the lowest levels. This shows the need to include more green areas in educational institutions, especially in the north and large cities, to promote the link with nature and its benefits for the health and development of students

Comparison of Critical Thinking Skills between students studying the first year and the fourth year of Nursing at a Chilean university

Introduction: Critical thinking is recognized as an essential competence in 21st century education, especially in the health field, where it is required for complex clinical decision making. This study seeks to measure and compare the levels of critical thinking in students from different academic years.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used with a sample of 162 students, applying a 30-item survey with a Likert-type scale. Six dimensions of critical thinking were assessed and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare scores between groups.Results: First-year students reported higher critical thinking skills (average 3.69) compared to fourth-year students (average 3.45), with the difference in the dimensions of "Dialogic Reading" and "Dialogic Listening and Speaking" being statistically significant. Fourth-year students identified more areas for improvement in their skills.Conclusions: As students progress in their training, they become more critical about their critical thinking skills. Although both groups identified similar skills, fourth-year students showed greater awareness of their limitations, especially in the dialogic and substantive dimensions. This suggests the need for specific approaches in teaching critical thinking in nursing education.

Design and validation of a self-perception scale of basic knowledge about telehealth and digital skills for students in the area of Health Sciences

Introduction: the characteristics of telehealth and telemedicine pose a challenge for its successful insertion into the professional training curriculum in the areas of health. To date, no research has been carried out that addresses the integration of telehealth and telemedicine in the academic curriculum of Chilean universities.Objective: design an instrument that allows measuring the self-perception of students in the area of health sciences in relation to their level of knowledge of basic aspects of telehealth and digital skills.Method: a 12-item instrument was designed with a Likert scale from 0 to 7, made up of two dimensions: Basic elements associated with telehealth (7 items) and skills associated with the use of technologies (5 items). It was applied to 308 students from five Chilean universities in the area of health sciences, the sample was intentional non-probabilistic.Results: a Cronbach's Alpha of 0,9035 was obtained for dimension 1 and 0,9729 for dimension 2. The factor analysis confirmed the existence of the two proposed dimensions.Conclusions: the instrument designed allows us to measure the perceived level of health sciences students in relation to the basic elements associated with telehealth and the skills for using technologies

Chilean Universities in the main international rankings: Critical review of the results

Chilean Universities in the main international rankings: Critical review of the results

Stress, repetitive negative thinking, and mental health in Chilean university students: an ecological momentary assessment study.

Mental disorders in university students are a growing attention problem in the international community due to their high prevalence and serious consequences. One possible reason is university students' difficulties in coping with stress. Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic process that, when combined with stress, can lead to the development of various disorders. We aim to determine the effect of stress and RNT on predicting various mental health syndromes in university students across 7 days. Prospective observational study using Momentary Ecological Assessment (EMA) with the OURMIND Mobile App. On day one, 238 university students responded to the SCL-90R questionnaire for symptoms of depression, anxiety, hostility, obsession, psychoticism, paranoia, somatization, and interpersonal sensitivity; RNT styles questionnaires, RRS for rumination and negative reflection, PSWQ for worry; SISCO-II for term academic stress, and sociodemographic. EMA consisted of five assessments a day for 6 days; each time, the students answered items about academic and non-academic stress (EMA-stress), reactive RNT duration and intrusiveness (EMA-RNT process), and reactive RNT rumination, reflection, and worry (EMA-RNT content). On day eight, symptoms were re-assessed. Seven hierarchical stepwise linear regression models were used to test the predictive power of the study variables in the development of SCL-90R symptoms. When comparing models, adding baseline symptoms increased the models' predictive power in all symptom groups. In most cases, including EMA-stress generated greater predictive power, except for paranoia and interpersonal sensitivity. Adding the EMA-RNT process increased the prediction of paranoia and obsessive symptoms; for hostility symptoms, RNT styles increased predictive power. For the final regression models, considering the initial symptoms, the EMA-RNT process predicted the progression of symptoms in six out of eight groups, while EMA-non-academic stress predicted the remaining two. Additionally, living with other relatives or friends was a predictor of depressive symptoms. The stress of university life impacts the development of psychiatric symptoms in university students. These results provide evidence of RNT as a transdiagnostic process in several syndromic groups. Universal preventive programs should consider the impact of academic and non-academic stress on university students' mental health. Targeting RNT would also benefit selective preventive interventions.

Impact of university academic performance on financial returns to education in Chile

This article examines the relationship between graduates' academic performance and the financial returns of their university education in Chile. By Analyzing data from 784 students who graduated from 10 selected Chilean universities between 2010 and 2016, this study utilizes linear and quantile regression to estimate returns. The results indicate that returns range from 4.9% to 15.0%, depending on the specifications and estimation methods employed. While linear regression suggests no significant association between academic performance and returns, quantile regression reveals a positive impact for lower and medium salary ranges, reducing the income gap with higher earners. The results of this study can be helpful in achieving a better understanding of the factors that influence returns to education.

Managerialism, accreditation and insecure academic employment across different higher education traditions

ABSTRACTThrough multilevel regression analysis, we examine the impact of managerialism, particularly accreditation practices, on the increasing job insecurity in universities. We find that universities that are accredited, private, secular or non-Catholic are more likely to offer insecure jobs, but that the relevance of these factors depends on each country’s academic tradition. Universities in the USA tend to offer more job security, whilst those in Chile are the only ones with a trend toward increasing the proportion of permanent positions. Accreditation is a good predictor of job insecurity in the USA, yet it is unrelated in Colombia and Germany, and it has an inverse effect in Chile. In the USA, we argue that accreditation serves as a conduit for managerial pressure, forcing universities to invest more in administrative bureaucracies to legitimise their academic quality, often at the expense of job stability. In Colombia and Germany, we argue that universities may hire administrators responsive to accrediting agencies that do not promote nor strengthen the academic profession. The concept of decoupling allows describing these countries' inverse relationship, or lack of direct relationship, between accreditation and job security. In contrast, Chilean universities show an integration between accreditation rituals and contracting practices aimed at job security. Our findings advance our knowledge of managerialism and higher education expansion by revealing its links to academic employment.