Research competencies assessment: Case of university students in the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

In the university context, research competences acquire a transcendental role for the integral development of students and the advancement of knowledge in all academic disciplines. Therefore, the objective of the present research was to evaluate the research competences of students of the Peruvian Amazon universities who attend the ninth and tenth semester. The investigation was developed under a quantitative approach; the design was non-experimental and the type was cross-sectional descriptive. The sample was made up of 135 students to whom the Research Competences Questionnaire was administered, an instrument with an adequate level of validity and reliability. According to the results, the level of development of the research competences of 43.7% of students were low, of 37% was medium, while 19.3% was high. Likewise, the organizational competences, communicational competences and collaborative competences dimensions were also valued at a low level. On the other hand, it was found that the level of research competencies was significantly associated with the semester of study in which the students were (p<0.05). It was concluded that the level of development of the research competences that characterized students was low. Therefore, it is recommended that the competent university authorities promote a culture of research in the academic environment and provide specific research training programs.