Teamwork skills in higher education: is university training contributing to their mastery?

Teamwork skills are considered essential for personal, academic and professional achievement, so universities are increasingly integrating them into their syllabuses. However, little is known about how some specific features of students and their educational development can affect their acquisition. Accordingly, this study aims to fill this gap and describe higher education students' mastery of teamwork skills and its relation to certain socio-academic variables (gender, academic year and grade point average—GPA). With the aim of determining the level of teamwork skills among university students, an observational, transversal descriptive study was designed with an intentional sample of Spanish university students. The sample is made up of 615 social science degree students. The results suggest significant gender differences, highlighting that female students outdid their male counterparts in most teamwork skills, except leadership. Likewise, students' skills improved as they progressed in their studies, particularly those skills related to adaptability and decision-making. Finally, a positive relationship was observed between teamwork skills and GPA, except for interpersonal development. A regression analysis confirmed the influence of both academic year and GPA for women whilst no effect was detected in the case of men. Based on these results, it is suggested to make changes in university education programmes to compensate for the influence of socio-academic factors and benefit from the most positive features of each gender regarding teamwork to achieve an equal and fair higher education. (AU)

Empatía y declinación empática por curso y sexo en estudiantes de enfermería / Empathy and Empathic Decline by Academic Year and Sex in Nursing Students

Introducción: La empatía es un atributo importante en la comunicación entre el profesional de salud (médicos y enfermeras de todas las especialidades) y el paciente; permite la conexión intersubjetiva entre ellos y contribuye a una mejor atención, mayor adherencia al tratamiento, entre otros muchos beneficios. Dada la complejidad de la empatía, la formación de este atributo es una tarea que se debe asumir durante la formación de pregrado y no durante la formación de especialistas. Por lo tanto, los estudios de empatía, así como las intervenciones que pueden derivarse de un diagnóstico empático adecuado, deben realizarse precisamente en dicho nivel formativo. Objetivo: Determinar la presencia de declinación empática, atendiendo a las variables curso y sexo, sobre la base de los niveles de empatía y de sus dimensiones en estudiantes de enfermería. Métodos: Estudio exploratorio, transversal. Se estudiaron 166 estudiantes de un total poblacional de 188, utilizando la Escala de Empatía de Jefferson, estudiando las posibles diferencias en la empatía y sus componentes mediante pruebas no paramétricas. Resultados: No hubo diferencias en los componentes de la empatía en relación con la variable curso; sin embargo, la empatía (en general) si las tuvo. La empatía y los componentes no se diferenciaron en el sexo, con excepción de Toma de Perspectiva que fue mayor en mujeres. Conclusiones: Los niveles de empatía entre los cursos no fueron diferentes y no se manifestó la declinación empática. No existieron diferencias entre los sexos y solo el componente Toma de Perspectiva fue mayor en mujeres(AU)

Introduction: Empathy is an important attribute for communication between the health professional (doctors and nurses of all specialties) and the patient; it allows intersubjective connection between them and contributes to better care, greater adherence to treatment, among many other benefits. Given the complexity of empathy, educating this attribute is a task that must be assumed during undergraduate training and not during specialized training. Therefore, studies about empathy, as well as the interventions that can be derived from an adequate empathic diagnosis, must be carried out precisely at this training level. Objective: To determine the presence of empathic decline, with a focus on the variables academic years and sex, based on the levels of empathy and its dimensions in Nursing students. Methods: Exploratory and cross-sectional study carried out with 166 students, from a total population of 188. The Jefferson Empathy Scale was used. The possible differences in empathy and its components were studied using nonparametric tests. Results: There were no differences in the components of empathy regarding the variable academic year; however, empathy, in general, did have differences. Empathy and its components did not differ by sex, with the exception of perspective taking, which was higher in women(AU) Conclusions: The levels of empathy between academic years were not different and empathic decline was not manifested. There were no differences between the sexes and only the component perspective taking was higher in women.

Procrastinación en Estudiantes Universitarios: su Relación con la Edad y el Curso Académico / Procrastination in University Students: The Relationship to Age and Academic Year / Procrastinação em Estudantes Universitários: Sua Relação com a Idade e o Curso de Graduação

Resumen El propósito de esta investigación es descubrir si la procrastinación académica disminuye a lo largo del tiempo, y si esta disminución se explica por el factor edad, por el factor curso, o por una combinación de ambas variables. Se administró la Procrastination Assessment Scale Students (PASS) a una muestra de 105 alumnos universitarios, que se dividieron en cuatro grupos independientes en función de si eran menores o mayores de 25 años y del curso académico que hacían. Los resultados indican que el nivel de procrastinación solo depende de la edad y no del curso de los alumnos, y amplían el conocimiento empírico sobre procrastinación académica en la universidad.

Abstract The purpose of this research is to find out whether academic procrastination decreases over time, and if the diminution is explained by the age factor, the academic year factor, or the combination of both of them. The Procrastination Assessment Scale (PASS) was administrated to a total sample of 105 university students. The sample was divided into four independent groups according both the age of the student's -under or over 25- and the academic year in which they were enrolled. Results indicate that procrastination only depends on the age, and it decreases as students grow older. This work extends empirical knowledge about the role of age in procrastination.

Resumo O propósito desta pesquisa é descobrir se a procrastinação acadêmica diminui ao longo do tempo e se essa diminuição é explicada pelo fator idade, pelo fator curso ou por uma combinação de ambas as variáveis. Aplicou-se o Procrastination Assessment Scale Students (PASS) a uma amostra de 105 estudantes universitários que foram divididos em quatro gru pos independentes em função de se eram menores ou maiores de 25 anos e do curso de graduação em que estavam. Os resultados indicam que o nível de procrastinação somente depende da idade, e não do curso dos estudantes, e ampliam o conhecimento empírico sobre procrastinação acadêmica.

Antecedentes académicos como predictores de Burnout en estudiantes de primer año de Odontología / Academic antecedents as burnout predictors in first-year Dentistry students

Introducción: en los últimos años, el bienestar psicológico del estudiante ha sido motivo de estudio debido a su influencia en el rendimiento académico y adaptación a la educación universitaria. Objetivo: asociar los antecedentes académicos de los estudiantes de primer año de Odontología y sus niveles de Burnout. Métodos: se aplicó un cuestionario sociodemográfico y el Inventario de Burnout de Maslach para estudiantes, luego de un proceso de consentimiento informado, a una muestra de 79 estudiantes de primer año de la carrera de Odontología de la Universidad de Concepción obtenida mediante muestreo no probabilístico por accesibilidad. A partir de la base de datos universitaria, se obtuvo información sobre los antecedentes académicos de los participantes. Resultados: se encontraron relaciones estadísticamente significativas entre puntajes de Prueba de Selección Universitaria de matemáticas y niveles de Agotamiento emocional y Falta de realización personal y entre las calificaciones promedio de enseñanza secundaria y niveles de Agotamiento emocional (p< 0,05). Asimismo, los antecedentes académicos entregaron predicciones estadísticamente significativas para el factor Agotamiento emocional (p< 0,05), dando cuenta de un 10,5 por ciento de variación de él, donde sólo la calificación promedio de enseñanza secundaria (p< 0,05) fue un predictor estadísticamente significativo explicando 6,59 por ciento de la variación del nivel de Agotamiento emocional. Conclusiones: antecedentes académicos como el puntaje en la Prueba de Selección Universitaria de matemáticas y las calificaciones promedio de enseñanza secundaria se vieron asociados a los niveles de Burnout de los estudiantes de Odontología de primer año de la Universidad de Concepción(AU)

Introduction: In recent years, students' psychological well-being has been studied because of its influence on academic achievement and adaptation to university education. Objective: To associate the academic antecedents of first-year Dentistry students and their burnout levels. Method: A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory were applied to students, after an informed consent process, to a sample of 79 first-year Dentistry students at the University of Concepción, obtained through non-probabilistic sampling by accessibility. From the university database, information was obtained as based on the academic antecedents of the participants. Results: Statistically significant relationships were found between the scores of university admission tests in Mathematics and emotional exhaustion levels, as well as lack of personal achievement; and between average secondary school grades and emotional exhaustion levels (p< 0.05). Also, the academic antecedents provided statistically significant predictions for the emotional exhaustion factor (p< 0.05), accounting for its 10.5 percent variation, where only the average secondary education score (p< 0.05) was a statistically significant predictor explaining that 6.59 percent of the variation in the emotional exhaustion level. Conclusiones: Academic antecedents such as the scores in university admission tests in Mathematics and the average secondary school grades were associated with burnout levels of first-year Dentistry students at the University of Concepción(AU)

El trabajo docente metodológico en la Facultad de Estomatología de la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana (UCMH) / The teaching methodological work in the dental school of the University of Medical Sciences of Havana

Se realizó una investigación para evaluar el trabajo metodológico de la Facultad de Estomatología en los cursos 2011-2012 y 2012-2013. Se utilizaron métodos teóricos y empíricos. En una primera etapa se realizó una revisión documental donde se analizaron documentos como resoluciones, los planes metodológicos de los distintos niveles de dirección y organizativos de la facultad, entre otros. Se aplicaron las técnicas de grupos focales y el criterio de expertos para la revisión de los documentos y para identificar logros y dificultades del trabajo metodológico en cada nivel. Se tomaron en cuenta los parámetros de calidad y sus indicadores diseñados por el departamento metodológico de la Universidad de La Habana para los fines de evaluación de los planes metodológicos adaptándolos a las características de la Educación Médica Superior. El plan metodológico a nivel de facultad en el curso 2011-2012 cumplió los parámetros contenidos en los indicadores previstos, no obstante no se elaboraron los planes del colectivo de carrera y de disciplinas. En el curso 2012-2013 se tomaron en consideración las dificultades en los planes metodológicos del curso anterior para mejorar su calidad y se confeccionaron todos los planes, tanto los de los niveles de dirección, como de los niveles organizativos. Los planes metodológicos en sentido general tienen calidad y expresan las principales acciones metodológicas previstas para cada nivel. Dentro de las principales dificultades están la no participación de algunos profesores en las actividades planificadas y el no cumplimiento de todos los controles previstos a las actividades metodológicas.

A research study was conducted to evaluate the methodological work of the Dental School in the 2011-2012 and the 2012-2013 academic courses for which theoretical and empirical methods were used. The first phase made a documentary review and analyzed documents such as resolutions, methodological plans of the different management and organizational levels of the school, among others. The focal groups and expert criteria techniques were applied to the document review and to the detection of difficulties and of achievements of the methodological work at each level. The quality parameters as well as the indicators designed for each methodological department at the University of Havana for the evaluation of the methodological plans, according to their adapting to the characteristics of the higher medical education, were all considered. The methodological plan of the dental school as such in the 2011-2012 academic year met the parameters included in the predicted indicators, but the plans for the career faculty and for the disciplines were not drafted. On the other hand, in the 2012-2013 academic course, the difficulties of the methodological plans of the previous academic year were taken into consideration in order to improve the quality, so all the plans both at the management level and at the organizational levels were prepared. The methodological plans have quality and express the main methodological actions corresponding to each level. Among the main difficulties are the absence of some professors in the planned activities and the non-fulfillment of all the planned control actions to the methodological activities.

Mahidol university enrollment in academic year 1982.

This research studies the 1982 Mahidol University freshman students of 3 levels : certificate curriculum, undergraduate and graduate. The purpose is to find out their personal data including social, economic and educational background, as well as their ability and chief interest in extra curriculum activities. The analysis is based on the “Application and register form of the freshman students.” The result shows that the majority of the freshman students of all 3 levels are females. There are 696 certificate curriculum freshman studies. Of this number 76.4% are females with an average age of 20.7 years (SD = 4 years) from different home areas. Most of them obtained their higher education in their home areas. Most of the parents are farmers. Of the undergraduate freshman students, 980 are admitted through the State Universities annual entrance examination, 457 are admitted through the Mahidol University entrance examination, 68.8% of both groups are females. The average age of the first group is 18 years and of the second group 29.5 years. (SD = 5.5 years). The majority (43.2%) live in Bangkok, 74.0% of these students obtained their higher education in Bangkok. Most of the parents run their own businesses. There are 453 first year graduate students. Of this number 61.6% are females, the majority of which are single. Most of the students (33.8%) live in Bangkok, 26.5% graduated from Mahidol University. Most of the fathers run their own businesses. Most of the mothers are housewives.