Investigación longitudinal de los hábitos de estudio en una cohorte de alumnos universitarios.

Introduction. In this article the evolution of study habits of a university students' cohort (throughout 5 years of professional studies) that started their studies in a private university in 2002, is described. Objective. To establish the changes in the study habits (HE), as a product of the professional formation. Additionally, this research work aims to characterize the relationship between the study habits and the academic performance. Materials and methods. The Gasper'n's Study Habits Test was applied to 162 new students in their first week of classes. After 5 years, the same test was re-applied to the subjects that were still in the university. Also, information about their admission scores, performances and their social & economical levels, were gathered. Results. In the first application of the test there were no statistically significant differences in the HE, according to each professional studies program. In the first semester, a positive correlation between the performance and one of the scales of the instrument was found (concentration and place of studying). In general terms (considering the three programs studied) there were no significant differences in the HE in the before-and-after comparison. Conclusions. This research work is aligned with other empirical efforts interested on learning about the relationship between HB and academic performance. On the other hand, contributing with empirical evidence to the knowledge about the high stability of the HE through the time, offers clues to suppose that, possibly, the fact of dominating a knowledge area may not be necessarily related to an improvement of the way in which we approach it, as it is commonly thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]