La formación de estudiantes de doctorado para el uso de tecnologías en el proceso de investigación

Resumen

This research arises from the need to reflect on the role of digital technologies in enriching the training of doctoral students in a digital research ecosystem. Therefore, we developed a systematic review on the use of technologies by the novice researcher and noted the limited presence of documented literature on our subject. After the initial idea had been substantiated, we set out three objectives. The first is to find out the doctoral coordinators' evaluations of doctoral training and the activities mediated by the use of technologies for the development of doctoral research in the EIDUM. The second objective is to analyse the perception of doctoral students at the University of Murcia on the use of digital technologies in the research phases associated with the development of their doctoral thesis. And the third objective is to analyse the perception of EIDUM doctoral students on activities and tasks with technologies framed in the development of their doctoral thesis. We also hypothesise that the critical and active use of digital technologies enriches the interconnection between the phases of the doctoral research process developed by the researcher in training. We also assert that there are differences between groups according to age and gender and between groups according to the branches of knowledge of the International Doctoral School of the University of Murcia (EIDUM). In order to meet the proposed objectives we carried out a mixed methodology following a non-experimental cross-sectional research approach. In the design of data collection instruments we developed an ad hoc questionnaire and a semi-structured interview as validated instruments for the collection of information. The selection of the non-probabilistic convenience sample consisted of 500 student respondents. The non-probability quota sample collected for the administration of the semi-structured interviews consisted of 29 EIDUM coordinators. The questionnaire underwent a complex validation process. This process consisted of three phases. A judgement by experts in Educational Technology. A cognitive interview with a non-probabilistic quota sample of 13 doctoral students. The qualitative analysis of the semi-structured interview was carried out by coding and classifying the data collected using Atlas.ti version 8.3. The quantitative analysis of the validated questionnaire consisted of a descriptive analysis of the items, an inferential analysis to test the hypothesis of group difference, the execution of the structural equation model and the fit measures statistic, all using the statistical programme RStudio version 3.6.1. The qualitative data obtained based on the evaluations of the 29 EIDUM coordinators are structured in four categories: 1.Training plans aimed at EIDUM students, 2.Competence-based teaching, 3.Individualised teaching, 4. The main conclusion of these qualitative results shows that the coordinators value positively the use of technologies in the research training received by the doctoral student and consider necessary the implementation of virtual training activities following the principles of internationalisation of the EIDUM. The quantitative data collected from the 500 questionnaires completed by the students show that they have a clearly positive and adequate perception, not only of the use of ICT for research, but also of the tasks and actions with digital technologies at specific moments in the development of their doctoral thesis, such as at the beginning of the development of the thesis and in the processing and analysis of their research data. Based on the indices obtained in the inferential analysis with the non-parametric test (Kruskal-Wallis-Wilcoxon), we accept the hypothesis of difference between groups. The first hypothesis is accepted because it shows differences between groups of doctoral students according to gender, age and branch of knowledge on the use of ICT in the literature review. In addition, there are differences between groups of branches of knowledge on the use of ICT in the scientific dissemination phase. The confirmation of the conceptual model presented is an important contribution of this thesis. This four-block model (thesis initiation, literature review, treatment and scientific dissemination with ICT) presents a good fit with the observed data. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) resulted in six factors that explain 42% of the variance of the questionnaire. Starting with the first factor, this comprises fourteen items from three questions (five, seven and eight). The second factor is made up of ten items from questions seven and nine. In this case, the items referring to training in research data analysis come together. The third factor brings together less than half of the items from question twelve. These items coincide in reference to different social networks (Academia.Edu, LinkedIn). The fourth factor gathers nine items from three questions, which coincide in referring to the ResearchGate tool and the Scopus database. The fifth factor presents eight items from questions five, six, seven, seven, eight and twelve. These items are related because they refer to social networks (Facebook, Instagram...) and the instant messaging tool together with the technological resource (Smartphone) through which it is used. The sixth factor associates six items from questions six, seven and eight, which refer to bibliographic managers. Within the construct validity of the questionnaire, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) allowed us to calculate the indices expressed in the SEM model and the fit indices (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, RMSEA). From these indices, we accepted the causal hypothesis by detecting that the conceptual model of the four blocks (latent variables) presents a good fit with the data collected with the questionnaire (observable variables). The conclusion of these data shows that EIDUM students value positively the items of the questionnaire on the use of ICT in the completion of their thesis. The high scores of the questions related to the use of digital technologies for the interconnection between the phases of the research process developed by the students stand out. We believe that the training of doctoral students in the midst of the establishment of open science is a challenge for universities, so the instruments presented here can be useful tools for ascertaining the state of management of the thesis with technologies carried out by the doctoral student and for responding with training activities adapted to the needs of the early researcher.