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Digital Competence of Higher Education Students as a Predictor of Academic Success

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to analyze the digital competence of Higher Education students, as a function of their academic performance (have either repeated or a not previously), as well as to predict its significant predictors. For this, an ex-post factor and a sample of 17301 students from Chile (Latin America) were utilized. A questionnaire composed of a total of 30 items, classified into five endogenous and exogenous dimensions through a causal model, adapted from the works of Gutiérrez-Castillo (2013), Gutiérrez-Castillo & Cabero (2016) and Gutiérrez-Castillo et al. (2017), was administered via online to the students. The results showed statistically significant differences in digital competence, as a function of repeating an academic year or not, with better scores for the latter. Also, factors such as the number of digital resources utilized for the teaching-learning process, the previous preparation for managing their studies, as well as the level of education of the parents, mainly the father, significantly had an influence on both types of students. This study highlights the importance of the development of an adequate digital competence which has an influence on the learning of the students and their posterior class promotion.

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All datasets associated with this study are not publicly available as part of measures to ensure the confidentiality of the participants. However, the corresponding author may release may make the data available upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Thank the Faculty of Education of the University of Sevilla for the invitation to Francisco David Guillén Gámez, to carry out a research stay during the month of January 2022, in the area of Didactics and School Organization, together with Professor Julio Cabero-Almenara. Thanks to this research stay, this study was carried out.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Didactics and Educational Organization, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Sevilla, Street Pirotecnia s/n, 4013, Seville, Spain

    Julio Cabero-Almenara & Juan Jesús Gutiérrez-Castillo

  2. Area of Didactics and School Organization, Faculty of Education, University of Córdoba, Avda, San Alberto Magno s/n, 1407, Córdoba, Spain

    Francisco D. Guillén-Gámez

  3. AIEP of University Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile

    Alejandra F. Gaete-Bravo

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  1. Julio Cabero-Almenara
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Cabero-Almenara, J., Gutiérrez-Castillo, J.J., Guillén-Gámez, F.D. et al. Digital Competence of Higher Education Students as a Predictor of Academic Success. Tech Know Learn 28, 683–702 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-022-09624-8

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