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The Learning to Learn competence was proposed by the European Union (2006 and 2018) as a key competence for lifelong learning. Although it has been thought that learning to learn had to be taught in pre-university training, there are studies that confirm that university students lack an adequate management of competence. In this work, an educational intervention program was applied to teach this competence in a subject of the degrees of Pedagogy and Social Education at the University of Valencia. The objective was to increase the level of management of this competence by the students. A pretest -posttest quasi-experimental design was used with a sample of 116 subjects belonging to 3 experimental groups and qualitative data were also collected. A training program integrated into the teaching dynamics of the subject was designed and applied with five sessions of around one hour in which processes and skills integrated into the competence were worked on: cognitive, metacognitive and ethical. The QELtLCUS questionnaire and a rubric developed ad hoc were used as measurement instruments. Contrasting data pretest-posttest, significant improvements were found in the scores of the questionnaire, in cognitive, metacognitive and ethical dimensions, and of the rubric related to the contents of the program, in the three dimensions worked on. The participating students valued also positively the program. The positive results confirm the effectiveness of the program and encourage us to continue in this way, with programs integrated into the subjects and using assessment instruments that include the assessment of the use of this competence in real tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning to learn is one of the key competences identified by the European Commission (EC, 2005 and 2006) for education systems. Rigorous evaluation instruments are necessary for this competence to be included in curriculum design and teaching-learning processes. Currently available questionnaires are limited and so the present work focuses on the design and validation of a standardised quantitative questionnaire to evaluate the way in which university students manage this competence. A test validation design was employed with a sample of 1237 university students from three universities in Valencia. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed good internal consistency and construct validity outcomes. A final questionnaire was produced which addressed five dimensions/scales (cognitive, metacognitive, affective-motivational, social-relational and ethical) through twenty-one subdimensions/subscales composed of 85 items. This questionnaire was found to be more robust and comprehensive than those that were previously available. The instrument will help to advance knowledge in this area. It is useful for researchers as it can be used for diagnosing and evaluating the competence in question, whilst also comparing results obtained in large population samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]