Estilos de vida y aprendizaje universitario

Abstract

In this article, the concept of life style, its theoretical assumptions and its connections to academic activity and college learning, are discussed. The concept of life style is considered as located in the intersection of change and endurance, between skills and emotions, between inner and outer world. For, in order to be able to talk about learning, teaching and evaluating styles, it is important to be acquainted with those life styles rooted in the basic and most fundamental impulses of human beings. Impulses that have an impact on decisions and commitments, in how life is conceived and in academic preferences. There are unconscious inclinations in us, and these inclinations are the drivers of a great part of our acts, both in the context of learning and in every day life. Preferences are rooted in the basic impulses and inclinations of human beings, and these impulses are the result of the permanent interaction between genetic, neurological and psychological components, and the cultural and educational environment. What we call life style is nothing but the projection of these ways of being, feeling, thinking, acting, deciding. Prevailing components will configure a certain lifestyle.

This article takes into consideration the outcome of a field research performed on 356 college students from the area of Education Sciences. Indicators such as gender, shift and major were considered. After applying a verbal and open-question "Questionnaire of Personal Preferences" (QPP) it can be noticed that language is a useful tool in order to enquire on the preferences that drive our way of deciding, acting and perceiving reality.