LEARNING APPROACHES, TIME PERSPECTIVE AND PERSISTENCE IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The aim of the present paper was to analyse the role of learning approaches and future time perspective in the academic persistence of first-year university students. The sample comprised 453 first-year undergraduate students from the University of Seville (Spain). To measure the students' probability of persistence, the three significant predictors of the College Persistence Questionnaire were employed. Also, the Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire and the Time Perspective Inventory were used to measure the students' learning approaches and future time perspective respectively. A hierarchical cluster analysis allowed the identification of two groups of students with high and low probability of persistence. A sequential logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the contribution of the approaches to learning and future time perspective in order to explain students' academic persistence. Our results showed that both constructs are significant predictors of persistence in university students. Students with a deep approach and with a positive vision of their future are more likely to persist than those with a surface approach. Bearing in mind the possibility of provoking modifications in students' learning approaches, our findings revealed the relevance of using teaching methodologies that prompt students to employ deep learning approaches in order to prevent university student dropout.