Influence of the participation in extra-curricular activities in the perception of adaptation to higher education and the acquisition of professional skills

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Marianela Santos
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Trigo, Luísa Ribeiro, Fonseca, António
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.34632/investigacaoeducacional.2010.3321

The existing research on adaptation to superior education suggests that it is influenced by internalist factors that are related to students’ own personal characteristics and by factors associated with the university context, referring to the characteristics and specifics of their education contexts. This study intends to understand, from a group of volunteer students of a public University, the influence of extracurricular activities on the perception that they held on the adjustment to superior education and of the acquisition of professional abilities. We used a qualitative research methodology, obtaining the perceptions of students through an interview. We concluded that the universities have an important role on the maximization of the psychological development of their students, which is seen as favored by the combination of physical and infrastructural conditions, relational and on the investment in the promotion of values associated with citizenship, responsibility, reflection and autonomy of students, particularly through initiatives of academic involvement.