Didactic strategies in the research training of secondary education students in Colombia

The development of research competencies in secondary school students is essential for their academic and professional training, influenced by various factors. Therefore, the objective was to establish the relationship between the level of students' research competencies and the didactic strategies employed by secondary school teachers in the area of Spanish Language at Public Institutions in the municipality of La Estrella. The study was conducted from the perspective of the holistic understanding of science, using the holopraxic method, with an explanatory approach, and a field-based, cross-sectional, and non-experimental design. A checklist and a questionnaire were applied to a sample of 204 students, and the data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that students have a low level of research competencies and that teachers employ didactic strategies in a limited way. A strong positive correlation was found between both variables, indicating that the scarce implementation of didactic strategies negatively affects the development of these competencies in students. It is concluded that it is necessary to strengthen teacher training in innovative methodologies and restructure educational programs to integrate research transversally.