Developing Research Skills of Students

The study aimed to understand FPSE students’ perceptions of their own research skills, areas of interest, and difficulties encountered in educational research, as well as to identify opportunities for capitalizing on the results of the research conducted during university studies. Using a questionnaire with closed items, the investigation included 300 undergraduate (second year) and master's students (first and second years), who reported participating in educational research primarily within the Research Methodology course (75.6%), addressing topics such as curriculum, instruction and assessment theory, the education of children with SEN, and other areas, generally without further valorization of their work. The findings show that 75.6% of students capitalized on their research results exclusively within the Research Methodology course, while only 12.2% presented their results within methodological committees in schools or at conferences (4.9%). The main benefit perceived was preparation for the completion of bachelor’s or dissertation theses (63.4%), followed by the consolidation of theoretical training (14.6%) and, to a lesser extent (9.8%), the identification of scientific solutions to professional problems. The major difficulties reported included balancing work responsibilities with research activities (61%) and challenges in identifying research participants (24%).