Study Skills and Problem-Solving Strategies in Spanish Students

This paper describes an investigation into reported study skills, motivation and creativity and their relation to academic achievement and problem-solving strategies in a sample of Spanish high-school students. The International Study Skills Inventory (Sakamoto, 1983) was administered to 197 students attending two Seville high schools together with a non-verbal cognitive problem (Esteban, 1976). Factor analysis revealed considerable overlap with previous findings in the key factors of study skills, motivation and creativity. Current and, to a lesser extent, projected academic success, and successful problem-solving strategies were found to correlate with specific responses to the ISSI. The Spanish group were found to favour a more passive approach to study which did not relate particularly well to open-ended problem-solving. Further consideration of the whole area of attitudes to study by school psychologists is recommended.