Cognitive Development, Learning Strategies and Academic Performance in the First Stage of University Education

Undergraduate training continues to be a challenge to train entrepreneurial specialists with research-oriented attitudes. Depending on the level of functional development of the brain, the level of learning will be differ-ent in relation to chronological age. The ACRA learning strategies scales [1] allow verifying the frequency, type of strategy and specific technique used by students, the coding strategies being the most important for effective performance throughout life; although there is an abbreviated and validated version of this scale applicable only at the university level by [2] De la Fuente and Justicia (2003); In the study, the 2001 version of [1] is applied to analyze, according to age, the correspondence between the learning strategies used by the students with their academic performance, as well as to verify if there is a difference by gender, during a period of three years. Technical sheets and final grades of the students were also applied; a multiple linear regression analysis; it is a mixed type investigation. It is observed that the Coding strategies are not used very frequently. In Academic Performance (AR), only 7.85% of the students obtained a final score of 14 or more, the use score coinciding with scales that measure the same learning strategies. The type of strategies and the age (18–19 years) registered influence the RA and only the Acquisition strategies show a slight relationship with the RA. There is no gender relationship.