Estrategias de aprendizaje empleadas por los alumnos de biología de la Universidad Central de Venezuela

this article describes and discusses the learning habits shown by biology majors at the faculty of science, universidad central de venezuela. as a conceptual basis for the analysis, the autonomous model of thomas and rohwer (1986) was used. information was gathered by means of questionnaires using both closed and openended questions which were answered by 77 students of the initial and final semesters of the career. results show that even though the students are unaware of the various sources of information available to them, the frequency with which they make use of first-hand sources tends to increase as they move along their career. most students devise a study plan and organize study time according to academic course load. they spend in study an average two to four hours during the initial semesters of the career and four to eight hours at the seniorest level. thus, it seems reasonable that a heavier and better use of both representations and models for the learning of the natural sciences will tend to favor the recognition of the links between the concepts studied which in turn will promote better comprehension of subject matter. in general, students think that by providing support and collaboration, both their family group and friends have a positive influence on their learning.