Research skills in higher education teachers: an approach to reality

Research is one of the fundamental pillars of the contemporary university. The objective of the present study was to characterize the research skills of the teaching staff of the Dentistry Career at the Catholic University of Cuenca - Azogues Campus. A non-experimental, descriptive and transversal research was carried out during the academic cycle September 2018-February 2019. 24 full, part- and full-time teachers who accepted to participate in the study were studied. A questionnaire was applied to assess research skills, consisting of seven sections and 72 headings. Data were processed with the SPSS 22.0 statistical package using descriptive and inferential statistics with non-parametric methods for comparison of independent group means and proportions (U Mann Whitney and X-2). The predominant academic grade was the specialty in different areas of dentistry. The main research activities developed were thesis tutoring and participation in research projects, with a time frame of less than 4 hours per week. In conclusion, the research skills that showed the greatest difficulty was data tabulation, selection of statistical tests, posing scientific contradictions, identification of research variables and contrasting with other scientific positions. In this framework, the university should become the place that strengthens research for the development of research skills as a safe route to excellence.