Knowledge, attitudes and teaching practices that favour character formation in university students: an evaluation proposal

Abstract

Character formation is a determining topic because it is one of the challenges to be reclaimed in diverse educational scenarios, especially in the university context. Currently, Universities are debating around criteria of competences that do not fully encompass the meaning of integral formation, and even though social responsibility is assumed to form professionals with a human projection based on the values and attitudes that promote the common welfare, in most cases, a formative vision centered rather on competitiveness prevails. Teachers play a central role in the formative process so it is important to understand how they participate in character formation. This paper covers the design and validation of a measuring instrument, which consist of a questionnaire called CAPFC that tries to identify the knowledge, attitudes, and teaching practices that favor character formation among university students. Its structure is based on the classification of virtues and strengths proposed by Seligman and Peterson (2004). It is established that this instrument is useful, valid, and reliable to be used in a university context.