Research competencies and their impact on the professional development of future early Childhood Education teachers: an analysis in Bagua

Abstract

The objective of this research was to establish the relationship between scientific research and professional development in 46 fifth-cycle Early Childhood Education students at a pedagogical institute in Bagua, 2023. The study followed a quantitative approach, was of a basic type, and utilized a non-experimental, descriptive-correlational, and cross-sectional design. Two expert-validated questionnaires with high reliability were applied (V1: $\alpha = 0.842$; V2: $\alpha = 0.814$). Descriptive results showed that 43.5% of the students reached a regular level in scientific research and 43.5% reached a medium level in professional development. Inferential analysis using Spearman's Rho test reported a coefficient of $0.898$ with a p-value of $0.000$. It was concluded that there is a high and statistically significant positive relationship between both variables, indicating that a higher level of scientific research leads to greater professional development among the students.