Keywords
Motivation
Design education
Attitude
Higher education
How to Cite
Abstract
This exploratory descriptive study investigated the willingness to learn (DPA, by its Spanish acronym) in 38 first-year students of the Bachelor of Design program at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas in El Salvador. Using a questionnaire that evaluates three dimensions of the DPA –life moment, personal learning history, and perception of the learning context– the study identified a paradoxical profile. Findings revealed a solid personal learning history with strong intrinsic motivation coexisting with a life moment marked by emotional fragility and a dissonant perception of the educational context, in which students value the physical infrastructure yet report a low sense of safety. These tensions are reflected in a high intention to drop out. The study concludes that the central challenge is not the lack of initial disposition but the conditions required to sustain it, identifying a distance between the observed DPA and that required in design education, which suggests interventions that support student mental health and strengthen the institutional learning climate.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Federico Daniel Alegría Gómez, Erick Alcides Martínez Carranza, Pedro Joaquín Sorto Vega