Formative research, within the context of the pedagogical function of research, employs investigative teaching methods and practices commonly used in universities. However, these methods have largely shown limited effectiveness, as only a minority of students choose to pursue research work to earn their university degree. Additionally, there is a restricted use of technological tools in the development of research-related activities. With this problem in mind, the present study aims to propose the use of technological resources and the problem-solving method to foster a positive attitude toward formative research among first-year engineering students at a public university in Peru. The classroom interventions involved developing investigative activities based on the four phases of the problem-solving method: understanding the problem, developing a plan, executing the plan, and reviewing the solution. During these activities, students used an Arduino board along with sensors, actuators, and block-based programming to address real-world problems in their communities, such as in agriculture, livestock, environment, and education. Following the classroom interventions, students’ attitudes toward formative research were statistically evaluated across several dimensions: satisfaction and enjoyment of research, conceptual appropriation, learning behavior, systematic exploration, and perceived skills. The results show that students’ perception of their attitude toward formative research is predominantly high or very high. This indicates that the proposal to use technological resources and the four-phase problem-solving method is effective in fostering a positive attitude toward formative research among engineering students. Thus, the proposed approach would benefit engineering students by applying it across various courses within their professional program.

This study aimed to analyze the observed variations in the research competencies of first-year nursing students following the implementation of a pedagogical problem-solving strategy based on Polya’s method and integrated with STEM technological resources. The study was conducted within the context of higher education, where strengthening research skills in the early stages of academic training continues to represent a formative challenge. A pre-experimental pretest–posttest design with a single group was employed, involving 69 students enrolled in an introductory research course. The intervention was implemented over 16 weeks and structured according to the four phases of Polya’s method—understanding the problem, planning, execution, and review—while also integrating the use of a STEM educational kit and visual programming tools. The results showed descriptive increases across all evaluated dimensions. The overall mean score increased between the pretest and posttest, revealing statistically significant differences in research competencies (p < 0.001) and a large effect size (r = 0.896). Likewise, significant differences were identified in the dimensions related to research background and objectives, development of research activities, and evaluation of results. In contrast, the dimension concerning problem identification and formulation did not show statistically significant differences, suggesting that this competency may require longer formative processes and greater academic support. Although the results suggest favorable associations between the implemented strategy and the observed variations in research competencies, these findings should be interpreted with caution due to the limitations inherent to the pre-experimental design employed. In this sense, the study provides preliminary evidence regarding the pedagogical potential of integrating problem-solving and STEM technological resources to promote the early development of research competencies in university students in the health sciences.