Chanut Poondej

Achievement goal orientation and the critical thinking disposition of college students across academic programmes

This study links achievement goal theory and models of critical thinking by investigating the relationship between motivational goals and the thinking dispositions of college students enrolled in five different academic programmes in Thailand (N = 1336, males = 32.9% and females = 67.1%). We found significant differences in goal orientations and thinking dispositions across academic programmes. For example, nursing students were significantly more mastery goal-oriented and had a higher level of ‘analytical’ thinking disposition than students in business, engineering, education and vocational programmes. Multiple regression analysis found a positive influence of mastery goals and a negative influence of performance avoidance goals on the levels of critical thinking dispositions. We found that critical thinking dispositions are related to goal orientation response patterns and vary with the curricular context.

Relationship between perceptions of classroom climate and institutional goal structures and student motivation, engagement and intention to persist in college

Abstract Disengagement and a lack of motivation have been found to be the major reasons for student drop out from higher education. In order to broaden our understanding of institutional and personal factors associated with intention to complete a college degree, this investigation examined the relationship between students’ perceptions of classroom climate and institutional goal structures and their motivational orientation, engagement and intention to persist in college. Data was collected from first-year students (N = 1778) enrolled in an institution of higher education near Bangkok, Thailand. The results indicate that perceptions of classroom climate and institutional goal structures have significant associations with students’ motivational orientations and levels of engagement and contribute to intention to persist in college.

Student perceptions of learning environment: disciplinary program versus general education classrooms

The purpose of this study was to examine student perceptions of the learning environment in their program major and general education classrooms. The participants were 870 undergraduate students majoring in engineering, fine arts, education, economics and nursing programs at a university in Thailand. We found significant differences in the perceptions of the classroom learning environment across various disciplines. Engineering and economics students perceived the learning environment in general education classrooms as more cooperative than the learning environment in program major classrooms. Fine arts and nursing students perceived greater involvement among students in the program major classrooms than in the general education classrooms. Our findings contribute to the body of research on inter-disciplinary differences in classroom learning environments in universities and the ways in which these differences may impact student learning outcomes.

The Positive Effect of Intrinsic Feedback on Motivational Engagement and Self-Efficacy in Information Literacy:

Formative assessment and feedback play important roles in empowering students as self-regulated learners in the higher education context. This study aimed to investigate the use of a rubric as a self-assessment tool which could generate intrinsic feedback to promote learning outcomes related to information literacy. We collected data from 584 Thai undergraduate students who enrolled in six sections of a general education course on information literacy skills. The researchers treated three sections as the control group and three sections as the experimental group. Only students in the experimental group took part in a formalized classroom activity based on using the course rubric as a tool for self-assessment. The results from the quasi-experimental study revealed that using a rubric as a self-assessment tool increased students’ self-efficacy in information literacy, which were measured in terms of “information search,” “information evaluation,” “information processing,” and “information communication and dissemination.” Our findings have important implications for the development of self-efficacy in information literacy.

Gender contentedness in aspirations to become engineers or medical doctors

ABSTRACT Medical doctor and engineer are highly esteemed STEM professions. This study investigates academic and motivational characteristics of a sample of high school students in Thailand who aspire to become medical doctors or engineers. We used logistic regression to compare maths performance, gender typicality, gender contentedness, and maths and physics self-concepts among students with aspirations for these two professions. We found that high levels of felt gender contentedness in men had positive association with aspirations for engineering irrespective of the levels of maths or physics self-concept. We found that high levels of felt gender contentedness combined with high levels of maths or physics self-concept in women had positive associations with aspirations to become a medical doctor. These findings are evidence that student views of self are associated with uneven gendered patterns in career aspirations and have implications for the potential for future participation.