Academic-related perceptions, beliefs, and strategies of undergraduate agricultural students

Abstract

Students’ academic-related perceptions, beliefs, and strategies are fundamental elements that influence teaching and learning within colleges of agriculture. This study investigated students’ academic efficacy, academic self-handicapping, and skepticism about the relevance of school for future success at the University of Tennessee’s Herbert College of Agriculture. The students were academically efficacious, rarely self-handicapped, and did not doubt the relevance of their degree. In addition, a low negative association was found between academic efficacy and self-handicapping, a negligible relationship was found between academic efficacy and skepticism about the relevance of school for future success, and a moderate relationship was found between academic self-handicapping and skepticism about the relevance of school for future success. Therefore, instructors are encouraged to move past traditional lecture-based instruction and challenge their students at higher cognitive levels, which will allow students to realistically explore the complexities of agriculture. Furthermore, academic self-handicapping may be an indicator of lower academic efficacy and/or skepticism about the relevance of a student’s degree. Future research should further explore these relationships.

Keywords

• undergraduate students
• academic strategies