Motivation and development of competencies in educational psychology – a perspective of one generation of students of psychology

Abstract

The research and evaluation of the study process are key conditions for its improvement and the provision of quality higher education in which students develop all those competencies needed for successful work in the field of education. The article presents a longitudinal study in which we followed the development of the competencies of future psychologists, as assessed by the students themselves. We used the EuroPsy model as a starting point to create a questionnaire for assessing the development of competencies. The study involved 43 students who completed the Psychological Competencies in Education Questionnaire, The Scale of Interest for Work in Education, The Scale of Importance of Educational Contents, and they answered the questions about their willingness to work as a psychologist in different fields of psychology. The students answered the questionnaires four times in three consecutive academic years (at the beginning and the end of the second year and at the end of the third year at the BA level, and at the end of the first year at the MA level). The results showed a gradual and significant improvement in students’ educational competencies during the course of their studies. In all the years, students assessed the highest the competence of communication, and the lowest the competence of intervention-help. Interest for work in the field of education remained stable during the course of the studies, as well as the perception of the importance of contents in pedagogical psychology and students’ satisfaction with the educational courses. Among all areas, work in the field of clinical psychology was assessed as the most desirable, while work in education was comparable to the desire to work in the field of work and organization.

Keywords

• competencies
• europsy
• motivation
• educational psychology
• students