Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The results of this study are different from previous studies of
Luong
(
2010
),
MOET
(
2001
),
Nguyen
(
2009
), and
Vallely and Wilkinson
(
2008
) which showed
that Vietnamese college students are weak in problem-solving efficacy. These
studies were based on large-scale surveys including public and private universities
and even employment. The difference between this current study and the previous is
probably due to the sample examined in the study is of better students. However,
both this study and the previous indicated that the problem-solving efficacy of
Vietnamese college students is unsatisfactory. Problem-solving is important for stu-
dents to become effective problem-solvers in their profession (
Hamza and Griffith
2006
;
Wilson 1993
) and for later career success (
Froman 2002
;
Gustin 2001
). Thus,
Vietnamese government should invest more resources in enhancing problem-solving
efficacy of all students in the process of constructing an instructional program.
3.2
Vietnamese Students' Problem-Solving Efficacy Affected
by Their College Learning Experiences
For the second research question, we used formula (
6
) to answer how the students'
problem-solving efficacies in technical and scientific areas are affected by their
college learning experiences. For the whole sample, the results of Table
2
indicated
that the regression model proposed by this study explained 18.1% of Vietnamese
college students' problem-solving efficacy
.However,the
regression model wielded rather different explanation power for students' problem-
solving efficacy among the three universities.
At the University of Technology, the results showed that item of student's back-
grounds of class ranking
(
R
2
=
0
.
066-0
.
405
)
(
β
=
0
.
128
,
p
<
0
.
05
)
and levels of involvement in class
activities
(
β
=
0
.
206
,
p
<
0
.
01
)
, time spent on course work
(
β
=
0
.
131
,
p
<
0
.
05
)
,
and skipping class
(
β
=
0
.
161
,
p
<
0
.
05
)
significantly benefited students' problem-
solving efficacy
. At the University of Information Technology,
teaching approach of employing multimedia
(
R
2
=
0
.
066
)
(
β
=
−
0
.
417
,
p
<
0
.
05
)
significantly
hindered students' problem-solving efficacy
(
R
2
=
0
.
405
)
. At the University of
Science, level of involvement in class activities
(
β
=
0
.
204
,
p
<
0
.
05
)
, time spent
on course work
(
β
=
0
.
164
,
p
<
0
.
05
)
, and frequency of consulting teacher
(
β
=
0
.
220
,
p
<
0
.
05
)
significantly empowered students' problem-solving efficacy
(
R
2
=
0
. No other independent variable had significant effect on students' problem-
solving efficacy.
Vietnamese college students' problem-solving efficacy is significantly influenced
by their college learning experiences. There are different affecting variables at
different universities. Based on these differences, universities should design inter-
ventions to enhance students' problem-solving efficacy. As an example, University
of Technology and University of Science may very well consider learning en-
gagement, or University of Information Technology may want to avoid a teaching
approach employing multimedia. The only variable across the universities is
.
179
)
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