Research Methodology

3 Research Methodology

This section portrays the overall research methodology design which includes research design and sampling, research measures, data collection procedure, data analysis and ethical consideration. Each of these progressive steps is explained in the following section.

3.1. Research Design and sampling

This study utilized the correlational research design method with purposive sampling strategy to explore the relationship between the socio-psychological variables: self- efficacy, locus of control, and attitude and academic achievement of engineering students. This design does not involve treatment and manipulation of variables. Therefore, in this research design, the researcher only selects the naturally occurring variables on the basis of special characteristics [25] which in the study are “fresh” engineering students. Hence the purposive sample in the study is the engineering students.

3.2. Research Measures

In order to investigate the critical factors that influence academic achievement among engineering students; three measures were used namely the Rotter’s locus of control scale for measuring locus of control, the self-efficacy and study skills questionnaire (SESS) for measuring self-efficacy, and the Pittsburg Freshmen Engineering Attitude Survey (PFEAS) for measuring attitude towards engineering education. Written permission was given by the original authors for the use of two of the instruments namely the Pittsburg Freshmen Engineering Attitude Survey scale and the self-efficacy and study skills questionnaire (SESS). However, for the Rotter’s locus of control scale, the developer could not be contacted for permission, although numerous efforts were made through emails. Nevertheless, since the scales were found to be available widely on the internet, it was assumed that the developers have no objections to them being used in the study. Therefore, the scales were used and the developers were acknowledged in this article as required [19].

The Rotter’s locus of control scale, a standardized tool is used in this study to measure locus of control of engineering students. It consists of 29 items and students were asked to chose either a or b. Higher scores on the scale indicate a higher external locus of control. A score of 13 is the cut-off score. If a person’s score is 13 or less then he/she is considered to have internal locus of control. Otherwise, a person who seems to have above 13 scores on locus of control scale then he/she is said to have external locus of control [26]. The Rotter’s locus of control has been already used in 43 countries indicates much tolerance to cultural biases. The reliability of the Rotter’s locus of control has been reported to be ranging from 0.43 to 0.80 using retest reliability method [1, 10, 14, 19, 26, 27, and 28]. In the current The Rotter’s locus of control scale, a standardized tool is used in this study to measure locus of control of engineering students. It consists of 29 items and students were asked to chose either a or b. Higher scores on the scale indicate a higher external locus of control. A score of 13 is the cut-off score. If a person’s score is 13 or less then he/she is considered to have internal locus of control. Otherwise, a person who seems to have above 13 scores on locus of control scale then he/she is said to have external locus of control [26]. The Rotter’s locus of control has been already used in 43 countries indicates much tolerance to cultural biases. The reliability of the Rotter’s locus of control has been reported to be ranging from 0.43 to 0.80 using retest reliability method [1, 10, 14, 19, 26, 27, and 28]. In the current

The Self Efficacy and the Study Skills Questionnaire (SESS) developed by Gredler and Garavalia (1997; found in Self-Directed Behaviour, 2002, Watson & Tharp, pp. 50-52) was used to obtain self-efficacy and the study skill of the engineering students. The total 32 items of SESS composed of two constructs self- efficacy and study skill. It was rated on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) respectively. Scores varies between the minimum of 32 and maximum of 160. The internal consistency on the cronbach’s alpha coefficient for SESS scale is α.89 indicates a very good reliability. The reliability for the scale similar to that of Chandler’s study [29] who reported a cronbach’s alpha 0.80 for the self-efficacy scale.

The Pittsburgh Freshman Engineering Attitudes Scale (PFEAS) is used to measure attitude of engineering students. These sub-scales are the domain of the instrument’s construct, i.e., freshman attitude about engineering: General impressions of engineering (GIS); Financial Influences of studying engineering (FI); Perception of how engineers contributions to Society (PECS); Perceptions of Work engineers do and the engineering profession (PEP); Enjoyment of Math and Science courses (MSC); Engineering perceived as being and “Exact” Science (ES); and Family influences to studying engineering (FISE), Confidence in basic engineering knowledge and skills (CBEKS); Confidence in communication and computer skills (CCCS); Adequate study habits (ASH); Working in groups (WIG); Problem solving abilities (PSA); and Engineering Compability (EC) respectively. It consists of 50 items. Scores varies between the minimum of 50 and maximum of 250. The operational definition of PFEAS is scores of the respondents on PFEAS scale. The inter consistency Cronbach alpha for attitude scale is .87 that indicates a good reliability. Reliability estimate for the Pittsburgh Freshman Engineering Attitudes Scale (PFEAS) was also high (r= 0.87) based on the cronbach’s alpha coefficient indicating that the instrument is reliable. This is comparable to previous findings [30- 31] who reported alpha coefficients ranging from 0.54 to 0.87.

Academic Achievement is taken as student’s cumulative grade Point Average (CGPA) that includes scores in previous examination record. The subjects included are English language, Bahasa Melayu mathematics and integrated science. Additional information sought included socio-demographic variables namely names, age, and gender.

3.3. Data Collection Procedure

The questionnaires were administrated directly in the paper-and-pencil format. The participants cooperated with the researcher by giving their responses on the questionnaire. They completed the measures within a single class period. At the end of the session, the participants’ were thanked for their participations and their commendable acts were praised to encourage participations in future studies.

3.5. Ethical Considerations

Official permission and informed consent was sought to draw a sample from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). A brief description of the study was given at the beginning of the study (debriefing) to the students as suggested by Krista [19]. All the records and participants identities were treated as confidential as required by ethics as suggested by Jolivette [32].