Contributors to Undergraduates’ Perception of Skill Acquisition across Time

Abstract

The present study examined the predictors of students’ perception of skill acquisition during undergraduate psychology studies. The relations among the amount of years of study and course characteristics towards the perception of skill acquisition were analyzed. Participants were 369 undergraduate students in psychology who completed the Bachelor Evaluation Questionnaire that assessed the perceived quality of the course program. Principal component analyses revealed that the questionnaire assessed five different factors: Teachers and teaching, Course climate, Content and structure, Course requirements, and Skill acquisition. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the perception of skill acquisition increases with years spent at the university and that students’ satisfaction with the learning contents and the program structure is the strongest predictor of students’ perception of skill acquisition. The second predictor is students’ satisfaction towards teachers and the quality of teaching and lastly, students’ satisfaction with the course and university atmosphere. The implications of these findings for theory and practice related to academic achievement are discussed.