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

Samantha Jordan; Christopher Stripling; Christopher  Boyer; Carrie Stephens; Nathan  Conner

doi:10.37433/aad.v1i1.17

Authors

Samantha Jordan University of Tennessee, USA
Christopher Stripling University of Tennessee, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5045-3492
Christopher Boyer University of Tennessee, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1393-8589
Carrie Stephens University of Tennessee, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5592-2377
Nathan Conner University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0063-4110

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v1i1.17

Keywords:

undergraduate students, academic strategies

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.

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