Students’ Attitudes towards Research: A Study of Graduate Education Students at a Chinese Normal University

Abstract

This study examined graduate education students' attitudes towards research, and explored the demographic factors associated with those attitudes. Using Papanastasiou's (2014) Revised Attitude towards Research (R-ATR) scale, the study collected data from 100 graduate students of an Education Faculty at a university in northern China. The results showed that the students had moderately positive attitudes towards research. A comparison between Doctoral and Master's degree students revealed that the former had significantly more positive research attitudes, higher self-efficacy, and lower research anxiety than the latter. An increase in the number of research courses taken was significantly associated with lesser research anxiety. Students' generalized self-efficacy was positively associated with their overall attitudes towards research. There was no significant relationship found between age and attitudes towards research. The study concludes by making suggestions about the need to enhance students' positive research attitudes as a means to eliminating research anxiety.

Thesis Challenges for Arab PhD Candidates in English Medium of Instruction Context

“…The results show that the participants face some personal challenges, such as anxiety, stress, lack of motivation, and time management problems. These findings are similar to the ones in the recent literature (Bireda, 2015;Hwang et al, 2015;Kakupa, 2019).…”

“…These negative emotions might force some of them to leave the doctoral program (Hunter & Devine, 2016). On the other hand, Kakupa (2019) stated that students with advanced research skills experience high level of self-confidence and low level of anxiety.…”

Factors Affecting Nursing Students’ Attitude Towards Research: A Survey in a Philippine Higher Education Institution

“…26 A study likewise noted that students' self-efficacy was related to their attitudes toward research and the number of research courses taken was associated with research anxiety. 27 The findings suggest that improving students' knowledge about research along with their competence and readiness to conduct research may result in positive feelings about research and influence students' attitude or stance toward research. It is necessary to cultivate positive attitudes toward research among students so that the next generation of nurses will be encouraged to utilize research findings in their practice settings.…”

International Doctoral Student Research Self-Efficacy Scandal: A Case Study of Chinese University

“…Akerlind (2008) noted that the progression of confidence in research among doctoral students at their early stages is the ultimate way to develop as a researcher; "not just development of skills, but also a sense of confidence that you are on the right track with your research" (Akerlind, 2008 p. 246). Studies noted the predictors of doctoral research productivity and their research interest; research self-efficacy is the fundamental element (Lambie and Vaccaro, 2011;Lambie et al, 2014;Kakupa and Xue, 2019). Therefore, research self-efficacy became the critical determinant of research productivity of doctoral students and predictor of their future research career (Forester et al, 2004;Murakami-Ramalho et al, 2013) and on the other hand, inadequate research skills of doctoral students' dwell towards stressors and anxiety (Maschi et al, 2013;Hussain & Shen, 2019;Kakupa and Xue, 2019;Cobb et al, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, it is essential to design the strategies to underpin research self-efficacy with educational curricula to facilitate graduate research students (Forester et al, 2004). Consequently, an earlier study in higher education investigated the research self-efficacy of doctoral students, and the evidence showing that self-efficacy reinvigorated students' interest in research (Bandura, 1986;Rezaei and Zamani-Miandashti, 2013;Lambie et al, 2014;Chesnut et al, 2015;Kakupa and Xue, 2019).…”