The End of Degree Project: predictive variables of satisfaction and grade in a sample of students from the Infant and Primary Teacher Degrees

Abstract

The results obtained by students performing the Undergraduate Dissertation (UD) respond to several factors, among which are some linked to the personal characteristics of the individual. The objective of this investigation is to analyse the influence of several of these factors, such as self-efficacy, motivation and perceived academic control, on the results that a group of students expect to obtain in the UD they are taking. We have also studied the involvement of the tutor in this process, and we have analysed the satisfaction of the students with the work they are doing. We have analysed a sample of 238 students from Infant and Primary School Teacher degrees who studied at the University of Salamanca. They voluntarily answered to the on-line questionnaire, prepared specifically for this research, consisting of 31 items. The results of the study indicate that all the variables that we have analyzed correlate in a significant and positive way with the satisfaction that students have with their work and with the grade they believe they deserve. However, only self-efficacy, perceived control, and intrinsic motivation are significant predictors of satisfaction with the UD, while only self-efficacy and extrinsic motivation are significant predictors of the grade that students believe they deserve.