Research self-efficacy of cambodian undergraduate students at province-based universities

Abstract

Self-efficacy is crucial for producing challenging research results, which in turn may lead to innovations and development that can accelerate a country's economy. Undergraduate research self-efficacy in Cambodia has been of particular interest because graduates form the future pipeline of research professionals, which is essential for the development of Cambodia. The research self-efficacy of province-based university students, whose numbers have increased in recent years, remains uncertain and needs to be investigated. In this study, we addressed the Research Self-Efficacy Survey by Phillips and Russell (1994) and administered to 1,009 undergraduate students from different faculties at three public province-based universities in Cambodia in order to assess their research self-efficacy. Using t tests and ANOVA, the mean research self-efficacy score was 2.13 (± .66) on a 5 point-scale and varied significantly with small effect size upon gender, academic year, and working experience. There is a need to focus on interventions aimed at improving the research self-efficacy of undergraduate students. This investigation also included measures and discussions such as curriculum reform, quality of teaching, teacher training, and improving educational materials and research facilities.