Influence of Personal Factors on Change of Programme of Study among First-Year Undergraduate Students in Kenyan Universities
Abstract
The study investigated factors that contribute to students change of programmes of study among first year undergraduate students. This article focuses on the influence of personal factors on change of programme of study among first-year undergraduate students in Kenyan universities. It was anchored on Humanistic Theory of Curriculum, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and Social Learning Career Theory. Its study method was quantitative, a cross sectional survey with a causal comparative research design. It was conducted in selected seven universities and sampled 398 first year undergraduate students. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Kruskal Wallis, Pearson correlation and Regression analysis were used to compare different groups of students and test relationship between personal factors and students change of programme of study, respectively. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to analyse the data. Results were presented inform of figures and tables. The findings indicated a strong positive and significant relationship between personal factors and students change of programme of study. This was supported by a correlation value of 0.587 and p-value of 0.000. Further, results indicated that majority of the respondents identified personal interest, personal preference, academic abilities, personal goals, and opportunity for growth as influential factors in their change of programme of study. Regression results concluded that personal interest (β=0.404), personal preference (β=0.223), opportunity for growth (β=0.19) and personal goals (β=0.17) were students’ determinants of their change of course or programme of study. The study recommended that students joining first year undergraduate university education should be encouraged to carry out self-assessments to have a better understanding of their interests, abilities, preferences, among others. This can facilitate informed choice of courses or programmes of study and avoid changing from one programme of study to another.
Keywords: Personal factors, programme of study, career choices, first-year undergraduate students, Kenyan universities
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