Pystynkö opiskelemaan yliopistossa? : akateeminen minäpystyvyys ja sen kehittyminen yliopiston verkkopohjaisilla tutustumiskursseilla

The aim of this Master’s Thesis is to increase the understanding of the dimensions of academic self-efficacy and their development among those students who have attended to the university introductory courses. The web-based orientation courses are the latest forms of co-operation between high schools and universities in Finland. There is little research to date on the impact of the courses and the components of academic self-efficacy. Methods: This study consists of two parts. In the first part of it, a structural analysis of the Ac-ademic Self-Efficacy Scale (Ashraf & Gafoor, 2006) was performed for the measurement of academic self-efficacy. It examined the domains of the students' academic self-efficacy, and the relationship between the background factors (gender, age, parental education, and aca-demic success). In the second part of the study, the development of academic self-efficacy was examined in the dimensions formed in the structural analysis. The data was collected us-ing an online questionnaire twice during the courses. All students participated on it voluntarily. An exploratory factor analysis of the data from a survey conducted at the beginning of the course was used in the first part of study. The data was collected from the introductory cours-es (artificial intelligence, chemistry and medicine) organized by two universities (N = 195). The second part of the study examined the development of academic self-efficacy using the data of the students before and after two courses (chemistry and medicine). It was performed by a t-test of a pairwise sample on factor point variables (N = 43). The entire study was con-ducted during the COVID-19 pandemic during the school year 2020–2021 before the entry in-to force of the new High School Act (2019) and the new curricula framework. Results and Conclusions: With this measure, the academic self-ability of the students in the introductory courses formed a three-factor model: perceived cognitive ability, perceived ability to provide support, and perceived self-regulated learning skills. The model was compared with the structural results of other academic self-efficacy measures and research literature, and theoretical support was found for it. The study found indications of a positive effect of complet-ing the courses on academic self-efficacy. The goal of the introductory courses for students to become acquainted with the field and one’s own abilities would seem to have strengthened. The study presents an iterated version of the academic self-efficacy measure used and sug-gestions for the development of it and areas for further research. The results of the study can be applied in teaching, for example in the development of introductory courses and research in terms of academic self-efficacy.