RELATIONSHIP OF PROGRAM DEMAND WITH ACADEMIC SELF-REGULATION AND PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

In higher education, the students face a range of differences in teaching learning environment and academic standards than their prior educational background. This study investigated the relationship of ‘program demand’ with ‘academic self-regulation* and ‘performance’ of university students. The objectives of the study were to determine the relationship of program demand with academic self¬ regulation and to explore the relationship of program demand with academic performance, An intensive review of related literature paved the way towards further exploration of concerned variables. Students of Master’s level in University of the Punjab studying in semester system formed the population of the study. All students (132) enrolled in two Master’s level program (MBA and MERA) were selected as sample for this longitudinal study spread on three academic semesters. Research data were collected using three instruments. They were the questionnaire for teachers regarding Program Demand to assess the demands of the programs, Academic Self- Regulation Scale to measure the degree of self-regulation of the students, and Achievement scores of students to determine correlation between programs, The collected data was imported on SPSS 15.0 and different statistical techniques, i.e., descriptive statistics, l-test, Mann- Whitney Test, Point-biscrial coefficient of correlation, and Pearson product- moment correlation coefficient measures were applied according to the nature of the research questions addressed. Major findings and results of the research explored that MBA program of study was high demanding than MERA program of study on program demand scale but it was intcrestinglyfound that students of low demanding (MERA) program gained more in their self-regulation as academic session progressed, although still remained less sclf-rcgulated as compared to students of MBA in aggregate score, The relationship of program xiiidemand with various faciorsof academic self-regulation was negligible on overall behaviors of male, female, regular and private students. The relationship of academic performance with factors of academic self-regulation varied in strength, direction and significance. The academic performance of students of high demanding program (MBA) was significantly higher than low demanding (MERA) program of study. This correlation was significant, strong and positive from beginning to the end of the study.