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Peer-reviewed
ResearchArticle
Editor:GozdeOzakinci,UniversityofStAndrews,UnitedKingdom
Received:July27,2013;Accepted:November20,2013;Published:December23,2013
Competinginterests:Theauthorshavedeclaredthatnocompetinginterestsexist.
Inthisresearch,wearguethat,whenataskisperceivedashavingunknownscoringcriteria—asisimpliedbynumerusclausus—itwillunderminetheindividual’ssenseofefficacy,whichinturnshouldimpairmasterygoaladoption.Thus,oursecondhypothesisisthat,asopposedtoanevaluativesystemwithnonumerusclausus,anevaluativesystemwithnumerusclaususwillreducemasterygoalendorsement,andthatthisrelationshouldbemediatedbythereductioninself-efficacyexperiencedinthenumerusclausussystemwhencomparedwiththenonnumerus-clausussystem.
Consequently,theaimofthepresentsetofstudiesistotesttherelationshipbetweennumerusclaususandbothlearningorientationandactuallearningasmediatedbyself-efficacy.Thefirsttwostudiestaketheformoffieldresearch,inwhichnumerusclaususisrespectivelyanaturalgroupvariable(i.e.,academicsectionsnotsubjectversussubjecttonumerusclaususpolicies)andameasuredvariable(i.e.,medicalstudentsnotperceivingversusperceivingtheircurriculumtobecharacterizedbynumerusclaususpolicies).Study3takestheformofexperimentalresearchinwhichnumerusclaususismanipulated(i.e.,absenceversuspresenceofquota).Inallthreestudies,weexpectnumerusclausustoleadtoareductioninself-efficacybeliefs(hypothesis1).InStudies1and2,wehypothesizenumerusclausustobenegativelyassociatedwithmasterygoals,arelationshipmediatedbyself-efficacy(hypothesis2).Study3goesfurtherasitteststhedeleteriouseffectofnumerusclaususonlearning,hypothesizingthatthisrelationshipshouldbemediatedbyself-efficacy(hypothesis3).
Neithermedical,norhealthrelatedexperimentationwasperformed.AllStudieswereconductedatUniversityofLausanne(Study1and2)and/orattheSwissFederalInstituteofTechnologyinLausanne(Study1and3),Switzerland.
Therawdataforthethreestudies,aswellastheIBMSPSS(version19.0)syntaxfilesusedinconductingtheanalyses,areavailablefromtheauthorsuponrequest.
ThestudywascarriedoutduringtheSpringSemester,asstudentsapproachedfinalexams.ChemistryandForensicSciencesstudentsattendingthesamebiologyclasswereinvitedtofillinaquestionnaire,presentedasasurveyon“students’academicprofiles”.Allstudentspresentatthecourseagreedtoparticipate.Followingthecompletionofthequestionnaire,participantsweredebriefed.
Students’perceptionofthenumerusclaususpoliciesusedintheirdepartmentwasassessed,asacheckoftheindependentvariable.Participantshadtoindicatetowhatextent,intheirdepartment,theythought“thereisalimitednumberofplacesforthenextyear”.Themeasurecouldrangefrom1,“notatall”,to7,“completely”(M=3.64,SD=2.41).
Inapreliminaryanalysis,werunasimpleregressionanalysisonperceptionofnumerusclaususpolicieswithdepartmentaspredictor(coded“-.5”forChemistryand“+.5”forForensicScience).Resultsshowedasignificantlargeeffect,B=3.84,F(1,68)=106.55,p<.001,η2p=.61.Asoneshouldexpectgiventheactualdifferencesinpolicies,first-yearForensicSciencestudentsperceivedtoagreaterextentthatthenumberofplacesforthenextyearintheirdepartmentwaslimited(M=6.00,SD=.30)thandidfirst-yearChemistrystudents(M=2.16,SD=0.23).
Allvaluesrepresentunstandardizedcoefficients.*p<.05,**p<.01.
Masterygoalorientation:Alinearregressionanalysiswasconductedwithmasterygoaladoptionasthedependentvariableanddepartmentaspredictors.ResultsshowedasignificanteffectofDepartment,B=-0.65,F(1,68)=4.16,p<.05,η2p=.05(cpath).ForensicSciencestudents(subjecttonumerusclaususpolicies)reportedlowerlevelsofmasterygoaladoption(M=4.78,SE=0.25)thanChemistrystudents(notsubjecttonumerusclaususpolicies,M=5.43,SE=0.20).
Mediationalroleofself-efficacy:Thenlinearregressionanalyseswereconductedtotestthemediationalroleofself-efficacyintherelationshipbetweendepartmentandmasterygoaladoption.Firstly,alinearregressionanalysiswithself-efficacyasdependentvariableanddepartmentaspredictorswasconducted.Resultsshowedthatdepartmentnegativelypredictedself-efficacy,B=-0.98,F(1,68)=13.39,p<.001,η2p=.16(apath).Insupportofhypothesis1,ForensicSciencestudents(subjecttonumerusclaususpolicies)reportedlessself-efficacy(M=3.97,SE=0.21)thanChemistrystudents(notsubjecttonumerusclaususpolicies)did(M=4.94,SE=0.17).
Inlinewithourhypotheses,theresultsindicatethatfirst-yearstudentsofadepartmentsubjecttonumerusclaususpolicies(i.e.,withafinalselectiveexaminationbasedonasocially-referencedstandard)endorsemasterygoalstoalesserextentthanthestudentsenrolledinadepartmentwheretheyarenotsubjecttonumerusclausus(i.e.,withfinalselectiveexamination).Moreover,asexpected,thiseffectismediatedbyperceivedself-efficacy.Studentsenrolledinadepartmentwithnumerusclaususreportlowerself-efficacythanthoseenrolledinadepartmentwithnonumerusclausus.Thisdepletionofself-efficacythereforeleadsindividualstobelessmotivatedtolearn.
AlthoughStudy1’sanalysisonperceptionofnumerusclaususpoliciesclearlyindicatesthatfirst-yearForensicSciencestudentsreportbeingsubjecttonumerusclausustoalargerextentthanfirst-yearChemistrystudents,onemightwonderwhetheritisnumerusclaususpersethatimpactedtheirperceivedself-efficacyandmasterygoals.Indeed,onecannotexcludethattheresultsareduetosomeconfoundingvariablerelatedtoanotherdifferencebetweenthetwoFaculties(e.g.,specificacademicsocialization).InStudy2,weaddressthisissuebytestingtheeffectoftheperceptionofnumerusclaususinthesameDepartment:theMedicalSchool.
WechosetoconductStudy2withMedicalSchoolstudentsbecauseofaninterestingcharacteristic.DespitethefactthattheDean’sOfficeformallydeniestheuseofanofficialnumerusclaususintheirDepartment,first-yearMedicalSchoolstudentsatthisUniversityareknowntohavedivergentopinionsonthematter.WhilstsomeofthemdefinetheMedicalSchool’sselectivepoliciesasbeingutterlynumerusclausus(andthereareactuallyrumorsaboutthesepoliciesbeingformal),othersdonot.Wetookadvantageoftheambiguityinthissituation,andhypothesizedthatfirst-yearMedicalstudentswhoperceivethattheyaresubjecttonumerusclaususintheselectionforentrytotheirsecondyearofstudiesshouldendorselowerlevelsofmasterygoalsthantheoneswhodonotperceivethistobethecase.AsinStudy1,weexpectedthislinktobemediatedbyself-efficacy.
Students’levelsofself-efficacy(α=.89,M=4.89,SD=.95)andmasterygoalorientation(α=.68,M=6.18,SD=0.80)weremeasuredusingthesamequestionnairesasinStudy1.
Mediationalroleofself-efficacy:Then,linearregressionanalyseswereconductedtotestthemediationalroleofself-efficacyintherelationshipbetweentheperceptionofnumerusclaususandmasterygoaladoption.Firstly,alinearregressionanalysiswithself-efficacyasdependentvariableandperceptionofnumerusclaususandgenderaspredictorswasconducted.Resultsshowedthattheperceptionofnumerusclaususwasnegativelyassociatedwithself-efficacy,B=-0.43,F(1,136)=7.44,p<.008,η2p=.05(apath).Insupportofhypothesis1,studentswhoperceivedtheretobeanumerusclaususpolicyintheirdepartmentreportedlessself-efficacy(M=4.74,SE=0.13)thanthosewhodidnot(M=5.17,SE=0.10).Unexpectedly,analysesalsorevealedapositiveeffectofgender,B=0.60,F(1,136)=13.21,p<.001,η2p=.08.Maleparticipantswerefoundtoreportmoreself-efficacy(M=5.25,SE=0.14)thanfemaleparticipants(M=4.65,SE=0.09).
Congruentwithstudy1,thepresentresultsrevealthatfirst-yearmedicalschoolstudentsperceivingthattheyaresubjecttonumerusclaususintheirdepartmentendorsedlessmasterygoalsthantheoneswhodonot.Furthermore,asexpected,thiseffectismediatedbyperceivedself-efficacy.TheseresultsprovidedconvergentvaliditytotheresultsofStudy1,asthepresentfindingsareobtainedbyfocusingontheimpactofnumerusclaususinitspsychologicaldimensionamongstudentsofthesamedepartment.
Participantswhotrulyassimilatedtheprinciplespresentedthroughtheexamplesofthetextshouldbeabletoapplythisknowledgetothegraphproblems;thus,ashort-termlearningscorewascomputedbysummingthecorrectanswerstothe3questionsx8graphsofthetest.Thescorerangedfrom14to24,withameanof21.64(SD=1.96).
Mediationalroleofself-efficacy:Linearregressionanalyseswereconductedtotestthemediationalroleofself-efficacyintheeffectoftheexperimentalvariableonthelearningscore.Firstly,multipleregressionanalysesonself-efficacywereconductedwiththeexperimentalvariableaspredictor.Genderandage,aswellastheirinteractionwiththeexperimentalconditionwereagainenteredinthemodel.Resultsshowedthattheexperimentalvariablenegativelypredictedself-efficacy,B=-0.44,F(1,206)=5.83,p<.02,η2p=.02(apath).Insupportofhypothesis1,inthepresenceofnumerusclausus,participantsreportedlessself-efficacy(M=3.92,SE=.14)thanintheabsenceofnumerusclausus(M=4.37,SE=.12).AsinStudy2,resultsalsoshowedasignificantpositiveeffectofgender,B=0.81,F(1,207)=19.23,p<.001,η2p=.08.Malestudentsreportedmoreself-efficacy(M=4.55,SE=0.10)thanfemalestudents(M=3.74,SE=0.15).
Thesecondcontributionofthepresentresearchisthatthemediationaleffectofself-efficacyallowsustounderstandwhyitistheverystructureelicitedbyin-curriculumnumerusclaususthatreducesmotivationtolearnandlearning.Indeed,thecontextofnegativeinterdependencetypicalofnumerusclaususprovidesaposthoc(vs.prehoc)socially-referenced(vs.auto-referenced)standard,suchthatacademicachievementisnotonlyinternallybased(i.e.,dependentonrelativelycontrollablepersonaleffort)butalsoexternallybased(i.e.,dependentontheuncontrollableresultsofotherstudents).Peers’achievementbeinguncontrollable,numerusclaususmaythereforeimpairthestudents’beliefsabouttheirabilitytosucceed.Accordingly,ourresultsshowthatasself-efficacydecreases,thelevelofendorsementofmasterygoals(Study1and2)andactuallearning(Study3)decline.
WewishtothankAlbinGaignette,StefanTrabut,RiadGacem,ThomasBoutin,BenjaminHorowitz,andMélanieUldryfortheirhelpwithdatacollection,Pr.Pierre-AndréMichaud,vice-DeanofEducationoftheFacultyofBiologyandMedicine,andAnneMarville,executivesecretaryoftheFacultyofLawandForensicSciences,forprovidingclarificationsoftheselectionpoliciesappliedintheUniversityofLausanne,aswellasVincentPillaudandChristineMohrfortheirhelpfulcommentsonpreviousversionsofthemanuscript.ThesestudieswereconductedduringNicolasSommet’sdoctoralworkunderthesupervisionofFabrizioButera.
Conceivedanddesignedtheexperiments:NSCPFB.Performedtheexperiments:NSCP.Analyzedthedata:NSCPFB.Contributedreagents/materials/analysistools:N/A.Wrotethemanuscript:NSCPFB.
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