Investigating the Relationship of Creative Educational Atmosphere and Academic Self-efficacy with Problem Solving Skills of Higher Education Students

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship of creative educational atmosphere and academic self-efficacy with problem solving skills of higher education students. The research method of the study is correlational. The population of the study includes all MA/MSc students of Lorestan University as 1643 individuals among which 310 participants were selected via Krejcie and Morgan’s table using the stratified random sampling proportionate to the size sampling method. To collect data, the Creative Educational Atmosphere Inventory developed by Mohebbi et al. (2013), the Problem-Solving Inventory (Heppner & Peterson, 1982) and the self-efficacy beliefs Inventory of Žáková et al. (2005) were used. To analyze data, Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used. The results obtained from the correlation coefficient indicated that there is a significant correlation of creative educational atmosphere and academic self-efficacy. In addition, the results of multiple regression indicated that from among sub-components of creative educational atmosphere, only subcomponent of trust and from among subcomponents of academic self-efficacy, two subcomponents of trust to one’s own ability to interact with others in University and trust to one’s own ability to do homework can predict problem solving skills. The results of the present study confirm the role of creative educational atmosphere and academic self-efficacy on problem solving skills of university students.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4S1p188