Believe in me, I’m your teacher… The Influence of Student’s Subjective Beliefs on Learning their Professions Dr. Michael Harnischmacher, U Passau | Trial and Error | Tilburg | 19.05.2017

RQ | Do journalism and communication student’s beliefs in their own effectiveness as communicators influence their attitude towards journalism and their ability to learn the profession? Beliefs

Hofer 2001; Caprara et.al. 2011 Importance for higher education Cognitive Psychology | Beliefs are important Hofer 2001; Caprara et.al. 2011 Importance for higher education Heigl/Thomas 2013 Influence Self-Efficacy <> Problem Solving Skills Beliefs 3

Local Media Environment Survey 2015 Journalists are different.  Self efficacy Communicative Self

Research questions Do students with different job perspectives already differ in their professional identity the way professional journalists and PR-people do? When do differences become evident? Are they learned or part of an attitude? Does self-efficacy play the same important role we found in an earlier study? What are the consequences for our programs? How can we teach and support the development of a professional identity? 03.06.2016

Media & Communication student survey 2016 1st step: 3 programs generalized curricula („something with media“) 149

Media & Communication student survey 2016 149 52% 1st – 3rd Semester 48% 4th < Semester

Media & Communication student survey 2016 149 52% 1st – 3rd Semester 48% 4th < Semester 20% male 80% female

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „How would you characterize your program?“ 149 26. Juli 2015 Zentrum für Musterkunde

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „How would you characterize your program?“ 149 70% Communication 26. Juli 2015 Zentrum für Musterkunde

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „How would you characterize your program?“ 149 70% Communication 41% Journalism 41% PR

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „How would you characterize your program?“ 149 70% Communication 41% Journalism 41% PR 28% Manage- ment

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „What is your dream job?“ 149 47% Marketing

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „What is your dream job?“ 149 47% Marketing 47% Fictional Entertain- ment

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „What is your dream job?“ 149 47% Marketing 47% Fictional Entertain- ment 43% PR

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „What is your dream job?“ 149 47% Marketing 47% Fictional Entertain- ment 43% PR 30% Manage- ment 30% Journalism

Media & Communication student survey 2016 52% PR 44% Marketing 22% Jour. 18% Manage. „What is your dream job?“ 149 47% Marketing 47% Fictional Entertain- ment 43% PR 10% Media & Communications 30% Manage- ment 30% Journalism

Media & Communication student survey 2016 „What is your dream job?“ 149 Correlations: On the whole, students feel confident to end up where they want to go. [Journalism correlates negatively with Marketing r: -,238 Sig: ,004] 18

Media & Communication student survey 2016 Results Career Goals IDENTITY Compe-tencies Interests

Media & Communication student survey 2016 In terms of carreer aspirations, stereotypes are met: Feeling well prepared in media management correlates significantly with… …wanting reputation …entrepreneureal spirit …wanting to lead … correlates negative with wanting to help society and with watchdog function Feeling well prepared in journalism correlates significantly with… …being critical …watchdog function …wanting to entertain …making a name for oneself Career Goals

Media & Communication student survey 2016 Feeling competent in journalism correlates with feeling capable to form an opinion (r=.263, Sig. .001) determining whether an information is well researched (r: .397, Sig: .000) determining whether a source is reliable (r: .244, Sig: .001) … Students feeling well prepared in other areas miss these correlations. Competence

Media & Communication student survey 2016 Overall, students feel that their skills improved over the course of their studies especially in PR, internal communication, marketing and media management. Competence 22

Media & Communication student survey 2016 Tendency: Students who want to become journalists/PR/Managers… tend to feel their competencies improve in that particular area. Next: Connection to confidence in / career expectations? (not enough data yet to be conclusive) Competence

Media & Communication student survey 2016 Interests in different areas of study vary widely among students with different career aspirations. Interests 24

Media & Communication student survey 2016 Example: Dream job Journalism vs. dream job Media Management Interests 25

Media & Communication student survey 2016 Media and Communication students go into their studies with different professional identities Identity matters! Influences on…  … career perceptions  … interests  … probably: learning outcomes Conclusion 26

Media & Communication student survey 2016 How do we apply the findings to teaching/program development? More Tests: Are the effects constant or exclusive for the sample of curricula we tested? Tests for self efficacy are still inconclusive: may be due to the low number of cases in each categorie Next >>>

Thank you very much! Dr. Michael Harnischmacher University of Passau ZMK Innstr. 33a 94032 Passau Germany michael.harnischmacher@uni-passau.de