Needs and Expectations for Studying in Psychology of the Grade 12 Students in the Situation of the Spread of COVID-19

Abstract

The situation of COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the education system at all levels around the world, although the situation has now subsided, however, the impact of the situation caused the students' parents to face economic problems. Students dropped out of the education system Affecting the number of admissions to higher education. This research aims to study (1) The needs of grade 12 students towards choosing to study psychology in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) The expectations of grade 12 students towards choosing to study psychology in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research uses an integrated research method. The sample group in the quantitative research consisted of 327 Grade 12 students. The qualitative research has the key informants of 20 students in grade 12 with the selecting criteria 1) being students studying in grade 12 in the academic year 2021 and 2) having an interest in studying in the field of psychology. Research Tools used are questionnaires and interview forms. Research instruments were questionnaires and interview forms. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics consisting of frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. and the qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis and inductive summation methods. The research results found that most of the samples were interested in studying the field of counseling and guidance psychology the most, amounting to 167 people, representing 51.07%. The sample group thought that psychology was beneficial for students' self-development at a high level (mean 3.91 SD 1.10). The subjects had a high level of interest in learning psychology and human behavior (mean 3.68 SD 1.10). The samples thought that psychology is critical to the high level of the COVID-19 epidemic situation (mean 3.67 SD 1.09). The sample thought that after the outbreak of COVID-19 Psychology was still in high demand in society (mean 3.65 SD 1.07). The sample wanted to pursue a degree in psychology because it could contribute to society at a high level (mean 3.63 SD 1.05) and the sample was interested to study in the field of psychology because psychological knowledge is appropriate to the high level of needs (mean 3.59 SD 1.11). On expectations. The sample group and the key informants had expectations for studying in the field of psychology in 6 aspects, namely, the importance of the profession to Thai society, Self-development, Curriculum and course content, Instructors, teaching management, and learning environment which consists of the availability of classroom equipment and a friendly teaching atmosphere.