Understanding Student Course Satisfaction and Stress Models

1. How satisfied are students with their course and should we care?

2. Stress and models of stress • Stress can be the result of ‘too much or too little arousal resulting in harm to mind and body’ (Schafer 1992, p. 14). • Response model of Stress (Cannon, 1932, Seyle, 1974) • Stimulus model (e.g. Holmes and Rahe, 1967) Dr C Gibbons

3. Primary Appraisal Benign, threat or challenge? Secondary appraisal Adaptive coping Maladaptive coping Demands Outcomes: satisfaction Perform. Health Affective outcomes: Distress Eustress The Transactional model of stress (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) Dr C Gibbons

4. Primary appraisal/Sources of stress in students Dr C Gibbons

5. Outcomes/Effects of stress Dr C Gibbons

6. Primary Appraisal Benign, threat or challenge? Secondary appraisal Adaptive coping Maladaptive coping Demands Outcomes: satisfaction Perform. Health Affective outcomes: Distress Eustress The Transactional model of stress (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) Dr C Gibbons

7. Yerkes-Dodsoncurve (1908) Dr C Gibbons

8. Most measures of stress measure it in terms of degrees of distress. • This ignores the possibility that such sources of stress might also act as potential for good stress/eustress as well as distress. • Rating stressors as hassles and uplifts enables one to do this. • Earlier research suggests measuring both is informative e.g. perceived stressors between those ‘at risk’ v ‘not at risk’ of developing a stress-related illness (Gibbons, 2009) Dr C Gibbons

9. Method • Questionnaire measuring sources of stress • (items from NSS), key predictors (Secondary appraisal), and outcome measures (intellectual motivation and course satisfaction) Dr C Gibbons

10. Dr C Gibbons

11. Dr C Gibbons

12. Discussion – intellectual motivation • The more the work-home interface was rated as uplifting the higher were scores on intellectual motivation… • The more social opportunities provided with the university were rated as a hassle the higher were scores on intellectual motivation… • As ‘openness’ increased intellectual motivation declined… • The more learning resources were rated as uplifting the lower were scores in intellectual motivation… Dr C Gibbons

13. Dr C Gibbons

14. Discussion – course satisfaction • The more teaching was rated as uplifting the higher were scores on course satisfaction. • When course content and structure were rated as uplifting, satisfaction increased and declined when rated as a hassle. • The more social opportunities were rated as a hassle the lower were scores on course satisfaction Dr C Gibbons

15. Intellectual motivation and course satisfaction negatively correlated (rho = -.634)… • The usual limitations associated with a survey approach have to be noted… Dr C Gibbons

16. Recommendations • Reviewing a course and/or rating a university through course satisfaction ratings provides an incomplete picture. Multiple measures need to be adopted. • The prevalence of hassle ratings over uplifting ones and the absence of personality, self-efficacy and coping as strong predictors suggests the demands of the first year are perceived as disproportionately high. • Therefore build on existing strategies to support students Dr C Gibbons