THE FACTORS FOR DECISION TO STUDYING AT THE BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN THE BACHELOR OF EDUCATION PROGRAM, FACULTY OF EDUCATION SRINAKHARINWIROT UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate and compare the factors influencing the decision to enroll in the Bachelor of Education Program at The Faculty of Education, Srinakharinwirot University. The study focused on four key factors: career opportunities, university image, curriculum, and the influence of related persons. These factors were analyzed and classified according to the students' TCAS (Thai University Central Admission System) admission round: Round 1 (Portfolio), Round 2 (Quota), Round 3 (Admission), and Round 4 (Direct Admission). The sample consisted of 349 first-year undergraduate students from the Faculty of Education, Srinakharinwirot University, enrolled in the 2024 academic year. The research instrument was a 30-item questionnaire using a 5-level rating scale, which demonstrated a reliability of 0.92. The results showed that career, university image, and curriculum were at a high level, except for influence from relevant individuals, for which students had a moderate level of decision-making. A comparative analysis based on TCAS admission rounds indicated that students admitted via Round 2 (Quota) and Round 3 (Admission) rated their decision-making factors at a high level across all aspects, with the exception of the influence of related persons, which was rated at a moderate level. Furthermore, the comparison between these two admission groups showed statistically significant differences at the .000 level across all four factors. The comparison of decision-making factors classified by major field of study also revealed statistically significant differences at the .001 level in all four domains: career opportunities (F=8.563, p=.000), university image (F=5.475, p=.000), curriculum (F=22.761, p=.000), and the influence of related persons (F=25.333, p=.000). In terms of overall mean scores by major, the top three factors rated at a high level were career opportunities (M=4.22), university image (M=4.14), and curriculum (M=4.00), respectively. The influence of related persons was rated at a moderate level (M=3.47). Analysis by major highlighted specific variations: while career opportunities (M=4.22) and curriculum (M=4.00) were rated high overall, students in the Industrial Education-Electrical major rated both factors at a moderate level (M=3.11 and M=3.05, respectively), which was lower than other majors. University image (M=4.14) was rated high overall; notably, majors such as Special Education and Thai Teaching, Primary Education, and Special Education and Science Teaching rated this factor at the highest level. The influence of related persons (M=3.47) was the only factor rated moderate overall. While most majors rated this factor moderately, students in Special Education, Primary Education, and Science and Mathematics Teaching rated it at a high level.