Attitude toward Computers and Critical Thinking of Postgraduate Students as Predictors of Research Self-Efficacy

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent the attitude toward computers and disposition to critical thinking of postgraduate students in the field of educational sciences predicted their research self-efficacy and to investigate the difference in these variables on the basis of students’ postgraduate education levels. Participants were 197 postgraduate students in the field of educational sciences in eight different public universities in Turkey: 105 (53.3%) doctoral students, 92 (46.7%) master’s students. The results revealed a significant positive attitude between research self-efficacy and critical thinking. The results also showed that attitude toward computers and critical thinking accounted for 3% of total research self-efficacy variation; and that of these two variables, critical thinking made a significant contribution to the model. Based on ongoing levels of education, there was a significant difference between the research self-efficacies of master’s and doctoral students. The source of this variation was attributed to doctoral students’ research self-efficacy scores being significantly higher than those of master’s students. Additionally, results showed a significant difference between attitudes toward computers of master’s and doctoral students.