Desirable citizenship competencies in the 21st century of the students at Rajamangala University of Technology Suvarnabhumi

Abstract

          The purposes of this research were to 1) studied the desirable citizenship competencies in the 21^st century of students, 2) studied the best practices for developing desirable citizenship competencies in the 21^st century of students, and 3) synthesized the appropriate approaches for developing the desirable citizenship competencies in the 21^st century of students. The sample consisted of 378 undergraduate students by stratified random sampling and the sample size was determined according to the Yamane method at 95% confidence level. Research instruments were Likert rating scale questionnaire, open-ended questionnaire, and interview items for focus group discussion. Data were analyzed by mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, and content analysis for open-ended questionnaire and focus group discussion.
          The research results suggested that the overall score of the desirable citizenship competencies in the 21^st century of students is at the high level (=4.11, S.D.=0.71). In comparative study between groups by gender, faculty, year of study, learning center; and achievement level, it is found that students at Hantra center got higher score in citizenship competencies in the 21^st century than students at Suphanburi center, at a significance level of 0.05. It is also found that students with good academic achievement (grade=2.50-2.99) had higher membership performance with moderate/fair academic achievement (grade=2.00-2.49) at a significance level of 0.05. In terms of the best practices for developing desirable citizenship competencies in the 21^st century of students, it is found that family background and educational experience have a profound impact on the development or the enhancement of characteristics or performance of the students in the 21^st century. The appropriate approaches for developing the desirable citizenship competencies in the 21^st century of students were through learning management in the courses that teachers have to design. Students are allowed to take action and solve problems by themselves. The teachers are responsible for guiding and facilitating students' learning in order to achieve sustainable and permanent self-learning, through student activities, special projects, or project-based learning that focus on building the growth mindset of students. The projects should focus on analytical thinking, creative thinking, problem-solving, communication and interpersonal skills, moral and ethics, and performance as an active citizen, through student self-development activities that allow students to develop themselves in terms of self-regulation, self-confidence, and being an active learner. The activities should focus on information and technology skills, life skills, the 21^st century living skills, moral and ethics, and performance as an active citizen.