Teaching and Learning Development Study of Service Psychology for Undergraduate Students at Dusit Thani College, Bangkok

Abstract

The objectives of this research are: 1) to evaluate and analyze the knowledge process of service psychology in the public and private universities in Thailand and 2) to develop teaching and learning of Service Psychology for Undergraduate Students at Dusit Thani College, Bangkok by using mixed methods research : qualitative and quantitative research approach design and experimental research. This research comprised four steps as follows: 1) Documentary research, expert and service psychology lecturer interview and participant observation, 2) Development of service psychology instructional model 3) Test of the Service Psychology instructional model 4) Improvement of the service psychology instructional model. Key informants were divided into two groups by purposive sampling namely 13 service psychology experts and service psychology lecturers, and the experimental group and control group were 80 students studying psychology for quality of life subjects at Dusit Thani College. The research was conducted 3 hours per week for 3 three weeks. The research instruments included service psychology test, in-depth interview, memorandum of participant observation form, memorandum of focus group discussion form, and evaluation form of learners. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, mean, standard deviation, percentages and t-test.

     The results of this research found that:

1. Teaching and Learning Study of Service Psychology should be integrated into the teaching model and focus on psychology theory and psychology principle including the study of self-understanding, understanding others, understanding society, and application of Service Psychology in Services Industry. It found three factors affecting the success of teaching and learning of Service Psychology teaching, which were: 1) factors in the lecturer who teaches teaching and learning – knowledge and experience of Service Psychology 2) factors in teaching and learning - activities, teaching method and integration of the teaching model and 3) factors in the Service Psychology course in the Thai Qualification Framework for Higher Education (TQF : HEd)

     The instructional model for the Service Psychology at Dusit Thani College that was researched and developed is called “Service Mind’ DTC Model” and has 6 important elements: 1) principles 2) objectives 3) teaching method 4) steps of instruction 5) media and activity and 6) evaluation. The model was tested and developed in the classroom with students at Dusit Thani College. The evaluation of the students revealed that the experimental group obtained more knowledge from the Service Psychology after studying higher the control group it at a statistical significance at level of .01 and, overall, and students were highly satisfied with the Service Psychology instructional model at Dusit Thani College.