Psychology Social
RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access
Big Fish in a Big Pond: a study of academic self concept in first year medical students
Abstract
Background: Big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) research has demonstrated that students in high-ability environments have lower academic self-concepts than equally able students in low-ability settings. Research has shown low academic self-concepts to be associated with negative educational outcomes. Social comparison processes have been implicated as fundamental to the BFLPE.
Methods: Twenty first-year students in an Australian medical school completed a survey that included academic self-concept and social comparison measures, before and after their first written assessments. Focus groups were also conducted with a separate group of students to explore students’ perceptions of competence, the medical school environment, and social comparison processes.
Results: The quantitative study did not reveal any changes in academic self-concept or self evaluation. The qualitative study suggested that the attributions that students used when discussing performance were those that have been demonstrated to negatively affect self-concept. Students reported that the environment was slightly competitive and they used social comparison to evaluate their performance.
Conclusions: Although the BFLPE was not evident in the quantitative study, results from the qualitative study suggest that the BFLPE might be operating In that students were using attributions that are associated with lower self-concepts, the environment was slightly competitive, and social comparisons were used for evaluation.
Background
Over the past 25 years, research has demonstrated that equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in schools where the average achievement level is higher than in schools where the average achievement level is lower [1-3]. Known as the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect
(BFLPE), this finding has been replicated in primary
Big Fish in a Big Pond: a study of academic self concept in first year medical students
Abstract
Background: Big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) research has demonstrated that students in high-ability environments have lower academic self-concepts than equally able students in low-ability settings. Research has shown low academic self-concepts to be associated with negative educational outcomes. Social comparison processes have been implicated as fundamental to the BFLPE.
Methods: Twenty first-year students in an Australian medical school completed a survey that included academic self-concept and social comparison measures, before and after their first written assessments. Focus groups were also conducted with a separate group of students to explore students’ perceptions of competence, the medical school environment, and social comparison processes.
Results: The quantitative study did not reveal any changes in academic self-concept or self evaluation. The qualitative study suggested that the attributions that students used when discussing performance were those that have been demonstrated to negatively affect self-concept. Students reported that the environment was slightly competitive and they used social comparison to evaluate their performance.
Conclusions: Although the BFLPE was not evident in the quantitative study, results from the qualitative study suggest that the BFLPE might be operating In that students were using attributions that are associated with lower self-concepts, the environment was slightly competitive, and social comparisons were used for evaluation.
Background
Over the past 25 years, research has demonstrated that equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in schools where the average achievement level is higher than in schools where the average achievement level is lower [1-3]. Known as the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect
(BFLPE), this finding has been replicated in primary
References: 17. Vispoel W: Self-concept in artistic domains: An extension of the Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton (1976) model 19. Bong M, Shaalvik E: Academic self-concept and self-efficacy: How different are they really? Educational Psychology Review 2003, 2003(15):1.