Key drivers of graduate students� interest in the subject of immunology in a tertiary institution of Ghana

Abstract

Immunology is increasingly becoming a core biomedical discipline in recent times. Students� interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics programs is essential for better academic performances and outcomes in a University of Science Technology. To this end, we assessed the factors that influence students� interest in immunology among a group of 32 graduate students in a tertiary institution in Ghana. The study was conducted using quantitative instruments (questionnaires) after which principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reveal the underlying factors affecting students� interest in the course. In all, six components were found including students� perception, instructor quality, student�s interest/motivation, teaching methods, teaching materials and teaching facilities. Students� interest in immunology correlated negatively but significantly with perception; however, interest correlated positively with teaching methods (p < 0.001). Our study is the first to investigate the factors that influence students� interest in immunology in Ghana and supports the growing functionality of PCA approach for dimension reduction and exploratory factor analysis. � 2018 The Author(s).