THE EFFECT OF SITUATIONAL FACTORS ANDudPSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF STUDENTS IN THE CHOICE udOF THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING EXPERTISE PROGRAMudIN VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE YOGYAKARTA udSPECIAL TERRITORY

摘要

This study aims to describe situational and psychological factors, the choice of the mechanical engineering udexpertise program, and find out determinations of situational and psychological factors on the choice of theudmechanical engineering expertise program in Vocational High Schools (VHSs) in the Yogyakarta SpecialudTerritory. This was a correlational study which was ex post facto in nature. It was conducted in state andudprivate VHSs belonging to the technology and engineering group in the mechanical engineering expertiseudprogram in the Yogyakarta Special Territory. The data were collected through inventories, observationudsheets, and documents. The data were analyzed using the descriptive analysis, regression analysis, and pathudanalysis. The results of the descriptive analysis show that the scores of situational factors are in the highudcategory, those of psychological factors are in the high category, and that of the choice of the mechanicaludengineering expertise program in VHSs is in the high category. The research hypothesis testing shows that: ud(a) there are significant effects of situational factors (family, previous school, and social environments),udand psychological factors (students’ information mastery, self-understanding, and attitudes) on the choiceudof the mechanical engineering expertise in VHSs with a contribution of 53.8%; and (b) based on the resultsudof path analysis showed that the choice of the mechanical engineering expertise program in VHSs by juniorudhigh school (JHS) graduates is dominantly affected by a situational factor in the form of social environmentudand the most influential psychological factors are students’ self-understanding and attitudes.