Chapter 1. 1. Introduction - The rapid growth and development in industrial and technological areas has created a growing need for trained manpower. Increasingly it is expected of the universities to supply the community in these needs. For this reason the position of university dropouts must be regarded in a serious light - the necessary potential is not being utilized and furthermore the dropout rate is a burden for both the country and the community. 2. Objectives - The researcher has set the following overall objectives: To determine: a) Whether there are any significant differences between the dropout and the successful student as regard, aptitude, interest and personality. b) Whether the dropout in the year course differs from the dropout in the semester course. c) What factors - as described in literature on this subject - play an important part in the cessation of studies. d) The causes of such study cessation at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education. 3. Hypotheses - a) There are no significant differences between the successful student and the dropout as regards aptitude, personality and interest. b) There are no meaningful psychological differences between the dropout in the semester course and the dropout in the year course. Chapter 2: Survey of literature. The phenomenon - as described in literature on this subject - is reviewed in this chapter. In the definitions that have been stated definite differences have been drawn between the successful student, the unsuccessful student and the dropout. Furthermore the extent of the dropouts in certain overseas countries and the Republic of South Africa has been reviewed but specifically also as relating to the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education. Attention has also been given to the relationship between '. sexes, faculty, residence and study cessation. The pattern during the year of such cessation as well as its reasons are also discussed. The following factors which may be relevant to such cessation of studies have been identified: a) Psychological factors such as social withdrawal, stress, lack of self-confidence, identity-crises and problems on an interpersonal level. b) Family background. c) Socio-economical factors. d) Social pressures. e) Aptitude. f) Interest. g) Motivation'. h) Academic accomplishments. i) Religion. Chapter 3: Method of investigation. At the inception of their studies first-year students undergo psychometric testing. The results of the psychometric testing of 1980, 1981 and 1982 have been used in this investigation. Certain criteria for success have been set and the successful students identified accordingly. Of this group a random sample has been drawn. The dropouts were seen as a universal group. The aptitude, interest and personality scores of the successful students have then been compared with those of the dropouts using certain statistical methods. The aptitude, interest and personality scores of the dropout in the semester course have been compared with those of the dropouts in the year course, but only by comparing their average scores. One standard deviation is regarded as a significant psychological difference. No further statistical methods were used in this part of the research. Chapter 4: Discussion of results. 1. Certain tendencies relevant to the dropout's aptitude, interest and personality have been identified. The various faculties however, indicate differing tendencies. 2. It would appear as if there is no material difference between the dropout in the year course and those in the semester course. Chapter 5: Conclusion. From the investigation indications are that although in the different faculties certain tendencies are found relevant to cessation of studies, individual differences cannot be disregarded. To attempt to identify dropouts purely on ground of psychological tests without considering predisposing factors would be Unrealistic. Cessation of studies as a psychological problem can be reduced but never entirely eliminated. / Skripsie (MA)-- PU vir CHO, 1984

The environment, which includes the immediate milieu of the child, influences the child in his totality. The environment has an influence in all spheres of the child's life, such as in the intellectual and mental, on those personality traits which will develop into dominant ones, the emotional sphere, which includes anxiety, his attitude and disposition towards other people and towards objects, his relationships with others and his level of academic achievement. The aim of this study is to determine whether an altered milieu - a change from the parental home to a special school - will have a verifiable influence on the personality and academic achievements of children with behavioural deviations. Available literature on the personality, intelligence and academic achievement of both the well-adjusted and maladjusted child, the origin of misbehaviour, the manifestations of misbehaviour and the milieu as both causative and therapeutic factor in behavioural deviations was studied. The sample consisted of all Standard 6, Standard 7 and Standard 8 pupils of both sexes who were referred to the special school from their parental homes in the course of the first term. A selected battery of tests, consisting of standardized psychometric tests was applied individually to the subjects upon their arrival at the special school. After a period of at least six months the subjects were given the same battery of tests in a group, with the exception of the intelligence test, which was taken down individually. The test and background data were then tabulated and some generally valid conclusions were reached which could be made applicable to the group as a whole. After a period of sojourn at the special school, for example, the subjects did better academically and fewer failures occurred than in previous years. Their average intelligence quotient improved, but their anxiety level increased and their general level of study orientation deteriorated. Personality traits which figured more prominently included selfconfidence, group dependency, dominance and activity. Lethargy as a result of increased ergic tension decreased and the subjects were less phlegmatic and diffident. One could then come to the conclusion that a changed milieu does bring about a change as r.egards the academic achievement and certain personality traits of the subjects. / Thesis (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1981

Proefskrif--PU vir CHO

In this dissertation, the intersection between emotion and motivation was explored. Participants in this study were given a survey at two time points during the semester. Using this data, the factor structure for the motivation construct as described by Elliot and colleagues were explored using a MTMM model. Leading from the measurement model from the CFA, results indicated that emotion and motivation are highly related, but in different ways depending on if the students have had academic feedback. The academic feedback also may change some students’ motivational orientations, based on their emotional reaction.

A basic assumption held by media specialists is that the media center is an educational agency which provides supportive services to the educational process by contributing to the academic success of students. It is further assumed that the availability and use of media will aid students in formal educational pursuits. The existances of a high media-student ratio, if it does contribute to students' academic success, should then be reflected in recorded grade-point averages. Using college grade-point averages as the measure of academic success, this study was designed to determine whether or not a high media-student ratio contributes markedly to the formal education of students.Media's contribution to education is an area of media service which availability is but one of the many facets. However, the availability of media is a prerequisite to utilization and was therefore established as a basic variable in the design of the study.Specifically the following five major research questions were posed:1) Do students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a high media-student ratio achieve higher grade-point averages than students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a low media-student ratio?2) Do students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a high media-student ratio more often express satisfaction from study than do students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a low media-student ratio?3) Do students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a high media-student ratio more often express interest in assuming responsibility for their own learning than do students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a low media-student ratio?4) Do students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a high media-student ratio more often express the opinion that the library media program improved their ability to solve academic problems than do those students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a low media-student ratio?5) Do students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a high media-student ratio more often express the opinion that the library media program improved their ability to understand different views and philosophies than do those students matriculating from Indiana high schools with a low media-student ratio?The first research question was tested by means of analysis of covariance using the SAT Mathematics and English scores as the covariate and the grade-point-averages as the criteria.The last four research questions were answered from data gathered by means of a questionnaire which sought the opinions and values of students concerning the media programs which were available in the high schools from which they graduated.The questionnaire was sent to a sample of 200 students representing 20 Indiana secondary schools. Ten of the schools had a high media-student ratio and ten had a low media-student ratio. The schools were identified by means of the "Individual School Evaluation and Report-Instructional Materials Program." Access to this material was granted by the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Indianapolis, Indiana.The comparison of the high media-student ratio group and the low media-student ratio group did not indicate any marked differences in the academic records when the criteria of accumulated average grade-point was applied as a measure of success.The results of the last four research questions, upon which the questionnaire was based did not show any marked differences in opinions and values as stated by the students with a high media-student ratio when compared with the responses from the low-media-student ratio group.In this study the availability of a high media-student ratio group did not appear to reflect any marked differences in the academic successes of the high media-student group in comparison to the low media-student group which constituted the population sample utilized in the study.

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of a course in Intrapersonal Relationships on the academic self-concept of a group of high risk, first quarter matriculates. Self-concept theorists assert that the perceptions people hold of themselves (their self-concept) impose functional limits on what individuals will attempt and achieve. If students with marginal academic potential, as measured by the traditional criteria, SAT scores and class rank, are to persist in college, remedial assistance along with self-concept enhancement work, would seem to be imperative.A review of the related literature revealed a plethora of studies examining the influence of some treatment variable on global self-concept and/or achievement; however, few studies investigated the effect of that treatment variable on academic self-concept.The sample used in this study consisted of 158 students, enrolled in Ball State University, who were under the auspices of the Academic Opportunity Program (AOP). This is a program designed to provide academic assistance to students who score between 310 to 340 on the SATverbal section and rank below the 50th percentile exclusive of the lowest 10th percentile of the high school graduating class.Because of administrative policy set forth by the AOP director, random assignment to group was not employed.Those students who scored within the zero through 10th percentile on the SAT sub-tests (composite scores on reading, vocabulary, and Test of Standard Written English) were required by the director of the AOP to take Intrapersonal Relationships, CPSY 130. These students comprised the experimental group.A control group was comprised of students enrolled in Career and Life Planning, CPSY 110 or Interpersonal Relationships, CPSY 230. All classes were taught by doctoral fellows in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services.All students completed the Academic Self-Concept Scale (ASCS) in their respective classes during the first week of fall quarter, 1982. This instrument served as the pretest and posttest. The posttest was administered during the last week of classes fall quarter, 1982 -- 10 weeks later.Statistical analyses were computed through the use of analysis of covariance. The covariates were: pretest scores, SAT verbal scores, SAT math scores, and class rank measured in percentiles. One hypothesis was tested: there will be no significant differences between students participating in treatment and control groups on the posttest measure of academic self-concept as measured by the ASCS. This hypothesis failed to be rejected at the .05 level of significance. Experimental subjects did not demonstrate a significantly higher academic self-concept than control subjects after completing a 10 week course designed to help students recognize and free themselves from self-limiting patterns of behavior.

This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the ‘class’ and gender dimensions of educational inequality. In doing this, it uses a “structure-disposition-practice” model that is rooted in Bourdieu’s theory of cultural and social reproduction but also draws from the theoretical formulations of subsequent sociologists to elaborate on the core concept, habitus, and make it more amenable to quantitative analyses. Habitus is a socialized set of dispositions that shapes how individuals orient to the social world, including their perception of their life chances and corresponding styles of thought and behaviour. The model posits that students’ habitus is a formative influence on how they react to their educational environments and affects their academic achievement. Furthermore, students’ habitus is affected by both their social ‘class’ and their gender, and these ‘class’ and gender differences help explain ‘class’ and gender disparities in educational achievement. Working with multilevel Canadian data from the linked PISA-YITS surveys, this study uses structural modeling to examine the relationships between family socioeconomic status, sex, habitus, academic practices, and academic achievement. As well, school contextual effects are included. A number of the findings were consistent with hypotheses. Most notably, the results provide some evidence that students’ family SES significantly affects their habitus and that their habitus significantly affects their academic achievement. For the most part gender differences in the model were modest, but a few differences were evident: the boys outscore the girls in math and science while the girls excel in reading, students’ SES has a relatively stronger effect on the girls’ academic achievement than on the boys’ achievement, while students’ habitus affects the boys’ academic achievement more strongly than the girls’ achievement. Finally, the average SES of the schools students attend affects both the boys’ and the girls’ academic achievement, but this effect is stronger for the boys, and the effect of the boys’ habitus on their academic achievement diminishes slightly as the average SES of the schools they attend increases; no such contextual interaction was evident for the girls. Overall, the results of this study give qualified support to Bourdieu’s framework and the potential of habitus and the “structure-disposition-practice” model to help us understand ‘class’ and gender differences in academic achievement.

This study investigated the self-perceptions of low and high achieving adolescent students in a rural community of Jamaica, W.I. The effects of achievement level and sex were considered. / The participants were 95 low achieving students and 100 high achieving students who were rigidly tracked into two separate schools. The survey instrument, "How I See Myself and Feel About Myself" was specially designed for this study. Student responses were compared to the subscales from Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (1988). / The results revealed twelve self-perception categories, four of which were unique to the Jamaican adolescents. High achievers referred more frequently to academic competence, romantic appeal, and close friendship. Low achievers referred more frequently to behavioral conduct. Overall, male students referred more frequently to scholastic competence, athletic competence and behavioral conduct. Female students referred more frequently to social acceptance, romantic appeal, close friendship and family relations.

This study examined whether a relationship exists between family structure (the presence of organization and rules in the household) and academic achievement among intellectually gifted students, and whether this relationship differs with respect to gender. Subjects for the study were 175 grade 8 students attending a school for the gifted and their parents (38 mothers and 33 fathers). The relationship between the responses of the subjects to the Organization and Control subscales of the Family Environment Scale and the students' grades from the previous school year was assessed using multiple regression analyses. To test for gender differences, an interaction term comprised of the variables of family structure and student gender was included in each equation. The analyses conducted did not produce any significant results. Possible explanations for the absence of significance and suggestions for future research are presented.

No description available.