The problem of this study was to isolate predictors of academic success in both self-paced classes and lecture classes in Introductory Accounting. The purposes of the study were to determine if learning style, locus of control, reading ability, age, sex, accounting work experience, and prior accounting academic experience are predictors of success in Introductory Accounting classes taught using self-paced methods of instruction and lecture methods of instruction. Another purpose was to determine if there is a difference in the set of predictors of success in the two instructional methods and to provide some direction as to determinants of success which may be addressed by counselors in advising students. The data were collected from 463 students at a suburban community college in the Southwest. Each of the variables was analyzed by a stepwise multiple regression analysis and a backward elimination regression for students grouped according to instructional method. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine whether the distribution of scores on the potential predictor variables were equivalent for students in the two teaching methods and for successful completers of the course and noncompleters. Consideration of the data findings of this study permitted the following conclusions: 1. Age and reading ability have a positive relationship to academic success in an Introductory Accounting course taught in a lecture format. 2. Concrete learning style, as measured by the Learning Style Inventory, age, reading ability, and accounting work experience have a positive relationship to success in an Introductory Accounting course taught in a self-paced format. 3. Age, reading ability, accounting work experience, and a concrete learning style have a positive relationship to academic success in Accounting courses taught using either method. 4. There is a difference in the set of predictors of success for Accounting classes taught using the two instructional methods. 5. There are differences between completers and noncompleters of courses regardless of instructional method.

To determine correlates of better academic performance, a scale was devised for this study to measure children's attributions to ability and effort in academic success and failure situations. These measures as well as measures of locus of control an d perceived contingency of teacher rewards and punishments were related to achievement test scores, grades, and a teacher's ratings of the helplessness or competence of classroom behaviors. Subjects were 137 sixth-graders (66 girls and 71 boys). Intercorrelations of the variables show consistent relationships between attributions to lack of effort in failure situations and to ability in success situations and better academic performance. Locus of control was only weakly related to academic achievement measures. The contingency measures, also devised for this study, were disappointingly unreliable.

Master of Public Health / Department of Human Nutrition / Sandra B. Procter / Family meals and meals with caregivers can be sources of social support. Current literature indicates that social support is important for physical and psychological health and well-being. There has been no published research looking at the role of communal meals in collegiate dining centers as sources of social support. This study investigated the possibility that communal meals in a collegiate dining center and eating with other people in these settings may be related to perceived social support, academic success, frequency of family meals, and/or degree of involvement in college extracurricular activities. To investigate these relationships, first-year Kansas State University students living in the residence halls of the Derby Complex (Ford, Haymaker, Moore, and West Halls) were administered a survey about dining center usage habits. The survey included the previously tested Interpersonal Relationship Inventory Short Form by V.P. Tilden (n.d.) as a measure of perceived social support. Participants granted access to their first semester Kansas State University grade point average and semester dining center usage data. Surveys were completed online (n=216) and in paper format (n=89) for a total of 303 participants. There was no significant difference between the demographics of those that completed the online versus paper formats of the survey. Therefore, the online and paper formats of the survey were analyzed together. The data were analyzed for all participants and for males (n=94) and females (n=209) separately. Results revealed multiple significant relationships (p<0.05). Results related to grade point average and perceived social support revealed a significant positive relationship between frequency of eating in the dining center and grade point average for all participants combined. This relationship was also noted for males and females analyzed separately. Frequency of eating with others was found to be significantly positively correlated to perceived social support score for all participants combined, and for males and females analyzed separately. Frequency of eating with others was significantly positively correlated with grade point average for males alone and females alone, but not all participants combined. Further research is needed to determine if the relationships are causal and if so, the direction of causality in the relationships.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-01-12T17:49:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Charles Abrantes Coura.pdf: 936563 bytes, checksum: 0c95e6602b0c8bcf88b8bd54d45d8043 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-12T17:49:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Charles Abrantes Coura.pdf: 936563 bytes, checksum: 0c95e6602b0c8bcf88b8bd54d45d8043 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The aim of this study is to verify what the preponderant factors were that led graduates of a private Higher Education Institution to choose that particular institution to enter Higher Education. Could the socioeconomic status of these subjects, the institution location, its architectural conditions and material equipment, or even the quality of the education offered have interfered in this choice? Verifying those factors became important in order to know if there is a relation between them and the choice of the institution to attend Higher Education, once those factors may lead the subjects to academic success, here understood as graduating. Besides, we were interested in knowing what expectations they had regarding Higher Education and if they were fulfilled. For this purpose, the research starts with the hypothesis that the infrastructure of the institution investigated may be seen as a differential when choosing the institution which students join, fomenting expectations that graduating is the main way to ascend socially and economically. The data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and survey. With the contribution of authors Pierre Bourdieu, Rogério Haesbaert and Bernard Lahire,especially the concepts of habitus, cultural capital and territory guided the research and the analysis of the empiric data. The study results show that the socioeconomic status of the subjects is one of the preponderant factors when choosing the Higher Education institution, either by the offer of scholarships or the tuition cost, although the quality of the education this institution offers and its location are also indicated as reasons for this choice. It was also observed that the hypothesis of this research was partially confirmedes / Este trabalho tem como objetivo verificar quais foram os fatores preponderantes que levaram os sujeitos egressos de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior privada à escolha da instituição para ingressar no ensino superior. As condições socioeconômicas desses sujeitos, o território onde está localizada a instituição, suas condições arquitetônicas e equipamentos materiais, ou ainda a qualidade de ensino oferecida por ela, poderiam ter interferido na sua escolha? Tornou-se importante verificar esses fatores, a fim de saber se há relação entre eles e a escolha da IES para cursar o ensino superior, uma vez que tais fatores podem levar os sujeitos ao sucesso escolar, entendido neste estudo como a conclusão do ensino superior. Além disso, interessou-nos saber quais as expectativas que tinham sobre o ensino superior e se essas foram correspondidas. Para tanto, a pesquisa parte da hipótese de que a infraestrutura da IES investigada pode figurar como diferencial para a escolha da instituição em que ingressam os estudantes, fomentando expectativas de que a conclusão do ensino superior, é a principal maneira de ascender social e economicamente. A coleta de dados se deu por meio de questionário semiestruturado e entrevista. Com a contribuição dos autores Pierre Bourdieu, Rogério Haesbaert e Bernard Lahire, sobretudo os conceitos de habitus, capital cultural e território balizaram a pesquisa e a análise dos dados empíricos. Os resultados do estudo apontaram que as condições socioeconômicas dos sujeitos é um dos fatores preponderantes na escolha da instituição para cursar o ensino superior quer seja pela oferta de bolsas de estudos, quer seja pelo valor da mensalidade, embora a qualidade de ensino que esta instituição oferece e a localização territorial também sejam apontadas com motivo dessa escolha. Observou-se também que a hipótese desta pesquisa foi confirmada em parte

Thesis (M.A. (Information Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / A large number of first year entering undergraduate students at tertiary institutions at Tshwane University of Technology lack skills and competencies for accessing relevant academic information for their assignments and other academic projects they are engaged in. To overcome this problem academic libraries at this institution organise Information Literacy Training Programme (ILTP) to equip students with such skills and competencies. This research investigated if there is any impact that ILTP has among first year entering undergraduate students attached to the Faculties of Humanities and Management Science, who have attended this programme at Tshwane University of Technology, at Polokwane campus. The study adopted both quantitative and qualitative research approaches through a questionnaire and focus group interview respectively to measure the information literacy skills and competencies of first year entering students before and after t attending ILITP.The study sought to measure (a) Students’ perception of information literacy; (b) Students’ ability to use library resources; (c) Students familiarity with different library resources before and after attendance of the programme. The study found that most of the first entering students had a different perception of information literacy. Furthermore, the student’s abilities to use library resources and their familiarity with library resources were very little before they attended the programme. It was only after they attended the programme that they were familiar with some of the library resources and their abilities to use those resources improved. Therefore this study discovered that ILTP has a positive impact of the academic success and performance of first entering students, even though it is minimal.The study recommends that information literacy education for students should be continuous so that students should not lose focus of what they have learnt in the formal Information Literacy Training Programmes. Furthermore, teaching of information literacy should be compulsory to all first year entering students across all faculties offered at Tshwane University of Technology and this will attach some form of accreditation to them to encourage participation.

Collegiate athletic programs at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II institutions in the United States serve a two-fold purpose. They offer aspiring student athletes access to college and opportunities to play competitive college sports. Consequently, student athletes at Division II institutions experience personal and institutional pressures to compete for championships while achieving academic success. Increasing demands on today’s college student athletes’ athletic participation and performance has a multitude of consequences that could influence their academic performance and success in college. Simultaneously, these institutions and athletic programs are also witnessing another phenomenon – a transformation in their student population. Latino college student athlete matriculation continues to increase every year, mirroring their non-student athlete counterparts in higher education. Their increased enrollment on these college campuses necessitates higher education researchers to better understand this understudied population. In furthering that endeavor, this inquiry sought to illuminate an overarching research question: how does a Latino college athlete’s racial identity influence their academic success and athletic performance? Guided by Gloria Anzaldúa’s Theory of Borderlands (Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, 2012), this two-part qualitative study invited seven Latino college student athletes’ to examine their racial-ethnic identity, their academic success, and their athletic participation in Division II competitive sports. Through 12 semi-structured open-ended interviews, the researcher examined the intersections between Latino student athletes’ motivation to do well in their respective sport and their motivation to perform well academically. Among the major findings of this study, participants strongly identified themselves as Nepantleras – border crossers who possessed an intrinsic ability to seamlessly cross the world of academics and the world of athletics. Their movement across these dual world realities, in addition to balancing the expectations of their Latino familias y culturas, resulted in the participants rejecting the idea of one or the other (student or athlete) and claiming a singular identity: Soy Estudiante Deportista. Understanding and engaging with Latino college student athletes’ academic and athletic experiences at Division II institutions is vital for college faculty, athletic directors, coaches, student affairs professionals, and institutional administrators invested in their success. This study offers these institutional agents recommendations to best support their student athletes.

A large number of African American students attending a low performing, urban high school in Tennessee demonstrated a lack of understanding in reading/language arts by scoring below proficient on the end of course (EOC) exam in reading/language arts. The purpose of this case study was to examine the perceptions of 10 African American graduates who scored proficient on the reading/language arts EOC exam to seek factors they associated with their academic success. This study was guided by Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory. The research question addressed the perceived factors that African American graduates associated with their academic success. Purposeful sampling was used to select 10 African American graduates who scored proficient on the EOC reading/language arts exam and who were 18 years or older. The data were collected through one-on-one interviews and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The data revealed that all the participants had a positive adult figure who motivated and encouraged them to continue to succeed. Based on the research findings, a project on mentoring was developed. Implementation of a professional development workshop on mentoring could bring about a positive social change for more African American students because the project provides a mentor for more African American students at this high school, which may lead to more African American students improving their academic success.

Advisors use placement test scores as a means of predicting students' proficiency in mathematics; however, there is a debate about how accurately these scores predict students' success. This nonexperimental quantitative study focused on one test, the Texas Success Initiative (TSI). The purpose of the study was to determine whether the test is an accurate predictor of students' success in college algebra for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, and whether students who took the test continued pursuing a STEM major. The theoretical framework for this study was Tinto's theory of retention. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used to generate 500 random cases from 2,339 students ranging from 18 to 50 years of age who enrolled in Math 1414 during the Spring 2015 to Spring 2017 semesters at the Texas community college setting. Hierarchical multiple and logistic regression were performed to test whether the TSI scores significantly predicted students' math grade and retention. The hierarchical multiple regression revealed that the TSI score explained only 13% of the variance in math grades (R2 = .13). The logistic regression showed that the TSI score explained a variance of only 7% (Nagelkerke R2 = .07) and yielded a higher number of false positives in predicting retention in a STEM mathematics track after controlling for high school GPA, gender, ethnicity, and age. Findings revealed no significant relationship between TSI scores and students' academic success and retention. The results from this study may contribute to positive social change by providing academic advisors with additional knowledge of the best practice for placing students to achieve success in college math courses.

The college experience for many students is an exciting and sometimes awe-inspiring journey. For the first time many students find themselves responsible for making life altering decisions that will determine the course of their adult lives for years to come. They are making the decisions to participate in specific academic majors, a variety of housing options and a multitude of extra-curricular activities. Unfortunately, without proper guidance and structure many of these students find themselves unable to cope with the new challenges of academia, faculty staff interaction, peer relationships and financial obligations. It is because of these challenges that institutions of higher education must take a proactive approach in addressing the unique needs of their students. Of the estimated three million undergraduate college students entering higher education today ". . . nearly 30-40% of these students drop out without obtaining a college degree" (Enochs & Roland, 2006, p. 63). As a result of the challenges faced by these students, institutions are recognizing the importance of developing initiatives and support services to address the deficiencies in maturity, academics and social skills. One such initiative being implemented by institutions is the development and execution of living learning communities. The strengths of living learning communities are their adaptability, affordability and potential to address institutional concerns such as engagement, student persistence rates and academic success. Growing out of the college retention research of Alexander Astin (1993) and Vincent Tinto (1993), this current study examines the relationships between living learning communities and their influence on academic success and persistence rates of students who first matriculated in the Fall of 2010 or 2011, and were still enrolled in the Fall 2012 semester for first-year and second-year students at the University of South Florida.

One hundred and fifty senior students (comprising of second and third year undergraduate students) completed a biographical questionnaire and the BarOn Emotional Quotient-Inventory questionnaire. The results indicate that there are statistically significant differences in total EQ based on gender and age, although there were no statistically significant differences based on race. Conclusions are drawn about the importance of emotional intelligence in students and recommendations for future research are provided.