A growing number of home-schooled students enter the nation's colleges and universities each year. Tinto (1988, 1993) presented a foundational model of how students transition from high school to college. In this model, students travel through three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation. Few studies have examined the transitional issues home-school students encounter as they begin their first year of college. This study, at a midsized public university in the Midwest, examined the transitional issues experienced by first-year college students who graduated from high school in a home-school setting. It specifically sought to determine if the issues experienced by the students were related to Tinto's theory of student departure. The study was qualitative in nature. Data were gathered through interviews with first-year students who matriculated in fall 2005 and persisted to spring 2006. The interviews were held in February and March 2006. Data was analyzed based on guidelines presented by Berkowitz (1997) and themes were discovered.The researcher concluded that there was little distinction between the transitional issues experienced by home-schooled students, and those experienced by traditionally educated students. Students experienced a wide range of transitional issues during their first year of college such as loneliness, meeting others with different values, living in the residence halls, and dealing with greater independence. The transitional issues the participants encountered during their first year of college were closely related to Tinto's (1993) theory of transition. The resources offered by the university, such as orientation, RAs, and campus programming, were influential in the home-schooled students' transition to college. / Department of Educational Studies

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the influence of sex, perceived social support from family and peers, negative life stress, psychological separation from mother and father, and spiritual well-being in predicting college adjustment. Additional goals of the study included examining the relationships between psychological separation from parents and spiritual well-being, as well as examining the influence of sex on perceived social support, negative life stress, psychological separation from parents, and spiritual well-being.The sample consisted of 100 undergraduate college students at a midsized, midwestern university. Participants completed a set of questionnaires, including a demographic questionnaire, Perceived Social Support Scale, Life Experiences Survey, Psychological Separation Inventory (Conflictual Independence subscale), Spiritual Well Being Scale, and Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire.The combination of the predictors in the study accounted for 33.9% of the variance in general college adjustment. Perceived social support from friends, spiritual well-being, and negative life stress were significant predictors (p<.05) of general college Social, adjustment. The combination of predictors in the study accounted for 31.9% of the variance in social college adjustment. Perceived social support from friends and spiritual well-being were significant predictors (p<.05) of social college adjustment.In addition, correlational data showed significant relationships between spiritual well-being and conflictual independence from both mother and father. Further, male sex was significantly, positively related to conflictual independence from father. Conceptual, research, and clinical implications are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The successful adaptation to university by first year students is of prime importance to university authorities throughout the world. The high dropout rate of students is an indication that students do have a problem adapting to university. This has led to the introduction of orientation courses and the development of programmes to assist students in adjusting. This allows them a greater opportunity to experience success at university and to meet the main aim of university education - cognitive development (Behr, 1986:27) ...

This study examined the effects of Control Theory training upon self-concept and locus of control among students enrolled in the Provisional Admission Program (PAP) at the University of Texas at Arlington. Twenty-nine students randomly assigned to treatment or placebo control groups took the Coppersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSSEI-A) and the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (ANSIE) as pre- and posttests. Participants in the placebo control group attended their regular educational program for the same amount of time given to the treatment group. No significant differences were found on the Analysis of Covariance for CSSEI—A or ANSIE scores following the training period. CSSEI-A and ANSIE scores were elevated, indicating that PAP students think of themselves internally as do other college students, regardless of their SAT scores. The results of this study indicate that Control Theory training is insignificantly effective in producing changes in the self-concept and locus of control among PAP students. Control Theory research may need to be carried out with a smaller group size, use larger samples, provide more time to address the issues specific to PAP student needs, include a stronger counseling emphasis to meet their needs, use more sensitive instruments to detect such changes, and allow more time for the learning to occur before the administration of the posttest.

The purposes of this study were to determine the adjustment of freshman athletes to intercollegiate athletics and to determine the validity of the Perceptions of Adjustment to Sports Questionnaire (PASQ), which was created for this research. The results of a pilot study that included 62 freshman intercollegiate athletes indicated that Rule 48 status, time of season, residence, interscholastic athletic experience, team cohesion, and revenue do not influence the adjustment of freshman athletes to intercollegiate sports (p < .05). Twelve panelists also rated the construct validity of the PASQ in a three-round Delphi study. The final version of the PASQ resulted in a 69-item, 8 sub scale instrument that measures freshman adjustment to intercollegiate athletics; however, additional research needs to be conducted to confirm its validity. Possible uses of the PASQ are to provide a foundation for counseling freshman intercollegiate athletes and to recognize freshman athletes at risk for psychiatric and physical health problems. / School of Physical Education

In an extension of Louden's work, this study investigated identity development across the lifespan by applying Erickson's and Marcia's identity constructs to two developmental models, the selective optimization and compensation model and a holistic wellness model. Data was gathered from traditionally aged college freshmen and adults older than 60 years of age. Uncommitted identity statuses and work and leisure wellness domains were endorsed across both groups, suggesting that identity for these groups is in a state of fluctuation yet entailing participation as a productive member of society. Emerging adult findings imply that identity diffused and moratorium identity styles are more similar in terms of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional functioning than past literature suggests for this age group. Findings also indicate that identity development is not a process completed by older adulthood, but is an ongoing, lifelong process perhaps driven by contextual factors such as health changes, unpredictable life events, social support group changes, and others. Coping method utilization and overall wellness varied between the two age groups. Conceptually, the SOC model can be viewed as embedded within each of the wellness domains such that selection, optimization, and compensation activities may be carried out within each of the various domains and serve to enhance existing functioning within each domain rather than simply compensating for lost functioning. Possible explanations of the results as well as implications for clinical practice, higher education, and future research are provided.

During the transition to college, emerging adults are expected to develop independence and increase individual responsibility as they live away from home for the first time. Modern electronic communication has enabled emerging adults to maintain frequent, daily contact with the parent, a pattern of communication Hofer refers to as an “electronic tether.” This study examined the link between parenting style and the development of independence of first year, first semester college students. Although these students were in frequent contact with their designated parent, no correlation between frequency of communication and parenting style or independence was found. Both authoritative and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted attitudinal independence. However, permissive parenting functioned as a significant negative predictor. Authoritarian, permissive, and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted conflictual independence. However, authoritative parenting functioned as a significant negative predictor. Both authoritative and helicopter parenting significantly positively predicted emotional and functional independence.

The purpose of the study was to compare the academic stress of freshmen in a community college with that of freshmen in a university. An additional purpose was to determine if gender, ethnicity, or semester course load was related to perceived academic stress. The sample consisted of a total of 303 university and community college freshmen from English and Psychology classes at the University of North Texas and Richland Community College during the spring semester, 1989. The instrument that was administered to these volunteer students was the Academic Stress Test, a 35-item checklist of possible academic stressors. The students were asked to check the items which were perceived by them to be stressful and had occurred during the current semester. The T-statistic was used to analyze the total mean stress score for each variable being considered. Multiple regression was used to determine if there was any possibility that the variables might have a predictive effect for academic stress. It was found that for these freshmen students there was a significant difference between the perceived academic stress of community college freshmen and university freshmen. The mean academic stress score for university freshmen was higher than the mean for community college freshmen. Likewise, the perceived academic stress of females was significantly higher than that of males, and higher for those taking more semester hours than for those taking fewer semester hours. There was found to be no significant difference in the perceived academic stress of white and non-white freshmen college students.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / There is a growing concern for the high drop-out and failure rate of university students in their first year. Numerous studies have been undertaken to determine the reasons for the high student failure. It appears as if there are academic and social factors which affect learning. One factor that has only recently been investigated is the learning strategies of the student. Learning strategies entail the way in which a student plans and executes his studies, and the processes that are involved in this activity. This study was undertaken to determine whether a difference exists between the learning strategies of a first year student who has supportive family relations versus a first year student who has unsupportive family relations. This study consists of two parts. A literature study constitutes the first part. in which the concepts family relations and learning strategies' are correlated. This is followed by an empirical study on the relationships of students with supportive family relations and students with unsupportive fami7y re7ations and their use of learning strategies. To determine the degree to which the student experiences family support, the PHSF-Relations Questionnaire was used. The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) was used to determine the student's use of learning strategies. Two components of the PHSF-Relations Questionnaire namely Family Influences and Personal Freedom were studied to determine the degree of family support of the first year student. The empirical investigation made use of the first year students registered at the Rand Afrikaans University in 1990. These students were divided into groups according to sex, and language preference. The resultant groups were: Afrikaans speaking males and females and males and females speaking other languages. The- statistical analysis was done by the Statistics Computer Service. It was empirically shown that: There are significant differences between the use of learning strategies by first year students with supportive family relations versus first year students with unsupportive family relations in most of the cases. Concerning the component Family Influences, no significant difference was found between first year males speaking languages other than Afrikaans with supportive family influences and those with unsupportive family influences. Concerning the component Personal Freedom, no significant difference was found between first year Afrikaans speaking malestudents and first year female students with home languages other than Afrikaans. Motivation, Selection of main ideas and Test strategies are the components of the use of learning strategies that are most dependent on supportive family relations. Certain components of learning strategies are not significantly dependent on the degree of family support of the student, for example : Study Aids and Information Processing.

This study examined the relationships between perceived parenting styles, academic self-efficacy, and college adjustment among a sample of 31 freshman engineering students. Through the administration of self-report surveys and chi-square analyses, strong academic self-efficacy was demonstrated in students who reported authoritative maternal parenting. These findings support previous research on the relationship between academic self-efficacy and parenting styles. Implications were drawn for parents and future research.