The first year of undergraduate education is a significant transition period. During this time, students are confronted with a variety of new academic and social challenges, which require different emotional abilities so as to support the successful transition in the first year. As such, the study aims to investigate the values of emotional intelligence in facilitating the first year experience. Specifically, a conceptual model is proposed, which postulates that emotional intelligence would have an impact on self-directed learning and student engagement, which in turn, affect the first year learning outcomes. According to Salovey and Mayer (1990), emotional intelligence encompasses the abilities of the appraisal, expression and regulation of the emotions in the self and others as well as the utilization of emotions for problem solving. Its relationship with self-directed learning can be revealed from the analysis of McCombs and Whisler (1989), who suggested that three important elements drive the occurrence of self-directed learning: (i) motivation and positive affect; (ii) self-regulation and (iii) locus of control. They are, indeed, all closely associated with emotional intelligence. Building on abundant evidence showing its relationship with academic study and positive social relationships, emotional intelligence is also expected to influence student engagement. Fredrickson’s (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory also lays the ground for the relationship between the two, as it proposed that the experience of positive emotions promotes exploration and approach behaviour, which, in turn, creates more learning opportunities. Individuals who are more emotionally intelligent are better at harnessing positive emotions. A mixed-method approach with two stages of data collection was employed in this study. In stage one, a total of 1760 first year students at a university in Hong Kong responded to a survey measuring emotional intelligence and self-directed learning during the registration period. In stage two, a follow-up survey gauging students’ engagement and learning outcomes was administered to all participants from stage one at the end of the first year, with 560 responses collected in total. Four focus groups with 18 first year participants with high and low levels of emotional intelligence were also used to explore how they differed in terms of their attitudes and behaviours on self-directed learning and student engagement. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the interrelationships among emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement. The findings affirmed the values of emotional intelligence in influencing self-directed learning and student engagement, which were found to be significantly linked with student learning outcomes. As a whole, the model proposed was able to explain 14% of the variance of GPA and 34% to 40% of the variance of the cognitive, social and self-growth outcomes. The study not only unveils the interrelationships among emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement, but more importantly, it sheds light on how best to improve the quality of the first year undergraduate education as the findings suggest that the enhancement of emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement can have direct or indirect effects to desirable learning outcomes. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

College success, as defined by adjustment to college and academic performance, is a multidetermined with a number of contributing influences, including academic factors, personality variables, family characteristics, and environmental factors. This study attempted to provide an organizing model of the college success literature that was based on previous research (e.g., Aspinwall & Taylor, 1994) and current stress-coping theory (Moos & Swindle, 1990). Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that the hypothesized model did not fit the data well. However, subsequent regression analyses did validate the view that college success is multidetermined. Specifically, academic performance was predicted by a combination of academic factors (SAT score and class rank) and academic adjustment. In turn, academic adjustment was predicted by locus of control, perceived social support, and high school class rank. Personal adjustment was predicted by coping strategies employed, parents who fostered autonomy, locus of control, self-esteem, and high school class rank. Finally, social adjustment was predicted by optimism, coping strategies employed, and locus of control. Treatment implications as well as directions for future research were discussed.

The problem of this study was to analyze the answers given by four groups (grade levels) of elementary school children and one group of adults (college freshmen) to direct questions regarding natural phenomena, to classify their explanations, to determine the methods and types of explanations used by these groups when they explain typical natural phenomena, and to compare these findings with the results of other investigators, especially Jean Piaget and Mervin E. Oakes.

Since the initial experiences of the college freshman were regarded as critical to his personal and social adjustment, the present study had as its primary purpose the investigation of the effects of deferred rush and pledging on a student's first year as Southern Methodist University. More specifically, the study investigated the effects of deferred rush and pledging on the following factors: 1. The effect on academic achievement of a selected group of freshmen. 2. The effect on the drop-out rate of a selected group of freshmen. 3. The effect on the extent to which a selected group of freshmen use the University Health Center. 4. The effect on the extent to which a selected group of freshmen used the Psychological Services of the University.

This study investigated the relationship of high school curriculum to performance in academic foundation college courses. The purposes of the study were twofold: First, to study the relationship of a practical arts high school curriculum as opposed to a college preparatory high school curriculum to performance in academic foundation college courses. Second, to analyze this relationship and its implications for high school students, parents, teachers, and counselors.

The problem of this study was to determine the effectiveness of small group counseling in reducing the attrition rate and in altering the adjustment and values of freshmen in a community junior college.

The problem of this study was to determine the effect of industrial arts experiences on changing the attitudes of North Texas State University freshmen toward industrial arts generally and toward specific curriculum areas in industrial arts.

The general purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between college environmental press variables and the attrition characteristics of college freshmen at Southern Methodist University.

The purpose of this study is to identify which characteristics of student-athletes are most helpful in making administrative decisions about intercollegiate athletic programs, and then to develop a descriptive profile of a group of student-athletes at a particular university. Additional purposes include comparing these descriptive data with other group data and with perceptions of the same group of student-athletes by faculty administrators at the same university. Data were collected in four phases. First, a jury of three experts developed a list of student-athlete characteristics they believed to be helpful in making administrative decisions regarding those athletes. Next, information was gathered to develop a descriptive profile of a selected group of eighteen student-athletes based on the identified characteristics. Next, statistical comparisons were made with available data from other groups of students and from the eight Athletic Council members' perceptions of the study group. Major findings include the identification of useful characteristics, inconsistencies between student-athlete high school ranks in class and SAT scores, high scores in hostility, and accurate perceptions of student-athletes by Athletic Council members.

The problem with which this study is concerned was that of examining the relationship between academic achievement of college freshmen students and selected demographic variables. The purpose was to compare the grade point average of selected freshmen at North Texas State University and determine if geographic location, high school size, gender, racial heritage and college admission test scores affect academic achievement during the first year of college.