Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

It is apparent to college workers that inadequate adjustment to college loses many potential scholars to the world. It is further apparent that many students fall short of realizing their full capabilities because of lack of adjustment. To meet this condition, more and more colleges and universities are instituting and developing counseling services. Because of the increases cost of such service and the extended time involved, it has become apparent that any device which improves the efficiency of counseling is highly desirable. As this counseling service has grown and expanded, college advisors have realized the service that could be performed if it were possible to anticipate abnormal reactions before they occur. In the past, this has been difficult because of the lack of properly validated predictive devices. Of course, hasty conclusions can be drawn from impressions, but they are as often faulty as valid. Since the signs of latent personality disturbances and, in many cases, even existing maladjustment, are often not revealed in overt behavior, devices which would aid counselors in selecting from a large population the individuals having or who are likely to develop problems of a personal and social adjustment would be very helpful. In this investigation, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a device which has been found valid in other situations, will be evaluated with the intent of discovering how valid this test is in determining maladjustment in college life. Specifically, it will be determined to what extent scores on this inventory earned by students when they enter college will be predictive of maladjustment which may develop later in several aspects of college life.

The objectives of this study were to mathematically model the quality of college life (QCL) concept and to study the associations between attachment style, emotion regulation abilities, psychological needs fulfillment and QCL via structural equation modeling. Data was collected from 507 undergraduate students (men = 178, women = 329; age M = 21.78 years, SD = 4.37). This data was used to provide evidence for the validity of the College Adjustment Scales (CAS) as a measure of quality of college life. The CAS demonstrated good convergent validity with the World Health Organization Quality of Life measure (WHOQOL), Subjective Well-being and Psychological Well-being Scales. Results: Students who were insecurely attached were as likely to feel adequate in their academic and professional endeavors as securely attached students. However, insecurely attached students had lower QCL levels, lower fulfillment of psychological needs and more emotion regulation difficulties than securely attached students. The results also indicated that Anxious Attachment and Avoidant Attachment were positively and strongly associated. Nonetheless, Anxious Attachment and Avoidant Attachment affected QCL through different mechanism. Emotion regulation mediated the path between Anxious Attachment and QCL while the fulfillment of psychological needs mediated the path between Avoidant Attachment and QCL. The fulfillment of psychological needs also mediated the path between emotion regulation and QCL. The described pattern of results was found for three separate models representing 1) the student’s attachment with their romantic partner, 2) best friend and 3) mother. Additionally, the study’s findings suggest a change in primary attachment figure during the college years. Emotion regulation, the fulfillment of psychological needs and QCL were all affected more strongly by the student’s attachment style with their romantic partner and best friend compared to their attachment style with their parents.

In 2008, the excitement to teach the class, Introduction to College to new students who are beginning college, was greatly accepted with much reservation. Numerous memories reflected back to that special period when the writer was faced with those daunting decisions of where to attend college. Those memories of excitement and fear of being away from home the very first time, starting college life, meeting new friends, and what career path to choose, were difficult decisions during that transitional time. Orientation class back then consisted mainly of a half day spent touring the college campus and listening to various speakers; if you could stay awake. The scope of this study will be to assess the effectiveness of Introduction to College (GE-100), on student GPAs and “persistence-to-graduation” rates as measures of success. In the course, the student will learn about the variety of support services available at the college, the behaviors necessary to be successful in college, and issues that relate to choice of major and/or careers. This study used a quantitative approach utilizing an ex-post facto longitudinal design that measures student grade point averages (GPA) and persistence-to-graduation rates for the five- year period from the Fall Semester of 2003 through the Spring Semester of 2008. Overall, at the conclusion, the results indicated that GE-100 students had significantly higher GPAs and significantly greater persistence- to-graduation rates over a five year period when compared with student who did not take or complete (GE- 100).

El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo encontrar una solución para los alumnos que tienen dificultad para organizarse en el día a día con sus estudios, vida personal y vida laboral, entre otras actividades adicionales. El proyecto refleja un modelo de negocio freemium, ya que se basa en un servicio que el usuario pueda probar de manera gratuita por un determinado período de tiempo y luego si cumple con sus expectativas, este busca adquirir el servicio premium, el cual tiene un costo adicional por no contar con restricciones y le permite al usuario contar con todas las funcionalidades del aplicativo móvil. Se estudiará la posibilidad de crear una aplicación móvil freemium que ofrezca funcionalidad y técnicas que permitan a los usuarios organizarse de la mejor manera y así mejorar su desempeño académico, así como reducir los niveles de estrés y ansiedad que puede ocasionar una vida universitaria desorganizada y caótica. El desarrollo del presente trabajo de estudio empieza con un primer paso, que es identificar una necesidad personal, que se ha visto en diferentes servicios por separado, pero hasta ahora no ha sido aplicado bajo un solo servicio. Por ello, se realizaron entrevistas a profundidad para poder empatizar con el usuario potencial y conocer su percepción sobre la idea de negocio planteada. Luego, se dividió el proyecto en dos segmentos relevantes para el negocio, que serían los usuarios que harían uso del aplicativo de manera gratuita y los usuarios que elegirían el servicio premium. Adicionalmente, se realizaron diferentes experimentos con la finalidad de validar la propuesta de valor y los diferentes aspectos del business model Canvas del negocio. Posteriormente, se realizaron diversos experimentos para validar la intención de compra y ventas del usuario, de tal manera que podamos comprobar la viabilidad del proyecto en términos de alcance y rentabilidad. Por ende, se elaboró un plan financiero basado en fuentes de investigación reales que nos permita lograr una visión real de la viabilidad y rentabilidad del modelo de negocio freemium en un contexto real. / The objective of this research is to find a solution for students who have difficulty organizing their day-to-day life with their studies, help them find balance between personal and work life, among other additional activities. This project reflects a freemium business model, since it is based on a service that users can try for free for a limited period of time and then if it meets their expectations, they can seek to acquire the premium service, which has an additional cost due to the fact that it no longer has restrictions and allows the user to have all the functionalities of the mobile application. The possibility of creating a freemium mobile application that offers functionality and techniques that allow users to organize themselves in the best way will be studied with special focus on improving their academic performance, as well as reducing levels of stress and anxiety that a disorganized and chaotic university life can cause. The development of this study begins in a first step, which is to identify personal needs, which has been seen in different services separately, but until now it has not been applied under a single service. Therefore, in-depth interviews were conducted to be able to empathize with the potential user and find out their perception of the proposed business idea. Then, the project was divided into two relevant segments for business purposes, which would be group of users who would use the application for free and users who would choose the premium service. Additionally, different experiments were carried out in order to validate the value proposition and the different aspects of the model Canvas of the business. Subsequently, various experiments were carried out to validate the user purchase and sales intentions, in such a way that we can verify the viability of the project in terms of scope and profitability. Therefore, a financial plan was developed based on real research sources that allows us to achieve a real vision of the viability and profitability of the freemium business model in a real life context. / Trabajo de investigación

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The study examined the relationship between the degree of involvement in co-curricular activities and academic performance, as measured by Grade Point Average (GPA) among college students enrolled at Western Kentucky University (WKU). Three hundred thirty-six sophomores were surveyed via TOPNET, an electronic registration management system, regarding their level of involvement in campus organizations and other factors, including employment status and gender. The cumulative GPAs and the number of credit hours in which the survey participants were enrolled during Fall Semester 2005 were obtained through a survey using TOPNET. Pearson product-moment correlations revealed statistically significant relationships between GPA and the number of student organizations in which they participated, officer status within student organizations, and the length of time of participation in student organization(s). The relationships were considered too weak to be of any practical significance. A statistically significant relationship was also found between number of credit hours enrolled and GPA.

First-generation college students (FGCSs) are known to experience more difficulty in the college education environment compared to continuing-generation college students. The current study used a person-centered approach to investigate subgroups of FGCSs that have had similar experiences of social, financial, academic, and cultural barriers in their college lives. A total of 382 undergraduate students in the U.S. participated in the study. A latent profile analysis revealed there may be two particular profiles for FGCSs including these four barriers. FGCSs in Profile 2 reported more social, financial, academic, and cultural barriers. In addition, these students also reported lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and drop-out intention than those in Profile 1. Students’ gender, their parent's marital status, and the estimated debt after graduation significantly predicted profile membership. Interventions to support FGCSs will also be discussed.