<p> When international students come to the U.S. to study, they are faced with unique needs and challenges that influence their academic success, adjustment, and well-being. In particular, international students&rsquo; academic adjustment determines their academic success during the transition to U.S. universities. This dissertation examined the validity of a new scale and international students&rsquo; academic adjustment from self-determination theory (SDT) in three different papers. The first paper examined the validity of a new instrument assessing students&rsquo; beliefs about assessment in the context of second language learning. Specifically, this study was conducted with international undergraduate students to examine their beliefs about a high-stakes standardized English proficiency exam and the use of their self-regulatory learning strategies in the context of second language learning. This study discussed implications for researchers to use an alternative scale to measure four different aspects of students&rsquo; beliefs about assessments and for educators&rsquo; intervention in students&rsquo; developing adaptive beliefs about assessment in the learning process. </p><p> The second paper aimed to provide a comprehensive theoretical framework from a self-determination perspective that supports international students&rsquo; successful academic adjustment. This paper comprised of two phases: quantitative phase and qualitative phase. The quantitative phase explored the relationships between international students&rsquo; learning climates, basic psychological needs, discussion participation, beliefs about classroom assessments, and academic adjustment. The qualitative phase explored how international students perceive their learning environments and classroom experiences in more detail through semi-structured interviews. This study showed that SDT provides theoretical foundations to explain international students&rsquo; successful academic adjustment. </p><p> Finally, the third paper investigated the relationships between self-determined motivation, beliefs about classroom assessments, and the use of different types of learning strategy through the lens of self-determination theory. It was proposed that students&rsquo; self-determined motivation may shape adaptive beliefs about classroom assessments, which in turn, contributes to use of higher level of learning strategies and eventually academic adjustment as a learning outcome. Also, this study explored whether there is a difference in students&rsquo; motivation, beliefs about assessments, and the use of self-regulated learning strategies in two different instructional environments (lecture-based and discussion-based classrooms). This paper discussed how international students&rsquo; adapt themselves to U.S. universities through motivation to learn, perspectives about classroom assessments, and different types of learning approach in different academic disciplines at the university level.</p><p>

<p> The scope of the current study focuses on the relationship between direct and indirect methods of measuring social skills in children. Participants included 33 children between the ages of 6 and 11 years old. The sample drew from elementary schools in 2 Southern states in the U.S., as well as social skills groups from a university-based clinic. While some participants had been previously identified has having disabilities impacting social performance, it was not an inclusionary requirement and the majority of children were not identified as having a disability clinically or through a special education eligibility domain. Teachers and clinicians leading social skills groups completed indirect measures, the <i>Behavior Assessment Scale for Children Third Edition</i> (BASC-3) and the <i>Social Skills Improvement System </i> (SSIS) related to the participants&rsquo; social skills. Direct observations of participants were completed using the <i>Social Observation System</i> (SOS) by graduate level research assistants. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the predictive value of the teacher informed indirect measures on the direct method of observation. Additionally, simple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the reverse relationship of the direct observation&rsquo;s ability to predict the variance observed in each indirect measure. Results indicated that both the indirect and direct methods of social skills assessment can significantly predict the other. However, while significant, a low to moderate amount of variance in the direct measure is explained by the indirect measures of social skills. The results and implications of the finding are discussed, as well as limitations and future directions.</p><p>

No description available.

<p> The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the mentoring culture at USAFA in terms of selected mentor and prot&eacute;g&eacute; motivational and effectiveness characteristics of faculty and administrative personnel (referred to as permanent party members) (mentors) and cadets (prot&eacute;g&eacute;s). Results offer evidence which support the presence of a somewhat healthy culture in that those who indicated they were currently mentoring cadets were more generative, altruistic, and wanted to mentor cadets more compared to those who indicated they were not mentoring cadets. However, those who were currently mentoring cadets did not necessarily possess better emotional intelligence compared to non-mentors. Also, cadets who indicated they were currently being mentored wanted to be mentored more and possessed more of all selected motivational (locus of control and self-esteem) and effectiveness (job involvement, career planning, and learning goal orientation) characteristics compared to cadets who were not being mentored. In addition, a large number of cadets indicated they wanted to be mentored but were currently not being mentored. This group of cadets differed from those who wanted to be mentored and were being mentored in that they were younger by class year, had more of an external locus of control, and less of a learning goal orientation. Future research should focus on three aspects of mentoring at USAFA: assessing effectiveness, training motivated mentors to improve their emotional intelligence, and intervening with mentoring resources for freshmen cadets who possess motivational and effectiveness characteristics.</p><p>

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / For any country to accelerate or even maintain normal growth, the optimum utilisation of all its manpower is imperative. Manpower implies people and children are people. Educational authorities like the Transvaal Education Department, have as one of its goals, the optimum development of the potentialities of every child entrusted to it. To ensure optimum development, every possible action has to be considered in order to reduce, and if possible stop, all early school-leaving and drop-out tendencies at secondary school level. With this aim in mind, all possible areas which may promote manpower loss, have to be identified and eradicated. In terms of the existing system of differentiated education, every effort is made to get as many pupils as possible to attain the Std X level, while taking cognisance of ability and aptitude, and endeavouring to maintain a standard. An area in which the seeds of future early school-leaving or dropping out may be sown, is that revolving around the transition from primary to secondary school. For the purpose of this investigation, the problems revolving around the transition from Std V to Std VI in the specific area of relationships, were investigated. By means of questionnaires answered by Std VI pupils and their teachers, the opinions of the pupils and teachers were amassed on issues regarding relationships, which may have an influence on the transition from primary to secondary school. 115 teachers and 1659 pupils were included in the investigation. Questions were set in five categories, namely, pupil/school relations, pupil/pupil relations, pupil/teacher relations.

<p> The rate of youth suffering from untreated emotional and behavioral problems has risen in recent years. Various barriers to treatment utilization of youth and their families have been identified in the literature, including logistical factors (i.e. transportation, lack of child care), financial barriers, and system barriers, such as inadequate education on mental health difficulties within the school system and poor provision of empirically-derived tools for teachers to manage these difficulties. In order to narrow the gap between treatment need and utilization, a psychoeducational program for teachers of school-aged children has been developed. A mixed methods study was conducted as a means to gain teacher impressions of the program&rsquo;s effectiveness in disseminating evidence-based classroom strategies that can be used by teachers to manage common childhood problems. Qualitative data analysis procedures based on grounded theory were undertaken to code collected data from narrative interviews. Major themes that emerged included a demonstrable need for the psychoeducational program, high teacher demands as a barrier to implementation of the program, and preference for integration of the program with existing professional development initiatives. Quantitative data analysis revealed that teachers perceived the program as effective for teachers and school staff at increasing knowledge and skill related to childhood emotional/behavioral (E/B) functioning. Limitations, strengths, and recommendations for future directions are discussed.</p><p>

<p> The current study assesses the use of a story-mapping intervention, both with and without performance feedback, in addressing student writing deficits. Three, make, elementary-aged participants were subjected to baseline, story-mapping, and story-mapping with performance feedback conditions in an adapted alternating treatments design.</p><p>

<p> The extent of the relationship between teacher-student interaction and student course engagement was not known. This quantitative, correlational study examined if, and to what extent, a relationship existed between these four domains and student course engagement of technical college students. The Model of Teacher Behavior, Social Cognitive Theory, and the engagement conceptual framework provided the theoretical foundations and framework for this study. The research questions addressed if there was a significant relationship between each domain of teacher-student interaction and student course engagement, and of the four domains, which was the strongest, as well as weakest predictor of student course engagement. One hundred eighty-five participants enrolled in English classes at a technical college in the Northeastern United States completed the questionnaires on Teacher Interaction and Student Course Engagement. Pearson&rsquo;s <i>r</i> &ndash; a parametric statistic &ndash; revealed a positive relationship between cooperation and student course engagement: <i>r</i> = .363, <i>p</i> &lt; .001, two-tailed. This relationship suggested that as scores on cooperation increase, student course engagement also tends to increase. The results from the bootstrap approach for the regression analysis suggested the cooperation domain was significantly associated with course engagement: 95% CI [.32, 1.41]. This study adds to the existing body of knowledge on teacher-student interactions and student course engagement by focusing on each domain of teacher-student interaction.</p><p>

<p> Self-concept is related to student academic achievement and locus of control (Coleman et al., 1966), intrapersonal and interpersonal processes (Markus &amp; Wurf, 1987), and many long-term outcomes, such as satisfaction with one&rsquo;s job, marriage, and life in general (Mortimer et al., 1982). Although self-concept is fairly malleable in early adolescence, it becomes more stable and rigid in high school (Bachman, O&rsquo;Malley, &amp; Johnston, 1978; Protinsky &amp; Farrier, 1980). While interventions targeting self-concept have generally been found to be successful (Hattie, 2014), the associations between specific school- based recognitions for achievement and student self-concept have yet to be investigated. Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NCES, 1996), the following analysis investigated the associations between different school-based recognitions for achievement and students&rsquo; self-concept. In this study, a set of school- based recognition variables was identified and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses was used to build an ANCOVA with random effects model predicting student self-concept in the 10th grade while controlling for gender, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and prior self-concept (8th grade) scores. Results indicate support for the use of HLM statistical methods and the inclusion of the aforementioned covariates. However, none of the predictor variables from the identified set of school-based recognition variables were significantly related to self-concept when entered into the model. Implications for school psychology research and practice are presented within a multitiered systems of supports (MTSS) framework, including suggestions for the implementation of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS).</p><p>

The importance of vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness and metacognitive awareness in reading comprehension has been established in the first language research. By contrast, fewer studies have documented the role of these components in the reading comprehension of English language learners (ELLs) in the field of second language (L2) research. The proposed study specifically focused on an L2-only model to examine the role of L2 vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies in L2 reading comprehension with 278 Chinese college students majoring in English. More specifically, First, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to (1) evaluate whether vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness and metacognitive awareness were distinguishable psychological constructs, and (2) examine the strength of the relations between each construct with reading comprehension. Second, the following questions were addressed: (1) whether poor L2 readers are inferior to good L2 readers in syntactic awareness, vocabulary knowledge and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies (MANCOVA was used to address this question); (2) whether the correlations among vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness and metacognitive awareness in reading comprehension were different for poor L2 readers and good L2 readers; and (3) whether the relation between each of three constructs vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness and metacognitive awareness to reading comprehension differ across the poor-reader and good-reader groups. The multigroup analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. 278 undergraduates whose native language is Chinese, enrolled as English majors, from 3 Chinese universities participated. Those with TOEFL reading scores in the sample's top and bottom 25% were identified as good and poor readers. Eight assessments were administered concurrently, with two measures each of vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness, metacognitive awareness, and reading comprehension. Vocabulary knowledge was assessed using the Vocabulary Level Test (Nation, 1990) and the Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Measure (Dian & Mary, 2004). The Sentence Combination Subtest of the Test of Adolescent and Adult Language (Hammill, Brown, Larsen & Wiederholt, 2007) and the Syntactic Awareness Questionnaire (Layton, Robinson & Lawson, 1998) were used as indicators of syntactic awareness. The Metacognitive Reading Strategies Questionnaire (Taraban, Kerr & Ryneason, 2004) and the Metacognitive Reading Awareness Inventory (Miholic, 1994) assessed the construct of metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. Reading ability was assessed by using the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Reading Comprehension Subtest (Schedl, Thomas & Way, 1995) and the Gray Silent Reading Test (Third-Edition; Blalock & Weiderholt, 2000). These were all paper and pencil, group administered assessments, which participants completed in a counterbalanced order. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested the two-factor model of Vocabulary Knowledge/Syntactic Awareness and Metacogntive Awareness offered the best fit to the data. Structural equation modeling indicated that 87% variance in reading comprehension is explained by the Vocabulary Knowledge/Syntactic Awareness and Metacognitive Awareness factors taken together. However, Vocabulary Knowledge/Syntactic Awareness has a stronger relationship to reading comprehension than metacognitive awareness does. MANCOVA indicated significant differences between poor and good readers in both constructs. Multigroup analyses using structural equation modeling suggested the correlation between the Vocabulary Knowledge/Syntactic Awareness and Metacognitive Awareness in poor readers was the same across poor-reader and good-reader groups. Similarly, the pattern of relations of Vocabulary Knowledge/Syntactic Awareness and Metacognitive Awareness to reading comprehension remained constant across the poor-reader and good-reader groups. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning System in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2008. / April 14, 2008. / Metacognitive, Syntax, Reading, Vocabulary, English Language Learners / Includes bibliographical references. / Alysia D. Roehrig, Professor Directing Dissertation; Richard K. Wagner, Outside Committee Member; Akihito Kamata, Committee Member; Beth M. Phillips, Committee Member.