<p> This study investigated relationships between nine independent variables and three dependent variables measuring intrinsic motivation (for knowledge, to accomplish, to experience), extrinsic motivation (external, introjected, and identified regulation), and amotivation (neither intrinsic nor extrinsic motivation), in a comparison analysis of second-generation Iranians and American university students. The nine independent variables measured were, participant&rsquo;s age, participant&rsquo;s education, father&rsquo;s education, mother&rsquo;s education, parental income, gender, number of siblings, stress, and confidence. Based on the principles of self-determination theory a multidimensional approach was taken that included assessments of self-efficacy (stress and confidence) and need for social approval to determine if there were any possible interrelationships with the outcome variables. <i>T</i>-test results revealed a significant difference in each motivational type between the Iranian group and the American group. In a step-wise backward multiple regression technique, the nine independent factors were analyzed to determine possible relationships with the outcome variables. The independent variables had a notable influence on the outcome variables and the variable <i>confidence </i> was consistently observed for both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Parental income, gender, stress, and participant&rsquo;s post-graduate/PhD degree level had a direct influence on amotivation. Results indicate that self-determination, autonomy, and regulation of behavior are internalized differently in diverse individuals and social background plays a significant role. Limitations and recommendations for future research are also discussed. </p>

<p> This study examined students with learning disabilities&rsquo; use of academic consultation, a specific academic support, during the first year of college and the relation it had to completing the undergraduate degree. Forty-one participants were recruited via e-mail, telephone, and social media in order to request their consent to have the researcher access their academic and support services records. Results indicate that the number of academic consultant meetings attended during the first year of college did not have a significant impact on overall GPA or GPA at the end of the third semester. Those who used test accommodations during their first year were more likely to graduate in four years than those students who did not use their test accommodations during the first year. The findings suggest incoming first year students with learning disabilities should be aware of the importance of seeking out and registering with the disability office on campus in order to arrange for their test accommodations.</p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify psychological and physical health factors that influence African American college students' academic achievement using secondary data from the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA). Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this study explored the influence of health variables on African American college students' academic experiences. Independent sample t-tests were used to analyze gender differences between African American female and male college students. Factor analyses and a Logistic regression was used to ascertain the influence of psychological and physical health factors on African American college students' academic achievement. Findings of this study highlight personal health issues, future help-seeking behavior, and impeding emotional experiences as significant predictors of academic achievement for all African American students. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are reviewed.</p>

<p> Question-asking has long been an integral part of human learning. In scholarly investigations over the past several decades, questions have been studied in terms of the answers they generate, their grammatical structure, their cognitive functions, their logical content, and their social dynamics. Studies of student classroom questioning have focused on science education and reading instruction particularly; they detail the reasons why students don&rsquo;t ask questions and add a plethora of recommendations about teaching students how to question. This qualitative study addressed question-asking from a hermeneutic moral realist perspective, studying question-asking as it unfolded in the everyday practice of learning in a graduate seminar on design thinking. Findings of the study included seven themes that fit within three broader metathemes about the complexities and virtues of classroom questioning, the sociality of question-asking, and the temporality of questions in practice. Specific themes that emerged from the study concerned the complexity of overlapping practices within the classroom, ways in which students evaluated the quality and virtue of their questioning interactions, the moral reference points that guided student participation in various kinds of questioning (i.e., convergent questions, divergent questions, challenges to others), and the temporality of student question-asking that reflected the way questions mattered to students and how different aspects of the subject matter were disclosed and concealed in the process of learning. Findings from this study suggest that a moral realist-oriented inquiry can provide a wide-ranging and nuanced set of insights regarding question-asking as a part of student learning.</p><p>

<p> This study explored the learning experiences of higher education students who suffered childhood trauma (CT). Eleven participants both undergraduate and graduate who attended a Midwestern university self-identified as CT survivors. There was research on the negative impact of CT on learning in children and adolescents, as well as posttraumatic stress and veterans. However, the PI was unable to find research on the impact of CT on adults in higher education. Higher education institutions and professors may benefit from understanding how to help these students who often have an invisible learning disability. Research questions asked, what is the learning experience of higher education CT survivors, what can be learned that could help other CT survivors in higher education, and what do they need to be successful. Multiple case studies was the qualitative method used to explore the participants&rsquo; learning experiences. Instrumentation included an Adverse Childhood Experience study (ACEs) questionnaire with self-scoring guide, 14 initial interview questions, structured ongoing journaling entries, and exit interviews. </p><p> Data analysis resulted in nine emerging themes: challenging, learning strategies, anxiety, fear, time management, support groups, determined, personal character traits, and adult learning principles. Four themes described the particpants&rsquo; negative learning experiences&mdash;challenging, anxiety, time management issues, and fear. Two described the positive&mdash;determined, and personal character traits (e.g., resilient, confident). One described techniques they use to help them be successful&mdash;learning strategies (e.g., [all said] face-to-face learning). And, two described what they need from professors and higher education&mdash;support groups (that include professors) and application of adult learning principles&mdash;attend to the characteristics of adult learners (e.g., self-directedness, immediate application to solve real-life problems), and use a learning process by which adults learn best (e.g., prepare the learner so as to avoid emotional trigger experiences, shift from subject- to performance-centeredness). The salient finding was that CT survivors in higher education are the same as any adult learner, but may benefit from an informed level of sensitivity to their learning needs. Allowing new students to self-identify as CT survivors and the general application of adult learning principles may allow all higher education learners to be successful. </p><p>

<p> Within the framework of hope defined by Snyder et al. (1991) as being comprised of agency and pathways thinking in the context of goal achievement, this study investigated the potential of faculty hopeful teaching practices to positively influence college student hope and success. Hope functions in student success frameworks as a factor that contributes to improved academic outcomes including test scores, GPA, persistence, and graduation. It has state and trait-like qualities that may be influenced during a student&rsquo;s time on campus, particularly through interaction with faculty. Hope has been previously shown to correlate with improved outcomes across multiple life-domains relevant for post-graduation and lifelong success, achievement, and happiness. </p><p> Using a quantitative, self-report survey methodology, student perceptions of the frequency of hopeful faculty teaching behaviors were collected from a convenience sample of undergraduate students (<i>N</i>=236) via the Hopeful Teaching Practices Inventory (HTPI), an instrument developed specifically for this study. Factor analysis resulted in the HTPI structure consisting of three distinct scales representing faculty caring, hope, and feedback practices as suggested by Snyder (2005), all with &alpha; reliability scores > .84. </p><p> The frequency of the teaching practices measured by these scales were moderately correlated to student hope, and significantly related when controlling for background characteristics. The HTPI scale scores, and particularly the scale representing Snyder et al.&rsquo;s (1991) conceptualization of hope, predicted student success when controlling for background characteristics. Student hope was also found to be a significant predictor of student success, confirming prior research on the positive benefits of hope. Several interactions with student and professor background characteristics were also observed, yielding further insight into how student-faculty interactions based in hopeful teaching may individually influence student hope and success outcomes.</p><p>

<p> Despite meeting admittance standards, there are many college students who struggle to be academically successful, which sometimes results in them being placed on academic probation. Colleges implement various programs and interventions to help probationary students achieve success at their institutions. Student success courses (SSC) are one type of intervention used; however, much of the literature on the efficacy of SSCs focuses on first semester freshmen. Currently, there are only a few empirical studies on the effectiveness of SSCs with probationary students, but the results of these existing studies are promising. At Copper University (CU), there were limited college-wide supports available to students on probation, leaving them at great risk for academic failure. In an attempt to better support probationary students, a semester-long SSC called Dynamics of Student Success (DOSS), for first- and second-year students on academic probation was piloted in the fall of 2016. DOSS was designed to assist probationary students gain the college success skills necessary to increase their grade point averages. This study assessed the effectiveness of DOSS by comparing the archival data of probationary students who participated in DOSS in the fall of 2016 to those who did not participate. Participants in the treatment and control groups saw gains in their semester GPAs after the fall 2016 and spring 2017 semesters; however, the results of two simultaneous multiple regressions revealed that course participation was not a significant predictor of semester GPA at either point in time. As a result, the researcher concluded that it was other factors, not DOSS, that positively influenced the changes in semester GPA demonstrated by the sample.</p><p>

Scholars have documented the ways in which the influence of neoliberal ideology, and particularly the extension of free-market logic, has resulted in meaningful changes within colleges and universities in the United States. However, largely omitted from these discussions is the impact of neoliberal ideology on college students. Concurrent with the discussion concerning neoliberalism and higher education, a separate dialogue focusing on the rise of the conceptualization of students as customers has been occurring amongst higher education scholars. Such an understanding of college students is consistent with free-market logic, as the relationship between students and their institutions become defined in economic terms. While many scholars have lamented about the rise of this new approach towards education, few have connected it with larger changes in higher education or with the influence of neoliberal ideology. More importantly, researchers have yet to measure reliably the extent to which students actually express a customer orientation. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide the first measure of a customer orientation, and in the process help describe the impact neoliberal ideology, and free-market logic in particular, has had on college students.

A study of 174 applicants to the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School was conducted to identify factors in student choice of graduate schools and to determine if enrollment intent could be predicted. A 20-item survey based on the motivational and cognitive decision making theory of Janis and Mann (1977) was constructed. Applicants were surveyed on two scales regarding: (a) the importance of factors represented in the 20-item survey; and (b) which graduate school better matched those factors. Respondents to the survey were sorted into four groups: (a) accepted; (b) denied; (c) accepted, intending to enroll at URI; and (d) accepted, not intending to enroll at URI. These respondents chose nine of the 20 items as important factors in deciding which graduate school to attend. From these ratings three strong, psychologically interpretable factors matched the Janis and Mann constructs used to develop the survey: (a) Self Approval; (b) Utilitarian Costs; and (c) Concern for Others. A one way analysis discriminated between the "Will Enroll" and the "Will Not Enroll" respondents as the "Will Enroll" group assigned higher ratings of importance to three factors at the.05 level of significance: (a) affordability; (b) closeness to home; and (c) being able to better support family upon graduation. Of eight factors identified by chi-square statistics, only one, "better academic program", differed between the two groups in terms of school choice. Through discriminant analysis, responses to the 20 item survey were classified into "Will Enroll" and "Will Not Enroll" with 78 percent accuracy. (Discriminant analysis results may be inflated, on account of a single sample of respondents. The research results have (a) identified factors salient to a group of graduate school applicants in their decision to attend one graduate school as opposed to another; (b) measured the degree of importance these factors had in that decision; (c) identified significant differences between the "Will Enroll" and "Will Not Enroll" groups; and (d) predicted group membership. In addition, a base for determining the applicability of Janis and Mann's decision making constructs appears to have been established. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

<p> This dissertation examines the gap in college enrollment between Asian Americans and Latino Americans regarding the effects of family and school factors, classifying them into the six ethnic/generational status groups (Asian American first generation, Asian American second generation, Asian American third generation and plus, Latino American first generation, Latino American second generation, and Latino American third generation and plus). Through logistic regression analysis of the ELS: 2002 data, national longitudinal sample of 10^th graders, the study findings indicate that except for 10^th grade achievement, family plays a more important role in predicting overall college attendance (both 2-year and 4-year colleges), including SES, gender, parental and students&rsquo; expectations, 3^rd generation, and high school type. On the contrary, school plays a more important role in predicting 4-year college attendance, including 10^th grade achievement, academic excellence, participation in extracurricular activities, and English proficiency. Asian Americans are more likely to enroll in overall colleges as well as 4-year colleges, and the generation difference is not found. In contrast, Latino Americans are less likely to enroll in overall colleges as well as 4-year colleges, and there are noticeable generation differences; the low college enrollment rates are largely driven by non-immigrant Latinos. Recommendations for policy makers are provided.</p>