The United States has yet to reach the White House’s 2020 goal of attaining the top international ranking in college degree attainment among young adults. Researchers have investigated the academic performance variables associated with timely degree attainment for first-year college students. Prior research has indicated that poorly motivated students are likely to struggle academically, experience academic stress, and drop out of school. However, it remains unknown which types of motivation significantly affect academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to better understand which Reiss basic desires of motivation predict undergraduate academic achievement. An additional purpose of this study was to determine which basic desires of motivation, among gender and age groups, predict cumulative grade point average (GPA). Based on Reiss’s theory, I used the Reiss School Motivation Profile (RSMP) to examine which of the motivational factors predicted cumulative undergraduate GPA. Using a convenience sampling method, I recruited 459 community college students to complete the online surveys. The bivariate ordinal logistic regression results indicated a modest yet significant relationship between 4 of the Reiss motivation factors (curiosity, order, status, and vengeance) and cumulative GPA. The multivariate ordinal logistic regression results indicated a modest yet significant relationship between 3 Reiss motivation factors (order, vengeance, and physical exercise) and cumulative GPA, but not between gender, age, and cumulative GPA. The results of this study may provide useful insights to academic institutions administrators regarding how they can use motivational factors to identify students who may need academic assistance.

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The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of computer-administered instructions on the comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar college-level material. The instructions addressed two majors issues: (a) the effects of domain-specific knowledge and (b) the effects of strategy knowledge (i.e., knowledge about methods for active, purposeful reading). There were 157 university students who were recruited from psychology classes to participate in the study. There were two instructional conditions and two control conditions for the familiar and unfamiliar domain. The first instructional condition presented background information and information on concepts that were central to the topic. The second instructional condition instructed subjects on when and how to generate questions, summarize, and reread portions of the text. The third condition was a control condition in which subjects only read the text before taking the comprehension tests. The fourth condition was a control condition in which subjects were given the domain instructions and the tests without reading the text. The results were examined in terms of performance on each of three comprehension tests. On the sentence verification test, only a main effect for content familiarity was found. Subjects in the unfamiliar content condition performed better than subjects in the familiar content condition. On the summary test, there was a significant interaction of instruction with content familiarity. Contrary to what was expected, the advantage of the strategy condition over the control was not significant for the familiar content condition. For the unfamiliar content condition both the domain and strategy conditions showed a significant advantage over the control condition, but there was no difference between the domain and strategy. For the inference task, no effects of instructions were found for either condition of content familiarity. The findings provide support for the conclusion that strategy knowledge can be useful for comprehension even in the absence of domain knowledge. The evidence for the efficacy of the domain instructions used in the present study was weak, possibly due to methodological problems. The findings also support the use of multiple measures of comprehension in studies that examine the effects of comprehension instructions.

Gender differences in family interactions, developmental changes in interactional patterns, and the relationship between interactional patterns and academic performance are explored longitudinally over the course of middle to late adolescence in a sample of 72 high school students and their parents. Parent and adolescent interactions are evaluated each year in a semi-structured revealed differences discussion. Each speech from the discussion is coded using a micro-analytic coding scheme to assess separateness and connectedness based on the individuation model of adolescent-family development. Analyses reveal gender and family structure differences in family interactions. In two-parent families, the mother-daughter dyad stands apart by displaying fewer separating behaviors than any other dyad. In single-parent families, the mother-son dyad stands apart in demonstrating more connecting behaviors. The developmental pattern of behaviors over the course of middle to late adolescence does not support previously held notions about the inevitability or desirability of increased separation and decreased connection between parents and adolescents as adolescents approach adulthood. Predictive analyses reveal more striking gender differences than descriptive analyses. In two-parent families with daughters, mothers' and daughters' communications predict daughters' grades, generally supporting predictions based on the individuation model. Connecting behaviors are most important during periods of transition, while separating communications are most positively predictive of academic performance during the more stable mid-high school period. Fathers' behaviors do not show utility in predicting daughters' grades, but are important in predicting their daughters' academic improvement over the course of high school. The relationship between family interaction and academic competence is less strong in families with sons and results are not consistent with predictions based on the individuation model. In contrast to families with daughters, separateness and connectedness are inversely associated with academic achievement in boys. In single-parent families, less mother-daughter separateness is associated with daughters' academic success, while more separating behaviors and fewer connecting behaviors are associated with academic success in single-parent families with sons. The importance of examining individual characteristics as mediating variables in understanding the impact of family process is highlighted and implications for developmental theory are considered.

The purpose of this study was to detect the influence, if any, of high or low expectancy with regard to hypnotizability on the part of the hypnotist and subject. The result was measured by the subject's score on the SHSS:A. The time each subject took to complete the SHSS:A was also recorded. Data were analyzed using a 2 x 2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) with experimenter expectancy (high vs. low) and subject expectancy (high vs. low) as variables (as shown in table 4.1). Two measures were examined: time taken to complete the SHSS:A and the score received. Since individual experimenters may differ in administration of the SHSS:A even with safeguards to insure uniformity, possible differences in experimenter performance were examined in a 1-way ANOVA with the experimenters as the variables (3 levels). There were no significant differences between the scores of any of the subject groups and no interaction found between any of them. There was a significant result in the time taken for the high expectancy subjects (SE) which was shorter (36.438 min.) than the low expectancy subjects (SE) (41.471 min.). The primary result does not support the contention that hypnotizability as measured on the SHSS:A is affected significantly by the expectations of either the subject or the hypnotist. The secondary result indicates a significant effect on the subjects who were told that they were highly hypnotizability which was not directly measured by the SHSS:A, i.e., time. That may be the result of an interaction between those subjects and the hypnotists. They may have communicated their heightened belief in their hypnotizability to the hypnotists in subtle ways which enabled the hypnotists to deliver the hypnotizability test more quickly.

<p>This research project explored the anatomy of satisfaction of undergraduate students&rsquo; experiences in order to identify the themes common to students who were satisfied with their college careers. The study also examined the conditions that help students thrive on campus focusing on college seniors who self-reported as very satisfied with their college experience. Furthermore the study analyzed the motivation behind satisfied students&rsquo; behavioral choices, including their choice of major and extracurricular involvement. Assessment of the quality of students&rsquo; relationships to others on campus served as a component of this research as well. A grounded theory qualitative approach was used to collect and analyze data. The study found that satisfaction is a function of a student&rsquo;s integration on campus. Integration resulted when students enjoyed their majors, actively engaged in campus life, and formed and maintained successful social relationships. Characteristics common among satisfied students included openness to experience, self-awareness, sociability, and a willingness to make intrinsically motivated decisions with respect to behavioral choices. Students thrived in an environment that promoted the exploration of their intrinsically motivated behavioral choices, where they felt seen, valued, and supported in their identities, activities, and interests, and where they were afforded opportunities to discover, grow, and expand their capabilities and skills. </p><p> <i>Keywords</i>: college satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, student engagement, thriving </p>

The focus of this research is the re-conceptualisation of learning in higher education. By theorising the university as a group of interconnected discourses I have been able to develop an understanding of student learning identity which goes beyond the formal academic settings of the university and which explores the influence of both the social and academic spheres of the university in terms of student transition and engagement in learning. Data were gathered in three phases: through in-depth interviews with sixty nine students entering their first year at three British universities, the collection of three day diaries from forty four of these students and follow up interviews with thirty students from the original sample. By negotiating positions on continua of continuity and discontinuity of experience with interlocutors in identified discourse settings, students were found to experience learning as an integral and transformative aspect of their identities.

This research paper forms the first half of this thesis exploring how the introduction of Secondary SEAL (SSEAL) has impacted on pupils’ emotional literacy and resiliency levels (as measured by the NfER Emotional Literacy Questionnaire and the Resiliency Scales For Children and Adolescents – A profile of personal strengths (RSCA) Questionnaire). The aim of Paper 1 is to explore whether the SSEAL programme is associated with relevant pupil skills, to show resilience with a difficult situation; be more in tune with their emotions and the emotions of those around them. The research questions for paper 1 were: Question 1: What are the associations between the introduction of SSEAL into a secondary school and Year 8 pupils' emotional literacy levels? Question 2: What are the associations between the introduction of SSEAL into a secondary school and Year 8 pupils' resilience levels? Question 3: How has the introduction of SEAL had an impact on pupils’ emotional literacy and resiliency levels since the introduction of SEAL into the school? Question 4: To what extent are there any gender differences from students’ responses on the emotional literacy and resiliency questionnaires? This paper adopted a pragmatic epistemological stance and used a mixed methods design, where quantitative data was gathered from teachers and Year 8 pupils using both the NfER Emotional Literacy Questionnaire and the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents: A Profile of Personal Strengths Questionnaire. The quantitative data was triangulated with the semi-­‐structured interviews from Paper 2 to inform the results of research question 3. The sample was derived from three secondary schools in the East Midlands. There were 64 pupils (31 males and 33 females) and three form tutors who completed the questionnaires. The qualitative data was gained from 6 teachers from the three secondary schools in the East Midlands using a semi-­‐structured interview. The results gained from paper 1 found that there was not a significant result for pupils’ emotional literacy scores between 2009 and 2010 for schools X, Y and Z. There was a significant ANOVA result for the teacher’s version of the emotional literacy questionnaire. The results gained from the resiliency scores showed that School Y had a significant result for pupils’ resourcefulness scores and School Z had a significant result for pupils’ vulnerability scores. The ANOVA results showed that there was a significant result for both resourcefulness and vulnerability from the results gained in 2011. The correlational data for school X, Y and Z found an association between pupils’ emotional literacy and resilience scores. The data indicated that males scored lower on the emotional literacy and resiliency questionnaires to females. A significant result was found for male scores on the Vulnerability questionnaire between 2010-­‐2011 and there was a significant difference between males and females on the vulnerability questionnaire. In conclusion, it can be suggested that SEAL had not significantly had an impact on pupils’ emotional literacy, but had impacted on pupils’ resilience scores. Moreover, the qualitative data indicated that SEAL has made pupils more aware of their social and emotional needs and the emotional needs of others. Moreover, the results indicate that staff had become more aware of the social and emotional needs of their pupils. However, it can be concluded that the introduction of SEAL has not necessarily increased pupils’ emotional literacy or resilience and other factors including, the Key Stage Three curriculum and the pastoral system has had an impact on these. From these results, the role of the EP could be to support schools in applying appropriate social and emotional assessment tools and interventions and support staff to recognise a pupil with high/low emotional literacy and resilience and the most appropriate way to support these. The aim of Paper 2 was to focus on the processes involved within a secondary school when introducing SEAL and whether SEAL had an impact on school climate as perceived by school staff. The research questions for this study were: Question 1: How has SEAL been implemented into the school’s curriculum and pastoral system? Question 2: What are staff perceptions of school climate since the introduction of SEAL? Question 3: What are the most effective sources of analysis to explore how effectively SEAL has been introduced into a secondary school (including OFSTED reports, Questionnaires and semi-­‐structured interviews) and its impact on school climate? A pragmatic epistemological approach was adopted for this research study where a mixed design was implemented. Semi-­‐structured interviews were carried out with six teachers, (two members of staff from the three secondary schools). A school climate questionnaire (OCDQ-­‐RM) was administered to 42 teaching staff. The results from both the semi-­‐structured interviews and the OCDQ-­‐RM questionnaire were triangulated. A thematic analysis was completed on the semi-­‐structured interviews adopting Braun & Clarke’s (2003) model. The results indicate that the three schools implemented SEAL into their curriculum quite differently. School X implemented SEAL into all subjects using their curriculum competencies; School Y introduced SEAL into their creative arts curriculum and School Z introduced it into their Humanities and English curriculum. Each school introduced SEAL into their pastoral system in different ways – School X had an activity week, which involved the local community and completed CASE during tutor times and had SEAL-­‐type themes in assemblies. School Y explicitly taught two of the SEAL units per term through the PSHE curriculum, and during tutor time and as part of the assemblies the students engaged in ‘Thought of the week’. Students were involved in an activity day about ‘Being Healthy’. The school had training staff to use Circle of Friends with students. School Z used SEAL type themes as part of their Global-­‐Eye and Thinking Through Schools Programme, which were delivered during assemblies and in tutor time. The school had also trained Teaching Assistants to use the Circle of Friends programme with pupils. The results gained from the OCDQ-­‐RM indicate that school Z had a closed climate, school X had an engaged climate and school Y had an open climate. The conclusions from this study suggest that SEAL had not improved school climate (as perceived by school staff) although it had made staff more aware of what school climate is and had improved relationships between students and staff. Finally, the role of the educational psychologist is important when supporting a school when implementing a whole school social and emotional learning programme and when staff perceive the school climate as being Closed or Disengaged.