This qualitative study investigated the attitudes and perceptions of the role of Residence Life Professionals in attending to the spiritual needs of undergraduate college students at Ball State University. This study examined how undergraduate college students view the role of Residence Life Professionals in attending to spiritual needs. The results of this study have particular significance for those who are responsible for the well being of college students on a daily basis and benefit the Residence Life system by allowing a better understanding of where Professionals and students stand on this issue. This in turn will help Residence Life Professionals and students establish realistic expectations of each other in the spiritual arena. The researcher conducted 12 interviews with undergraduate student at Ball State University and analyzed the data by coding themes. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

The purpose of this thesis was to explore views on consequences of Internet use among young people sampled at a Swedish university. Both quantitative and qualitative research designs were used. The quantitative data were gathered by a quantitative survey conducted among 50 university students at the University of Gävle. To broaden the picture, face-to-face interviews were conducted with two social workers (from Sweden and Russia). In order to analyze and interpret the data collected, Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development and learning theory were applied. Symptoms of Internet addiction proposed by Young (1998a) were used to examine whether the data collected demonstrated presence of Internet addiction among sampled university students. The results indicated that the majority of respondents had an excessive use of Internet, however, the female participants and different aspects of their everyday life seemed to be more influenced by Internet use compared to the male respondents. Another conclusion is that the field of social work has to increase the knowledge and competence in diagnosing the symptoms of excessive Internet use. Internet related disorders are problems of increased proportion and mental health counsellors need to be prepared to meet a growing demand in the area of social work.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a significant difference in the academic performance of students who received career counselling and those who did not. Other factors that were investigated were the relationships between academic performance at university and matric results, gender and mother tongue. The third aim of this study was to determine if a significant relation exists between the first year averages of the subjects and above trend to change courses. According to research literature, career counselling, matric results, gender and mother tongue are factors that play an important role in the prediction of academic success at university level. The sample consisted of 118 subjects. All subjects were students at the Universtity of Stellenbosch. The most important findings are as follows: There was no significant difference (p>0,05) between first year averages of subjects who received career counselling and those who did not. There was a positive correlation between first year averages and matric results. There was a significant difference (p<0,05) between first year averages of the different sexes. Female students show better academic performance than male students. There was no significant difference between first year averages of Afrikaans speaking and English speaking students (p>0,05). The results of the study show that various factors influence the academic success of university students. Multiple measures must be used in combination to predict academic success.

Students’ argumentative writing is substandard in the sense that the necessary relations, amongst other things, are not indicated in their texts. These texts also often lack an author’s voice. In a module such as academic literacy, it is important to pay attention to the means in which these particular problems can be solved. Part of the aims of a course in academic literacy is to equip students with the necessary academic literacy abilities (which include reading and writing ability) and in doing so, teach them to function properly in a tertiary discourse community. In this study, only the written component of academic literacy will be considered. Following the above mentioned problems, the focus will be specifically on items of metadiscourse, which may form part of a possible solution to improve students’ writing. Hyland (2004) distinguishes between two main categories of metadiscourse, namely the interactive and the interactional categories (which each consists of five subcategories). The aim of these categories is to guide the reader through the text in a specific way, and also to actively involve the reader with the textual content and the reading process. If these aspects of metadiscourse are applied effectively, the text may be more cohesive and coherent and a stronger reader-writer-relationship may be established. A corpus-linguistic approach has been followed in the investigation of the frequency of the occurrence of the subcategories of metadiscourse, as well as the functional suitability thereof. The data analysis is based on Hyland’s (2004) analytical framework of metadiscourse categories, which has been adapted according to the data that has been processed with WordSmith Tools (version 6.0). In this study, the focus group is Afrikaans L1 first-year students at the North-West University’s Vaal Triangle Campus in the year 2010. All 109 participants in the study were registered for AGLA111 (Introduction to Academic Literacy) and AGLA121 (Academic Literacy). The texts that were gathered from AGLA111 are represented in corpus 1 whereas the texts gathered from AGLA121 are represented in corpus 2. The data that was provided by these two corpora was measured against an honours corpus (consisting of 39 texts), which served as the norm for this study. The data interpretation can be divided into four categories, namely phenomena that show a statistically significant change in the correct direction, phenomena that were correct from the start and did not show any change between corpus 1 and corpus 2, phenomena that did not show any change between corpus 1 and corpus 2 but that differed from the honours corpus, as well as phenomena that show incorrect development. Recommendations, which have been based on the literature review and text analysis, are made with regard to specific aspects relating to metadiscourse and the teaching of academic literacy modules (on which this study is founded). These recommendations primarily focus on how students’ attention can be focused on the requirements proposed for writing an argumentative text. / MA (Afrikaans en Nederlands), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Student intention to drop out is a concern for higher education institutions as well for their students. Students with the intention to drop out may eventually drop out and contribute towards the already high dropout rates, which are causing economic damage. Students leaving their institution have vast financial consequences for their institution, as institutions obtain grants from the government according to their success rates. Although previous research has been conducted on students’ intention to drop out, it is limited, especially when looking at possible predictors that are specific to the South African context. This study contributes towards the gap in research regarding the possible predictors of student intention to drop out. The objectives of this study were to 1) conceptualise the possible predictors of student intention to drop out according to the literature; 2) determine if self-evaluation traits (self-esteem and self-efficacy) are significant predictors of student intention to drop out; 3) determine if student burnout and student engagement are significant predictors of student intention to drop out; 4) determine if social support (social support from parents and general social support) are significant predictors of student intention to drop out; and 5) determine if career decision-making difficulties are significant predictors of student intention to drop out. A non-probability quota sample (N = 782) was used to investigate possible predictors of career student intention to drop out in a sample of university students. Student intention to drop out was measured by one item consisting of two categories: I have no intention to drop out (n = 501), and I have an intention to drop out (n = 280). These two groups were enclosed as a dependent variable in the logistic regression. The variables included in the final model predicted between 13% (Cox and Snell) and 18% (Nagelkerke) of the variance in intention to drop out. The results of this study suggest that self-esteem had an influence on student intention to drop out. Furthermore, it was found that cynicism and dedication have a significant relationship with student intention to drop out. Lastly, lack of information about ways to obtain information also indicated a significant relationship with student intention to drop out. Thus, it may be concluded that self-esteem, burnout and engagement and lack of information about ways of obtaining information have an influence on students’ intention to drop out. Recommendations were made for practice as well as for future research. / Thesis (MCom (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

The purposes of the study were: to determine the relationship between class size and academic achievement among university students in first-semester calculus classes, and to compare opinions about the instructor, course, and classroom learning environment of university students in small first-semester calculus classes with those in large classes. The sample consisted of 225 university students distributed among two large and two small sections of first-semester calculus classes taught at the University of Texas at Arlington during the fall of 1987. Each of two tenured faculty members taught a large and small section of approximately 85 and 27 students, respectively. During the first week of the semester, scores from the Calculus Readiness Test (CR) were obtained from the sample and used as the covariate in each analysis of covariance of four periodic tests, a comprehensive final examination, and final grade average. The CR scores were also used in a logistic regression analysis of attrition rates between each pair of large and small sections of first-semester calculus. Three semantic differentials were used to test the hypotheses relating to student opinion of the instructor, course, and classroom learning environment. It was found that for both pairs of large and small first-semester calculus classes there was no significant difference in the adjusted means for each of the four periodic tests, the final examination scores, the final grade averages, and the attrition rates. It was also found that the means of the student evaluation of the course by students in small and large classes were not significantly different, and the results of the student evaluations of the instructor and classroom learning environment by students in small and large first—semester calculus classes were mixed.

Föreliggande studie undersökte förekomsten av milt partnervåld bland studenter samt om det förelåg en interaktionseffekt mellan kvinnliga och manliga studenter vad gäller uppfattningen av allvarlighetsgraden till partnervåld samt studentens egen historia av partnervåld. Två vinjetter beskrev ett scenario av partnervåld som graderades utifrån Opinions of Domestic Violence Scale samt fjorton frågor om beteenden inom partnervåld. Deltagarna var 476 studenter från ett mellanstort universitet i Sverige. Resultatet indikerade på att manliga studenter är mer utsatta för milt partnervåld medan kvinnliga studenter begår mer milt partnervåld. Vidare visade resultatet att manliga studenter som hade varit utsatta för partnervåld uppfattade våldet som allvarligt, men som mindre allvarligt än manliga studenter som varken varit utsatta eller förövare av partnervåld, samtidigt som kvinnliga studenter uppfattade våldet som allvarligt, oavsett om de hade varit utsatta, förövare, både utsatta och förövare eller varken utsatt eller förövare av partnervåld. Studiens resultat diskuteras utifrån tidigare forskning samt Gender schema theory. Praktiska implikationer diskuterades som understryker att vidare kunskap inom området bör implementeras. / The present study examined the frequency of mild partner violence among students, as well as the interaction between female and male students regarding the perception of the severity of partner violence together with the students’ own history of partner violence. Two vignettes described a scenario of partner violence and were graded according to the Opinions of Domestic Violence Scale along with fourteen questions about behaviours within partner violence. The participants were 476 students enrolled at an average sized university in Sweden. The results indicated that male students generally were more victimized of mild partner violence, while women perpetrated more mild partner violence. Furthermore, the results also showed that male students who had been victims of partner violence perceived partner violence as severe, but less severe compared to male students that had been neither victims nor perpetrators of partner violence, while female students perceived the violence as more severe, regardless if they had been victimized, perpetrators, both victimized and perpetrators or neither victimized nor perpetrators. The study’s results were discussed based on previous research as well as Gender Schema Theory. Practical implications were discussed which conclude that further education is needed within the area.

O ingresso na universidade impõe inúmeros desafios ao estudante e pesquisas indicam que estudantes mais habilidosos socialmente podem ter menor propensão a apresentar problemas de saúde mental, provavelmente por terem maior habilidade para lidar com esses desafios. Nessa interface o desempenho acadêmico dos universitários também ganha destaque na literatura da área. Observa-se uma tendência a identificação de uma relação positiva entre repertório socialmente habilidoso, bom desempenho acadêmico e saúde mental dos universitários, embora poucas pesquisas empíricas embasem tal afirmação Nesse contexto se insere a proposta deste estudo, como desdobramento de um amplo estudo desenvolvido junto a alunos de graduação. Objetiva-se verificar se as habilidades sociais e as condições de saúde mental de estudantes universitários dos anos iniciais da graduação são preditoras do desempenho acadêmico dos mesmos no início e ao final da graduação, bem como verificar as possíveis associações entre as variáveis mencionadas. Propõe-se um delineamento comparativo, correlacional e preditivo e a inclusão da variável desempenho acadêmico dos graduandos, não avaliada no estudo amplo. Foram participantes deste estudo 305 estudantes universitários, de ambos os sexos e de diferentes cursos de graduação da UNESPBauru, que foram avaliados quando cursavam até um semestre anterior ao meio do curso, caracterizando início da graduação. Esses participantes, após os devidos procedimentos éticos, responderam em sala de aula, a um conjunto de instrumentos apresentados em um caderno contendo instruções específicas para cada um deles, a saber: Questionário de Avaliação de Habilidades Sociais, Comportamentos e Contextos para Universitários (QHC universitários), Versão reduzida do Inventário de Fobia Social (Mini SPIN), Inventário de Depressão de Beck (BDI) e Inventário de Habilidades Sociais (IHS Del Prette). E, posteriormente, responderam individualmente a Entrevista Clínica Estruturada para o DSM-IV (SCID) conduzida por telefone. Realizou-se a coleta dos dados sobre o desempenho acadêmico dos universitários, junto à secretaria da universidade, registrando as informações referentes às notas de início do curso e se os participantes concluíram ou não a graduação no tempo especificado pelas grades curriculares dos cursos. Foram selecionadas para o modelo de regressão logística binária para as análises do desempenho acadêmico do início e final da graduação as variáveis que apresentaram nível de significância de p<0,1 nas análises univariadas. As variáveis IHS-autocontrole da agressividade em situações aversivas (F5) e saúde mental foram as variáveis incluídas na análise do início da graduação e se mantiveram como preditoras. Em relação ao final da graduação foram incluídas as variáveis QHC comunicação e afeto, QHC falar em público e apresentar seminários, QHC comunicação e afeto e QHC potencialidades para grupos diferenciados pelos escores de ansiedade, IHS escore total, IHS autoafirmação da expressão de sentimentos negativos, IHS autoexposição a desconhecidos e situações novas, sexo, ano do curso, área e desempenho acadêmico inicial, mantendo-se como preditoras: sexo feminino, estar matriculado em anos mais avançados, por ocasião da avaliação do início do curso, cursar área de humanas e ter desempenho acadêmico inicial na média ou acima da média. Tais dados sugerem desdobramentos para os campos da psicologia, da educação e para as políticas públicas. / Getting into college poses many challenges for students. Research in the field shows that more socially skillful students are less likely to present with mental problems, probably because they have better skills in coping with these challenges. In this aspect academic performance also plays an important role in the field literature. A tendency is seen that points to a positive relationship between good social skills, good academic performance and mental health in university students, although little empiric research bears out this statement. That is the goal of this project, a spin-off of a study carried out among undergraduate students. Our aim is to assess whether mental health and social skills of university students in the first years of an undergraduate course predict their academic performance during and at the end of the course as well as to assess possible associations between the variables under study. We propose a correlational and predictive analysis and the inclusion of the undergraduate students academic performance variable, not assessed in the in-depth study. 305 students of both genders and of different undergraduate courses of UNESP-Bauru were assessed when they were still in a semester before half of the course, which corresponds to the beginning of the undergraduate course. These subjects, after undergoing ethical procedures, answered in the classroom a set of questionnaires shown them in a notebook containing specific instructions for each one of them, which were: Questionnaire on Assessing University Students Behavior and Lifestyles (QAUSBL), reduced version of the Social Phobia Inventory (Mini SPIN), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Social Skills Inventory (SKI - Del Prette). Later they individually answered a structured clinical telephone interview for DSN-IV (SCID). Data concerning students academic performance were collected at the university deans office, including grades at the beginning of the course as well as whether students graduated within the period specified by the school\'s timetable. For the model of binary logistic regression to analyze academic performance at the beginning and end of undergraduate studies, the variables with a significance level of p<0 in univariate analyses were selected. The variables IHC-self-control of aggressiveness in adverse situations (F5) and mental health were the variables included in the analysis at the beginning of undergraduate studies and were kept as predictive. At the end of the course, communication and affection QAUSBL, speaking in public and presenting seminars QAUSBL and potentialities for groups differentiated by anxiety scores QAUSBL, total score SKI, self-affirmation of expressing negative feelings SKI, self-exposal to strangers and new situations, sex, course year, field and initial academic performance SKI. The predictive factors were: feminine sex, being enrolled in higher years during the evaluation that took place at the beginning of the course, attending human science courses and to showing an initial academic performance on average or above average. Such data suggest unfolding into the fields of psychology, education and public policies.

Contexte : Les étudiants universitaires représentent la catégorie la plus touchée par le stress, la détresse psychique et leurs conséquences (physiques et psychiques). Ils sont plus vulnérables aux troubles psychiques que la population générale et que les autres étudiants en raison des nombreux changements et des responsabilités qui accompagnent la période d’étude à l'université. Cette thèse a pour but, d’une part, de mieux comprendre le mal-être psychologique des étudiants universitaires, et, d’autre part, de se pencher sur les actions pouvant être menées pour faire face à ce problème. Format de la thèse : Cette thèse s’articule en deux axes. Le premier axe porte sur l’évaluation de la santé mentale, et notamment du stress, auprès d’un échantillon d’étudiants universitaires (Partie I : Santé mentale chez les étudiants universitaires: perspectives théoriques et études empiriques). Le deuxième axe porte sur l’élaboration et l’évaluation d’une intervention de gestion du stress menée auprès de ces étudiants (Partie II : Gestion du stress chez les étudiants : perspectives théoriques et études empiriques). Pour chaque axe, une revue de la littérature sur les concepts étudiés, ainsi qu’une revue des études empiriques ont été menées sous forme d’articles (publiés ou en cours).Le but de cette dissertation est donc double et s’articule autour de dix articles ;Conclusion: Malgré certaines limites, nos résultats constituent des apports nouveaux et prometteurs sur la gestion du stress via internet pour les étudiants universitaires. Cette proposition d'intervention via internet pourrait s'adresser particulièrement aux étudiants qui ne consultent pas. / Context: University students are the most affected by stress, psychological distress and their consequences (physical and mental). They are more vulnerable to mental disorders than the general population and other students because of the many changes and responsibilities that come with studying at the university. On the one hand, this thesis aims to better understand the psychological ill being of university students, and on the other hand, to look at ways to face this problem.Format of the thesis: This thesis is articulated in two axes. The first focuses on the evaluation of mental health, including stress, among a sample of university students (Part I: Mental Health among University Students: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Studies). The second focuses on the development and the evaluation of a stress management intervention for these students (Part II: Students Stress Management: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Studies). For each, a review of the literature on the concepts studied, as well as a review of empirical studies, was conducted in the form of articles (published or in progress). The purpose of this dissertation is therefore dual and is articulated around ten articles;Conclusion: Despite some limitations, our results constitute new and promising contributions on stress management online for university students. This proposal for an intervention online could be particularly aimed at students who do not consult.

O consumo de substâncias psicoativas (SPA) entre os universitários é mais frequente que na população em geral, o que reforça a necessidade de um maior conhecimento desse fenômeno para o desenvolvimento de ações de prevenção. Objetivo: construir um perfil do universitário no município de Governador Valadares e obter subsídios para a construção de uma estratégia de intervenção preventiva a partir da perspectiva dos próprios universitários. Método: Um estudo transversal realizado com 384 universitários das faculdades/universidades do município, com aplicação de um questionário estruturado, a fim de obter dados sociodemográficos e caracterização da amostra, padrão de consumo e frequência do uso, possibilidade de sofrimento mental, caracterização dos fatores de risco e proteção ao uso e intervenções preventivas mais eficazes na opinião dos universitários. Para análise dos dados foi utilizada a prova Qui-quadrado ou Escala de Fisher e o método da Regressão Logística, com nível de significância de 5%. Resultados: Dentre os principais resultados, destaca-se: a) o uso na vida predominante de álcool (57,3%), seguido de maconha (42,2%) e tabaco (41,7%); uso intenso apenas para o álcool (28%); 18,5% dos universitários podem estar em sofrimento mental. Conclusão: Os achados desse estudo norteiam sobre o planejamento de programas de prevenção mais condizentes com as características e necessidade desse grupo, o que pode contribuir para a eficácia destes. / The consumption of psychoactive substances among university students is more frequent than in the general population, which reinforces the need for a greater knowledge of this phenomenon for the development of prevention actions. Objective: to build a university profile in the municipality of Governador Valadares and obtain subsidies for the construction of a preventive intervention strategy from the perspective of the university students themselves. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 384 college / university students from the municipality, applying a structured questionnaire to obtain sociodemographic data and sample characterization, pattern of consumption and frequency of use, possibility of mental suffering, characterization of factors of risk and protection to the use and preventive interventions more effective in the opinion of the university students. The chi-square or Fisher's scale test and the Logistic Regression method were used to analyze the data, with a significance level of 5%. Results: Among the main results, we highlight: a) the predominant life use of alcohol (57.3%), followed by marijuana (42.2%) and tobacco (41.7%); Intense use only for alcohol (28%); 18.5% of college students may be in mental distress. Conclusion: The findings of this study guide the planning of prevention programs more in line with the characteristics and needs of this group, which may contribute to their effectiveness.