Career development theory suggests that the exploration process, an important stage of early adulthood, is facilitated by meaningful involvement in a variety of activities. This theoretical tenet is widely accepted, yet little empirical evidence exists to demonstrate the extent to which exploratory behaviors, as exhibited in undergraduate involvement in out-of-class activities, serve to enhance the career development process and, consequently, the quality of occupational choice after graduation. The purpose of this study was therefore to analyze the degree to which college student involvement in educational, work, and leisure out-of-class experiences related to career development status and three dimensions of the initial work experience-career satisfaction, career stability, and occupational mobility. Survey data were collected from 243 liberal arts and sciences bachelor’s degree recipients in Spring of 1986 who did not pursue additional education or homemaking on a full-time basis (52.6 percent return rate). Step-wise multiple regression results demonstrated modest, yet significant, relationships between involvement in categorical and summed educational, work, and leisure activities, as well as academic factors (college major and QCA), and satisfaction in career progress, satisfaction in current employment, career stability, and occupational mobility (R-squares ranged from .01 to .18). Relatively low Differential Career Status Scores made it impossible to generate significant results for the career development status criterion. These results provided little assistance in helping to define exploratory behaviors. In contrast, participation (a critical component of involvement) in specific undergraduate activities indicated strong, yet curious, relationships with all criteria variables when compared to those who did not participate. Interestingly, t-tests demonstrated that former students who met with career counselors, referred to career-related written materials, used computer assistance programs, and attended related seminars were less satisfied with their current employment, less stable, and more mobile. Conversely, those who were members of professional and social organizations, employed in internships, and engaged in intramural sports, and enrolled in the Cooperative Education and ROTC Programs experienced opposite results. Participation in various activities, therefore, may serve to facilitate or inhibit aspects of the career development process. / Ed. D.

With a dwindling college-age population and a need to attract academically talented students, postsecondary institutions search for factors that influence college choice. The educational plans of two comparable groups of high ability Arizona secondary students were examined and compared using the Higher Education Orientation Inventory and personal interviews. One group of students consisted of high school juniors who participated in the University of Arizona Precollege Program for Gifted and Talented Students in the summers of 1981 and 1982. The Comparison Group students were selected from a group of the top ten percent of Arizona high school juniors from those same years. Factor analysis was utilized to answer major research questions about factors that affect a student's choice of a higher education institution. To examine the differences between the two groups, discriminant analysis was used. An open-ended question approach provided supplementary data from both groups. The majority of both groups of students favored the choice of a four-year university. It was found that students who participated in the University of Arizona Precollege Program rated that experience as more important in their institutional choice than did those students who did not attend this program. In a separate factor analysis, it was shown that the two groups appeared to differ on several choice factors. Only one pair of factors entitled "Academic Quality of the Institution" was found to be similar within the groups. Other important factors for both groups included "Social Components of the Institution", "Expenses and Financial Aid", and "Institutional Image". The largest discriminant difference between the two groups was with reference to the institution's precollege program. This supported the finding that there was a significant mean difference on which students rated the importance of a precollege program in institutional selection. The open-ended question approach indicated that important reasons for postsecondary choices were (1) location, reputation and size of the institution, (2) cost, and (3) program quality. Personal interviews emphasized the value of a precollege program in providing an introduction to college life and in building confidence about the forthcoming postsecondary experience.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology, 2017 / Since the debut of democracy, there has been an increase in the number of historically marginalised Black students in South Africa’s higher education institutions. However, this has not been accompanied by a corresponding success rate. Higher education’s response to this success crisis has largely been academic development programs. While extensive research has been done on academic development programs, more especially quantitative research in disciplines like maths, natural sciences, and economics, not much qualitative research has been done on extracurricular academic development programs in the humanities and the social sciences. In this study, I explore the role of the Reaching for Excellence and Achievement Program (REAP) in students’ journeys graduation. REAP is an extracurricular academic development program at the University of the Witwatersrand. The findings show that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not a homogeneous group and that this influences the types of challenges that they encounter at university. They show that REAP played a significant role in facilitating these students’ progress to graduation. They also reveal that academic development programs by themselves are not enough to address the success crisis facing students from disadvantaged backgrounds because the root causes of some of the challenges they encounter can only be addressed at a structural level. Based on the lessons learned from the findings of this study, I make recommendations for future academic development programming. Keywords: Access, Success, Academic Development, Under-preparedness, Educational Inequality, Higher Education / GR2018

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This study is an investigation of the relationship between assessment, teaching and learning from the perspective of undergraduate students. It consisted of three stages which were developmental in nature with each stage informing the next and providing overall focus and direction. Students participating had completed at least five semesters of their undergraduate porogram.Findings from the literature, the interviews and the survey confirmed the central role the assessment process plays in shaping student learning. Ways feedback was used to inform learning as well as the types of assessment strategies employed emerged as key factors associated with students' motivations to learn. Nine practice related recommendations are made and four issues requiring further research are identified / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The main aim of this thesis centred on what made effective professional development programs. As a particular case study data was collected on those programs sponsored by the Melbourne Catholic Education Office. Teachers from three schools in the North Western Metropolitan Zone of Melbourne, Australia, the principals from the three participating schools and training staff from the Catholic Education Office in Melbourne became the subjects of the study. The data collected from questionnaires was analysed in order to ascertain whether there were any common trends as to what the teachers thought was needed in effective professional development programs. The interviews with the participating principals and training staff were taped and later analysed in order to determine what they believed was the purpose of professional development and whether the programs currently being offered were effective. In addition, a list of characteristics of effective professional development was developed from the relevant research literature. The analysis of the above data was used to develop a model of effective professional development. The design of this model is cyclical. A main characteristic of the model promotes the reflection by both the participants and the training providers on what has occurred during the program and this process of reflection contributes in later development of programs in similar areas. It was also concluded that the needs and expectations from professional development of teachers and principals were different to what has been expected in past research projects. Both the teachers and principals expected that they would not be solely immersed in theory or in activities that may be used in the classroom. Instead they hoped to gain a knowledge of activities that are based on theory and develop an understanding of how these activities may be used and how they will assist in student learning. Hence, the link between the theory and its application was believed by teachers and principals to be of primary importance in professional development in order to maintain high teaching practices and in turn result in improved student learning.

This thesis investigates first-year students� challenges in making sense of the learning and teaching environment during their first semester at university. The aims for the research are threefold. Firstly, mapping the range of challenges students at one university faced in their learning and teaching environments in the first semester. Secondly, developing a greater understanding of those challenges. Thirdly, identifying what educational initiatives the university could consider that might assist students to meet those challenges. The challenges were examined in the context of changes in higher education. My interest and motivation for this research project concerns improved practices in the first-year teaching and learning environment, rather than improved students. This means that I did not look for deficits within students, but for indications of what helps or does not help students� introduction to the new environment of academia. By mapping students� challenges in the first semester, I hope to contribute to the understanding of academic staff of the range of challenges students have to deal with. The interpretation of the results and my line of argument are partly influenced and shaped by the theoretical framework of academic literacies, and the notion of de-familiarisation. For this project, two data sources were used. The first source was data from a survey carried out in May 2004 amongst students enrolled in 100-level courses. The second source was data from interviews conducted with first-year students in the same year. In considering the analysis as a whole, a number of key issues could be discerned. These related to communication, academic skills, access to resources and help, and engagement and connection. The results showed that some of these issues had less to do with educational practices, and more to do with contested understandings of the nature of university education, and the nature of students now entering university. I argue that underlying these issues there are contentious questions of who should adjust or adapt to whom: students to the university, or the university to students? Students� reported experiences further suggest that some teachers seemed more aware than others that first-year students face particular challenges. Students did not consider their experiences as reflective of the university as a whole. The university was experienced as an institution with divergent ways of organising courses, of valuing aspects of university learning, and of interpreting seemingly similar things. This suggests that where students experienced challenges, these were not necessarily a function of students� characteristics, or students� attitudes to studying, but of particular course environments. The overall picture that presents itself, then, is that there are challenges that could be considered unnecessary. Whereas few students would experience all of the challenges identified in the results chapters, I argue that there are some aspects that warrant improvement. Improvement initiatives in first-year education, however, are not necessarily considered important by all academic staff. This is another contested issue in universities. A more explicit introduction of first-year students to academia as a range of heterogeneous communities would respond to first-year students� needs for familiarisation and clarity, as well as reflect some of the values that universities could be said to espouse. Successful interventions in first-year education, however, will also depend on ongoing dialogue with staff about various contested issues, the changed and changing context of higher education, and related challenges and opportunities.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Bibliography: leaves 67-72.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Despite decreasing rates of teen pregnancy within the U.S., rates remain high for African American girls (Guttmacher Institute, 2006). Comprehensive youth development programs aim to address teen pregnancy. This study examined the role of natural mentors in relation to participation in Cool Girls, Inc. and girls’ sexual efficacy among middle school girls. Furthermore, the quality of natural mentor relationship was assessed. Results provide no support that participation in the program and the presence of a natural mentor significantly affects sexual efficacy. Furthermore, the quality of natural mentor relationship did not significantly increase girls’ sexual efficacy. However, while not explicitly hypothesized, older girls reported significantly higher sexual efficacy. Limitations and strengths of the study are discussed. Directions for future research and intervention are suggested.